Powell Power

Last year....

2012-01-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

So ~~two weeks ago~~, I pledged to blog more.

And I'm determind to get a year-in-review post in here before Febrary.

So...get ready beacuse here it is!

In January someone celebrated their 4th birthday and got a big-girl bike!

We had more lost teeth

And a visit with our favorite family!

We saw the BCS National Trophy

And went to Colorado for Uncle Ben and Aunt Bekah's wedding

Alex and I ran the Warrior Dash again

Someone turned 7

And we did lots of strawberry and blackberry pickin'.

We also went to the beach

Visited with our Florida friends again

And then went back to the beach.

We got even further away from the baby stage when this little guy got potty trained.

Melody and Charlie we asked to model for my friend Sherry's awesome line of children's clothing and are now famous and being offered modeling contracts all over the world. Ok, I might have exaggerated that last part...

Four out of five Powells went back to school...including this little guy who started preschool this year!

We cheered

And played football

And celebrated a third birthday with cupcakes

Our favorite family come to visit again and we had fun with our friendly rivalry

At Thanksgiving we got to meet our new cousin, Holden Luke

And then watch him get baptized in December

We went on a ski trip to Beaver Creek, CO. Jack learned how to ski backwards and Melody thought riding the gondola was more fun than skiing.

And then we wrapped up our busy 2011 with a great Christmas at home!

Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

2012

2012-01-02T18:29:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!

And, yes, one of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more! How did you guess?

Cold and Cookies

2011-10-21T09:01:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like cold weather.

At all.

When it gets cold I'm unmotivated to do anything other than bake cookies and eat them.

So, since we had our first real cold snap this week, that's exactly what my little baking beauty and I did!

Yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

I included the recipe for any other cold weather bakers out there.

No, even with the pumpkin, they are not good for you.

But they are so yummy it's worth it!

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup pumpkin

1 whole egg and 1 egg white

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups cholocate chips

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

powdered sugar

Sift sugar, four, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine shortening, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla in a smaller mixing bowl and then add them to the dry ingredients.

Blend well.

Add chocolate chips.

Blend well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes.

Lightly dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Be careful not to overbake. The cookies will be moist and cake-like.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

How to Eat a Cupcake in 7 Easy Steps

2011-10-17T22:05:00.000-04:00

First, take a deep breath

Don't forget to make a wish!

Always start with the icing

and then straight into the center of the cake part.

Make sure it all gets in there...we don't want to waste a cupcake.

The most important thing to remember when eating a cupcake?

ALWAYS have two!

3

2011-09-29T13:19:00.000-04:00

Well, since I still haven't figured out how to stop time, we've had another birhday over here.

This handsome little man

who is so funny

and curious

and always adventurous

and often times silly

and will forever be my sweet little baby boy

turned 3.

Yes, 3!

No, I cannot believe it either.

Do you know why...

2011-09-07T08:17:00.004-04:00

this handsome little man is so excited?

It's his first day of preschool!

He's been waiting a loooooong time for this.

I think I might kind of like it too. Once I get over the fact that my baby is starting preschool! (*sob*)

Goodbye

2011-09-05T04:00:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite pictures from our last beach trip.

I just love the way my children are holding hands.

I love the way that they are gazing out ove the ocean.

I love all the hair in Melody's ponytail.

I was thinking about this picture today. Mainly because, for me, Labor Day is sort of the day I feel we all say goodbye to summer. I'm excited about the new school year the four (yes, I said four! I'm finally back in school!) of us are embarking on. I'm excited about activities and events that are already cluttering our calendar this fall. But I love summer. I love the lazy days. I love the freedom. I even love the heat. I love the heat a lot. And I will miss summmer. This was a special summer for my children and I. And think of this summer fondly.

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

A Last First and Sparkles

2011-09-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was a big day for Melody. It was her last first day of preschool! This year she is in the Zebra class and is very excited.

The first first day of preschool...

and now the last first day of preschool.

My little girl certainly has grown up. And thankfully gotten more hair (although I do miss those little sprouts!)

Thank you all for your anniversary wishes. Alex and I went out and celebrated our 10 years by watching Captain America and...

doing a little jewlery shopping!!

My wonderful husband got me a new, beautiful wedding band in honor of our tenth. The ring in the middle is my engagement ring and we had a diamond band placed on each side. Isn't it beautiful?!

Melody, of course, loves it as well. I showed it to her and she asked to try it on and said, "Ooooh! It has so many sparkles and it fits just me!"

10

2011-08-25T13:20:00.004-04:00

My husband and I have been married for 10 years today. A decade.

I remember when we had our first anniversary and I felt like 1 year was a long time! Hopefully, in 40 years, we will be celebrating somewhere remembering back to when we thought 10 years was a long time.

The first song on the slideshow (Songbird by Eva Cassidy) was our first dance at our wedding. I just liked the second (Something that We Do by Clint Black). I actually almost picked Kelly Clarkson's My Life Would Suck Without You but realized my mother would flip if I paid tribute to my marriage with a song containing the word 'suck'.

This video encompasses the last 10 years of our lives together. It's a little long, but well, 10 years is a long time.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Oh, wait...what was I supposed to do?

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

That is the phrase I hear from Melody about 30 seconds after I tell her to do something. That is if she even remembers I told her to do something.

Distraction. All. The. Time.

Yes, I know she's absolutely adorable. (Who can resist this sweet face?)

But cuteness can only take you so far.

And now something has to be done.

Here's the backstory:
For a while (read: the majority of her life to date) Melody has struggled with transitions. Even when the transitions were in her favor (such as going to play a game with Mommy) there was a brief (but painful to the ears) high pitched whining sound, sometimes followed by a hand-to-the-forehead swoon or something equally dramatic, large tears rolling down her face as she proclaimed something to the effect of, "But whyyyyy must I play with you, Mommy, oh why oh why!"
You get the idea.
I spent a considerable about of time working on this with her. We practiced appropriate responses, I learned that she works best with (multiple) warnings of the pending change, etc.
And low and behold our transitional outburts are now few and far between!

But...

it seems we've traded one issue in for another.

While Melody is now (mostly) happy to follow through with any command, she can only rememeber what it is she's supposed to do for about 2.5 seconds. And forget multiple step directions. She doesn't have a prayer there.

I know that we all have different parenting ideas as to what is a reasonable expectation, etc. However, we believe it's reasonable to expect a 4.5 year old to follow through with simple tasks...such as flushing the toilet. And taking off her clothes, putting in the hamper, and changing into her pajamas. I frequently find the clothes on the floor while Melody is running around nekkid oblivious to the fact that there was a follow through necessary for the task at hand.

I would welcome any suggestions, tips, tricks, etc, that will help her to remember what it is she supposed to be doing. Something that will encourage her and help her stay focused and on task.

Who am I kidding...I'm begging for suggestions!

Seriously, if I leave the house one more time and realize that Melody has yet again forgotten her shoes, you might see me on the evening news. I'm just sayin'.

My handsome boy...

2011-08-08T08:53:00.000-04:00

on the first day of 2nd grade!!

Upon first look, it might seem like I took both pictures today. But this second picture is last year's picture; the first day of 1st grade. If you look closely, you can tell what a difference a year has made.

Happy first-day-of-school, Jack! I hope you have a wonderful year!

7+ years

2011-08-03T07:00:00.002-04:00

7+ years.

You are all probably wondering what I'm referring to.

That is the number of years I've been changing diapers on a daily basis. (Unless, of course, I was with my mom, and then she did the diaper changing. I owe her big for that!)

But, it has currently been exactly two weeks and two days since I have changed a diaper.

Beacuse this little boy became a big boy over night and is now potty trained!!

When I decided to bite the bullet and train him a few weeks ago, (he is almost three for goodness sake!) my mom and husband had some serious doubts of his readiness.

He sure did show them! I'm happy to say he was my easiest trainer.

Great job, sweet Charles, we are SO proud of you!!

