I wish I had their brains

These kids I tell ya! Sharp as tacks. I am amazed every single day about what they can remember. Let me give you some back history on the story I am about to share. Way back in August of 2012, when little g was only 6 months old, my sister and her family came to vist. My awesome neighbor had blown up the water slide and invited the kids over to use it. We got everyone sunbathed and screened up and headed outside. As soon as we got outside a HUGE storm started brewing and it sent us packing back in. At this age, Lila had just turned 3 and was still pretty scared of storms. Needless to say she was a little worried, but didn't act too out of the ordinary. Well, she has talked about that storm many times over the course of the last almost 4 years. Today, I pull out her folder from school and they were practicing writing a letter. This is what I found:

Apparently it made a bigger impact on her than any of us realized so long ago. This came after riding in the car this morning and Graham tells Lila that tomorrow is Bike Day at his preschool. Lila got very excited and said, "Oh I remember bike day! Mommy, is that the day I wore my froggy shirt?" I about spit out my drink. I have no idea honey. With your memory, it probably was. I don't know why I am surprised that she would remember what she wore 2 years ago on bike day considering I am the same way, but it sure caught me off guard. A friend of mine was over and while we are preparing for a yard sale, I tell her both of these stories about Lila. We walk back out to our garage and sister sees a little Elmo toy. She excitedly proclaims, "NOW THIS BRINGS BACK MEMORIES! I remember playing with the toy and Graham had a his silver train that he got from his 3rd birthday choochoo train party and he dropped it on my foot!" We could not stop laughing. I use to pride myself on my memory, but like they say, mine is fading fast!

Memories

Oh, my sweet precious babies! Yes, I still call all of you my babies.
Lila Rose, no matter how old you get, you will always be my 1st little baby.
I look at you now....you've gotten so tall and long and you look like such a grown up little girl. I wonder every day where in the world our time has gone. You are so smart and SOOOO funny! You make me laugh everyday. But no matter how independant you are and how grown up you are, you will always be my baby girl!
Since I have been a bad blogger, I just want to write down a few things about you at this stage.
You are a singer. You love to make up your own songs.
You LOVE your brothers...mainly Garrison right now. :)
We call you a patter, because you are always patting, boinking, and bopping on your brothers.
You still have your imaginary friends: Mina,Heidi,Floppa, Gayden, Ava, Lou Lou, and Jaken. Oh, and let's not forget Coco. He is really Graham's, but you have included him as your own. Mainly, you just talk to Mina. You named your baby dolls Caroline and Lila. You moved upstairs to your own room and a REAL big girl queen sized bed. Not once have you even hesitated about staying up there. You are such a big big girl.
Somethings that have never changed is that you do not sit still and you put everything in your mouth! You are just like your grandmother.

Graham boy. Oh my sweet sweet lover boy. You give the absolute best hugs and kisses. I seriously can't get enough of you. Errrr..did I really just say that? Even when you drive me batty, you flash me that grin of yours and I just melt. You are such a stinker, but an adorable one at that. You LOVE your sister and want her around. When she is in time out for doing something to you, you go and find her and ask me if she can come out. You are also a wonderful big brother. Garrison adores you and you are so good about playing with him. You love to hide under your blankie and have him chase you. You are such a little boy. According to grandmother it is a good thing because of your gorgeous long locks. Your hair is out of control, but I love it! The best 75 bucks we've ever spent was on your Gator. You love that thing and want to ride it everyday. Actually, you like Coben's better than yours, of course. You are a really really good driver, except for when you like to watch your wheels as you drive and run in to a few things. You are learning so much at school and adore your teacher. We still joke about the time that you were being a toot for mommy at home and daddy was talking to you about it and how you were not being a good boy. Your response: "I a good boy for Miss Fawis." She promises me that you are a perfect kid at school. I am so glad. Although, I have probably given him a bad rap for having his temper trantrums, I can honestly say I have really enjoyed his 2nd year of life. (Don't get me even thinking about the fact that he is 2 1/2.) This boy can dance and sing. Somethings he does that I just love that make me grin are how he LAYS BACK with his hands behind his head. This boy LOVES him some TV and he likes to relax while watching. He also scratches his little bow legged booty when he takes his diaper off. I often crack up at him when he throws his arms across his chest as if he is huffing when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. I wish I could blog the way he says "OOOOKAY" He is a funny funny boy. You are still addicted to all things trucks, cars, and vehicles. However, you have also recently developed a love of Batman and Spiderman. You make the motions for spinning your web and sing loudly dana nananan BATMAN in the middle of the store. Speaking of loud....you and your sister get the award. Both of your voices must carry more than anyone elses.

