Thursday, February 25, 2010

knock on wood

Brit and Cody are playing with the MoonSand at the kitchen table. I've been folding clothes and putting things away. I walked through the kitchen and heard Brit say "Knock on wood." I'm not sure exactly what's currently happening with the MoonSand and the lizard that's stuck inside, but she was hoping things would work out for the little guy. Poor lizard. Anyway, Cody asked why people say knock on wood. Hmm...I don't know. Let's look it up!

Here's what we found.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sunny Days and Celebrations

Something completely strange and wonderful happened this past weekend. At first, it was hard to explain the bright light beaming outside. What was it exactly? It felt somewhat familiar, like hugging an old friend. Could it be?! Yes, that is the sun! Or I guess I should say, there WAS the sun. It's now back to the gray, cold, windy days that I despise. Grrr....

Wait! Back to the sun for a minute. We pulled the camper into the driveway so we can start cleaning it and getting it ready for upcoming trips. I can't wait to go camping.

Look! That's Britney's shadow!

Blue sky baby!

Cody has a certain, um...shall I say OBSESSION with Mario. He's been looking for a shirt, but everything we've been finding has been too big. We found this one at Walmart and he LOVES it! Plus it goes with his hat:)

Dad came for a visit on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. We had a wonderful time, and a fantastic meal. We love you Dad!!



Yum...ice cream and German Chocolate cake.


Sunday's Sunset

Today is Heather's birthday! (And Bobby's sister, Elisa's birthday. Happy Birthday Elisa!) We met at Chuck E Cheese so the kids could play and then went to Books A Million. I have to be honest. I almost didn't go. I haven't felt very good today and have actually gotten worse as the day has progressed. I have a fever and feel...icky.

But, I'm glad we went. We needed to be with our bestest buddies today. I love you guys:)

@ Chuck E Cheese




Okay...Brit has crazy, mad skills! She hit the Ticket Jackpot on this game 10 times. Literally 10 times...I'm not mommy exaggerating. That was just cool! Come on Brit! We're going to Vegas!

Cody won over 200 tickets playing a Spongebob game!

Our beautiful children

in Super Hero poses!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Snip Snip

I'm one of those weirdos that make the trek to the salon about once a year. I get it cut 'short' and let it grow out. 'Short' meaning about shoulder length. I've threatened to chop my hair off SO many times, but have chickened out every single time. I've also thought about bangs a lot, but those of you who remember the first day of Freshman year should understand why I steer clear of bangs. Shiver...

I got an appointment for yesterday and I did it. I finally just said enough is enough. I'm willing to permanently tattoo art on my body, but I'm freaked out by a haircut? See...I told you I was a weirdo.


Before

After

AH! My hair hasn't been this short since I came out of my momma! I think I like it. It's too soon to tell and I'm still adjusting. I was ready for a change, and I sure got one!

I've known the woman who cuts my hair since I was in high school. She must have told me 15 times how proud she was of me for FINALLY doing it.

See there, ladies and gentlemen? I'm brave. I was told so. WOOT!


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Surprise Date

Britney and Bobby went to the store to pick up a few things. They were gone for quite a while, but since it was the day before Valentine's Day, I can imagine how packed it was. In fact, I was later told stories of rudeness and mean people and Brit nearly going off on someone. Ah...the holidays. It brings out the very best in people.

They came home and we watched some TV. Later, I was sitting at the computer, and Bobby walked up to me and told me to go get ready. He said to dress comfortably. When it was time to leave, we all jumped in the car and Bobby handed me a Valentine's card and a DVD. The Time Traveler's Wife! Yeah...I wanted that:) He took us to Karen's house. Hmmm...suspicious. He said he needed to drop something off. And he did...two very wonderful children:) Karen watched the kids so we could go on a date! I had no idea and am quite proud of him for pulling it off.

We went to Logan's, which was PACKED! We sat in the bar area, ordered a beer and talked and laughed. Then a waitress asked us if we wanted the newly available table. FYI-the tables in the bar are first come, first serve. So we were seated pretty quickly considering the crowd. We ordered our food and had a delicious meal while people stared at us in hopes we would leave and they could swoop in and have our table...vultures. Oh, and I also had a peach daiquiri. Delicious.

After we ate, we walked around the mall for a while. Yes, us in the mall. I can't tell you the last time I was there. We looked in some of the stores and even sat in the little booth and got pictures taken. They're kind of cute. They say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY at the top of each strip.

After the mall, we went to the movies. We decided on Edge of Darkness. I could have made Bobby take me to the biggest chick flick available, but I didn't. I want to see Dear John and When in Rome, but I'll wait. So many of the movies we want to watch, the kids want to see too. We decided that was the best movie. It was very good by the way.

