PLAYING POOL IN A PULL-UP and DADDY GOT 'TUCK

Look at that concentration:

Oooohhhhh... not so good:

YESSSSSS! MADE THE SHOT!

The boys were playing in their tent the other day, and Chris thought he would join in. Probably not such a good idea. As Reid said, "Daddy got 'tuck." All I heard from the kitchen was, "BAAAAAABY, I'M STUCK!" Naturally the first thing I thought to do was grab the camera. :)

Look, Daddy's stuck - ha ha:

No really, Daddy's stuck:

Seriously, Daddy's stuck. Reid was to his right, Mac to his left. Reid thought it was hilarious. Mac starting get a bit concerned. Not sure if the concern was for daddy or the tent. HA! :)

YAY, he made it out! No thanks to me of course because I had to laugh and take pictures. :)

TGIF!!!!!!

MORE OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

• When we were at the doctor's office a clock struck Mac and Reid's fancy. We had been in there quite a while and were all getting a bit stir-crazy so I was desperate for an attention-grabber. The clock was in the shape of a triangle with the face on a circle within that triangle so we were talking about the shapes, etc. Then they started asking what time it was. When Mac sees a clock or watch he always looks at it and tells me something like, "It says... it's 20:32 o'clock." We're working on that. Reid looked at it next and said, "It says... hmm... it says go home." :) I think he was ready to get outta there!

• Grant and Mac were playing a hunting game on the Wii the other day, and I heard Grant say, "Hey Mac, you wanna play the one where we hunt for cantaloupe and elf?" Also known as antelope and elk.

• Mac did something really goofy the other day (can't even remember what) and I said, Mac have you lost your mind?" Only I say it in a wacky/silly voice I only use around my children so it comes out more like, "Have you loss yo' mine?" Reid looks at Mac and says with much expression, "Mac, have you lost Mama's mind?" Yep, that about sums it up! :)

ROAD TRIP

I guess maybe you'd have to know the week we've had thus far (and it's only Wednesday) as well as the conversations we've had, rather TRIED to have, to fully understand why this card I got from Rachel today in the mail made me laugh really really hard. Thanks, Martha! You know I love snail mail and can always use a good laugh! Now grab your satchel and let's go. :)

Front:

Inside:

HUMAN BOBBLE HEAD

Excuse the quality. It was with my phone and I was trying to be quiet while laughing hysterically. Reid and Mac are both sick, so they both had doctor appointments yesterday. They fell asleep en route and this is what I saw when I turned around to check on them. We left Mac's booster seat in daddy's truck so he had to use Grant's which has no head rest. The snoring you hear in the background is Reid. :) They were getting some good sleep. The video is only about a minute so watch the whole thing.

LET'S GO FLY A KITE

The boys each got a kite a few months back and have been patiently waiting for a good day to fly them. Saturday was quite windy so we decided to try. Try being the operative word. When you have trees lining each side of your house and driveway as well as smaller trees planted throughout the front of the property, it makes it a bit tough. But we had fun trying, and we were actually successful! When we got ready to go out Chris informed me he had never flown a kite. How sad! So I got the first one in the air, and it was all she wrote. He had just as much fun with it as the boys.

Mac's went up first. I hope you can click on the picture and enlarge it to see Grant's face. I love it!

I still am not completely sure if C was joking about never flying a kite or not but he definitely was enjoying himself!

Those darn trees! :) We'd get one going good then the other would crash. I spent most of my time doing this:

Not to mention it's a bit hard to fly a kite with my hip attachment:

That boy is a handful and a half! It's a good thing he likes to give a lot of these:

MUAH! :)

3-D:

Chris came home from the store the other day with Monsters vs. Aliens DVD. The boys have been asking for it since it came out. It came with a bonus disc in 3-D and included 3-D glasses. I don't know why but this picture makes me laugh. They were so into it - it's like they were in a trance ! HA!

HAPPY MONDAY!

PHONETICALLY SPEAKING AND MOTHERHOOD: NOT A THANKLESS JOB

Bill Cosby said it best when he said, "Kids say the darndest things." Mine crack me up all the time with the things that come out of their mouths. Some of the funniest are when they're just trying to say a normal, everyday word but it comes out in their own, "special" way. They're growing up right before my eyes, and I don't want to forget. Like how Mac says grits: "Mommy, can you please fix me some gribs?" Or how he says computer. Grant has enjoyed playing games on the computer for quite some time. Mac has only recently showed an interest. He obviously was taking notes all those times he pulled up a chair next to Grant because he's quite good at some of them. It was a bit rainy at times yesterday so they couldn't ride their trucks. Mac thought it would be the perfect time for a computer game. So with much excitement he asks, "Mommy, can I play a pee-ooter game." And PEE was almost what I did. :)

This cutie patootie

was riding his truck and kept telling me his "yay-yo" wasn't working. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was saying, but the more he said it the more frustrated he got. "MY YAY-YO NOT WOEKIN," he exclaimed. He was trying to tell me his radio didn't work. A few C batteries later and he was back to cruisin' in the Harley Davidson F150 with one arm hanging out the side listening to his yay-yo.

MOTHERHOOD:

It's been said that motherhood is a thankless job. I'm sure all of us mothers have felt that to be the case at times. It's not like our kids say, "Hey mom, good job changing that diaper," or "Love the way you fold that laundry." Or do they? An appointment was made Friday for a realtor to show our house Saturday which meant I had to kick it in high gear to get the house in shape for a showing. The playroom is something I tend to let go because well, it's a playroom.

