Super Clean Up

Everyone, meet Super Clean Up, the newest superhero to come to Earth. I am so lucky that he has chosen to live at my house! He wears colorful pants, a cape, and rainboots. He is a big helper around the house, doing everything from picking up toys, to sweeping the floors. There are a couple of drawbacks, however, to Super Clean Up....he only comes out "sometimes in the fall" and is "usually nocturnal". In other words, when you really need him, he may not be available. Oh well. He is pretty cute to have around anyway.

Camera Fun

Recently Jeremy bought me a new camera. We lost our other one at Disneyworld. That is the 2nd camera we have lost at Disneyworld. Anyway, we bought a really nice camera this time and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have absolutely no talent when it comes to taking pictures, but this camera is phenomenal! Here are some of the first pictures I have taken. My boys
Josiah and Caroline, 2 of the sweetest babies ever

My happy baby

Isn't she beautiful?

Sweet Solomon

Easter with the Pharrs

The entire Pharr family came over for lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt. It was a little crazy, but we all had so much fun! Happy Easter! Solomon and Kingston, my 2 big boys
Sweet Caroline and Amanda (my niece and sister-in-law)

Caleb, Paisley, Solomon, Kington, Caleb and Xander are looking at the fish

Ready, set, hunt eggs! Look at the intensity of Kingston!

Solomon and me

My 2 awesome brother-in-laws, Phillip and Brian, relaxing in the backyard

My sweet family...I am so blessed!

Caroline

Kamry and Josiah

Meemaw (Jeremy's grandmother) and Josiah. He loved playing with her hand.

Kamry

I love this picture. First, it shows the damage that 6 kids (the oldest is barely 5) can do to a bedroom. It also shows how worn out we all were at 4:30. Solomon fell asleep between the bed and the wall.

The Messiah Complex

It is really hard to pay attention to the sermons at church with a 2 year old and an infant. Therefore, I didn't realize that yesterday was Palm Sunday until I saw Kingston hand a large leaf to Solomon this morning and tell him, "When I walk by, throw this down in front of me and shout "Hosanna!"

Happy 6 months, Josiah!

You are the perfect addition to our family. We all love you so much.

Spring Program

During the spring program at Otter Creek, Solomon's class sang the little prayer song, "God Our Father". Solomon bowed his head and folded his hands and prayed while he sang. He was the only one and it was precious. He also sang a great rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

We Will Miss You, Mimi

We lost someone very special to our family this morning. My great aunt, Mimi, is no longer with us. She was more of a grandmother to me than a great aunt. She came to all our birthday parties, sent us all birthday cards, and babysat for us. Kingston and Solomon were crazy about her. She will be missed so much by all of us.

Kingstonisms

Kingston frequently gives lectures on the Solar System to an imaginary classroom. Recently, he told me that he needs a pointer so that he "can point at things and the other boys and girls will know what (he) is talking about". Anyway, this morning we printed off some coloring pages of the planets (www.alfy.com if anyone is looking for some good educational pages). After he had colored them and cut them out, he wanted to give me a lecture. He even takes on a very "professor" voice when he does it.
When he was ready he told me and I said, "Ok, but lets put your clothes on first".
Kingston: "Awww man."
Me: "But Kingston, teachers don't teach in their pjs!"
Kingston: "Oh, Momma! I'm not a real teacher....I'm a scientist!"

Driving back from Disneyworld last weekend turned into a loooong trip! Because of the snow, we had to detour across Georgia to Alabama to go up I-65. They had closed down Mt. Eagle. All week at Disneyworld I had worn a pair of Merrell shoes that I did not wear with socks. The car was completely quiet: Jeremy listening to his ipod, Solomon and Josiah asleep and I was reading. I took my shoes off and I hear a quiet little voice from the back say, "I smell something stinky". I kinda laughed hoping Jeremy didn't hear and said, "Do you?". I heard Kingston say, "It smells like a goat".

Baking Cookies for Santa

Kingston, Solomon and I made candycane shortbread cookies for Santa and they were soooo good! Best of all, we had so much fun making them. Christmas seems magical this year!

Cool Christmas Cards

I just wanted to put the word out there that we have got the best Christmas cards this year. We stumbled upon (on my friend Marie's Facebook page, but her blog is also awesome - www.mckiney-oatescereal.wordpress.com) a guy making Christmas cards to look like vintage album covers. I couldn't resist. It was a little more expensive than regular Christmas cards, but this is one that I intend on framing and pulling out every year to hang on the wall! Anyway, he is now going to start doing birth announcements, save the dates, graduation announcements, etc., so check out his website: www.artinstero.wordpress.com

I'm really happy with how ours turned out and he has been super easy to work with!

In Our House, You Make A Mess, You Clean It Up

Josiah

My sweet, sweet Josiah!! What a dream baby! At his 2 month check-up, he weighed in at a chunky little 12 lbs. He is getting rolls on his thighs and he loves to be talked to. He "talks" back and smiles so big when his brothers talk to him. I have noticed that he braces himself a little when Solomon approaches! He has also been sleeping 10 hours straight during the night! Did I mention he is a dream baby?

Thankful

It is Thanksgiving and I have too much to be thankful for. Let me make 2 top 5 lists, 1 for very serious subjects and the other for inanimate objects:

1. Grace

2. A husband who is intelligent, faithful, loving, patient, kind, thoughtful, and a wonderful Dad

3. Healthy, beautiful, happy boys

4. Supportive family, on both sides, that I am confident will love all 5 of us for all of our lives no matter what

5. Friendships: I have very old friendships and a few recent ones, but I am very selective with who I spend my time with. Therefore, I cherish every one of my friendships and I think that I have the best group of friends that can be found.

