Easter Egg Hunt

Kirsten shows off one of her "eggs" -- it was really a frog. She held it for over 20 minutes before she finally released it back to its habitat. We spent Saturday morning and afternoon at my in-laws house having Easter dinner and letting the kids participate in an Easter egg hunt. We try to get together every year on holidays to eat and visit. We do not always have our gatherings on the holiday itself, but it is always very close to the day -- Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Alec slows down near the end of the hunt just long enough for me to snap a picture. He claims that he always finds the most eggs - he did this year too. After all the eggs are found, we divide them up equally so that all the kids get the same amount of money.

Kirsten looks pretty with the green grass as a background. She still enjoys the hunt!

This is a close up picture of her frog.

After the hunt was over, the kids had fun blowing bubbles at each other. They had a contest to see who could blow the biggest bubble.

Kirsten loves to drive the Cub Cadet. This belongs to her Grandpa and Grandma and they are nice enough to let her drive it when she comes to visit. We had a good day of lots of food and good family time. Mitch has four sisters and one brother and almost everyone was in attendance. We have a pretty big crowd when we all get together.

Strange Weather

Today the weather was very strange. But we all survived just fine. My mother was watching the kids today while I was working. She had to make a short trip to town for an errand. It was raining when she got there and she locked the kids in the car. While inside, it started hailing and it hailed a whole lot in a very short time. She was able to see the kids and when it stopped hailing, she saw the kids get out of the car and pick up some hail and taste it. I don't think that Kirsten or Alec has ever seen hail before and they were amazed by it and not scared of being in the car by themselves -- (My mother did not realize that we were having bad weather). When she returned to the car the kids were so excited and asked her if she had seen the hail. She replied that she had and then asked, "How did it taste?" Kirsten looked really puzzled and couldn't figure out how she knew they had unlocked the doors and gotten out. My mother decided not to rebuke them for getting out, even though she had told them not to unlock the doors. She had enough compassion to realize that they were just curious. Such is the life of kids. I laughed when she told me the story.

Better Late Than Never

Finally!! Kirsten's Eleven Year Pictures!! I have been waiting to take these pictures until I found the "perfect" shirt. All I wanted was a plain-white, long-sleeve, button-up blouse and could not find one anywhere I looked, online or in the store. I decided today that I would take her pictures anyway. I think they turned out very nice. I have been a stickler, since the kids have been born, to take their pictures on or very near their special day. So, this year is a few months late, but she is still eleven.

Kirsten received this coat for Christmas and I just loved it and wanted to take her pictures in it. It fits her just perfectly.

Good Day To Run

Saturday promised to be such a beautiful day, that I got a hare-brained scheme to drive to Tippah Lake to get our run in and to eat a picnic lunch. I tried to orchestrate a gathering of my siblings and the kids, but it didn't work out that way. After waiting until 11:00 for everyone to decide what they were going to do, Kirsten, Alec and I headed for the lake. It really was a beautiful day!!

Kirsten and Alec before our run. I made a deal with Alec -- if he ran the whole 5K route without stopping, we would stay for three hours at the lake; if he ran 2 miles without stopping, we would stay 2 hours; if he only ran 1 mile, we would only stay 1 hour. Needless to say, with that kind of incentive, Alec ran the entire course, and it is a tough course. Kirsten ran all but about 5 steps; she took a break halfway down a hill to catch her breath before running back up. I was able to run 12 minutes, walk 5 minutes, and run 12 minutes just as I was supposed to run. This was my first "solo" run (without my sister/running partner), and I wasn't sure if I would be able to push myself to finish. I kept telling myself, "This is what you want, this is what you want!" Kirsten posing on the pier.

Alec poses as well.

What a way to relax? after a long, hard run. You wouldn't know that he pushed himself so hard.

Kirsten's favorite mode of transportation; her legs do not appear to be tired either.

Busy, Busy Day

This is Kirsten's picture from art yesterday. The colors are not as pretty as in person.

Yesterday, was an extremely full day for us. My sister and I had to run in the morning to get it in at all, so we left at 8:30 and got our required time in. I am actually amazed by myself. At the start of this week, we were supposed to run 12 minutes, walk 5 minutes, and run 12 more minutes. To my running buddies, I am sure that is not that great of an accomplishment, but to me that is huge. I never figured that I could do it and so I am expanding my horizons a little. Next week, we jump to 14 minutes two different times and I hope that I can do that as well. But back to yesterday... After getting home from running, I had to change and eat an early lunch and get Kirsten ready to go to Saltillo for art by 12:30. We got home by 3:30 and then it was unload the van and get the kids cleaned up and all their gear together for Fit Kids and leave before 5. I walked for an hour while they were exercising and then I did spin class for an hour. After leaving the gym, I raced home to do my favorite thing of the week -- watch The Biggest Loser. I will not lie to you, I love watching this show. Tuesday, when we have art, are always too full for me but I love it anyway.

Pontotoc Lions Club 5K Run -- March 28, 2009

After the race was over, we took all the runners for an ice cream at McDonald's -- at least that was the plan. When we got to the restaurant, we found out that the ice cream machine was broken. The kids had fun eating lunch together and visiting.

These two pictures together is all of the Spartans that ran this first race of the cross-country season. We focus more on running in 5K races than in actual cross-country events. I only brought my small camera and it does not back up as far as my big camera and I could not get everyone in the same picture together. What a group of kids. They love to run together and be together.