Garrison Garrison Garrison. Oh me oh my! The Lord truly does love us so much and has blessed us with the best baby every....YOU! Now granted, I am quite exhausted and besides your lack of sleeping through the night (which was my own doing), you are the best thing. I don't remember life without you and I honestly feel as though life is easier and know it is better with you here! You are so mild mannered and just love to give me the best grins. You like to dance and bounce up and down when music is on. You finally started crawling right after 10 months and you said mama! Oh, how I love love love that sound. You don't talk a lot, but you make some of the cutest nosies when you do. I Am quite certain you said "book" the other day though, so I will take it! You love playing in the bathtub with your brother and sister. You crawl all over them and take their stuff and we just crack up at you, because you think it is funny.
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School Bus

So, I did it! I let her ride the bus! She has been begging for forever but I have never even thought about actually letting her. For Graham's Sneak a peak at Bethesda they got to take a little bus ride, and what would you know….we got to ride bus 71 and had sweet Ms. Kay as our bus driver. After meeting her it at least made me considerate it. Not to mention all the other moms in the neighborhood peer pressuring me. Our neighborhood is actually like its own little community and they all ride the bus and all seem to be really great kids. (I have visions of all the bad things that happen on a school bus). Sister also got ride the school bus for her field trip to Gentry's farm on wednesday. After that she was begging to ride the bus. Well, on Friday, we were having people over to cookout for Michael's birthday. Plus poor Griffin gets woken up everyday to go pick up his siblings. He had not been feeling the best so I decided to let her ride and let him sleep. I was a nervous nelly and so anxious to walk down and get her off the bus. Here she is!!

I should mote that Graham keeps telling me he is going to "ride that bus!" He even said he was going to wake up early and hop on that bus next year and I wouldn't even know it! What is so funny about that is I remember being in kindergarten or first grade and I woke up at like 5 in the morning and got myself dressed and waited on my front porch because I wanted to ride the bus. My mom woke up and found me and asked what I was doing. She quickly said, "NO WAY!" I think things are a lot different now and at least the kindergartners and first graders have to sit up front. This will definitely not be a regular thing, but I may pick a day or so every now and then to let her. Luckily, there are some super sweet little girls in our neighborhood that she sat with. When I asked what they did, she told me they read their books!! HAHA!

Cheer Camp!

I know I know....she is only 5! But, this is a fundraiser for the cheerleaders, and it was just 3 days from 9-12. I'm not ready to send her off to a 5 day a week camp that lasts longer than a school day, so this was the best option. AND SHE LOVED IT! She got new "workout" shorts and wanted to wear them the first day. I was actually early the first day to make sure that we were all signed in. They held camp in the gym. This totally confused Big G. "I thought Lila was going to cheer camp." Me: She is buddy, Why? G: Then why why why is she at cheer camp on the basketball field?" HAHAHA! He cracks me up! Lila sas super cute during their spirit day pep rally! I, of, course, made sure that I learned the dance routine before we left so that we could practice at home. All the girls only knew the "Oh Oh Oh...you don't you're beautiful" part. The Dance song was by One Direction. Here she is getting her certificate and afterwards with her friends! I mainly videoed so I didn't get a lot of pictures. I've been shouting in my head these days: SUMMIT...SAY IT LOUD BLUE AND ORANGE BLUE AND ORANGE SUMMIT...SPELL IT OUT, S H S, S H S

Lila is 6!