Bright and shiney things

2011-08-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Melody loves all bright and shiney things so I knew it was only a matter of time before she would want...her ears pierced!

She has been asking for a few weeks. I was ready for her to do it. Alex wasn't so sure. Melody and I discussed it and determined that ear piercing is really a girls' decision though. So, while at the beach last week, we decided to take advantage of a rainy morning and get pierced!

Melody was so excited but I knew she didn't really understand what piercing meant.

She could tell something was going on.

I think she thought all was well and good when she got a lollipop.

Then she found out what ear piercing really was!

Fortunately they did both ears at the same time.

I really think she thought the pain was worth it when she saw them!

And a kiss makes everything better!

(All photos courtesy of the talented Pam P3 Powell.)

Putt-Putt

2011-06-25T13:42:00.003-04:00

Last week I blogged about our beach trip. While the sand and surf was fun, that wasn't all we did. We played an exciting game of...putt-putt!

Jack was thrilled when he saw that there was a putt-putt course right outside our room. He has played a few times and is a self-proclaimed expert.

On Saturday night, after dinner, the four of us decided to tackle the putt-putt course.

This is how our game went:

We spend a lot of time decided what color balls to get. (Yes, much to Melody's dismay, Charlie also insisted on a pink ball.)

Jack announced to everyone else on the course that he was a putt-putt expert. After all, he has played before. Twice.

Charlie misunderstood the purpose of the game and just ran around grabbing balls.

This prompted me to repeatedly yell out, "Charlie, stop grabbing other people's balls!" Fortunately, that provided amusment to the other families playing putt-putt in a more calm manner.

Melody wanted me to help her with each wack of the club. This provided ample time for Charlie to continue is ball-stealing spree.

Jack continued to show off his "expert skills" by louding proclaiming all he knew about putt-putt, water hazards, bunkers, putt-putt compared to real golf...

You get the idea.

Finally, we finished.

(I know you are all going to say how adorable Melody's outfit is and, yes, I agree. It's a creation by my friend, Sherry, who designs all kind of adorable children's clothes and accessories. Visit her here...and she's having free shipping until July 1!)

And what's a game of putt-putt without ice cream afterwards? (I told Melody and Charlie to take off their shirs since ice cream sandwiches and white don't really mix, and Charlie decided just to strip all the way down. Literally. I stopped the diaper removal just in time.)

Would you believe that, after all that, I let them talk me into playing again the next day! The sun must have really bleached my brain.

(Who am I kidding...we had a blast, ball stealing and all!)

Sand, Surf and Fun!

2011-06-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

Our summer has been off to a fun start! After celebrating Jack's 7th birthday, we headed to Destin, FL for a few days. My dad had a conference there so we went down to ~~mooch off them~~ keep Grammy from getting too bored.

And it was anything but boring!

We immediately started our sea shell hunt

followed by a refreshing dip in the waves

And some of the waves were pretty big!

Jack learned how to boogie-board. Yes, I taught him. You probably don't know this but I am an expert boogie-boarder.

And what would a trip to the beach be without a rockin' sand castle!

What fun trips does your family have planned this summer?

I've been hacked!

2011-06-06T07:00:00.010-04:00

Or perhaps a more accurate title is: My boys have been hacked!

Or maybe just: My baby boy was hacked!

For the past couple of summers, I've given Jack a short hair cut just to help combat the ~~little boy stink~~ unique scent that tends to accompany boys. This summer, I was planning on letting it grow longer but he asked to have it short. So, following his birthday dinner at Orient Express and then dessert at Yoforia, we all went out on the deck to watch the transformation.

He went from this

to this

I, personally, think he looks cute with a buzz cut and he loved it.

Then, completely against my will, my husband decided to hack of my sweet Charlie's beautiful baby locks. Ok, I might have consented in one brief moment of insanity that I will regret forever.

I admit, he was getting a little shaggy looking.

And don't even get me started on the sweaty mop that was his head when he would come inside from playing.

But I just wasn't ready for my little baby boy to go from this

to this!

Sigh. At least they are both happy.

even though I feel like this.

(Alex took this right after the first few locks were shorn, which is why his head still looks funny.)

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

7

2011-06-04T11:02:00.000-04:00

It doesn't feel possible that's it's been seven years that this little guy has been with us.

(Jack, his first Father's Day, two weeks old)

I remember feeling that the first year just flew by...and it seems they've gone by faster and faster ever since.

Jack's been a big brother...

Twice!

He loves school...and was actually sad for summer vacation to arrive! (He's since gotten over that!)

(First day of 1st grade)

He loves to run and play and would do that all day (If he's not wanting to do school work, of course.)

He's an Auburn Tiger through and through and fully expects to be the quarterback one day.

Yep, he's pretty much the coolest kid I know!

Because you have nothing better to do...

2011-05-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

Than to watch a four year old dance "recital". I use the term loosely and don't get me started on the little girl whose mother let her wear a princess dress.

(She's limber, isn't she?!)

At the end, Melody received her first trophy. Excited doesn't even begin to describe it. And Jack came home and immediately counted his trophies to make sure he had more than she does. (Considering her total trophy count is now 1, I don't think he had much to worry about.)

Mother's Day and Warriors

2011-05-16T22:06:00.001-04:00

In my last post, I blogged about my children's love of Jesus. Jack just loves to soak in knowledge of Him while Melody is a huge worshipper. She has been singing her favorite song for all who will listen, including the staff at our chuch. Our pastor loved it so much that he asked her to sing it for the congregation at all three services! The video was taken at the 8:45 service and getting to hear her stand up there and sing pretty much topped my Mother's Day!

Alex parents were also visiting that weekend, so after church we all went out for my favorite Mother's Day tradition; brunch!

So all that, along with a fabulous necklace and some beautiful earrings, definitely made me feel like one special mommy!

I know. Not a great picture. It came from my phone.

...........................................................................................................

Some of you might remember this from last year.

Yep, he made me do it again.

Pre-race with our friend, Randy

It was fun and still just as muddy.

I did a little better this year than I did last year at #109 out of 726 women in my age group (that's 15th percentile).

And, yes, of course, Alex wants to do it again next year!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Boldness

2011-05-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks I've realized my children have a boldness about them. They are real evangelists and totally unabashed in talking about faith. Part of this I attribute to Jack's fabulous school but part of it is also just their personalities and simply being children.

This boldness has really challenged me over the past few months. Especially as I've gotten deep into the study of Isaiah at BSF.

More and more, Jesus is a frequent topic of conversation. Jack is constantly quoting scriptures, his current favorite is the Beatitudes, and can frequently be found reading his Bible.

Melody enjoys listing all the things she loves about Jesus and singing joyfully at all times. (And yes, I do mean at all times. We frequently hear exuberant tunes coming from the bathroom!)

I wonder what my life would be like if I lived my faith as boldly as they do. As boldly and as fully, keeping my constant focus on God.

I pray my children continue to speak boldy, live boldly and desire to learn more about their Savior every day.

You Get What You Deserve

2011-04-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

You're probably wondering what this picture is and why I've posted it.

It's a dead bird.

Precisely, the dead bird I caught my children playing with.

They built a nest in a bucket for it and were currently scouring the yard for worms when I discovered them.

You're probably wondering what I was doing while I was ~~neglecting~~ allowing my children the responsibility of some independence.

I might have been sneaking a few of their incredibly yummy vanilla cupcake flavored goldfish. And watching a re-run of the originial BH 90210.

Shameful, I know.

Well, I got what I deserved.

Alleluia!

2011-04-25T20:41:00.000-04:00

He is risen!

Happy Easter!

Evolution of a Black Eye

2011-04-19T17:23:00.001-04:00

Be careful if you are ever playing catch in the back yard with your dad. You might miss and the baseball might hit you in the eye.

You'll then switch to a softball and get hit in the eye again!

If that happens, your eye will probably look like this.

