Consider us caught up, okay?

So, I'm still WAY behind on all we've been up to for the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd catch you up with a few images. After this, consider us caught up and hopefully, back to a less action-packed week.

We played in the silk drapes...


...at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, where Aunt Emily is preparing to have her wedding reception. We had to drag him away.

You're so vain...


...you probably think this blog is about you. Oh, wait...this blog mostly is about you! In fact, the whole reason I started it was to keep your grandparents in the loop. More wedding fun. Jack was all about the mirrors at the bridal salon.

Speaking of vain...


...is it so much to ask to get a good shot of the family once in a while? Yep, we tried and tried on Easter at my grandparents. We eventually gave up and this isn't bad, but it is also the result of some serious photoshopping (is that a word?) Yes, I had to take Jack's head from another shot and he's not even really smiling, but at least Josh and I look great. Hopefully, there are enough cute photos of Jack on this blog that you'll get over this less than perfect one.

Berry sweet...


...is all I can say about this little one. While our MOPS steering team cleaned up the pleasure that was our annual SPA day our kids roamed around the fellowship hall, nibbling on leftover fruit apparently!

Can you please sign for this package...


...while out playing in the yard on Saturday the mail carrier pulled up. She had a great big box of goodies for Jack sent from his Grandmommy & Grandaddy Garrett. He loved the book. Thanks, guys!

Faster, faster...


...woah, slow down! I've been sorting through the mess that is our basement while time allows (typically, Jack's naptime.) There are still several toys from Christmas that are waiting to make their debut. One was this riding toy from his grandparents. Saturday was a beautiful day. I had Josh help me assemble the bike and then we took turns guiding Jack down the driveway. He loved it. Even after a kind of nasty spill, we convinced him to ride again. Here's to a spring & summer full of fun!

We've also just been...


...hanging out and being cute. After noticing how much Jack loved my mesh sponge...Josh suggested we buy one he could play with. Here he is enjoying his new toy!

Check out these moves

Lasers

The title to this entry is intended to be read the way Dr. Evil says laser in the Austin Power movies. If you haven't seen those, I'm incredibly sorry. Anyway, last Wednesday evening we went to Stone Mountain Park for the Laser Show Spectacular as it is called. If you haven't ever seen the laser show, I'm more than incredibly sorry...I'm a little embarrassed (for you!) It's really a summertime tradition in Georgia.

We met up with the Shaws, Bates & Hills and let our boys run wild until the show began. Most of the lawn was blocked off because of the damage caused by the park's brilliant Snow Mountain idea. Hopefully, it will be fully repaired by Memorial Day. We ended up over to one side in a rocked-in viewing area. It was probably better because the kids were corralled. Jack loved hanging out with the big kids, especially his buddy Davis.

Jack loved the show. He watched for a while sitting with Josh and for a while sitting with me. The weather was a little chilly, but we bundled up in jackets and enjoyed the show...until we reached the end. For those of you that have seen the Laser Show, you know that Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" always closes the show and is accompanied by a ridiculous amount of fireworks. Well, they didn't just move good ole Lee (which I could have tolerated), they completely removed the song from the show. Yes, it was quite disappointing. I'm afraid Jack will soon grow tired of hearing his parents say each year, "the laser show used to be so much better..."

Busy as a Bee

If bees are busy, I feel like we've been a family of bees for the last week...and my house is definitely evidence of it. I've added photos to our Picasa site. I think most of the new ones are in the April 09 album, and as always I've updated my Project 365 album.

I still have much to catch you up on, but it must wait because so far this week isn't much less busy than the last. In the meantime, I hope the pictures will hold you over.

Easter Treat

Brrr...Fore!

Who needs to be in school to celebrate Spring Break? Certainly not us. We've been on the go all this week. It's been a lot of fun, but I'm exhausted and am aiming to be in bed by 9:30 tonight. If I can get my Easter goodies finished, I should make my goal. Despite my demanding schedule, I decided to update the blog.

Tuesday morning we departed town dark and early. (Normally I would say bright and early, but it was still dark.) My dear sister agreed to spend a few days with us and watched Jack for us all day while we were in Augusta at the Masters practice rounds. Josh has been several times, but this was only my second trip. We had four passes, so Josh's dad joined us and our friend Derek. We made great time, didn't hit too much traffic and managed to walk through the gates about 8:30 a.m.

For those of you in this neck of the woods, you know Tuesday wasn't exactly what you might dub ideal golf conditions. Now, Augusta is south of us, but not south enough to make a huge difference in temperature. It was windy and downright cold at times. When I bought these fabulous green pants for my spring wardrobe, I did not imagine how they would look with a wool coat or how they might feel with a pair of tights underneath them. Despite the chilly weather, we had a great time (although it was almost spoiled by a temporary depletion of pimento cheese sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies.)

Because of the weather, there weren't a lot of golfers on the course. We managed to see Phil Mickelson & Charles Howell, who were both out very early. We watched Gary Player, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson & Retief Goosen play a number of holes together. This is Player's last year competing at Augusta. Although he didn't get on the course at all, we managed to catch Tiger on the practice tees for about an hour. Even though it felt like winter, it certainly looked like spring everywhere you turned. As usual, the course was immaculate and the azaleas were in bloom.