6 years!! 1st Grade! That just sounds like such a BIG girl! Although Sister is very mature for all of her 6 years, I still think of her as like a 3 year old. (Maybe because if I would let her, she can still wear 3T) I did finally make myself this spring clean out all things that were a size 3 just for the fact that she is now 6. Lots of fun things happen when you are six...she gets to move to "Children's Church" on Sunday mornings and she will be in the other building during VBS. I will admit, I tend to go overboard on birthdays and holidays. I have been trying to scale it down,but honestly, I love it and I love to spoil others! I had planned Lila's party for the Saturday before, so I hadn't given much thought to her actual day. It all kind of came last minute, but we didn't stop all day and I think she Loved it! I took the balloons from her party and taped them to her door so that she would be surprised when she woke up. She actually slept in so we were anxiously waiting for her to wake up. Wake up Birthday Girl! In the past I have made them cinnamon rolls shaped in the number they are turning. This year, without mentioning the cinnamon rolls, I asked Lila what her request for breakfast was. YAY! So happy she chose them! I also decorated our chalkboard and Big G made a card for her that we set out. After they made up some games and played with the balloons, we had lunch and got ready for a afternoon out. I hired a sitter for the boys, so that sis and I could spend some one on one time together. Daddy got to meet us at Toys R Us, and As I pulled in, I remembered that they announce the birthday child's name over the speaker and give them a crown to wear around. She got a couple of new baby dolls for her birthday. When my sister asked her what she wanted for a gift, her reply after thinking for a moment was, " Well, what would probably be a good idea are some pants for my baby doll. Because one them doesn't even have any PANTS!" Well, that solved that. I told her she could go and pick out some new clothes for her baby doll. Daddy was just heading out to lunch when I told him where we were going, so he only got to stay a minute, but let me tell you....that made this girls day!! She LOVED having him there with us. I might as well have had the little boys there with me, because they played tag and hide n go seek all over that store! Next Stop: Sweet CeCe's! My plan was to take her to the Honey's Candy place in Downtown Franklin, but they are closed on Mondays. Boo. We will have to try that again sometime. This girl loves her some ice cream! Her choice...Cake Batter, Nerds, Sprinkles, Gummy Worms, and marshmallows!! I held in my strong desire to say no. I clinched my jaws, held my breath, and left her put it up on that scale to be weighed. (Let's just hope we have a good report at the dentist this week! :) ) Stop # 3: Divas and Dudes for her first big girl pedicure! I'm pretty sure she was coming down from a sugar high and was about to crash. She chose pink toes and a yellow flower on her big toes. This girl, REALLY REALLY wanted to go swimming. I, on the other hand, was nervous that the water would be freezing. It had rained the day before and it was only 75 out. She also wanted to go to Chuck E Cheeses. I told her we could only do one or the other. She chose the pool. So, we raced home to get the boys and off we went. It WAS freezing, but there wasn't any complaining from them. They had a ball, and I was totally stressed out! I either need them all in life jackets or all to be really really good swimmers. Who am I kidding? I wouldn't relax then either. Anyway, they had an awesome time. I however, even after reminding myself 1200 times to not forget to take her picture at 4:51 knowing we would be at the pool, totally forgot. I blame it on the fact that I was trying to wrangle 4 kids in a gross public pool bathroom. I'm pretty sure she was probably pottying at that exact time. Big momma fail, but I did end up taking it at 6:51 while we were at Cracker Barrell. My other mommy fail was that I thought I was videoing the Cracker Barrell workers singing to her, but it wasn't recording. We came home with full bellies and played outside catching lightning bugs until dark. It was a super fun nonstop day for my precious little one. I absolutely love being this little girls momma! She is so smart, funny, creative, imaginative, thoughtful, loving, and beautiful! I will admit, I had a conversation with Michael concerned that we are raising ungrateful children. Lila is shy and a little insecure around strangers. Not always, but sometimes I had to remind her to say Thank You whenever someone wished her Happy Birthday. I want all of my children to have an appreciative heart. I want them to be thankful for all that they have and are given. I want her to understand that people spent a lot of time and effort doing nice things for her. I.E. Picking out and making nice gifts for her. Not that I was out looking for her to thank me for her day out, (I am her mother and I want to do nice things for her), but I DO want her to be appreciative when others do nice things. My 2 year old is constantly saying thank you, and I want all my children to do the same. So after expressing my concern to Michael, I woke up to find THIS: All by herself. Totally unprompted! Thank you Jesus for this sweet sweet girl!

