Bon Voyage. . .

So obviously judging by the title, we are going on yet another trip. I shouldn't say that as if I dread trips because this trip is one that we have been looking forward to and planning for a while. With 2 little ones running around and our crazy busy work schedule these days, it has been really hard to plan. So, with no further ado, Sam and I are leaving early (and I mean, VERY early) Saturday morning and flying to Ft. Lauderdale to board a 5 day cruise in the Caribbean. WOOHOO is all we can say right now. Not that we don't love our girls and we spend just about every moment we can with them, but this adult-only (Sam and I and his sister and her husband), non-business related trip is LONG overdue! It's the first of this kind since I was pregnant with MM, just over 5 years ago! So wish us luck and prayers for a safe and relaxing trip - or should we be wishing my mom and Sam's mom all the luck and prayers while keeping our 2 girls and our triplet nieces/nephew? Thank you sooooooo much to my parents and to Sam's parents for taking our children for almost a full week while we get some much needed relaxation and adult time!

I have been better at taking pictures (sorry for none to show today) and will posting them as well as ones from our trip when we get back next week.

Revenge

So in revenge of Sam "hi-jacking" the blog and posting the hilarious (can you hear the sarcasm?) video of me playing Wii, it is my turn to embarrass him. This picture, my friends, is Sam at his greatest. Most people don't realize how much of a joke-ster Sam is. He fools everyone with his quiet, humble personality, but he really is funny. Let me set the scene for you. . .I'm laying in bed reading a book and watching TV. Sam has been in the shower and starts walking into the room from the bathroom saying,

"Man, that Volumizing Shampoo you use REALLY works!"

Ok, so anyone who knows Sam knows that he has hair that any woman could hate. It is thick, shiny, full, and straight. He has to keep it cut fairly short because the longer it is, the higher it is, seriously! P.S. I now know where MM got her sticky-uppy hair as a baby. Anyway, this is what I look up to find. . .

I laughed until I was literally crying streams down my face! I mean, who's hair can do that! That is NOT normal! And he was so proud of it! Also, he said he wanted to prove to his older brother that he DOES NOT have a receding hair line like the rest of the men in his family! This picture should do the job!

Summer Fun

Ok, so I guess I must lump myself into what seems like is the "norm" for everyone's blogging during these crazy summer days and admit that I have totally been slacking! Not only have I bee slacking on blogging, but also on housework, cooking, and even taking pictures of the girls. I hate to admit that I didn't even take pictures of us during the weekend of the 4th OR while at the beach last week with my SIL and nephew OR in Mobile while visting my grandparents and celebrating the wedding of my cousin! I know, I cannot believe myself! So, now that you have a brief glimpse of what we have done the past weeks, it's on to more important stuff.



My love for blogging really came to me out of neccessity. I do not scrapbook, nor do I have the time, so this is my way of tracking major milestones of the girls lives. I have not been very good at this lately so here goes. . .



One of my favorite things Anna says (and it's hard to narrow it down since she is a motor-mouth and is never quiet) is when she really needs me, she refers to me as "Ms. Mommy". As if adding the "Ms." will make me answer any faster! Well, I guess it has been working for her because it just makes me laugh! She is soooo opposite of her big sister. She is loud, talkative, social, bubbly, loves attention, and girly! She loves clothes, makeup, shoes, jewelry! I'm not sure if we should consider this good manners or an insult to me that she only thinks of me on the same level as her teachers and sitters??? Oh well, it's still cute!



Two nights ago we made a HUGE step - we turned her baby bed into a toddler bed. I'm just not ready to totally move her into a big bed, but, as Sam said, "It's time!" I really knew it was time when he was the one that brought it up. So, we got out the little conversion kit and and made the move. She was really excited about the whole idea until it was bedtime. Then, the doubts started to creep in and she was a little insecure without her normal bed. She slept great the first night, aside from getting up WAY earlier than normal. Last night, she fell out (which wasn't a long fall) and Sam went upstairs to calm her and get her back down. Then again, she was up early, except that Sam went up there and told her it was too early and to lie down and go back to sleep - and she did (something she probably would not have done had I gone up there). So hopefully, we are past that little obstacle and she will sleep later tomorrow. She was so funny this morning, though. She told me in Anna-ese, " Mommy, Daddy come upstairs, told Anna 'Lie Down and Go Sleep!" (with hand motions included) She just makes me laugh, even when she is doing something wrong.



We had another first for both girls this past weekend also. It never dawned on me because Sam and I travel so much, but our girls have never spent the night in a hotel. . . until now! My cousin got married in Mobile. Anytime we go to Mobile, we stay at my grandparents house. But with Molli and Blake, us, and my parents all going, we decided it would be better to stay at a hotel. It was quite an experience for the girls and Mommy. Luckily all of our rooms were together so we could help each other out (mainly help me out since Sam didn't come until Saturday). It was so funny though watching them walk in the room for the first time. It was such a new and exciting thing to them. They immediately hopped on the beds, opened the mini-frig, turned on all the lights, opened the curtains to see "the view" (ha), and Anna could not resist cooking her babydoll in the microwave (over and over). Baby was the best "cooking" alternative to the plastic cups she was attempting to "cook". Speaking of bouncing on the beds, don't we all really want to bounce on hotel beds deep down in our inner child self? I mean that is the one thing that our moms always would get on to us for doing. So why not in a hotel where it's not Mom's furniture or Mom's bedding? Yea, well, it sounds like I jumped right in to join them, but that inner Gran voice emerged and before I knew it I was sounding just like my mom when I was a kid. "Girls, no jumping on the bed! Someone is going to get hurt and I really don't want to spend the night in the Emergency Room getting stitches!" Yikes! As much as I try not to, I am starting to hear myself use all of those sayings that my mom used on us! Again, Oh Well! This will just be another one of those things that our girls can laugh at themselves about when they have kids.



MM started a Pre-Reader class a couple of weeks ago that is being done through the University of Alabama. So far, she is doing great - as I expected! She is one of the youngest in the class, but she knows as much if not more than some of the kids that will actually start Kindergarten in August. The funny part about this class is that she actually has homework! Homework! I just hope her excitement over homework will continue into her older years! She wants to do her homework all at one time.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but hopefully I will have some soon!

Muhammad A-Leigh

This is Sam, by the way. We recently purchased a Wii for the kids, both big and small, and Leigh and I played the boxing game for the first time last night. We had a ball and let me tell you, it's a work out! I was able to capture this video of Muhammad A-Leigh in action. I didn't see much floating like a butterfly, but did see some stinging like a bee! As you will see, she's pretty quick and she doesn't fight fair with the low blows she tends to throw. I'll thin twice before going rounds with her.