Craft Time with Mammy

Yesterday, the girls started working on a craft with Mammy.

They are decorating flip flops.

Their craft was delayed by several days because of the lack of pinking shears in this house.

Yes, I know.  Who doesn't have pinking shears?

Did you know that scrapbooking pinking shears will NOT cut fabric?

I did.

Did you know that Wal-Mart does not carry pinking shears? 

I did not.

 And that if you ask the lady back in the FABRIC department if they have pinking shears, she will take you to the scrapbooking section and show you the ones that only cut paper?

And did you know that if you go to JoAnn's to buy pinking shears, it'll cost you something like $40 for a pair? 

Unless you're my super-shopper husband and spot a pair for $15!  Woo hoo!

But I digress.

As I said, Mammy and the girls worked yesterday afternoon on decorating their flip flops with strips of fabric they each chose themselves. 

They tied the strips in square knots along the strap of the flip flop.

The end results - some pretty rockin' flip flops.

**Note: Most pics taken with Bekah's camera...

Mom's birthday celebration

Tonight we celebrated David's mom's birthday.  It's just a few days away...so we thought we'd celebrate while we were all together.

Blowing out the candles!

The girls had made cards and pictures for presents.

And a photobook from all of us.

Yelling in the bathroom stall...

We went to Captain D's tonight with David's folks.  Lydia said she had to go to the bathroom.  Since we were sitting right next to the bathroom, I let her go in by herself.

Then we hear yelling.

Then more yelling.

Concerned, I rushed into the bathroom to see what was wrong.

That's when Lydia sheepishly confessed that she just couldn't resist the echo effect in the bathroom!

Ponytails

As I was fixing Lydia's hair yesterday, she asked me, "Why are these called ponytails?"

I said, "Because they look like a pony's tail."

She said, "But these don't look like a pony's tail!  This is coming out of my head --- not out of my butt!"

Introducing...

Alyssa Faith Young

8 pounds 13 ounces 20 inches long born yesterday morning

 

A big congratulations to John and Katy!

Swagger Wagon

Swimming with Mammy & Pappy

On Sunday we went to the Pughs for a fun day by the pool with Mammy & Pappy.

Pappy was a really good sport.

And I mean, a REALLY good sport.

He called himself Shamu and let the kids ride on his back as he swam all around the pool.

Mammy helped with some more structured fun - learning to float.

Bekah was super busy stretching her swimming muscles and playing with Noah.

Then she got some one-on-one time with Mammy & Pappy too.

She's so stinkin' cute!

Academic Excellence

Rebekah brought home something really exciting!!

She was recognized for her academic excellence!

This was issued before final report cards came out, but she made A/B honor roll for the 4th nine weeks as well!!

Yea Rebekah! So proud of you!

Yard sale extravaganza!

We had more than a successful day yard saling today.  =)

Just check out our great deals!

Bekah got a DVD for $1, a VHS for a quarter, two mini planters for a quarter, and two pencil boxes for a dime each.

Lydia got four books for a quarter each, a VHS for a quarter, a DVD for $1, two dolls and a compact for a dime, two mini planters for a quarter and speed stax with a mat for $4! Oh! And a slinky for a dime.

David and I didn't do too badly each.

David found this skirt for me for $1!

And he found this CD player/alarm clock for $3

And we snagged all this stuff for the girls:

Rainboots and tennis shoes for Lydia for $2 each, a lamp for the girls' room for $2 (talked them down), and a sweater dress for $2. Plus David found a Superchick CD and a Barlow Girl CD for $1 each.

And we found a few things for ourselves as well:

David found this portable coffee thermos ($2), a Third Day DVD ($1), two CDs ($1 each), and I got four books ($1 each).

Very good day!

Sinkhole down the street from our house

Traffic's been a little crazy getting to work lately.

Only we couldn't figure out why.

This is why.

A 40 foot deep sinkhole in Hwy 31 right before you get to 840 had caused everyone to take the same route (our route) to get to the interstate.

Look at the picture again.  Do you see the man laying the black thing over the hole?  It gives you a little perspective on how big it is!!

They've had the area blocked since the flood.  I guess they knew this was coming.  Thank God no one was hurt.

Rebekah is in 4th grade. Lydia is in 2nd grade. And I'm getting old.

The girls got their report cards today - their last day of 1st and 3rd grades! 

Crazy isn't it?

They both did great (of course)

Lydia's report card is the first one, so we'll go with that one first.  The last nine weeks is scored 1 (did not master), 4 (mastered skill) and 5 (moving on to deeper study).

(You can click on any of these images to see them larger.)

As you can see, Lydia got almost all 4's and 5's. 

We've still got to work on that punctuation and spelling, but oveall, she's doing great!

Just check out her crazy math, science and social studies skills!!

And Bekah got all A's and one B+!  Woo hoo!  So proud of all her hard work!!

Crouching Lydia, Hidden Rebekah

We took the girls to their first karate class tonight.

And frankly, it was quite hilarious.

And good, though.

It's held at a local church.   They start with a short Bible study.  And then move into a short work out.

Lydia decided to incorporate her own brand of push ups.

They learned the different stances and how to hold their fists.

And then Bekah had to go to the bathroom, so she started to run out of the room.

"Wait!" the teacher called, "Where are you going?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Well you can't just leave.  You have to raise your hand and ask to leave."

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes," she replied.

So Bekah took off.

"Wait!" the teacher called.  "You can't just leave like that!  You have to show respect by bowing."

So she had Bekah bow to the sensei after getting permission to leave.  And then as she left, Bekah had to bow to show respect to those with black belts and then bow again to show respect to the dojo.

Bekah's face showed her consternation.  All this just to go to the bathroom?!

When she returned, it was Lydia's turn.  Now SHE had to go to the bathroom.

"You really should go to the bathroom before class." she told Lydia.

(Only, Lydia DID go to the bathroom before class...but she didn't get to do all that fun bowing stuff...so you know, she had to try it out.)

We thought this class would be good for Lydia's discipline.

Yeah, she'll have to work on that.

And I think it'll be good for Bekah's coordination.

She seriously loves the class and is anxious to buy a gi.

She even got called to the front of the class to show off the four stances that they learned.

Toward the end of the class (hour and a half long!), Lydia was started to wear out.

So she asked the teacher,

"So, are we gonna have a break, or anything fun, or a snack or something?"

Omigosh!  This kid is hilarious!

But they loved the class and their anxious to go back next week.  They showed me their self defense moves when we got home. 

Let's just hope that's all they use their new moves for - self defense - and not offense.

Date Night at the Ryman

David and I got to actually go on a date last night!!  =)

David bought tickets for us to The Swell Season concert at the Ryman Auditorium.

It was my first time to the Ryman.

The Swell Season is a group that formed after their song, Falling Slowly, from the movie Once became a bit hit.

You can listen to the hit song from the movie here: 

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

The group is made up of Markéta Irglová from the Czech Republic

and Glen Hansard from Ireland

In the movie, Markéta's character and Glen's character strike up a friendship over music.

They are really incredible together.

After their concert, they did an encore where Glen came out totally unplugged and played his guitar and just sang - no microphone or anything.

The acoustics in the Ryman were incredible.  You could still hear him clear as day.