Then it will look like this

and then this

and after about a week, it will finally start to look normal!

Charlie's Update

2011-04-12T15:58:00.002-04:00

Right at 2.5, Charles is the full embiodiment of everything 2.

Yes, this does mean he can throw an awesome tantrum.

He remains ever serious about his food.

After all, you don't reach 36 lbs at 2 and a half years of age by eating lightly.

He seems to understand his role as youngest child and has embraced it by becoming our class clown. He will do anything to get a laugh and capitalizes on the fact that he can make us laugh frequently.

And pretty much whatever Jack and Melody want to do, Charlie demands to be right in the middle of.

See? What did I tell you...he's two all the way!

Melody Update

2011-04-09T18:25:00.000-04:00

Ever since she turned 4, Melody has been growing in leaps and bounds. It's making me so sad and happy at the same time. I miss her little baby voice. Giraffe is no longer ba-graff and she can even say "girl" the right way now! She's so proud of herself and frequently runs up to me to say all kinds of words.

Like her brother, Jack, she as develped an insatiable love of reading. She has even memorized this entire Mother Goose book!

She has been taking ballet and tap for a few months now with her best bud Ava. She loves it and is quite the dancer.

Update on Jack

2011-03-29T16:00:00.000-04:00

I realized it's been a while since I've had an update on the kiddos. I've decided to do a post on each kid, starting with Jack.

The latest and greatest news regarding Jack has been the loss of yet another tooth, making the lost tooth total 5.

This experience was particularily traumatic as it had been barely hanging on for quite a while and Jack finally asked me to pull it. I don't do teeth well nor do I do calm and this required both. Where's Captain when you need him?

Jack latest obsession is Transformers. He has most of the Transformers thanks to Dad and Grandmother, who had the good sense to save the original Transformers all these years. The obsession seems to be contagious as well. Grandddaddy has become infected and now perfers to be known as the Granddaddy-inator.

It's hard to believe that in just two months my first grader will have graduated on to the second grade. Jack, however, seems to think is a fairly small step. Today his class was traveling to Georgia Tech for a field trip. I couldn't find the paper detailing the purpose of this excursion so I asked Jack why they were going. "I don't know," he shrugged, "I guess they think we're ready for college."

And speaking of Georgia Tech...GA Tech has become a frequent topic around our house as well. Jack seems to have become a GA Tech fan, and for those of you who know us, you know we and our extended family are either die-hard Auburn or UGA fans. Jack even has put up a Tech baseketball poster in his room he has acquired from someone. I questioned him when he asked to put it up but it's hard to argue with his logic; he says he lives in Georgia and likes basketball. Both true statements. Oh, and the poster...it's not just basketball; it's women's basketball.

2011 Speech Meet

2011-03-28T10:00:00.002-04:00

Each year Jack's school has a school wide Speech Meet.

Last year Jack won his class' competition and this year he won again and participated in the school wide Speech Meet. He didn't come in first, but we still think he did a great job!

The post where I brag on my husband

2011-03-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

I need to spend a little time doing something I don't do enough of; bragging on my husband.

Plus, he's been waiting for me to post about this.

In the past, we've never really celebrated Valentine's Day. We usually get a little treat for the kids and that's about it. It's a cheesy, commercialized holiday and seems just unnecessary.

Sorry, ladies. Please don't throw things.

However, as I was spending some time reflecting on things I dislike about winter (it's freakin' freezing, it's long, it's boring, etc) I realized that a celebration is just what I needed to get me out of this funk.

So, I called up my hubs, told him about this revelation and pretty much ended the conversation with, "I know you are just going to knock my socks off with what you plan for us!"

And boy did he come through!!

He booked us a couples massage

(Not us...just some randoms that showed up on Google images.)

and got me an ipad!!

And it totally worked! I was able to break out of my mid-winter funk. Although the fact that the next week, the temps rose to the mid 60s and have (mostly) stayed there may have had something to do with it too.

Valentine's Day may be my new favorite holiday. I can't wait to see what he comes up with for next year. (hint, hint, Honey.)

Have a Very Pony Birthday!

2011-02-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

Last month our little Melody turned 4. We (coincidentially) had 4 celebrations for her fourth birthday as well. She celebrated with two of her three sets of grandparents as well as a celebration at preschool.

She was thrilled to wear her birthday crown all day!

Her party was a My Little Pony party where Melody and four of her friends went and rode real ponies. Melody was mildly disappointed that the stables weren't actually in Ponyville but got over it and had a blast on Amadaeus!

Her present from Mommy and Daddy was almost as cool as a pony.

Happy (belated) birthday to our sweet four year old!

Who's Your Daddy?

2011-02-15T16:03:00.000-05:00

Alex went to Donuts for Dad's a few weeks ago at Jack's school.

All the kids drew a picture of their dad for the ocassion.

This was Jack's.

(sorry for the poor quality...it was taken with a cell phone.)

No, I'm not sure who's dad that is either.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news. Yes, I'm back. No, I don't know where I went. We got a new computer (and I got an ipad!) so between just a lot of busy-ness going on and getting the new computer set up (which left me without a computer for a few days) I've just gotten really behind.

We'll see how long I stay on top of things this time. I have several posts drafted. After all, I know you are all dying to hear about Melody's 4th birthday and what Alex and I did for Valentine's day. Right? Right!?

Well, stay tuned. Lot's of information coming your way soon!

The Knocked Out Tooth

2011-02-01T14:20:00.001-05:00

I don't know about your kids, but the first three teeth Jack lost took forever to fall out.

No, not because they took a while to loosen up

but because even though they were hanging by teeny tiny threads, Jack was still terrified to pull them out.

Until Saturday. His top teeth had been moderately loose for a while. And then we had a little accident.

Here's Jack's version, complete with original 6-year-old sound effects.

I guess it's only fair that Captain knocked out Jack's tooth...after all knocked out Captain's tooth with a golf club many years ago!

4

2011-01-30T21:03:00.001-05:00

Four years ago today, this little angel came into our lives.

She has added spunk, snuggles, and laughter to our family.

Smooshed between two brothers, she's learned to be ultra girly and ultra tough at the same time.

She loves princesses, fairies, and My Little Pony.

Her younger brother calls her "Bubby" a nickname that we all have adopted.

Her older brother bosses her around. But he will still play ponies with her.

There is no one in the world like her and no one else could have blessed our family in the way sweet Melody has.

Comparisons

2011-01-20T17:30:00.001-05:00

Melody and Jack are about as different as night and day.

Jack is my intense, rigid, and studious child. He looks forward to the opportunity to do extra credit and his idea of play time is organizing matchbox cars by color.

Melody, a free spirit, is perfectly content waltzing around just singing to herself. "Blonde" actually can describe her in many ways. She is vastly unorganized. While she loves to collect "treasures" the moment she collects one she "loses" it. While recently visiting my parents, Melody was walking down the hall with Grammy in tow. Grammy walked into another room and when Melody turned around and noticed she was no longer behind her said, with the most forlorn expression you can imagine, "I lost my Grammy!"

Jack has been working on a project for school in which they had to research an animal. He choose an Eagle. He has been working on it for a few days. Today, in carpool, Melody started talking about the Eagle project. I was floored when I realized she knew just as much about Eagles as Jack did!

This is not the first time it happens. She frequently surprises me, in fact, with how bright she is.

That's disappointing to me. Not that she's bright but that I'm surprised by it.

Jack is such a bright child and has such a love of academics that he often overshadows his sister.

I know it's not good to compare my children. Nor do I want to short change one by labeling them "the smart one" and the something else.

Does anyone else struggle with this? How do you foster the individual personalities of each child, while still teaching them important values and how to make wise choices?

How Time Flies...

2011-01-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

I just realized today that I have barely updated everyone on Sasha and he is leaving tomorrow!

Time flies so fast!

I guess after that first week we just got so used to having him around it just slipped my mind. That and the fact that we have been busy doing all kinds of fun stuff.

