The Thornton Family

New Year Update!

2012-01-29T19:18:00.009-06:00

I received this great little gift over Christmas that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. The only problem is it is not very condusive to blogging. I read blogs, but it isn't very easy to update my blog using my Kindle Fire. As such I am so behind on blogging I thought the best idea would just go through each of us individually and try to give updates of what each of us has been up to the last couple of months.

Bayley
It is hard to believe that Bayley is already half way through the 5th grade. As I look at her and think about myself in 5th grade, I realize how grown up she is becoming. She really is starting to put it all together and I really do enjoy having her around. She is still my SUPER-READER. The only thing she asked for this Christmas was a Kindle and guess what Santa delivered with a Kindle Touch. She has loved her new gift and continually bugs me for new books to read. Fortunatley our library has a pretty good selection of Kindle books available for check out so I am not going broke keeping her in books. She continues to take Ballet and is enjoying her new dance studio. I am anxious to see her recital this coming June to see how she continues to develop as a dancer. Piano continues to come along. She has a great ear for the piano...now if we could only get her to practice she could be pretty good. She has an excellent teacher who is very patient with her and helps her to find music that is interesting and challenging for her. I love hearing her master a song and hope we can keep her interested. I know she won't regret it! Bayley and I have had a couple of nice bonding activities during the last couple of months. First I had the opportunity to accompany her on an all day field trip to Montgomery, Alabama. We had a great time visiting our state's capitol and other historic sites in that area. We also are currently bonding with basketball. I am coaching her 10-under girls team this winter and so far we are weathering the storm. Basketball is definitely not her favorite activity, but I think she is having a better time than she would ever admit. Our team is doing well (we are 4-2) and Bayley and I still like each other...all that really matters! This week Bayley and Jeff are headed on a 3-day overnight field trip to Camp McDowell. Bayley has looked forward to this "get away" field trip since we first moved here a couple of years ago. Hopefully they have a great time and have great weather!

Kendal
Like her big sister, Kendal has also grown a ton this last year. She is having a great second grade year and has a perfect teacher for her. You can tell how much she likes her because she will come right home from school and round up Trey and Adison and take them to her room to play school. She has an entire routine planned for them and gives them homework and progress reports. She will someday make an excellent teacher and mother. It is definitely part of who she is. I also got to accompany Kendal on a field trip a couple of weeks ago to Golden Flake Chips factory. We had a good time watching how potato chips, cheese curls, and tortilla chips are made. It was very interesting and we got lots of yummy chips to taste and take home. She loves to have me visit her at school and I try to take advantage of her liking me as much as possible right now. Trey, Adison and I love to go and eat lunch with Kendal and her friends. Kendal is in her first year of piano and doing pretty well. She isn't sure she likes it all of the time, but we keep encouraging her to hang in there. She also is playing basketball and really enjoying it this year. She is good little player who doesn't lack in aggressiveness or hustle. She is extremely fiesty and Jeff and I compared her to Bill Lambier one game. She is our little athlete who is looking forward to her upcoming softball season once basketball ends. She would stay busy with sports year round if she could. Kendal's favorite Christmas gift was a new camera, which at this minute is missing. She is excited about planning her baptism which is only 2 months away and all of the fun things she gets to do when she turns 8 ( like get her ears pierced).

Trey
Trey has found his new favorite past time during the last couple of months....the Wii. He loves to play video games of any kind whether it be on my iphone, Kindle Fire, or his favorite the Wii. We have realized quickly how much he enjoys these things, so we have had to develop a very strict system of time limits and requirements to play video games. Otherwise I think he would spend all day every day in front of the television. He is very competitive and has been known to yell at others playing with or against him. There have been tears at time, but we consider these moments opportunities for growth. He has to clean his room, get dressed, eat breakfast and read me 2 books before he can have his 30 minutes of Wii time allotted a day. It is amazing how motivated he is to get these things done and he usually will be begging me to read with him at 7:15 am as soon as Bayley gets on the bus. He is doing excellent on reading and will be way ahead of where the girls were when they started kindergarten. He is so excited to be able to go to school this upcoming fall! Trey is also playing basketball this winter. He is one of the better players on his team, but for all the aggressiveness Kendal has, Trey is just about the exact opposite. Maybe as he figures out the game more that will develop but for now he is pretty content letting the ball come to him. He will probably play T-ball this spring and love hitting a lot more than fielding the ball. He will beg for a chance to hit whenever I am practicing with Kendal, but when we are playing catch he would rather sit that one out. I guess that comes with time. He is a great brother to his sisters, both older and younger, and we love having our little guy around!

Adison
If you ever wonder who runs this house, you don't have to look too much farther than our little Adison. She is everywhere and into everything. She is busy every waking hour and sometimes during the sleep hours. We have slowly tried to help her transition to being a "Big Girl" including taking away her pacifier, moving her from her crib to a toddler bed, and TRYING to potty train. So far she has adjusted well to life without her pacifier and most of the time she stays in bed well....we have found out she will sometime visit her brother and sisters in the middle of the night, but the potty training has been a bit of a struggle up to this point. She has NO desire to sit on the potty and would much rather do her business in her pants. I haven't been brave enough to go underwear only yet, which I think is probably the biggest problem. I need to get brave and get motivated so we can be diaperless!! Did I mention that Adison is into everything???? She can open ANYTHING, including supposedly child proof medicine bottles (fortunately this happened in front of me), nail polish bottles (Kendal's carpet tells the story), and the refrigerator (I hate having to lock myself out of the refrigerator, but there have been days). She loves to climb ANYTHING including the cabinets, my barstools, any chair, and she is good and fast. She still isn't talking very well and I am going to look into to speech therapy this week, however communicating what she wants is definitely not a problem. She gets what she gets when she throws a fit....I definitely give in a lot more than I did with the others. She is so darn cute though and we sure do love her! It would be the same around here without her great hugs, kisses, and prayers!

Jeff
Jeff keeps busy keeping up with us plus the other responsibilities he has like work and church. He is enjoying his new calling on the High Council, but we sure do miss having him at church with us. Work is going well and he is looking forward to another great year with Pfizer. He is trully blessed to have a great job that he works hard at, but that allows him to be there for us as well as fulfill his church calling. His new hobby of late has been looking at guns. He was a hunter growing up and has caught the hunting bug once again. He hasn't purchased a gun yet, but has done a lot of searching. He is getting the kids excited about it and they are looking forward to shooting in the backyard with him once he gets his "range" set-up. He is a great daddy and does a great job supporting the rest of us!

Alisha
Between basketball, dance, piano, preschool, callings and life I manage to stay plenty busy. I LOVE IT! I am enjoying a break from long distance running and have enjoyed our new membership at a brand new YMCA near our house. I have taken a couple of fun classes and quickly realized that running doesn't work all of the major muscle groups. Hopefully I am done with the soreness and can enjoy them a little more the second time around. I love my Kindle and being able to quickly check updates on my email, facebook and blogs, but it means I spend a whole lot less time at my computer. I know I will regret not having the weekly updates later so I am going to try to do better. We'll see!

Where all your dreams come true!

2011-12-21T15:58:00.012-06:00

This year we decided to give our kiddos memories rather than more stuff. Jeff and I told the kids that instead of presents we were going to take a family trip to Disneyworld this year. I found an awesome deal where we stayed on Disney property, had tickets to the theme parks for 6 days, and a free dining plan at Disney. It was the way to do a trip to Disney. When we go again, I am going to make sure to try to find a time where they are offering the free Dining plan. It was totally worth it. It was nice not to have to worry about food or how much we were spending on food. We took the girls out of school for a week and headed to Disney December 12-17. It was so much fun. Bayley had to write a report for school so that is what I am going to use to detail what we did while we were there. The pictures will tell the rest of the story.

My Trip to Disneyworld
The first thing I want to say is that it was very educational. Epcot was the most educational. It had all the worlds. We went to all the Disney parks ,there is Epcot,Disney world, Magic kigdom,Animal kingdom, and Hollywood studios. I am going to demonstrate all the different ways to log the thing that you do. Like one might be in a diary form and another might be in a story form.
Now a little info on my trip.
I spent 5 nights and 6 days.
I had $15.00 to spent.
I stayed at port Orleans-riverside.
I went to all the parks including downtown Disney.
I went to the pool {story on the lower half of the page}
The story of my brother getting lost.
I went from Monday -Saturday.
The story of my brother being lost at Epcot … I guess It started when we passed mouse gear .Mom told us after we rode mission space we could trade Vinylmations at Mouse gear. Then we went on mission space and we were playing in the fun room and I went to the shop and they traded vinymations so I told mom and she told us all that we should go trade. Trey thought that we meant at Mouse gear. We found him or the park members found him at the sea attractions area. It took only 5 minutes, but mom ,I think felt like it took eternity.
Monday, Dec,12 2011 diary form
We woke up at five o’clock .Mom said to get dressed and into the car. We traveled for 9 hours. We watched movies on the way. Then we checked in to our hotel and got to our room it had 2 queen beds and a fold out queen. Its about 2 o’clock . Then we went to the Disney park. We went to tomorrow land first and rode the race track first. I won out of the family. Then we got ice cream at auntie galactic ice cream parlor. After we did all the kid “rides”, laugh floor, Lilo and Stitch, and greet the characters. After we went on buzzlightyears ride. After that we went to liberty square to eat .I had shrimp and for dessert chocolate cake. After we saw the fireworks we went on the river tours. Then we went home and went to bed . Tuesday ,Dec13,2011

7:30 wake up

7:30-8:00 get dressed and eat

8:00-8:15 travel to park and check in

8:15-12:00 ride and get fast passes for soarin and test track. Ride then and mission space, the land, and the circle of life.

12:00-1:00 Ate at season’s

1;00-6:00 visit France,China,Norway,Mexico,America,Canada,e.c.t.

6:00-7:30 eat at a princess [character] dinner

7:30-8;00 travel to hotel

8:00 go to bed

8:00-12:00 sleep………………
Wednesday,Dec.14,2011

story form

I woke up to the sound of crying. I quickly got into the shower and got dressed. After everyone got dressed we went to the car to go to Animal Kingdom. We rode the tram to the gates. Mom checked us in and got our tickets. We went in and headed to Asia to ride mount Everest. We walked right on. When we took off Kendal was shaking. When we got to the part were you go backwards she started to cry until the ride stopped. Me and my brother Trey went on it again. It was awesome……NO SUPERDUPER AWESOME. Then we went on the river rafting. Dad got wet like he had just been swimming in his clothes. Then we went on a bunch of walking tours, that had a bunch a of animals. We got to see tons of fish, monkeys, lions, prairie dogs, tigers, lots of birds,rhinoserous,hippos,antelopes,zebras,giraffes,ostriches,bats,snakes,and the one the only the……….SQUIRREL.Adison loved squirrels, and we saw tones of them. At 2:00 we went to the hotel pool. It had a themes in different sections .It also had a hottub,slide and other cool things .We stayed there till dinner. We went to the Cinderella dinner. It was a buffet. Then at 8:00 we went to bed. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Tuesday,Dec.15,2011 log form

8:00 wake up

8:00-9:00 eat and get dressed

9:00-9:15 travel to the park

9:30-1:00 ride rides including space mountain 1:00-2:00 eat burgers and fries

2:00-6:00 ride more rides
6:00-8:00 eat and go to bed Friday,Dec.15,2011

log form

8:00 wakeup

8:00-8:30 eat and get dressed

8:30-9:00 go to park and get tickets

9:00-1:00 ride rides including toy story

1:00-2;00 eat ribs

2:00-6:00 ride more rides

6:00-7:00 eat at buffet

7:00-7:30 go to American idol

7:30- 8:00 travel home and go to bed

Saturday,dec.17,2011 log form

8:00 wake up

8:00-9:00 eat, travel ,and get tickets

9;00-11;00 ride rides including planetary

11:00-1:00 eat at coral reef

1:00-11:00 travel home

I've run out of time posting pictures, but you get the idea...we had a great time!

5x7 Folded Card

2011-11-22T16:02:00.001-06:00

With Love Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Halloween For a Week

2011-11-13T16:19:00.005-06:00

Angel Bayley
Kimono Girl Kendal
Krazy Kendal and Crazy Trey
Trick-or-Treat
Free carousel Rides!
Waiting for the Haunted Hayride...it was a bit cold!

We enjoy holidays around here and any time we can stretch a holiday out over multiple days then we are all over it. Halloween seemed a lot like that this year. We had a different activity just about everyday during the week before Halloween. We attended a Halloween Party at the library, a Halloween Hayride at one of the local parks, our wards Trunk-or-Treat, and then we partied all day the actual day of Halloween. All of the activites were fun. All of the activites supplied us with too much candy. And all of the activities were FREE! I am all about free and there were a ton of freebies to be had during the week of Halloween. They included a free meal at Zaxby's, free carousel ride at the mall, and tons of free candy. We got tons of candy and have been enjoying the spoils for the last couple of weeks. Bayley came up with her own costume this year and used her recital dress to make a great angel costume. Kendal was excited about being a Kimono girl. Trey loved the chicken costume...I need to write it down because I have a feeling in the future he may doubt that he really wanted to wear that costume. And Adison used the bee costume that all of the girls have worn at least one year and was adorable as ever. She especially loved all of the candy and spooky festivities. It was another great kickoff to the fun holiday season.

6 more weeks....

2011-10-26T18:24:00.006-05:00

Another 6 weeks have passed and I have no idea where the time has gone. As I try to blog about the last 6 weeks I have realized once again that a once a week short blog is better than a 6 week long blog. Note to self....Sundays have got to be the day. There will probably be more pictures than words but the pictures tell a lot of the story.

We have spent the last 7 Saturday mornings watching Trey and Kendal play soccer. Unfortanately most of their games have been scheduled at the same time so Jeff and I have split up alternating who we watch. Both have had great seasons and have learned a lot. It has been fun watching them enjoy their teams and the games. Kendal's team has yet to win a game, but did tie last week which in and of itself felt somewhat like a win. Kendal is one of the best players on her team and has scored 3 goals so far this year. It is a coed team and she is definitely one of the strongest girl players I have seen on any of the teams. Despite her team's losing record she is still enjoying herself and learning more about the game of soccer. Trey has come out of his soccer shell. He has figured out how to be agressive and has managed to score 6 goals so far this year. His age is so much fun to watch because the kids are always doing the funniest things. Adison and Bayley are great cheerleaders at the game...just kidding. Adison is usually wandering around trying to find trouble and Bayley has her nose in a book. Adison enjoying a soccer morning
Sunday pictures
Trey likes to use his arms to direct the ball as well
Supermodel Kendal
Pumpkin guts...we had a family night where we were going to carve pumpkins. It ended up being a bust because our tools broke and I couldn't locate the extras. We managed to get 3 pumpkins gutted, one carved, but by the end of the week all of them had molded and turned to mush. Fortunately we have 2 more that we are going to try to carve before Halloween next Monday.
Kendal was not afraid to dig in.
Adison
Adison turned 2 on September 25th. She is so much fun and tons of trouble. She loves to find stray markers and write all over herself and anything else she can find....and with 3 crafty older siblings there always seems to be a marker laying around. She also has found the make-up and like my other kids has tried to put mascera on her eyes a couple of times. She is starting to try to talk more and can communicate pretty well what she wants at all times. Potty training is still a few months away, but we are not afraid to talk about it. She loves her binky and blanky and always tries to sneak them out of her crib...which is the only place she is really allowed to have them. She loves to try whatever the big kids are doing and wants to be a part of everything. She is a trooper having to spend a lot of the time in the car as I tote the others around to practices. She is definitely a blessing and we LOVE our Adison!
Another Sunday picture.
Kendal is pretty speedy when she wants to be.
Adison showing off the new Dora potty chair she got for her birthday! We can only hope!
Trey loved the bird on his head...lucky for him it had already pooped on the girl who had it on her head just before him.
Kendal loved the bird on her head as well.
Adison loved all of the animals.
Asking for a chance to hold the bird on her arm.
Bayley is a pro with birds.
Adison and the turtle.
Trey isn't afraid of any snakes! We attended a friend's 1 year old birthday party which was AWESOME. There was a local couple who brought their exotic pets for the kids to see and touch. The kids had a great time!
Cake pops Halloween Style. Leave it to Grandma G to take on a craft as fun as that! We met Grandma G for conference on Sunday. We watched conference, did crafts, ate lunch. and hung out! It was an awesome Sunday.
Adison showing off her princess set courtesy the Spencer and Leigh Griffeth family!
Adison riding the carousel for her birthday.
What a handsome boy!
Trey and Jeff practicing soccer.
Adison toting her chair.
Seriously so cute!!!

I'm sure I left a lot out but you get the picture or pictures!!

Catch up! Seriously!

2011-09-08T07:29:00.014-05:00

Blogging went out the window this summer. Not that we didn't have anything to blog about, just that it has not been a priority of late. I really need to do better because I am missing great stuff and this is my journaling. This is going to be a long post with lots of pictures but I thought it would be the best way for me to remember and record some of the fun stuff we have been up to the last couple of months! I am going to try to go in chronological order starting with the most recent stuff and moving back.

Build-a-Bear
A couple of months ago Kendal went to a birthday party at Build-a-Bear. Ever since then Trey has wanted a Build-a-Bear. For his birthday from one of his grandparents he got a gift card to Build-a-Bear and since then had been bugging me to take a trip to the mall. Well last week we got our chance. He loved every minute of it, from picking out the bear, picking out an outfit, stuffing the bear, naming the bear, bathing the bear and finally bring Smarty, the bear, home.
He was one happy kid!

