Just Packing Away

Not much of an update, soon we'll have lots of fun stuff to post! We are just packing, cleaning and saying goodbye to friends. Lee and Will are on their way to pick up Karen from the airport. She's going to help us in the move and drive one of our cars. Mom and Dad are meeting us in TN to help us unload and stay the weekend. So there is lots of fun ahead!

Amy's chosen outfit yesterday. She made me hot just looking at her. 

I've managed to set the oven on fire 3 times now. Each time with different pieces of a supreme take and bake pizza. The latest time, the fire got pretty big, so I threw baking soda on it. You'd think, from looking at this picture, that it was a pain to clean, but it really wasn't! The foil has saved the bottom for the past 2 years (thanks to a tip from my friend Shannon!) and I just vacuumed up the baking soda. One quick wipe with a damp towel and it was perfectly clean. Works for me!

Will was up and down a lot last night. His 2 front teeth are coming in, and I think a few side ones. The kid only has his 2 bottom teeth, so it's about time! But it makes for a very fussy baby. This morning, as well as being up and down a lot, he woke up early. I was really exhausted, and didn't even realize I fell asleep on the floor. Until I saw this muffin packet I had given him (from our travel food stash) and the mess he made with it!

I caught him mid-smile. He's not mad. He thought it was hilarious.

So that's it for now. I'm going to post a few videos to hold you over while we move. :)

Goodbye at the Meyer's

And the goodbye's start! I was sitting in Sunday School yesterday when it hit me that we were leaving. I was looking around the room, and realized that next week I'd be sitting with a new group of people. And I did get a little sad. I really do love the people here and after 3 years- you really have a history with them. I know we'll make new friends and will feel the same way about them. But I am sad about the ones we are leaving behind. Like Aunt Lynn said, that's the hardest part of moving!

The Meyers had us over last night. Karen made a taco dip and an apple dip. What a great meal that was! Easy, delicious and filling! We just love the Meyers and we will definitely miss them! (especially around conference time. I haven't watched General Conference without them in 3 years!)

They have a bunch of animals, despite Karen's distaste for them. Mostly chickens, and yes Grandma, even ducks. haha! Amy always gets excited to go over there because she knows she can play with animals- and there is always something new.

Last night it was a tiny baby chick! It was really brand-new- Rod didn't even know they were there. Which prompted Karen to say "We are going in the wrong direction, Rod. We are supposed to be getting rid of the chickens, not hatching new ones."

They also brought out one of their ducks. Amy couldn't decide whether to pet the duck or hold the chick. Oh! Decisions!!

Needless to say, Amy was in her glory. I also brought over some sparklers. Their sons (and eventually Amy) loved these!

Amy picked up a used one by the hot end and burned across her little fingers. Wow she can scream! Oh my! She's fine and there's barely a mark but if you talked to her you'd think her hand burned off. As you can tell, Amy is a little dramatic. (I'm told she comes buy it honestly. Apparently I was that way when I was young?? Hmm... I don't remember, it must be a lie. haha)

Will was getting tired and crawled to the middle of the room and laid down. Between that and Amy's injury, it was time to go. Which I hated, because I love talking and especially love talking to the Meyers!

Saturday Happenings

Yesterday Amy came up to me and said, "Mom, I drew a animal and you have to guess what it is. It starts with a S and slithers on the ground. And it's not a snake." I couldn't think of a single thing! Then she told me it had a shell. I guessed a turtle, thinking she had the wrong start letter. "No mom, turtles walk they don't slither. And they start with a T, not an S." She had a similar response to everything I guessed. Although nothing I guessed started with S or slither. So then I thought she was tricking me, and it really was a snake. "No." Can you guess what it was??









A Snail! You probably guessed it. I had no idea. But I liked her drawings! (under the "big mommy one" (yes, I'm getting a complex her 'mommies' are always big. I need to start running again!) is a little tiny baby snail. Just thought I'd point that out)

This cracked me up. One of Lee's main complaints about Mississippi is the road conditions. There are a LOT of potholes, cracks, unevenness, etc. So I died laughing when I saw them repaving our road. Lee said, "Yeah. The week before we leave they finally repave. It figures!"

