Playing Baseball

Grammy and Paw Paw came over this evening to eat dinner with us. After dinner the kids went outside to show them how well they could pitch and bat. Here are a few clips I took of Ella and Trent.

We are hoping that Ella may attend college on a softball scholarship after watching her hit the ball a few times. Notice that she's hitting it left-handed Pops!

Here's Ella trying to hit the balls coming out of Trent's pitching machine. She wasn't having as much luck.

Ella Reads Her Book

I forgot that I had taken this video last weekend. We were waiting for our table at Red Lobster so Purson went ahead and gave the kids their Easter gifts. Both Trent and Ella received a Dr. Seuss book and stuffed animal to match the book. What got us so tickled about Ella was that she licked her fingers everytime she went to turn a page in her book.

Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment Video

I've tried several times to get this video to load in the following post but have been unsuccessful. Hopefully, this will work.

Wednesday at Pops and Purson's

Today we took it easy and made a quick trip to the mall...shopping with Ella without a stroller is not the easiest thing in the world. We ate a quick lunch at Dairy Queen in the Food Court and enjoyed a "Dilly Bar" for dessert. Then we moved on to the park where we spent about 45 minutes. Trent was not the happiest camper because he didn't have anyone to play with while we were there - schools in the Atlanta area are not on Spring Break so there were no school age children to hang around with. It was also time for Ella's nap so we went home earlier than I had expected.

Earlier this evening Pops and Trent finally got to perform the Mentos & Diet Coke experiment. I hope you enjoy the photos and short video clip.

Visiting Pops and Purson in Atlanta...again

Here we are in Atlanta...our 3rd trip! Trent, Ella, and I arrived last night and will be staying here until Thursday. As I type, Trent and Pops are in the kitchen cooking dinner and Ella is finishing up her nap.

Today I took the kids back to the Fernbank Museum. We bought a family membership last summer and were not able to see everything so today we went back and were able to accomplish it all. Some of the things were the same as last time but they did have a few new things to play with. Here are a couple of pictures and a short video of our outing.


Ella feeds the baby birds in the interactive Life in Georgia exhibit. She really enjoyed this exhibit last summer.

This is the tree house in the middle of the Life in Georgia exhibit.

Where's Ella???? She's learning about camouflage, of course! This is a vest the kids wear and then they are able to stand in front of the colored boards and look at themselves in a mirror. It is pretty neat.

Trent and Ella learn more able plant and animal life in the state of Georgia. Here they see if they can snag any native fish of the state.

Trent enjoys catching Blue Crab in his net. Another sea animal native to the state.

Ella remembered making bubbles from this summer. She was excited to get to do it again.

Trent thinks he looks like Harry Potter in this picture.

The Fernbank has a great dinosaur display. This walk-through exhibit takes you through the entire scientific history of the state from the earliest one-celled organisms that lived millions of years ago, through the age of the dinosaurs, and into the present day.


Trent remembered the weatherman display from this summer so it was high on his list of things to revisit. Last time Ella wasn't to excited about it but this time she seemed to do a little better.

Going to See the Easter Bunny!

Since we had the day off today I took the kids to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. Since it was a beautiful day outside this afternoon I thought I would take a picture of the cuties.

Thank you to Abby and Purson for all the hours they spend looking for just the right outfits for the kids. I wish the picture was better but it was time for nap and Ella was not completely cooperative.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!

In celebration of Pop's birthday today the grandkids will perform "Happy Birthday to You."

The Harlem Globetrotters

Tonight we had a great time getting to see the Harlem Globetrotters play. And guess what???? They won!! Can you believe that? They must be the winnest team in basketball! I wonder how they do that!?!?! :-)

I had never seen the Globetrotters play until tonight...with the exception of seeing the cartoon version on an episode of "Scooby Doo" back when I was a kid. If you don't remember the episode I'm talking about here's a link to a synopsis and a short trailer of the episode. I couldn't find a link for the original from the 70's, so this link will take you to the remake from a few years ago:

http://whv.warnerbros.com/WHVPORTAL/Portal/product.jsp?OID=25414

This Scooby-Doo episode should've been my sign that this is no ordinary basketball team. After watching them play tonight I will now refer to the Globetrotters as the WWF team of basketball. It reminded me of professional wrestling, except it was basketball. Yes, they are still awesome ball handlers but I never knew how "staged" the game was. It was quite funny and enjoyable and Trent had a wonderful time. Now to share with you a few pictures.