We took a tour of the World Of Coke where, along with seeing a 4-D movie we also tried over 60 varieties of Coke from countries all around the world.

I learned two things; There are a lot of gross cokes out there (including Diet Coke. Yuck). Coca-cola Classic is still best coke.

We had fun at the Children's Museum. Jack and Sasha were big enough to try out the Velcro wall.

Alex and Sasha accompanied Jack to Lake Altoona for a very frigid 24+ hours while Jack earned his Polar Bear badge for Cub Scouts.

Even Sasha, who frequently laughs at us for thinking our winter is cold, got a little chilly!

And we enjoyed an extended winter break when we got 3+ inches of snow and ice this week. (Yes, that's right. I have been trapped in my house for four - soon to be five - days with four children. But that's really material for another post.) We sledded, built snowmen, ate icicles, and threw snowballs. I say we but I really mean them. I observed all this from the warmth of my living room with a cup of hot chocolate.

It's hard to believe he's going back to Ukraine tomorrow. We will all miss him.

The Snowy Day

2011-01-11T16:13:00.001-05:00

We have had two snow days already this week!

I would say that this is a rare event but it's actually become almost a yearly event for Atlanta now.

The snow day was the perfect excuse for a few things:

bust out the boogie-board

try out the new Flip camera

go sledding!!

Bonus points to anyone who can guess where "cold blew in" Jack. Heehee.

Out with the old and in with the new...

2010-12-30T22:55:00.003-05:00

2010 has flown by. Seriously. Last month I dated a check 11/14/09. I think at this point I just need to forget about 2010 and move straight to 2011.

But first I'm going to do a ~~brief~~ really long year in review.

2010 started out with Snowmageddon 1.

Followed by celebrating our princess turning 3 at her "Breakfast at Melody's" tea party.

February was quite interesting when I, the physician's daughter, totally underestimated Jack's tummy ache while Alex was ~~over-reacting~~ following his intuition. Jack had his appendix out.

February had us celebrating Valentine's Day

And freezing our tails off while trying to smile about it in Snowmageddon 2.

In March I turned 24. Again.

We entered baseball season.

And then we finally welcomed spring and Easter in April!

After a long, cold winter we really needed to spend some time with our favorite friends enjoying some fun in the sun and Sprrrring Brrrreak!

And then I went back solo for the Beth Moore conference

And the Bon Jovi concert! \m/ (Those are metal horns for all you non-~~cool~~rock-n-roll people out there.)

Jack lost his bottom teeth and we had our last day of school in May.

As well as this infamous incident.

We celebrated Mother's Day and Grandma's 80th (and last) birthday in May as well. She passed away in October and is now home with the Lord.

In June I dove out of my comfort zone and went camping. Ok, fine, it was actually yurting. I understand you tent-camping people think there's a difference but to us 5-star-resort people there's really not.

And ~~Batman~~ Jack turned 6!

The summer was spent swimming. A lot. And making sure certain body parts stay attached.

And doing a little tubing on Lake Oconee.

We headed back to FL in July where Melody and I met some real life princesses! It was truly a magical moment for both of us. I'm a little teary just thinking about it.

In August we took one last vacation to Resort Mitchell and Charlie had his first haircut courtesy of Granddaddy.

Once we were back home, we were all ready for the first day of 1st grade

and preschool!

In September Alex and I were able to take a vacation to visit Ben in Colorado

and we took several family trips down to the Plains for some fun, family, football!

This little chubby cherub turned two

and my handsome Cub Scout went on his first Scout camping trip. This was probably the highlight of his year. That and getting his batman costume. I only say that based on the fact that he mentions both things at least 10 time a day.

November brought a trip to the NC Mountains to visit Granny Gertie and (a mini) Snowmageddon 2.5.

Thanksgiving brought us to FL yet again. We are definitely thankful for these friends...we've had a lot of fun with them this year and appreciate them hosting us so frequently.

Early December brought us Sasha who will ring in the new year with us and stay here until mid-January.

We were happy to celebrate Christmas Day with Uncle Ben and his girlfriend, Bekah.

And we received an unexpected gift...a white Christmas! Georgia hadn't had a white Christmas since 1918.

I guess this makes Snowmageddon 3 for 2010.

We've had many adventures in 2010 and are looking forward to what lies ahead in 2011!

Happy New Year!

Chritmas Lights, parties, and a budding photographer

2010-12-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

We have been having a lot of fun this Christmas season!

Last Friday we drove out to the Lake Lanier Magical Nights of Lights with our friends Webb and Lindsey to check out a fabulous light display.

We saw fun animals, like this ba-jraff, a favorite of Melody's.

And this tractor

Scenes from famous movies like Aladdin

and the Wizard of Oz!

Afterward, in the village area, we braved the cold long enough to ride a few rides

and some of us wanted to see Santa. Some of us did not.

On Saturday we attended New Horizons' welcome party. Sasha was excited to see some of the children from his school and it was fun to see/hear him running around, talking excitedly in Ukrainian. Now I guess we got a little taste of how he feels all day while we're running around chattering in English!

We also got to meet some of the chaperons, like Igor here. He has a pretty amazing and inspirational story that I will share on a later post.

and if that wasn't enough, we also attended our church's live nativity. Sasha took this picture of Jack with a sheep.

He also took about a million other pictures. In 24 hours, he blew through two disposable cameras I gave him and then moved onto my camera. That, combined with his love of all sports, makes me think a career as a sports paparazzi might be in his future.

We've had Sasha with us for over a week now.

I'll admit the first few days were rough for me. It was emotionally challenging and the language barrier was especially getting to me. However, with each passing day, Sasha's English has improved. His comprehension is really good and I can usually get my point across with minimal confusion. In the past few days he's started speaking more in English as well. And he's taught us some Ukrainian. Jack, Melody, and Charlie are learning how to count and I can say 'cow', 'dog', and 'thank you'. Does this make us multi-cultural now? :)

We are looking forward to Christmas (only 2 days as my kids remind me every 2.4 seconds) with Sasha. Tonight my brother, Ben, and his girlfriend, Bekah, are flying into town.We already have quite a stash under the tree but hopefully Santa will find room to add a few more.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Boy Scouts and Bobcats

2010-12-22T21:41:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, at the pack meeting, Jack was awarded his first Cub Scouts badge and belt loops.

He received the Bobcat badge

and the belt loops for archery and bb gun.

Have you ever seen a more excited face?!

In other news, I know you all want a Sasha update. I am sorry I've been behind (we've been having too much fun with him!) but will have an update, complete with pictures, tomorrow.

PSF and Bibliya

2010-12-16T21:17:00.001-05:00

Біблія is the Ukrainian word for Bible.

When we learned Sasha would be coming to stay with us over Christmas, I wanted a Bible to be one of his Christmas presents.

Bibles in Eastern European languages are hard to come by but fortunately I was directed to Eastern European Missions. They are a wonderful organization and graciously provided us with two Bibles in Russian.

One was a children's Bible and the other a regular, full verse Bible.

I was amazed when I saw it. It has some of the most beautiful illustrations I have seen. I took some pictures, although they hardly do it justice.

In other Sasha news, everything is going well. He's such a sweet boy, plays nicely with Jack, Melody, and Charlie and has incredible manners. I learned today he likes to cook and had a great time helping me make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Each day, our language barrier is getting better. He doesn't say too much but his comprehension level is rising.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

The First 24 hours

2010-12-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

So, we've had Sasha with us for 24 hours now.

While we all are having a blast with him, no one warmed up quite as fast as Melody did. She ran downstairs this morning, took one look at him, exclaimed, "Sasha!" and just started hugging him.

(Sorry for the bad image, it was taken from my cell phone.)

One thing I learned pretty fast is Google Translator rocks.

Secondly, Nintendo is a universal language. I showed him the Wii and his face lit up and we played while the little kids napped. He beat me every single time.

