The Gatewood Gang

It's been a while....

2012-01-14T20:31:00.004-06:00

Well, I started my Masters in November of 2010, and you can definitely tell that it is alot of work if you look at my blog. I have 3 classes left and I graduate in May. I am so excited to be done with it soon! What will I do with my free time this summer?

Total we took a trip to the Children's Museum of Memphis. I felt like we needed a family day. On the way down to CMOM we stopped by the Boy Scout Store to get Trent some things to work on his Pinewood Derby Car. (BTW, Trent has joined Cub Scouts.) Then we went to Central BBQ for lunch. After a lunch of BBQ nachos, wings, etc. we headed to CMOM. I have never been there before, and it was awesome. There were so many activities and fun things for the kids (and us) to do.

Here are some pics of what we did.

Trent wanted his picture made with this statue in front of the Boy Scout Shop.

Trent loved to climb this wall, and then he would jump off from the top. It scared us every time, but he made it out fine.

They had fun working on this tooth puzzle for a while.

Here they are in the police car. Let's just hope neither ends up in the back of one of these. ;)

They had fun dressing up and playing in front of the green screen in the mini Orpheum theater.

Matt had fun playing in front of the green screen, too. He is getting blown away by a hurricane.

I had fun with the wind machine and the green screen. Jack doesn't look so happy, but he did have fun.

Jack had a blast at the grocery store. He bought pancake mix, Cap'n Crunch, and Raisin Bran.

This was the first thing we did at the museum. Jack drove a simulator car around Memphis streets.

They both loved the fire truck.

I am going to try my best to blog at least once a month this year, and I hope to put up a blog of 2011 in review. Sorry for my extended absence!!

Zoo Boo

2010-10-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

Nana and Pop joined us for Zoo Boo this year. Here are a few pictures from our fun night.

Jack did not like wearing his costume...

My boys

My boys with Spiderman Gorilla

Visit with Ging Gong

2010-10-25T12:51:00.000-05:00

At the end of Fall Break, we stopped by to see Ging Gong on the way back to Memphis. Here are a couple of pictures from our visit.

Fall Break

2010-10-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

For Fall Break Matt and I actually got a break. Both sets of parents took the kids for a few days and let us enjoy some time alone. We went to New Orleans, and we did a few things that we have never done before in NOLA. We went to the St. Louis Cemetery and took tons of pictures. We went on a Cocktails and Scandals Walking Tour, and we, also, went on a Carriage Ride Tour. Our favorite was, by far, the Carriage Ride Tour. Here are a few pictures from our fun.

I love the iron work that is all over New Orleans.

This is Marie Laveau's tomb.

Matt and I have a funny story from this place. This is the oldest restaurant in NO. This is where all of the krewes for Mardi Gras meet. There are special rooms for each krewe. While we were touring this place on our walking tour, we were with a bunch of drunk ladies. They were pretty funny. While touring one of the rooms, one of the ladies put her beer/hurricane mixed together on the table. These tables are beautiful with white table cloths and gorgeous dinner plates and silverware. She proceeded to knock her drink over on the table. Our tour guide didn't see it, and she rushed us out of the room. By the time we left the restaurant, a whole group had entered the dining room. Can you imagine sitting down to that on your table at this outrageously expensive restaurant? Wow!

The New Orleans skyline from the top of the Omni Hotel

Muriel's is a haunted restaurant. We toured it on our walking tour.

Arlington BBQ Festival

2010-10-18T12:07:00.000-05:00

This year Matt's BBQ Team competed in the Arlington BBQ Festival again. Matt and Dan competed in wings, but Matt's big competition was the Jalapeno Eating Contest. Check out the pictures first. :)

Matt checking out his competition...

And it begins...

He won! He won! Here is Matt receiving his trophy!

Did he really win? ;)

As you can tell he won the competition. He chugged a half-gallon of chocolate milk, and he ate a package of Dibs ice cream. It still took him quite a while to recover, but he says that it was totally worth it. I don't know if I believe that...

Centreville Baptist Church's 125th Anniversary

2010-10-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

I grew up going to Centreville Baptist Church. When my mom told me about a 125th anniversary celebration, I really wanted to go. It is pretty hard to take the road trip over a weekend, but we did it. The church's anniversary was celebrated on 10-10-10.

While we were down, I decided to take the kids wo the Wildlife Festival that was in Woodville. Nanny, Papaw, Trent, Jack, and I loaded up and headed to the festival while Matt slept. We had lots of fun.

Jack wanted to wear Papaw's hat to the festival!

Trent tried his hand at calling turkeys.

Trent decorated a pumpkin.

While we were on vacation in Dillard, Matt wanted Trent to see someone carve with a chainsaw. Well, we didn't get the chance there, but in Woodville we did. :)

What's is gonna be?

A Snake!!!

Matt and I, also, went to Baton Rouge to see Daniel Tosh on Saturday night. It was fun.

I really enjoyed the church service. The preacher that baptized me preached, the preacher that married Matt and me preached. It was nice to see so many old friends. It was definitely worth being tired on Monday. :)

Pfizer Family Day

2010-10-05T11:39:00.000-05:00

We had a great day at the zoo for Pfizer Family Day. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Trent and Jack love posing. :)

Here's a sweet pic of Matt and Jack.

Here is me with my mini-me.

Mommy and her boys

Jack Can Count!

2010-10-03T19:31:00.004-05:00

I have heard Jack count from 1 to 12 on two different occasions. I have been trying to catch him on video, but this is the best that I have been able to get.

Cutie Patootie!

Kids say and do the funniest things (in hindsight)...

2010-10-03T19:19:00.002-05:00

I thought it would be funny to list a few of Matt and my status updates regarding our kids over the last few weeks.

Enjoy...

Joan: "Did you poo-poo?"
Jack: "Pee-Poo"
Joan: "Poo-Poo"
Jack: "PEE-Poo"
Trent: "Momma, Pee-Poo is like when you have diarrhea."

Matt Gatewood was forced to have a mid-week drink due to Jack pooping in the tub.

my past 5 minutes: Jack pours brodie's water on himself, Trent tries to dig into a box (with Christmas presents in it) that is at the front door, and i step in a brodie turd while comforting Jack/chastising Trent. Living the dream!

Watching Under the Great White Northern Lights (White Stripes concert documentary) and enjoying watching Jack (Gatewood and White) rock out and listening to Trent playing the RockBand drums upstairs.

Me: "If Alex (new neighborhood kid) invites you into his house, are you going to go in?"
Trent: "Yeah."
Me: "No Trent...you don't know him very well, so you shouldn't go in his house."
Trent: (waits a beat) "I didn't know you and mommy very well when I was born either."

So I'm droppong off a movie at the redbox! and I hear Trent yell, "Daddy...you forgot my nuts!!!!"
I ran through ang got him a sundae because he has been good at school. It came with a little bag of peanuts, and I told him I would pour them when I stopped.

So I'm on the floor working on a puzzle with Jack as he eats a cheese biscuit. He keeps walking over and putting his belly in my face...so I start acting like I am biting him. He loves it and is laughing harder and harder...until finally he laughs so hard that he spews chewed up biscuit chunks everywhere...including ...my eyes and IN my mouth. Parenthood...gotta love it.

Trent decides he needs an electric toothbrush. He tells me how much better my electric one works. It then occurs to me that it was out of place this morning. I asked if he used it last night. Of course he did. He insisted on using it tonight. Not having the energy to fight, I said fine. As if that isn't gross enough, ...he spit out the toothpaste & wiped it back up with the toothbrush and continued brushing. Awesome.

Helping Trent with his homework. Tonight he has to trace, color, and then identify a set of 8 shapes. He has most of them down...but thinks a trapezoid is a leotard.

Is at Lenny's with Jack to eat dinner, and boy is he putting on a show for the employees. I just told him it was time to go, and he screamed, "NOT COOL!" You should have heard the laughs from his audience.

Happy Grandparent's Day

2010-09-12T17:46:00.003-05:00

Trent made the sign!

Trent has been asking all day to do "crafts," so during his nap, I ran to Michael's bought lots of fun crafts stuff (for cheap - they are having a great sale!).

Once up from his nap, Trent wanted to make something for his grandparents for Grandparent's Day today.

He decided to make a flying pig for Nana and Pop. It was a little more difficult than I had anticipated because clay is NOT playdoh. It was really hard for him to work with, but the end product was cute!

Trent making the pig

Showing off the final product :)

Trent decided to make a cow for his Nanny and Papaw. It was easier, and he had lots of fun crumpling up the paper. It turned out great, too!

Making the cow

Look Nanny and Papaw!

Happy Grandparent's Day! We will get your crafts to you next time we see you!

Trent Wants to be a Builder

2010-09-11T18:04:00.000-05:00

At Pre-K graduation, Trent said he wanted to be a builder. This morning he showed me that he is already getting practice for that job!

Impressive! With no help at all!

Swimming in September?

2010-09-05T17:40:00.000-05:00

We decided to go swimming to wear the kids out. We all put on our suits and got in the pool. WOW!!! We need to add a new step to this process. We should check the temperature on the pool thermometer first. The pool was about 78 degrees. We have been swimming with it in the 90's. We all froze! Trent was the only one of us that didn't seem to care. He wasn't really happy when we said that it was time to get out after 15 minutes in the frigid water.

So while we were warming up in the sun, I showed Trent how to put a towel over some chairs to make a tent. He loved this, so he proceeded to build a fort with Jack and they had a ball. They played outside on the patio for an hour, just being boys. It was so much fun just to watch them. :)

Delta Fair

2010-09-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

We decided to take the boys to the Delta Fair for some family fun. On the way, we went through the Howard's drive thru and go some donuts and donut hole for the munchkins. They ate all twelve by the time we parked at the fair (and that's not far). We decided that today was one of those days where we ignore our inner parent and just have fun. :)

Once inside we went right to the 4-H animal area. The boys loved feeding all of the animals, especially the goats.

Trent is not scared like he used to be. At one point a goat took the whole cup of food from him, and he thought that it was HILARIOUS! He laughed and laughed...

Matt had to help Jack feed a goat. He didn't seem too scared, but he liked the help.

Then Jack and the goat had a stare down.

Trent and Jack checked out the rabbits, too. They didn't seem to want any food, so they lost interest pretty fast.

Our next stop was in the childrens' rides section of the fair. Trent and Jack both wanted to ride the Scrambler.

Trent really liked the ride. However, it seemed like it stopped about 50 times to let screaming kids off. He didn't seem to mind, though.

Jack was one of the screaming kids that had to be let off. He looked like he would enjoy it before it actually started moving. :)

Then Trent went down one of the big slides. I tried to video tape it, and that didn't seem to work out. So here is a picture of him walking towards the slide. :)

Then we started walking toward the bigger stuff. On the way they had tractors and play sets set up to try to sell. This area was lots of fun for the kids.

You know that it's always difficult to get both kids in a decent picture. This was the best that I got, but I think it's pretty cute.

Jack had fun swinging on the wing of an airplane.

Here is Jack sliding out of the castle.

Matt and I talked about how cool one of these playsets would be in our backyard. Maybe in the future...

We walked around and let Trent play a bunch of the games. At one of the air brush tents we saw a tshirt design for Trent.

Trent rode one of the big rides, too. He seemed a little nervous at first...

But he liked it in the end!

We had a great family day at the fair.

Later that night we invited the Trustys over to watch the football game. Our bulldogs won 49 - 7. It was an AWESOME day all around! Go dogs! Oh, and Ole Miss LOST to Jacksonville State! Could it get any better? ;)

Trent's Kindergarten Class

2010-08-30T17:31:00.003-05:00

Today Trent brought home school pictures. Here is the picture of his class from the first week of school. Aren't they so cute?

Oh, and just for the record... Trent threw the biggest fit on this day because I wanted him to wear a "handsome shirt" - aka a collared shirt. I won! :)

Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This....

2010-08-16T20:48:00.003-05:00

Trent started his first full week in kindergarten today, but I will get to that in a bit. As I always say, "I have good news and bad news." I would rather start with the bad and end with the good, but that's just me. :)

Last night Trent went to bed with no problem, but at about 10:45 we woke to him in our room. He whined and whined that he wanted to sleep with us. Matt tried reasoning with him for a half an hour to no avail. So, I took his hand and marched him upstairs. I was nice and just told him that he had to sleep in his own bed. He seemed ok.

However, once I was downstairs and back in bed the loud crying began. I let it go for awhile until it sounded like our house was falling down. Then I sent Matt upstairs to take care of it. A couple of minutes later he returned. He said, "There is a hole in the wall." I was speechless, but Matt reasoned that it was better to just let it be until the next day. We didn't mention it this morning because we wanted Trent to have a good day at school. In the process of getting Trent ready Matt discovered that there were 2 holes in the wall. I took Trent to daycare and decided to deal with it all after school.

I picked Trent up after school, and he informed me that he had a great day. He said,
"We didn't get recess or playtime." He couldn't really explain why, but he wanted me to know that.

Once we got home, I took Trent upstairs and asked him if there was anything he wanted to tell me.
Trent, "What?"
Me, "I don't know. What do you think?" as I stared at the hole in the wall.
Trent finally said that he was bad. I asked how the holes got there. He told me he kicked the one by the bed, and he threw his aquarium at the wall to make the other hole. I reasoned with him and told him that fixing these holes was going to take a lot of money. I explained how you have to fix the walls, etc.

This the hole Trent kicked in the wall.

This the hole that the aquarium made.

He seemed to understand. Matt got home and told him to think of what his punishment should be. If it was a good idea, then that would be his punishment. If it wasn't enough, we would decide.

Trent's idea was "a hard spanking."
We informed him that that was not good enough.
We decided to take away his aquarium.
This is a BIG DEAL. Trent doesn't have a stuffed animal or blanket that he is attached to. He has this aquarium that was on his crib when he was an infant. He was VERY unhappy about this punishment, but he took it like a big boy.

PUNISHMENT

Parenting is HARD! Don't ever think that it's easy!

Now for the good news....

I checked Trent's folder, and he got a brown lion! That is the best he can do. He also got a sticker on his sticker chart. He really did have a great day, and I am so proud of him for that!

A brown lion is the BEST! Way to go Trent!

Jack Knows His Colors

2010-08-15T19:38:00.003-05:00

Check out the video of Jack showing off!

Trent's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-12T19:28:00.000-05:00

Trent was very excited about going to his first day of kindergarten. He doesn't understand that his school is Lakeland Elementary. He just says, "kindergarten."

Matt took the day off, and I took off the morning to make Trent's day special.