We had a fantastic time and I appreciate Bobby sneaking around so we could have a romantic evening to ourselves. They are so few and far between! Thank you Karen for watching our monkeys:)

I love you Mr. Lackey!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Photos

Tango, after he shed. He now measures approximately 22 1/2"

The kids playing the arcade games at The Brick

Enjoying ice cream


Cody's interpretation of the Statue of Liberty

Our beautiful kids
@ Esther's house celebrating Chandler's 12th birthday!

Cody has REALLY been into magnets lately!




These are the soldiers and indians my brother and I played with when we were little. They are falling apart, which is perfect for Cody. He made them into Headless Horsemen and zombies. That's my boy.

And here he discovered the effects metal and magnets have on a compass.

Mythology

As a surprise for the kids, we went to the movies on Valentine's Day. We watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief. It was AWESOME! The kids loved it! Bobby and I loved it! AWESOME! Plus, it has definitely sparked interest in Greek Mythology!

I've been wanting to go to The Parthenon in Nashville for some time. The homeschool group went earlier this month...or maybe in January, but we opted to stay home and wait for the sun. Oh, how I miss the sun.

Watch out Nashville! Here we come! But after it warms up:)

Last night we watched Clash of the Titans. The kids laughed, and at one point Brit yelled "The graphics are HORRIBLE!" heehee Come on! What do you expect from a movie released the year I was born:) Today we watched Disney's Hercules. We enjoyed seeing the different movies and making connections between all of them.

Britney has especially taken an interest in Greek Mythology. I'm so glad I bought that huge mythology book. She has used it and the internet to search the gods she is interested in. She has made so many connections between the movies and books. Very cool!

Oh and we also learned that a NEW Clash of the Titans will be released April 2nd!

We have been learning SO much about Greek Mythology the last couple days. Today I searched online for Greek recipes. I would love to incorporate another element into their recent interest.

Homeschooling ROCKS!

Friday, February 5, 2010

There's some good news and some bad news...

First, the bad news so the good news makes sense.

Last week, Bobby FINALLY received the hard drive he ordered. I say finally because it took almost two months to find it's way to our home, and that was after canceling it and reordering .

Bobby decided to use the new one as our external hard drive and to use our old one for Britney's computer. We transferred all of our pictures, music, documents, etc. over to the new one. The next day, Bobby was clearing out old folders and deleting stuff off the computer we don't need and is taking up space. I was in the kitchen making supper at the time; meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn...very good:) Anyway, the next thing I hear is something along the lines of "OH CRAP! Gina, I think I really messed something up!" Here's what happened...He had clicked on the pictures folder and was dragging it to...somewhere else...his finger slipped off the mouse and he accidentally put it into a folder we can't open. I don't know why we can't open the damn thing, but we can't. It says something like DENIED or ACCESS DENIED or YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR PICTURES BACK FOOL!

It took me awhile for the news to sink in and even now I can't believe I don't have easy access to my bazillion memories caught on camera. It's sickening really. I didn't get very upset right away. I remembered we had put our pictures on disc not that long ago. We found the discs, only to find out that the last date written was January 2009. Um, it's February 2010 now which means there's a whole year missing. A year? And not just any year, but last year. Last year we had more wonderful, exciting, new adventures than ever before. I felt awful, but Bobby REALLY felt horrible. I can't even be mad at him. I know it was an accident and if I had done it, I wouldn't want someone mad at me.

He went online and downloaded several different file recovery programs. He has managed to retrieve some of the photos, but of them A LOT are messed up; grayed out, scrambled, or there's a thumbnail of it, but nothing there when you try to open it. It is SO worth it to us to hire someone to help. Maybe it can be Geek Squad to the rescue.

And then some good news...really great news actually.

Last night, I was going through a box of movies trying to find something to watch as a family. We were going to watch Get Smart. It came in the mail yesterday, but after opening the envelope, found several pieces of disc moving around the sleeve. I hate when movies come in broken. Anyway, I was looking and there they were...the discs we made not that long ago! We have almost everything; our first trip in our camper to Mobile and Panama City Beach, Cheaha State Park, our Earth Day hike, our multifamily Summer Kick-Off trip to TN, GA, SC, and NC, Seussical, Burchfield Branch, Fort Mountain State Park, not to mention play days, birthdays, experiments and just all the random pictures I take every single day! I'm beyond excited and thankful. I was jumping up and down like a maniac!

As far as I can tell, we have up until August. So we still don't have my birthday, our anniversary, or anything from the holidays or proof that it snowed in Alabama. I haven't given up on the possibility of having all of the pictures again. I'm serious about taking the hard drive somewhere and having someone else see what they can do.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I'm still here

I just haven't been in a blogging mood. Soon perhaps...

Where we've been as a family