Conner's 5th birthday

I made the promise to Linlee that when she turned 5 that she didn't have to take naps anymore. Since then, Conner has been counting down the days until he could enjoy that same luxury. Needless to say, he has enjoyed the extra playtime.



I knew that this would likely be the last birthday party we would celebrate in Memphis so I decided to do it a little bigger than our normal at home thing. We booked a party at Incredible Pizza which the kids love.


I let Conner choose the guest list. He invited the Fish and Marlar crew as well as his friend Kate which is the usual guest list. This year he also wanted our neighbor girls as well as Kara, Declan and Will Skinner from is school class.


I think once we finally got to go play games, the kids (and parents) all had a blast.

WDP Spring Musical, Nana and Papa visit.

I got to go to Field Day at Conner's preschool this year. It was hot but we had lots of fun. Sidney joined us too. Conner waas so proud to have his little sister with him He would hold her hand in line and try to get her to participate. It was very sweet.




The musical was great as well. Conner really enjoys music and singing and it really showed. He was so cute.



Nana and Papa came up to visit shortly after school was out and we just had fun hanging out. We took a trip over to Mud Island. Why haven't we gone there before? It was sooo much fun and free!




The Fish family joined us. We had a picnic and then rode the trolley before heading home and crashing.



I treated Linlee and Nana to a pedicure while the others napped after we got home. That was fun too!!

Linlee's last days of Kindergarten

The last days of K were bittersweet. Kindergarten put on a production of "The Boy who Cried Wolf". Linlee had a speaking part as one of the villagers. She did great.


They have such a terrific class and group of kids. We loved it!



The last day of school was the bye-bye breakfast

followed by games







a movie and the farawell assembly. It was great to be able to participate. I was just fine until we were leaving. As I was walking down the hall it occurred to me that this would likely be the last time we were there and I just lost it. Parents and kids were just staring and wondering what in the world was wrong with me. I can't help it, I have always been sentimental and I love that school. I hate that we can't take it with us.

The Great Flood

Ok so when did a tornado warning mean that conditions are favorable for a tornado and not that one had actually been sighted? We had multiple tornado "warning" sirens over the course of this particular weekend. Annelise had slept over and at one point, all the kids ended up on the floor in our room. By the time the day was over, we had our emergency plan down pat. It was actually kind of fun for the kids to hang out in the bathroom.

What wasn't fun was seeing the new white water rafting exhibit that resulted in our back yard. Thank goodness for our new drainage system or we may have needed a raft to get out of the house.

Linlee and the Chocolate Factory

Linlee's class had a field trip to Dinstul's Chocolate factory. It was quite funny to see how many mom's volunteered to chaperone....

Here are the kids waiting to go in the candy store.

She's not excited at all..

They had some amazing truffles that somehow found there way to my house.

It was a great experience. There was a video on the history of chocolate and then a tour of the facility where we watched them making turtle candy and different treats. Of course there were samples.
Can we say 5 lb bar of chocolate!!

We had a great time!!

Just random events

Random pictures so here we go.
Linlee had literary character day at school. We had limited costume options so we chose Tinker Bell


Just a cute shot of Sidney while playing outside one morning.


My parents came up one weekend so that Ben and I could got the a marriage retreat in Moscow TN. It was GREAT and we really enjoyed getting away if only for a night.


Another silly Sidney pic.


Ben took a half day and we took the kids to the Botanic Gardens. It was AWESOME!! I wish we had discovered it sooner. The kids had a blast and so did we.









Ben gave Conner and Linlee a hammering lesson. They felt so grown up. It was cute.

Here is a pic of Ben and his dad working on the infamous drainage project. It is finally completed.

Easter Activities

I can never resist the chance to dress the kids alike (at least the girls as long as they will let me).



After a great morning at church, we headed over to the Fish's house for dinner. The kids had a great time playing as always. Mrs. Angie went throught he resurrection eggs with the kids that would sit still and listen.
The dads kept their attention with an Easter bunny movie.
I have never seen that many of the kids sit that still for that long.