Trent looked handsome in the clothes he picked out with his new tennis shoes.

We took him to Cracker Barrel for breakfast on his special day. He was super excited.

We took him to his classroom, Mrs. Filsinger's room. We helped him put his supplies away and get organized. His teacher took this picture of us.

When we left, Trent was doing puzzles. He is such a big boy - no tears. I didn't have any tears either, but my stomach was in knots all day. I can't believe he is in school!

How do these things happen?

2010-08-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

Trent ran his bath water, and all of the sudden we hear screaming. We walk in to find this scene.

I am sure you understand that I don't really buy the explanation that I got. "He just fell in, Momma." Really? And you didn't have anything to do with it?

Jack's Barney Cake

2010-07-27T19:14:00.000-05:00

Jack's Nana made him a Barney cake for his birthday. The day after his party she gave it to him, and he LOVED it.

Here is Nana, Pop, Trent, and Jack with Barney. If you have kids, you know that it is nearly impossible to get a good picture of everybody. :)

Jack is trying the cake after supper. :)

I believe he likes it! :)

Trent liked it, too!

Jack's Birthday Party

2010-07-26T18:49:00.000-05:00

We had Jack's birthday party on Sunday, July 25th. Elmo and Sesame Street was the theme.

Here is Jack's cake.

Here was some of the food, a veggie tray. I cut the cheese in the shape of 2's. Yeah, I just typed "cut the cheese." I know Matt is going to comment on that. :)

I made two types of fruit dip and cut the cinnamon chips in the shape of 2's.

I also made Rice Krispy treats in the shape of 2's. Here was some of the decor.

As people arrived they headed to the pool. Here is a picture of Jack with his cousin Hollie. He LOVES his cousins, and they are so good with both of my boys.

We ordered pizza (supposedly Elmo's favorite food), and the kids got out of the pool to chow down on the food.

Jack loved the cake, but he didn't know what to think when he became the center of attention.

Once we started singing "Happy Birthday" he got a little stressed out, and he started biting his finger.

I had to help him blow out his candles, but that was fine because he wanted to eat his cake.

He thought that the cake was so YUMMY!

After we enjoyed the cake, we let Jack open presents. His cousin Hollie helped. Here was one of his presents. He didn't know what to think of these Elmo hands.

It must have been a LONG day because we caught both grandpas passed out on the couch. :)

It was a great day and a great party. It's hard to believe my baby is growing up so fast!

Trip to Nanny & Papaw's

2010-07-15T15:58:00.000-05:00

Matt has taken a couple of guy trips this summer. This weekend he went to Craig's lake house in Alabama with a bunch of his BBQ team buddies.

I decided to take the kiddos to my parents' house in Centreville, MS. After the last few road trips, this was very BRAVE of me. I loaded up both kids, the dog, and tons of stuff to make the trek down south.

Overall, the trip was uneventful. I planned well. :) We stopped in Jackson at Matt's parents' house to let the kids eat and take potty breaks. Then we got back n the road. We made it to Centreville mid afternoon, and the fun began. :)

As soon as we made it, the kids headed outside to the deck to play with Papaw's trucks. Then they made their way to where Papaw was picking blueberries and helped.

Jack hindered the process more than helping, but he had a great time.

While we were in the house, my parents' unofficial pet came by for a visit. They feed all of the stray cats in the neighborhood, and now it seems they have adopted a new stray.

I forgot what they named him... Stripes, maybe?

On our second day in Centreville, we hit the town. We went to the Camp Van Dorn Museum. I learned alot and got some great pictures of stuff in case I ever teach Social Studies again.

Here is a picture of Jack with a shell that was almost as big as him.

Here is a picture of the patch that my Daddy got in the Air Force. He was stationed in Okinawa way back when.

On our third day in C'ville, we enjoyed some time in the backyard.

I laughed when I caught the boys like this. This was NOT staged. :)

Then we packed up and headed to Ferriday, Lousiana, and Lake St. John to see Mike and Norma Jean Price, my parents' oldest friends.

On the way, we stopped in Natchez at my parents' favorite store. I have heard them say Dirt Cheap so much that I just had to see the store.

It was nothing special... :)

We made it to Mike and Norma Jean's house mid afternoon. The kids loved all of the toys they had for their grandchildren.

They were so cute riding this tricycle together.

On the way to Ferriday, we had hoped that the kids would take a nap. We were WRONG. Jack was really grouchy, so Mike and Jean suggested we take a boat ride to calm him down.

Here are Mike, Trent, and Papaw on the boat ride.

Jack eventually headed to Papaw's lap.

Mike kept telling Trent to look for alligators. Then Jean showed him the Lake Monster. Cecil St. John doesn't like too far from Mike and Jean's pier.

Norma Jean had fun showing Trent the monster, and he didn't know what to think.

Eventually, Jack did fall asleep on the ride. We headed back towards their house when it got cloudy and thundered.

We enjoyed a yummy dinner at their house, and then headed back to Centreville.

On Sunday, we went to church and headed back to Lakeland. Here are a couple more pictures from the weekend.

The boys love Papaw. He's a good pusher on the swing.

Brodie loves it Nanny and Papaw's - lots of squirrels, cats, and raccoons to chase. Plus Papaw cook good food and shares. :)

Planning Jack's Birthday Party

2010-07-05T15:58:00.000-05:00

Jack has loved Barney for a while, but recently he has become interested in Elmo more. I asked him what kind of party he wanted, and he informed me that he chose Elmo. Here are a couple of pictures that I took for his invitations.

He is so funny and cute!

What a mess!

4th of July

2010-07-05T15:36:00.001-05:00

Over the summer Matt's friend Len has been in Arkansas while his wife completes an internship with Walmart. Matt asked them to come over for the 4th, so Len, Lisa, and her friend Rebecca came to Memphis for the weekend.

They made a few sightseeing trips around Memphis to Graceland and midtown. Then on Saturday night, Matt and I took them downtown to see the Peabody ducks and to eat at the Rendezvous. It was really hot, but overall it was lots of fun. They got some good pictures and enjoyed the BBQ.

Then we hit Beale St. We took them to Silky O'Sullivan's for a Diver.

They liked it, but I think they liked the novelty of the bucket the most.

On Sunday, the 4th, we had lots of people over for a cookout and party. Matt (with Dan's help) smoked some butts, cooked some wings, and grilled some veggies. It was delicious, as always. Lots for friends with kids came over, so the whole family was happy and having fun.

Trent had a ball jumping in the pool with Parker Trusty.

Sarah was sweet and played with everyone's kids.

Jack loved Lisa because she pushed him on the swing.

Matt loved that he got some people to play cornhole with him.

Thomas and Andrea came and brought Abigail. It was our first time to meet her. :)

It was a wonderful Independence Day!

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-26T14:46:00.002-05:00

This year I signed Trent up for swimming lessons. My friend Cindy teaches them, and everyone tells me that their kid swims like a fish after taking lessons from her. Trent went for two weeks. I cannot sing Cindy's praises loud enough or long enough.

Trent is officially a swimmer.

Now at the same time, Jack has become a dare devil!

I have a couple of water babies !

Cooking with Mommy

2010-06-16T14:27:00.000-05:00

Trent loves to watch cooking shows, so I decided to do a dinner where the kids could do the cooking. Now let's face it, there is no way kids can do ALL of the cooking, but they did have fun.

We made little pizzas on English muffins.

Can you guess who made each pizza?

Jack got a little carried away with his ingredients, but he still ate it.
After all, that's all that really matters.

We also made a dessert pizza.

Trent loved cutting the strawberries with my Pampered Chef egg slicer.

I let the kids put the strawberries on the pizza. However, I noticed that for every strawberry that they put on the pizza, they ate about three. :)

I think we need a Food Network show, don't you? :)

Trent's 5 Year Checkup

2010-06-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

I had Trent's checkup planned out for weeks. I would keep him home and spend the day with him. We would do fun Mommy/Son stuff all day. Then we would go for the checkup, and we would leave after his shots to go get a gourmet cupcake from GiGi's.

Well, as usual my plans did not work out. Jack got sick, and I had to take him to the doctor with us. This was not good because I really wanted to give Trent ALL of my attention on this day. Needless to say, he did not get it.

Jack cried the whole time we waited. What did I expect? He's sick...

We had to wait awhile, but Dr. Ellis finally came in. He checked out Jack first and wrote prescriptions. Then he moved on to Trent.

Trent loves to make silly faces for the camera...

Trent is healthy and is such a good patient.

Then it was time...

I decided to tell Trent what was going to happen before the nurse came in the room. He was scared, but not as scared as I thought he would be. He took the first couple of shots pretty well, but then he tensed up. After four shots, the tears were rolling pretty fast and hard. He finally calmed down after getting his stickers on the way out the door.

He was so good, and there was no way I could not get that boy a cupcake. Now if you live in Memphis, you understand me when I say that I hate Poplar Ave. I can't stand driving that busy street with its super narrow lanes, but I did it. I did it for my BIG BOY! He picked out his cupcake, and we headed home.

How yummy does that look? It looks like a sugar crazed 5 year-old waiting to happen...

With all that icing, did you really expect him to keep his face clean?

We did have a few shot related freak out moments, but all ended well. He got a pretty big knot on his leg from when he tensed up. And a week later, he got a pretty bad rash from the MMR. But now all is good! I love my BIG BOY!

Family Vacation

2010-06-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

On Saturday morning, we slept in since we arrived so late the night before. Nanny and Papaw took the kids on a walk around the chalets. We stayed in Chalet 1, and it was so nice. It was big and comfortable. It had a beautiful view from the porch with rocking chairs to sit and take in the awesome scenery.

After we got up and moving, we headed to the Dillard House to let the kids go to the petting zoo. Trent and Jack were both pretty cute feeding the baby goats. They liked looking at all of the different animals. Then we went for a carriage ride on the property. It was free, and we all enjoyed it. This is not a commercial for Dillard House, but it is beautiful.

Later on Saturday afternoon, we went to a free wine social on the property of the Dillard House. They had free beer, wine, cocktails, sodas in glass bottles, and lots of yummy snacks. The kids enjoyed the cookies and fruit. Trent's favorite was the chocolate covered strawberries.

We took a trip to Tiger, GA, to the Goats on the Roof. Both kids loved this place. We let Trent feed the goats. Matt and I got some boiled peanuts, and we all roasted some marshmallows over the fire outside. We actually made two trips to this place, and on the second trip we let Trent mine for gems and gold. He called it all gold. There were was green gold, purple gold, and even gold gold. He had a ball!

On our last full day in the area, we drove to some waterfalls. It was beautiful. We went to Bridal Veil falls first. It was really neat because we actually drove under the falls. Trent thought it was pretty cool.

Then we went to Dry Falls, and they were ANYTHING but DRY. It was a huge waterfall, and it was gorgeous. Matt took both boys under the falls and out the other side, but I couldn't make it the whole way because I was wearing Croc flip flops, and it was way too slippery.

On the way back to Dillard, we stopped in Franklin, NC, and took Trent bowling. He LOVED every minute of it.

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing vacation. If you take away our trip there, we could have called it "Perfect". :)

Road Trip to Dillard, Georgia

2010-06-05T09:56:00.000-05:00

We planned our family vacation on the fly this year. I would love to say that this road trip went well, but it didn't. I worked very hard to get everything organized and packed on the days before we left. I really wanted to be on the road by 8AM, and I woke up at about 5:45 (my internal Trent clock). I showered, started packing the car, got the kids fed and dressed, cooked pigs in the blanket for the car, etc. We did actually get on the road by 8AM. I was so proud!

The trip started out great. We made it through Nashville without incident by 11AM, and we started trying to plan where to stop for lunch. We had Brodie with us, so we planned to just have a picnic somewhere. A little past Nashville, Matt noticed the car catching while he was accelerating. Then the TRANSMISSION HOT indicator came on. We stopped at the next service station, and took out the handy-dandy manual to my Yukon. Matt checked the transmission fluid, and it looked high if anything. The book said to let the car cool down and check it again, so we ate at a sandwich shop inside the gas station. The kids had Lunchables, and Matt and I got some food.

After lunch, he checked the fluid again. It seemed fine, so we decided to get back on the road. It started doing the same things again. We discussed and decided to stop at a service station in Manchester to see if they could check it out. We used my phone and found an auto service station. They came out and checked the Yukon using the little computer. He informed us that we needed to get to a transmission shop.

We, again, used my phone to find the place. Most of the guys were at lunch, so we had to wait. Matt started calling our insurance agent and the body shop that fixed our transmission in January. We walked over to the Dollar General to waste some time. We looked for four leaf clovers, and I found a five leaf clover. The kids and I got a milk shake at the Mexican restaurant next door to the transmission shop. It poured down rain. Our phones died, and the mechanics let us charge them in the shop. The Enterprise couldn't find us a minivan or SUV. On and on and on and on.

FINALLY, at 7PM the Enterprise lady showed up with our minivan. It took us about 10 minutes to transfer everything from the Yukon to the minivan. Then we had to take her back to her office 30 minutes the wrong way. We stopped and got gas, picked up some drive thru food, and finally got on the road again about 9 hours after we stopped at the first service station.

The trip seemed so long since it got dark. Then the rain came. I told Matt that it was just our little black cloud following us. Thankfully, we had satellite radio so we sang songs and talked the whole way to Dillard. We passed the brightest realty sign in the world. It was so bright that I had to put my hand up to shade my eyes. This was after dark, too. I don't know how Matt drove by it without having a wreck. Speaking of wrecks, we saw lots of them and lots of blue flashing lights. The good thing is that it kept us awake and aware. We finally made it to Chalet 1 at about midnight.

Understatement of the Year: Road trips are not our thing. :)

Pre K Graduation

2010-05-21T21:37:00.001-05:00

Trent graduated from Pre K today. I like to say that I am not emotional, especially in public, but I would be lying today. I sobbed during Trent's graduation program. He is growing up too fast! Plus, they showed a picture video, and the music is what triggered my tears.

Both sets of grandparents came up for the day. It was my last day of school, so I had to leave school to get to the program. It started at noon, and it was super cute. All of the little ones paraded down the center aisle in their precious caps and gowns.

Trent seemed a little nervous before he walked down the aisle.

They said the Pledge of Allegiance. They said their letters and sounds. All in all, they just showed how much they learned this year. Then the kids left, and that's when they showed the video. (That's when the waterworks started.)

Then the kids returned as frogs. They hopped in, and as Trent says, "I was the BEST ribbiter, right Mommy?" He was.

Trent was the BEST ribbiter!

