Miss Independent

Tonight Ansley decided that she should be the chef. Which is fine with me because I am failing at making dinner. My kids have decided to boycott my cooking. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to pull out the sayings "take a no thank you bite" or "you must take 4 bites because you are four." The chef came up with the menu and got all the ingredients. If you know Ansley you don't even need a clue to know what dinner consisted of.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Grapes and pineapple
Carrots












She did eat everything on her plate!!

Hat and firsts

James has fallen in love with a hat from Caroline's house. Caroline informed me that when he goes to her house he always wears this hat. He got home from school today and went searching for the hat he managed to take home Sunday night. He found it and has kept it on. Yes he makes my heart melt however when he puts the hat on he looks like he is going to work in the rice fields!



Today was another milestone in parenthood. I had to register Ansley for kindergarten! She will be going to Sweet Apple with me next year. It makes me very anxious, sad, and happy! Happy because I will have the ability to be at work and have my girl in the same building. I will get to go to all her events and spend more time during the day with her. Ok so it is only really one more hour. Anxious and sad because she will leave Mt. Pisgah. We have been so blessed to be able to afford to send Ansley to a Christian learning center where she gets chapel, bible study, ballet, P.E., Spanish, music, labs, and field trips 3 times a month. That is just the tip of what she receives during the week!!!! And did I mention the awesome teachers !!!! However, I do know that she will a get a top education at her new school and that this change is going to happen whether I am ready or not!! The next step is that she will get to visit her new school in May.

And the winner is...

So we all knew this day would come. The day that all 4 cousins would realize the art of wrestling. While watching some of the basketball tournament with the men the kids had fun of their own!!!












I would just like to point out that Tank is living up to his nickname and taking them all out!! That's my son!!!

Saturday with GGMa and the Grant's

This is what happens on a rainy Saturday morning.










Yep the kids pick out their own outfits. Ansley helped James figure out the shoe thing. We sat down for lunch to have Ansley give us a science lesson. In her own words "I am glad it stopped raining finally. The clouds sure peed a lot today." I love four year old conversations.
That afternoon we headed down to Peachtree City to see Great-Grandma.



James is actually loving on Great Grandma.






The kids enjoyed playing around with the new toys that Great Grandma got them.
After we left Peachtree City we a headed over to my sisters for dinner and playtime.












Of course Hannah was the first entertainment when we arrived. The kids have been so good about going off with each other and playing nicely. All four actually played together this time. Usually the girls play together and the boys play together. I need to get a video of James and Thomas playing together. It is priceless!!

Pictures

My favorite picture

St.Patrick's day

Another successful set of pictures with the cousins! If you didn't notice Ansley doesn't share Hannah (even with Caroline).

Creek hopping

It was another beautiful weekend so we headed to the kids favorite park and went exploring. We found a creek next to the Chattahoochee river that was great to throw rocks in. Before we found the creek I told Ansley we were going on a bear hunt. She went along with it for a few minutes then got tears in her eyes and got scared that there was a bear around us. Opps!! Once tears were dry we caught up with the bear aka James who was jumping off rocks, we found the creek.















When James was taking a nap Ansley and I played in the backyard. We ended up playing in our creek!!

Ansley's obsession

Caroline and I just laugh every time she brings Hannah around. My kids are magnets. I can't keep Ansley off the kid. She is a little mommy to her. Melts my heart when she loves all over Hannah. Then there is James who is just bossy with me when I am holding her.



Yep she is holding her all by herself.

My angel

Ansley loves singing in the cherub choir at church. She enjoys practicing with her friends and teachers!! She has never been comfortable going down front for children's time, however thanks to Maddie (her favorite person) she gets to the stairs most Sundays. When I see her up front with the choir my heart grows..she lights up and sings so perfectly!! We are so blessed to have so much family in town. They were there sitting in the front row for just one song that lasted 2 minutes!! However, it meant the world for them to be there in that row with us.

Go jackets

Bob took James to the last game in Georgia Tech's coliseum before they renovate it. Ansley and I headed to a birthday party. I was a bit nervous about how well James would sit for the game. Bob said he loved it and that he sat and yelled at the jackets and cheered for them. This picture was taken the last 5 minutes of the game.



