S'more Fun with Spring Break (part 3)

Sophie on one of the rides at Chuck E. Cheese

Abbie riding the carousel at Chuck E. Cheese's

Sophie eating her s'more. Her shirt says, "Girls have S'more Fun!"

We returned home from Kentucky on Wednesday night. On Thursday night, we met Nana and Paw-paw at Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner and games. I had told Sophie that we could go there over Spring Break but this was the first opportunity that we had to go. It was pretty crowded for a weeknight but the girls had a great time and it was good to see Nana and Paw-paw. Abbie seems to be getting over her fear of people dressed up because she got near Chuck E. without freaking out. On Friday, we went to Goofballs. I didn't take any pictures but the girls had a blast! It was a nice surprise too that when we got there, they told me that open play was free during Spring Break. The girls played on the big indoor playground, shooting balls through the air gun, sliding down the big slide and playing a couple of games.  Sophie's been wanting us to make s'mores lately so we made some on Friday night.  Yummy!  The weather sure has been dreary at the end of Sophie's Spring Break. 

Sophie's Spring Break-part 2

Sophie on the little train at the park

Abbie & Aunt Leia

our girls with the daffodils

I forgot to mention in my last post that we had a little Easter egg hunt with the girls while we were in Kentucky. Sophie discovered a store that she really likes to shop at-The Dollar General. We ended up buying candy and Easter eggs among other things there so that we could have a little Easter egg hunt. I was a little concerned that the girls would be bored to tears because there's not much to do in that area but they actually had a lot of fun hanging out with cousins, aunts & uncles, Matt's granddad's dogs, etc. The weather was a little cool over the weekend but it warmed up after that so we took the girls to a nearby park one day and they had a blast! Matt's dad (Paw-paw Tom and Aunt Leia) drove in from VA on Sunday night. At the park that we visited they had newer playground equipment as well as having some old relics like a merry-go-round and one of those huge metal slides like they had when we were little. The flowers in the park were gorgeous!

They decided to have the funeral for Matt's grandmother on Wednesday because one of Matt's cousins couldn't get in town until Tuesday night. We were able to stay around until after the funeral and burial and then we left town immediately after to head for home. Thankfully, the storm that had been predicted held off until after the burial was over. That was definitely an answered prayer!! Overall, the girls were really good on the trip about sleeping on the floor at night, rolling with the punches, not being entertained every minute, etc. We drove straight home on Wednesday and it sure was nice to be home again!!!

Sophie's Spring Break-part 1

                                           Abbie & Sophie driving one of Luke's cars

                                       the cousin line-up: Luke, Abbie, Sophie & Layton

                                             Sophie & Abbie with their hillbilly Easter baskets ready to hunt eggs

Sophie's Spring Break began on Friday, March 18.  We had not planned to go anywhere until the following week.  Then, as Spring Break grew closer we found out through updates from Mimi (Matt's mom) that her mom's health was declining rapidly.  We made a last minute decision to go and visit Kentucky to see Matt's extended family.  Mimi had already gone to Kentucky from Virginia to be with her mom.  Originally, we had planned to go to Sevierville and visit the Wilderness Lodge so that we could do the indoor water park there.  We had thought that we might could just visit Kentucky and possibly go from there to Sevierville since our plans had changed. 

We left town on Friday evening and travelled to Lexington, KY where we spent the night in a hotel.  The next morning we visited Matt's cousin, Mark, his wife, Ashley and their boys (shown above).  They were planning to celebrate Layton's 3rd birthday later that day but we didn't stay for the party.  We felt like we needed to get on down the road.  We also saw Matt's Uncle Gary & Aunt Jo who had come from eastern KY to be there for the party.  Our girls had a blast driving their cousins' cars around. 

As we were driving to northeastern KY where Matt's grandparents and extended family live, we got word from Matt's mom that his grandmother was back in the hospital and near death.  We made it there mid-afternoon and Matt was able to go and visit his grandmother in the hospital while I stayed with our girls.  Matt's great aunt Louise was kind enough to let us stay with her. 

The next morning (Sunday) we went to a local church, had lunch,  and then went to visit with people at his grandparents' home.  Mimi and her siblings take turns staying with their dad because he's 90 years old and has Alzheimer's disease.  Shortly after, we received word that Mimi's mom had passed away.  One thing that was very sad to me was that Mimi's dad kept asking where his wife was and when she would be home (because he couldn't remember) even though he had been to see her daily.  One of his sons took him to the hospital as soon as his wife passed away but it was hard to tell from one moment to the next whether he remembered that his wife had died or not.  Matt's grandparents (Maxine and Maynard Craft) had been married for 68 years and they had 6 children, 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. 

Belated Birthday Present

Here's a view if you walk straight into our closet. There's lots of shelves for shoes and sweaters, etc.

Here's a view of most of the right side of the closet (though it's hard to capture in a picture). This will be my side. I took a picture before putting most of my stuff in. It probably won't take any time for this to become messy but let's not hope not!