They did a couple of really cute dances, and then we went to the classroom to pick up diplomas and scrapbooks.

As a treat, we took Trent to Cracker Barrel for an ice cream sundae. He LOVED it!

Needless to say, he tummy was hurting before all was said and done. :)

Now the countdown has begun for kindergarten. Wow! Time flies!

It's Finally Sinking In...

2010-05-10T17:54:00.000-05:00

Trent got a book in the mail today from Imagination Library. When I saw the title, I finally realized...

My baby boy is starting kindergarten in just a few months, and this was his last book from the Imagination Library because he turned 5!!!

sniff...sniff..

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

I had a very nice Mother's Day weekend. Matt had to do "load-in" for Memphis in May BBQ Fest on Saturday, so I spent the day with the kiddos. We cleaned a little, and then we went to the grocery store. Once we were home and ate lunch, we all lay down for a nap. When I woke up Matt was home. He bought me 12 different flavors of GiGi's Cupcakes. Those things are awesome, but there was no way I was going to eat all of those without checking into the nearest hospital. I did eat the Red Velvet and the Wedding Cake cupcakes. Matt ate a couple, Trent and Jack had a couple, and I gave the rest to friends at school. It was very thoughtful.

We went shopping on Saturday night to get me a dress for the 8th grade graduation/recognition. We got the dress, and Matt bought me a new cover for my iPhone. Then we stayed up and watched Couples Retreat that night. It was pretty funny, and I enjoyed spending time with my hubby.

Matt let me sleep late on Sunday. When I got up he made me breakfast and we hung out. Once the kids were down for a nap, I went back to bed. (Lazy, I know.) Matt mowed and worked in the yard. It was a great, lazy day! Thanks to all of my boys!

Here are pictures of the gift Trent made me at school (it's a candle holder). I have also included pictures of the what was drawn and written in my card. :)

My sweet homemade gift from Trent

These are the words that Trent told Matt to write :)

Trent drew the picture of our family and my present. You will have to have him explain it to you sometime. Kids are so cute!

Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-07T17:28:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, as a Momma I am a slacker when it comes to things like Teacher Appreciation Week. This year I MADE myself do better. I decided that instead of sending the designated thing each day I would send two things. I would make a poster for each teacher and give gifts cards on Friday inside thank you cards. I made up a paragraph that used names of candy for words. Then I went to Walgreens and bought all of the necessary candy. I have to say that the actual cutting and taping took SO LONG. I made two posters each day for different teachers. We took Trent's teachers' posters on Wednesday. We took Jack's teachers' posters on Thursday. On Friday, I took a poster to the Toddler Room teachers and to the directors of the daycare. Here are pictures of the posters!

I changed up the wording for each of them to make them fit the child.

Trent was VERY proud of his posters.

Another funny sidenote - Trent and I made homemade cards to go with the giftcards. I printed out the clipart that Trent chose. Then I let him put his teacher's name and sign the card. After we were done, I went to write a little message in each card. Come to find out, Trent wrote the inside of one of the cards upside down. At least the teacher knew it was from him, right? :)

Trent's Birthday Party

2010-05-01T17:27:00.000-05:00

Holy Cow! Trent is 5! It is hard to believe my first born baby is 5 years old!

Sorry about that! I am just trying to get over that fact still!

Trent's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so we planned his party for the Friday before - April 30. He wanted to go to Crossfire Commandos. We decided to make it like Superhero training. Trent insisted that it be a Superman party. That is cool, but do you know how hard it was to find Superman stuff. We could find anything you could ask for in Batman or Spiderman, or even the Hulk, but Trent wanted Superman. So we made it happen.

We made our own invitations. Here is the outside of the invitation...

We got the invitations made and sent. Then we started planning the party. The one good thing about having the party at a location other than home is not having to clean the house. WRONG! My dumb self planned a Pampered Chef party for the same weekend, so we had to clean anyway! Sorry, I am off on a tangent!

The party went great. Trent had a blast. Here are some pictures to show you all of the fun that was had.

Trent got to do everything first. Here he is on the zipline.

Matt wore his work clothes and said he wouldn't do any of the activities. However, as you can tell he decided to join in no matter what he was wearing.

The coaches got all of the kids in a group and they had to yell, "Happy Birthday!" as loud as they could - hence the fingers in Trent's ears.

Hannah had to join in the fun! She has decided that she is going to move in with us over the summer so she can work at this place.

Here Trent is being thrown into the foam pit. He is ALL BOY!

Trent had a ball on the trampoline. He got to go twice since he was the birthday boy.

Hollie joined in on the fun, too!

Jack enjoyed the cupcakes with blue icing. :)

Trent was on the big screen during the whole party!

I loved his cake. The S was made to look like a 5 since it was his 5th birthday!

He should get his wish because he blew out the candles with no problem. Check out his shirt that Robin made! Too cute!

Matt was having so much fun he got in the foam pit, and then he had a hard time getting out of it!

All of the boys had a blast in the foam pit!

Daddy's Ordination

2010-04-14T17:20:00.007-05:00

My Daddy was ordained as a deacon this past weekend, so we decided to make the trip to Centreville to be there. I took Friday off from school, and we headed down. We made it to Centreville by about 6:30 and enjoyed dinner with my parents. Since our last trip to Centreville consisted of one disaster after another, it was nice to spend some time with my parents minus the stress. On Saturday, my niece Hollie sang in the Mississippi Children's Choir in Jackson. My parents went up to hear her, and then my brother Ken's family came down to Centreville, too. Matt and I have been craving some crawfish, so Daddy took care of us. We had a great afternoon and night. We ate plenty of crawfish, played cornhole, and laughed a ton! Here is a video of Matt that might help explain the laughing part...

Here are some pictures from our afternoon of family fun...

Jack kept stealing everyone's lollipops, so his face was as sticky as fly paper. See all the grass! :)

Here is a better picture of the sticky grass...

Jack wanted to join us playing cornhole. This picture just cracks me up with his little fat belly poking out. :)

He understood what to do. He was constantly putting the bags in the holes.

Jack had no idea what to think of a live crawfish. He would come over and look at them. Then he would take off running and screaming. Repeat. Repeat.

Jack LOVED crawfish. He ate so many that Ken said he wouldn't peel them for him anymore. He's my boy!

Jack loves his Uncle Ken. He had so much fun running around and hugging whoever he could grab first.

Jack loves his cousins so much. Here he is with Hannah.

Another picture of Hannah and Jack

Hannah had great form playing cornhole. Amanda says that she needs to start a cornhole team at Mooreville High School. :)

Jack loved on Hollie a lot too!

On Sunday, Daddy and Ken got up and went to the Men's breakfast. As soon as they left, Trent told Mom that he wanted to go with Papaw. Mom ran to our room, and we dressed him super fast. She took him up to the church to eat with his Papaw and Uncle Ken. He also went to Sunday School. We all met for the service, leaving Jack in the nursery. As I told Daddy, unless you want Jack to get all of the attention, he needs to be in the nursery. Here are a couple of pages from the program that Sunday.

Daddy got to choose the hymns sung during the laying of the hands. He also got up and gave his testimony. I honestly don't think that I had ever heard the story before, and it brought tears to my eyes. (Actually, I think it brought tears to alot of eyes!) It was a very moving service, and I am so glad that we made the trip to be a part of it.

Here is Papaw and Nanny after the service.

Here is a picture of all of the family that attended the service. We were surprised and so glad that Uncle Wayne made the trip.

After church, we went to the house and had a great lunch (especially considering Mom's oven quit working on Friday. Thank goodness she had the camper to cook in. We had a great lunch of ham, baked beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, green salad, and more. Then we loaded up to head home. On the way through Jackson, we made a layover in Brandon to visit with Matt's Ging Gong. She is in a really nice assisted living place. We had a nice visit, and here are a few pictures.

Jack remembered Ging and went in and gave her a hug right off the bat.

Here are the boys posing in Ging's apartment. Jack is sitting in Matt's Uncle Randy's rocking chair. He was so cute.

After a fast and furious trip, we made it home about 8:30 on Sunday night. It was long and exhausting but so worth it to be there for my Daddy. :) I love you and am so proud of you!

Easter

2010-04-07T19:24:00.004-05:00

On the night before Easter, the questions began...
Mommy, what door does the Easter Bunny come in?
Daddy, what door does he go out?
Will the Easter Bunny come in my room?
How long will he be here?
and more, and more, and more...

Trent does not like the thought of ANYONE coming into his house while he is asleep - not Santa Claus, not the Easter Bunny, NOBODY! After we convinced him that the Easter Bunny was magic and would only be in the house for a few seconds, he finally went to bed.

We got up early Easter morning because we went to church with Fred and Keeley.

The EB left the boys quite a stash. Jack got a cool toy and a BIG green ball. Trent got a Spongebob Puzzle and a Wall-E Leapster game. They were both very excited!

Jack liked checking out his Easter basket.

Jack loved the ball. He walked around shouting, "Ball, ball, ball!" all day!

We got dressed and ready for church with a few minutes to spare, so we wanted to try and get some good pictures. Well, Jack was NOT cooperating.

Look at that pitiful face!

Here is a picture of me with my sweet boys.

Look at all of my handsome boys! They make a Mommy/Wifey proud!

We enjoyed church with the Shaidnagles and headed home. We got to the house at about 11:15 and started lunch. We had a yummy late lunch of ham, homemade macaroni 'n cheese, potato salad, deviled eggs, and green beans with bacon.

Oh, I almost forgot. Fred and Keeley came over the night before and we dyed eggs with the kids. I used those eggs in the potato salad, so it was quite colorful. Too bad I didn't get any pictures! ;)

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-03-29T18:25:00.000-05:00

Nicole Nannie and I decided to do this year's Easter egg hunt together. We planned it for the week before Easter, and wouldn't you know it? It rained! We were forced to have the hunt inside, but that was ok. The kids had a ball, and everything turned out great.

We had a nice array of snacks for the kids and parents to munch on.

We had a contest to see who could guess the number of jelly beans. We figured the adults needed some fun, too!

I made the rice krispy treats that looked like baskets. I dyed coconut green for the grass and put M&M's in them to look like eggs.
Nicole made the perfect brownies. I have to get one of those perfect brownie pans!

We hid the eggs for the big kids upstairs and the little kids downstairs.

Christopher was the "big" kid downstairs. He actually understood to pick up the eggs and put them in his basket.

The big kids took off upstairs. We told them to find 15 eggs. Then they had to wait until everyone had 15 before finding more.

Princess Reese looked super cute as always.

Cash was the little rock star singing Wiggles songs. He made me miss Jack's curls. :(

Trent found eggs up high. :)

Jack figured out the eggs had stuff in them. Look Mommy! M&M's - or in Jack language - hump, umm, MaaaMaaa!

All in all, it was a great day. Thank goodness we have an open house. There were alot of people in our house, but it never felt like we were sardines.

Everyone emptied the eggs and let us keep them for next year, and Jack thought that they were great fun to play in.

You never know what you're gonna see around this house - Fred doing pushups?!

After the egg hunt, Matt got Wrestlemania, so many of the boys and their dads stayed for that.

Here are the three amigos (Trent, Parker T., and Jacob). They were REALLY into it.

Jack took Wrestlemania very seriously! We thought it was so cute with his hand on David's leg. :)

Spring Break

2010-03-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

I had a pretty busy Spring Break this year. I have posted about the SEC Tourney, Trent's first dentist appointment, and going fishing. But there was more!
We also went to the circus with Nanny and Papaw. The kids really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures that I took.

When we first got seated, Jack was very interested in watching everything.

Both boys really liked the tigers and elephants.

I bought the boys some cotton candy, and they both were wearing it on their faces.

Jack started to get tired after the first hour or so.

Finally, at one point I looked over and he was sound asleep on his Papaw.

I bought both of the boys light sabres, and Jack LOVED his. Here he is getting his Daddy with it. If you can't tell, he is sitting on the mantel. :)

The weather was pretty at the beginning of the week, so we took the boys to the park in Arlington to play. I got some cute pictures of both of them there.

Jack enjoyed riding the horse in the little kid section of the park.

Trent and Jack liked sliding.

Trent has gotten very strong because he can hang on the rings for a long time.

Here is another view of the rings. Matt tried to teach him how to go across them, but he is still not ready for that.

Trent loved how high Daddy would swing him.

Here is a cute picture of them in one of the tube tunnels. My sweet boys!

Fishing

2010-03-21T16:20:00.006-05:00

It took the whole spring break before the weather decided to be nice. We were excited about being able to do some outdoor activity. The Sanduskys called and asked us to go fishing, so we decided that would be a great Saturday. They told us about a lake that his really close to our house. We met them there on Saturday morning, and the fun began.

Floyd is a great teacher. He taught Trent how to cast. Of course, Matt and Floyd spent a ton of time untangling his line or baiting his hook, but he seemed to have fun.

Jack was too young to really fish, so he just walked around and pointed at stuff. He wanted to go where everyone else was, so on several occasions I had to scoop him up before he fell into the lake.

At one point, I caught Jack organizing his rock collection. I gave him Trent's tackle box, and he started putting rocks in it. He would get super irritated if a rock was too big to fit in the container. :)

Matt got a bite, so he got Trent to help him reel it in.

Trent was so proud of his fish, but he did NOT want to touch it.

I just focused on Jack because if I tried to fish, he would wander too close to the lake. Floyd was sweet and baited a pole for me. He took Jack and made me go fish for a few minutes. I had no luck, but I appreciated the thought.

Mel had some luck. She caught the biggest fish of the day.

Floyd caught one too.

On Saturday night, we bought some catfish. Floyd fileted the fish they caught, and we had a fish fry at our house. It was a great day!

Trent's First Dentist Appointment

2010-03-17T15:47:00.001-05:00

I know that I have been needing to take Trent to the dentist for awhile, and over spring break I finally took the initiative and did it. Matt and I made sure to make it sound like a fun adventure because we do not want him to be scared of the dentist. I got an appointment at Pediatric Dentistry in Eads. The place was awesome!

When we first got there, Trent was interesting in the waiting area, but he wouldn't leave my side. He stayed with me while I filled out all of the paperwork. Then we were called back pretty quickly.

Trent seemed really nervous, but he got up on the chair or as he called it "bed." He kept telling me about the Dora episode when she goes to the dentist. This place was so kid-friendly and fun. He lay on the chair and could watch TV.

He seemed really interested in the movie they were showing at the time.

They had this beautiful mural on the wall too. The office looked like we were in a forest. There were trees everywhere with beautiful animals painted on the walls.

