New Additions

Last night, we took the kids to Across the Pond and added more fish to our pond out back. We have been working hard in our yard the past few weeks and finally got to the point where we decided that it was time to add to our fish pond. When we moved into our house, we "inherited" 8 fish. Well over time, those fish were eaten by some cats and birds and we only had one fish that survived. (I know, we are bad pet fish owners). Tonight, Elmo received some new friends. Jason and the kids named our newest additions. We are happy to announce our newest fish family members: Zoe, Bert, Zacchaeus, Winnie, Tuck, Bono, Lennon and McCartney.

Our 8 fish!

The kids were so excited about our new fish!

Watching the new fish acclimate to their new home.

First, But Definitely Not The Last

The other day, I found Joshua throwing a baseball at our back door. How it survived his left armed pitches, I will never know. I took away all of his balls and told him to never throw a baseball at glass again. After a good sit down and discussion, I thought that he had learned his lesson.

Back door

The very next day, Joshua found a baseball and began work on his pitching skills. Only this time...

Baseball + Glass =

A million pieces of shattered glass

Fortunately my breakables in the hutch did not get broken and at least he didn't throw the ball at the back door. Maybe one day that arm of his will do him well in baseball, but until then ALL BALLS ARE ONLY TO BE THROWN OUTSIDE!!!!

Let The Games Begin

The other night, we took the kids to the Stars' season opener. When we told the kids where we were going, they all immediately ran to get all of their Cardinals' gear on. We met up with some friends and enjoyed watching the game.

Jason and Joshua

My little Cardinal!

On Monday, we watched the Stars play another game. We were treated to watching the game in one of the skyboxes with our friends. I don't know if Abby Kate and Jackson love the game or the popcorn/cotton candy more. They can put away the snacks. We are looking forward to many more games this season!

Jason and Abby Kate


My little guy couldn't be any happier!

Baseball fans!

My sweet little girl!

Only 4 More Days

Our family is walking for the March for Babies this Saturday morning. We are still trying to raise that last little bit of money in an effort to reach our goal of $500.

The March of Dimes is a cause that we believe in and support. As you all know, our twins were born 7 weeks early. 12.5 MILLION babies are born too early each year! Unfortunately, premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds that we raise supports research that saves babies' lives. All babies deserve their full 9 months.

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Easter 2009

Our family had such a great Easter this year. On Saturday we attended our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids helped me fill their eggs with special treats and were thrilled to hunt for eggs on Saturday. This was Jack's first time to participate in an egg hunt, since he was a little too young last year. Jason hunted eggs with Joshua and Abby Kate and I stayed with Jack and captured some pictures. I loved watching him go from trying to figure out what we were actually supposed to be doing, to gathering more eggs than he was allowed to have. I made sure that we didn't open that first egg, because I knew that would be the end of the hunt for him. He had so much fun and I think that I had just as much fun watching him!

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

On Easter Sunday, Jason left for church earlier than us. I had so much fun watching the kids look at their Easter baskets. We didn't play the whole "Easter Bunny" thing this year. I found it funny when everyone at church asked my kids if the Easter Bunny had come to visit them and they said no! The kids each got some special sweets in their baskets. We got Abby Kate some "Princess" summer pjs, Joshua got an Albert Pujols and Peyton Manning figure and we got Jack an Elmo DVD and a shapes puzzle. They loved their goodies and have really enjoyed eating their sweets. Today, Joshua secretly hid and ate two whole chocolate bunnies! I guess that he is a splurger, just like me!

I was thrilled to have my parents come down and go to church with us. The kids were so excited to have Nana and PawPaw visit. After church we headed home for lunch. I had picked up a HoneyBaked Ham on Saturday and we had green beans, cowboy potatoes, corn, deviled eggs, rolls and an Easter cake. We were stuffed and enjoyed eating together on Easter Sunday.

We all had a great time together this Easter. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by parents that love all of us, a husband that loves me and our children and by my children, whom I dearly love. I am so very thankful for my family.

ABC's - Twin Style

Tonight on the way to church, Joshua and Abby Kate sang their ABC's. A lot! After awhile, they got a little bored with the traditional ABC's and decided to mix it up a bit. They came up with a lot of different ways to sing or say their ABC's. Jackson loved chiming in on the letter E with each new style.

