Tea Party!

Josie and I went to Polly's Pantry for a tea party with the Gaskin's girls. I'm pretty sure it was Kelly's idea. I think there were 15 of us there. Josie was very excited about the "Mommy & Josie" day. She's all about her some quality time. We spent 2 hours there and she was absolutely wonderful!

She ordered hot chocolate. It came in this little porcelain teapot. Josie got to pour some cold milk in all by herself to help cool it off. She thought she was so grown!

Josie Ryann and Taylor Rae! Josie is crazy about this girl!


Mommy & Josie!

She just stared at this dollhouse for a very long time. They even opened it for her later.

Look at that ice cream....along with that big ole happy grin!!

Nana, Josie & Me!


See this gentleman's shirt? Josie saw this and was like, Oh Mommy! His shirt it b-eauty-ful! We need to get that for Daddy! He didn't mind that I took his picture to show Joey.

Here's our girls! It's the only picture I have. Nana's got her eyes closed, but she still looks pretty! :)
Josie felt just like a princess. Mrs. Polly even gave the girls princess lessons. They got little gifts. Josie received a lollipop (blue one her fav) and some fru fru hair bows. We'll have to go again.

Is there such a thing as too much Taylor Swift?

Josie and Jake love some Taylor Swift. I must admit I like her, too. It's a good thing because Josie's got the Fearless CD and the child knows almost the entire album by heart. No joke. She has her own little way of singing it like "You be da prince and I'll be da princess. It's a lub story, baby just say yes!" I'm smitten with those 4 year old words that are turning into big girl words too fast for me to handle. Yesterday, she whipped out her doll that sings "Teardrops on my Guitar." Her Aunt Annette came down to visit and bought her that one and the "Our Song" one. Oh, and a Snow White doll, too. We can't leave out a princess! Anyway, I'm glad I had the camera right there so you can see how much they enjoy Taylor Swift. I'm laughing in it because Jake's so darn cute.

Kindermusik Recital!

Jake and Josie have done Kindermusik for the past two semesters. They've thoroughly enjoyed doing it. This spring we did Fiddle De Dee. There were all kinds of crazy songs in there. Luke and Laney were with us this time. The kids loved having them some twins time. Here are a few pictures from the recital this past Saturday.

See Josie's face in this one. She's shouting out to Bazoo Bazoo Butz. It's a donkey song and we're going hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw hee-haw hee-haw in our big voices! Man they were hilarious. The two beside us were focusing on playing the resonator bars.

This is some egg shakin goin on here. The kids made some good friends. They were with most of the same kids from the last semester. Such sweet bonds were formed.

Jakey was getting down in this shot. I'm sad it's over. They'll miss it next time.

After the recital we had lunch at Mickey D's, took Jake home for a nap, and headed to Ocala for the movie UP! Jake's never been to the movies, so we were a little nervous about taking him. To our surprise he was a dream boat. His sister, the old pro, did just fine. She didn't like it quite as much as the Hannah Montana movie, but the popcorn and candy were big hits. Jake just sat there in his booster seat, crossed his ankles, and ate his popcorn the whole time. He would start laughing in some scenes and give me this "I don't like this part look" in other scenes. I asked him if he loved the movie. He said, "Sometimes Jakey likes it, and sometimes Jakey don'ts." We topped the night off with some Chic-fil-a ice dream cones and went home for some much needed rest!

Raindrops, an Airboat, and Bobo!

If you live in Florida you are more than aware of the wonderful rain we've been getting. Back in the day, before kids, I would have probably slept through it all. Now, they'll be NO such thing happening :)

When we were at Mama's the other night I couldn't resist letting the kids play in the rain. They were so stinkin cute. Jake loves the puddles. No surprise there.



It looks like he's squatting to pee in this one. Yeah right! He simply won't potty train even if it means getting to pee outside. Maybe one day we'll be past the diaper phase :)



Josie refused to remove the hair bow or barrette. She insisted she have her hair that way. It looked hilarious even before the rains came. But she told me she looked beautiful and she did and that's what counts! There were pants on her when we started, but she got too cold to keep them on. She certainly looks warmer now. :)

The rain slowed down so good ole Angie got the hose out. Some of you reading this live close enough by that you probably heard the yelling.

Then comes Bobo pulling up with his airboat in tow. Oh you guys there are way too many "you might be a red neck jokes involved in this visit." And I mean that with the utmost respect. I dearly love my big brother. The kids are crazy about him. I need to find the picture from Christmas when he and Josie were comparing tattoos. His aren't washable though! Brett fired the engine up on his airboat and Jake started screaming with delight. He kept saying, "Bobo turn on dat washing machine." I'm like yeah buddy that's a washing machine on the back of the boat! Ha!

FOUND IT! Here's the tat shot!

Then he cleaned up real nice for another visit the next day. We very very very rarely get to see him, so it was really nice to have his company two days in a row!