The first thing we had to do was get Trent's X-rays. He was great during the whole process, but he was very glad that I was right there to make him feel safe. I just loved that they let me stay with him the whole time.

The hygienist asked Trent what flavor toothpaste he wanted - orange, cherry, or strawberry. He chose orange (which would have been my choice too). She explained everything before she started so she wouldn't scare him. He liked the "thing that sucked the water out of your mouth."

After he got his teeth cleaned, he showed me his handsome smile.

He did end up with a cavity because he can't brush his back teeth well yet. Now, I am helping him brush them. He goes back in April for his filling. Hopefully, there won't be any stress since he has been there before.

Afterwards, he told me how AWESOME his dentist is. He loved the whole experience.

He even called his Nana that night and told her all about his day. He explained about the dentist and the leprechaun that came to his class at PreK. He had a very memorable St. Patrick's Day.

SEC Tourney

2010-03-15T17:57:00.003-05:00

A picture inside the arena at Friday's game against Florida

Our players in a huddle while Florida's cheerleaders and mascot were entertaining the crowd

Due to Matt's work, we couldn't go on a BIG trip for Spring Break, so we decided to go to the SEC Tournament in Nashville. If you really know us, you know that that could be a plan for disaster, but we got lucky!

Last time we decided to make a trip to the tourney it was in Atlanta. That was the year that a tornado hit the Georgia Dome and the tourney was closed to the public. Yes, we drove all of the hours there to sit in a bar and watch the games. Fun, fun, fun...

Luckily, this year the tourney was much closer. We decided to leave as soon as I got off work to get to the 6:30 game. We were loaded in the Yukon and on the way at 3:30. It normally takes about 3 hours to get to Nashville, but we made the trip in 2 1/2 hours. We pulled straight into a parking lot across the street from the arena. Matt bought tickets from a scalper for $20 a piece, and we were in our seats with food a few minutes before tip off. We were amazed at our luck!

The bulldogs played a great game, and we headed to our hotel. Matt got our room on Priceline for $75 a night. It was a Hilton Suite! It was da bomb! We were so happy on Friday night. It looked like our luck had finally turned around.

On Saturday, we got up and headed to the bank to get some cash. Then we needed to eat breakfast/lunch. We saw a place called Five Guys. It was fast, cheap, and delicious. It looked like our luck was still there. :)

Then we got downtown. Matt asked several scalpers and ticket prices were pretty high for the game. By the time we got there, the Kentucky/Tennessee game was underway, and our game was considered part of that session. We passed a couple of Kentucky fans on the way to the arena, and they informed us that they had spent $400 on a pair of counterfeit tickets. That made us nervous - especially Matt. Let me explain for you. Our Redbox was broken over Christmas. We couldn't return our movie and were charged an extra $3 by the time we could return it. Matt called Redbox and stayed on the phone for 30 minutes to get that $3 back. If we had paid $400 for counterfeit tickets, I think that Matt would have walked off a building in downtown Nashville!

We walked around downtown for awhile with no luck finding tickets. We even ran into someone we knew who had spent $600 on a pair of counterfeits. They said that the counterfeits had the hologram and everything like the real things. That made us really nervous, so we headed back to the hotel to watch the second half of our game. In the lounge area, we sat with a bunch of old men that were State fans. They informed us that they sold their tickets for the rest of the tourney for $700 and they were going to the Grand Ole Opry that night. Well, we won which was so exciting! We decided to not even try to get tickets to Sunday's game since we were playing Kentucky. We headed home and watched the game in the comfort of our living room. Too bad we lost in overtime on a bad call.

However, I can say that it was a very fun trip, and I loved spending the time with my sweet hubby!

Basketball Season Recap

2010-02-21T15:14:00.000-06:00

Bartlett Blue Wave 2009-2010

Mark Trusy, Coach

Trent, 4 years old

When Trent's basketball season began, Matt and I began to dread the Thursday night practices and the Saturday morning games. However, as the season progressed we really enjoyed watching the games. Trent slowly improved each week, and at the last game we were so proud of his effort.

I figure that the best way to show Trent's progression is through pictures. Hopefully, this will help you see the transformation that we saw throughout the season. :)

This is Trent at one of the first games taking a shot before the game. He struggled to get the ball to the goal until the end of the season.

Here are Trent and Ryleigh playing defense. I guess they thought they should guard each other instead of the other team.

Trent worked on his flirting while warming the bench - either with Ryleigh or Reese :)

Here is Trent practicing dribbling at a Thursday night practice

This may explain why they were playing defense on each other above. At practice they had to play against members of their own team.

We made the mistake of letting Trent wearing his Daddy's headband to one game. As you can see, he wasn't focused on the game at all! :)

But, he did look pretty cute in the headband!

In this game Trent got the ref's attention and asked him to tie his shoe. It was pretty funny to see the whole game come to a stop for Trent.

At the beginning of the season Trent was always the last down the floor. Here he is with our best ball handler Nathan (and he is not last!!!).

Here is Trent going after the ball. That was his one mission while on the court. You could hear Mark and us yelling "Trent! Get the ball!" at every game. :)

Here Trent got to throw the ball in which scared us at the time, but he did a GREAT job!

Here he is rebounding like a champ!

He got much better at shooting as the season progressed, but he never made a shot in a game. Maybe next year! :)

Here is Trent dribbling down the court. We were biting our nails, but he did a great job and had a blast!

Thanks to Mark for asking Trent to be on the team. It really was fun, and it gave Trent an introduction into sports. We are taking a break right now, but we are sure that we will be busy next year once Trent starts kindergarten.

Finally, here is Trent with his trophy!

Jack's 18 Month Check Up

2010-02-15T18:47:00.002-06:00

Matt and I took Jack for his check up today. He weighed 31 pounds which is in the 95th percentile. He is 32.5 inches tall which is in the 50-75th percentile. Now they do a simple questionaire to test for autism. Jack got 23 out of 23 which means he shows no signs of autism. He is high developmentally in everything except language/communication. That did not surprise us at all since all he says in Momma, Dada, and ball. Dr. Ellis said that there should be a large increase in his language between now and his 2 year appointment. Dr. Ellis also changed him from Singulair to Allegra to see if that helps with his tantrums. We noticed a difference when we took him off the Singulair for a week or so. We are keeping our fingers crossed to see if this helps.

Valentine's Day 2010

2010-02-14T18:07:00.001-06:00

Since Valentine's landed on a Sunday this year, we went out for our Valentine's dinner on the 13th. We went to Ruth's Chris with Fred and Keeley and enjoyed a delicious meal. We really had a great time at dinner, and then we headed to see Valentine's Day at the late movie. It was a cute movie. I say that because it got terrible reviews. It really wasn't that bad. It was cheesy and predictable for the most part, but it was a good date night movie.

On actual Valentine's day, we gave the kids the car/garage and wheel to their Zhu Zhu pets.

Here is Trent sitting beside their loot.

They had a ball playing with them, but Jack was a BIG handful on Sunday. He shook his milk until it went everywhere including the computer screen. Then he dumped out the box of Fruit Loops (luckily not the whole thing) and stomped on them. He threw anything he could get his hands on, and he cried all morning. He had really turned to art of throwing a fit into HIS science.

Matt let me sleep late, and he made me breakfast. It was toast with egg in the middle, and he made the cut out in the middle look like a heart. It actually looked like the heart was beating when it was cooking.

My breakfast made by my sweet husband

Jack enjoyed his sucker.

Trent informed me that these were not suckers. They were made of cream. They are actually white chocolate, but it was cute of him to say that.

They liked their candy, but Jack likes to make a big mess...

Trent is a Brave Boy

2010-02-13T17:49:00.000-06:00

This weekend Trent was invited to a birthday party at Dulin Sports Academy. The party was at 11:00 on Saturday, and he had a basketball game at 9:00 that morning. After the game, we went home and then Trent and I headed to the party. It was pretty cool!

When we got there the kids could watch the room where the party would take place through a big window. They were mesmerized.

Here are a bunch of Trent's classmates from PreK with him waiting to play.

The guys that worked there were great. They seemed like they really liked their jobs, so they made it very fun for the kids.

First, kids were put in harnesses. Trent didn't get one at first so he waited to jump in the foam pit.

He didn't know what to think at first, but he got a hang of it after a couple of times.

Here he is in the foam pit.

After a couple of jumps, he had no fear!

Then he got a harness, so he waiting to get on the trampoline. He talked to his friend Stephen about how "AWESOME" everything was.

Then he got hooked into the trampoline and had a ball jumping!

After everyone had a chance to jump on the trampoline, they started the zipline. A lot of the kids were too scared to do it, but Trent decided he wanted to try it out. I was so proud of him. He is usually a scaredy cat.

Here they are hooking him into the safety harness.

Here is Trent flying like superman on the zipline. He went REALLY fast. So fast that I couldn't get any good pictures. He actually flew over me both times he did the zip line.

It must have been a lot of fun because when we got home, Trent asked his Dad, "Can we have my May 2nd party at that place?" It looks like our plans might be made already. :)

That Snow Dance Worked... Too Well!!!

2010-02-09T17:06:00.000-06:00

So we didn't realize that the snow dance we did back on January 6th would last for the rest of the winter. I have never seen so much snow! It is ridiculous. As of February 9th, we have had 5 snow days. Now we are trying to figure out a way to make it STOP snowing. It has been crazy. Here are a few of the good pictures from all of our snow days of 2010...

Here are the boys before their first time to play outside in the snow/ice of 2010.

This is why I called it the snow/ice of 2010. There was about an inch of ice/sleet and then about a 1/4 inch of snow on top.

Trent liked to pick up the ice and throw it to watch it break into lots of pieces.

Jack didn't know what the think about it.

I grabbed a pool toy out of the playhouse and pulled the boys around on it for awhile.

Then the neighbors came outside and offered to let us borrow their sled. I pulled the boys around on it for awhile, and then I woke Matt up to sled with them. They went to the top of the big hill coming into our neighborhood.

They all hopped on the sled and started down the hill.

Here they are at the bottom. Matt said that it was lots of fun, but by this time Jack was getting cold. He whined everytime one of his mittens fell off.

Our next snowfall was the right kind. The kids got to actually make snowballs and a snowman. They enjoyed it too.

Jack seems to think this snowman is a touchdown! Yay!!!

It is really hard to get a good picture of two boys at the same time...

Like I said before....

I really hope that I don't have to blog about anymore snow because I would like to blog more this summer about swimming instead. Keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

Jack's First Haircut

2010-01-12T21:45:00.000-06:00

Well, the time has finally come. People are assuming Jack is a girl because of his long curls, and when I take his jacket and hat off at school his hair stands on end from the static.

Trent has basketball pictures on Thursday, so he needed a haircut too.

I picked them up from daycare and headed to Funcuts to see Mr. Brian. He has cut Trent's hair since his 2nd haircut, and he refuses to go to anyone else. I really expected Jack to be a handful, but things turned out better than I expected for once. :)

We got to Funcuts a couple of minutes early, so I took a couple of pictures of Trent and Jack before the haircuts.

Sweet brothers

The back of Jack's hair was beginning to look like a mullet.

He was really cute with it long, but I didn't want him to have a complex because people were calling him a girl.

Once inside the boys played in the waiting area until Mr. Brian was ready for them. I decided to let Jack go first since he might get tired if he went second. Mr. Brian put him in the chair and started laughing at how long his hair was.

He made a mohawk to show how much hair Jack had.

Then he asked what Jack wanted to watch on TV during his cut. I, of course, said, "Barney." Jack was cute. He didn't cry at all. He did scrunch his shoulders when the clippers tickled his neck. Overall, he was great.

Mr. Brian let Jack hold a dinosaur toy.

He sat up like a big boy the whole time.

Jack and Mr. Brian after the haircut.

At Funcuts, after a haircut the child gets a sucker and a treat from the drawers.

Jack got a banana sucker that he really liked.

On the way out he got an orange balloon that he kept calling a "ball."

I can't believe my baby boy is growing up so fast.... :(

Worst Road Trip EVER...

2010-01-11T13:29:00.000-06:00

About 4 months ago, my mom asked me to come to Centreville for the annual Ladies' Brunch at the church. I agreed and planned the personal day for January 8, so I wouldn't have to drive all night to get to Centreville. Little did I know that I would be dealing with a snow day on January 7. I got everything under control, and we got up at 8:00 that Friday morning and started getting ready for the trip. We had everything packed and in the car by 10:00. We dropped Matt's truck at Gateway on the way out of town, so we could get it looked at. His check engine light had been on for a few weeks, so we wanted to make sure it was ok.

We got on the interstate and headed to south Mississippi. By the time we got to the Whitten Road exit, the Yukon's check engine light came on. We used my phone to find the nearest Gateway, and we headed there.

Once at Gateway, we all got out of the car including Brodie, the dog. We sat in the waiting area while they checked everything out. My intake valve was swelling and contracting due to the cold weather. It was about 8 degrees on this morning, so that was understandable. The guy told us that everything should be fine for the trip. He said that the light would go off once it warmed up a little. So we got back on the road at about 11:00.

We made it to Matt's parents' house with little to report. We ate a late lunch and got back on the road. I called my parents to let them know we should be in Centreville by dinner time. We got back on the interstate and got a good start. Then we stopped in south Jackson to get gas. Once we got filled up, we got back on the interstate headed south.

Then it started...

The Yukon was revving pretty bad, but we thought it was just the cruise control acting up. After a couple of miles, we decided that it wasn't changing gears at all. We decided to pull over at the next exit (Crystal Springs). We pulled over and stopped at a little rinky dink service station. The attendant informed Matt that he couldn't do anything and that we should head back towards Jackson to a dealership. Keep in mind that it is 4:00 on Friday afternoon by now. :(

We headed slowly back towards Terry to stop at the nearest GM dealership. We got there at about 4:30. We told them what was going on, so a service guy got in and drove the Yukon with Matt, Trent, Jack, and Brodie in tow. He got back and told us that it was a 50/50 chance that our transmission was out. We considered that better than we expected.

First, he checked the transmission fluid. It was low, so he went about putting a gallon and a quart of transmission fluid into the Yukon. He couldn't believe it was so low. I asked him to show me what the fluid looked like. Once I saw it, I said, "That's the stuff that leaked out when I hit the deer."

Service man, "You hit a deer? When?"

So we went about telling the whole story of my hitting the deer on the way to school. He said that it looked like the repair shop didn't refill my transmission fluid when they repaired my car. He took it for another drive and returned to tell me my transmission was officially kaput.

What to do now?

We called my parents to tell them the bad news, so they started to come and get us. We called Matt's parents and told them the predicament we were in, and they offered to let us use their minivan to get to Centreville.

