It's A Girl!

Yes, we found out today that we are going to have another little girl. We are very excited! I am due September 27th and looking forward to a long hot summer. The kids are more than thrilled to be adding to our family. I will have lots of helpers! Sorry about the pictures, but I didn't have a chance to scan the ultrasound pictures.

Never a Dull Moment

Life has been busy...fun busy, but busy nonetheless. We have had many blog-worthy events, but because of my procrastination I will stick to the highlights so that I am not sitting here at the computer all day.
Kendal Turns 5 years old!
After much anticipation Kendal's birthday came and went. She had a great birthday. We started out the day by heading to Lamar's Donuts for her favorite breakfast...donuts! Then later on in the morning we had her Birthday Party. She invited 9 close friends to a "Puppy Themed" birthday party. Unfortunately the weather was not nice, so we had to do most of the activities inside. Entertaining 9 kids between the ages of almost 2 and 7 was a lot of work and A LOT Crazy. Fortunately my parents came from Georgia to help with the party and the Mom's were very understanding and helpful as well. I only took three pictures....did I mention it was a bit CRAZY...but all in all Kendal had a great birthday.
We love our 5 year old Kendal. She is so excited to be 5 and can't wait to go to school with her big sister next year. In fact, she thought that the day she turned 5 she started school...she was very disappointed that she has to wait until August. She still is very much obsessed with dogs and babies. She will make a great mother some day. She loves her NEW bed...she had been sleeping on Bayley's trundle and now feels very grown up with her own bed. She is still a great helper when she wants to be and still a bit of a "firecracker" when she wants to be as well. WE LOVE her and we are so glad that she is a part of our family.

Party kids enjoying hot dogs at Kendal's party

Kendal blowing out the candles on her Puppy Cake

Easter

We had a very nice Easter. The Saturday before Easter we headed to North Georgia to celebrate Baby Spencer's first birthday. It was a great party that included lots of good food, cake, and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Spencer and Leigh have the perfect yard for an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a lot of fun and got LOTS of candy.

The Sunday of Easter Jeff called off all his early morning church meetings so that he could be home with his family. It was nice to have him around to watch the kids find eggs, to have him fix breakfast, and just to be able to have help on a Sunday morning. We enjoyed a great Easter dinnder, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa "G", who came to our rescue at the last moment. We were stuffed and very happy. We did take time to put aside the "eggs", good food, and Easter bunny for a moment and reflect on the Savior and his death and resurrection. What a great day!

Kendal loved the Easter bunny...Bayley was too cool and Trey was scared to death

Once again, Bayley was too cool for the bunny ears!

Trey painting his egg

Fishing

Jeff has found a new love this spring...Fishing. He has always enjoyed fishing, but for most of our marriage golf has taken priority over every other hobby. Due to his current work schedule as well as church calling, he has had little time for hobbies in the past year. Fishing in our backyard has become something that he can fit in on the fly and gives him a much needed respite from his hectic schedule. Recently he has caught some pretty big fish and just about every time he goes out he can get at least a couple of bites. The kids and I partcipate when we want to, but most of all enjoy admiring his fish.

Showing off a good size Crappie

Spring Break 2009

Bayley's spring break was last week. The first couple of days we stayed here at home and did get out to do a couple of activities. One day we went to the park for a picnic and to play. One day we stayed in and watched movies. And on another day, we went roller-skating. The girls have been a couple of times, but this was the first time that I have taken Trey to a skating rink. I didn't rent him skates because I thought he would just get frustrated and end up crying most of the time. The girls skated for over an hour and as they were taking off their skates Trey begged to put Kendal's on. I thought we would give it a shot and teach him a good lesson....that he was NOT ready to take on the world of roller-skating. After we laced up the skates, he took off like he knew exactly what he was doing. SO FUNNY! The first time he fell he struggled to get back up, but then was right back at it. However, it didn't take long for him to have a substantial fall onto his behind before his skating that afternoon was over. Next time we go I think I will rent him the skates...my little boy is growing up! Speaking of growing up, Trey is officially potty trained. The week before spring break I finally decided to take things seriously and put him in underwear. He caught on very quickly and has done great the last couple of days! No diapers...for a while that is!