Trey bathing Smarty

Indiana (Jeff's 20 year reunion)

Jeff's 20 year high school reunion was this August and was planned to coincide with the county's Swiss Wine Festival. Twenty years ago when Jeff graduated from high school the festival was not really all that big, but since then has grown up a lot. Jeff hasn't really been back home other than to see family since he graduated so he looked forward to seeing some of the people he grew up with. And since the festival is always held after our kids have started school, we decided it would be a good time to take the kids out of school (while they are young) and not only get to experience the Swiss Wine Festival but also allow Jeff to attend his 20 year high school reunion. We spent the first couple of days with Jeff's Dad and Terri who live only about 45 minutes from Louisville. So one afternoon we travelled down to Louisville and enjoyed their Children's Science Museum, the Lousiville Slugger plant and walking around downtown Louisville. The kids had a great time and returned home pretty exhausted. The last couple of days of the weekend we spent with Jeff's Mom and Rick. With them we went to the parade and spent an afternoon and the Wine Festival. The kids LOVED it! They had some money and the money burnt a hole in all of their pockets. The left with lots of goodies (trash to some of us) and great memories. While Jeff and I went to his reunion the kids also got a chance to hang out with their cousins and go miniature golfing. Needless to say it was a fun-filled day and they were exhausted at the end of it. Jeff and I had a good time at his reunion where it was fun to catch up with old friends and realize how quickly time passes by. We had a great trip!

It wouldn't be a fair without funnel cake!

Bayley was the only one of the kids that wanted to try the rides...this was the hang glider.

This picture cracked me up!

Here is Alex, Jeff's cousin, handing out candy to the kids during the parade.

One night we headed over to the park where the kids had a great time swinging, sliding and enjoying the beautiful weather by the Ohio River.

Who wouldn't be smiling with their grandma pushing them in a swing?

Kendal in the batting cages. This was the kids first chance to go to the batting cages. It was a quick trip but I think they enjoyed it. The cages were attached to the Louisville Slugger museum.

Bayley and the man. I love their individual poses.

Trey buddied up to the man.

Kendal was serious with the man.

The kids loved the pretend play area. Adison loved the bus that sang one of her favorite songs "The Wheels on the Bus".

Kendal was all about playing doctor!

The kids loved the mirror prism at the front of the museum.

Bayley Turns 10

Hard to believe that I have a child that has hit double-digits. Bayley is growing up way too fast. I look at Adison and remember Bayley at that age and it doesn't seem very long ago. She is maturing very quickly. She continues to grow in heigth and is still one of the tallest in her class. She is very responsible most of the time and when she is not I am quickly reminded that she is ONLY 10. She is an great big sister who keeps her siblings on their toes. She is going to continue taking piano this year, is taking dance and is going to give basketball a shot this winter. She LOVES reading and is really good at it. I wouldn't say the Bayley is the most organized or neat child, but she can be when she wants to. This year for her party she had a couple of girls over for dinner, decorating cupcakes, a movie and a few games. It was deemed a "late over" and was a lot of fun. She asked for money for her birthday and is still trying to pin down exactly what she wants to buy....if she doesn't decide quickly I think most of it will be spent on food...she loves food, especially sweets! We sure love Bayley and are so proud of person she continues to become.

Keeping with annual tradition, Bayley enjoyed decorating her birthday cake.

Decorating cupcakes at Bayley's birthday party.

The girls at dinner (we served spaghetti, bread and watermelon)

First Day of School 2011

Bayley and Kendal started school August 15th. Bayley is in the 5th grade and has Mrs. Davis as her teacher. She is attending the new Brocks Gap Intermediate school where 5th and 6th graders attend. She has graduated to having a locker and the bigger school, so she feels much bigger. Already I have seen an increase in homework and responsibility which is a good thing for our smart girl. She continues to have challenges with spelling, but other than that she grasps concepts very quickly. Kendal is in the 2nd grade and has Mrs. Laxon. Her teacher is the perfect fit for our Kendal so she should have a great year. She is catching onto reading and is not a procrastinator at all. She comes right home, does her homework and then is ready to play. It should be a great year. Trey sure thinks he is ready for school. It is going to be a challenge keeping him busy this year, but we will have him very ready for kindergarten next year!

First day of school 2011. She was excited even though she isn't smiling.

First day of school 2011 getting on the bus.

Sunday picture! Love these kids!

Trey Turns 5 years old

Trey is such a funny kid. Every night for the last few months he has asked how many days until his birthday. When is big day finally arrived he was fortunate enough to get to celebrate it a couple of days. On his actual birthday we had a busy day filled with breakfast in bed (donuts from Krispy Kreme), play dates, and then dinner and presents. The next day 4 packages arrived in the mail so he felt like it was his birthday all over again. Then on Friday we had his little birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. We decided to keep it just family this year so it was pretty low key, but he and the rest of the kids had a great time! He loved being able to celebrate a couple of extra days and definitely milked it for all he was worth. As a five year old, Trey is growing up but still trying to figure out boundaries and what works for him. He tries to exhibit his independance all of the time, but the majority of the time it seems at the wrong time so their are breakdowns. He loves his sisters...looks up to the older ones and loves to torment the younger one. He is a very good boy most of the time and is extremely smart. He loves to draw, write, and can't wait to begin reading....our goal for this year! He is going to play soccer this fall and would love to play basketball in the winter. He plays with dolls and my little ponies a lot less, but every once in a while we catch him enjoying their hair. What a kid!

Adison had to try on the crown!

Adison riding the horse...she didn't want to get off. (guess who I was hanging out with most of the time while the bigger ones ran around playing games)

Trey receiving the birthday crown!

Trey wanted a water balloon fight on his birthday and that is just what he got!

Trey opening presents and counting his money!

Breakfast in bed! He LOVED it!

Trey and Adison...I love the blue on those two!

Sunday pictures...seriously tan kids!

Birmingham Zoo

We have a membership to the McWane Science Center, which my kids love, however once a year they had a reciprocal day where you can attend other places around the city for free with an annual membership. So we decided to spend a Saturday at the zoo since it was free. The kids love the zoo, but I only love it about once a year which is why we don't have a membership there. The kids enjoyed the animals, but loved the bubbles, water fountains and birds. It was a fun hot day!

Trey and the ostrich.

Bayley and the ostrich.

Funny kid!

I didn't bring their swim suits so the 3 younger ones enjoyed the water with their clothes on...Bayley wasn't about to get wet with her clothes on...oh well.

Trey loved the bubble pit!

Bayley was not afraid of the birds at all. Trey and Adison however wanted to look not touch!

Who knows what her problem was...maybe she didn't like the ostrich?

Indiana Trip #1 (Harold's Funeral)

Mid-July we made an unexpected trip to Indiana to celebrate the life of Jeff's grandpa Harold. Although it was sad to say good-bye we know that he is now reunited with Jeff's grandma Eloise and that they both are relieved of the physical pains they experienced on this earth. Harold was a great man who was a great example to Jeff. We will miss him very much.

We decided to extend our visit to Indiana and ended up staying about a week. The kids had a great time and enjoyed the visit.

The kids dancing in the street on Friday night in Rising Sun. They had a local band playing in the street and the kids took to the streets!

Just enough room for our crew!

Our silly family picture...I love Bayley's silly pose (you can tell she is growing up).

Family picture in front of the river.

Dinner with the whole group! Yummy Mexican.

3 generations of Thornton Boys!

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel before we headed out. Filled stomachs, good company, happy kids!

Summer 2011 So Far

2011-07-10T15:41:00.008-05:00

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what we've been doing this summer:

We've drank a lot of slushies!

We've laughed at Adison!

Kendal danced to "Cruella Deville" in her dance recital!

Kendal also danced to "Be Our Guest" in her dance recital!

Trey and Adison played at the McWane Science Center!

Kendal posed as a mad scientist at the McWane Center.

The kids made $12 in an afternoon Lemonade Stand. My little entrepenuers loved it. You find out who your kind neighbors are when you do a lemonade stand in front of your house. Who could say no to these faces?

Our Summer 2011 Family Picture

We enjoyed an awesome week at Lake Wedowee with the Griffeth Family!

We've played at the lake a lot!

Bayley also did an awesome job in dance during the recital!

We've been to Alabama Adventures a lot!

We've swam and stayed close to the water.

We've smiled a lot!

We've eaten a lot of Chick-fil-a...here was round #1 of dress like a cow get a meal day!

We've worn ourselves out!

I can't believe we only have 5 more weeks of summer. We really have done a lot and have a few more fun things planned in the last couple of weeks. This week we are making an unexpected visit to Indiana to attend the funeral of Jeff's grandpa Harold. We are sad, however we know how happy he must be to be reunited with Eloise, Jeff's grandma who passed away earlier this year. We are going to make a week of it and while remembering a loved one that has passed on, enjoy time with the rest of Jeff's great family in Indiana.

Turning 34 and other highlights!

2011-05-25T14:01:00.007-05:00

In front of the USS Alabama

A couple of weeks ago I had another birthday. I turned 34 to be exact. Jeff went all out this year and made my birthday an extra special one. When I woke up on my birthday, I didn't know that it was going to be all that special of a day. When you are a mom, birthdays just seem to be another day...get the kids ready for school, run errands, go to doctor's appointments, chores, etc. And I had all of those things planned for my birthday. Jeff and I had decided to meet for lunch, because I had a mystery shopping gig so that was going to be my big treat. My good friend Amanda, kept Adison for me so that Jeff and I could enjoy our lunch rather than fight with a toddler. After lunch Jeff totally surprised me by kidnapping me and taking me to a nearby mall. He said I had 30 minutes to buy a new swimsuit and that I wasn't to look at the price (you think this guy knows me??). After that he had arranged a manicure/pedicure which fell through at the last minute (it was the thought that counted) and then he sent me on my way with my new suit to the spa at Ross Bridge. At the spa he had scheduled me for a massage and scalp treatment and then after that I was given a couple of hours to relax by the pool. Meanwhile Jeff took care of picking up the kids, taking them to doctor's appointments, and then he and the kids met me at Olive Garden for dinner. It was an AWESOME birthday and a very special treat. I kidded with him that I will turn 34 every year if this is how it is going to be!

The past couple of week have been packed with events and a lot of fun. Kendal and Trey finished up their softball and T-ball seasons. Kendal had a great last week and was a superstar in the field for her little team. They didn't do so hot in the tournament, but at 7 you don't really care as long as you get a cool trophy. Trey is catching onto some of the concepts of T-ball. The league was very relaxed on rules and organization which was a good introduction for our little guy. The best thing Trey has going for him right now is that he has an older sister who loves playing ball so when she is playing he usually will jump in and want to give it a shot. I think our little driveway play is probably just as beneficial as any league at this point.

Trey at bat

Playing pitcher...I am impressed he is looking in the right direction!

The girls have a couple of more weeks before their dance recital. Like I have said before Kendal is ready to be done. Bayley still loves dance, but is trying to find the right fit. She wants to be with the older girls, but the more competitive it gets the harder it is to "dance up" so to speak. I am excited to watch the girls perform and see all that hard work, and monthly dance payments pay off.

As school winds down we are making plans for our summer. The kids are excited to have season passes to Alabama Adventures again. It is nice that the park is only 20 minutes away and has a little bit of everything for all of my kiddos. Between that and the library I have a feeling that is where we will spend most of our weekdays. On weekends we are planning on spending a lot of time at the lake. We are headed there this weekend and are very excited! It should be a good warm up for the next week when the Griffeth families roll into town for our annual Griffeth Family Lake Vacation.

Last weekend our family accompanied Jeff on one of his work trips to Point Clear, Alabama. Jeff had to work the days that we were there for about 1/2 of the day and the rest of the day was able to join us all for some fun. It was a great resort with lots of fun activites. We swam, rode bikes, kayaked, flew kites, played volleyball, played in the ocean water, partcipated in the cannon firing at the resort, and visited the USS Alabama (an old navy war ship that has been turned into a museum). It was a fun family vacation and we survived sleeping in one hotel room together.
Water fight between Jeff and Adison and the rest of the kids
Adison was not a fan of the water at first, but it didn't take her long to love it!
Volleyball on the beach
Adison loved the bike carriage...I loved it too. I wish we had more places to ride here at home.
Trey flying his kite!
Jeff and Kendal getting ready for their bike ride!
Bayley loved kayaking!
The sand and water brought hours of entertainment.
Inside the museum...it was a lot of climbing stairs. It definitely didn't make any of my kids ready to sign up for the Navy anytime soon.

Another highlight from the last couple of weeks was Jeff's annual company party at the Barons Baseball game. The kids always love going and visiting with new people, eat good food, and watching some of the baseball game. This year was extra special though because Kendal got to be one of the people who threw out the first pitch at the game. She was so excited and nervous even though I don't think she really understands how cool of an opportunity that really was. She loved not only throwing out the pitch, but loved watching the game. It was a unseasonably cold night so we left early, but I am sure we will try to catch a couple more games before the summer is over.

Kendal before throwing out the first pitch!

April Highlights!

2011-05-01T15:34:00.007-05:00

As I was looking back over my pictures, I realized that we did a lot of things in the month of April that I don't want to miss recording. So here are the highlights of some of the fun activities we got to participate in during the last month.

Bayley had a field trip to the McWane Center this last month and all of her yearly testing at school. It is hard to believe that she is finishing up 4th grade and will be a big 5th grader next year. She still loves reading and has to be reminded often that there are other things she could be doing as well...it is a good problem to have. Dance and piano are her 2 big extracurriculars that keep her busy and she seems to still enjoy both.. She is a big help with Adison when I need an extra pair of hands and can be a good help elsewhere if she wants to. She is looking forward to spending lots of time at the lake this summer and enjoyed our one day trip there last weekend.

Kendal has been very busy with softball and dance. She is ready to be done with dance and concentrate solely on athletic activities. She is pretty fast and very competitive. She is becoming a better reader and has a great model in her older sister. She tries to tackle harder longer books so that she can be like Bayley.
Our Trey is growing up to. He is playing his first season of T-ball and we have determined he throws better left handed. He is doing pretty good for his first go around and seems to be enjoying having his daddy as one of the coaches. He loves to draw and write and is very close to reading. Every night he asks how many more months until his birthday because he is ready to turn 5.
Adison can be summed up in one word...busy! She is an active 19 month old. She cracks us up with her funny mannerisms. She has been sick a couple of times the last month, once with strep and the other with a double ear infection. While she is sick we comfort her with her binkie and blankie, which is usually only allowed in her crib. The last week we have spent a lot of tear-filled moments retraining her that her binkie and blankie are only allowed in her crib. By today she was doing much better!

I love when I can catch all my kids smiling in the same picture!

Bayley hanging upside down on the jumpy thing. She waited over an hour for an opportunity to jump and twirl! Yesterday while Jeff was in Tuscaloosa, I took the kids to Hoover Days, our cities annual celebration. They had all kinds of free stuff and kids rides. My kids were in "free" heaven.

Kendal and Trey riding on the train. Notice their cool colored hair. Trey chose green, Kendal orange glitter, and Bayley blue.

After a full day at home without power and unable to go outside, I let the kids watch one video on my laptop until the battery ran out.

Kendal had her "Fish" musical at school this month. It was a cute little program. I know you can't see her in this picture, but she is one of the yellow fish!

Adison found this shower cap in my bathroom and wanted me to put it on her. She then walked around most of the morning with it on her head....totally Adison!

This is my newest nephew, Maddox. We got to see him while we were in Georgia. He is such a sweet baby and it was fun for me to hold a newborn again. I can't believe how tiny they are and how quickly they grow!

Kendal of course wanted an opportunity to hold Maddox as well!

While in Georgia, we visited Spencer and Leigh's beautiful new home. The kids ate lunch, decorated eggs, and decorated cupcakes. It was a fun afternoon spent with cousins and grandparents.

One of the main reasons we went to Atlanta was to go to the Atlanta Temple open house. It was so special to get to walk through the temple with our kids and grandma and grandpa "G". They enjoyed the experience and hopefully learned more about these sacred buildings. While there Jeff and I also celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. My parents were kind enough to watch the kids while we enjoyed a nice dinner and conversation. It was fun reflecting on the past 11 years of our journey together. I love ya, Jeff!

The whole family in front of the Atlanta Temple.

The kids had their annual Spring Fair at their school. This is a picture of Bayley enjoying the "throw-up" ride. I don't know how she could even think about riding it...you walk up and there is throw up all over the ground where kids have hurled. Nasty!

Trey and Kendal stuck with a little safer ride in the swings. Kendal, however, I think was ready to get off sooner rather than later. She had a tendency to get motion sickness.

It definitely was a fun month, however over the last couple of days Jeff and I have had the opportunity to reflect on how blessed we are as a family. We spent last Wednesday hunkered down in our basement as the tornadoes hit Alabama. Fortunately we were not hit and did not have any damage. However there were areas close by that were destroyed. Jeff has had the opportunity to help in the clean-up process, especially in Tuscaloosa. The kids and I have looked for opportunities to donate. At times you feel like you are doing so little, but I know that every little bit helps as many try to put back together their lives. We are thankful for the gospel in our lives and that comfort that it gives us. We thankful for the great support system of family and friends. We love our kids and are so glad they keep us busy and focused on what really matters. May should be another busy and fun month. We can't wait!

Where a kid can be a kid!

2011-04-11T20:19:00.005-05:00

Where would you like to go to celebrate your 7th Birthday? This year Kendal requested Chuck E Cheese. We have always done our birthday parties at home. They are a lot of fun but a lot of work. I offered Kendal another home birthday party but she was insistent that she wanted a Chuck E Cheese party. We finally agreed as long as she limited the guest list and we booked our first Chuck E Cheese party. It was GREAT. Bayley and Kendal were just about as excited as Kendal was and all in all everyone had a great time. Bayley decorated Kendal's star cake this year and did another great job. Kendal loved being the center of attention. They did a whole Birthday girl program that included being crowned, receiving a medal, being sung to, and finally a trip to the ticketblaster. For 30 seconds Kendal stood in the ticketblaster trying to grab as many tickets as she could. It ended up she collected more in her crown that was sitting on top of her head than she did with her hand, but regardless she racked up some major tickets. I do believe there was a bit of a miscalculation or maybe it was just birthday girl treatment but it ended up that she had enough to tickets to pick ANYTHING she wanted. She walked away with a bouncy ball, a blanket and a stuffed animal. A great ending to a fun day.