*ABC's like a mouse

*ABC's only to the letter G

*ABC's mom style

*ABC's tool style

*ABC's to the letter X

*ABC's like Space Dog (I think that the kids saw this at PNO and yes, Joshua "barked" the ABC's)

*ABC's giant size

*ABC's teacher style

*ABC's super fast

*ABC's I say AB, you say CD, I say EFGH, you say IJKLM, etc.

*ABC's very slow

They came up with these on their own. I love their imagination.

From Our Chair To Yours

The Start of the Season

I love baseball! I grew up an Atlanta Braves girl, but after a few years of dating Jason I quickly fell in love with the St. Louis Cardinals. I can't even begin to count the number of trips that we have made to St. Louis. I hope to do a post on all of the other parks that we visited before we started having babies. Our trips have definitely slowed down these past 5 years, but we always put forth an effort to make it to a game or two each year. We either catch the Cardinals in St. Louis, or in Atlanta. In honor of "Opening Day", I wanted to share a few pictures from our past 5 years. Jason and I love sharing the love of this game with our children. Let the games begin...

August 15, 2004
Celebrating our 5 Year Anniversary
Turner Field

October 5, 2004
2004 Division League Series
Game 1
Busch Stadium

October 27, 2004
National League Championship Series
Game 7
Busch Stadium

Going to the World Series!
Busch Stadium

April 29, 2005
Joshua and Abby Kate's First Cardinals Game
Turner Field

September 5, 2005
Joshua and Abby Kate's First Cardinals Game in St. Louis
Busch Stadium

April 24, 2006
First Cardinals Game at the new stadium
Busch Stadium

Busch Stadium

May 2, 2006
Angel Stadium

July 3, 2006
Turner Field

July 20, 2007
Just the boys!
Turner Field

July 31, 2008
Jack's First Cardinals Game
Turner Field

If I May...

Each night before bed, Jason and I have been reading a Bible story (or two) to the kids. They look forward to this time of evening more than anything else during the day. I wanted to share a few of the Bible story books that we have used because we all have really enjoyed them.

I picked up My First Message while we were out at the bookstore one day. The first thing that drew me to this Bible story book were the colorful pages and the length of the stories. Typically most Bible devotional stories are one to two pages. In this devotional book, the stories are several pages long. The text from the stories is used from The Message; it is not just a simple retelling of the story. The only dislike of this devotional book is that the story of Abraham is not shared. My First Message is for ages 4 to 8.






Joshua and Abby Kate received 100 Bible Heroes 100 Bible Songs as a Christmas gift from their friends, Lawson and Jordan. This Bible story book tells the story of 100 Bible Heroes. It also gives a Bible verse and a characteristic of a true hero with each Bible Hero. Jason and I have enjoyed reading about the great men and women of the Bible and sharing their stories with our kids. Abby Kate especially enjoyed learning about all of the people of the Bible. She can look at the pictures on the page and remember the hero and retell their story.





Recently, Jason and I took the kids to LifeWay and I ran across the My Every Day Bible Story Collections series. This series of Daily Bible Stories is a newer release. They are planning on this series containing 12 books. We got each of ours on sale for about $5 each. The kids have really enjoyed reading the stories in the Ruth & Friends book. We are looking forward to the stories in the Noah & Friends and the Elijah & Friends books. The stories in this book are much shorter, so on some nights we might read two or three. I'm very excited about this collection and am looking forward to adding to it this year. Each book also comes with a DVD that features the stories from each book and about 30 songs. These books are recommended for ages 3-7.

All Girl

Abby Kate loves having her toenails and fingernails painted. What girl doesn't? For the past two years, I have painted her nails every week or every other week. She can become quite obsessed with having her nails done and so I've had to limit our nail polish usage to the seasons of Spring and Summer. She has had a countdown going since last Fall, which totally cracks me up.

Today was the first day that I actually found the time to treat her to her first manicure and pedicure of Spring. I get so tickled with how much she turns into a little princess when I paint her nails. She loves all things girly and pink! Abby Kate especially loves being treated to her very own manicures and pedicures!

Who Needs A Gym When You Have....

...85 pounds of adorable kids.