Trey on skates

Last Thursday we headed to Destin for a couple of days to enjoy the beach. The kids have been dying to go to the beach and had a great time. Bayley of course loved the water, waves, and sand. The beach would be a great place for that girl to live. Kendal was a little hesitant at first of the ocean water, but got into it and ended up enjoying the water and sand. Trey finally warmed up to the idea of the ocean water by the last day. He much preferred the indoor pool at our hotel....I don't blame him. The weather was a little cooler and windier than we would have liked, but we did have a great time!

We found Krispy Kreme in Destin....happy kids

Bayleyand Kendal picking their seats...could they be sisters?

The kids enjoying the pool

Bayley jumping waves

Trey messing around at the beach

Bayley building a masterpiece

Trey was determined to use his chopsticks to eat at P.F. Changs

Bayley holding a crawfish

Surprisingly brave Trey holding a crawfish

The view from our room

I still am playing catch up after last weeks activites, but it's was totally worth it!

Reminder

This is a quick post to remind myself the things I want to write about next week....I have been in a bit of a blogging slump. Anyway we are leaving tomorrow morning for a quick vacation to Destin, Fl and I have lots to do besides blog. So when I get back I will update you on the following:
-Kendal's Birthday Party
-Trip to Georgia for Baby Spence's party
-Easter Celebration
-Spring Break
-Jeff Fishing
-Trey Potty Training....he is potty-trained!!!!
-Upcoming Life Events
-Of course, our trip to Destin

Maybe by setting an outline for myself, I will fulfill my desire to record the events of our lives in a timely manner...something that hasn't been happening much in the last couple of months...definitely a blogging funk! However, I WILL BE BACK!

Fat Lips and Fire Stations

Fortunately the two incidents do not go together. Trey got his first fat lip this week. He was on his way downstairs when he took a tumble hitting his lip. As his lip began to swell it was hilarious to see his reaction. At first he didn't want to put ice on his lip, but after I showed him how BIG it was and he began to feel the swelling he insisted on putting the ice on his lip...have I mentioned how VAIN this boy can be. He cares what he looks like, even at 2 1/2....have you ever known a boy that age who cared what his hair looked like. He has an opinion already and if I try to do his hair any other way that "down" he will take things into his own hands and make sure that every hair is back in place. My visions of a cute toddler boy with spikey hair is NOT going to happen around here.

Our big adventure this week was a visit to the local fire department. They gave our small playgroup an all access tour of the fire station. They let the kids climb around the fire truck, check out the gear, and gave each of them a hat, coloring book and crayons. My kids loved it, but Trey especially enjoyed the trucks. In fact out of all the of the kids there, he seemed to enjoy climbing around in the trucks the most. He didn't want to get out and he jumped in the drivers seat every chance he got. It was a lot of fun.

We have a big day tomorrow. KENDAL turns 5 years old. She is SO excited...we have talked about tomorrow just about every day in the past 6 months. Today as we went throughout the day she would just all of the sudden say "you know tomorrow is my birthday" just about every hour. It was so cute! We are having a "dog-themed" birthday party tomorrow for her friends and she also invited her favorite neighborhood dog, Cider. She is borderline obsessed with dogs right now, so there really wasn't much of a question what type of party she wanted. I'm sure I will be posting pictures and highlights in the week ahead.

Finally, Bayley started her own blog today. As I was doing some work on my computer this morning, she asked if she could start her own blog. I actually think it is a good idea and will be a good way for her to journal her life through her blog. I have made her blog private, but if you are interested in taking a look, let me know and I will send you an invite!

