It was one of the cutest things I've seen in a while. She never stopped going the whole time and went over the 35-lap cap.
2. VISITORS
We had our first out-of-state visitors. Earl's sister Susan and her husband Michael made a detour to visit us here in Music City. The girls loved getting to see them for the weekend. We took them to the Opryland Hotel, as we have yet to really explore much of the area.
(Susan, I totally swiped this picture from your web album).
3. PATRIOTIC PROGRAM
Annabelle had her First Grade performance in March. They chose to do a Patriotic Program. Doesn't she look cute in her red, white and blue?
We ended up getting seats right in front of her, but never got her to look in our direction. Her school's music program has two teachers and apparently her teacher was on the other side of the gym and not the one positioned in front of her group. Annabelle kept her eyes on her teacher the WHOLE time making sure that she didn't do something wrong. You could tell that she was conscentrating so hard because while the other kids around her where swaying and dancing around, she was like a statue and watched her teacher and only, just barely, moved her lips.
4. HOUSE HUNTING
We started looking into houses in the area. Not to make any of you non-Tennesseans sick to your stomachs, but our dream house is 2176 sq. ft. on a large wooded lot. It's two stories with a full finished basement with rec room, two fire places, a two car garage and workshop. Plus many other features and it is listed for............wait for it.......................$159,900. You should all move here! We more than likely won't get this particular house because we still have a few months to wait. We hope to find something great in our price range though.
5. COUPONING
I've always been a sucker for a deal. Because in life, sometimes you CAN get something for nothing and the best things in life ARE free. I'm often tempted to buy something that I don't have an immediate use for simply because it's such a great price. I check every end-cap in Target searching for their glorious little red clearance stickers.
Now I usually have a coupon or two on hand, but when Annabelle was a baby I was really into "couponing." "Couponing" is serious business, folks! It is matching up weekly store sales with coupons and maximizing your savings. I remember I was up to about 7 mustards in my pantry that I had gotten all for under 20 cents, if not for FREE. After Emily was born and we moved I fell away from the couponing game. I didn't always have the internet to look up deals and the stores in my area where unfamiliar to me. The week that we moved to Nashville I was in Target when I passed a lady who had this huge zip up binder full of coupons. I stopped to ask her about it and once she explained it to me I asked her if I could touch it! It was amazing. She had all her coupons stored in baseball card holders and organized by catergories. It looked something like this: (because I can't find the pictures that I actually took with my cell phone that day).
AMAZING, right?. I never got around to working on mine. I just last month finally bought my binder and started collecting coupons. With my focus being on EmmyCake I haven't gotten around to organizing it. I'm super stoked to get it done soon though. I have managed to run out and get four tubs of butter for FREE. The game of Connect Four for FREE. And a travel size game of Catch Phrase for $1.99. It was all from using coupons and matching them with sales.
6. A SISTER VISIT
There is an eight-year age difference between my dear sister and I so it's safe to say that we weren't all that close growing up. Well, of course as the younger sister, I just adored her; but as the older sister, she was just plain annoyed with me most of the time. (I'm sure she is going to have some comment to make about this, but it's MY blog so I get to tell the story my way). When I was a teenager I would tell her that once I turned 18 everything would be ok and we would be super close.
It happened exactly like I said it would. (In case you're wondering: I have magical powers). I turned 18, moved in with her three months later and we have been best friends ever since. Once I had children and lived far away from her our relationship changed slightly. We still talked on the phone every day and some days multiple times, but whenever we got the chance to visit in person (once or twice a year) everything became about my girls. To say that she LOVES being an Aunt is an understatement! So although I had my one-on-one time with her over the phone, in person she was very focused on being a super great Aunt This didn't leave much for sister time.
Can I say how much I am enjoying having my sister so close? Now, because she gets to see the girls so often, whenever we are together we always plan an outing or some time that we can just hang out and be sisters and she doesn't feel like she is missing limited opportunities to be Aunt Chelle.
Wow, that was a really long lead in for me just wanting to say that my sister visited over the weekend and it was fun!
7. PRIMARY EASTER ACTIVITY
Our ward had a Primary activity. It wasn't just an egg hunt they planned several "stations" for the children to go to for various crafts/Easter lessons. Unfortunately, all that was followed by an Easter Egg "Gather" (I can't even call it a "hunt") in the gym. Whatever the reason why-- when it was such a beautiful day outside--they scattered eggs over the gym floor, I'll never understand. (Sorry, ladies that planned it, I still think you're great).
Aren't my little "hunt & gatherers" stinkin' cute? Their baskets were overflowing. I had Em start stuffing eggs into her pockets.
This was Molly's first Easter Egg Hunt, ( I mean "gather") and it was cute to watch. The first egg she got to was popped open so she saw the candy inside. She really wanted the candy! I convinced her to put the candy and egg in her basket and move on but when we got to the next egg, she grabbed it and stopped to open it. I had to explain to her that there was no time for this! She caught on after that and ended up with quite a stash.
SEE what a beautiful day it was?? This was taken OUTSIDE on the church grounds after our INSIDE "gather."
This is what happens when sisters are busy chatting in the front seat and baby's candy basket is left within arm's length. Oh, Molly!
8. MY PRETTY EASTER GIRLS
9. WEIGHT-LOSS
I've still been drinking my shakes and workin' my butt off with Bob Harper. I've lost 23 lbs. in 10 weeks and I'm feeling great. I fittin' into some clothes I haven't seen in a long time. Whoot!
10. NEW CALLING
Someone around here may or may not have a new calling, that you may or may not want to check back for details on.