So we commenced to unpacking the Yukon because it was going to spend some time in Terry. By the time Matt's parents got to Terry with the minivan and we got it unloaded with their stuff and reloaded with ours, it was past 6:00.

We finally got on the road again and realized we needed gas. We stopped at the Texaco in Terry, and Matt filled up the van while I went inside to get some food. We had officially been in the car or a repair shop for over 8 hours now. While in the Texaco, Matt reached in the ice chest to get a Diet Mountain Dew. He took the ice cube off the top and rolled down the window to throw it out.

Guess what...

The window wouldn't roll back up. Does that really surprise you? It did NOT surprise us by this point. Matt called his mom who informed us that it was broken and he just needed to play with it for awhile to get it up.

Now this wouldn't be a big deal to do while driving if it wasn't 20 degrees outside with two kids in the backseat! So we sat at the gas station for about 20 minutes until Matt finally got it rolled up.

So for the rest of the trip, we just kept our mouths shut as to not jinx anything else. The kids cried for an hour and finally fell asleep in McComb. We found a radio station playing 80's and 90's music, and we just sang and laughed the rest of the way to my parents' house.

We arrived at about 8:45 - about 11 hours after our departure time in Lakeland. There were other bumps along the way while in C'ville, but I am going to quit while I am ahead.

We enjoyed seeing the family, and we made it safely back to Lakeland on Sunday in my parents' car. They let us borrow it until the Yukon was fixed. Luckily, insurance and the shop fixed it for no charge to us. Unless you count this awful road trip, and I consider that payment enough, don't you?

2010's First Snow Dance

2010-01-07T13:08:00.001-06:00

Well, it's only the first week back at school, but there is a chance of snow. That means we need to pull out the directions for our trusty snow dance. Trent was very excited to do it again this year. For those of you who don't know the procedures for this, check it out.

First you must wear your pajamas backwards.

Trent likes to wear mismatched pjs now, so it is funny to begin with.

Jack wanted to join in, but it is impossible to wear "footy" pajamas backwards.

For the next step, you need a cupful of ice.

Here is Trent holding his ice for you to see.

Next, dump the ice into the toilet.

And finally, flush the ice down the toilet.

Both boys loved watching this step in the process.

The funny part was when Trent ran to the kitchen and looked out the window. He screamed, "Look Mama! The ice is on the ground outside! It worked!" I have no idea how ice was on the ground, but Trent is a true believer that he flushed it out there.

The snow dance worked because we got a dusting, and school was cancelled the next day. There wasn't enough to play in, but I am sure there is more to come...

Trent Family Christmas

2009-12-27T17:30:00.000-06:00

I don't think that I have mentioned that Jack has stayed sick. He had a fever on the Tuesday before Christmas, but we called the doctor who said it sounded viral. "Let it run its course." I am so tired of that quote.

Anyway, Jack seemed to get worse instead of better, so I had to take him to Saturday clinic on the day after Christmas. Luckily, it was pretty dead at the doctor's office, so we got back pretty quick. Come to find out - Jack had an ear infection and bronchitis. We were prescribed medicine and headed home.

My brother Ken and his family and my parents (Nanny and Papaw) came up the day after Christmas to do the Trent Family Christmas. Trent was SUPER excited to have another round of presents. Matt started a big pot of red beans and rice that morning while I was at the doctor with Trent. Nanny and Papaw arrived first with Ken, Amanda, Hannah, and Hollie arriving shortly after. We visited for a few minutes before Trent motivated us to open presents.

Jack loves the tickles and hugs he gets from his Uncle Ken.

Trent and Jack again had a ball opening presents. I think that they like ripping the paper the best. We enjoyed watching everyone's reactions to their gifts.

Nanny and Papaw really liked the blog book too.

Hannah and Hollie liked their iPod shuffles from us.

I got a "bonus" from my parents for killing my first deer. Ha Ha Ha!

The finale was Jack's gift from Nanny and Papaw. They made his gift with their own hands. It was awesome. Jack really didn't know what to think, but Trent enjoyed riding it for him.

Don't you love this Brontosaurus?

We enjoyed red beans and rice, pepperoni bread, and lots of family time. It was another great Christmas!

Jack loves his cousin Hannah. He likes to close her cell phone when she is texting. :)

Gatewood Family Christmas

2009-12-26T19:24:00.000-06:00

This year the Gatewoods came to our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Scott and Nana and Pop arrived on Christmas Eve. I decided to make the big Christmas meal that night so that I could enjoy my Christmas day without having to spend the day in the kitchen cooking. Everybody arrived, and we sat down to dinner at 6PM. Matt fried a turkey, and it was super delicious.

Matt preparing the turkey.

Check out the spread.

Trent loves "Thanksgiving food" and he cleaned his plate

Trent and Jack love their Pop.

We enjoyed the food and company, but then it was time to start preparing for Santa. This year I sent the ingredients for reindeer food to Trent's school for his class to make it. Trent took his ziploc bag of food outside and threw it in the yard for Rudolph and his friends. You can tell that it wasn't very cold this Christmas Eve by the flip flops. :)

Trent feeding the reindeer

Then we went inside, and Trent started to make Santa's plate of goodies. It took me awhile to convince Trent that Santa eats at every house and we didn't have to leave him a whole meal. He finally settled on three cookies.

The two frosted ones were made by Trent and his Nana.

I talked to Trent about writing a letter to Santa around Thanksgiving, but we never got around to doing it. Well, Trent did NOT forget about that conversation. He wanted to write a letter to Santa. I told him that Santa was already on his way, but Trent kept on and on. He is hard-headed like his Daddy. :) We finally compromised and he wrote Santa a thank-you note. Here is a picture of his great work.

I just told him how to spell the words. He did all of the writing by himself. Pretty good for 4, huh?

It is a Gatewood family tradition to open all of the presents on Christmas Eve and only have Santa stuff on Christmas Day. Well, my family (the Trents) do everything on Christmas Day. Matt decided to try and pressure me into opening early this year, and he got Trent in on the pressure. I finally compromised and said we could each open one gift on Christmas Eve. This made Trent happy, so all was well.

Trent and Jack posed in front of the tree before we opened the presents.

Trent got a cool guy named Joey. He is magnetic and you can change his clothes like paper dolls. Trent loved dressing him as the police man and the super hero.

Here is Trent with "Joey"

After we did the presents, we tried to get the kids settled into bed. BUT, before we got them settled, Trent reminded me that we had to read the Christmas story. I was so proud of him for remembering. I got my Bible, and I read the real Christmas story aloud to the whole family.

Then we tucked Jack and Trent into their beds.

Jack cuddled up with Barney and his Lovey (from Madison, Susan, and Mark)
I remember always being so excited at Christmas that I couldn't sleep that night, but that didn't seem to be a problem for my boys. Trent didn't wake up until after 8AM, and we had to wake up Jack. I had hoped to get a picture of Trent's first reactions to his presents, but he came in and woke us up to say Santa had come.

Here is the spread that Santa left

Jack liked everything that Santa left for him.

Trent was scared to open the Wrestling box that he got from Santa. I had to go over and open it. Once he saw what was in the box, he couldn't stop talking about it.

We all got up and watched to boys play with their Santa stuff for awhile, and then it was time open all of the other gifts.

Jack liked the bows, and Trent enjoyed opening both his and Jack's presents.

Brodie loves squeaky toys and tissue paper. He had a ball opening his presents and playing on Christmas Day.

Santa brought Brodie an armadillo toy.

This year Matt and I got my blog published into a book. I uploaded my blog to blurb.com and it turned out great. Here is Fran's reaction to the book. (Sorry Fran, I have to show both sets of parents and their reactions.)

Nana loved the book.

We had to take several breaks to clean up all of the wrapping paper and tissue paper messes. The boys got lots of cool presents. They were super excited.

Jack got a Radio Flyer rocket from Nana and Pop.

Uncle Scott got Trent a Nerf gun, and Trent LOVED it.

Thanks Scott for beating out Santa again. (Just kidding.) Trent lined up all of the wrestlers he got and shot them with his new gun. He had a blast.

It was hilarious to watch him stand up all of the wrestlers and start firing on them.
We ate leftovers and lazed around the whole day.

At some point we couldn't find Jack. He was in his room playing with all of his loot. :)

Scott stuck around to watch a movie before he headed home to Illinois. Nana and Pop headed home late in the afternoon too. We had a wonderful family Christmas!

Side note: At some point during the festivities, I noticed Rudolph and Trent's nativity set (or "God Stuff") by the fireplace. They looked like they had been put in time-out. Don't you think so?

Anniversaries and Hindu Weddings...

2009-12-20T14:18:00.000-06:00

We have been so busy this year, and for the first time our anniversary kinda caught up with us. Our friend Artee got married on our anniversary, so we booked a room at the Hilton (using the wedding party rate), and we attended and thoroughly enjoyed our first Hindu wedding. Here are a few highlights.

On Thursday night (December 17), we were invited to the Henna Dance Party. We had no idea what to expect, but it was fun. First, we sat down for our first Indian meal. The food was super spicy, but I still managed to eat it. I wanted to take in the whole experience.

After we ate dinner, two of the couple's relatives did a dance for us. It was beautiful, and the sounds were incredible. Their bracelets jingled along with the music and their saris were beautiful, too.

After the dance, the happy couple went up on the platform and played a game. They each had a blue card with an H on it for Harsh and a pink card with an A on it for Artee. They were asked questions like, "Who is the better cook?" and they held up the letter of their choice. It was cute.

After the game, I went and got in line for my henna tattoo. All of the women were getting henna on their hands. Most of the Indian ladies had it on their palms and top of their hands, but I chose to just get the top of my hand done. Here is a pic from my experience.

This is what it looked like when she finished.

I know that I told you that this party was on Thursday night. Well, we didn't get home until after 11, and I had to teach the next day. When I woke up on Friday morning, I had to squeeze lemon juice on my henna and scrape off the "puffy paint." Underneath that was the actual tattoo.

I had a long day at school, but I finally made it home about 5. Nana and Pop (Matt's parents) came up to keep the kids, so we could enjoy the wedding experience. They got to our house on Friday night. We ironed and packed for the next day because Trent had a basketball game at 9AM on Saturday morning. I will save that for another blog entry.

After the game, we rushed home to change and get our bags to head to the Hilton. Here we are before we left.

We arrived at the Hilton, and everyone was just standing around. We met up with our friends and visited while we waited. After a while, Harsh rode up on his white horse. Change that, in India it is tradition for the groom to ride up on a white horse, but Harsh rode up in a white Escalade limo. There was a lot of dancing and singing, and then the groom walked in along with the priest (Maharaj).

Here is a picture of the Maharaj.

Then the groom went into the ballroom with both sets of parents. There is a large portion of the ceremony that does not involve the bride. We sat for a few minutes, and then I went with several of the girls to see Artee. She was so beautiful. She had henna on her hands, arms, feet, and legs. It took her 15 hours for all of hers. After going to see Artee, I returned to my seat with Matt where he was drinking what looked like milk. They were given a milk, fennel seed, sugar, and other ingredients mixture while we were with Artee. I tried it, but I am not a big fan of licourice, so I let Matt have most of it. Then it was time for Artee to enter and start her part of the ceremony. Here are a couple of pictures with Artee.

This is when Artee entered.

This is from part of the ceremony. The priest is sitting on the floor and both sets of parents are there too.

Instead of trying to explain the ceremony, I am putting what we were given. (Hint - If you click on the picture, it makes it bigger and easier to read.)

One of Artee's relatives came over during the ceremony and said that lunch was ready. We said that we thought the ceremony was almost over, but he informed us that his wedding lasted 4 hours, so we decided that lunch sounded like a good idea. We walked next door and helped ourselves to our second Indian meal of the wedding weekend.

Again, it was spicy, but good.

When we walked out after eating lunch, Artee and Harsh were doing their walk out to the limo. Here is a great picture of them.

After the wedding, we headed upstairs to rest for the night's festivities. I took a nap while Matt worked on his fantasy football stuff. Luckily, I woke up at 5PM because Matt had dozed too. It was time to head down for cocktail hour. We went downstairs and enjoyed the company of our friends with free drinks. :)

After cocktail hour (or hours), it was time for dinner. We sat a table with several of our friends including Joey.

Matt and Joey

Matt and I (Eleven years ago at this time, we were arriving in New Orleans for our honeymoon.)

Then we had dinner. Our first two meals did not have meat, but there was chicken at dinner. It was super spicy, but it was good.

After dinner, they passed around these little packets. I am not sure what it was, but it was spicy.

After dinner, the happy couple made the rounds. Then the dancing started. It was an interesting mix of American and Indian music. I loved how they started an American song and got all of the American guests on the dance floor. Then they would change the music to Indian. It was great.

We really enjoyed our first Indian wedding experience, and we are so happy to share an anniversary with Artee and Harsh.

Trent's First Basketball Game

2009-12-12T13:10:00.005-06:00

Today was Trent's very first basketball game. He was super excited. He was up at 6:30 this morning asking what time we were going and where his uniform was.

He is in a 6 and under league with some of his best buddies Parker and Logan. I think that Trent might be the youngest kid on the team, and you can really tell...

We got to Singleton Community Center at about 11:40 this morning. The game was supposed to start at noon. I got Trent into his uniform, and he was ready. Matt, Jack, and I sat in the bleachers watching all of the kids warm up for the game.

Jack is patiently waiting for the game to start.

Trent's team is the Bartlett Blue Wave. He is number 9.

The game started with the tip. It was super cute because the ref threw the ball up, and the kid on the red team jumped up and caught the ball. Then the ref explained to the kids that they had to hit the ball, and the game began. Red won the tip.

Trent started the game as a bench warmer. It was so funny to watch him over there by himself. He would be staring into space, playing with the drawstring in his shorts, sitting Indian style on the bench, etc.

It was great to watch the game. Of course the refs were very good about letting the kids double dribble or travel. As long as the kids were trying to dribble down the court it was ok. Both teams were super cute. At the end of the first quarter the score was tied.

Then Mark (the coach) put Trent into the game for the second quarter. Here's the huddle before the start of the second quarter.

Trent did ok playing. Mark just tells him to try to get the ball. He is still a little too immature to understand how the game works. Plus we haven't had much time to work with him because it has been so cold. At the end of the second quarter, the score was still tied...

At halftime, the refs line the teams up for free throws. Whatever they make counts on the score. Trent really tried, but he just couldn't get the ball to the goal.

After the half time shots, the red team was up by 1 point.