Here are a few facts about Kendal at 7 years old:

Kendal loves animals. All she wanted for her birthday was a pet. I kidded with her that we had a couple of presents for her and she was totally upset. She said that if there was more than one present that must mean that she wasn't getting a pet. We did get her not one but two dwarf frogs. They are the perfect pets for our family. They only need to be fed twice a week and their water changed once every 3 months. We will see how we do. The kids have enjoyed watching them and I think Adison loves them just as much as Kendal. Kendal has named them both Lulu because you can't tell one from the other. We also got Kendal a 2 hour horseback riding lesson for her birthday. She is very excited, so I hope she likes it!

Kendal is our competitive child. She is always up for a race and loves to win, but will keep trying if she doesn't. She is loving softball this year. We didn't move her up to the higher age group and as a result she is one of the better players this year. She loves to impress and loves to practice. She announced the other day she would like to play in college someday. She is determined enough that it might just happen, especially if she sets her mind to it.

Kendal loves to write and would love to write a book someday. She writes us short stories all of the time. I hope that love of writing remains. She also is really starting to enjoy reading. She has come a long way this year and I can see her being a lot like her big sister Bayley....rarely leaving the house without a book in her hand. I love that my girls love to read.

Kendal is a very sweet girl. We love her very much and can't believe how quickly she is growing up. She gets along very well with her older sister and younger brother and she adores her baby sister, who loves her sometimes.

Happy Birthday Kendal!

Spring Break 2010 Pictures

2011-03-21T14:25:00.004-05:00

This Spring Break we went to someplace we had never been before as a family, Gatlinburg Tennessee. Jeff had been there a couple of times growing up, but since we have been married he hasn't been back. I have heard a lot of great things about Gatlinburg, so we were really excited. We didn't tell the kids where we were going until we got there, which added to the excitement. I think they had a good time. Here are some pictures of our 2 1/2 days of fun in Gatlinburg. We didn't spend much time in the hotel room and stayed pretty busy from sun up to sun down. Adison warmed up to the idea of sitting on the carousel horse. At first she didn't want anything to do with it. I love how she is waving to her Daddy!
Note to self: do not go all out the first time on the bungee run. I ended up with a major case of whip lash. It totally whipped me back. I was sore for a couple of days.

Bayley and Kendal had a great time ice skating. Trey also gave it a try and after 2 times around was crying and sure that he was a complete failure at ice skating. I tried pointing out that he wasn't the only one holding on to the railing most of the time. Maybe we will let him try again in a couple of years.

Kendal enjoyed the carousel, but I think most enjoyed the Alpine Slide portion of our visit to Ober Gatlinburg. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of us on the slide or on the sky life, but Bayley, Trey, Kendal and I had a great time going up and down the mountain. It was pretty chilly outside, but fortunately we had brought our coats.

I love Adison's face in this picture. Jeff and her missed a good portion of our visit to Ober Gatlinburg while Adison took her afternoon nap in the car. She did get to go to the zoo and see the bears which she thought was pretty cool.

One morning we went to the aquarium there in Gatlinburg. Jeff and I really like it and thought it had a lot of really cool fish. The kids had a good time too, even though Kendal decided to be funny in this picture.

I would have to say that the one of the favorite things we did (and most expensive) was the Dixie Stampede. The kids were mesmerized by the show and enjoyed the huge amount of food that we were given to eat during the show. After the show the kids got to go and get autographs and touch the horses. It was a very fun night! In fact, they asked if they could go again the next night...always a good indicator of fun.

Our attempt at a family picture at the Dixie Stampede.

The girls on the lazy river at the indoor water park. We stayed at a resort that had a indoor water park. We spent most of the day on Tuesday at the water park and the kids had a great time.

Trey and Jeff were buddies on the lazy river.

Monday night after we arrived we headed into Gatlinburg and went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. We enjoyed seeing all of the weird stuff and watching Trey scream at the screaming box.

We had a very busy couple of days and came home exhausted, but it was totally worth it. I don't think it is a place I would want to go every vacation, but every once in a while it would be fun to head back. Friday we went and swam with friends at our local Rec center and then spent the rest of the weekend watching basketball. It was a great week. Now it is back to the grind.

February is a Short Month!

2011-03-06T19:05:00.006-06:00

My matching girls

My 4 matching KidsThe Sunday couch picture

Their favorite way to pose

One of these kids is not happy to have their picture taken?

So February came and went in a flash. We have been busy and I have been procrastinating blogging, but before March has come and gone I figured I better get a few things down before I forget.

Bayley finished a successful season of basketball. She scored a couple of times, hung with the boys, and said she might even play again next year. I am so glad that she had a positive experience. Honestly I was a lot worried when I saw the make up of her team and the league and that it was mostly older boys. But she really surprised me with how tough she was and how she didn't back down at all to the challenge. They didn't pass her the ball as much as she would have like, however the boys on her team were so cute when she scored....they cheered like she had just hit a game winning shot. I thought it was awesome. By the end of the season, numerous coaches let Bayley know how much she had improved and how much potential she does have. We will see what the future brings, but she now knows she can do a sport and have fun doing it. She still is taking piano and coming along very nicely. She likes it, but doesn't like to be pushed too much. Our new compromise to make practice a priority is that she doesn't get dessert that night unless she practices her piano. The key to Bayley's desire is found through her stomach and desire for sweets! She is also still taking ballet. She hasn't really made any friends in her class this year, so it hasn't been as enjoyable as she would have liked. However, she is very excited about her recital in June.

Bayley was the flag bearer for her class during her trip to the American Village.

Kendal also had a good time playing basketball. She is still trying to figure out the rules, which is hard to do when you don't play by the "real" rules in basketball. In her league they weren't allowed to steal the ball from the other team or guard outside a certain area in the key. So after watching a game with me on TV she was sure the teams were fouling and breaking the rules by stealing the ball and gaurding outside the key. She is feisty when she wants to be and is very determined. She practices a ton and loves to be competitive. I'm sure she will even enjoy basketball more once she is allowed to play by the "real" rules. Now that basketball is over, she is gearing up for softball. She has a great coach this year and is the oldest on her team. I think she is excited to be a leader and to be one of the best players on the team. They take their softball serious around here, so I hope it is a great season. In school, she has really caught the reading bug and is doing a great job. She has started chapter books and loves trying to keep up with the best readers in her class. She loves to be challenged and I love that!

Kendal on the court!

Trey is gearing up for his first season of T-ball. It should be interesting. He is excited though and hopefully will have a positive experience. He is still doing preschool twice a week and looks forward to learning and spending a couple of hours with his friends. He struggles sometimes with being the only boy with three sisters, like when they were matching dresses in the pictures above. He was sad and felt a little left out, but we did our best to color coordinate his outfit and make him feel a part of the group. He does love his sisters...sometimes a little too much, just ask Adison!

Adison is the "baby" of our family in every way. She is a bit spoiled and knows it! She loves attention, especially when it is positive and is a bit of a show off sometimes. She has started to say a few words like ball, thank you, please, mom, dad, dog, nose, eyes, but she still longs to be able to communicate with words better. It's hard to believe she turns 18 months this month. She is my buddy and is a trooper running errands and running kids with me most of the time.

Grandma G came to visit during her winter break and the kids loved it!

A real snow day in Alabama! The kids were out at 7 am checking out the white stuff!

We're BACK!

2011-01-30T19:29:00.004-06:00

Literally and figuratively we are back. It has taken a couple of weeks, but I am finally getting back into a routine. We made it through back surgery and Jeff is recovering well. The pain that was originally there and the reason for surgery is gone and he now is just dealing with slight post-surgery pain and looking forward to getting back to work and continuing to rehab.

We both now have a new perspective on dealing with pain and the slow recovery process that surgery entails. The first day he attempted to walk at the gym he was getting passed by old women. It was pretty humbling to say the least. We joked that he was getting smoked by old women. He has progressed nicely and last week was able to walk a brisk 3 1/2 miles around the track. There are still a lot of things that he can't do, but there are a lot of things that he can now do that he wasn't able to do just 3 weeks ago, like drive. I don't know if he missed driving as much as I missed him driving, but I am definitely glad that we have another set of wheels in the family again.

As for the rest of life, it keeps moving on. The girls are in the middle of basketball season and both are doing well. Now if you ask them, Bayley will say she doesn't like it and Kendal will say that she loves it. However, Bayley is hanging quite while with the 4th through 6th grade boys that she is playing against. She is a great rebounder and a great defender. I have been very impressed with her effort and know that if she decides to try again that she will only get better and probably like it even more....even though I am pretty sure that she would never admit liking it. She does however definitely like the concession stand that awaits her after each game. Kendal is getting the hang of the game. She has scored a couple of times and definitely gets excited when she is on the floor. Basketball takes up our Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings, but it sure is fun watching them play.

Kendal shooting a free throw

Bayley playing with the guys!

Kendal showing off her cute smile! She won't be toothless much longer.

Trey continues to enjoy preschool. He loves to write and will attempt to copy just about everything he sees and does a pretty good job at it. He can be the best of boys and the worst of boys all in the matter of minutes. He definitely is struggling with the I want it now and I don't care what you say attitude. I know eventually he will figure out who is boss...and realize that it is not himself.

Trey striking a pose!

I am loving Adison at this age. She is so much fun and so funny. She makes the best facial expressions. She knows what she wants and is pretty relentless at letting us know exactly what it is and when she wants it. She still isn't talking very much, but who needs to talk with 5 other people willing to help you out at any given time. Being the youngest in a busy family has made poor Adision have to adjust her schedule to ours more than we adjust ours to hers. Because of this, last week we finally drove her to exhaustion. Jeff was feeding her dinner, when he left the room to help one of the other kids and returned to find her passed out in her high chair...a first for one of our kiddos. She is trooper though and does a good job of being pretty flexible most of the time. She definitely has acquired her older sister's sweet tooth. She loves desserts just as much as Bayley....those two are going to have fun together.

Exhausted!!!

Just a few of her expressions! We love this girl!

Despite all of the goings on, I have very few pictures to show for it. February is bound to be better, right?

The girls trying to make the best of our icy snow day a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't really snow, just ice. The got out boogie boards and cardboard and had fun sliding down the hill.

Where to begin???

2011-01-06T08:12:00.006-06:00

It has been a crazy week. Hopefully I don't leave very much out, but here are the highlights.

We had a great Christmas at home. We had planned on having Grandma and Grandpa G come for Christmas Eve, however due to illness they were unable to make it. We missed them, but enjoyed our time together as a family. Christmas Eve we had our traditional dinner of breakfast for dinner and then we read the Christmas story as a family. Jeff organized the program very well and the kids enjoyed all of the singing. They hung in there pretty well despite all of the excitement of Santa coming tomorrow.

We started our Christmas morning at 6:30 am. We had to wake up Trey and Adison, but Kendal and Bayley had been awake for a while. The big surprise this year from Santa was Trey receiving a lump of coal. After months of threatening and months of him calling our bluff, Trey's naughty behavior caught up with him and all that was on the couch by his stocking Christmas morning was coal. We were anxious to see his reaction, but he kind of surprised us. I guess we prepared him pretty well that he might be getting coal, because he was just excited that he got a few things in his stocking. Santa did leave him a note that he had left a few presents on the back porch for Trey if his parents decided it was all right for him to have them. He has promised to do better and I hope the memories of coal stay present in his mind. Bayley's big gift was a new bike. Kendal was excited about her new vanity and Adison got a new ride on toy. We had fun opening presents together and spending a quiet day at home. I didn't get a picture but the kids were so excited that we had snow flurries on Christmas day. A white Christmas in Alabama is very rare, so they were pretty excited.

After Christmas is when things started getting crazy. The Tuesday after Christmas Jeff was scheduled to have back surgery to take care of a herniated disc that has been causing him pain for the last couple of years. We were anxious but ready to hopefully return him to full health. Monday he went to do pre-op stuff and that is when plans started falling apart. His quick appointments took a couple of hours, his phone crashed, my child care plans fell through at the last minute, and finally we got a call late that because of bad weather in the Northeast his insurance pre-approval had not gone through. I'm not one to give up on plans very easily, but at 9:30 Monday night we finally decided that it would probably be better to wait and reschedule the surgery for a couple of days later.

Tuesday morning we found out why things had fallen apart the day before. Jeff's beloved Grandma Eloise Thornton passed away on Tuesday morning. If Jeff had gone to surgery as scheduled it would have been highly unlikely that we would have been able to make the trip to Indiana to be at the funeral. We definitely recognized the Lord's hand in our change in plans and as a result Wednesday we headed to Indiana to be with Jeff's family for Grandma's funeral. The funeral was very nice and a great tribute to a great woman. We enjoyed being able to spend time with the Thornton family and reflect upon the good times we had spent with Grandma. Bayley will never forget her yummy angel food cake. I think Kendal and Trey will remember visiting her in the nursing home and the dog that was the home's permanent resident. I know Grandma loved having the kids around and I will always remember how happy she would be when we would arrive to see them. July 2010

Saturday we left Indiana and headed to Georgia to spend time with the Griffeth family. Grant and Alyssa were there with their two girls Olivia and Madeline who we do not get to see enough. It was fun to see how much they have grown and get to put a personalities with their cute faces. Spencer and Leigh and their kids Spence and Jaidyn also spent the day with us on Sunday. It was a lot of fun having such a big group of us together. As we keep adding kiddos to the mix it definitely gets a bit more crazy! Crazy but fun!! We enjoyed playing games and catching up. It will definitely be fun to have everyone together this summer at the Lake.

Monday morning before leaving town we made a quick trip to the dentist. As you can tell by Kendal's smile we needed some dental intervention (j/k). Kendal lost her two front teeth on consecutive days giving her a new look.
No really, Spencer was kind enough to squeeze us all in for cleaning before we left town saving us a trip back to Georgia later this month.

The rest of this week has been spent preparing for Jeff's surgery. Right now I am sitting in the waiting area killing time while I wait for word on how things went. We are excited that this might be his answer to his back pain and look forward to a positive outcome. Hopefully next post I will have good news to report!

Twas Two Days Before Christmas

2010-12-23T15:17:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas 2010

Twas two days before Christmas and things were finally settling down.

We're just finishing up the truffles to deliver around.

So that is the end of the rhyme time but really we are just settling in after a whirlwind of a December. It's been good. It is hard to believe that Christmas is just about here. After thinking, talking and preparing for months Saturday morning will come and the day will be gone before we know it. This year we are looking forward to waking up in our own beds on Christmas morning and enjoying the day together as a family. The next week we are headed to Georgia to spend time with the Griffeth's (minus Wes, Lindsay, Nate and Ryan). We are all very excited!

The girls have been out of school this week, so we have tried to do a couple of fun things with them during their down time. We've gone ice skating, spent some time at the library, and Jeff took the 3 oldest to the movies last night. Most of all I think they have enjoyed not having a schedule and have enjoyed lounging around for a couple of days.

Adison is in full walk mode. It is so fun watching this little person walking around. Jeff and I can't believe how big she is getting. She is growing up WAY too fast. She loves being able to carry things around as she toddles around. She is also figuring out what she wants and does a pretty good job of communicating what it is via fits and tantrums.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Holiday Season

2010-12-03T15:36:00.006-06:00

I love the holiday season. My kiddos love the holiday season. We love spending time with family and friends. We love all the excitement and extra activities that happen during this time of year.

We started out this year's holiday season by spending Thanksgiving in Indiana with Jeff's family. We had a great time and as usual were spoiled by the attention that everyone gave us. We always come home exhausted, but it is well worth it!

Bayley is always happy when someone will play her favorite game Monopoly with her...lucky Sydney.

Adison and Grandma Sara bonding

The kiddos with Grandma Nancy and Papa Rick

Adison decided to take off while we were in Indiana...she still prefers crawling to walking, but she can put together a nice little stroll when she wants to.

The kids posing in the new Christmas pajamas

Bayley's idea of bowling

Kendal and Trey loved bowling...Kendal proudly came in third behind Grandma Nancy and Jeff. In fact she will rattle off the scores if you ask her...she is one competitive girl.
Christmas came early and Grandpa Thornton's house

We visited Grandma Thornton at the nursing home and the kids loved the dog that is also a resident at the nursing home.

Eating with the Thornton clan.

I have spent the majority of this week in catch up mode. I'm getting there though and looking forward to the next couple of weeks of Christmas activities.

Blogercial

2010-11-17T14:20:00.005-06:00

So my previous post was a total "blogercial". A blogercial is a commercial in a blog. So you may ask, what was in it for me??? 50 free shutterfly cards...now I just have to get a decent family picture to use. That will be the hard part.

In other news:

We had an enjoyable Veteran's day. The girls had the day off of school so we did some fun activities to make the most of the time off. My recent new interest has become "secret shopping". I have always wanted to do something like that, but until recently had not been linked up with the right companies. A friend finally gave me some good referrals and I have been doing a couple a jobs a week. Most of them are easy and are catered around my schedule. Sometimes it backfires though and I am stressed trying to get a last minute job done. Some of the fun shops I've gotten to do include Quiznos, Five Guys and Fries, abercrombie, Gymboree, Sonic, Aldis, just to name a few. For Veteran's Day I was offered a shop to stay at a local Hampton Inn. I decided it would make for a fun evening for me and the kids, so I decided to give it a try. Since it is something we would never usually do, I didn't tell the kids and wanted to surprise them completely. So that evening I told them we were going to go out for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory, which was an extra special treat in and of itself. They were excited, but when they got there I told them it looked pretty crowded so maybe we could order our cheesecake to go and find somewhere a little more quiet and less crazy to eat it. I totally floored them when I said well why don't we go to a hotel close by. You should have seen their faces....it was definitely a is she serious look...I hope she is because that would be awesome. In the end it was a great surprise and we had a great time.