James hasn't stopped talking about the b-ball game. Looks like he has many games in his future!!!

Videos of the kiddos

Heaven is too good

So Ansley handled Mya's passing extremely well. However, she has scarred me!!! The other day when I was giving her a bath and she decided to tell me that it is her time to go to heaven. My heart sank and my worst fear hit the table!! I told her not yet she continued to tell me that she needs to go there without us. I finally explained to her that she has a lot more stuff that God wants her to do before she can go to Heaven. So now I am a crazy fool when she goes to bed and when I am not with her. We need more wine in this house!!

What I learned from Grand Jury duty!

After two long months of visiting the Fulton county courthouse every Tuesday and Friday my service has come to an end!!! The DA told us the first day that we would learn 3 years of law school in two months. It was definitely a journey. I won't miss driving downtown twice a week and sitting in the front row fourth chair over from the left. I did learn way to much about how screwed up people can be. If you know me you know I can't stand watching the news. Someone needs to tell the news stations that it is okay to report good news, too report the good things cops do for our city!!
Things I have learned:
1) a screw driver can be used to commit any kind of act...theft, aggravated assault, theft of auto...
2) cussing at a cop or threatening to kick a cops butt will land you an extra count on your wrap sheet as terrorist threats.
3) convicts need to serve more of their sentence and the state needs to spend more time rehabilitating them because they are just going to get out and commit the same act again with a gun present and drugs! 90% of the cases involved a convicted felon.
4) you never get use to acts of violence done to a child.
5) There are not enough child endangerment laws!!!!! There are stricter laws for animals than children.
6) The DA's office does a good job putting together cases for us to indict!
7) After stealing a Flat screen tv or a mattress it is not best to walk down the street with it. You are pretty much admitting guilt.
8) Passing out in your car while getting gas with drugs in your hand, beer in a cup holder, and a milkshake spilled in your lap has guilt written all over it.
9) Don't walk into the police station to turn yourself in to only find out there is no warrant out on you and then show a cop a hit of crack... Enough said.
10) The most important lesson I learned was to Thank a cop when you see them. Their job is a thankless job. The stuff they hear and see daily is disturbing! No one ever calls 911 to tell them about the joys in the world.
I could go on and on about more cases since we heard 1,076 cases!! I am looking forward to not seeing or hearing any news for a while!

Learning to say goodbye and Heaven celebration

The past two weeks have been very tense and sad. Our first baby Mya was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. As most of you know she has always had special needs. We are pretty sure that cancer has been her problem instead of IBS. The past four weeks she went from weighing 11.5 pounds to 6.3 pounds. It finally got to the point where the tumor was blocking her intestines. She was given to cat heaven today!! Bob and I had to find a way to break the news to Ansley. My mom got a wonderful book about cat heaven. Unfortunately, she found it last night before bed and had the ultimate meltdown. She did not want Mya to leave. She and I talked about what heaven will be like for Mya. Ansley was content knowing that Mya will have her own bed with plenty of blankets and tons of friends. So 30 minutes later she was asleep. The next morning she woke up and she was with Mya until she went to school. As soon as she got to school she told Ms. Rhea all about Mya. ANsley had a great day at school she even comforted Frances during nap time when she was crying because of Mya. Ms.Rhea said she found Ansley kneeling next to Frances telling her about cat heaven and God. Luckily, Ms. Rhea was able to write what she said down so we will be able to keep it!! When I picked Ansley up she was weepy over Mya. We wet to Target and played around. I told the kids that when Mya went to Heaven she left them a present at home.


Yep a huge M&M cookie. We had a Heaven celebration when we got home. Ansley said she was happy Mya was with God now!! After the party, the kids played in the playroom. Ansley came downstairs for her daily booboo bandaid. While she was leaving me she told me she was going to pray for Mya. I overheard her on the stairs praying. Yes I was eves dropping on her. She asked God to make sure Mya had plenty of hugs and kisses and tons of scratches. So sweet!!!
The night ended with dinner at Dagwoods with my parents!