In the 3rd quarter the kids seemed to be getting the hang of it. Please keep in mind that the red team played a game last week. Our team had a bye our first week. The score was ok after the third quarter.

Our team really tried hard in the last quarter. We scored a goal and the kids seemed to be having a ball!

Aren't they the cutest?

Look at the blue wave hustle!

An action shot right by the bleachers

In the end, the Blue Wave lost, but the kids had a great time. And that's what really matters...

Christmas Cards Are Always Fun - Take 2

2009-12-06T14:12:00.000-06:00

A year ago I started this blog, and my first entry was about taking pictures for Christmas cards. We had fun again this year trying to get three unwilling participants to smile for the camera simultaneously. It was pretty funny. Jack was more interested in his Rudolph or Brodie's tail than smiling for the camera. Trent was being silly, and Brodie was just plain "hatin" us. Here are some of the outtakes from our photo session...

In some pictures two of the subjects cooperated...

In some pictures there were really bad smiles...

Then in some Brodie looked pitiful...

So he would try to run away when he got the chance...

Trent and Jack had to show off their musical characters in this one...

If you are on our Christmas card list, you will just have to wait and see what we decided to put on the cards.

Happy Holidays!

Visiting Santa

2009-11-29T14:24:00.000-06:00

This year we decided to go to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa. Trent is always so scared of people dressed up, so we figured that it was better to try somewhere free. It was great. Bass Pro has tons of games, crafts, and fun stuff to do for the kids. Trent enjoyed playing the games and doing crafts, and I finally talked him into going to see Santa.

Trent played with the remote control monster truck.

He played a shooting game with his Daddy. Nice pink gun, huh?

He raced a car.

And finally he and Jack visited with Santa. He was such a big boy!

I really think that he did for the candy cane. ;)

Corny Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T15:34:00.006-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. My parents, Nanny and Papaw, came up along with my brother Ken and his family (Amanda, Hannah, Hollie, and Miss Kathryn). We had a ton of yummy food. We had fried turkey, baked turkey breast, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans wrapped in bacon, macaroni and cheese, creamed corn, homemade yeast rolls, gooey pumpkin bars, buttermilk pie, pecan pie, and chocolate meringue pie. Ken and Amanda also brought strawberry salad and broccoli salad. Can you say, "TONS OF FOOD"?

Matt did an awesome job frying the turkey - his best yet!

Hannah came up on Tuesday with Nanny and Papaw, and the boys loved her. She loved our computer. This is where Jack was if Hannah was playing on the computer. :)

Here is Hannah with the boys watching TV...

On Wednesday night, we tried the pumpkin bars to make sure they were good which meant we needed the Ready Whip. Matt sprayed it into his mouth, and Trent thought that was hilarious. So Matt commenced to spraying it into everyone's mouth. Here is Trent. He was the last victim...

After Thanksgiving lunch, we watched UP while Matt and the kids took naps. After the movie, we got our game on. Matt has been dying to play some cornhole, so we drew teams and started a tournament. We played several times with Matt and Ken being the big winners. I don't know the exact record, but I am sure you could ask either of them to find out. ;)

Here are some pictures from our friendly games...

Matt thinks that he is the King of the Cornhole Hill

Ken begs to differ...

Hollie got the hang of it after a little while

Amanda said that she wished Mooreville High School had a cornhole team so Hannah could be good at a sport. :)

Hannah said that the same goes for Amanda

Papaw had good form...

I am obviously serious about the game...

Jack thought that the tourney was edge of your seat entertainment.

Jack was wandering around, but he didn't want to sit on the cold ground, so he popped a squat on his lawnmower...

After we finished, we sat around the firepit and enjoyed the warmth while Jack enjoyed popping bubbles...

November News...

2009-11-20T15:23:00.001-06:00

I was lucky enough to be off for my birthday again. I love Veteran's Day. Matt took off too, so we went shopping and ate sushi for my birthday lunch. We also got my birthday cake from Miss Muff'n in Germantown - Strawberry Cake! Yummy!
That night we watched UP, one of my presents. Jack was mezmerized. He watched the whole movie while sitting in his little chair.

Mel and Floyd came over to share some of my birthday cake. We gave Jack a bite, and then that's all he wanted.

This month Jack has also started making kissy lips. If you say, "I love you," then he puckers up for a big kiss. We can't seem to get a picture of the kissy lips, but here is a picture of Matt and him mid-smooch.

We also got the stump in the front yard ground up, and Trent thinks that it is a great dirt pile to play in. I was out and about somewhere, and when I got home this is what I saw.

My sweet boys, although Daddy could have put pants on the little man. :)

Trent is being a good big brother. Everytime he is offered a treat, he insists that Jack get one too. Here is a sucker from the pharmacy that Trent got for Jack. I am pretty sure that Jack appreciated it. :)

Silly Trent

2009-11-11T09:19:00.003-06:00

Recently, we have started letting Trent pick out his own pajamas at bed time. We are trying to let him become more independent. Little did we know it would end up being so funny! He doesn't pick pajamas that match. He picks what he likes. I took pictures for a couple of nights to show what I am talking about.

Here is Trent wearing snowman/Christmas pants with a Spiderman shirt.

Here he is with a Christmas shirt and Spiderman pants on another night!

You can't see his pajamas in this picture, but he has the lion shirt on with Batman pants.

This one was funny too, because Trent ran over to Matt and me and yelled, "Look at his booby nickels!" We have always thought Trent was funny, but we both busted out laughing at this comment. He meant booby nipples, but anyone who knows Trent knows that he called them "nickels." It was worth a good laugh.

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-01T17:35:00.000-06:00

After being so busy on the weekend before Halloween, we were excited about just taking it easy and trick or treating with the kids. The Sanduskys came over to join us in our neighborhood, and we had a great time. We put Jack in the wagon and took off. We started in our cove and then went a couple of blocks down each street that connects to ours.

Before we went trick or treating, I let Jack play in part of my costume. He didn't mind the ears, but he didn't like the nose much. He had a ball playing with the dancing halloween chickens we have from a few years ago. :)

We let Jack trick or treat on our cove. He didn't really understand what was going on, but he enjoyed playing with the candy packages that he got. You can tell in this picture that Trent was impatient. He was looking in the window to see when they were coming to the door.

After a couple of houses in our cove, we put Jack in the wagon, and he loved it. He played with the glowsticks that we had. We said that they were his mini light sabers. :) He just liked the ride as much as anything.

After walking quite a ways, Trent got tired and joined Jack in the wagon. We walked up to the spooky house at the entrance to our neighborhood. I have to admit that it was pretty spooky. Trent was very brave until the man opened the door. He wasn't dressed up or anything, but the fog machine was going crazy and Trent started crying. The guy with the cool accent (according to Matt, he is from Wales) gave both boys HUGE handfuls of candy. They were really nice. They even have a website for their Halloween house! Check it out!

www.hadleyasylum.com

After trick or treating, we came home, and Matt and Floyd made a nice fire in the fire pit. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. It was a great night!

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T11:47:00.008-05:00

After Zoo Boo on Friday night, we planned to go to the pumpkin patch at Priddy Farms on Saturday. Trent was really excited about getting a pumpkin to carve, but what really surprised us was that Trent didn't remember going last year at all. He remembers EVERYTHING, or at least we thought he did.

We got to the farm, and we took some family pictures. Who knew it would be so hard to get all of us to look and smile at the camera to the same time?

Mommy was looking...

Daddy wasn't ready (and neither was anybody else) :)

We got a couple of pretty good pictures

Then we had to put the kids in headlocks :)

After we took the family pictures, we let the kid play on the swings.

Jack wasn't sure if he liked to swing...

Trent was swinging REALLY high which was fine until he hit the side of the swingset :(

Then we let Jack play some football.

Doesn't he look like a little football player in his MSU sweatshirt?

Finally, we went on the hayride and picked a pumpkin for Trent.

Trent found his pumpkin

Then he headed back to the trailer for the hayride back

Jack found a pumpkin with a squishy spot - eeewwww!

Nanny and Papaw enjoyed spending time with their grandsons!

Jack claimed a little girl's pumpkin on the hayride back

We had a ball at the farm! We took a couple of pictures of the boys with pumpkins.

On the way home we stopped by Walgreens to get a pumpkin carving kit. While I was inside the store, Matt found a Daddy Long Legs on his leg. He got out of the car and walked around to show Trent the spider, but in the process Daddy Long Legs decided to crawl up his pant leg. I just wish I had been there to see his reaction!

Zoo Boo

2009-10-24T11:25:00.001-05:00

We planned to go to Zoo Boo on Friday the 23rd because it was the only day we could. Little did we know it would be such a bad choice, but it turned out much better than expected.

I had a rough week with open house at school and getting ready for it. My parents came up on Friday to enjoy our Halloween festivities. We planned to go to Macaroni Grill because I won a Silent Auction basket at Open House with a $50 gift certificate there. We started packing the car at about 4:55 and realized that we couldn't find either of the boys' masks. We tore the house upside down, and thirty minutes later we had Trent's mask. We never found Jack's.

So we got a late start, but we were on the way. Dinner was yummy, and the kids were really good at supper. Jack really enjoyed people watching in the restaurant.

Then we headed to Zoo Boo. We got parked and inside the zoo with little trouble, and the kids had a ball. We went inside to see some animals, and we saw this huge snake!

Jack stayed in the stroller most of the time, but he had a blast running around when we let him.

Jack loved playing with the candy and treats he got.

We played chase with our little Darth Vader all over the zoo :)

Trent and I rode one of the rides and had a ball.

We saw Fred, Keeley, and Christopher while we were there too.

We asked Trent if he was ready to go,and he said, "I am tired. Not sleepy tired, but my legs and feet are tired." We thought that was cute, and we headed to the exit. Once at the car, Trent wanted to take his costume off, and while I helped him I noticed he was doing the pee pee dance. We were parked in the field by the zoo, so I told him to just pee out of the door. I stood on the opposite side of the open door, and Trent let it loose. Little did I know he had to go so bad, and I ended up with soaked blue jeans. Great end to a CRAZY week, right? :)

Trent the Artist :)

2009-10-14T19:00:00.002-05:00

Trent came home from school yesterday with a prize. He won the coloring contest in his class. We are so proud of him!

Here is a picture of Trent with the picture that he colored and the prize that he won. :)

Trent said, "I colored my scarecrow VERY LONG!"

Nanny and Papaw's House

2009-10-13T17:12:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a busy time around the Gatewood house lately. However, a little over a month ago, I told my parents that we would make the trek to their house over my Fall Break if they would be home.

I guess that they REALLY wanted us to come down because they made the trip from Alton, New Hampshire back to Centreville, Mississippi in 2 days. Wow! (That also made it hard for us to complain about the little 6 hour trip it took for us to go see them.)

Anyway, Trent LOVES his Nanny and Papaw's house. He is constantly talking about their toys. He informed me on Thursday that when we got to Nanny and Papaw's house, he was going to get the toys out from under the crib in the back room. He has an AWESOME memory!

We had a great time at my parents' house. We watched football, napped, and played some Canasta. My parents whipped us at cards, so we are already planning our revenge over Thanksgiving or Christmas. :)

Here are some pictures from our weekend...

Jack loved to bring me Sprites from the kitchen. I had quite a collection before it was all said and done.

Nanny and Papaw have an antique highchair, and we didn't put a belt around Jack to keep him buckled in.

Nanny's table became a fort...

Jack loves to do whatever Trent does. Monkey see, monkey do!

Jack liked to sit in my little rocking chair. So sweet!

Kids = Messes

2009-10-04T12:13:00.004-05:00

Ok... So we moved into this house right before Jack was born, and it had a few baby proofed areas already. A few cabinets in the kitchen were locked down, outlet covers, and a baby gate on the stairs came with the house.

Well, Jack started walking a couple of months ago which has meant that our house goes from clean to a mess in mere seconds. Very recently, he has started pulling things out of the cabinets that aren't locked down.

I took all of his baby food in jars out of the cabinet so that he couldn't break them. I just put them up on the counter out of his reach. Well, his Nana came for a visit last weekend, and she helped me by cleaning up a few things - like putting the baby food back in the cabinet. I am sure that you can guess what happened. By the end of the day, we had cleaned up two broken baby food jars and returned the others back to the counter.

After those two episodes, I told Matt that baby proofing the kitchen was a priority ASAP.

On Monday night, Jack started running a fever. Matt stayed home with him on Tuesday and took him to see Dr. Ellis. He has another upper respiratory infection, so he got some Zithromax and Donatussin. I stayed home on Wednesday with him.

Overall, he was pretty good that day. He played independently, and we watched some Barney (his favorite thing EVER). Nana called, so I went to sit on the couch and talk. Next thing I know, I hear glass scraping against more glass. I ran into the kitchen just in time to see one of my favorite Pyrex dishes in Jack's hands. I said, "No, Jack." Then Jack chucked the bowl and glass flew everywhere.

Then the crying started. I walked barefooted through the glass to get my screaming baby boy, and I put him in the high chair while I commenced to cleaning the kitchen floor.

Needless to say, I got Jack dressed and headed to Target. We bought safety locks for the cabinets.

On another note...
We have started letting Trent dress himself for bed. This makes for some funny pajama outfits - Batman shirt with Mickey Mouse shorts, Christmas shirt, with Spiderman pants, etc. One night last week, Trent came out in a Spiderman shirt (I think) and black Batman pants. We told him to go brush his teeth, and when he came back his pants were covered in white. Of course, I asked, "What did you do?"

When I went into the bathroom, I saw that he had dumped an entire bottle of baby powder out in my bathroom. Luckily, it was a small bottle.

So, my theory stands true...

KIDS = MESSES

When All Else Fails, Stick It Up Your Nose??? Really?

2009-09-20T13:54:00.003-05:00

Ok, if you have read my blog in the past, I am sure you remember the crayon up the nose incident. Well, I guess that enough time has passed for Trent to forget that he should never put anything up his nose!!!

Trent has been quite the handful this weekend. He seems to think that whining is the way to get what you want, when actually that is the way to guarantee you won't get anything. Well, today Matt put Trent in time-out for his constant whining. While in time-out, we heard Trent make a weird squeal. We weren't quite sure what happened, and he seemed fine, so we left him alone.

After a couple of minutes, we told him he was free. The first thing he said was, "My nose hurts." This was the same thing he said when he had a crayon lodged up his nose, so that is the first thing we thought about.

Matt asked, "Did you put something up your nose?"
Trent replied, "Yes."
Matt again, "What was it?"
Trent, "I don't know... It was blue."