The following day we attended the largest Veteran's Day parade in the U.S. It was a perfect weather day and the kids had a lot of fun watching.

Today I was able to accompany Kendal on her field trip to the American Village. The field trip was a lot of fun as they got to re-enact the Pilgrims who came here on the Mayflower. She is such a funny girl. She so wants we to come and then she practically ignores me. If I didn't see her stealing glances to make sure I was there, I might feel offended.

Adison is growing up way too fast. In the last couple of weeks her personality has definitely evolved. She went from being completely attached to me and pretty much only me, to just about going to anyone at anytime except when she is tired. I think she figured out that she could see and do new things by hanging out with other people besides me. She recently took her first couple of steps, but definitely isn't a walker yet. I AM NOT in any hurry to have her running around here.

Finally, we made a quick trip to Georgia a couple of weeks ago. We had a fun-filled weekend with Grandma and Grandpa "G". As usual they had lots for us to do and we had a great time.

We are all excited about going to Indiana for Thanksgiving. It will be fun to hang out with Jeff's side of the family and spend time with them. The drive doesn't sound so fun, but fortunately we have pretty good travellers.

Holiday Cards

2010-11-09T13:42:00.004-06:00

Christmas is just around the corner and in order to try to make my December a bit less chaotic, I have begun thinking about what type of Christmas Card I am going to send this year. I love getting other people's cards with recent pictures of their family! It is always fun to see how their families have grown over the year. I don't know about you, but I am always looking for a simple solution to getting my Christmas cards done. The last couple of years I have used Shutterfly to order my cards. I can personalize the picture and greeting and be done in no time flat. Here is where I will be looking this year for my cards:
Christmas Cards

Holiday Cards

My in-laws love the picture calendars. Here is one of my favorite sites to be able to customize great photo calendars.
Photo Calendars

Boo Day!

2010-11-01T08:27:00.004-05:00

So this picture wasn't taken on Halloween, but it pretty much shows what they looked like on the actual day except for Kendal who was a witch not a bee.
Jeff even got into the festivities this year! He had a work event that was a Halloween bash so he was kind of forced into the action. The kids LOVED it!

Halloween festivities seem to span the entire month of October. My kiddos love Halloween. They love dressing up, they LOVE candy and they love all the parties and fun stuff. We had another enjoyable Halloween season. The kids had a great time carving pumpkins this year...each of them got their own pumpkin and were able to pick the design. Bayley carved her pumpkin pretty much on her own this year, which was a little scary at times since she was holding a sharp instrument.

Bayley with her cat pumpkin carving.

Trey showing off his mouse!

Kendal with her skull flag carving!

They loved taking out the guts!

This could be Halloween, but it was just her sister's make-up job!

It is not unusual to see Adison sticking out her tongue in pictures. Last week I attempted to have Adison's one year picture taken...yeah right! She cried the entire time. The above picture is the result of 35 minutes of torture and the closest thing we got to a smile. What a funny girl! Her personality continues to show itself more and more everyday. She loves animals and is absolutely thrilled whenever she sees one. She is getting more and more friendly with people, however, I believe she is friendly for selfish reasons and usually is using people to get what she wants.

Trey-4 years old

Kendal-6 years old

In other news, soccer season ended this last Saturday. Both Kendal and Trey had an enjoyable season and learned a lot. It was fun watching them play, but it will be nice to have our Saturday mornings back for a little while.

Mexico!

2010-10-17T19:36:00.006-05:00

Enjoying dinner for 2!

The first week in October Jeff and I took a vacation to Cancun, Mexico, alone, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Our actual anniversary was back in April, but because I was still nursing Adison we needed to wait until this fall to leave for an extended period of time. Jeff's sweet mom, Nancy, was kind enough to agree to take care of the 4 kiddos for 5 days while Jeff and I enjoyed some alone time! We had a great time and we're so glad that the kids were left in good hands. Nancy not only took care of them but spoiled them too. In fact when we got back on Thursday, Adison wasn't so sure about her Mom and Dad being home and seemed pretty comfortable with Grandma. It took her a little while to warm back up, but we are friends again.

Jeff and I stayed at an all-inclusive resort for the first time and I personally loved it. I loved not having to worry about the money portion of our trip. Because we went during the off-season the resort was pretty much empty. There were times when we were the only people laying at the pool or eating at a restaurant. That meants lots of great service and lots of quiet. Not only did we relax by the pool but we were also able to do some pretty fun things. The hotel we stayed at was also running a promotion where they gave us $750 to spend while we were there at the resort. With the money we both got massages and pedicures at the spa, we both went zip lining, we both went to a water park and then swam with dolphins and we both played a round of golf at the resort. We sure missed the kids and remarked many times how much they would have loved certain things we saw or did, but we also were reminded how much we do enjoy spending time with each other.

View from our room...not ocean view, but really we could see the ocean!

Jeff golfing on a picture perfect day!

Score!

2010-10-03T05:46:00.004-05:00

Trey scored his first soccer goal yesterday. I don't write enough about how funny this kid is. He says the funniest things...just about everyday he says something that totally cracks me up. He talks all of the time about how he will only get better at soccer if he practices. Now, so far he is a lot more talk than action, but I do think playing every week is helping him improve. On Saturday, he definitely was much more into the game and around the ball. When he scored his goal, him and another girl on his team were on a break away with her being a little bit in front of him, when she slowed just a little and that is when Trey stormed in a kicked the ball in. He was grinning ear to ear the rest of the game. He was so proud of himself! So much so that after the game on the way to the car he said "see what happens when you practice, you get better!"

Kendal is a scoring machine in soccer. She loves to play and is definitely one of the better players out there. However her score this week didn't come on the soccer field, but she scored her first lost tooth! Kendal is a lot like me in many ways, not just looks. I remember when I was young that I was one of the last people in my class to start losing teeth. Kendal as well has been very slow to lose teeth. She has been asking just about everyday for the last year if we will feel her teeth to see if one of her teeth is loose. About 2 months ago a permanent tooth showed up behind her baby teeth, yet she still hadn't lost any teeth. But last month her tooth finally started to get loose and after a month of talking and working at loosening this tooth, it finally came out on Friday. She was stoked! She has told everyone she sees that she lost a tooth and that the Tooth Fairy left her $1.

Kendal had a big week. On Thursday, I went with her on a field trip to an apple orchard. Jeff and I ended up jumping through hoops at the last minute to make sure that I was able to go after Trey and Adison started running fevers. Jeff took a vacation day and stayed home with the sick kids, while I accompanied Kendal on her trip. We had a good time and learned a lot about apples. Then on Friday her class had Granny Apple Days at school. Trey, Adison and I went and watched a little program and then ate apple treats with Kendal. She is such a fun girl who is growing up way too fast.

Our Baby is 1!

2010-09-25T16:07:00.004-05:00

She loves playing on the stairs

Adison turned 1 year old today. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year. She is my baby and I kind of want her to stay a baby for a long time. She definitely isn't listening to me and is ready to be big NOW. In the last couple of weeks especially she has been reaching new milestones it seems like everyday. Last week her first top tooth broke through and since then the other top tooth has as well. She is losing her toothless grin, which definitely makes her look more grown up. Last week she discovered that she could climb the stairs and they are her favorite new toy right now. She loves hanging out on the first couple of stairs and looking through the rails, making funny faces. She pulls up on everything and I've caught her a couple of times standing independently. I am in no hurry for her to walk, but I'm sure she will be walking around her within the next month or two. The other kids are excited that she is getting older and love interacting with their funny little sister.
Kendal and Spence in the jeep
Jaidyn was brave enough to ride with crazy driver Trey

Spencer, Leigh, Spence and Jaidyn came to Alabama to help us celebrate Adison's big day. We had a good time hanging out with them and we sure are glad that they live close enough that they can pull off a weekend trip to see the cousins. Bayley, Kendal, Trey and Adison LOVE seeing their cousins and enjoyed playing, playing and more playing! This morning Kendal and Trey had soccer games so we spent the morning at the ball fields. Its hard to believe that is fall in Alabama when its in the high 80's and blazing hot outside. This afternoon we grilled out, then finished off the party with cupcakes, ice cream and presents. Adison was ready to climb the presents...forget opening them!

She dug right in to her cupcake

Here are a few things that Adison is up to at 1 year old:

Adison is a great sleeper. She goes to bed around 7 pm and sleeps until 6 am. She takes a short nap in the morning and then a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. I'm so glad that she is a good sleeper...it's makes her and her mom HAPPY!

Adison's brother Trey loves her. He loves to bug her and most of the time she is a pretty good sport. She will let us know when she has had enough.

Adison loves to stick our her tongue. I think a lot of it has to do with her teeth coming it, but it is funny to watch her play with her tongue sticking out.

Adison is a great eater when it is food that she likes. Her favorites include pasta, waffles, yogurt, rice cereal and fruit, mixed vegetables and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She isn't that great of a drinker and until recently did not like milk. She will tolerate it now, but still does not drink a ton.

Adison loves giving kisses and telling her brother and sisters good night. Every night she accompanies Jeff and I as we put each child to bed. She loves tailing along and has picked up on the routine...including bippity, boppety, boop for Trey.

Adison's favorite words are more and Mom.

Adison likes music and will dance along when others are dancing.

Adison LOVES watching animals, especially dogs. She gets so excited when she sees a dog and loves watching them. She can make "doggy" sounds.

We love our Adison and we are so glad she is a part of our family!

September Summary

2010-09-19T19:33:00.011-05:00

An attempt at a family picture using the camera's self-timer feature

September has been a fun and busy month. Just about every weekend we have had some fun activity that we have gotten to participate in. I will try to cover the highlights in chronological order so that I don't forget anything.

Jaidyn's Birthday Party
The last weekend in August the kids and I travelled over to Georgia for the weekend to celebrate my adorable niece's first birthday. As usual Jaidyn's parents Leigh and Spencer threw a great party. Her cake was amazing, the food was great, the kids got balloon animals made (Trey has requested that we hire the crazy balloon lady to come to his party), the kids got to swim in the pool and we finished off the day by taking a quick trip to the Lake near their home. You really couldn't pack much more into a day, but we had a great time!

The beautiful birthday girl...she and Kendal could be sisters!

Bayley turning the kneeboard
Kendal was pumped she got up by herself on the kneeboard

We usually don't let Bayley leave the house with her hair this way

Trey was pumped he was brave enough to do the tube by himself
Adison loves dogs, so Grandma "G" is making friends with Buddy!
Adison loved the swing
The amazing birthday cake...we taxied the cake in the van...it was very nerve-racking!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we spent the 3 days at Lake Wedowee. Most of the wekend it was just our family, which was fun and relaxing. Saturday we did have an adventure on the lake. We decided to take out just one jet-ski and let the kids all ride on the back of the tube. We were having a great time until about 20 minutes into the fun our jet-ski died...it wouldn't start. We were stranded...all 6 of us a good distance away from the dock. Fortunately we were able to flag down another jet-skier who took Jeff back to the dock to retrieve our other jet-ski so that he could tow us back. While I was there stranded with the four kids, the girls took it upon themselves to see if they could pull the jet-ski through the water. They made decent progress but it probably would have taken at least a day to get back at the speed they were going. It didn't take long for Jeff to come to our rescue and we made it back safe and sound. We think the broken jet ski just had a low battery because when we took it out on Monday we didn't have any further problems. We did talk our good friend's the Dewsnups into joining us on Monday afternoon for some lake fun. It was fun hanging out with them and watching the kids jump back on the tubes over and over again for another beating. Hopefully it isn't the last weekend on the lake, but the way things are going it just might be(sadly).

The kids on the tube

Corrie was brave enough to ride with Brian

Grandma Nancy and Pawpaw Rick Visit

Last weekend Rick and Nancy (Jeff's step-dad and Mom) made the trip from Indiana to spend the weekend with us. My kiddos love having them here, even without Dixie their dog. We kept them busy and sent them home ready for a vacation from their vacation. Last Saturday was Kendal and Trey's first soccer games. It was an extremely hot and long morning, but despite the heat we had a good time. Kendal started out the soccer season by scoring 2 goals and leading her team to a victory. She is definitely one of the more skilled players in the league despite being one of the younger girls (she is the only 1st grader on her team, the rest are 2nd graders) She loves soccer and loves competition. It is fun watching her play. Jeff and I are helping to coach Trey's little soccer team. This is his first experience in organized sports, so our focus is to hopefully create a fun atmosphere that will keep him coming back for more. He is funny to watch. Most of the time he as well as 90% of the other kids in his league, have no idea what is going on. There are always one or two kids on the field that "get it" and seem to dominate. Last week there were 2 brothers who were all-stars. I didn't think Trey really was paying to close of attention, but after the game he commented that he heard one of the good players say that he practiced everyday at home. At that point, he said that he needed to practice everyday to get better. His highlight of the first game had to come when he totally pushed a kid over, bringing oohs and aahs from the parents in the stands. He was ready to cry but after a quick talk from his dad he got right back into the game.

After the games, we ate a quick lunch at home and then took Rick and Nancy to our summer hang out, Alabama Adventures. The park was not crowded at all and we enjoyed a couple of hours there. It was a long hot day, but we had a great time. We really are blessed to have such a great family and we are so glad when they come to visit!

Adison and Rick hanging out at the game

The girls hanging in the shade in between games

Trey and Daddy on the soccer field

Kendal waiting for the next big play

Bayley's way of enjoying the games
Adison and I at Alabama Adventures...still smiling after a long day!
Trey's broken butterfly....he loves bugs right now!
Kendal and Jeff skying high on the tube
> Adison and Bayley enjoying the cool water

This Weekend

We had plenty that went on the last couple of days as well. On Friday, Trey, Adison and I went and ate lunch with Bayley at school. She had her first big project of the year due on Friday so her teacher allowed us up to the room to take a peek at all of the completed projects. Bayley was of course my favorite. The assignment was to make a 3d replication of the animal she had been assigned to research, in this case a blood star. After talking about several different alternatives, I suggested that she decorate a cake to look like the blood star. She immediately fell in love with the idea and in the end did a great job decorating the cake. The class not 0nly loved looking at the unique project, but also they enjoyed eating the project as well.

Saturday was another morning filled with soccer games. Kendal again scored and continues to love everything about soccer. Trey continues to learn and vowed to practice more this week at home. After soccer, we met Grandma and Grandpa "G" at the Oxford Olive Garden for a early dinner to celebrate Grandpa's upcoming birthday. We had a great time eating with them and were glad that we got to see them even if it was only for a couple of hours. Jeff and I had stake conference on Saturday night, so we left the tired kids home with a sitter and enjoyed a nice evening together.
The beginning of the blood star decorating

1/2 of 18=9

2010-08-22T13:49:00.011-05:00

9 years old

8 years old
7 years old

Bayley loves the water (6 years old)

5 years old

4 years old

2 years old

1 year old

I can't believe that Bayley turned 9 yesterday. She already acts a lot older than her age, but as someone kindly (or unkindly) pointed out the other day, with her turning 9 it means she has reached the 1/2 way point to what some consider adulthood. She is at the age where she wants to be older than she really is and Jeff and I keep telling her to enjoy her childhood and all of the great things about being a kid....hard to do when you spend the majority of your time focused on all the things you can't do because you are a kid. (I remember being that way too)

We celebrated Bayley's birthday this year by having a party for her friends on Friday night. Bayley loves to cook, so we decided to have a cooking party. She planned the menu of Lasagna, french bread, fruit kabobs, Oreo truffles and cupcakes. Each of the girls at the party made their own individual lasagnas, rolled out their own individual loaves of french bread, put together their own kabobs, rolled truffles and decorated their own large cupcakes. It was a busy evening, but I think all left very full and had a good time. We also played a couple of games including, chocoholic, taste testers, memory, and pop the balloon. It was an exhausting evening, but fortunately everything turned out.

Yesterday, for Bayley's actual birthday, we had a pretty relaxing day. She wanted Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast so we headed over to the local Krispy Kreme to watch donuts be made and indulge in my husband and kiddo's favorite breakfast treat. Grandma and Grandpa "G" made the trip from Georgia to spend the day with Bayley and us. We played an exciting game of Monopoly (the full version...only because it was Bayley's birthday), opened presents, and then went to Chick-fil-a for dinner. It was nice not having anything we had to do yesterday other than celebrate Bayley's birthday.Bayley blowing out the candles on the decorated cupcakes

The girls eating dinner

Decorating cupcakes

Here are a few things about Bayley at 9 years old:

Bayley is in the 99th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight...she most likely will be a pretty tall girl. She continues to have beautiful blond hair that she insists that we keep long.

Bayley just started the 4th grade and has loved the first few days of school. She really is a very responsible student and I love that she truly enjoys learning. She loves to read and never leaves home without a book or two in hand, just in case there will be some extra time to read.

Bayley is very creative and uses her dancing, crafts, and designing as creative outlets. She is taking jazz and tap again this year and is excited about her new teachers. She also will start back with piano in September and will hopefully learn some more church hymns. She also loves to design clothing and got a very cool new design kit for her birthday.

Bayley loves jewelry and earrings. She loves to accessorize and got some great new clothes for her birthday that she has already picked out "just the earrings" to go with them.
Bayley is a good big sister. Her sisters and brother sure do look up to her and she does a pretty good job of including them in her play. Like all of us she needs some alone time, and so she loves having her own little hideaway in her bedroom.

