Out

Joey is generally a very well behaved boy. He is easy to get along with and is typically mild mannered. But I always know when he is tired because I swear a little devil boy comes out catching me off gaurd. He does things totally out of character of himself! So typically when this happens, I give him a time out on the couch so he can rest. This typically ends up with him going to sleep. Well today he made some not-so-good choices in handling a situation so instead of playing with his friends I told him he needed to go take a couple minutes to lay on the couch. I swear not even 60 seconds passed and I come check on him and he looked like this. Ha! Tired boy. He continued to sleep like that with the other kids playing around him and even Savanna hitting him in the head a few times! When the kid is tired, he is tired!

Trike-a-thon

This year Joey's pre-school held a Trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude Research Hospital. It was so fun! Joey really enjoyed asking for sponsors and ended up raising $40 all on his own. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for a 4 year old, he did great! I let him do it all by himself and I'm very proud of him. It was so fun to watch him ride his bike! He was CONVINCED it was a race and he wanted to win! I swear that kid rode his bike for an hour straight, stopped to get a drink, and rode for another 30 minutes! By the end of it he said "I won mom! I rode super fast like Lightning McQueen! I passed everyone and everyone else had to stop before me!"

I swear the kid has tremendous endurance and I can so see him being a track runner some day or something like that! I love him. :) Here are some pics from the day!

Joey is in the middle in the green shirt w/ the red bike and helmet.

There goes my super fast boy!! :)

Off he goes!

So fast he's a blur! He often will run and asks if I could see him or if he just zoomed right by!

Here is my Joey with his class. :) Joey is on the bottom right in the green shirt.

Strike a pose. :)

Popcorn Popping!

Ok, so it might not be an Apricot tree, but it is a white cherry tree and it DOES look like popcorn popping! I LOVE this tree, simply for the 1 week a year it EXPLODES in white buds. It makes me happy. :) It's one of a whole 2 trees that is on my property and I do love love love it!

Easter!!

Here are the Easter pics!! :) The professional ones are ... kind of... copy righted - ha ha. But you can still see how cute they are through the 'print over'.

I think Savanna is soooo cute in this one! And I also love it because Savanna struck that pose on her own. The photographer was trying to get her to kneel on the floor, but Savanna decided she wanted to lay on her stomach. :) I love my independently minded baby, even if she does drive me crazy!

Pretty baby girl. :) Grammy got the outfit for her and Meemaw put the ribbons on the hat.

The 2 cutest little kids EVER.

Aren't these beautiful kids?!?

Joey is getting so big and handsome!

Here is Savanna eating her bunny... she started with the feet.

Then switched to the ears.

Joey went from the ears down.

Here is what the Easter bunny brought!

Such a cute girl! Practicing french braiding her hair. I wanted her hair braided with her easter dress, but then I thought even though it's SO cute, it made her look a bit bald, which is why I left her hair down for the professional pics.

Braid from the back

Braid from the top. I love doing the zig zag part!

Joey on the Easter egg hunt at the local nursing home.

Savanna showing her haul (she thought 6 eggs was enough! :) )

Joey 'hunting' for more eggs - they were lined 3 thick all the way down the hall way at the nursing home, so it wasn't much of a hunt, but he had fun nonetheless!

So cute. :)

Joey with the Easter bunny who is 'just a person' (read the previous post - ha ha!) Savanna didn't want anything to do with that bunny!!

Joey Chatter: Just a Person

On Friday we went to an Easter Egg hunt at a local nursing home. The 'Easter bunny' was there and Joey sat on his lap for a picture (Savanna would go no where NEAR the Easter bunny, but that's another story...) Anyway - yesterday as we were driving out of no where Joey says:

J: "The Easter Bunny is just a person in a bunny suit. He's not a REAL bunny."

M: "What makes you say that, Joey?"

J: I could tell when I sat on his lap. He's not a real bunny. He's just a person"

M: (surprised he made such an observation when he's only 4!!) Well, Joey, he was an Easter bunny helper. The real Easter bunny is so busy getting Easter stuff ready that he sends helpers to take pictures with kids.

J: ...OK... (sounding very skepitcal, but dropping it)

Yup... he is his very analytical father's son!! Although this morning he was quite excited to see what the 'Real' easter bunny brought him!! LOL

Sleepy girl!

On Thursday we went to the zoo - it was PACKED! I debated whether to take the stroller or the wagon - I knew Savanna would be easier contained in the stroller, but I knew Joey might have to sit and take a break sometimes, too, so I decided to take the wagon. On the way back to the car I could tell Savanna was so tired! By the time we got to the car, I turned around and Savanna was sacked out in the wagon! That couldn't have been comfortable! She's so cute! :)

Chicago!

Last weekend Kris had a 2-day business trip to Chicago. It just so worked out it was during spring break when I wasn't babysitting and Joey didn't have school, so the kids and I decided to tag along last minute!! It was so nice to be able to get away with the family, even if it was only for a couple days!

We drove out there Sunday, and Sunday evening we spent a couple hours in the pool and then had dinner. Monday Kris had to go to his meeting, so the kids and I decided to visit Shedd's Aquarium in down town Chicago. It was soooo neat!! Although driving through Chicago was SO scary for me!! I swear there were times I was close to hyperventilating! I was in Kris' Suburban - which is HUGE - trying to fit it through those Chicago streets w/ only about a BILLION other cars!! But we made it to the aquarium safely - thank goodness!! We got to see a 4-D movie of "Happy Feet", got to see all kinds of neat fish, and got to see a real show with Baluga Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Penguins, and Hawks. It was so cool!! The kids seemed to enjoy it too. Then Tuesday we played in the hotel pool for a while in the morning and drove home that evening! The kids were WONDERFUL on this trip - they did so great sitting in the car for so long! Anyway - here are just a few pics that I got of the trip! Mostly of the aquarium!

Here I shot this pic when I was stopped at a red light - the building over the bridge is the "Chicago Stock Exchange" or something like that. I couldn't believe how many CARS there were! And parking in Chicago is CRAZY!! It was $20/day in most places! And one parking lot had a sign that said "Monthly parking fee: $280" Who can afford that?!? sheesh. I don't like big cities...

Here is Savanna in the "polar play area" sliding down the slide like a penguin! :)

Here is Savanna next to the dolphin tank watching the dolphins! It was SO neat! The Dolphins would often swim really fast right across the windows! And just upstairs is where they did the dolphin show and they would do jumps and all that fun stuff! Also, we got to see a baby baluga whale that was just born not to long ago!

Here's one of the dophins ZOOMING by the window!

Here is one part of the aquarium - in the 'wild reef'. I am looking UP int his picture... we could literally walk THROUGH the aquarium. So cool!

Penguins!!

Here are the kids patiently waiting for the dolphin show. :)

Joey LOVED the 'Nemo's' (clown fish!)

Over all, we had a great time! I was very happy to actually be able to go with Kris on one of his business trips instead of being left home alone! I know the kids enjoyed the change of pace too!