Four

We had a fantastic rest of the day on Saturday. I'm pretty sure Sarah did too. Happy Birthday my little red-headed dimpled princess.

Birthday Morning festivities

Sarah turns four years old today. I have been thinking alot about the day she was born. I had just gotten back from a trip to Idaho to see Mark's sister. Long story short--we were supposed to go to Canada for another sister's wedding but things didn't work out so I went back home to Salt Lake. I woke up feeling a bit strange and called my doctor first thing because I thought my water had broken. I started having contractions shortly after and took Avery to stay with some friends while I went to see the doctor. Mark was living in St. Louis for the summer so I called him and told him to be prepared to hop on a plane. The doctor informed me I was dialated to 9 cm and would be having the baby very soon. Mark hopped on the first plane home but Sarah did not wait. She was born less than two hours and three pushes later.
She is the most impatient child I have. She throws a fit in a drop of a hat. She is kind and good. She has the softest heart and she is my best helper.

So far today we have opened one present, had birthday pancakes and frosted the cake.



More to come later.

Weekend trip to Branson

Mark's mom flew into Branson last weekend and we decided we would go up and spend a few days with her there. I haven't been to Branson since I was 10 years old and it has changed a lot since then. We had tons of fun and are glad we got to spend some time with grandma.

Family Vacation--dos and don'ts

Let me begin by saying--I LOVE FAMILY VACATIONS! Mark and I have been on very few in our married life because of jobs, budget, timing, etc. I have been know to be very conscious of the "money situation" and have cringed at the thought of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on eating out, tickets, hotels and such.

Well, we had an opportunity to go to Branson, MO this weekend and live it up with all the "senior citizens". I must say, it was also very appealing to the younger crowd as well. Also, there are a lot of ways around spending a ton of money there so...
DO--Try to plan ahead and find tickets and hotels online.
DON'T--Be such a stickler about money that you can't have fun.

Before we leave our house for any amount of time, I am obsessive compulsive about cleaning it. You know--"Leave no stinkies to return home to!" The last things I do before I leave the house are take out all garbage, flush toilets, check for used diapers everywhere. One thing I missed this time that I never will again...
DO--Make sure your oven is completely turned off. I just can't wait to see my gas bill and I'm grateful my house didn't burn down.
DON'T--forget to smile because your kids get to go make a mess somewhere else this weekend and you won't have clean it up.

Reunion time

Tis the season for the family reunion. The kids and I drove up to north Mississippi for the annual Hodges reunion. I have been going just about my entire life. My Mammaw (my mother's mother) comes from a family of nine kids. Every year all nine of them would come and bring their families. Over the years, three of them have passed away. The reunions seem to get smaller and smaller. This year, Mammaw's kids, grandkids and great grandkids made up the majority. Despite the heat and extreme humidity, we had a blast riding on the boat and chatting with the relatives.

My 90 year old Mammaw--I just love her!


Riding the boat





Tubing


Playing at the beach


Wakeboarding (Oh yes I did!)

Look at my handsome, show-off brother!


Is my dad awesome or what--how many 63 year olds do you know that can do that?


The cutest boy fixing the lawn mower.


My Harvard bound neice

Kindergarten Graduation

It's official, I have a first grader now. It is hard to believe how fast the school year went by. Avery rode the bus everyday to and from school. She learned how to read and always came home with fun facts about bugs, dinosaurs and the solar system. Her report cards were always great with the exception of a few behavior problems. For some reason, whenever the teacher assigned her to sit by boys, she wasn't able to control the bad behavior. One things we quickly found out is that she hates to write. Some of her assignments would be to describe a picture or tell a story. These were her least favorite. Oh well, here's to a fun summer.

Mosquito Bite!

Believe it or not Spencer's eye nearly swelled shut when a mosquito stung him right below his eye. Weird Huh?