Here's a view of the left side of the closet (Matt's side). There's a nice little hanging area in the right corner too though it's hard to see here.

Just yesterday, we had a new closet system installed in our master closet. It was my belated birthday present and I was really looking forward to having it done. (Those of you who look at this may be going, how boring! My mother-in-law requested pictures though so Teresa, these are for you! =) ) Our master closet is not that big to begin with and it was really not very organized. I was so happy that Matt said we could have someone install a new closet for us. I think we will really enjoy it and it will maximize the use of our space. =)

Sickness and Surprises

Sophie with the little treehouse that our neighbor brought over for her as an unexpected surprise.

This past week has not been our best. On Friday, Sophie had a stomach bug and had to come home from school with it. (Yuck!) It actually wasn't too bad but she laid around all day. We tried to keep her diet bland and let her get plenty of rest. She had seemed better but then she was sick again during the night. On Sunday afternoon, Matt had to leave town for a business trip. Abbie was generally fussy on Sunday even after taking a good nap. That evening, she mentioned once that her ear hurt. Well, that night after I had put her to bed, she woke up crying every five minutes. We were up for a while, rocking, etc. She complained again that her ear hurt. The next day she played fairly well with a friend but then I took her to the doctor to find that she had a bad ear infection. Abbie and I had a nice time visiting with Miss Krista, Dani, and baby Bobby on Monday and then we were able to go and play with her friend, Ava Grace, on Tuesday (Abbie's out for Spring Break this week). Matt was out of town quite a bit which makes it harder when one of the kids gets sick.

On Saturday, while Sophie was still recovering from her illness, our neighbor unexpectedly brought over an Easter house for each of the girls to decorate. It was so nice of him and a perfect activity to fill Sophie's time since she wasn't feeling 100 percent! Nana kept Abbie on Saturday afternoon so that I could keep the girls apart in hopes that Abbie wouldn't get the stomach virus as well. Thankfully, none of the rest of us had the stomach bug.

Book Character Day

Here's a picture of Sophie with both of her teeth missing. She was so happy to finally earn her giant Hershey bar at school. Once each student has mastered all of their sight word/phrase lists at school, Mrs. Rogers allows them to choose their favorite candy bar. Sophie earned hers last week and she shared it! Of course, she had a lot of help from her mom and dad to practice those word lists! =)

Sophie as Mary Poppins for favorite book character day. It was the culmination of a week long celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday where they had the opportunity to wear different themes for each day (crazy socks day, spirit day, etc). Friday was also Paula's birthday and Mrs. Rogers (Sophie's teacher). We had a party Friday afternoon for book character day and we were able to celebrate Mrs. Rogers birthday as well. I had a birthday cake made for her with the class picture on it. I think that all of the students in Sophie's class and Mrs. Rogers enjoyed it.

While Paula & Matt went to the party at Sophie's school on Friday, Aunt Patti babysat Abbie for us. Aunt Patti brought some pom poms with her and they were cheering for Sophie. Aunt Patti told her that she was the cheerleader for Sophie who plays soccer (she's not playing right now though). The next day I remembered that we had a Titans cheerleader outfit from when Sophie was younger. Abbie loved dressing up in it!

On Friday and Saturday nights we celebrated Paula's birthday. Friday night, we went to Red Lobster with Paula's parents and then went out for frozen yogurt and cupcakes. On Saturday night, Nana cooked lasagna for some of the extended family.

Here's Sophie on Saturday with Samantha, a friend from school, at a birthday party. One of their friends had a party at Young Chef's Academy. All of the kids had a great time learning to make pizza, decorating them as well as cupcakes, and of course eating all of it! I think Sophie wants to use her new pizza recipe at home to make a pizza from scratch! =)

Sophie's Career Path

I have a funny story to share from a couple of days ago.  Sophie lost another tooth on Monday (her second in 4 days).  The first time, the tooth fairy generously left her $5.  Well, on Monday morning she lost another tooth at school.  Monday night the tooth fairy forgot to make an appearance so she had to swing by for a last minute visit on Tuesday morning while Sophie was downstairs.   By the way, Sophie came in our room about 6:15 A.M. on Tuesday morning (earlier than usual) to tell us that her tooth was still there and that the tooth fairy and had not come. 

So, anyway, after the tooth fairy had come Sophie announced, "Mommy, when I grow up I've decided that I want to be the tooth fairy."  I said, "oh, so you don't want to be a baby doctor anymore?"  She's like no, I want to be the tooth fairy.  I told Matt later that she might need to be a doctor by day so that she could afford to be the tooth fairy by night because she has to give out a lot of money!  =)  Yesterday she came home and said, "I think that there's more than one tooth fairy."  (Friday there were 3 kids in her class who lost teeth and there were 2 on Friday.)  I told Sophie that she was probably right.

I'll try to post a picture of Sophie soon.  She was so excited to bring home a huge Hershey's candy bar today because she had learned all of her sight word lists (probably about 20 total).  We've been working on them for months!