So far he seems to be having a good time too. He is obviously used to little kids and plays well with Charlie and Melody. He seemed really happy when we picked Jack up from school and they had a blast all afternoon.

So far so good. Whew!

He's here!

2010-12-13T21:52:00.000-05:00

Sasha has arrived!

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting and checking my blog every 3.2 seconds for new. No?

Our first evening has been uneventful so far.

We waited at the airport for about an hour for him to get through customs.

We met him.

We said some things. He smiled.

He said something. We smiled.

We left.

We got home, Alex taught him how to use the shower (they don't have regular showers over there. You don't want to know how they generally bathe) and he showered.

We said a few things via Google Translator.

We asked him if he was hungry.

No.

Thirsty?

No.

Tired?

Yes.

So he's in bed.

At least he's not having a hard time adjusting!

I am sure you were expecting something a little more exciting. I mean really, traveling halfway across the world and then going to sleep!? :) I wish I had more to say, but I'm with Sasha. I need to go to bed. I'm exhausted, physically and emotionally, but looking forward to what lies ahead for us starting bright and early tomorrow!

As he has basically no clothes with him and arrived wearing dress shoes, we'll be out shopping tomorrow for some essentials.

I will also try and take a few photos and with update you with the funny comments I anticipate Melody making in regards to Sasha's arrival.

Tomorrow and Snow

2010-12-12T22:43:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day!! Sasha's flight gets in at 6:15 p.m. Please pray for all the orphans and chaperons traveling. The children from Sasha's orphanage had to endure an 18 hour train ride, on a train that makes Amtrak seem like the most luxurious form of transportation on Earth, followed by a flight to Amsterdam, a layover, and then a flight to Atlanta. Other children had similar, extremely long travel experiences.

We are really looking forward to meeting Sasha and pray that he will adjust quickly to being here. I will definitely keep y'all updated.

In other news, today we enjoyed a snow day! (And in Atlanta a snow day means we had about an hour of flurries.)

The kids ran out on to the Deck to catch snowflakes on their tongues and slide around on the slick surface.

They had blast.

For about 15 minutes...

Charlie didn't even last that long. He was outside for about 5 minutes before he came scampering back in saying, "I cold, Mom!"

Alex and I were the smart ones...we preferred to spend our snow day here instead.

Does this count as a white Christmas?

Randomness

2010-12-11T10:30:00.002-05:00

We've had a lot going on the past few weeks, getting ready for Sasha's visit and Christmas. I'm fluctuating between feeling very calm and completely overwhelmed. So, in trying to keep myself feeling calm and organized, I'm going to just do a bullet post to update everyone with where we are.

A friend of mine was so generous and picked up a bunch of underwear, socks, and a few other odds and ends at Walmart for Sasha. He now has more underwear and socks than my own children do.
Sasha is just a nickname. His real name is Alexander. (Oleksandr in Russian.)
Melody says Sasha like "Ssshaa-ssshaa". It's really cute to hear.
I'm out of my stash of Christmas cookies and candy which really bums me out. On the upside, it's not a big deal if I skip a work out or two since I have nothing good to eat anyway.
I'm planning on rebuilding my stash this week. Yum!
I plan on working out a lot this week.
(Y'all are really going to hate me for this one) All my shopping and wrapping is complete. I even have all Santa and Mommy/Daddy gifts assembled, wrapped, and stocking stuffers ready to be stuffed.
It has been REALLY cold here. This is partly why I've gotten so much done. I've had no desire to leave the warmth of my house which means that I've ordered a lot online and have had plenty of wrapping time.
The kids love to look at Christmas decorations while we're in the car. If Charlie sees a particular house he really likes, he instructs me to "Back up, Mom, back up!"
Jack's school Christmas performance was last week. I have a video I will post soon. You can hear Jack loud and clear. And very off key. It's great.

PSF and Marnold

2010-12-09T21:24:00.001-05:00

Meet Marnold.

Marnold, a pygmy puff, was a gift to me from Lauren on her recent excursion to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. (I know you're dying to know what she got herself. A wand. Hermione's wand. Yes, she is cool.)

Now, I love Marnold. But not quite as much as Melody does. From the moment she noticed Marnold, or what she initally referred to as the pink puff ball, she has taken care of him.

She even named him in a way. His initial name was Arnold Jr. However, Melody said she didn't like saying that name and was just going to say Marnold.

Marnold's day begins with breakfast, followed by an eventful time watching Melody play with her toys, and then a nap. At bedtime Melody will place him in my bed and kiss him goodnight. She also checks him in the morning to make sure he actually did sleep in my bed.

Who knew Melody was destined to be a pygmy puff mommy?!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

8 days and counting...

2010-12-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

The official count down to Sasha has begun...8 days!!

After a few weeks of anxiety about what is about to happen, I finally feel relatively prepared (kind of).

We had long day of training on Saturday. I wasn't actually looking forward to it, but we felt so encouraged afterwards. There was a plethora of information. There are so many cultural differences that I had never considered or knew about. And aside from just general cultural difference, it's impossible to even begin to image what these children face in their orphanages. Aside from basic necessities we completely take for granted, such as clothes that fit and seconds at the dinner table, ultimately their childhoods are completely stolen from them. I can't even begin to think about how I need to pray for him.

While there were many heart-wrenching things to consider, there were uplifting topics as well. Listening to the stories of families who really connected and bonded with their child. There were stories of children who were stoic and timid when they arrived and by the time they left, they actually knew someone loved them unconditionally.

We also told Jack, Melody, and Charlie about Sasha's visit this weekend. We started by talking about things we do to show God's love. I showed them Sasha's photo and asked if they knew what an orphan was. When I told them that Sasha would be visiting our family for 5 weeks, Jack's immediate response was, "I'm so excited! Can I tell him about Jesus?" I knew they would like this idea, but I have to admit I was a little concerned about their initial response. I am so happy that they immediately embraced the idea.

I plan to spend a good portion of this week preparing for his arrival. I need to get him a couple of things to wear once he arrives. Once he's here we'll go shopping to get him more clothing and other necessities. I am also finished up the last of my Christmas shopping. I pretty much having everything finished except for stocking stuffers.

So, that's where we are. Counting down and eagerly anticipating.

Update on Sasha

2010-12-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

If you regularly read my blog, you know that our family will be hosting a child this Christmas.

I sent out the following email to family and friends the other day and thought I would post it here for anyone I might have missed or those who are interested in being updated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello and Merry Christmas,

If you are receiving this email, it is because you have contributed to our cause in some way, prayed for us, or shown an interested in being updated. We really appreciate the amazing amount of support we received in reaching our goal.

Since we initially sent out our first email 6 weeks ago, a lot has happened. We finished all the paper work required to be a host family and have found out that Sasha will be arrive to spend 5 weeks with us on December 13! Sasha is from Ukraine and is 13 years old. He has been to America one other time. Other than that, we don’t know any more about him but cannot wait to meet him.

Although we are looking forward to having Sasha here with us, we are feeling a little anxious as well. Aside from obvious cultural differences, we don’t know exactly how much English he speaks. We will be attending a thorough host family training session on Saturday and expect this to offer us more guidance and direction. We would appreciate any and all prayers for us and Sasha as we continue on this path. We would like to especially pray that Sasha and all the other children and chaperons have safe travels over here.

We will send out emails periodically with updates and pictures (once Sasha arrives) and will update our blog (http://5powellsinatlanta.blogspot.com) as well.

Thank you again for your prayers and friendship.

Alex and Emily

The Traditional Photo...

2010-12-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

No, not a Christmas card photo. The traditional Snellings / Powell kids photo.

You can view the previous editions here, here, here, and here.

They're a cute bunch, aren't they!?

Turkeys, Cupcakes, and Wizards

2010-11-29T22:49:00.001-05:00

We had a blast in Tampa over Thanksgiving with some of our favorite friends.