Will and Amy were eating Tootsie Roll pops (leftover from the reunion) Will thought sticking it Amy's hair was hilarious. Amy didn't care for it too much.

Tonight my dear friends Monica and Keri threw us a little going away party. Surprisingly the weather was nice, especially after the sun set.

Karen Kennedy, Monica Moore, me, Keri Graham, Holly Grames

Of course, leave it to my kids to find the animals. Amy would NOT leave this poor cat alone. And Will was enamored with the dog. Maybe one day they'll break us down and we'll eventually get a pet.

Savannah, Amy, and Twinkie- the cat.
I love this picture. 

We ate and played water baseball (where the bases are water). YES I played. And YES both times I was tagged out at 1st base. What can I say?? At least I hit the ball- which was a surprise to me! And the one time it was batted towards me when I was in the field, I screamed and said, "Oh- don't hit it towards me!" Lee had a blast- I think that's the most fun he's had since being here.

(I wasn't taking these pictures) 

Although we won't miss this state, we will definitely miss these people! We have some wonderful friends here!

Experiments

Lately Amy has been obsessed with the tv show Blue's Clues. It's something she's never really seen before but somehow she saw it on Netflix and now can't stop watching. I thought it was another lame kid show at first, but I'm actually amazed at what she learns from it. Lee and I did some research and it's won all types of awards, so I guess it's a good one. 

Anyhow- the episode she watched this morning featured experiments. I was on the phone with Mom, when Amy came to me and said, "Can we do experiments?" (yes, mom gave an "oh noooo, what is she up to now.") After I got off the phone, I rewatched the episode to figure out what she was describing and decided that we could, in fact, try some of them. 

The first thing she wanted to do was create a cyclone. 

Two empty bottles, some water and tape. Easy enough. 

It was fun watching the whirlpool once you swish it around. 

Then she wanted to try different items to see if they would float or not. 

This was particularly fun for her, given her love for water. 

(I can't blame her, she comes by it honestly)

I can't wait for next week when pictures from my kitchen table
 don't feature my washer/dryer in the background)

Then she got to play in the water for awhile. Which I mean, was great. 

Will's new favorite place to sit is in this chair. He's so proud of himself when he climbs right up. The cushion was drying b/c some juice got spilled on it. 

I made a side dish of rice for dinner, but soon realized that I'd already packed my rice maker and all the pan lids. So I improvised. My cast iron skillet made a great lid. :) (and the rice turned out good too)

Since it seems like there is so much to do, I had to create a daily chart for us. There actually isn't as much when you look at it as a whole. Lee is really structured, so he likes this too. Actually, he came up with this list on the way home from TN the other night. I just made it 'big.'

Last night Amy and I went to her friend's birthday party. Amy had a great time. 

The little girls mom, Amanda, is like my long lost best friend. 

I love her so much!  

We have the same interests, beliefs, laugh at the same jokes. 

Oh! I hate that I just met her a few months ago. 

I wish I could have spent the last 3 years with her!!  

But while we were gone, Will got a birthday present from Granny. Lee took pictures of him opening it. Thanks for the new jammies and cars!! 

Will had a great first birthday. But I plan on making the 2nd one even better, given the move and all the crazy distractions from today. Oh- and yesterday also symbolized no more nursing! Woohoo for me! 

I made it a year with both kids. I consider that good and am so glad I'm done! 

And these are some pictures that I took before 

we left on vacation and never posted.... 

Amy tried scaling the boxes with her toy so Will wouldn't bother her.... 

 Ha! Joke was on her. He scaled them too. 

Amy still loves eating oatmeal. But she won't eat it cooked. 

Oh well, I guess raw is better????!!!??

