Six Things About Me...

Tammy, I am sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your tag. Here it goes...

1. I absolutely LOVE onions! When I was little I remember pulling green onions out the garden, washing them, dipping them in a little salt and munching away. I am often guilty of over doing the onions when I cook for my family. Although, I have trained Josiah to love onions too. The first born gets all the good training.

2. My right foot has been numb for six years. I had some nerve (right L5 nerve to be exact) damage when I was pregnant with Emma. My foot has been numb ever since. It is more annoying than anything. I have to wear comfortable shoes which is no problem unless I am going to a wedding or something. Emma was worth it. She is a sweetie and doesn't get on my nerves now.

3. I gave birth to Lydia, my fourth child, in the passenger seat of my father-in-law's car. We were forced off the interstate by a police officer with his gun pointed at us. The police officer made my husband get in the back of the police car while he checked to see if I was really in labor. I was and Lydia was born about 7 minutes later.

4. Craft, Art, and Office Supply stores make me very happy! I could spend a days studying their inventory. I love being artsy and organized.

5. I have lived in seven different states...Mississippi, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama. I have lived in Birmingham for 12 years. This is by far the longest I have ever lived in one place. I like it.

6. I do not enjoy writing. I would much rather be drawing, taking pictures, playing with my kids, cleaning (yes,I will gladly scrub a toilet before writing), sleeping or whatever. I hope my children love to write. They have learned to read much faster and better than I did. I hope all of them take after Sam in the reading / writing category.

Praise the Lord I am finished! Now I can go scrub the toilet...

Monarch Butterflies!

My Mom, the science teacher, brought us several monarch caterpillars and a supply of milkweed. The caterpillars ate and ate and ate and became very fat caterpillars. Then they climbed to the top of their container and hung by a 'j' shape. Next, they each formed their bright green and gold chrysalis. After two weeks they emerged from their chrysalis as beautiful butterflies. We all enjoyed watching this amazing process. Thank you Mimi!

Birthday Suprises!

Birthday Week 2008

Whew...we made it through another fun filled birthday week! We started with a Build-a-bear party for Emma! She choose six friends to join her in some bear building fun. After the build-a-bear festivities we gathered out in the mall for some cupcakes, cheetos and caffeine free coke & rootbeer. I think our sweet little six year old had a super fun party with her family and friends!

The next morning (Emma's actual birthday) Sam and I had a HUGE surprise for the kids! We had secretly planned and packed for a mini vacation to Atlanta. After church we went out to eat like normal. As we pulled out of the parking lot Josiah immediately noticed we were going the wrong way! Sam simply explained that he needed to get gas and go by the bank. That satisfied him. It was not until almost 50 miles later that Josiah ask,"When are we ever going to be home?" Sam responded,"Tuesday." Josiah thought he was kidding. It was so funny! The kids were so excited to find out that we were going to spend two nights in a hotel, go the Georgia Aquarium and the Coke Museum! Eliott's reaction was the best! He woke up when we were downtown Atlanta. We were explaining to him what we were doing and he said,"Oh WOW, that is AWESOME!"

We had a fabulous time looking at all the old Coke memorabilia, but the highlight of the Coke museum was tasting Coke products from around the world. We don't let our kids drink many sweet drinks, so they loved the endless sampling! After a quick lunch of peanut butter crackers and bananas, we headed into the Georgia Aquarium. Wow...it was amazing! It was a perfect day to be at the Aquarium...no crowds. Josiah still says that was the best day he has ever had!

Tuesday the kids thought we were packing up and heading straight home. Little did they know that we were going to a ....Lego Store!! When we pulled into the mall parking lot the kids were not excited about shopping. Their attitude change when they learned that they were going to be able to spend their birthday money. The boys were in heaven in the Lego store and Emma enjoyed making a purchase at Hello Kitty. Tuesday was Eliott's birthday so on the way home we bought some cupcakes from Publix. We enjoyed cupcakes on the deck after dinner.

Saturday, Josiah's birthday, was a crazy busy day...soccer game...family pictures...wedding (that Sam was in.) Josiah's team tied their game and Josiah scored one of the three goals. We met sweet Adria downtown on Morris Avenue for school pictures. Yes, school pictures by a professional photographer / fellow homeschool mom. Next, over to the Alabama Theater for Jarrod and Susie Beth's wedding. Needless to say, we did not get to do anything special for Josiah on his birthday, so Sunday he got to pick a restaurant to eat lunch at. He chose Tomatopie...yummy! Since we had eaten a bunch of cake already that week we ordered a dessert pizza and stuck eight candles in it...perfect. And thus the end of an exciting, fun, busy and exhausting birthday week!

Happy Birthday Lydia!

Here is Lydia sitting on Paw's car...otherwise known as her delivery room.

Lydia got an outdoor swing and a baby for her birthday. She loves both of them. I think she will really enjoy the swing once it is outside and not sitting on the kitchen floor.

Lydia loved her cupcake!

Lydia's birthday cupcakes. The cupcake toppers tell the story of her birth. I imagine there aren't many people that can say a gun decorated their first birthday cake.

Finally...a blog update!

Sorry we haven't updated our blog since March...and it is now September! Things have been super busy with our family of six!

We recently changed our blog template and most of our older pictures are not appearing on the screen. They are there...but are not appearing...crazy!? Sam is working to see if he can make those older pictures reappear. So, if you are dying to see those older pictures check back in a few weeks to see if Sam was successful.

We hope you had a great summer! Below are a few highlights of our summer...and hopefully our next post will be before March 2009. :)

These pictures VERY random. I am not an expert blogger yet, so I haven't mastered the art of getting the pictures in the right order!

This is Josiah our Lego boy. He loves Legos more than any boy I have ever known. He worked non-stop one day putting this helicopter together. I was so impressed, primarily because all the pieces were mixed with a million other Lego sets.

This is my (Laurie) family at Lake Logan, NC. This is second year in a row we have met there for a family vacation. There are more pictures of this trip on our flickr account.

Every summer we look forward to our day at Weiss Lake with the Chesnuts! They currently live in New Mexico but we are hoping they will move closer soon.

This is Eliott fishing with a bamboo pole at Weiss Lake.

The ultimate slip n' slide in the Thompson's yard!

Emma's first day of Kindergarten...homeschool style!

Eliott and our fourth of July watermelon!

Science co-op with the Thompson and Horst families!

Sweet Lydia in the swing at the blueberry farm. Yummmm...I wish I had a big bowl of those blueberries right now!

Snow Days!

The Birth Certificate that tells a story...

Lydia's birth certificate is proof of where she was born and who delivered her. If you look closely, the place of birth reads..."I-59 South at Tallapoosa Exit" and the attendant's name is "Stan," our dear paramedic.

Lydia's sweet grin