We love Bayley and we are so glad that she is a part of our family!

A week of FIRSTS

2010-08-15T19:46:00.004-05:00

We had a busy week filled with a lot of FIRSTS. In fact, everyone in our family had a FIRST something this week.

Jeff experienced his first time at Alabama Adventures. The kids and I have enjoyed this amusement/water park all summer long. We had season passes and usually went a couple of times during the week throughout the summer. Jeff did not have a pass, so he just got to hear about all of the fun. Well, with our season passes we did get a couple of free passes that we could use during the months of August-October, so yesterday despite a drizzly morning we spent the afternoon at the amusement park. The kids loved showing their Dad all of the cool rides and taking him on all of the waterslides. I think we wore him out, but we had a great time. Because of the rain the park was not crowded at all, which made it even more enjoyable.

Bayley had her first day of 4th grade last week. She loves school and for the last month has complained that summer is too long....we told her that we were going to remind her that she said that in a couple of years. She has a great teacher, Mrs. Crowley, who is a fellow BYU grad and member of the church. Besides those great attributes, she is also known as a great teacher. Bayley loved the first 3 days of school and is looking forward to a great year.

Kendal had her first day of 1st grade last week. Her teacher is Mrs. Pirkle, who is one of her friend's mom. She was excited that she already knew her teacher and is excited about having a great school year. Kendal gave a talk in primary today at church. She is such a funny girl. We started practicing yesterday morning because she wanted to read the talk this time around. Well, she did a good job, but decided it was too long and she didn't want to read it. So this morning we decided that she would tell the story of Lazarus from memory for her talk. She wanted Jeff to stand by her in case she needed him, but other than that she seemed ready to go. Well, we get there to watch her give her talk and the first thing she says to Jeff is do you have the paper with the typed out story. She then proceeded to read the story, with the help of her dad. So much for planning!

Trey had his first 4th birthday this week (so maybe a stretch on the firsts, but we had to make it work with the theme). We had his party last weekend at the lake so we had already opened most of the presents before his birthday, but we did do some fun things on his actual birthday. His first request was Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner that night. He had a great time with his family and a fun birthday. The rest of this week he has made sure to let everyone he sees know that he is now 4 years old. He is still such a fun kid who keeps us all laughing.

Adison finally got her first two teeth this week. I think she is my latest teether, waiting until 10 1/2 months to get her first tooth. She hasn't really complained at all about teething. It is funny that when we try to brush them or feel them she sticks her tongue out and covers them. She definitely hasn't let the lack of teeth slow her down from eating table food. She can gnaw just about anything we put in front of her. Tonight the kids were excited that they taught Adison a new trick (they are loving teaching her new things). We were eating cookies, which Adison of course liked, but before we would give her another bite we made her sign "more". It didn't take her long to figure it out and not only was she signing "more" but she was also saying it! She was loving her cookie and the kids were loving her new trick!

Finally, my first really starts tomorrow as I begin the journey of training for my first FULL marathon. Leigh, my sister-in-law, has talked me in to attempting to run the Memphis Marathon in December. I am excited about it and am ready to check running a full marathon off of my list of "thing to do". We found a training schedule where we only will have to run 4 days a week, with Saturdays being our long days. I'm sure the training will get old quickly, but crossing that finish line totally makes it worth it (at least I am hoping).

Adison is 10 months

2010-08-08T19:51:00.003-05:00

Crawling
Being funny

So maybe I'm a couple of weeks late but before I miss the opportunity altogether I thought I would post about what Adison is doing is 10 months. About 3 weeks ago Adison started the move. At first you couldn't really call it crawling, but more of a sitting push, but she has now graduated into a full crawl and is getting faster everyday. She loves her new found freedom and I am now constantly scanning the floor for small items she could put in her mouth. She can pull up on furniture and will straighten her legs out while crawling into a push up position.

Adison continues to show us cute parts of her personality. She can be quite the ham. She feeds off her siblings and they are now excited that she is now mimicking some of their actions. She can bop it (dance), shake her head no, and do the "I don't know" with her hands. They all love playing with her...sometimes too much. But she definitely lets them know when she has had enough.

I am still nursing her, but she is becoming less reliant on me and almost too busy sometimes to really get anything out of it. She remains a great sleeper, just an early riser. She rarely sleeps past 6 am. She still needs two naps a day, but can sometimes skip one if we are busy without becoming too much of a bear. She is often forced to go with the flow with our busy schedule and sometimes will have to make do with a 20 minute nap in the car while we drive home. Thank goodness she is pretty flexible.

She enjoys table food much more than her baby food, but will tolerate it occasionally. The only thing slowing her down is that she still has ZERO teeth. The bottom two look like they could pop through anytime, but still no show as of 10 1/2 months. She is a good little eater and so far eats a good variety of foods. She kicks her feet to let you know if she wants what you are eating or drinking and if that doesn't work than she will resort to screaming.

We love our Adison at 10 months and are both sad and excited that she is getting older.

Hoosier State Fun!

2010-08-01T20:20:00.004-05:00

Nancy and the kids

Last week we had the opportunity to visit Jeff's family in Indiana. We had a great time as usual spending time with his great family. The first couple of days we spent with Nancy and Rick. While we were there the kids rode bikes, did some crafts, played with their cousins Sydney and Jordan, and swam. They loved every minute. It was great to spend time relaxing with family and enjoying their great company. We also got to see Grandma Sara, Joanne, Michelle, Alex, Natalie, Jake, Jody, Marty, Lucille, Scotty and Jason. We always leave wishing we got to see them all more often. Probably the best way to really show everything we did is through pictures...here are a few! Thank goodness I meant to blog about this earlier this week, so my pictures from the trip were uploaded before I lost my camera yesterday. (see the post below)

Adison is another grandchild that loves the swing

Kendal was excited to be riding Sydney's big bike

This is how you keep a 10 month old happy after 7 hours in the car

The kids love the pool in Rising Sun

The babies are growing up

All of us at the pool...Jeff was out golfing with Marty

The last couple of days in Indiana we spent with Daryl, Terri, Erin, Grandpa Thornton, Grandma Thornton, Cheryl, Barry and Kelly. Once again the kids had a great time and wished they got to see everybody more often. The kids travelled pretty well both ways of the 8 hour ride to and from home. They watched lots of movies, ate lots of snacks, and rarely slept. It was a great trip and we hopefully will get to make another one up there during the holidays.

The kids loved playing with Champ

After eating with Grandpa Thornton

With Grandma Thornton at the Nursing Home

Not so Zoomerang

2010-07-31T21:21:00.002-05:00

Tonight me and the three older kids headed out to Alabama Adventures to see a concert. We got there a little early so we decided to ride a couple of the amusement park rides. They have a couple of high thrill rides that we still haven't gone on this summer, so I decided to show my kids just how tough their mom was by jumping on the Zoomerang roller coaster. This coaster takes you upside down twice going forward, then reverses back taking you upside down twice going backwards. The good news: I survived the ride. The bad news: not only did I lose my camera, but I almost lost my dinner. I'm not quite as tough as I used to be. I am totally bummed about the camera. It must have slipped out of my pocket on one of the 4 loopty loops. However, I am still keeping my fingers crossed that maybe it slipped out on one of the earlier rides and maybe just maybe it will show up in the lost and found when I return on Monday. My camera has been a good camera...we've been together for over 2 years. There are a bunch of milestones and events coming up in the next couple of weeks where I will definitely need a camera, so if there is no camera on Monday I will be looking for a replacement next week. Definitely, not so zoomerang!

How to Make the Most of Your Summer Vacation

2010-07-16T15:09:00.006-05:00

Summer vacation is so short and there are so many cool things to do during the summer, that we tend to go non-stop around here. By the time it is all over I think I may need a vacation from my summer vacation, but in the meantime we have been having a lot of fun. Some of the fun things we have done in the last couple of weeks include:

Trey, Kendal and I went and watched the Mitchell Musso concert at Alabama Adventures. With our season passes they have concerts throughout the summer that are free, so we are taking advantage of the "free-ness" and enjoying some good (and not so good) music. Tomorrow Kris Allen is playing, so we may head over because I actually like him and his music.

We celebrated Jeff's birthday. We are so lucky to have such a great husband and dad. My kids sure do love him and I do too!

July 4th weekend we headed back over to Wedowee to spend some quality time with family. Spencer and Leigh came with their family and we also got to enjoy the company of my Aunt Angelia, Aunt Aurelia, Uncle Dick, cousin Hannah and her kids Reid, Ava, and Porter and of course, Grandma and Grandpa "G". Once again it was a houseful, but definitely a fun houseful. We enjoyed beautiful weather and spent time at the lake and in the pool. We capped off our July 4th festivities on Saturday night by doing fireworks. It was a great weekend.

Trey showing his July 4th spirit even while sleeping

The boys shooting off Roman Candles

The lake wouldn't be the lake without smores

The babies enjoyed the evening as well

The next week the kids and I headed to Georgia for a couple of days while Jeff was out of town with work. While in Georgia, we got our teeth cleaned and checked by Spencer, went to the World of Coke museum, and spent quality time with Grandma and Grandpa G. It was a fun couple of days and my kiddos weren't ready to leave when it was time to go.

Last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. Our faithful readers know just how much our family enjoys Chick-fil-a, so you know we did not let an opportunity for free food at Chick-fil-a pass us by. The deal was if you dressed up like a cow you received a free meal. So all of us sported our best cow spots and hit 3 different Chick-fil-a's in 2 different states for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Completely crazy, but totally up our thing.

Trey is our crazy cow...he insisted on a head piece and the pink ears just didn't work

This year I did a little square foot garden. In it I planted 3 different types of tomato plants, a zucchini plant, squash plant, two red pepper plants and a watermelon plant. So far it has been my most successful gardening year after many unsuccessful tries. We have gotten lots of cherry and Roma tomatoes and a few beefsteak tomatoes before the plant gave up, and it looks like we are going to get 3 red peppers. I am still crossing my fingers that we get some squash and zucchini. The plants are healthy and flowering, but no veggies to show for it. I think it is because I have only seen female flowers on the plants...how can I get some male flowers?? Nonetheless, I think this year may have inspired us to try again in the future and see if we can continue our successful streak.

Last week our Relief Society had a cake decorating class. I signed up not for myself, but in the hopes that they would let Bayley come and watch as she loves to decorate cakes. They let her not only watch but fully participate. She loved every minute of it and did a great job. She is looking forward to the next class when we return from our trip to Indiana.

On Wednesday the Relief Society did a lunch activity for moms and kids at a local state park that had a lake and a beach. We packed our lunch and headed off for an adventure. The kids had a great time but it was super hot. Adison and I were not in the water so we didn't stay too long. The park also had a little petting zoo, which we hit on the way out which the kids enjoyed. It is always fun to find something new and exciting to do close to home. We will definitely head back sometime when it is not so hot.

In between the big events we spend most other days either at the library, Alabama Adventures and occasionally we have a chill day at home....nothing like an air-conditioned house to escape the heat. Next week we headed off for another adventure, this time we are going to Indiana to spend time with Jeff's family. The kids are looking forward to another great trip.

Last but definitely not least, I am way over due on documenting what Adison is up to at 9 months. I took her to her well check up and she weighed 17 pounds 5 ounces (25th percentile) and was 29 inches long (90th percentile). She still has zero teeth, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to try everything that we are eating. She has just started moving in the last week or so...it's almost a crawl, but her own little version. She loves to dance and will start bopping her head whenever she hears music. She is quite the trooper as she braves the heat and long days while the rest of us play. We love our little Adison!

Griffeth Family Reunion...A week at the Lake

2010-06-25T08:51:00.006-05:00

Six years ago a tradition was started...one week at a Lake with the entire Griffeth Family. Six years ago there were 9 adults and 2 children. This summer there were 8 adults and 8 children (we were missing Grant, Alyssa and Olivia). Every summer we seem to grow in numbers and every summer we add a new element of fun to our family traditions. Last week was our annual Griffeth Family Reunion at Lake Wedowee and as always there was good food, lots of games, lots of time in the Lake, lots of time in the pool, and of course lots of laughter and fun. My kiddos look forward to this week all year long. It is so fun to see cousins that we don't get to see very often and to spend an entire week enjoying their company. It is also fun to see how everyone has grown since the last year and the new dynamics a year in growth can make. For example, this year Trey and Nate got along great and were best buds most of the week. Here are some of the highlights in pictures:

Wes got the award for best spills during the week (this is him biffing it while tubing, he also biffed it with Nate on the tube, and finally he totally drank lake showing off on the kneeboard)

Yep, that is me skiing! Not only did I ski, but I kneeboarded for the first time successfully!

Grandpa and Adison were pals on the golf cart

Wes striking a pose before biffing it!

Kendal also kneeboarded for the first time! You go girl!

Bayley kneeboarding...she is definitely a lake junkie!

Trey on the boat...he preferred the jet ski rides the most last week. He love jumping the big waves that the boat provided!

Jeff and Adison...I wish they made infant life jackets more comfortable. She loved it as long as the boat was moving.

Kendal enjoying smore night!

Nate showing off his marshmellow face!

Bayley and Wes tubing!

Grandma "G" reading bedtime stories to grandkids.The babies were very patient with the rest of us.
Spencer and Spence at the wheel of the boat!

Family Fun

2010-06-06T14:29:00.005-05:00

It has been a fun and exciting couple of weeks. Besides the end of the school year activities, we have also incorporated a couple of trips and lots of fun activities into our schedule. The highlight had to be skipping the last day of school and heading to the beach for a couple of days of fun in the sun. We made it just in time to miss the oil and were actually able to enjoy both the beach and the water. We had a great time playing in the sand and the ocean, but when we tired of those we were able to enjoy the nice pool at our hotel. One afternoon we took the kids out to try putt-putt golf for their first times. It was hilariously fun. Bayley was actually pretty good while acting too cool for the sport, Kendal was competitive as usual, and Trey was stubbornly determined to do it his own way. The phrase of the day was "sign him/her up" if someone did a good job on a particular hole. Trey would finish and say "am I ready to be signed up???". So funny. Adison loved the sand and did a very good job of playing in it and not eating it. She only ran into problems when she wanted to rub her eyes, which suprisingly was not very often. We had a great time and enjoyed a couple of fun days together as a family.

After one day at home so that we could go to church, we spent Memorial Day at Lake Wedowee with Grandma and Grandpa "G". We took a couple of different tubes out and enjoyed the lake while the weather was good. And of course, when we were playing in the lake or the pool we were playing games, which is always fun!

To cover some of the other stuff we have been up to I will do a quick update on each of the kids.

Bayley

Bayley finished up an excellent school year. She finished with straight A's and made the honor roll. She will miss her great third grade teacher, but is looking forward to moving up to 4th grade! The last week of school she also had her first piano recital. She did an excellent job playing "Recess Rock" and "Old MacDonald Had to Rock". She has learned a lot in a short amount of time. Yesterday was Bayley's dance recital. She performed in 3 dances as part of the mini-dance team and did an excellent job. Watching her perform you can tell that she really enjoys being on stage...maybe she doesn't always like practicing, but she does like when everything comes together. She will try to keep busy this summer reading books....her goal is to read 10,000 pages this summer. We've signed up for every reading program known to man...as if she needs motivation to read???

Kendal

Kendal completed a great kindergarten year. She had an excellent teacher who absolutely adored her. Funny story about Kendal....as part of her school's field day activities each class chose 2 boys and 2 girls (supposedly the fastest) to represent their class in the "Top Gun Run" for their grade. Kendal was chosen to represent her class. During the week leading up to the race she was nervous about coming in last during her race. Now as a side note, Kendal is a pretty fast runner when she wants to be. However, she is easily distracted and sometimes spends more time looking around then running. So our advice to her was just to do her best, not quit, and try to run without looking around so much. Well, she came home from Field Day as the "Top Gun Runner" for kindergarten girls in her school...She WON! She was so excited. I guess kindergarten was the first race of the day (they race in front of the whole school) and as she ran towards the finish line people were chanting her name! She too is spending a lot of time reading this summer. She wants to catch up with her sister so badly and be able to read big chapter books, but I have to remind her often that Bayley didn't begin reading big books, but had to start out with shorter chapter books before she moved onto the big books. I love that she wants to and is now able to read.

Trey

Trey is enjoying having his sisters home during the day. They both read to him and play with him (most of the time). Occasionally he will complain that they are not including him and his feeling are genuinely hurt. Sometimes its hard to be a boy among so many girls. He has picked up right where he left off as far as swimming. He loves the water and during our beach vacation made many people nervous while we were at the pool. Under my watchful eye, he would occasionally wander to the deeper end to jump into the pool. One particular time he was getting ready to jump in and I watched two ladies stop him and ask him if he knew how to swim. When he said yes, they weren't sure whether to believe him or not, but then he jumped. I think they were surprised that he did just fine. Now for a funny Trey story. During our recent visit to the lake, we talked Trey into trying one of the tubes all by himself....which was a huge step, because until recently he didn't really even like to go tubing. Well, with this particular tube if you don't lean back during "take-off" the tube goes forward and you will end up drinking some lake water. Well, I took off with him holding on for dear life and sure enough he flipped over and ended up in the lake. He was so mad!!! He was screaming and crying and hitting the water. So as I drove up to get him out of the water, I yelled to him "That was so cool...how did you do that?" By the time we hit the dock, he had forgotten how mad he was and thought he was pretty tought stuff for doing a "trick" on the tube. Funny, funny, boy.

Adison

Adison is 8 months old! She is still a funny little girl and every day we get another glimpse into her blossoming personality. She is starting to open up a little more to new faces and will actually smile at other people other than her immediate family. She has learned how to clap and just started to figure out waving bye-bye this week. She is a pretty picky eater and will not open up if she doesn't like what is offered. There is no talking her into it either. She has learned how to drink out of a straw and a sippy cup and loves to drink all of the time. She still isn't a mover...not that I'm complaining, but is getting more brave everyday with how far she is willing to stretch to reach something. Still no teeth...again, not complaining. Overall, Adison is a great sport with tagging along and going with the flow of our busy lives.