Yeah, that's my kid in her p-jammers. It's one of the simple pleasures of being home. She would wear them all day everyday if I let her. Of course there'd have to be some princess costume intermissions off and on throughout the day. I just let her because in a few short months she'll be a big girl going to preschool (for real this time). It's amazing how quickly time goes by.

I thought she looked pretty here. She's forever posing for me. In this particular one she grabbed the basketball net and was like, "Hey take a picture of me. This is such a good one Mommy."

They looked too sweet not to put this one in. I love these children and this life. Their sweet little faces make it all worth it at the end of the day! Ummm, ummm, ummm!!

Your Son!

Yes, YOUR SON, as my husband so affectionately called "our sweet little innocent "Jake last week. Your son equals when our child makes a poor choice he becomes Mommy's. My son equals when our child makes a good choice he belongs to Daddy. Let me use these in a sentence. My son cuddled up with me in the bed and gave me the sweetest sugars this morning. The flip side is where this post comes in. JEANNE, LOOK WHAT YOUR SON DID!!!!!!!


First of all, how could this face be the face of a little boy who could do such a thing? For real?


Well, it is the face of such mischievousness...... This is where Saint Joey is using major tone-age with me. Joey is so spirit controlled it's enough to make this loose lipped woman lose it! He rarely gets upset. Can you believe he's actually telling me to put the camera down ( in his meanest voice possible)? Here's the proof that Jake really is MY son. Do you see the permanent marker all over his legs? Oh my!!!

He didn't stop there. Here's some Sharpie on Saint Joey's console......

......and seat.....

......on the outside of his truck.....

........on the headrest......

As we tried to clean up we kept finding places where MY son Jakey had been. There was marker on the seat belt clip, the floor mats, the passenger side door. Alot, alot, alot as Jake says. Oh man, what a mess! So after googling "how to get permanent marker out of skin, upholstery, vinyl, outside of vehicle" and then some. I stumbled on to the items below.

Spray sunscreen was the big winner! It got almost all of the marker off Jake's legs!

Hairspray was a close 2nd removing Sharpie off the door.

The baby wipes did absolutely nothing for us! Folex, as suggested by Aunt Krista, got most of the marker out of the upholstery. We tried toothpaste and hairspray on the dash, inside door, and console, but to no avail. Google isn't Gospel! Before I googled I tried Magic Eraser. That stuff does everything, right? Yeah, including taking the finish off Saint Joey's interior...oops! Turned out spray sunscreen saved the day on that one, too! So what if his finish is a little dull. It's better than black from permanent marker.

I hope you're wondering what I wondered out loud to my very irate husband! What on earth were YOU doing while Jake had the time to do what he was doing? Believe it or not, he was right beside him laying sod. He was just a few feet away. Joey said he had that moment. The one where you say to yourself, "Uh-oh, Jake's been quiet for some time now!" Then the feeling of panic hits and you realize.......that your wife's son has just made a very poor choice, to say the least!!! He always says, "I sowry mommy!"



Tell me, honestly, could you really be upset with this face?

Paw Paw & Jake

Paw Paw is my Mama's Daddy. We get to see him at least once a week! Every Tuesday we get together at Mama's for family night. It always makes for good food and even better stories!


Manny (as Josie calls her), Mammy (as Jake calls her), and Granny (as the other grans call her) almost always has surprises for the kids. It can be anything from food to stuffed animals...which she knows I adore....Ha. Stuffed animals aren't my thing, but I don't deprive my children of the joy they bring...just not to me! Barbies and those little tiny princess dolls with the rubbery clothes that make you wanna cuss are a big hit for the Josinator! This time she got Jakey a pink t-ball set! He didn't seem to care about the color choice. All he knew was that he was gonna get to whap that thing and that he had an audience! Here are some pictures of Paw Paw and Jake along with a short video! Nennette, I thought you'd love these! :)

Wedding Bells!

Josie was the flower girl in Jennifer Fort's (now Manley) wedding. She was very excited to get to walk little Ethan down the aisle. Dragging him down the aisle and back by his tiny 18 month old hand is more like it. I was pretty impressed! Can you even believe I don't have any pictures of Jennifer and Sherman? Shame on me!

Here's Josie getting her hair done for the event! She's never had her hair curled before!

Josie waiting to get "real" pictures taken!

Gigi gave her a french manicure for the big day. She even did her toes.

Ethan and Josie. She was so over the Kodak Easy Share! Poor girl! I really couldn't fuss. She was simply acting on the outside the way I was feeling on the inside. :0)

Paw Paw and Manny cheered her up a great deal! Gave her the boost she was needing.

Jake and Joey at the reception! That boy is such a ham! Jake that is!

I'm so glad we got to be a part of Jennifer and Sherman's special day (as Josie calls it)!