BG visit

First I had to share this random picture of Jack in his horsey jacket Memaw got him last year from Cracker Barrel. He added the sunglasses because "it's so sunny outside". I'm shocked that I got him to stand still for a picture since he was on his way out the door to play...typically nothing can stop him when he's headed outside!



Now for the BG trip...we enjoyed a short visit with the Smallings this weekend. Memaw got this dress for Madeline and it looks very grown up! Actually, she probably got the boys' outfits, too, at some point, but we did bring them from home so I can't be sure. Memaw keeps us all clothed!

The kids are actually looking at Memaw, who was taking pictures first...I just jumped in because they were being good and I was afraid if I waited for a turn (for them to actually look at me), they would be out of the mood and run away! By the way, thanks to those of you who gave me some great suggestions for picture taking...especially to my Aunt Deb' who reminded me of 3 little uncooperative kids SHE used to try to take decent pictures of! (That would be me and my brothers!) Jared used the bribery method of getting them to pose for these pics...he told them if they let us take pictures we could eat at Cracker Barrel after church (2 CB references in the same post--you'd think we went all the time!)...which is their absolute favorite. Maddy used to request it as a 2 yr old, like the KY girl she is at heart, "Crack'r Burl". The grownups had already arranged to meet there with Uncle Philip and Aunt Sarah, to celebrate Phil's 25th birthday, which was last Friday. But the kids didn't know that, so they smiled like their pancake and bacon/sausage with jelly biscuit lunch depended on it!!

After church, which included me stepping on Noah's pinky finger with the heel of my boot, then taking Jack out for having a fit in Memaw's lap because she wouldn't let him draw in the songbook with his pencil, then spending the entire sermon time in the cry room with Jack (yes, he's almost 3 but there are no other "babies" there, so it's ours!) NOT letting him play, which meant I had to hold him...though I sang to him and he ALMOST fell asleep, and then finally discovering that there was a 45 minute wait at CB, we opted for a quicker and more cranky-kid-friendly lunch at Culver's. We'd never been there before but it was SO good (for fast food)! We took the corner booth so that Jack was blocked in on all sides and couldn't harrass the other customers too much. Time with our kids is always good birth control for my brothers and their wives!! (And probably everyone else there, too!) Noah was the only kid who ate all his food (or even close), so he got the free scoop of chocolate custard. This is ironic because he is the only one of the 3 who could not care less about sweets. He ate about 3 bites and then gave the rest to Jared (the only one brave/dumb enough to eat after the 5 yr old boy). Maddy, who likes her a McD's cheeseburger, was not thrilled with the super-cheeseburger she got. She prefers the unidentifiable "meat" from McD's to a REAL burger. Fortunately, Aunt Sarah was generous in sharing her cheese curds, so Mads got her protein :)


After lunch, we headed to Philip and Sarah's new house (they've been there a while, but we hadn't seen it yet). I'm so impressed by how neat and clean it was and decorated so well! They haven't accumulated much clutter yet, so it looks great! Ok, and they don't have 3 kids making messes...that's what I'm telling myself is the difference in my house and theirs!


This is Uncle Philip and his new super-monitor he got for his birthday (to go with his Philip-built computer!).
Noah found Sarah's GameBoy during the grand tour and spent the rest of his time making sure he played all the games she had. He's really good, especially since he'd never even seen a GameBoy before! He has a Leapster and plays on our computer sometimes...he's just a natural when it comes to computer stuff!
Madeline read to us Uncle Philip's favorite book, Round Trip. It's a really cool book--you read it through one way and then flip it upside down and read it back the other way. The illustrations are amazing! They're black and white and show one scene one way and an entirely different scene when flipped over. I highly recommend it! (And it always helps Maddy when she coordinates with what she's reading--it was a black and white kind of day!)

This is Noah on the phone with Uncle Philip who was on his cell phone outside. Noah was a little confused because he didn't even realize Uncle Philip wasn't still in the living room--probably because Noah was very involved in his game!

When Maddy was first learning to talk, she called Philip "Pip" and that has sort of stuck. Now that they can actually talk, I've taught them what his real name is, in case Philip doesn't want to be Pip forever! So on the way home, Jack kept saying, "His name is Philip, not Pip" OVER AND OVER. I think he was trying to get it through his own little stubborn head!