Fun, fun stuff. We love summer and are enjoying every minute.

The smile on the kiddos faces....priceless!

2010-05-16T19:28:00.003-05:00

Do you ever get in the middle of a project and wonder to yourself why in the world you decided to start the project at all? In the last couple of weeks I can say I have had those feelings/thoughts on numerous occasions. The last couple of weeks we have been doing projects. With our new house, has come many projects. In many ways it makes us miss our last house even more....when we bought that house there were ZERO projects to be done. The only thing we did while we were there was maintain. However, this house is another story. There is a decent sized list of things we would like to do to make this place better. Last weekend we tackled one of the top items on the list....put in a swingset for the kids. Initially we had talked about hiring someone to come level out a place in the backyard so that we could put in the swingset. But after numerous extremely high dollar bids and a grandpa who stepped up to help, we decided to do it ourselves. We spent all weekend building a retaining wall, building a swingset, transporting mulch and spreading pine straw. It was a lot of hard work! Many times we wondered why we were doing all of it....then, our kids jumped on the swing set for the first time. You should have seen the smiles. They have loved it! They ask in the morning to go out and swing before school. The first thing they do when they get home is swing. My kiddos love the outdoors and they love their swing set! Thanks to my hardworking husband and dad, we saved at good chunk of change and we have a great place for the kids to play.

Some of the other projects as of late have had nothing to do with the house, but are just a product of being a mom. Kendal's kindergarten class had their musical program a couple of weeks ago. We were asked to come up with a cow costume for her to wear. Now you may be thinking that a cow costume really isn't that hard to do...which it isn't, however when you really aren't that crafty, like me, and you are asked to do something like that it really is a bit stressful. In the end I think the costume turned out all right and she made a very cute looking cow. She loved preforming and was excited her Grandpa could be there to watch her program. Bayley also had a crafty project that I was asked to participate in. The Activity Day Girl's at church had a special mother/daughter activity where we worked together to make a pillowcase for Bayley's room. Bayley got to pick out her own frabric and loved showing off her sewing skills (thanks Heidi) to the other girls. It was fun and a pretty full proof project for a mom like me!

Trey's only projects have come with his preschool. Myself and two other women with kids Trey's ages put together a little preschool where we take turns once a week teaching and doing activities with the kids. The kids look forward to Tuesday's all week long. My last preschool day before we take a break for the summer was a couple of weeks ago. We decided to take a field trip to a strawberry patch. The kids loved it and the strawberries were delicious.

Yesterday was Kendal's last softball game. They had an end of the season tournament, where her team was the #1 seed entering the tournament, but after a very poor first inning they lost the first game and were done for the year. It was an interesting season in that Kendal's coach knew absolutely nothing about softball. So the fact they she learned anything about the game is amazing in and of itself. She definitely improved as the season went on and she says that she wants to play again next year. It was funny how after they lost their game most of the girls really didn't seem to care....Kendal however, after getting into the car to leave was pretty distraught and upset that they had lost. I love that she is so competitive!

We've been busy and really are just gearing up for a busy summer. We can't wait! So whenever I ask myself why I do some of the crazy, busy things that I do....I just have to remember the smiles on my cute kid's faces....they really are priceless!

Country Music Madness

2010-04-25T20:29:00.003-05:00

The only picture of Leigh and I at the race

16 weeks of training, many early morning runs (5 am), logging way too many miles on a treadmill, passing the finish line in Nashville....priceless! I did it, again. I can't believe I signed up for the craziness of training and running another 1/2 marathon, but I did. They are almost becoming addictive...almost. My time was 2 hours 12 minutes and 45 seconds. Not my best time, but I'll take it any day. I'm not a long distance runner...in fact I really don't enjoy running unless their is a ball that I am chasing, however I run to stay in shape and so that I will be able to eat what I want to eat. It was a lot of fun this time training and running with my sister-in-law, Leigh. She is a much better runner than I, so she keeps me motivated to want to do better. Maybe next time I can hang...but don't count on it.

The kids and I drove up to Nashville Friday morning so that we could do some fun stuff while we were there. We spent some time at the Expo gathering free goodies and then the kids and I headed off to the Adventure Science Museum. We got in free because we are members of our local science museum, which was great for me, and the kids enjoyed the new stuff at this museum and had a great time.Trey the crazy ambulance driverKendal working hard to get her heart pumping

After the museum we headed to the hotel for some swimming, then dinner and then we called it an early night. Leigh and I headed out about 5:15 am for the race, but due to traffic we barely made our start time of 7 am. It was crazy running with 40,000 people. That is a lot of people....and running 13.1 miles surrounded by and dodging hot sweaty people just adds to the exhaustion. Jeff and the kids attempted to make it to the finish line, but there were just too many people. I totally appreciate that they even attempted to come and I was very glad they were able to find me and pick me up so I didn't have to walk home.

We had a great time and I'm glad I did it. However, I am very much looking forward to doing something other than running when I go to the gym next week, whether it be a spin class, the elliptical, or weight training.

The kids had a great couple of days. Besides going to Nashville, Thursday night was their Family Fun Fair at school. It's basically the school's big fundraiser where they have a big carnival with rides, games, food, etc. Bayley was stoked because she won once doing the cake walk and once doing the teacher treat bag (a bag full of treats). They all had a great time and walked away exhausted and happy. Kendal also had a softball game that night. She continues to improve and understand what's going on each and every game. In fact, Thursday night she was playing short stop and made an unassisted out at second base on a ground ball. We were all very excited!
Kendal at bat
Sunday picture

10 Years...Seems Like Just Yesterday

2010-04-21T18:39:00.003-05:00

As of April 22, 2010, Jeff and I have been married for 10 years! So hard to believe. We were reflecting last night on what 10 years has gotten us:

4 Beautiful Children - Bayley, Kendal, Trey and Adison. They are all so much fun!

8 moves to 4 different states.

A new career. When we married 10 years ago we both were planning on Jeff retiring from the military. The Lord led us down a different path and now we are enjoying our current employment with Pfizer.

Numerous church calling which have helped us grown and learn.

Experience!

Good times and great memories!

A better life than I ever even imagined!!

Happy Anniversary Jeff! I sure do love ya! We are planning on taking a short trip once I can ensure that my sweet Adison can go a couple days without her food source (me).

Chicks

2010-04-13T22:04:00.002-05:00

Better Late than Never

2010-04-07T09:53:00.006-05:00

I've been neglecting blogging this year for one reason or another. In the back of my mind I always have a list of what I need to blog about and why, so today's post is my better late than never post. The biggest reason why I blog is to document/journal what is going on in our lives right now. We have definitely had quite a few things happen in the last couple of weeks so here are the highlights.

Spring Break 2010

The girls had spring break from school the 3rd week in March, way too early if you ask me. It was still quite cold outside and from what I have heard it was even colder down south at the beach, so we decided to hang out here in good old Birmingham and do some of the fun stuff around here. Our first trip was to the McWane Science Center. It is a great big science museum filled with fun stuff for all ages. It seems like everyone else on spring break had the same idea that day, but despite the large crowds the kids had a great time. We liked it so much we headed back again on Wednesday where once again we fought huge crowds, but still had a good time. Our next mini-trip was up to Huntsville, Alabama to the Space & Rocket Museum. To tell you the truth I was expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by the large amount of activities and exhibits for the kids to enjoy. We had a great time and I definitely think we will try to make it back up there sometime this summer. Friday we spent the morning at the mall where Kendal got her nails painted, then we met Jeff for lunch and Jeff and Bayley headed to the movies to see the Lightening Thief. Spring break flew by, but overall I think the kids had a good time. I always think it is a good sign that the girls were excited to head back to school the next week, however it definitely made us all pretty anxious for summer to come along.

Adison is 6 Months

Hard to believe my baby is already 6 months old. I took her for her check up and she weighed 15 pounds 7 ounces and was 261/2 inches long, which equates to 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. She is a funny girl, definitely a momma's girl. Her demeanor reminds me quite a bit of Kendal's when she was this age. She is a happy baby, however she is not one to quickly smile at strange faces...she will study you out first. She has just started rolling over and sitting up on her own. She grabs at just about everything and thinks that all things are intended for her. She is most entertained by her big brother Trey who can get her to crack up just by walking by. She refuses to take a bottle, which has made her and I pretty much inseparable. I am working on getting her to use a sippy cup, but she is stubborn enough to give me a good fight each time I do. It is so much fun to watch her little personality develop. She is such a great addition to our family.

Trey's Surgery

Last Friday was Trey's surgery to have his tooth removed. Jeff accompanied him to the hospital, which worked out well so that I could stay home with Adison as well as prepare for Kendal's birthday party that afternoon. The surgery was first thing in the morning and everything went well during the surgery, however as Trey was waking up I guess he bit his tongue pretty good. In fact I think Jeff was more concerned about Trey's tongue than the missing tooth. Now that we are 4 days post-operation, the tongue has definitely given us much more difficulty than anything else. He is still pretty sore, however the swelling has gone down dramatically. The only other complication Trey had was a little bit of nausea after the surgery. Jeff had promised to take Trey to Krispy Kreme donuts after the surgery since Trey wasn't allowed to eat all morning. Well I guess as Jeff was checking out at the register he sat Trey on the counter at which point Trey began to projectile vomit all over the store. Jeff said it was awesome...not in a good way. He also puked one more time on the way home, but did a good job of hitting the bag. Other than those few things we are glad to have Trey on the mend. I'm definitely kind of sad that he is now missing a tooth. It makes him look to grown up. Fortunately it is a bottom tooth, so he still has his infectious smile intact.

Kendal's 6th Birthday

Yesterday was Kendal's 6th birthday. She has been counting down the days until her birthday for at least 6 months, so we are excited that yesterday finally came. She had her birthday party last Friday at our house and invited a few friends from school and church to help her celebrate. We decided to keep with the theme of the weekend, which was Easter, so we had an Easter egg hunt, decorate bags for the Easter eggs, decorated cupcakes, and played lots of games. Overall the party went well, however, next year I will remember better how tired my cute Kendal is by Friday afternoon. It was her party and she decided to "cry because she wanted to" just because she wasn't winning all of the games. I love the competitive spirit, however, the crying could have been saved for another day. Yesterday for her birthday she wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Trey, Adison and I took cookies into her classroom during snack time and for dinner we told her she could eat anywhere she wanted and she picked good old Chick-fil-A. After Chick-fil-A her daddy talked her into dropping by Krispy Kreme's for dessert and then we headed to the ball field for her softball game. It was a busy fun day!

Here are a few things about Kendal at 6 years old:

Kendal is a great helper when she wants to be. Trey will be throwing a fit over picking up or putting on his shoes, and Kendal will step in and offer to help him just about everytime. I can always count on her to help me fold laundry and most of the time do just about any chore without complaining.

Kendal is very competitive. She loves games and she loves winning. She is playing softball and so far I think she likes it all right. She is the youngest on the team, so she is learning lots this year. I think by next year she could be one of the stars if she decides that what she wants to do.

Kendal loves to write. As a result of her love for writing, her reading is coming right along. She is picking things up very quickly and surprises herself often with her abilities.

Kendal can still be a firecracker, however she is definitely toning it down as she gets older.

We love our Kendal and are so glad that she is a part of our family.

Easter and Conference Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter and Conference weekend. It was so nice to listen and enjoy the words of our church leaders. Jeff and I definitely were reminded of the importance of our roles as parents. I'm sure over the next six months we will spend much time studying the great council given to help us to be better parents to our great children.

It was a nice treat to be able to spend all day Easter Sunday here at home listening to conference. The kids set up their sleeping bags so that they too could listen as they worked on a few quiet activities to help with the reverence. We played games after conference and dinner and overall had a great day.

Definitely a long post, but a much needed one.

Give Me a "Break"

2010-03-29T14:26:00.006-05:00

So this is supposed to be the post that I wrote last week about what we did on spring break, however I was preoccupied last week with a different sort of "break". Last Sunday night, Trey began running a fever. No other symptoms, just a fever. His fever continued for the next 3 days, where if he was medicated (ibuprofen, tylenol) he was fine, but as soon as the meds wore off he was miserable again. I asked him countless times if his ears hurt, if his throat hurt, if he had any pain anywhere, to which he always replied no. So after 3 days of fever and quarantining ourselves at home, I finally decided to take him into the doctor. At the doctor everything checked out just fine and he said it was probably just one of those viruses that only has a fever. However, upon returning home I felt there still might be something causing his fever. A couple of weeks ago Trey fell after trying to do a superman on the swingset and knocked his front bottom tooth loose. It was loose, but I was hoping that it would settle back in.

Well, after talking to one of my dentists, Leigh on Wednesday afternoon and telling her about Trey's fever, she immediately told me to get him to a dentist, that the fever might be caused by his loose tooth. Mind you Trey has only complained 2-3 times during the last 3 weeks about his tooth, so I really wasn't too worried about it. That afternoon I was able to get him seen by a pediatric dentist who after an x-ray said Trey had a broken tooth and that it needed to come out and that there was now infection around the tooth, hence the fever. Sounds easy enough, right??? Not with a 3 year old who will not do anything he doesn't want to do without a fight. So after an attempt by the oral surgeon to remove the tooth without sedation (Trey threw a fit), we have decided that Trey will be put to sleep for the tooth removal and that it will be done this Friday. He is slowly but surely warming up to the idea of getting his tooth removed, however, I do believe that sedation is definitely necessary. His fever is now gone, thanks to good old amoxicillin, and he is feeling much better.

He is so funny though. When we broke the news to him that he would have to have his tooth out, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to talk, like Adison, because he would be missing teeth like baby Adison. We have assured him that he will still be able to eat and to talk despite a missing tooth, so today he announced that I could pull it out if I wanted to. This has definitely been a learning experience...we just hope that all goes well on Friday.

As for the spring break post...it's coming, soon!

Hocus Pocus

2010-03-14T16:12:00.007-05:00

I don't know if we watched one too many episodes of The Wizards of Waverly Place or what, but there is definitely a lot of magic going on around our house these days. As of late, Trey especially has been very interested in magic. He loves to perform magic tricks and now believes "Bippety-boppety-boop" will keep all monsters away (whatever works right??). Here is a short clip of him performing one of his magic tricks...(He trully believes that he is in charge of the light and he is with the help of his Daddy who is standing behind him with another laser pointer). Sorry, could not get the clip to upload...will try again later??

Besides performing magic tricks, Trey has been very busy as of late. He still misses our old home wishing he could magically transport his old friends, his old house and pool to his new location. However, despite missing all of these things he is making new friends and enjoying his new preschool. He is a funny boy who keeps us all laughing.

Kendal too has been magically inclined as of late, however in a different way. She has turned a new leaf of sorts. She has recently become very interested in writing and loves to creat books for us to read. Her latest one was about her trip to the Lake House. She not only writes the words by herself, but accompanies each page with a picture. They are very cute. She is right now gearing up for softball season. Due to the recent abundance of rain, they have been unable to practice as a team, but we have managed to go out with her a couple of days and work on her hitting and catching. She is pretty athletically inclined and is picking up the basics pretty quickly. It will be interesting to see how this season goes, as they take their softball pretty seriously around here. She is very excited that this week is Spring Break and looks forward to doing lots of fun things around town during her break.

Bayley's latest "thing" is the piano. She has been taking piano lessons for about 2 months and so far is really enjoying learning and playing. She taught herself to play one of our family favorites "Once There Was a Snowman" and happily accompanied us last week for Family Home Evening. She has a teacher who fits her personality very well and is pushing Bayley along very quickly in order to keep her interested. So far, no complaints about practicing...we can only hope that continues. She continues on with dance and is looking forward to her recital in June.

Adison of course continues to change way too fast. Her latests include eating solids on a regular basis, grabbing everything that comes within her reach, and almost rolling over. She continues on our family tradition of not being in too big of a hurry to move and is content most of the time laying on her back. I'm sure that in the next couple of weeks she will figure out rolling and then we will be in trouble. She definitely has a strong will and knows what she wants and will let us know when she wants it. She is still a great baby and so much fun to have around.

My latest adventure includes training for another 1/2 marathon. Crazy, huh? I can't believe it will be my fourth 1/2 marathon. I am getting in to the long runs, where I question why I am doing all of this training, but April 24th will be here before I know it and I'm sure it won't be the last race that I train for. My sister-in-law, Leigh, is running the race in Nashville with me, so it should be a lot of fun, plus it never hurts to feel like you are in shape as swimsuit season approaches.

Speaking of swimsuit season, we definitely are ready for spring and summer to get here. Last weekend we made a trip to the Lake and the kids were so excited to swim in the hot tub they completely ignored that it was 60 degrees outside. I couldn't get one picture with them looking at the camera because they were having so much fun.

5 Months...and the winner is???

2010-02-22T13:32:00.006-06:00

Hard to believe, but Adison turned 5 months today. It is going way too fast. As the 4th child her looks are always compared to those of her older siblings. I've had people tell me that they think she looks like all of my kiddos. So as a reference point I have provided pictures of all 4 of my kiddos at 5 months. Who do you think she looks like?

Adison at 5 months is a lot of fun. She is always looking around and paying attention to what is going on around her. She loves to be held and I probably indulge her a little because I can. She just started solids last week and is still getting used to them. She hasn't not liked anything yet. She is still a great sleeper and a great baby! We love our baby girl!