Grant is always the first one to offer to help around the house so he was right behind me. I got the playroom all cleaned up, stopped at the door and took one last look before I turned the light off to make sure everything was in its place. Grant did as well and said, "Mommy, you did a good job on that playroom. You clean up good." And stuck his hand out to give me a high-five. See, motherhood isn't always a thankless job. :)

GOD IS GREAT

God is good all the time.

And I know He's always there. But He knows my heart and knows sometimes I need a little reassurance. That reassurance never fails to come when I need it most yet when it's usually unexpected - the best kind! :) What a blessing! The Lord revealed himself to me today through my sister. I'm thankful she has a heart for God and listens when He calls. Rachel shared with me her devotional for today:

"The move toward genuine faith is marked by choosing to

trust God even when we know that the outcome may be

far different than we ever imagined."

Thank you, Martha! I love you!

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

His greatness no one can fathom.

Psalm 145:3

SUNSHINE. GLORIOUS SUNSHINE

We're loving it! Absolutely loving it! Monday was a holiday and we were happy we had nothing to do but enjoy it. We were up and at 'em bright and early.

By mid-morning the trucks' batteries needing charging and Grant's four-wheeler was almost out of gas so we put our heads together (scary, I know) and decided we wanted to paint something. I thought about going into Montgomery to a craft store to find something, but the time it would take to get us all dressed, load up, drive to Montgomery, go shopping then get back home it would've used up the rest of the morning so we talked ourselves out of that. What did we come up with??? Rocks. We decided to paint rocks. We've done it before, and the boys have fun with it. First the search was on for the biggest rocks we could find.

Found one!

It was too pretty to paint inside:

THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT...

I guess it's been a while since we've seen an abundance of sunshine because the boys just had to have their shades! And it was really hard keeping Reid dry:

After the rocks Grant wanted to show us how he learned at school to make a silly hat with construction paper and pipe cleaners.

Mac tried his hand at it too!

And let's not forget Reid:

Pretty cute!

G wanted to use a stapler to attach the pipe cleaners to the "hat". He worked so hard on that hat making sure everything was just right. When he FINALLY finished his hat and tried it on for the first time, in true Grant fashion he let me and all the neighbors know all that work was for NOTHING - the staples bothered him.

Bless him. That apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

BEAGLE BUDDY

Reid's teachers tell me he does quite well in the potty training department while at school - rarely wetting his Pull-Up. At home, well, not so much. Obviously. Dasani urinal anyone? But we're working on it. Here's hoping Reid will find Beagle Buddy as amusing as that water bottle.

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING - ESPECIALLY IN A DASANI BOTTLE

I bet to you this looks like an ordinary Dasani water bottle, right?

It would've to me too. Only this is what Reid came running out of the bathroom waiving in the air proclaiming with abundant pride, "MOMMY, I TEE-TEED IN DA WATEE BOTTLE." In case you don't speak almost-three-year-old, that was Mommy, I tee-teed in the water bottle. Obviously the look on my face was a tell-tale sign tee-teeing in a bottle isn't something that is acceptable because as soon as he caught a glimpse of that look he took off running back to the bathroom saying, "I POE IT OUT, MOMMY, I POE IT OUT" and before I could get in the bathroom he had poured it out in the toilet. My oh my!

But look at him

... gets me every time!

MY GIRL AND A FUN-FILLED WEEKEND

Thursday I headed north to Decatur all by myself to see my baby girl in the last pep rally of this school year. Chris had the boys so I could enjoy a day with my girl. And enjoyed it I did! She was fabulous of course - not that I thought she wouldn't be!

After the pep rally we went to... any guesses????? Where else but Target! I had to see this Target since it's where she and Tara spend most of their waking hours outside of school and work! :) Plus this one has Starbucks so any chance to get a white chocolate mocha and I'm in. I must say, though, that's a pretty awesome Tarjay! I'm not much of a shopper but I think I would even frequent it if I lived close to it. It doesn't even compare to any other Target I've been in. Not sure why. It's just a really good Target. After that we headed back to the McClendon household so B could pack her bag and get ready for her basketball game. We had some time to kill before the game so Tara made some cookies and all of us girls piled in Bethany's room so B could show me her back handspring. I also got a fabulous make-over from Towns and Cate as well as played with My Little Pony stuff and made sure all their baby dolls were clear of ear infections and had all their vaccinations! :) It was a big change from rough and tumble boys. This is what it's like playing doctor with Reid:

"I cut u weg off":

Thanks for the hospitality, Tink! It was a ton of fun! After that was dinner at one of B's picks then on to the game. And what could top all that you ask? My baby girl came home with me!

Friday the temperature was in the mid 60's - a welcomed change from high's in the 30's. I've never been more ready for spring in all my life! We sat by the pool enjoying the sun while the boys played then took the boys to Sonshine Playground for a bit.

Typical Norton boys - they had to check out the women:

STILL checkin':

Most of the time B played photographer but she did manage to put Big Nasty down long enough for us to get a few of her.

I didn't think Friday could get much better between the weather and being able to spend it with my kiddos, but my "cherry on top" was being graced with RaRa and Mary Carter's presence late Friday night. And they came bearing fresh, hot Krispy Kreme donuts. Preesh, Martha! I wish we could have spent more time together but we'll take what we can get! So glad we got to see you both.

Saturday night Chris went out for a bit with the guys. Bethany decided she wanted to teach Mac how to do a back handspring.

But this is how it mostly went:

Then everyone got a little silly. Bethany had me doing moves I'm still sore from. :)

B thinks this picture is heelarious:

And we both thought this one was going to be a "framer" until we saw Reid in the background trying to karate chop B:

Par for the course!

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend! I'll close with a verse Martha shared with me. Bethany, this is our verse:

"May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other."

Genesis 31:49