We also did a small art project that I saw on the Make It and Love It website (my favorite site). You just use some food dye mixed with water in separate bowls. Then you fold paper towels and dip the corners it. Amy loved this! But who could blame her? It was fun! 

Unfold them and let them dry. And once they are dry, you pinch the middles together, seal with a pipe cleaner or twist tie and they are butterflies! It made some really pretty colors. We have yet to complete the final step, so I'll post pics if we ever get around to it. I can't find my pipe cleaners, or twist ties. They must be packed as well. 

I let her dip until the color was gone. And there was hardly any mess. 

A nice clean, messy project. haha. 

That's about it for today. It really hot and muggy out, which translates to mosquito bitten miserable. So we've been indoors all day. Which means we are also all stir-crazy. I can't wait for an early bedtime for all!!

Happy FIRST Birthday Will!!

We can't believe that Will is ONE today! 

I have to admit, this year has flown by!! 

The poor kid has his big day in the midst of us moving. The house is in disarray, we can hardly even reach our table, there are boxes out the wazoo, the cake decorating stuff is packed away, we don't have any family in town to invite to a party.... poor Will got the shaft today! I'll have to make it up to him next year. 

We started the morning off with birthday pancakes (pancakes with sprinkles in them) but I realized that I'm not used to this 'boy' thing yet because all my sprinkles were either pink or Halloween-ish. (I must only buy them on sale then) So we opted for the Halloween type ones. Luckily he just loves pancakes, so I don't think he cares what was in them.

Lee was my little helper this morning and I was grateful for the help! He went to the store and bought a birthday present for Will, as well as picked something out for a friend of Amy's who also has a birthday today. Then he picked up some boxes and bought a bunch of helium balloons. Thanks Lee!! 

Will got this stand and dance thing for his big day! He seems to like it and Amy likes it even more. You gotta love loud toys that make obnoxious music all day long! (I DO blame Lee on this one)

We had a little 'lunch party' for him. The cake I made last night was quite possibly the ugliest cake I've ever seen. Even Lee, who normally says I'm too hard on myself, looked at it and said, "Well, you can make it up to him next year." hahaha! So given the ugliness, there are no pictures. But it was iced green (supposed to be grass) with a cookie road and matchbox cars on top.)

He dug right in though- so I guess it was good. 

He cracks me up already making car sounds when he drives them around.

 Amy was crying about something. Which made Will cry. So we started singing, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." That produced more crying. Yes, it's been a fun day. 

The "hit" of the day was really the balloons. Lee was smart enough to buy a few pink ones for Amy. They've been playing with them non-stop. 

Lee screaming. 

The kiddo's are definitely overly tired and overly stimulated today! 

Before the "party," I started packing up more boxes. Mostly kitchen stuff that I won't need for the next week. Will has learned how to climb, so he's usually 'on top' of something. He was my little helper.... as I filled a box, he loved taking the things back out. He also liked crawling into the empty cupboards.

He even took his first 2 steps today!! I've seen him do it twice and Lee saw it another time. He stands up and shuffles those feet twice, then falls down. It's so cute to watch him! 

Last night I thought I had lost my checkbook. I never carry it with me, but did to TN because I knew I'd be writing rent and utility checks. Late last night I went to pay a bill and realized it was gone. I looked everywhere, in the car several times, in our bags, etc. We were definitely panicked! Lee planned to go to the bank first thing to cancel everything in the batch. I looked in the car one more time this morning and I found it! It had fallen between the seat and the center console, on the drivers side. I guess I just couldn't see it in the dark. I was SOOO thankful it was found!!

This was funny.... Amy was very upset that we weren't staying in TN. When we got back here, she asked why we were back. Lee explained that we had to come back to pack up the rest of our toys and such to bring to TN. So immediately she piled all her toys into an empty box in her room and said to Lee, "Ok, I'm ready to go to TN now." It was so funny! 

Well, that's it for today. We are exhausted. The kids won't nap, and all we want is a nap. 

Oh well, guess that means early bed time for all! :)