Tonight offered a special opportunity for Cub Scouts. We received discounted tickets and were able to enter early to visit with some of the players. This was a combined outting for both the Cub and Boy Scouts which Trent thought was pretty cool. We also had several sisters join the group! Trent's Cub Scout Master, Jimmy, is standing in the back on Globie's left side (he's the bald one).

I was amazed that it was actually ELLA'S IDEA to take a picture with Globie. She's always been scared to death of these kind of creatures.

Ella waits very patiently to go inside the coliseum.

I'm not sure what this player's name is but Trent was amazed at the spinning ball.

Trent enjoying the beginning of the game...watching the Globetrotters perform a "Magic Circle" to the tune of Sweet Georgia Brown.

During halftime Trent played around with one of the other Wolves from his pack. This is David and he was in my class last year. Like I've said before...every kid in Trent's pack has either had me for a teacher in the past or is in my current class. It's unusual but kind of neat.

Second Grade PTA program

I'm so glad tonight is over! For the past month all I've been thinking about is our second grade PTA program. Well today was the day and it went very well. We picked a play about Egypt and it was quite cute. We performed the play this morning for the entire school and again this evening for the PTA meeting. Now it's just smooth sailing to Spring Break...YEA!!!



Trent was picked to be a dancing mummy. John took a short video clip of him doing his dance since I was backstage running the CD and microphones.

Trent is the second mummy from the right.

Ella's Choir Sings during Morning Worship

Just a few weeks ago Trent's choir sang during the worship service, so this week it was Ella's turn. Here are a few pictures and video clips from our Palm Sunday service.

It is hard to see here, but Ella IS SINGING during this song. I was very impressed. During rehearsal before Sunday School she just stood there and looked around. I wish I had zoomed in a little closer to her so you could see her mouth moving.

This was a cute song. During dress rehearsal Ella didn't want to do anything but stand there...no singing, no movements, no nothing. So Mommy spoke to Ella and told her that she had to do the movements so we could send it to Pops and Purson so they could see. Here's what she did during the service:




One other wonderful thing happened during today's service. Our nephew, Dylan, joined the church by his profession of faith. We are so happy and proud of Dylan!

Kayleen's Birthday Party on Saturday

Saturday was very busy for Trent and Ella. Trent went to his best friend Curtis' birthday party beginning at 2:00. We picked Trent up a little early and made our way to the other said of town to Kayleen's birthday at 4:30. Luckily, Ella got a good nap before we left:


Ella enjoyed jumping into the foam pit but wouldn't go in unless she got help. Scott was really great at helping Kayleen and Ella into the pit of foam.




Ella also got some help from Trent.


Ella and best friend Kayleen.



Ella tried out a few pieces of equipment...her favorite was the balance beam.


Kayleen had a lot of friends at her 4th birthday party!


Even Daddy got to have a little fun playing on the tall balance beam!


Trent loved jumping with Jonathan and Jacob. Here's a video clip of the young jumpers:

And a video clip of the older jumpers:

Third Annual Gingerbread House Get-Together...in MARCH?!?!?!?

It has become an annual festivity - making gingerbread houses with Jeff, Sharon, Jonathan, and Elizabeth. But this year was a little different than in the past.

Usually we meet together sometime during the week following Christmas. I know what you're thinking, "Don't most normal people decorate gingerbread houses before Christmas?" Well, there are several reasons for waiting until after Christmas...
#1-we are all too busy before Christmas
#2-The Gingerbread House Kit is a great Christmas present(thank you to Jeff, Sharon, Jonathan, and Elizabeth for picking out a great kit!)
#3-The kits go on markdown after December 25th if you need to purchase one
and most importantly #4-Who said any of us are "normal" :-)

Now that Mom and Dad live in Atlanta we spend the days following Christmas at their house. This meant that our after Christmas festivities would have to be postponed until January. However, January was jam-packed as was February so we had to hold off until March. So tonight was the night. As we listened to Christmas carols (Jeff insisted) we enjoyed laughing together as our family made a ST. PATRICK'S GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Here are a few pictures from tonight.

One thing we did discover about making Gingerbread Houses in March is that the frosting and candy are not as "fresh" as in December.