Springs First Catch

One of our favorite parts of spring as a family has to be fishing. We have enjoyed being able to walk into our backyard, toss out a couple of lines and catch fish. The kids love seeing the fish and each of them has had a chance to reel one in. The last couple of weeks we have been fishing a couple of times as a family. It is a cheap form of entertainment around here and with the weather so nice pretty enjoyable. I am almost to the point that I would feel comfortable taking the kids myself, if it weren't for having to touch the fish we catch and placing them back into the pond...I'm not there yet. But I can bait the hook (with hot dog) and I have caught a couple of fish. Good times!

We let Jeff do the dirty work!

Trey likes to touch the fish!

Bayley had last Friday off from school, so we ran over to Georgia to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa "G" and Spencer and Leigh, while Jeff went camping with the boy scouts. The kids had a great time playing with little Spence and hanging out in Georgia. While there, we went to the park where the kids had a great time swinging and playing.

Kendal pushing Baby Spence on the swing

Bayley climbing high!

Finally, here is a cute picture of the kids from Sunday! They are such fun kids!

Hoopin' it Up & Other Stuff

Saturday was the last day of basketball games for the kids. In my opinion it has been a very successful basketball season. We have learned some very important lessons including, Trey does much better playing if he hasn't woken up from a nap 20 minutes prior to a game, Kendal is enthusiastic about just about anything new and wants to be right in the middle of the action whatever that might be, and Bayley has some natural athletic ability if she chooses to use it! The league was perfect for the age of our kids...non-competitive, no practices, no pressure, fun, and they bribed the kids with free drinks after the games and ended the season handing out trophies. I have to say for the Thornton Family it was $20 well invested (the $20 paid for all three to play, including t-shirts and trophies...I dare you to find another league ANYWHERE that provides that much for so little, a TRUE Bargain in my opinion and you know how much I love a good bargain) Here are a few highlights from Saturday's games:

We had a great weekend. The weather was beautiful, so Jeff snuck in 18 holes of golf while the kids and I enjoyed the great weather outside. It was days like yesterday that definitely get US very excited about the upcoming spring and summer months!!! We can't wait. However, we do know that there is bound to be a couple of more colds days in the forecast before we can officially celebrate the nice weather.

The other HUGE highlight of last week had to be getting our new washer and dryer. I have been very pleased thus far...I was able to do an entire weeks worth of laundry in 2 loads...it used to take me at least 3 usually 4 loads to get a weeks worth done! I am very excited! You know your a MOM when a cool appliance makes your blog highlights!

Snow Day

March has begun with a bang... or shall we say a downpour. This morning we woke up to freezing rain that turned to snow (not a big deal, unless you live in a place like Alabama). It was a rainy, yucky weekend that ended with a snow day. Because of the bad weather, church was called off today. It was nice to have Jeff around and to spend that day at home, but by the end of the day you could tell that the kids were a little restless. We did crafts, played games, read books, took naps, watched church videos....it was nice, but let's just say that I am glad that everyday is not a snow day.

Fortunately the snow has already melted and the waters that surged over the weekend have begun to receed, but before the snow was gone the kids did spend 10 frigid minutes playing in the cold stuff. They had a good time...that is everyone except Trey who decided to take off his gloves and came in with very cold hands.

Other than the weather being yucky, we did have a pretty good weekend. The kids ended up skipping out on basketball to attend a birthday party. I thought that they would all be excited to be skipping basketball, but when I asked them which they would rather do, I was somewhat surprised when Bayley replied,"My team really needs me, I think I want to go to basketball." She did score last week and has been very excited to "shoot some more" now that she has figured it out! In fact, she shocked Jeff and I both when she said, "You know, you could get me a basketball goal for my birthday and I wouldn't mind." I'm so glad that she has had a good experience this time around...even if she doesn't decide basketball is her thing later on. Kendal started T-ball last week. She is so excited! Let me just say that they take their T-ball pretty seriously around here...she will be practicing twice a week until games start, they will be wearing fitted hats, and their names will be on their uniforms. Pretty "over the top" for T-ball if you ask me, but as long as Kendal enjoys it that is really all that matters, right?