Our holiday included some fun crafts

Some involving icing

A beautiful table

With a seriously tasty meal

even better company

And a trip to see Harry Potter 7 (Yes, that's Lauren with her wand and my pygmy puff, Marnold. Yes, we are that crazy.)

Thanks to this great couple for hosting us!

Gobble Gobble Gobble says the bird...

2010-11-25T06:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from my three little turkeys!

Her first...

2010-11-23T14:09:00.001-05:00

Sleepover!

Melody and her bff, Ava, have been begging for a sleepover for a while now. So on Sunday night we finally decided to give it a whirl.

We had a fun movie night. And then it was bedtime.

Kind of.

It was really like play-in-the-bedtime!

Finally after about an hour and a half, I had to separate them. I moved Melody into our bed and both girls were out in about 3 seconds flat.

They are so cute when they're asleep.

Enjoying breakfast the next morning.

When Ava left, Melody looked at me and said, "I can't wait until my next sleepover!"

PSF and bunks

2010-11-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

We are now one of those families.

You know. Families with bunk beds.

Yes, this is a really bad picture. But it does capture the excitement. They were bouncing up and down as I took it.

In the 4 days we've had the bunks I've learned some important lessons:

The top bunk is really hard to make.
The top bunk is where the child will want to sleep.
Don't spend a lot of money. The beds will be damaged or graffitied in the first 24 hours.
Jumping off the top bunk or the ladder is lots of fun.
No amounts of threats and/or punishments will deter said jumping.

And finally

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Beans, beans...

2010-11-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

They're good for your heart...

Well, you know the rest. That was the song Jack was singing while we were playing with (what else?) beans!

I've had a big container of dried beans ever since I stole this idea and realized that the fun wasn't worth the clean up.

I don't know why it took me over a year to realize I should just put them outside!

They've been having a blast for the last week. And, bonus, beans in the sand table means they aren't tracking in sand!

I think I'm finally onto something here...

PSF and Where We Were

2010-11-11T21:15:00.000-05:00

I left a few of you wondering where we southerners possibly could have seen snow last weekend...Waynesville, NC!

We went up to the North Carolina mountains to visit with our Granny and Aunt Nan who drove over for the weekend as well.

Saturday morning on our way up there we experienced quite a dusting. It quickly melted, but the kids enjoyed it for a few hours first.

Since we rarely get snow in GA, this was quite a treat for them.

Melody and Charlie enjoyed showing off their snowmen.

We found some scarecrows to play with

And Jack developed a love for photography that included taking picture of random golfers on the golf course...

who then turned the table on him and took a picture of this crew!

And best of all, we got to spent a lot of time with Granny Gertie and Aunt Nan! (Despite his face, Charlie was having a blast. He just didn't want to stop throwing leaves on Aunt Nan to pose for a picture with her!)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Where...

2010-11-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

are we?

and what are we playing with??

My boy...

2010-11-08T21:00:00.000-05:00

who loves school (and looks so handsome in his chapel uniform) took part in the following conversation the other day...

Me: Daddy, Jack got a 100% on his math and spelling tests and 96% on phonics this week.
Alex: Wow, that's great.
Jack: That's just what I do. I just get it all right!

PSF and Ouch!

2010-11-04T18:30:00.003-04:00

Despite my promises of entering back into the blogging world (which I know no one believes any more) I've been insanely busy and neglecting blogs yet again.

However, this is the end of the business for me. That's it. It's over. I quit. I've had too much going on and I'm slowing down my life.

Hold me to it.

In the meantime, I leave you with this cute little guy who has an important lesson to share; it's not a good idea to get up close and person with a sidewalk!

Ouch!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Men in Costumes

2010-11-03T07:20:00.001-04:00

I'm not really a Halloween person, but I do think it's funny to see grown men get dressed up.

Here we have Rocky, an outdoorsman dude, and, my husband, an Alabama fan. My apologies to all my Alabama fan friends. I hope they all can see the humor in this and appreciate the fact that it's all in good fun and be the true sportsman that they are. (Kind of hard to be mad at me after that, right?)

Seriously, though, isn't the Saban tat a nice touch?

Batgirl, Cinderella, and Princess Aurora

2010-10-31T23:00:00.000-04:00

Halloween is not one of my favorite "holidays". Ok, let me be honest, other than the candy I don't really like it at all and I don't like the fact that it lasts a week. There, Ok, I said it.

That being said, I do think it's cute to see my kids dress up. (Of course, I get to see it fairly often, since dressing up is a frequent occurrence for us.) This year, we had a Batman (shocker, I know,) a Batgirl, and Spiderman.

I even got a chance to dress up too. I was an Auburn fan. (Yes, I've already been told that was a cop-out.) One of my oldest and closest friends, Anne, was in town this weekend. It was great to get to spend a whole weekend with her as I definitely don't get to see her as often as I'd like.
(And in case you can't tell from his expression, Charlie was pretty worried about the spiders hanging from the ceiling.)

And like any true girl, Melody had multiple costume changes. She began as Batgirl, moved on to Cinderella, and for the grand finale decided to go with her old standby, Princess Aurora. Really, you just can't go wrong with Sleeping Beauty. And as Melody told me Friday, "Grruls weally wike to change der minds."

And now off to enjoy some of that candy. And least these three days of chaos weren't for nothing, right?

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

PSF and Meet Sasha

2010-10-28T18:45:00.001-04:00

In the past few weeks, we've had some exciting stuff going on at our house.

Alex and I recently became involved in a non-profit, Christian organization that brings over orphaned children twice a year from Eastern Europe to share with them God's love and allow them to experience Christian family life.

(Click on the photo to visit their website.)

We have decided to be a host family this Christmas.

Meet Sasha.

Sasha is Russian and he's 13 years old. We don't know a whole lot about him, other than he's a funny, sweet, and active boy. He will be joining our family in mid-December and will stay with us through mid-January.

New Horizon's is a wonderful organization. I urge you to check out their website and our website as well for more information or for more ways to be involved.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

A Tribute to Grandma

2010-10-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

I have not been around much the past few days and it's because last Thursday, my wonderful grandma passed away.

(Granddaddy and Grandma shortly after they were married.)

She was a wonderful woman...generous, caring, and she loved Jesus and her family and friends.

(Grandma and Mom at Jack's 1st birthday party)

Like all ~~old~~ people do, she had her quirks. She loved to tell stories. Over and over again. I had to laugh at her memorial service, when the preacher told one of her stories. He had obviously heard it many times as well, as he knew it word for word the way she would have told it.

I have too many memories to count of fun times I had with Grandma.
I miss her.
But the joy I feel in knowing that she is now more alive than ever before, in heaven, worshiping our Lord is greater than my sorrow.

(Granny and Grandma at Melody's Baptism)

PSF and Diva-in-Training

2010-10-21T17:30:00.002-04:00

How do I know that Melody is a future diva?

(Other than the fact that she has mastered drama completely.)

She has also mastered the fine art of pulling off a wardrobe malfunction.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Celebrate 2!

2010-10-19T19:32:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, we finally celebrated Charlie's 2nd birthday.

We had a little Auburn tailgate themed party and invited ~~the two friends he has~~ a few of his friends.

Here's the cake.

(Yes, it does look good. Believe me, it was good!)

And here were are singing happy birthday to him, which he loved. He sang it to himself the rest of the weekend.

And since he spits when he blows, I helped him blow out the candles. I'm sure the partygoers appreciated that.

And that's the extent of my pictures. And I only have those thanks to my fabulous friend, Amy.

Yes, Charlie is a victim of 3rd child syndrome. So sad.

An honest confession

2010-10-18T08:15:00.000-04:00

For the past several years now, my Mom, followed by my aunt, have hounded me to join BSF. Well, this year, I finally did.

I'm not quite sure if I'm glad or not yet. They told me it would be life changing. They are right. And those changes happened almost immediately.

