Arkansas

We have been in Arkansas for the week. Rob is preaching the revivial at Mom and Dad's church, so we came back to be here. Is it odd to travel across two states to go to a revival? Oh well. It has been great. Tonight is the last night, so if you are in the area and want to come, call me and I'll give you directions.

We got to see most of the Hutchins (minus Brody-I think they've given him away or something) and get our swimming fix in for the week.
Coach Shoptaw and Gran and the girls...yes I said Coach. More to come on that soon.

No, this picture has nothing to do with this post. I just thought it was funny. I found it on my memory stick just a minute ago. I assure you that I didn't take it and I'm pretty sure that Shannon didn't either.
I want to take you on a journey....Close your eyes and imagine with me...A Mom making her way thru Target (sorry Jared, I know I'm a traitor, but it's so great!) with two relatively small children in tow. The kids are eating popcorn as the Mom TRIES to get some light shopping done. Behind them through each and every aisle are two small trails of popcorn. One child is coughing incessantly and continually spouting, "Mommy, Anabelle is...(place one of millions of phrases here)." The younger one is alternating between, "I'M CRAZY!!" and "peeepol ti ti on fwoor in Tawget baffroom." You see the mom make not one but two mad dashes to the 'potty.' It's almost as if she's numb as the toddler goes hurdling thru the air jumping from the cart (the kind with seats for small kids not the regular kind). You hear her defeated voice repeatedly utter, "we are almost done girls, just keep eating your popcorn and quit touching each other." You see her finally leave the store after everyone has hugged all the big red balls and is successfully holding hands to cross the parking lot. You think to yourself, "I bet she'll be glad to be home." Then, suddenly she's coming back thru the doors with the two girls holding hands walking (as slow as humanly possible) along side her. Oh, she's been charged twice for something and Dave Ramsey would blow a gasket if he knew she didn't go back inside to get it straightened out.

After the target trip from you know where...we were on our way home and I guess Taylor could tell I was worn out. She said, "Mommy, next time it is my special day, I am going to give it to you and it will be your special day." I do not deserve this kid. Maybe I deserve her sister, but I don't deserve her. :)


*A couple of quick explanations... I told the girls that they were driving me crazy which prompted Anabelle to continually shout at the top of her lungs, "I'M CRAZY! I'M CRAZY!"
**Also, on what was our second trip to the bathroom, I was explaining why sitting on the floor of the bathroom was not a good idea. I told them that sometimes people might accidentally titi on the floor, so we want to try not to touch the floor with anything but our shoes. (Don't judge me. It's the best explanation I could come up with. I couldn't just say, 'your mom's a major germ-o-phobe.') Anabelle found that amusing and wanted to share it with everyone we came into contact with. My only prayer is that most people couldn't understand what this crazy little pigtailed two year old was saying!!

Have I mentioned that I really do love my life?

It's HOT in Alabama!!!

We took the girls to the park today and we didn't last long. Everyone was red-faced by the time we left, but they did have a good time. These pictures were taken by Shannon's new iphone, aka his third child. I think he loves it just as much.

Staying at Home

We've been staying home all week while Taylor gets over a little bug. I am going a little stir crazy, but the girls are doing just fine with it. I had to beg them to leave the house today just to go by and see Shannon. I was just a little ashamed as I said, "don't you want to go to Burger King and get breakfast? I burned the biscuits I made this morning so they won't be very good." They said they wanted to eat the burnt biscuits just b/c they didn't want to leave!?!?!?! CRAZY!

We've been reading lots! We got a couple of 'chapter books' at the library last week and Taylor has fallen in love with The Littles. Remember them? We also got a great book to help her practice 'reading.' The Little Critters Picture Dictionary is published by McGraw Hill and it is really wonderful. She and Anabelle are constantly just going thru it as she tries to teach Anabelle to read. You can imagine how fun that is to overhear.

Anabelle's new line: "me tell ew a cigarette (secret)"

***Yes, I see the pint sized hand print on the window behind the girls and I'm ok with it, so you should be too!!! :)

Visitors!!

We had guests this week and boy was it fun. Papaw and Gran got here on Wednesday and Rob Carla and Emily got here Fri night. The girls absorbed every bit of attention they could get from Papaw and Gran this week. Anabelle has been introduced to rock, paper, scissors. She really has it down. She may start by counting to 9 or so instead of 3 but she can ALWAYS win. Even if it requires her to tell Papaw (or whoever) what they need to do in order for her to win...
















The girls LOVE the Leonards. Poor Rob couldn't eat anything without Anabelle standing there waiting for a bite. He is always so patient. He fed her whatever she wanted. :) Carla even got in the floor to try to teach Taylor had to play with her new jacks. They were constantly jumping into Emily's lap. (many times without warning!) I am pretty sure that her attention was what they wanted most! We had a great time staying up late visiting. It still wasn't a long enough visit, but we'll catch up again soon. Everyone left this morning, so it is really quiet around our house about now.