I told Matt to get the flashlight while I headed to get the tweezers. Luckily, we could see it up there, and after three attempts, I was able to pull it out.
It looked like a folded fleur de lis. Here is the picture that we took.

After we unfolded it, we realized it was a bird. We have no idea where it came from, but at least Trent didn't suck it up into his brain. Then he really would be a bird brain! When will he learn?

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T10:52:00.000-05:00

Papaw and Jack

We had a very busy Labor Day weekend...
My parents came up on Thursday to spend the weekend with us. It was so nice to have them here. Of course, Daddy (or Papaw) changed all of the lightbulbs that were out. He also fixed the chair that Trent broke, replaced a light switch, patched our fence,etc. Keep in mind that we only asked him to help fix the chair. He is quite the busy body, but we don't mind! :)
On Saturday, Trent was invited to a birthday party at Pump It Up, so Nanny and I loaded up the boys and headed to the party.

Trent had a ball playing air hockey and jumping and sliding on all of the inflatables. Jack had a blast too. He played with the bouncy balls, and I even took him down the slide once.

Jack and Mommy on the slide

Jack with the blue bouncy ball

Jack after he threw the bouncy ball backwards over his head

After the party, Nanny and Papaw kept the boys so that Matt and I could go out with our friends Mel and Floyd. We went out to dinner, bowling, and ended up at their house playing Rock Band before the night was through.

On Sunday we headed to the Delta Fair. It was pretty hot, but it was fun.

Jack got hot, but a snow cone helped to cool him down.

Trent played lots of games, and we even saw races with monkeys riding on dogs. :) It was funny!

Here is Trent enjoying his snow cone while he waits on the races to begin...

Here was the winner!

Trent fed the animals at the petting zoo.

On Monday, the Shaidnagles came over to grill out. We enjoyed swimming and letting the kids play. Keeley even helped me grade some papers. I love that what I consider yucky work other people consider to be fun!

Jack had a ball swimming with everybody.

Christopher gave Jack a push around the house. Too cute!

Jack is walking!

2009-08-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

Sweet Jack is growing up too fast!

We headed to Jackson on Friday for Matt's fantasy football draft. When Matt picked Jack up from daycare, his teacher said that he had decided to start walking. We were so excited! Jack strutted his stuff all day on Saturday for Nana and Pop and for Nanny and Papaw! He is growing up so fast!

Jack is walking, and he thinks that he is HILARIOUS!

Beautiful Weather

2009-08-23T18:07:00.004-05:00

This weekend has been awesome! The weather is perfect for spending time outdoors, so today we did just that!

Matt and Trent played some baseball in the backyard. Trent is pretty good. I guess we can try to get him on a T-Ball team in the spring.

Matt threw a perfect pitch!

And Trent kept his eye on the ball! Way to go!

Jack enjoyed some snacks while we watched the big boys play. I put mini marshmallows, mini goldfish, and cheerios in his snack cup.

As an advertisement for other moms. These cups are great. It is hard for the kids to make a mess. Plus it keeps them busy (like at the grocery store). :)

Now while Jack was eating, I noticed that he didn't seem to like the Cheerios. I guess that I can't call him a cherry picker. He's a Cheerio picker. He would take them out and throw them on the ground.

You can see several Cheerios by his leg. :)

After some baseball, the big boys went for a swim.

Trent said that he was a DIVER. He's such a poser!

And speaking of posers....

Jack is becoming a big boys fast... :(

He is such a cutie pie!

Catch Up Time

2009-08-23T17:52:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, I know.... I have neglected my blog. I am going to try to play catch up with this post, and I will try to be better in the future. It has been a crazy busy month for me.

First of all, Jack and Trent both moved on up at daycare. On August 3, Jack moved to the toddler room and Trent moved to Pre-K. I was a little upset about Jack moving seeing how he really isn't a toddler yet, but it is working out ok. The only problem is that he has become a biter. I see it as his defense mechanism because he can't walk yet, and all the other "toddlers" are walking. I am sure that it will all work out in the end, and Trent did teach him how to bite, after all.

I think Pre-K is awesome for Trent. He is earning smiley faces each day for his good behavior, so we try to reward him on a weekly basis for his good behavior at school. The first week we went out to eat at the "Armadillo Place." The next week Matt got him a toy.

On a side note, Trent's first day in Pre-K he came home saying the "Nap Fairy" brought him a treat. Of course, I was taken aback. I thought the Nap Fairy only came to our house, and we told Trent that she did not go to school. BUT, I guess I was wrong. Trent got a pencil from the Nap Fairy on his first day. He did keep asking me how she got so close to him on his cot (since she left his treats at home downstairs). It was cute and funny.

In the last month, I have also started back to school. It is going to be a great, yet busy year. I haven't left work before 5:00 on a single day, but with three preps it takes some time. I am teaching 7th grade enriched language arts, 8th grade APEX (gifted) language arts, and 8th grade science.

I guess those are all of the high points of this month... If I think of anything else, I will make a new entry. Sorry that I have been such a slacker...

Outdoor Birthday Parties = Rain Every Time

2009-08-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

We planned Jack's party to be a swimming party and picked out super cute invitations for it. I didn't stress about this party like I have in the past for Trent's parties. Fran says it's because he is the second child, but I think that I just don't worry about the small stuff anymore. We worked hard to get the house ready for the party in case of rain, and guess what? It rained. We had a fun time, and the big kids swam in the rain anyway, so it was a success. Jack loved every minute of the smash cake. He ate nearly the WHOLE thing, and he cried and cried when we took it away.

Here were the Treat Bags - always the hit of a party. If you have never made Treat Bags, they are a great way to get kids to leave a party without throwing a fit.

It's my birthday! Party like it's my birthday! Jack has his "new" remote and phone from Nana and Pop.

I love this expression! It looks like he is saying, "Who? Me?"

The big kids loved swimming! Who cares if it rains. You get wet anyway!

Jack before cake wearing his cute bib made by Robin

Jack after cake - and this isn't the worst of it! :)

The big kids enjoying cupcakes and ice cream

Jack got a piggy bank from Nana and Pop! Surprise! Surprise!

Christopher had to show Jack how something worked

Jack was tired after a long day of partying. I took a similar picture of Trent on his first birthday! Sweet boy!

Third Time's A Charm

2009-07-31T17:40:00.001-05:00

We took a last minute getaway to Nashville before school starts back on Thursday. We were going to see Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather. Once we got to Nashville, we stopped at Third Man Records, and we had missed meeting Jack by just a couple of minutes. The store was really neat, and we enjoyed looking at all of the stuff.

Matt in front of the Icky Thump Gold Record

T-Shirts on the wall

Cool phone booth

One of the walls in Third Man Records

After we left Third Man Records, we headed to our hotel. We checked in and found out that the weather was really bad in Memphis. Tornados were hitting everywhere. We met the other guys in the Business Center and watched the Weather Channel and Channel 5 via the internet to make sure our families were ok. Matt kept watching out the window because he say the bassist for the band autographing a kid's vinyl from our hotel room.

Once we felt like our families were safe, we headed across the street to where Matt had seen the bassist to find out that we had missed Jack by just a couple of minutea AGAIN. His Mercedes was parked close to the back entrance, so we decided to stick it out to meet him. We hung out talking to the other people around and finally Jack came out. We got our tickets signed by him and got a couple of pictures with him.

Matt walked up to him and asked if he would take a picture. Matt put his arm around Jack and said, "Say CHEESE, Jack." Jack giggled at this, and right when I went to take the picture an old guy jumped in front of me making my camera refocus and NOT take the picture. Then Jack said that he had to go. It was sad to not get the picture, but it was great to finally meet Jack.

We went to the concert later, and it was great! We had hoped for a little more since Nashville is Jack's hometown, but we were a little disappointed.

Jack coming out after sound check

Jack again...

Jack signing my ticket

Matt asking Jack for a picture. This is the old guy that got in the way too!

Jack playing drums at the concert

Happy Birthday Jack

2009-07-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

Jack turned 1 today! I can't believe my baby is growing up. He is starting in the Toddler Room at daycare next week, and I can't believe it! He isn't even walking yet. :( And, on his birthday he bit another baby in his class and left a mark. His teachers couldn't believe it, but Trent bit him earlier this week, and I guess that was all the teaching that Jack needed. :)

We gave Jack his first cupcake today since his party isn't until Saturday. He seemed to know what he was doing...

This looks yummy!!!

I guess that I will try it out...

That is good stuff!

Maybe better than I thought...

This is good practice for my smash cake on Saturday!

It's a good thing Mommy gave this to me right before bath time...

Boys will by boys!!!
We love messes!!

A Year of Jack

2009-07-29T20:08:00.020-05:00

Well, a year ago today we welcomed baby Jack into the world. It has been an amazing year, and I couldn't imagine life with our my little "Jackpot." He is the best baby! He makes me smile and laugh every day! I thought that I would share a little year in review. Hope you enjoy!

Newborn Jack-a-roo

3 Week Old Jack-a-roni and Cheese

Jackpot in Matt's great grandmother's cradle

3 month old Jumping Jack

Count Jack-ula's First Halloween

Hungry Jack's First Thanksgiving

Jack Attack's First Christmas

Jack Double Stack at Christopher's Birthday

Jack Be Nimble in February 2009

Little Jack Horner before he got his tubes in March

Jack Sprat (aka Our Little Fireman)

Our Sweet Cracker Jack

Jumping Jack Flash on his first camping trip

Jack Hammer showing off his teeth

And our Jack Jack is 1!!!

This year has flown by, and I hope time slows down a little so we can enjoy our baby boy some more before he grows up!

Snakes, McDonald's, and Swimming

2009-07-17T19:28:00.005-05:00

Well, while I was blogging earlier, Matt was busy mowing. In the process of moving our basketball goal he made a discovery - a snake. He ran in to get me to come and look at it. I am not a fan of snakes, so this was not my favorite thing to do. We took a couple of pictures, and then I told Matt to kill the thing. It took a few times with the shovel to finally cut its head off, but RIP snakey poo. You are not welcome at this house.

Here is the snake while he still had his head. (Garter Snake)

Trent studying the snake from a distance

Headless Snake

The Great Snake Hunter (Matt), his apprentice (Trent), and the kill

I have to admit that I lack motivation right now. So while Matt was busy working, I decided to pick up dinner. The boys and I rode to Taco Bell to get Matt dinner. Then we hit Mickey D's for the boys and me. Jack had his first McDonald's today. Wow, how things change with your second child. I think Trent was two before he got McDonald's.

Jack wasn't so sure what to think at first...

But he decided that he liked it!

I mailed Jack's 1st birthday party invitations today, and now we are preparing for his first birthday and our first swimming party. We have been working with Trent for a few nights now on swimming. I taught him how to blow bubbles, monkey crawl along the wall, and practice. He is getting better and better each night.

Here is Trent swimming to Matt

Swimmng back to the steps

He even jumps in the pool and swims to the steps. My brave little man!

A Day in the Life of Jack

2009-07-17T16:14:00.008-05:00

I have been looking at all of my pictures the last few days, and it occurred to me that Jack has the life. These pictures were taken on different days, but they give you the idea of what his life consists of on a daily basis.

Recently, I started feeding Jack solid foods. Here he is with his first banana.

Ar first, he didn't know what to think, but he liked it.

Anytime Jack is in the high chair, he knows how to call Brodie. He says, "Uh, uh, oh." Anytime he says that Brodie comes running to see what treat he will receive.

They are both usually pretty quiet. That's why you have to listen for, "Uh, uh, oh!"

At night, Jack gets very sleepy at dinner time. Sometimes he falls asleep right in the highchair.

Here he got tired of us waking him up, so he turned around and fell asleep facing the back of his chair.

Almost everyday Jack takes a ride somewhere in the car. We turned his carseat to face forward this week.

Doesn't he look as cool as a cucumber here?

He always follows he big brother around. He adores Trent, and it is so sweet to watch him.

Here they are watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

The boys play and play, but their favorite place now is the swimming pool. Last night we swam after dinner, and Jack had a ball. One minute he was laughing and the next minute...

So what do you think? Does Jack have a tough life or what?

Favorite Toys

2009-07-12T14:41:00.006-05:00

Here is a good picture of Jack showing all of his teeth. He is such a cutie pie!

Well, Matt and several of his friends went on a "Guys' Trip" this weekend. They went to Anderson, Indiana and stopped at some roadside attractions on the way. This left me at home with the boys. We have had a fun weekend. We have had friends over every day to swim and play. Nicole, Parker, and Caroline even spent the night on Friday night.

The one thing that I have paid special attention to this weekend is what my children are playing with. I bought Trent several 100-piece puzzles on Friday, and he has enjoyed putting them together over and over. He also has (or should I say had) a gun from Bass Pro Shops that is always a big hit. It doesn't actually shoot anything, but it makes a cool popping noise. To clarify, I did not take the gun away. Trent broke it in half this weekend, so it has gone to trashcan heaven. :)

Here is Trent playing with the Bass Pro Gun. Somehow I don't think this is the definition of a concealed weapon. :)

The other thing that has occupied ALOT of time is a box. Yes, I said a box. I bought a new ottoman for the living room that opens and has space for us to store toys downstairs. Trent calls the ottoman, "A Treasure Chest." Well, it came in a big box, and that box has been a boat, a car, a bed. a skateboard ramp, etc.

Here is Trent using his imagination to make something new with the box. If you notice Jack is playing with a remote control.

Jack LOVES remote controls and phones. I wish they sold toys that looked like REAL remotes and phones because he doesn't seem to care about the ones that look like toys. :)

We have had a fun weekend, and we are all anxious for Matt (Daddy) to get home. I can't wait to hear stories from the trip. I will post again soon....

Rest in Peace, Pap

2009-07-06T13:34:00.003-05:00

Omah R. Gatewood
April 27, 1924 - July 3, 2009

Matt's grandfather passed away early Friday morning, and we have had quite a whirlwind weekend. We got up Saturday and packed up and headed to Jackson. On our way down, Matt's mom informed us that their air conditioner went completely out. Once in Jackson, Matt booked us all hotel rooms, and we headed to get shoes and pants for Trent for the funeral. It was so crazy busy that we didn't even eat dinner until after 9:00 on Saturday night. Even though their schedules were completely messed up, the boys were great. They handled things so much better than I expected.

On the way to Jackson, we talked to Trent about Pap being in Heaven. He is really confused about it though. I think that he understood that Pap was in Heaven with God and Jesus. However, when he saw Pap at the visitation it blew his mind. "Mommy, is Pap broken?" I had no idea what to say. We just tried to stay out of that room because Trent looked really worried while in there. He did well through the funeral service. Jack made it through most of the music and the eulogy, but we had to duck out a little early.