Not to mention that the study for BSF this year is on Isaiah. For the past month, I've been living under the conviction of what a Holy God our God truly is. I always knew God is holy, but after studying Isaiah, I'm just beginning to barely grasp what holy actually is.

Last week's lesson was particularly convicting to me. We were reading Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah has his vision and is commissioned by God. God tells Isaiah that despite all his warnings, the people of Judah's hearts will be so hardened they they will not change their ways.

Matthew 12:34b says, "for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."

Here comes a really honest confession; I am quick to anger. Yes, even over the little things. Especially over the little things. Like when I spill a cup of milk all over myself and my clean kitchen. Even though I might not speak them out loud, the first words that pop into my head are not holy words.

My prayer this week is that my heart is not already hardened this way. I don't want my heart to be full of anger. I don't want to be like Isaiah's people, who are already so far gone that these warnings will fall on deaf ears. And, especially, I don't want to teach my children to become easily frustrated and angry. They watch my reactions and I need to be careful to show calm, patience, and understanding to them.

PSF and Muscles

2010-10-14T18:00:00.002-04:00

It's no secret that Jack's greatest desire is to be a superhero.
Preferably Batman.

I have to admit, I've used this to my advantage ~~at every possible opportunity~~ once or twice.

I can't help it. It's just so easy. All I have to do is tell him that I used kryptonite as an ingredient and he will happily scarf down anything on his plate.

Yesterday as he was inhaling ~~peas~~ kryptonite balls the following conversation took place. "Mom," he said excitedly, "I feel these lumps in my chest! I think I'm finally starting to get muscles like Batman!"

"Great." I responded.

"It's because I'm eating all these kryptonite balls!" he said. "Pretty soon I'm going to have muscles just as big as Batman's."

(silence for a few seconds)

"Mom? Why doesn't Daddy have any muscles like Batman?"

It was hard not to giggle at that one.

Oh, and the lumps? His ribs.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Ok, I know what I said in my last post. I've been trying to think about what I want to post about these past few days. I do want to get more open and honest about things really going on, but it's hard. After all my mom reads this blog. Just kidding, Mom. I've realized that I'm just not a real emotional person. Or not good at sharing my emotions. I know that people who know me IRL are probably laughing but I'd just like to point out that acting emotional and sharing (verbalizing) emotions aren't the same thing. Ahem.
Anyway, stick with me. I'll get there. After all, this kind of counts,right? I mean, I opened up about how I'm not good at opening up.

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

2010-10-12T19:36:00.006-04:00

Melody, Charlie and I took a little zoo excursion today with our friends, Lindsey and Grayson.

Elephants were a big hit...

but definitely not as cool as the giraffes. Or ba-jraff, as Melody calls them.
She's in the ba-jraff class at preschool and anything with a long-neck is super cool to her.

Charlie liked the ba-jraffs as well but really liked the zebras.

While nothing can top a ba-jraff to Melody, the goats at the petting zoo came close. She proclaimed them, "So cuuuute!" and following them around, giving hugs and pats to each and every one

wanting them all to feel loved and appreciated.
See?

Charlie, on the other hand, takes after me. We prefer to view animals from the other side of the fence. However, I did finally convince him to pet a goat. He was moderating happy for about 10 seconds and then started looking for the exit again.

On another note, in the past I've tried to keep my blog relatively light and just focused on thing fun things my kids are doing and the hilarious things they say. While I will still be blogging about those things, I'm going to blog a little more about deeper issues such as my faith and things happening in my family and marriage.

Look-a-likes!

2010-10-10T19:30:00.000-04:00

I often hear people call Melody my "mini-me". I've never really thought there was that strong of a resemblance, aside from the blonde hair and blue eyes,

until my mother-in-law took these pictures

And then I finally saw it.

Maybe I do have a mini-me!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

PSF and Meet Melody, the hoarder

2010-10-07T18:50:00.004-04:00

Meet Melody.

Any regular reader of my blog know what a sweet, spunky little girl she is.

What you probably don't know is that she's a hoarder. In a big way.

I used to think it was just a phase but now I'm fairly sure it's becoming a lifestyle.

To prove my point, I have evidence that I found in her school bag the other day. Her "treasures" include miscellaneous plastic bags, mardi gras necklaces (that's a whole other worry), wood chips, a few rocks, and a duck. A duck, incidentally, that she found her her friend, Ava's car. I guess I can add klepto to her list of issues as well.
Hoarding: Buried Alive now has their first contestant for their children's edition.

It's a good thing she's so cute because she sure is a handful.

Tiger Cubs and Camping

2010-10-05T10:22:00.003-04:00

Jack and Alex had the privilege of going on their first father/son Cub Scout camping trip last weekend.

Excited doesn't even begin to cover it for Jack.

Among other things, he learned archery

and how to shoot a bb gun and a slingshot.

His favorite part was orienteering, which involves learning how to follow a compass and map.

He's already informed me he's well on his way to being an Eagle Scout!

PSF and How to Catch Ants

2010-09-30T19:32:00.009-04:00

One of the things I love about my six year old (and six year olds in general) is the big ideas they come up with.

Jack came home very excited from school one day last week. He and a friend had hatched a genius plan to catch ants.

In preparation of this venture, they wrote step by step instructions, complete with illustrations, in this handy notebook.

I am now passing this knowledge on to you.

You're welcome.

1. Drag your foot across the ground.

2. An ant will walk out.

3. Drop rock on ant.

4. Dig a deep hole.

5. Ant will fall in the hole.

6. Ant trap.

See, simple. Yep, it's nice having a genius as my son.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

PSF and 2

2010-09-23T18:43:00.009-04:00

It's hard to believe that's it been almost two whole years (1 year and 362 days to be exact) since our Charlie came into the world and made our family complete.

(1 day old)

He's been our happy, rolly-polly baby

(6 months)

easygoing, unless he has an opinion on the matter

(12 months)

always curious and determined to do whatever his brother and sister do

(18 months)

and a smile that just melts my heart.

(almost two years old!)

Happy birthday, Charlie!! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

WW - Me and an Elk

2010-09-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Rocky Mountain High

2010-09-20T07:00:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Alex and I took a trip out to Denver to spend a weekend with Uncle Ben.

We had a blast. We loved getting to see where Ben lived and checking out all the sights in and around Denver. The highlight of our trip, however, was climbing Mt Quandary, one of Colorado's 14ers, on Saturday.

It was just exhilarating to be that high up. At least as exhilarating as possible when struggling to breathe.

Here were are starting the hike at 6 a.m. And it's 28 degrees. Yes, I was totally freezing!

The first part of the trail looked like this. Nice and easy, right?

We enjoyed some beautiful views as well as a gorgeous sunrise.

The two peaks between the trees are Mt Torreys and Grey, also 14ers.

The nice gentle slope didn't last for long before we started to encounter some rocks along the trail. We are right near the top of the tree line here, at about 12,000 feet.

While the going was getting tougher the views were still spectacular.
Here we are at the ridge with the last 700 feet or so left to ascend to the peak.

At some points along the trail. We were literally using our hands to hike upwards; it was so steep.
Here is Ben pretending to almost fall. Yes, he is hilarious.

Taking a break to catch our breath and look down to see the progress we've made.

The view from the top was amazing. It was definitely worth the trek up there. We were freezing at the top though! It literally felt like the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the last 100 feet of the hike.

The view behind us is looking out towards Copper Mountain. Gorgeous, no?

Thanks, Ben, for hanging out with us all weekend!! We had a blast and can't wait for our next trip out west.

PSF and bat-attack!

2010-09-16T18:00:00.002-04:00

Anyone who knows our family knows Jack ~~loves~~ ~~adores~~ is insanely obsessed with Batman.

But he's not the only one.
We seem to be a family of Bat-people.

(all photos courtesy of the incredibly talented Pam Powell)

Along with Batman, we have Bat-girl (or Bat-grr-al as Melody pronounces it).

And the Bat-xcutioner.