1. Blueberry lattes from Dunkin' Donuts

2. Toothpaste

3. Dark chocolate

4. Fleece pullovers

5. My ipod

Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing in the Sand and Terrorizing Seagulls while Eating Flaming Hot Cheetos

We finally got sunshine in Florida after weathering the storm, Hurricane Ida. The weather was perfect and the sand was packed down, so it wasn't blowing around everywhere. There were literally 2 other people on the beach! The boys had so much fun playing in the sand.
The boys chased this poor little seagull all the way down the beach and back again. He was running for his life, but they were having so much fun. If you look closely, you can see Solomon carrying his bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos as he chases. He was not giving those up. Kingston was telling the seagulls that they were "not allowed" to come near our sight and then exactly why they were not to come near us.

Our setup...Josiah is asleep on the little pillow under the umbrella

Chattanooooooga!

Chattanooga is one of our favorite places to visit as a family and I strongly encourage any of you who have never explored the city to go for a weekend. We took the kids (again) for a day trip to the Children's Creative Discovery Museum and to the Tennessee Aquarium. They had a blast and we love watching them have so much fun! By the way, the Children's Museum in Chattanooga is for kids of all ages. The Adventure Science Center in Nashville seems to be more for older kids, but the one in Chattanooga was great for kids even as young as Solomon. It is definitely worth the money, or the free passes that we had!

Solomon really enjoyed the water play. By the end, he was so wet that we had to go to the giftshop and get him a t-shirt.

Digging for dinosaur bones

Kingston being a doctor

Solomon being a patient

Caught Red Handed

Ever tried on a pair of pants at a store and thought they didn't look as good on you as they did the manequin in the window? Now I know why and I feel a little better about myself for this discovery.

Look at the picture closely:Yes, thats right. That manequin is wearing a size 1 pant that is still folded and clipped!!

Its The End Of The World As We Know It

My sweet Kingston, he is so thoughtful. I mean, he thinks about things so hard....he contemplates things. Anyway, a few months ago Kingston and I were watching "The Universe" on The History Channel. It was a show about the "inner planets" and they proceeded to say that in a billion or so years (which Kingston has no concept of) the sun is going to turn into a red giant star and swallow up the inner planets and everything on those planets will be completely burned up. They said all this before I realized what was happening and Kingston's eyes got as big as saucers. He looked at me and said, "Is that really going to happen?". I said, "No, Kingston, they don't know what they're talking about". We moved on and I thought (hoped) it had been forgotten about.

Fastforward a couple of months.

I was in the hospital with Josiah and my parents are lovingly caring for Kingston and Solomon. The week that I was in the hospital it rained nonstop, or so I'm told.

Mom was taking Kingston and Solomon to preschool. It was cloudy.

Kingston: "Grandmama, when is the sun going to turn into a red giant?"

Mom: "I don't think that is going to happen" (thinking he is thinking of a Jolly Green Giant or something)

Kingston: "It is! When is that going to happen?"

Mom thinking that since it is raining he is wondering when it is going to shine again: "I guess about noon today."

Kingston gets very quiet and starts just staring out the window for the rest of the way to school.

When they arrive at school, Kingston gets out of the car with his little Solar System backpack and turns around to Mom and says, "So, about noon today?". Mom says, "yes".

His teacher said that he was a little upset at naptime. Poor little guy. He probably thought it was the end and he needed to say his goodbyes. We haven't talked about it.

I'm Gonna Brag For A Moment...

I'm not sure how I did it. Jeremy got home for dinner and asked what I had done today. I started telling him and I was kind of amazed at myself. I can be pretty hard on myself and look at all the things that I didn't get done or I am not doing right, but today I am going to brag.

After getting up, nursing, and feeding breakfast, I took my car to Andrews Cadillac to get fixed after the 18 wheeler tire flew up in the air and basically took out my hood.

We went home and played Play-Doh.

I cleaned out my cl0set.

We went outside to play.

I folded 3 loads of laundry and put them away.

I made lunch.

I cleaned out another closet.

I cleaned mine and Jeremy's bathroom.

We all piled in the car and made a huge drop-off at Goodwill.

We got Jeremy's oil changed and transmission fluid flushed.

We read books.

I made chili and cornbread for dinner.

I bathed the boys.

I got out the highchair and cleaned it up.

I am pretty proud of myself especially because all of this was done without A) Kingston or Solomon taking a nap, B) turning the TV on to entertain the boys and C) neglecting my children. No doubt tomorrow I will crash. Jeremy called me a superwoman. :)

Cousins In Florida

Jeremy was traveling for work last week and no one was in the Destin rental, so I called my sister-in-law, Amanda, and our friend Miriam, and we all headed down to get some sunshine for a couple of days. The following are pictures of the boys (there are 5 between Amanda and me) and sweet Caroline, the newest addition to the Pharr family. In case you're wondering, Josiah only had exactly 1 week to be the youngest! My sweet boys, Solomon and Kingston

The 4 Pharr boys: Caleb, Solomon, Caden, and Kingston

Josiah and Caroline nap on a recliner on the beach

playing on the beach

Solomon was a little clingy on the trip and he mostly just stood by my chair. We were laughing and talking one day and I had to snap a couple of pictures of his sweet smile. Josiah naps in the background.

Solomon

The following pictures are of the same boys October of 2008, exactly a year ago. Time flies so fast!

Solomon and Caden

Kingston and Caleb

Solomon, Kingston, Caden, and Caleb