I'm game!

Ok, so normally I don't do the little "Tag" games, but this one is easy and kind of fun to look through old pictures, so here goes:



I've been tagged to do the following:


1) Choose the 4th folder (on computer)
2) Choose the 4th picture (below)
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 other people
This was Anna's birthday and the first time Mary Mac got to see her new baby "tister" (as she called her) and the first picture together as our new Family of Four. Mary Mac looks like she's gotten into the "sauce" and she looks so little; Sam looks to be still in shock of our April Fools suprise; I am a looking a little pale - maybe still trying to get over my spinal; and sweet Anna looks so chubby. Wow how things have changed in our house! I could never have dreamed of a better life and family!

I tag:

1. Molli

2. Susie

3. Rachel

4. Sarah

Happy Tagging!

Go Vote!

In the spirit of the POTUS '08, Go Vote! Not just for President, but for the Pumpkins (look above posts)!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Picking Pumpkins

Well, not exactly picking them, but I did take the girls to a local Pumpkin Patch (not really a patch) that a church is holding to sell pumpkins to support their mission trips and we got 6 pumpkins in all: 2 small ones for school, one tiny one for Anna, and medium one for Mary Mac, and 2 big ones for Sam and I to carve for the girls. We had a great weekend this past weekend - the girls stayed in pajamas all weekend (Molli, you guys can appreciate this!) and they did not leave the house all weekend other than to play outside. Sam and I went to the Alabama game but we left them with a sitter and had a great time together! Anyway, yesterday was a perfect day for carving pumpkins. . .And so we did! If I can figure out how to do the poll thing I am going to conduct a poll (per Sam) on who's pumpkin is the best! We have a contest between us every year and this year we will let you Bloggers decide (if I can figure it out)! Here are pics of the weekend: one of Anna and her devil horns for hair and then of the pumpkins!

By the way, I am not telling who did what with the pumpkins so don't ask! Sorry for all the posts at one time, but we are now caught up! I told you we had a big/busy couple of weeks! Please read on!

First Lesson

Mary Mac had her first horseback riding lessons last week and she was in heaven! I was shocked how easily she caught on to the concept of "steering" the horse where to go. Her teacher said she was impressed too at how well she did the first time as a 4 year old! Carly (teacher) showed her how to brush the horse and get the saddled and then helped her get on it and then she was off! She rode Jimmy (is sooo old and perfect for her to learn) for about 45 minutes and by the end of the lesson she was doing it all by herself and getting him to go through and around jumps (not jumping, just walking). Then Carly showed her how to give him a bath to cool him off after the lesson. She had a ball, to say the least!!! Here is a video and pictures from the lesson.

And Anna had her first ballet class (Mommy & Me) last week too! She absolutely loved it - not sure what she loved more - having mommy all to herself or the actual class? Just kidding, she loved the class and giggled the whole time. She couldn't wait to show her sister what all she learned at ballet. She and Mary Mac danced all that night at home with each other which was so much fun to watch! I hate I didn't get it on video. Mary Mac was acting like the teacher and Anna was doing everything Mary Mac did! Here is a video of Anna's class - sorry for the blurry beginning, but her smiles and giggles are worth the watch!

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to the zoo in Birmingham. This was Anna's first official zoo adventure and we weren't real sure what she was going to think about it since she is not a big animal lover like Mary Mac. I did pack her babydoll though just in case of a meltdown! Sam had been out of town from Wednesday until late Saturday night and the girls (and mommy) were really missing him. So when we finally got moving on Sunday morning it was beautiful outside - the perfect day to go to the zoo - a little cloudy and cool! So why not? We packed our luches and headed to the zoo for picnic first and then to see the animals. Mary Mac (our little planner) already had in mind what she wanted to "show" Anna her first trip and in which order we would see the animals. We has so much fun watching both of them interact and actually enjoying the same thing. Anna was hilarious! She was such the busy body! We brought 2 little strollers instead of our double stroller because we thought it would be easier to get around. Anna did not sit in her stroller hardly at all. She was loving being able to walk around freely (somewhat) and kept walking up to the animals and waving and saying "Hi!" to every single one of them. She was soooo cute! We were so glad that she enjoyed the zoo as much as the rest of us do (mom and dad included). This is only picture of the girls - we were too busy chasing Anna to get any pictures. This was also as we were leaving - you can read the exhaustion all over their faces!

Doctor's Appts & Hair Cuts

We have had so much going on the past couple of weeks, so I apologize for the lack of posts. This one may be long as I attempt to play catch up for all of the things we've been doing. I may end up posting several instead of one long one.

First, we had a rough time last week when I had to take both girls for their check-ups! Take note - I WILL NEVER AGAIN TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR TOGETHER FOR A CHECK-UP! Mary Mac was getting her 4 year booster shots (2 shots and a toe prick) and Anna was getting 3 shots for her 18 month. I was totally prepared (or so I thought) with Blow-Pops for each girl (bribery has always worked in the past). Well, not this time! Mary Mac takes after one her aunts and just goes crazy at the sight of her own blood and the toe prick (might I add it took 2 tries - explain that to a 4 year old?) was no exception! Once we got over that "trauma" it was time for the shots. I gave Mary Mac the choice to go first or after Anna (mistake!) and, of course, she chose for Anna to go first. As you expect, Anna starts screaming once she gets the shots (bless her - she had no idea what was coming!). Well, when she starts screaming, Mary Mac begins screaming - in empathy? in anticipation? Who knows! And I mean the head-spinning, blood-curdling scream as she proceeds to curl up in the fetal position in the corner of the room. After loving on Anna and giving her a Blow-Pop in hopes of calming her down (which it didn't), I then have to pry Mary Mac off the floor in a ball and attempt, along with the nurse, to pull her pants down enough to get to her leg. Remember, she is still in the fetal position and at this point has a death grip on the waist of her pants, all the while still screaming and Anna still screaming - again, not sure if this is out of empathy or thinking she's going to get more! Well, after loving on both girls and attempting to soothe them with sugar, we have finally settled down and gladly leave the doctor's office with stickers in hand.