A Snow Day in Alabama

2010-02-19T12:49:00.007-06:00

Having spent the first 12 years of my life in Utah and then once again returning there for 3 years of college, I have realized that I am a Southern girl. Nothing against Utah, I actually like it there, except for the long cold winters. I am not a fan of SNOW, the cold, ice, or anything that comes close to it. My kids on the other hand have spent most of their childhood's in the South and therefore have seen very little snow in their lifetime. So about a month ago when the forecast called for snow, schools closed and my kids anxiously awaited the white stuff. Every couple of minutes they would look out the window hoping to see something white....the entire day passed by and the only thing they saw were a few tiny flurries that didn't stick. They were VERY disappointed. In fact, when I told them that Grandma "G" got their snow the next day, they were ready to pack up the van and head to Georgia to see the snow. We didn't go.

So last Friday there was another forecast of snow. This time school was not cancelled so we figured that this time we might actually get some of the white stuff. Sure enough that afternoon it snowed and it stuck. My kids had a great afternoon playing outside in the snow. They threw snowballs, made snow angels, and even found enough snow to make a snow man! I wasn't around to enjoy the fun with them as I flew out Friday morning to San Antonio to attend my cousin Olivia's wedding. And as much as I missed watching my kids, I really didn't feel bad about missing the snow.

Adison and I had a great time at the wedding. The San Antonio Temple is absolutely beautiful. Not only did I get a chance to attend their sealing, but I was also able to attend a session with my mom and her sisters. It was great to see Grant, Alyssa and Olivia and to enjoy their cute house and be entertained by them. I also was able to see and spend some time with my Grandma and Grandpa Rogers who were able to fly in from Albuquerque. Olivia and her husband Zach were so cute and so happy.

The Happy Couple...Olivia and Zach

Adison with Grandma and Grandpa Rogers

I sure missed my kiddos and husband while I was gone. They all picked me up from the airport on Sunday night. I think I was only in the car for about 30 seconds before Trey let me know that there was a surprise waiting for me at home...my kids love surprises. I returned home to the dining room set and ready for a Valentine's Day feast prepared by my sweet husband. It was a great way to return home and a great gift! The kids and Jeff also made a heart-shaped cake...so cute!

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

2010-02-15T19:32:00.003-06:00

During our married life, Jeff and I have lived many places and met many great people in each of those places that we have lived. And as we continue to experience life there are many who have touched our lives for good. They have made me want to be better by their actions, words and deeds. It is always with heavy hearts that we move away from these friends, however we are always quick to remember the examples they have set and we do our best to emulate those great people.

Today we attended the funeral of one of those great examples, Phil. Both Jeff and I are better people for having know him as well as his wife and daughter. Thank you Phil, Heidi and Eden for being a part of our lives. We will miss you.

UNO Throw-Up

2010-02-07T20:39:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many of you have ever played the game UNO Attack, but it has quickly become one of our family's favorite games. Every Monday night after FHE and every Sunday night we like to play games as a family. UNO is one of the few games that all of us enjoy playing and can play given the our current ages. UNO Attack is a lot like UNO except instead of drawing cards you push a button when it is your turn to draw at which point you may get zero cards or you may get a bunch (or in other words you may get thrown up on) It is so fun to watch the competitive nature of my children come out as we play these games. We all want to win, OF COURSE, but it has been fun teaching the kiddos that not everyone can win, but we can still have fun if we don't win (just not as much, right?).

Here are a couple of pictures from this week.

We didn't crimp Kendal's hair, we just braided it!
So cute and getting so big!

Our bookworm...she has read the entire Percy Jackson Lightning Thief series this week!

More cuteness

All 4 looking at the camera...it only took 25 pictures but we got one!

Check-Ups

2010-01-24T16:54:00.006-06:00

Sunday Pictures

The last week or so it seems like we have spent quite a bit of our time at doctor's check-ups. I guess it is just that time of year....time to get our health in order.

Trey went to the doctor two weeks ago to have his asthma/allergies checked out. He seems to be doing better with the current daily inhaler he was given this go around. We are trying to catch breathing issues before they become an issue. We will continue to monitor him and we hope that it is something that he will grow out of. In the meantime, he is a busy 3 year old boy who tries his best to be a good boy. There are definitely days that he pushes the limits, but overall he is a good kid. He is adjusting to his new house, new routine and new friends. Out of all of us, his world was most rocked by the move and the new baby...having both happen at just about the same time is a lot to handle for a 3 year old kid.

Bayley's visit to the doctor was probably the most miserable. Last Saturday we had the opportunity to attend 101 Dalmations the Musical as a family. We had been looking forward to it, but we quickly realized the Bayley wasn't feeling it when everytime music came on she tried to cover her ears because she was in pain. Jeff finally took her out and the two of them sat on a couch while the rest of us watched the remainder of the show. That night we took her to an after hours clinic and sure enough she had an ear infection. Thanks to strong antibiotics and ear numbing drops she was able to recover quickly and resume her busy schedule which now includes piano lessons and dance. She is very excited about both.

Kendal has been relatively healthy the last couple of weeks...knock on wood. She is still doing cheerleading and I think she has decided she is a little too far from the "real" action for her liking. I think this may be her last time participating in that sport. This spring she is going to give softball a try, but I still think her true love so far is still soccer. We will definitely get her signed up for that this fall.

Adison had her 4 month check up on Friday....I CANNOT BELIEVE IT HAS ALREADY BEEN 4 MONTHS! She is 13 pounds 13 ounces and 24.5 inches long...both place her right smack dab in the 50th percentile. She is growing more opionated everyday....I guess you kind of have to be that way to survive in this house, however she is still as cute as ever. We all love her to pieces.

Finally, our last check up was to the dentist. On Martin Luther King Day we took advantage of the day off of school and made a trip to Georgia to see the dentists, a.k.a. Uncle Spencer and Aunt Leigh. All went well, except I did learn a very valuable lesson...don't try to eat pizza 5 minutes after being numbed for a filling. Instead of eating just pizza, you might accidentally start eating your lip as well, which I did realize once I tasted blood. Not pretty...

Cute Cousins Jaidyn and Adison 4 Months

Jeff continues to stay busy with his new job and new calling. He loves the challenges of both and let's just say he is never bored. I too am busy with my job and calling and am now trying to squeeze in training for another 1/2 marathon into my schedule. My sister-in-law Leigh and I are both trying to lose our baby weight so we are running the Nashville 1/2 marathon in April. Who would have thought I would become a distance runner...not me!

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-10T15:35:00.004-06:00

I've decided I need to resolve to do a better job of updating the blog in this new year. I did pretty well last year until I had a baby, moved, and then the Holidays came. I think that I'm finally starting to settle in now that the Holidays are over, so hopefully weekly blogging will become more regular.

We've had an eventful month, but it has definitely been a fun one. We spent Christmas here at home and enjoyed the time together as a family immensely. For the first time we were able to start some of our own Christmas traditions, which included eating breakfast for Christmas Eve dinner, talking about the birth of our Savior and opening presents in front of the fire taking time to tell why we were thankful for the person/persons who had given us the gift. The kids got a lot of fun gifts and are still enjoying trying them all out. We met Grandma and Grandpa "G" at Lake Wedowee Christmas day for Christmas dinner and to play games. It was a great day!

After church on the 27th, we headed north to spend time with our family in Indiana. The drive went well until we hit ice in Louisville, Kentucky at which point I decided that the only thing worse than driving in the ice is being a passenger in a car driving in ice. We made it though safe and sound and had a wonderful week in Indiana. The kids were spoiled rotten by Grandma Nancy and Pawpaw Rick. Not only did they get great presents, but they got to go to the movies with Grandma Nancy and even got to buy treats at the theatre. Jeff, Bayley, Kendal and I also got to go ice skating with Sydney while we were there. It was mine and Kendal's first times and we had a great time hanging on the rails. Jeff decided he would make a better spectator and photographer than skater so he watched while we skated. The best part about it all was that the experience was completely FREE!

The Bunch of Us

Huddling around the fire pit after ice skating

While in Indiana we also got to spend some time with Grandpa Daryl, Terri, Erin, Cheryl, Barry, Kelly, and Grandma and Grandpa Thornton. The kids once again got to experience Christmas all over again with more great gifts. We really have been blessed with such great family and it was so nice to get to spend time with some of them that we don't get to see often enough during this Christmas season. It was a great trip.
The Thornton Group

After returning home we had a couple of days to recuperate from our travels before the girls headed back to school. Their first week back was shortened due to the threat of snow this last Thursday, so they had an extra day off to just hang out at home. After all the hype, however, we didn't get any of the white stuff. The kids were all very disappointed. They were even more disappointed when they found out that Georgia got our snow and that Grandma and Grandpa "G" were getting to see snow.

On a final note, on Christmas Day Adison turned 3 months old. Fortunately she survived the Christmas present opening chaos and escaped with just a small bump on the head (a present was dropped on her head as it was being passed between older sisters). She continues to be a sweet addition to our family. She smiles a lot and loves to suck on her hands. She has started to giggle and also is becoming a bit more opinionated... I guess you kind of have to get that way to survive in this house! We really do love her and can't believe that 3 months has already flown by.

Adison 3 months
Well, I've started out my first post of this new year right...Let's see how long this resolution lasts, hopefully the whole year long!

A Christmas Letter

2009-12-26T19:55:00.003-06:00

Christmas 2009
Dear Family and Friends,

It’s hard to believe that another eventful year has passed us by. This year has once again been filled with many challenges and changes for our family. Through it all we have been extremely blessed and we feel extremely grateful as another Holiday Season approaches.

Jeff had a busy and eventful year with Pfizer. He survived a round of job layoffs, celebrated a great 2008 with a trip to St. Martin, and was promoted in August and now calls on specialists at the University of Alabama Birmingham. As a result of his promotion and imminent move, he was released from his calling as Branch President in October. He enjoyed a couple of weeks without a calling, but was just called as the Young Men’s President in our new ward and is very excited about working with the youth.

Alisha continues to follow Jeff wherever his jobs take him. However, she now readily admits that it gets harder and harder to move the more kids and stuff that we accumulate. Although she misses Oxford, she is looking forward to settling down in Birmingham. Between church callings (currently Relief Society Teacher), being a mom, and working out she stays happily busy!

Bayley had a very big year this year. By turning 8 she had the opportunity to be baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was thrilled that her Grandma Nancy and Grandma and Grandpa Griffeth could be there for her special day. She continues to do well in school and has developed a true passion for reading. She enjoys cooking, especially sweets, and is a big help in the kitchen.

Kendal started kindergarten this year. She loves school and all of her friends at school. She does an excellent job writing and illustrating stories and brings a new one home just about everyday. This year she played T-ball, soccer and is now cheerleading. She is quite the competitor and definitely has a feisty side to her…I wonder where she gets it? She loves being a big sister and has a very tender heart.

Trey is an active 3 year old boy. He is slowly but surely becoming more aware of the differences between what’s boy and what’s girl…meaning less playtime with Barbie and more time playing with trucks and trains. He spent a lot of time in the water this summer and he is developing into a great swimmer. He LOVES his baby sister Adison and is actually really good with her.

Adison is the latest addition to the Thornton family. She was born September 25th, on her Grandpa “G”’s birthday, and was 7lbs. 3oz. and 20 inches long. She is a WONDERFUL baby. She is now 2 ½ months old and can brighten all of our days with her smile and sweet demeanor. We feel so blessed to have her here.

We hope that this holiday season is filled with joy and happiness for you and your family. For updates throughout the year check our blog at www.alishathornton.blogspot.com.

Love,

Jeff, Alisha, Bayley, Kendal, Trey, and Adison

Blogging Blues

2009-12-20T21:28:00.004-06:00

So I have been a total slacker when it comes to updating the blog. We've had a lot happen in the last month, so I will quickly try to remember all that we've been up to. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Griffeth's in Marietta, Georgia. Everyone was able to make it this year, which always makes things fun and exciting. Having 8 kids under 8 in one house, makes for lots of noise and lots of action.

Bayley and Kendal have been busy at school. Bayley just finished her toothpick bridge building activity for her Enrichment program at school and the parents were invited to come and watch the bridges be tested as to how much weight they could hold before they broke. I believe that Bayley's bridge held over 6 pounds...pretty good for toothpicks. She loved the activity and was thrilled that her bridge pretty much stayed intact so that she could bring home her hard work. Kendal has started cheerleading. She has begged and begged for the opportunity to give it a try, so we thought we would let her get that ambition out of the way early in life. She will cheer her first game in January, so it will be interesting to see how she really likes just sitting on the sidelines and yelling, rather than being in the middle of the action.

Trey has also been busy. He loves his new story times at the library and finished up a round of swimming lessons in November.

Adison is growing up way too fast. She is such a sweet girl. We all love her so much and are so glad that she is here.

Jeff and I have so excited to have finished up our basement. It has been crazy moving in and then trying to finish the basement, but now that it is done we are thrilled with the way that it has turned out. The kids love their playroom and Jeff LOVES his new office and bathroom. We still have the storage room and garage to finish up, but once those two projects are complete I think we will really feel moved in.

I can't believe it is already Christmas week. Where has the month gone? Maybe tomorrow I will post our Xmas letter...no promises though. Just in case I don't get around to it...the Thornton's Wish You a Merry Christmas!

"Just a minute"

2009-11-15T20:21:00.005-06:00

My life these days feels like a bunch of "just a minutes". So much so that I think that is all I say to my kiddos these days. A couple of weeks ago I was struggling getting Trey to do things when I asked him. In fact, I caught him saying "just a minute" mom whenever I asked him to do anything. It was shortly thereafter that I figured out where he got his new favorite phrase from...ME! It always seems like he asks for something right when I am either feeding or changing Adison. In which case my response is always "just a minute". More and more though it seems like I am saying "just a minute" whenever my kids ask for anything. I am always doing something and have many more somethings to do when they ask for things right now. Needless to say we are all working on our patience and on prioritizing what really is important in the moment.

Last Saturday we were able to go to the Birmingham Zoo with Jeff's work. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. Here are a couple of pictures:
The Tiger was really sad that the glass kept him from "playing" with the kidsKendal's look will tell you exactly how she felt about feeding the birdsBayley also does not hide her feelings
Yesterday we spent the day at the Lake with Grandma "G". It was another absolutely gorgeous day, so we went down to the clubhouse at Chimney Cove and enjoyed the Wedowee Hospital Health Fair. We weren't sure what to expect, but the kids had a great time collecting free goodies and enjoying the free jump slide. The highlight for Bayley had to be winning 2 out of the 3 raffles that were held during the event. She won a small briefcase bag and a first aid kit. She was stoked and Kendal was dejected (life just isn't fair). Anyway, it was a fun day spent with Grandma G and a great get-away while Daddy was gone to New York.

Speaking of Jeff being in New York...a week and a half away is too long after you have had essentially 6 weeks of having him home all of the time. Needless to say we will be excited to get him home!

An Adison update:
She is now smiling all of the time! She has also really started to fill out. I can't believe she is already 7 weeks! Here are a few more pictures of our ever-changing little one!

Grandma Nancy's Visit and Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T15:30:00.003-06:00

Wednesday afternoon Jeff's mom Nancy flew in to spend a couple of days with our family. We didn't tell the kids that she was coming so that they would be surprised when she got here. They were definitely suprised and very excited when they saw her standing at the bus stop when they got home from school. As always, Nancy was a real trooper. She let us drag her around to different activities and when she was home she played, played and played some more with the kids. The LOVED it!

Nancy with Trey who is sporting his storytime monster mask!

The last couple of days have been spent participating in various Halloween activites. We had Trunk-or-treat at church, a neighborhood halloween party, a play group party, the creepy carnival at the library and of course the actual Trick-or Treating. After Christmas and birthdays, Bayley said that Halloween is one of her favorite days of the year. She loves dressing up and she loves candy. Jeff weighed our candy from last night and we are now the owners of 9lbs of candy...WOW! Good thing there are dentists in the family, right?

Adison as a pumpkin

The kids dressed up as cats this year...the girls were black cats and Trey was a lion. Adison sported a flower costume to Trunk-or-treat, but hated her hat...it fell down over her eyes. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days:

Trey taking a nap on Halloween...you gotta love pumpkin earsAdison as a flower

Adison Turns 1 Month

2009-10-25T20:18:00.003-05:00

Today is Adison's one month birthday. Hard to believe that it has already been a month. She is already changing way TOO fast. As of last Wednesday she weighed 8lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. She still loves to eat about every 3 hours and gets up either once or twice a night. She LOVES her pacifier and loves to cuddle up on your shoulder when she is comfortable. Her sisters and brother still love to help out with her any way that they can. She is a very loved little girl.

Today was our first day in our new ward. It is a HUGE ward with lots of kids! Our girls, who are not shy at all, loved their new classes and look forward to getting to know everyone. It was nice to have Jeff sit with us during church for the first time in 1 1/2 years. Here are a few pictures of the kids before church today...a tradition I hope to resume now that Jeff is around to help in the morning!

Pictures for our Peeps...Grandmas!

2009-10-20T19:44:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of Adison, the kids decorating pumpkins and the view from our front porch Monday morning! Pictures keep Grandma's who live far away happy!

What a 3 weeks!

2009-10-16T13:42:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that is has already been 3 weeks since Adison was born. Just a few things have happened since then....bought a house, packed a house, cleaned out a house, moved into a new house, unpacked a new house, and now continue to settle in. Fortunately, for the most part things have gone pretty smoothly. The absolute lifesaver in all of this, is that Jeff is off of work on paternity leave so he has been able to help every step of the way. The previous moves he hasn't been able to take off as much time, so I have definitely been spoiled this time around. Here is a quick update on what each member of our family has been up to:

Jeff: Off work for 5 weeks on paid paternity leave, helping his wife immensely, studying and preparing for his new job, serving as branch president until this Sunday, and starting work on our unfinished basement.