On your mark, get set, GO!! And they're off!!

Alec finishes officially in 28:45 in 41st position overall. A great time for his first race of the year. Last year, his first race time was in the 4o minute range. He ran the whole race without stopping -- way to go, Alec. It was half way through the season last year before he could say that.

Kirsten finishes the race with an official time of 32:54 and in 60th place overall. That comes close to her best time ever of 30:30 and we are proud of her for running the whole race except for the 10 steps she took to catch her breath along the way.

Botanical Garden in Huntsville

We stopped at the Botanical Gardens on our way home. They had beautiful flowers, that were already blooming, and displays of BIG BUGS such as this ladybug. The kids enjoyed the flowers, but they couldn't wait to find all ten of the big bugs. This is one of the GIANT ants on display. There were two more in this field. The kids were excited that they could stand up under the ant. Kirsten knows how to pose for pictures

Taking time out of the bug search for a picture on this neat bridge.

The kids thought that this Assassin Bug was neat, although they thought it was a spider at first.

This truly beautiful tulip was one of many gorgeous flowers that we saw. I thought the colors were magnificent.

EWWW! See the giant spider on the spider web. The kids tried to pretend they were the prey of the spider trapped on its web.

This giant chair was a lot of fun for the kids to sit in. It is located in the Children's Garden section. They had a storybook section; a rainbow flower bed; and a flower maze. It was a truly unique place to visit. I am glad we took the time to visit before we left.

More Pictures from the Space Center

The kids pose together in front of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Standing under the replica of the Saturn V Rocket -- there are not enough words to describe how truly massive this rocket really is. The Davidson Center has one of these rockets lying on its side and it is so long and what is most amazing is how much of the rocket is used up and detached and how small the section is that the astronauts actually use while in space. It was an eye-opening experience for the kids. Kirsten and Steven take a turn at climbing the rock wall. Kirsten made it most of the way to the top, but got stuck and couldn't figure out how to make it the rest of the way. She has been to the top of other walls before. Steven made it up almost halfway before he made his descent back to the floor.

Space Center

Alec tried to climb the rock wall at the Space Center. He has tried in the past and not made it to the top and was determined to make it this time. He tried but did not make it all the way; even though, he made it farther than he had before. A family picture in front of a replica of the Saturn V rocket. Alec begged and begged to ride the Space Shot -- a ride that shoots you up a LONG way and then drops you straight down and then back up and down. It actually is over quite quickly unless you are one of the ones actually riding it. I couldn't let Alec ride all by himself, so I rode it with him. I used to enjoy these rides when I was a teenager, but realized about three years ago that I don't love them any more. Alec however, got off shouting, "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Alec and my trip straight up in the air. It wasn't over fast enough for me.

Kirsten wanted to take her turn after Alec loved it so much. She told me at first that there was no way that she was getting on this ride. While Alec and I were strapping in to ride the first time, she decided that she wanted to get on. Alec wanted to go again and Stevie loved it too so he said that he would go again with the kids. I would have ridden it again so the kids did not go by themselves, but I was happy that he was willing to go with them.

Putt-putt Golf

Alec has been waiting to go play putt-putt since last year. We decided that since it was his birthday, we would take the kids to play while in Huntsville. There was a course that had a space theme that we wanted to play on but it was being renovated, so we settled for the safari theme course. Alec, Kirsten and Steven posing in front of the giraffe. The kids had a fantastic time playing even though they didn't score very well. They are too interested in going faster, faster rather than in taking their time and lining up their shots. However, they each managed to hit a hole in one on different holes and were really excited about it.

Scavenger Hunt for Alec's Birthday

For Alec's 9th Birthday, my mother gave him his scavenger hunt that he has been begging for. She made up 20 clues and he had to find each one to receive the money inside. The gift he received from Mitch and me.

Showing off his loot to his cousins.

Huntsville Here We Come!

We are leaving in a little while to drive to Huntsville, AL. to visit the Space Center. Today, happens to be Alec's birthday and he wants to play putt-putt tonight when we get there. Tomorrow, we will visit the space center. I will be posting pictures after we return on Saturday. The Thomas family from Marion, AR, are joining us. Their son Steven is 10 and fits right in with Kirsten and Alec. We have vacationed with them many times before and always have a marvelous time.

Spring Has Sprung and So Have the Flowers!!

Here is my beautiful Kirsten in front of the beautiful flowers. My handsome Alec who will be 9 tomorrow!! He is such a blessing in our lives!!

My two precious children who look like they enjoy being together don't they? On some occasions they simply love each other; on others, I have to make them like each other.

More Fun Outside

The kids invented a new game using this strong cardboard tube. They rolled it down the hill and then the other kids tried to jump over it, run down the hill, and jump over it again. They were all trying to jump it three times in a row, but no one was able to do it although they got really close. What a big group of kids!! As you can see, our "tent city" got a little bigger. We had 13 children over playing for a good part of the afternoon. The two small tents were not enough so Lisa and I each pulled our tents out of storage and put them up so they could all play. They played in the tents from 11:30 - 7:30. What a fun day!

All the kids wanted to "walk" the tube, much like log rollers do. I got them all together for a group photo, and then let them have at it. Alec was pretty good at it. Of course, they all got to arguing over whose turn it was next, so we had to put it away.