You know you've nursed 4 babies when your boy stands up on your bed and says, " HEY, look at my boobies! I think I just saw milk squirting out of them!". Hahaha!! 

Happy Harrell

Today I became a Baseball Momma! Although Superdad and I feel like it is a little too young to start, the whole fam has been looking forward to this day! Graham has asked for days...no weeks...no MONTHS when it was going to be time for him to play baseball. Growing up in a family who loves athletics and being married to an all star college baseball player, I will admit that I am excited that Big G is excited to play ball! SuperDad and I both agreed that no matter what, we just want him to have a good time. WELL.....that was not a problem! Smiley boy got nicknamed Happy Harrell by his coach. All through practice and during the game he did not stop smiling. During the first practice, (which Pop Pop got to attend) I was able to hang out for a while, but then I needed to nurse GT. As I sat in the car and watched the practice from afar, my eyes swelled with tears and they streamed down my face. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen! I couldn't hear what was going on, but watching my boy toss ball with his dad was priceless. Due to spring break, we were not able to have a practice for a few weeks. G was devastated. He asked every day when his baseball game was. First practice, March 15th The night before his game, he blessed us with this sweet and funny prayer: After thanking God for "this wonderful day and wonderful night and having so much fun with my friends" Big G said, "and I pray for my baseball game tomorrow and that we win and that we have lots of fun and that nothing bad happens and that If we win we get a special treat, like a medal or a toy....or like a uh crown, like a KINGS crown. But if we loose then that is ok because we can get the special treat the next time. But I REALLY hope we win so I can get the special prize!" ( let's hope he is satisfied with just a snack!) FINALLY the day arrived! When my boy put on those baseball pants and his new uniform, my heart started beating a little fast! Oh how I love a boy in uniform. The day could not have been more perfect. The weather was amazing, and my boy had so much fun! The fact that he did pretty well too also helped! :) Because the game was smackdab in the middle of naptime, G went on with dad to the game then I arrived with the littles right before. Just a few quick snaps before the game: Mamaw and Papaw drove all the way here so that they could be here for the excitement of the first game and so they could see a game before Papaw started his fishing tournaments. G batted 4th! The boy was seriously so excited that he could barely concentrate on what he was doing. He even hit the tee a couple times before hitting the ball because he was just so worked up! You will see through all the pictures that I am not lying when I say he smiled the WHOLE time! Graham is a pretty quick runner, and he thinks his cleats make him even faster! Again, he is smiling rounding those bases. Big G mainly cracked me up when he took the field. He played 3rd first and then pitcher and then first base. I was very proud of how he hustled after the ball. He ran after it everytime, which even resulted in him ending up in the outfield a few times and scuffling with his own teammates over the ball! :) Hey Momma! I love this moment between him and his daddy: High Fives: Baseball READY Bitty Braves! And my favorite!Be still my heart! Good Game! G was so excited his friends came to watch I am very proud of how well he listened and paid attention and did what he was suppose to! I am looking forward to many days and nights spent of the ball field. Go Bitty Braves! (Oh, and one final note, as he ran to first base for the first time, I got a huge lump in my throat and my eyes swelled with tears....HAPPY HAPPY FULL OF JOY AND PRIDE BASEBALL tears!)