We returned home to my poor frazzled sister who had been carrying for a yucky baby. I guess Jack got a nervous stomach or something, because he threw up a few times about 2 1/2 hours before we got home. He never showed any other signs of being sick, so that was a relief...otherwise we might have had to cancel our trip to the LaserShow! (More on that later...remember I'm on a schedule?)

Just Another Saturday

Just got Jack down for a nap and thought I'd get in a quick post. We've had a busy couple of days. Saturday morning we headed down to Athens for a few hours. We started by dropping Jack off at my mom & dad's house, then we headed downtown to meet the Forets for lunch. Ryan & Elise live in Greenwood, where Ryan is finishing his final year of residency. He & Josh worked together for a year there. They both went to LSU and are actually headed back to the bayou and closer to family when Ryan begins his practice in a few months. They decided to spend the weekend in Athens to celebrate Elise's birthday and take in part of the UGA/LSU baseball series. They invited us to join them.

We had a yummy lunch at East West Bistro downtown before heading to the game. With the temperature hovering around 72, it was a gorgeous day for baseball. It was warm, but not uncomfortable...we'll save that for football season. It started off shaky with the second batter jacking a homerun, but the dawgs answered with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the first. We had to scoot a little early to make it back for a birthday party, but felt confident in the dawgs 6-2 lead. They ended up winning 10-8 (so we missed some drama), but unfortunately it was the only win of the 3-game series for the dawgs. Here's to hoping they bounce back against Arkansas this coming weekend.

After picking up Jack, we headed back towards home to join Andrew's first birthday celebration. The weather was beautiful back home too. Everyone was enjoying the afternoon out on the newly expanded deck at the York's house. Andrew enjoyed seeing his gifts, but I think eating his cake was his favorite part! We all enjoyed it too!

After we left the party we headed home, where my little sister, Emily, was waiting on us. She had agreed to drive up to watch Jack for us while we headed to the Rotary Club's Casino Night fundraiser. We had a great time. Josh got an education in Craps from Spencer Carr, while his wife Nancy & I tried our hands at Black Jack. Thanks to a very kind dealer, I had quadrupled my money by the end of the night. Josh was pleased to have doubled his and may be a little braver next time we go to Vegas. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves until we spotted folks with gobs of tickets (representing tens of thousands...about 20 times what we had). So, I'm guessing there was an even nicer black jack dealer out there. Anyway, the whole thing is fake money and all for charity. Despite spending most of the night at separate tables, Josh and I had a great time.

The night finally wrapped up with me, Josh & Emily all watching the UNC/Nova game. Exhausted, we all headed to bed. So, it was basically just another Saturday around here. What about you?

Eggstra, Eggstra!

Okay, so the title is cheesy, but I couldn't think of anything creative. Jack has officially gotten the Easter egg hunting fever. After two hunts in two days, he's really gotten the hang of it. Sweet Merideth got Jack an awesome bucket to use for his hunting.

Our church held an egg hunt Wednesday night after supper. Things got kicked off with the youth putting on a puppet show for the kids. Jack had seen one once before (I think last summer), and I was pretty sure he would like it. When we walked in, they had put out the little chairs for them to sit in, rather than sitting on the floor. So, Jack sat next to Merideth's boys Tate & Brit. Even though he's a good bit smaller and younger than they are he looked so big sitting in that little chair! I think you'll agree. It was as if he'd aged a whole year over night (I think his new haircut helped too). Our little boy is growing up fast.

After the show, the little ones headed out to the playground to hunt eggs. Jack quickly got the hang of what he was supposed to do with the eggs. He liked throwing or hurling them into the bucket, but we had to point them out. He managed to find three, which was plenty. Then he moved on to the slide. I'm pretty sure his favorite part of the night was the cookie topped with colored sugar.

Today, his preschool class had an egg hunt. This one was held inside because of the yucky weather. Granted, these eggs seemed to be more obviously placed, but Jack had no trouble figuring out exactly what to do with them. He gathered his pile quickly. We had fun playing with the others in his class...although today it was just Jack and the girls (Carson, MacKynna & Amelia). Jack's best buddy, Andrew, is still recovering from RSV. He's on the mend though and we look forward to catching up at his birthday party on Saturday!

You can see lots more pictures from our egg-citing adventures here.

The most important story you'll ever write

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the Extraordinary Women conference last weekend. One of my favorite speakers was Karen Kingsbury. Some of you have probably heard of her or read one of her many books. I must admit that most of my reading takes place right here online. Of the actual books I do read, I tend to gravitate toward non-fiction (ie. What to Expect, the Mommy Diaries).

So, although I had heard of Karen, because of my mom & sister's (healthy) obsession with her works, I didn't know anything about her or what to expect from her as a speaker. First of all, she's incredibly tall and prettier in person than on her book jacker. She's a mom of six children, three of which were adopted from Haiti. She talked a bit about her characters, how she develops them and how real they become to her and her readers. Her main point, however, was that of all the books she has written the most important story she (and every other mother) authors is the one she is writing every day with her children.

Karen talked about the importance of loving the characters God has placed in your life and being constantly aware of our antagonist. She said her children won't remember how many best-selling books she has written, but they will remember the time she spends with them. So, I'm making the effort to remind myself how important each day is in the story I'm writing. I hope you'll do the same.

ABCs from the mouth of a babe

We're excited to announce that our little prodigy can now recite the ABCs. We've been working on it for a couple of weeks and it took a couple of days to get it captured on video, but if you want to see our little genius, just click here.