My stress level was out of this world and I could have downed a glass of wine even though it was only 10:30 in the morning! Then, leave it to Mary Mac, she looks at me and smiles and says, "Momma, I was very good. Can we go get my surprise now?" WHAT? GOOD? You call that good? OOHHH, my darling child, if you only knew! It was still cute, though, and, yes, we did get her a surprise that night (horse-related, no less). Another funny thing was that out of all of that drama, the only thing Mary Mac keeps telling everybody was that she tee-tee'd in a cup! She was so proud! That was another feat all in itself.

After the doctor's appointment, we took Mary Mac to (finally) get her hair cut off to donate. Here is a picture of her getting it cut and then the finished product (not a great picture of the hair cut). She was in total shock while getting her hair cut. We were laughing because we were saying that she was in a state of shock - first, the shots, then her hair! She didn't say one word the whole time until we left and she was so proud of her "big girl" hair cute. And, can I say that it so easy to fix now!

Oh, and yes, we donated her hair (hence, her holding her ponytail) to Wigs 4 Kids. After a little research, I decided that we would donate to them instead of Locks of Love (no need to go into the reasons).

The Birthday Girl!

Here she is getting ready for the party - the party did not start until 2, but she was so excited that we went over to the barn at 12:30!
I think she's a natural! She starts her real lessons Tuesday. She is so excited that she gets to ride a horse for a whole hour all by herself and not have to share the time with anyone.
Of course, I couldn't post pictures of the party without including a picture of Anna (by the way, who is not an animal lover!).
And the cake. . .
They had so much fun at the party and the girls who put on the party kept them entertained for the full hour and a half with pony rides, finger painting the ponies (above pic), water balloon fight/toss (the kids weren't so sure about this - they were terrified that it would be loud when they busted), a horse pinata, and, of course, cake and ice cream! Needless to say, I think all the kids slept well last night, or at least ours did!

We were also privileged that my grandparents and uncle from Mobile were able to come for the weekend and the party and both of the girls had a ball playing with them. I've always felt like Mary Mac has this affinity for older people and that maybe (if you believe in reincarnation) she has this "old wise-ness" (is that even a word?) about her. She is always so sweet and wanting to take care of Mimi and Papa. Thank you Mimi and Papa for coming for her party - it meant so much to all of us and we love you!

By the way, I cannot end this post without saying - ROLL TIDE!!!! It was not the prettiest of games Saturday, but considering that we were coming off of that big win, I'll take a WIN!

Just found this old picture

I was just looking at old pictures on my computer this morning and found this picture of Mary Mac from about a year ago. It is so funny - just call her Picaso!!! It's amazing how much she has matured in a year because she savors each marker until it is exhausted now and would never waste it on herself! I had left Sam with the girls while I ran errands and then we were going to meet for dinner. While he was giving Anna a bottle, Mary Mac got very quiet in the playroom and this is how he found her. . .

Let's just say thank goodness for washable markers! It all came off very easily. BTW, I cannot believe how clean the playroom looks in the background - not that clean these days with 2 little curtain climbers playing in there!

Changes are a comin'

If you notice any weird things on here it's because I am in the process of changing backgrounds and pictures, so bare with me!

Getting Ready for the Party!

Our house is in an all out frenzy of excitement awaiting Mary Mac's 4th Birthday party on Sunday - she is literally counting down the days. We are having it at Westminster Farms which is where she will be taking her first horseback riding lessons (Surprise - that was what she wanted for her birthday). She will be learning English (against Sam's wishes - sorry honey!), but as long as she learns to respect the horses and ride English style then she can easily learn Western as it isn't as formal. As you may have seen from previous posts, we have taken her to several rodeos and she is in awe of the barrel racing, so who knows what she will like better!

Several gifts have already showed up on our doorstep and she just couldn't wait so we had to open them. One of the gifts was from some new family friends (I say new family friends because although we have just recently gotten to know them, they feel like they've part of the family for years!) whose daughter is a horse trainer and has loved horses all of her life just like Mary Mac. Cliff and Catherine knew exactly what MMC would need as far as pants and boots to get her started with her lessons so they begged to find some for her and send them to us. Well as you can see in the pictures, MMC was all smiles when she tried them on and cannot wait to actually wear them to ride horses! She was "posing" and the last one is a pose with her riding her horse!

Here are pictures of her horsey socks that our friends also gave her - so nice!

On another note, I bought some pears (organic, no doubt!) and the girls just found them in the frig last night and this is where we found them - chowing down on the pears in the playroom! Anna is taking a swing at Mary Mac and yes, that is blue marker in MMC's hair! You think our girls like fruit or what? They both ended up eating their own all the way down to the core (and even some of the core).