Alisha: Mother of 4, missing her old house and friends, excited about her new house and friends, and still adjusting!

Bayley: Loving her new school, sad to leave good friends in Oxford, loving having her own room in the new house, and definitely loves living in a BIG city!

Kendal: Loves her new school and the boys in her class, was sad to miss the last couple of soccer games in Oxford, excited about having her own room (not as much as Bayley), still loves helping with Adison any chance she gets.

Trey: Our neglected 3 year old, has spent way TOO MUCH time watching tv in the last 3 weeks, is ready to get out of the house and start doing normal things, and loves his little sister!

Adison: Is a great baby (thank goodness), is probably the most alert baby I have had, is very loved by her entire family, was blessed last Sunday, gaining weight and eating good, and her mom will do a better job of taking pictures now that things are settling down!

Welcome to The World Baby Girl!

2009-09-26T12:39:00.004-05:00

Adison Thornton

September 25, 2009

8:10 a.m.

7 Lbs. 3 oz.

19 inches

Great delivery and so far so good on the recovery end. We are so excited to have her here healthy and beautiful!

No Explanation Needed

2009-09-23T06:54:00.002-05:00

House Hunting is Fun?

2009-09-20T19:33:00.002-05:00

So everytime that we have moved, I always go into the move looking forward to finding a new house. Should be easy, right? Especially in a large city like Birmingham? We have spent the last 4 or so weeks searching for the right house for our family. Birmingham is a great city with lots of great attributes and just like any other city there are places that you should and should not live based upon the needs of your family. For us the most important things were the schools, the house, and then the commute. We found some houses that would have worked, but they were either in the wrong schools or were a horrible commute. Finally last week we narrowed down our search to 2 areas of Birmingham that met the school and commute criteria, we just had to find the house. And WE DID! Finally after viewing what feels like a million houses we found one we really like and that meets all of our needs. Yeah! We hope to close by the 30th of this month and move by the second week of October.
By the way, 5 more days until I meet my little one! Can't wait!

Why Not??

2009-09-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

As if life wasn't busy or crazy enough we have decided to really make things exciting around here for the next couple of months. Last month Jeff received a promotion with his company and as a result we are moving to Birmingham. I approach this move with mixed feelings because we have really enjoyed living in Oxford, our current location in Alabama. We have great friends, a great house, good schools, great branch, we are close to family, etc.....However, Jeff and I are very excited about his new job and the opportunities that will come with it. We have moved quite a few times in our 9 years of marriage and fortunately Birmingham is close enough that I feel that we won't such a dramatic move. So the last 2 weeks we have been SEARCHING the Birmingham area for homes. What sounded really exciting at first has become quite exhausting, however we do have a few good prospects. We are just having a hard time pulling the trigger. Hopefully by the end of the week....

Why the rush on finding a house? Because in only 17 days we will be adding another little one to our household. I am very excited and definitely READY physically to have her here. I still have a bit to do to have things in order here at home, but I need something to keep my busy over the next 2 1/2 weeks, right? If she is not here by the 25th of September, I have a scheduled induction that day, so I do know that the end is in sight! After she arrives, we plan on moving in the ensuing couple of weeks so that we can get Bayley and Kendal to their new schools as soon as possible. The kids are excited, but a bit nervous about the move. Bayley especially is now old enough to understand what starting over in a new place will entail.

So if my blogging is a bit sporadic over the next couple of months you now know why...

It's Great To Be 8!

2009-08-31T13:14:00.004-05:00

A Bayley party would not be complete without a pinata

I can't believe my oldest turned 8 last week. Things have been a bit crazy around here as of late, however, we did have a great time celebrating her special day. She has been looking forward to turning 8 for a couple of years now. Not only did she get to choose to get baptized and confirmed a member of our church, but she also got to choose to have her ears pierced. In OUR family, the rule has been that our girls can choose to get their ears pierced when they reach the age of accountability, which for us is 8. Bayley and Kendal both have questioned us numerous times about why we have this rule and how unfair it is that they have had to wait. Despite their pleading and attempts at getting us to give in, we have held firm to the "wait til your 8 rule" and have now survived one daughter having her ears pierced.

The finished product

Bayley began her birthday with, what has come to be a tradition in our house, Lamar's donuts. Grandma Nancy surprised her by driving down from Indiana to be here for Bayley's birthday and baptism. So at Bayley's request, Grandma Nancy, Trey and I took one of Bayley's favorite treats, pumpkin chocolate cookies to share with her class. The cookies were a hit and after the snack we checked the girls out and headed to get Bayley's ears pierced. Bayley was worried about the pain that she might feel getting her ears pierced, but was willing to make that sacrifice.

Bracing for the worst

Fortunately for all of us, she barely felt it and didn't shed even one tear. That evening Bayley had a small birthday party, which was just fine with her mom, but a bit longer in length of time. She invited 3 girls from school and they had a great time, decorating cupcakes, swimming, opening presents, playing games, and eating. I think she had a great time.

The day after her birthday, Saturday August 22nd, was the day of her baptism. Grandma and Grandpa "G" joined us and we spent most of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the pool. That evening was the actual baptism and afterwards we went to our favorite family restaurant, Chick-fil-A for dinner. It was a great day.

Proud Dad and Bayley

Sunday Bayley was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was able to have Grandma Nancy, Grandma G and Grandpa G there to support her. Bayley is such a special girl who more than most 8 year olds, truly appreciates the fact that she is now a confirmed member of the church.

I am so proud of my beautiful 8 year old and the decisions that she is making at this time in her life. Any one who knows Bayley knows just how sweet, smart and mature she is. She makes a great big sister, not only by what a great example she is, but also by how she is most of the time very willing to include her younger brother and sister in what she is doing. She loves school, riding her bike, dancing, swimming, reading, anything crafty, and cooking. Once again, I can't believe how quickly 8 years has passed and I can only imagine how another 8 will fly by....

Trey Turns Three!

2009-08-13T07:34:00.004-05:00

2 years old

August 10th is Trey's birthday. This year he also shared his birthday with the first day of school, so it was a BIG day for the entire Thornton family. Going into the day Trey and I had a definite plan of what he wanted to do for his birthday. He made it very clear that he wanted donuts from Lamar's (a local donut shop) for his birthday breakfast. So after making sure the girls were settled in school, we headed to Lamar's for donuts. He picked out his donut and then proceeded to pick out one for his sisters and his daddy, which was very thoughtful of him. After a few quick errands we headed back to the house for swimming with Erin (who is actually better friends with Kendal, but was kind enough to join Trey on his special day). Trey's friend Eden also joined us for lunch and play, which made our day much more exciting and fun. After the girls returned home from school, the kids went out to the pool for more swimming so that Trey could show off his new toy for the pool....a little mini-slide. For dinner, Trey requested pizza...I love easy picks! After pizza, presents and cake it was time to call it a day! Fortunatley for me, Trey got some great presents for his birthday that have kept him very well occupied this week. In fact, I was worried that he would want to watch TV all day now that he was without playmates at home, however I don't think we have turned on cartoons once the entire week because he has been so busy with all of his new toys and activities.

Now, some of the stuff Trey is up to at 3 years old:

Trey has turned into a chatter box. A year ago we were worried that he might never speak, however our concerns are GONE. He does a good job keeping up with his sisters when it comes to conversing, which as most of you know can be pretty tough to do.

Trey hates having his hair cut, but likes having his hair "just right". I think I have finally figured out how to make it through a haircut without him screaming...I just threaten to buzz it all off. He is too particular about his hair to have it all gone.

Trey loves to be a jokester! He loves to make his sisters and parents laugh.

Trey is a great bike rider. I have a feeling that before the passing of another year he will be without training wheels. He loves to ride his bike and does a decent job of keeping up with his sisters.
Trey loves to swim and is getting better at it every day. I have to force him to wear any type of flotation device, but most of the time I let him swim without anything on and just keep a very close eye on him!
Trey loves bubbles, bouncy balls, and games. His latest obsession has been games of any type. We play a modified version of Old Maid with him and he will play and play and play some more. In fact last week alone I bet he played the game at least 100 times with anyone who would play with him. He is learning to be a better loser...saying "sometime you win, sometimes I win" to make himself feel better when he loses. The first couple of times he lost we had complete meltdowns, so he is doing much better!

Trey is a VERY LOVED little boy!

First Day of School 2009

2009-08-13T07:13:00.004-05:00

Monday the girls started back to school. Both were VERY excited. Kendal especially was READY to see what school was all about. Both wanted to ride the school bus on the first day of school, so I put them on the bus and then I met them there so I could take a picture of them in their classrooms. Kendal took one good picture and then she was ready for Trey and I to leave. So far she is doing well. The only issue seems to be her need to TALK a lot. The first two days her teacher noted her excessive talking during class. I guess it is a pretty common theme amoung the kindergarteners because after talking to her teacher she wasn't very concerned, she just didn't want it to get out of control. I didn't get a picture of Bayley in her classroom because by the time I made it up to the 3rd grade classroom all of the kids were already seated and working on their first assignment. Over half way through the first week and both girls still seem excited about school...we can only hope that that excitement last 176 more days!

Summer's End and Tomorrow's Fun

2009-08-09T19:57:00.005-05:00

Hard to believe that it's over. 10 weeks of summer have flown by. We did a lot, but not as much as we wanted to...isn't that the way it always is? For now though the girls are SO excited about starting a new school year. Last Thursday they had their orientation night where they got to meet their teachers and see who will be in their classes this year. Both girls seem to have gotten great teachers. Bayley will have Mrs. Brown, a young third-year teacher who seems to be just what Bayley ordered. She placed a heavy emphasis on science and math at the orientation, which two of Bayley's favorite subjects. Kendal too has a younger teacher, Mrs. Troup, who will be teaching kindergarten for the first time this year. Kendal has been in countdown to school start mode for at least the last 1/2 of the year. She is ready and VERY excited to be growing up! That will leave Trey and I home alone for the next 7 weeks until the baby comes. He is such a fun kid and hopefully he will adjust well to being the lone ranger in the house during the day. Tomorrow not only marks the beginning of a new school year, but is also Trey's THIRD birthday. He is so excited! Later this week I will try to hit the highlights of tomorrow and tell you more about our BIG Boy.

As for the last couple of weeks we have really tried to enjoy the last of those lazy summer days. Most mornings we tried to get our errands and other must do items out of the way so that we could enjoy our afternoons. After naps, we spent most afternoons in the pool or riding bikes...both activities very much enjoyed by all of the kids.

Two weeks ago the girls and I headed to Tennessee to attend Leigh's baby shower. The girls love a party and even put up with the 3+ hour drive without complaining. We had a great time and can't wait to meet another Griffeth Girl here in the next couple of weeks.

This last weekend we spent some time at the lake. The kids swam, jet-skied and enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa "G". Because Grandma and Grandpa "G" have to work tomorrow and won't make it back to Alabama for Trey's birthday, we did a little pre-birthday celebration on Saturday at the lake. Trey definitely is getting old enough to understand what a great thing a birthday can be...he loved his presents and the cake!

Tomorrow really should be a fun day...I can't wait to hear all about the girl's first day of school as well as spend some QT with Trey on his 3rd Birthday. My babies are growing UP!!!

Headed to the Hoosier State

2009-07-28T07:55:00.005-05:00

Despite the rain, thanks to a big garage, the kids still rode bikes and scooters!

All summer we have been wanting to head to Indiana to see Jeff's family. The kids love their grandparents, cousins, and grandparent's dogs. A couple of times we have scheduled a time to go only to have our plans fall through. So last weekend after a looking at our calender I realized that if we didn't go last week we weren't going to make it up there until the Holidays. Unfortunately last week Jeff had some stuff going on at work that didn't allow him to take off, so I headed north with the kids. Fortunately we have very accomodating family that will allow us to drop in at the last minute. The kids had a great time and survived the 8 hour drive very well. Grandma Sara and Great-GrandkidsGrandma Nancy with her sunglass-wearing grandkidsCelebrating Jordan's 6th Birthday!Kendal holding Jeff's cousin Natalie

The kids with Grandpa Thornton

Great Grandma and Grandpa Thornton and the kiddos!

Pinky Style

2009-07-12T19:29:00.002-05:00

I have been meaning to write a quick entry about some of the Thornton kid's latest accomplishments. Each of them have worked hard this summer to improve upon at least one skill.
Bayley has managed to continue to improve her reading skills....I can't keep books in the house. Some days she will read 2-3 Goosebumps (her favorite series at this point) books, which makes our weekly trip to the library a MUST.
Kendal has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. At the beginning of the summer she said that this was something she wanted to learn to do, however as a parent I wasn't quite sure how quick she would get it because of how cautious she is on a bike. It took her about a week and she had it. She LOVES her bike now and is increasingly getting more and more adventurous. The first week that she learned to ride her bike without training wheels we had Grandma G over at our house and she was so excited to show off. After a couple of laps back and forth to the culd-de-sac she decided to get BRAVE. She yelled up to me and my Mom, "Look I'm riding without pinkies!" as proud as can be with both pinkies in the air. It was so cute and so sincere...she now has graduated to riding one handed at moments!
Trey has also accomplished a goal we had set for him at the beginning of the summer...that is to learn to swim without floaties. I don't nor do I want him to swim without floaties very often, but I do like the assurance of knowing that he can swim to the side if he were to fall in without a float on or if he forgot his floaties and jumped in. He not only can swim to the side, but has become quite the little fish. I let him occasionally swim without his float when there is an adult in the pool and he does a pretty good job, however I continue to caution him that he needs his float because he does get tired easily.

I am glad that we did set some goals at the beginning of this summer and it has been fun to watch my kids work on their individual goals and accomplish them. Less than one month until school starts and we still have other stuff we plan to accomplish...we better get after it!

Celebrating the 4th of July 2009

2009-07-08T14:47:00.004-05:00

Rarely a week goes by that my kids have not gotten to do something extraordinarily fun or exciting. They really do have it good...if I do say so myself. One of the main reasons for me having the blog is to document our lives so that they will remember all of the fun and exciting things they have been able to do. This last weekend was no exception. We headed to the Lake to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa "G".

Friday we arrived and settled in and then Jeff and I took the opportunity to sneak away and go to the temple in Birmingham while we had "free" sitters. My good parents were kind enough to entertain the kids for the evening and as usual my kids had a great time. They were able to test out the new jet skis (blow up ride ons for the kids) and take a late night swim. Jeff and I enjoyed a nice night serving in the temple and then grabbing a bite to eat alone!

Saturday we decided to get moving pretty early in hopes of beating the crowds that the 4th of July was sure to bring. While Grandma and Grandpa took out the big jet skis for a smooth ride over the early morning water, the kids showed off on their new toys. They LOVE them! What kid wouldn't??? They propel themselves and they squirt water. Grandpa and Grandma peeling out on the jet skis!Kendal...ready to fire!After a while we decided to head over to the marina where they were doing a boat parade. Their were a lot of boats and people on the lake making the water very bumpy and exciting if you are into that, however even our daredevil Bayley had had enough after just a short time. So after the parade we packed up the jet skis and headed back to the house for lunch. After lunch we napped then it was time for cupcakes and homemade ice cream....definitely one of the highlights for my kiddos. Before we left the kids also got to enjoy the pool one more time and then we headed home to unpack, shower, and get ready for fireworks. Because we had had a full day of activities, we decided to stay home this year and put on our own little firework show....sparklers and a few other little fireworks. A great ending to a great day!

We continue to enjoy our summer and the time we have had to spend together as a family. It is hard to believe that school starts in about one month...

Crazy Hair Trey...what happens when you let your big sisters armed with gel touch your hair
Trey prefers neat hair as opposed to crazy hair

A Week at the Lake with the Griffeth Family

2009-06-24T07:15:00.004-05:00

After Jeff and I returned from St. Maarten the following week was our annual week at the lake with the Griffeth's. We are fortunate to live only 35 minutes from the lake house and the lake so the recovery time and getting ready for the trip were lessened quite a bit by the close proximity of the vacation. My brothers Wes and Grant flew in from out of state with their families and my brother Spencer drove in with his family from Georgia. We have been able to do a vacation like this for the last 4 summers and have thoroughly enjoyed the time that we get to spend with each other. My kids had a great time and actually behaved very well despite the compromised sleeping schedules and sleeping arrangements.

Things to Remember (Alyssa if they look very familiar it is because I stole/borrowed/plagerized part of your blog post...you did an awesome job of summarizing the week!)...

Having Lake Wedowee almost to ourselves, ice cream cones and Popsicles, playing The Newlywed Game, lots of Capri Sun and Diet A&W, kids’ dance parties on the deck, hours and hours of swimming at the gorgeous Infinity pool overlooking the lake, Alyssa's birthday,endless races across the pool, tubing until we were aching and bruised, riding in the back of the truck or on the 4 wheelers to and from the pool, ice cold watermelon 3 meals a day, Alyssa jumping in the lake and swimming the “correct” key out to Doreen’s drifting jet ski and swimming back to the dock—Only to find that the new key didn’t work either-- She’d had the correct key all along :),lots of yummy BBQ’s—Filet Mignon, hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken, reading by the pool, huddled inside during the crazy southern storms that conveniently occurred almost every afternoon during naptime, many trips to the TINY local grocery store, debating over how cold to turn the thermostat in the house and then freezing to death at a mere 71 degrees,endless games of Rook, Nertz, 5 Crowns, and Great Dalmuti, roasting marshmallows and eating s’mores at the outdoor fireplace, the unbelievable views, playing the candy bar game,the baby shower for Leigh and I, sitting on the porch watching the kids ride back-and-forth a thousand times in the bike and wagon, breaking up lots of “toy fights”, enjoying being in the same house with your family for a full week (how many people can say that!).

My sister-in-laws all have GREAT cameras and took great pictures to document our great memories! Seriously, we can not wait for next year!