It was a long day. The visitation was from 12-2. The funeral was at 2. Then we had to drive to Forest, MS for the burial. The boys fell asleep on the hour drive. Once at the grave site, Trent got more confused. We prepared him for a 21 gun salute, and he couldn't handle that. He started crying and said that he wanted to go home. I took him to the car, and we sat and talked while the service took place. He asked me, "Is Pap gonna spend the night there in that tent?" I tried my best to explain to him that Pap wasn't in his body anymore, but I think it just confused him more. The poor thing. :(

Trent in the car during the graveside service. He's my little handsome man!

After the graveside service, we ate dinner at the local church. Then we headed to get Brodie and head home. It was a long, long day. We got home about 10:30. I rode with Scott for part of the way, so Matt beat us home and got the boys in the tub. It was REALLY late by the time we all got to bed.

Overall, the funeral was very nice, and it was great to see all of the family. I hope that Ging Gong is ok. Pap was in the hospital at the time of his passing, but he was supposed to be released on Friday. He went to bed with Ging in the recliner next to him and went peacefully in his sleep. Rest in Peace....

Our First Family Camping Trip

2009-06-30T12:11:00.005-05:00

Trent has been asking to go camping for awhile, so I got with my parents and planned a summer camping trip. I know, are we crazy? It is so hot! Well, even with the heat, we had a great time.

We went to Lake Enid in Oakland, Mississippi. We left on Thursday morning and got down there at lunch time. My parents got there the day before and set up the campsite.

Once we arrived, we set up the Pack N Play, and we let Jack have fun playing in the shade.

Matt set up the bean bag toss game. He and Trent got some practice in...

While the kids napped on the Thursday afternoon, we played cards and games with my parents. Then when we started preparing for dinner, look who showed up...

The deer were right by our campsite.

It's a little dark, but you can still see the deer in the background.

That night Matt and Trent tried to sleep in the tent, but Trent kept saying he was scared and hungry. After about 30 minutes, they gave up and came inside the RV. Matt was pretty relieved because he said that it was really hot.

The next morning, Nanny made a yummy breakfast - bacon, eggs, and cheese biscuits.

Trent loved the cheese biscuits!

Jack liked the biscuits too. I love his expression in this picture.

After breakfast we decided to try our luck at fishing. While we were baiting our hooks, I told Matt that I saw fish in the water. He didn't really believe me. BUT, his first cast, he caught a fish.

Here is Matt with his fish...

After Matt caught his fish, I headed up to the campsite to get some sunscreen and water. While I was gone, Trent caught his first fish.

The proud fisherman.

We had a full day of playing bean bag toss, playing canasta, playing minature golf with Trent, and more...

Trent loved playing minature golf, but he wanted to know where the go-karts were...

Jack went skinny dipping in his pool. We forgot his swimmers, but it was too hot to not let him swim.

We were hanging out in the RV when the deer showed up on Friday night.

Trent fed them some corn, and they got really close.

That night we made s'mores. They were delicious. We think that we know where they got their name because we wanted some more = s'more...

Papaw found this awesome stick to roast the marshmallows on. He did 6 at a time.

Jack was really interested in what we were eating.

We had a great camping trip, and now we are looking forward to go sometime when it is cooler outside.

Jack Can Pull Up!

2009-06-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

We think that Jack is hardheaded. He started crawling everywhere in just a couple of days. He waits to do things until he is SURE about it. Well, on June 24th he decided he could stand up. Now that is all he wants to do. I wonder when the walking will begin. Trent didn't want until he was 14 months old, but Jack seems to be ahead of Trent. Let's see...

Jack showing off!

He is picking toys to take on our camping trip.

Trent's First Sleep Over - well, almost....

2009-06-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

After we got back from New Orleans, we planned to have some people over to swim, but it was too much on us. We had to cancel, and we felt really bad. Trent was super upset because he wanted Parker to come over. Well, Matt had a great idea - let Parker come over for a sleepover. Trent was so excited. Matt went and got Parker at about 5:00. The boys had a ball.

The boys are dressed and ready to swim!

Trent doing a flip into the pool. Yeah, we told him to NOT do this again. We don't want him to hit his head. Weird, how I caught it on camera.

Parker jumping into the pool!

Then it was dinner time. Parker loved the ribs. Trent loved the fruit.

Next was the trampoline. Jump!

Then it was sandbox time!

After it got dark, the boys came in for a bath. Then they watched a movie upstairs. At about 10:00, Parker said, "I am ready to go home now." Rather than try to talk him into staying, we decided to just take him home. There was no need to upset him. Maybe next time, he will want to stay! Trent LOVED every minute of it!

What was your favorite part? EATING!

2009-06-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

We always ask Trent what his favorite part is about anything. On the way home from New Orleans we asked him that question, and he said, "Eating!" Well, Matt and I love New Orleans food, but that is not what we expected from our child. Here are a few pics of Trent's favorite part...

Matt and Trent got on the dance floor after we ate at Mulate's.

Trent had his first oyster at Remoulade. Thanks Emily for the suggestion!

Trent had his first crawfish at Mulate's. He liked it!

Trent loved the beignets at Cafe du Monde. The waitresses loved Jack!

The Zoo and Insectarium

2009-06-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

I have had a super busy month of June, and I am sorry for neglecting my blog. I am going to do my best to play catch up today, and then I will stay up to date. I will try. I promise...

Trent and Jack loved the zoo and insectarium. Trent still talks about the bug place or the bug store. The zoo was very nice. It happened to be an overcast day, so we didn't burn up. Trent enjoyed the gorillas the most. He is still a chicken and wouldn't pet the animals. The only one we could get him to touch was a goat. Baby steps, right?

Here are Trent and Jack in front of the fountain at the front of the zoo. Trent counted the hippos and elephants to tell us how many there were.

Here is Jack in front of the real elephants.

Trent always likes the monkeys best! Monkey see, monkey do!

Trent thought it was cool to get this close to the tortoise.

Nana, Pop, Trent, and Jack are monkeying around. Or is that Matt and Joan too?

We went to the zoo in the morning. Then we ate lunch and headed to the Insectarium. It is new to New Orleans since Katrina. I thought that it might give me the creepy crawlies, but it wasn't bad at all. Here are some pics from there.

There was a Louisiana exhibit in the Insectarium. When I was taking a picture of these baby alligators, one jumped and snapped at me. It was scary to me but funny to everyone else around.

Matt was being attacked in the Louisiana exhibit too.

This was Trent's favorite part. It's the same game they have at Chuck E. Cheese, but it was free to play. He played it a bunch!

Here is Trent with a giant bug!

Trent pointed at millipedes

The Quarium

2009-06-06T18:02:00.005-05:00

On our first full day in New Orleans, we decided to go the the Aquarium of the Americas. Trent pronounced it "Quarium" the whole trip. There is nothing like a child's reaction to new stuff. We heard, "Cool" so many times at the aquarium, and it was so cute. He loved looking at all of the fish and animals. Here are a few pics of our time there.

This is Trent looking at "Nemo" through an aquarium.

Here is Trent and Mommy posing in the kids' area.

Trent posing on his Mommy's favorite animal

Trent acted very shy on the trip. He refused to pet the shark, so Mommy did it.

Here are my two princes posing with a frog.

Trent called these fish "Bumble Bee Fish" because of their stripes. :)

Trent's First Train Ride

2009-06-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

During the last couple of weeks of May, we planned a vacation in record time. Trent's grandparents (Matt's parents) wanted to take Trent to New Orleans on the train, so we decided to take Jack via car and meet them down there. Trent was SUPER excited about the trip for days. He kept asking, "Am I gonna ride the train today?" When Monday finally arrived, Trent could hardly contain himself. We got everything packed up and dropped Pop, Nana, and Trent off at the train station.

Trent was all smiles on the way to the train station! He was so excited.

He and Pop waited patiently for the train to arrive. (I should probably change that to NOT so patiently.)

Trent loaded the train with his bag full of tricks (snacks, toys, books).

Pop loves Trent so much. He will do just about anything to keep him happy. Here he is reading him a book on the train ride.

After a while, fatigue finally set in. Trent was so exhausted. According to Nana and Pop, he took about a 45 minute nap on the train.

As soon as we got home from our vacation, Trent's first request was for Matt to get his train set out of the attic. He has been playing with his trains alot since we got home. :)

More Firsts for Jack

2009-05-31T11:11:00.003-05:00

We have had a busy few days. My parents are up because they fly out of Memphis to go to Kenya on Monday. Jack had his first swim in the pool. Brodie has decided that he likes Jack. AND we are headed to New Orleans for a family vacation. We are going to Jackson this afternoon, and Trent will ride the train with his Nana and Pop to New Orleans on Monday. Matt, Jack, and I will meet them down there. As you can imagine we have been VERY BUSY!

Matt was goofing around with the boys a few nights ago, and I got this precious pic of the three of them. :)

Here is Jack decked out in all of his swim gear!

Brodie really likes to play with Jack. Jack takes his toy, and Brodie goes to get it. Brodie is VERY gentle with Jack, and Jack seems to really love the dog. They are so sweet together!

Here is Jack in a girlie floatie. He doesn't seem to mind that it's pink!

Jack loves his PaPaw. Isn't this the sweetest?

Well, we are packing up to head to New Orleans. We'll be back at the end of the week. Hopefully, I will have lots of great pictures and stories to tell!

I love summer!!!!!

Jack's Sad Face

2009-05-28T16:42:00.003-05:00

We are entering a new phase in our house. I have got to child proof fast. Jack is crawling fast. He can get just about anywhere he wants. This has also introduced him to the word no. Jack does not like the word no. I have told Matt about the face he makes, but we just can't seem to get it on camera. We don't want to upset him, but his face is so darn cute! In these pics, you can see him go from our smiling Jack to the beginnings of our sad/mad Jack. It cracks me up every time I see it!

Smiling Jack

In this picture, Jack was told, "NO," because he put my flip flop in his mouth.

Random Stuff

2009-05-24T13:33:00.005-05:00

Well, Jack has gotten his 5th tooth now. It's on top. It explains why he has been chewing on everything. A few nights ago I caught him eating sidewalk chalk that Trent left on the floor.

Here you can tell he likes the taste of blue chalk.

We went to Fred and Keeley's house last night for a cookout. It was delicious, and everyone had a great time. However, Jack does not like Bruiser. We never saw Bruiser do anything to upset him, but anytime he walked by, Jack would start screaming. Beany (another Boston Terrier) did not cause this reaction. We found that very strange, but funny.

Here is the reaction to Bruiser

Jack and Keeley

Trent has wanted to swim for over a month now. Today we told him he could swim if he helped us clean up the house. He was in charge of picking up his toys and putting them away. While we were busy, he also started doing things that I normally do. He tried his best to fluff and straighten the couch pillows. He did a really good job!

I guess that I am training him well. ;)

Since Trent helped us clean, today was his first day in the pool for 2009. Matt said that it was pretty cold, but Trent loved it anyway. If only we could get him to take a nap without a fight.

Fire Museum Birthday

2009-05-24T13:17:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, we took Trent to Jacob's 5th birthday at the Fire Museum. Jacob really likes the Fire Museum because this is his 3rd birthday party there! AND Trent remembers everything about it. He was so excited about going.

We met downtown and rode the trolley to the museum. It was Jack's first trolley ride.

He didn't know exactly what to think about the trolley ride.

Once at the museum, we did the food, cake and presents. Then the kids took off to play in the museum. Trent had a ball.

This year they have added uniforms for the kids to wear. Trent loved it!

He loved driving the fire trucks too!

I don't know the story behind this picture, but it was cute!

Jack even got to play on the fire truck.

Here is the only picture we got of them both on the truck.

Trent remembered this horse. He still doesn't like it very much, but he didn't run away screaming. This picture reminds me of Forest Gump when you see his son with his head turned just like Forest. They all look so much alike to me. ;)

My Big Boys

2009-05-19T17:52:00.003-05:00

My boys are growing like weeds! I am happy that they are healthy and happy, but a little piece of me is sad because they are growing up too fast.

Our latest nickname for Jack is "Snaggle Tooth." Can you guess why?

That first top tooth cut through and has grown so much. The second one just cut through on Saturday (May 16). He is growing up too fast!! :(

At the grocery store, we have to get the car cart everytime now because both of my boys can sit and drive. Jack loves his older brother so much. Can't you tell?

By the way, Jack says all of the following:
"Na Na"
"Da Da"
"Ba Ba"
"Ga Ga"

And I have only heard "Ma Ma" ONCE! Little stinker!!

Trent's Trampoline

2009-05-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

It has rained like crazy lately, so Matt and I have had to wait to put Trent's trampoline together. After a long week at BBQ Fest, Matt came home on Sunday and mowed the yard (and it really needed it), and we assembled the trampoline. Jack thought that it was fun to supervise us.

I had to get the camera to show how Jack was holding the instruction manual while we worked.

He even looked like he was pointing out what we did wrong.

Here he is continuing to supervise his daddy.

Trent loved the final product! This was the only semi-clear picture that I got because he was jumping like crazy!

Matt's First Memphis in May BBQ Fest

2009-05-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

Well, the Gatewood home has been a very busy place lately. Matt's first BBQ Fest was May 14 - 17. His team had quite a few "exciting" moments, but none of them really had to do with the BBQ. I will save those stories for Matt to tell. Maybe I can talk him into posting an entry on here sometime. :)

We had lots of fun at the festival. Matt's team won the following:
33 out of 106 in ribs
23 out of 71 in beans
37 out of 84 in poultry
30 out of 89 in seafood

I think that is great for their 2nd year (Matt's first on the team).

Here are some pictures from BBQ Fest. Enjoy!

Tents on Wednesday (Family & Friends Night)

Smoke Masters Tent

Pork Fiction - a team named after one of Matt's favorite movies

Another funny team name....

Reservior Hogs - another team named after one of Matt's fave movies

These are some cool pigs that we took pictures of for Matt's parents. They need that flying pig for their store - When Pigs Fly

Trent and I in front of the Mississippi River

Jack was happy at BBQ Fest - Well, he's almost always happy....

Trent and Matt - They're such posers!

Trent with a flower from the tables

Matt getting a good smooch from Trent

After the kiddos left, the party started...

Matt is "Pole-Dancing" (All of our HindsCC friends should understand that reference)

Matt Geater on the bar singing, "I'm on a boat!"

Kile, Will, and Geater

Joey, Nick, and Matt