And sometimes I even join in the fun and become Bat-mommy.
(After all, why should the kids have all the fun!?)

I'm not sure what possessed me to put this totally embarrassing picture up. So, enjoy it now...when I come to my senses I'm sure I'll take it down!

PSF and mixed up

2010-09-09T17:30:00.003-04:00

Is anyone else as confused as I am?

One child seems a little overly prepared

while the other two only have enough clothes between them for one person.

I'm not sure where I went wrong that day!

PSF and hike!

2010-09-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

Ready!

Set!

HIKE!

Time for some Auburn football!!

War Eagle!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Look! A truck!

2010-08-31T14:23:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows my Jack will remember his obsession with ~~John Deere, excavators, garbage trucks, backhoes, bulldozers, dump trucks~~ any and all things with wheels.

(Jack, spring 2007)

and how he loved making "parking lots".
Yes, that a parking lot designed to look like a house.
When you make about 5 million parking lots a day, you need to spice it up a little.

Obviously my attempts to keep the obsession from infecting Charlie have failed.
Yesterday, I caught him in this position.

His favorite word used to be "no". Now it's "truck".
I'm not sure which is better.

Oh well. At least I have one little princess who's more concerned with whether or not the trucks are pretty than how many wheels they have!

PSF and Nine

2010-08-26T17:30:00.000-04:00

On August 25, 2001, I married the most wonderful man in the world.

I loved him then and I love him even more now.

And now, 9 years and 3 beautiful children later,

I still think he's the most wonderful man on earth.

Even though he forgot our anniversary.

(Yes, I'm sure he'll make it up to me!)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Another first...

2010-08-23T19:41:00.001-04:00

We had another first day of school here today.

Melody started 3-year-preschool (aka the Giraffe class) today.

Believe me, she's been waiting for this moment ever since Jack stepped out of the car on his first day of school.

Here she is showing off her cute bag my friend Courtney (aka Ella's mom) made for her.

She has not stopped talking about school and ~~I think my ear drums are about to burst~~ I'm thrilled she had a wonderful first day!

PSF and tired

2010-08-19T17:10:00.004-04:00

I fully expected to jump right back in to regular, frequent blogging once school got started. After all, I neglected my blog all summer, spending my time with all three children, swimming, playing with friends, and thought that surely the onset of school would bring me some much needed free time.

I was wrong.

Between Jack's school and extracurricular activities, preparing Melody to start preschool, my volunteer activities, and simply the effort it takes getting back into the swing of things, I've just been too tired.

But not this tired.

Poor thing...she didn't even make it all the way to the bed.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Treasure Mountain

2010-08-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, Uncle Ben flew in from Denver for a visit.

The kids had a blast. Especially when he taught them "Treasure Mountain".

Remember that from camp days?

Treasure mountain, treasure mountain
Four big boulders, a circle and a dot

Spiders crawling up your back, spiders crawling down your back

One here, one there, now they're crawling in your hair.

Egg splat, water falling down your back
Tight squeeze, cool breeze,
now you've got the shiveries!

PSF and haircuts

2010-08-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

Charlie had his first haircut (courtesy of his Granddaddy) a few weeks ago.

Those who know us, know this is a big milestone for our family.

Charlie, however, was relatively unenthusiastic and took his accomplishment in stride. Although he did have a celebratory cookie.

I know for some of you Charlie's hair doesn't seem long...but he was starting to sport the mullet look. And it's not the 80s any more nor do we live in West Virginia, so it was really time to get a trim.

The haircut commences with the "why-are-you-grabbing-my-head" look.

Followed by the "whatever-I-have-a-cookie" response

Next comes "I-don't-mind-this-too-much-as-long-as-I-don't-drop-this-cookie."

"Hey! You almost made my drop my cookie!"

And finally the finished product.

Handsome little guy, dontcha think?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

The first day...

2010-08-09T12:02:00.001-04:00

of 1st grade!!

Someone else wanted to be in the picture too. (The third one was having breakfast and if you've ever seen him, you know that meals are very important!)

Here's to a great year!

PSF and daring

2010-08-05T22:43:00.007-04:00

After a summer full of all kinds of fun trips, we finally make it to Resort Mitchell for a few days.

It's so relaxing there.

And the kids have fun too.

Especially in the swimming pool.

This year they both dared to do something they hadn't done before.

They jumped off the jumping wall, a.k.a. a 5-6 foot drop from a brick wall into the pool.

I've actually only done it once because I think it's scary!

But this year, Jack and Melody both dared to do it.

My mom's very encouraging, in case you can't tell.

Did you notice Melody's feet? They never stop moving. And for the record, when I recorded this, Jack had been going off the jumping wall for a day at that point but this was Melody's first jumping wall attempt. Pretty darn brave for a 3-year-old!

What have you dared to do this summer??

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

PSF and almost two

2010-07-29T17:33:00.003-04:00

Lately, Charlie has been giving me constant reminders that he's almost two.

He talks a lot.
And runs everywhere.
Then there's the biggest indicator of a two-year-old: is insanely opinionated.

So, with each passing day

And with each opinion adamantly voiced

I'm reminded that my baby is really changing and growing in many ways.

And in the midst of this multitude of changes, I appreciate that every once in a while, he takes a minute to remind me...

(July 2010)

that some things never change!

(July 2009)

Hosted by Cecily and Caitlin

A new hair-do and a sneak preview

2010-07-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

After waiting three and half long years, I finally got to say to say these six words...

Melody, you really need a haircut!

If you read my blog regularly, you've probably noticed that her hair has actually gotten thicker and longer in the past few months. And, along with this insane summer heat, it was time for something a bit shorter and more stylish.

So, off we went on an impromptu trip to the beauty salon. The stylist cut off more than 2 inches! I almost fainted when I saw the hair falling to the floor. However, I'm very happy with the end result.

After all, what could be more stylish than the ever classic bob?

I know I'm a little biased, but I think she looks just adorable!

And the sneak peek in this post is a little hint of Melody's wall color.
I'm sorry it's not the best photo but with a little girl that can barely sit still, I have to take what I can get.
Melody's room will be finished in a week or so, so stay tuned for the big reveal!

PSF and cribs

2010-07-22T20:27:00.000-04:00

A while ago, Alex and I had decided to swap Melody and Charlie's bedrooms.

Melody's room was right next to Jack's and we thought it would be best for the boys to be next to each other. Plus, Charlie's bedroom was bigger and Melody deserves the bigger bedroom...let's be honest, she does have to put up with two brothers.

Alex took the kids to Grandmother's house for the weekend, while I stayed home ~~for some R&R~~ to be here for the painters. (I know, my husband does rock!)

Since my painters work fast, I had plenty of time to rearrange the rooms and swap the furniture. It was all pretty easy (since they actually barely have any furniture) until I came to disassembling and reassembling the crib. As you all know, a crib will not fit through a doorway so it has to be taken down to be moved. I was on a roll and (anyone who knows me will attest to this) had no intention of stopping until their rooms were situated. Plus, I had seen my husband set up the crib numerous times in the past 6 years and it never looked all that difficult.

Looking back, thinking that was probably my first mistake.

It was quite a long *ahem, 2 hours, ahem* process and, in the spirit of educating others, I'd thought I'd share my new found knowledge with the blog world.

When opening the drill case, make sure it's not upside down. If it is, the contents will spill everywhere.
Drills have a lot of small parts. If you lose one, it will take forever and a day to find it.
You don't actually need a drill to assemble a crib (at least not my crib.)
Google is very informative. Without it I would not know what an allen wrench is.
You do need an allen wrench to assemble a crib.
Before starting this process, take a long, honest look in the mirror. If nothing about you screams handyman, it might be best to defer the responsibility to someone else.

Please take a moment to ohh and ahh over the assembled crib. I'll wait.

(Don't worry, a pictures of Melody's room are coming, but it will be another few weeks before we have her new furniture.)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli