Spring has Sprung!

Hallelujah! If we relocated any further North,  I would have packed up and gone back to Texas (we still have a home there).   This has been a rough and cold winter for me, at least. At times, I couldn't get the house warm enough.  My feet constantly stayed cold  and I drank enough cocoa to bleed chocolate.  It has been wonderful seeing all the flowers bloom here.  Seeing the daffodils and Iris bulbs sprout from the ground reminds me a lot of my childhood.

Our neighbor, Mrs. Collier was an avid gardener. I coveted her yard. She had many varieties of flowers in her yard.  I loved the creeping phlox that grew on the hillside  over the rocks by her driveway. We used her yard as a backdrop for Easter pictures when her azaleas were blooming.  If we ever had a science project, we would head to her house and she would help us gather leaves and seed varieties of everything that grew there. On many occasions we would pick her irises on our walk to the bus stop and sometimes traded them for a little change to a few to my friends in elementary school (BTW, I've repented of that trangression) :)

Anywho,  this got us in the mood to play in the dirt.  We went to the local home center and  picked up some plants and soil.  We made a small garden and spruced up our containers with new flowers.  The kids picked out lavender plants.  They call them perfume plants.   The kids love to garden.  They find great joy in seeing something that they planted and water grow and make flowers and fruit.

Everyday afterschool, they jump out of the car to water the garden.  

They each got a strawberry plant.  The kids say they taste better and sweeter than the ones at the store.  Doesn't everything taste better homemade? :)

Emma and I have been watching the trees in the yard.  Pink blossoms popped out all over the branches.  When they fell off and the leaves grew in, we noticed :

                            We Have Peach Trees! 

The kids and I were licking our lips thinking about all the wonderful things we could make and bake with these babies.  Oh, Please let there be an abundance of fruit!

We are definitely enjoying the warmer weather.

Faith The Cat 's First Birthday

The kids  have bugged me since we got the cat what day her birthday fell on.  We estimated since she was six weeks around Easter last year, that her birthday was around March 6.  They didn't forget it either.  When March rolled around, we HAD to have a birthday party for her.  We planned it for Saturday the 6th. Then we got busy, so we bumped her  to Sunday.

The kids selected the menu which consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup with goldfish crackers.  Emma came up with an original game called "Pin the tail on the fish".  Andrew also came up with a game that flopped called "Hide the Burrito"  (I don't know what goes on in his rabid mind)

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday. Faith's cake was actually a pate of the finest quality (*Cough*) in the shape of a fish.

 Singing Happy Birthday

The kids had brownies with vanilla ice cream.  We gave her a cat cube hoping she would sleep in it rather than our bed.  It  didn't work :(

Hamilton County Championships

 Um Yes, we found out what our $15 dollar shirts said on the Eve of the Championships.  You should have seen the look on Scot's face when he got them!  I busted out laughing!

Saturday was the County Wrestling Championships.  Nathan was 2lbs over his weight class the day before- which meant he wouldn't be able to wrestle.  He ran with a 25lb weight for an hour and ate a banana for dinner. 

The next morning weigh-ins started at 8:00.  We got to the event and dropped him off.  20 mins later we got in the door and saw Nathan running around the gym.  He was a 1/2 lb over.  Ugh!   5mins later they call final weigh in.  Nathan comes out.  He was an ounce over. I, including another dad are asking at the same time, "Did you pee?"  Instead of scratching him, they bumped him up to the next weight category.  I was nervous.  One mom said, "Hey, it could be a blessing in disguise."  What? That he would be wrestling kids heavier than him?? Kids he hasn't wrestled against all season?!  This did not settle well with me and I began to fidget.

Then the semi - final matches started.  It was chaotic.  There were three matches going on at once all the time for the next 4 hours.  If you lose a match, you are given 1 more chance  in the loser's circle.  First 2 matches Nathan won like a champ.  He didn't break a sweat.  On match 3 he lost to a boy from Hunter (his teammate lost to him as well)  Nathan went to the loser's circle for his final match and Won!!  He made it in the Championships! We broke for lunch and ate at Sonic. Barret spilled his slush all over him and had to run into a nearby K-mart for clean clothes.  Nathan wrestled against one of his teammates and was defeated.  He placed 4th and got a medal.  Not bad for a boy from Texas who didn't know anything about the sport up until 4 months ago.

We are really proud of him.  He is  now in training with the Soddy Daisy Roman Greco/Freestyle Team.  Two very different styles.  The Wrestling Dads told me I might want to stay home.  It's a little hard for the Mommas to watch. Oh boy. They start training next week with college coaches at UT-Chattanooga with Saturday Tournaments as far as Memphis-Yikes!  It's gonna be a sacrifice for all of us.

Tickets for the Semi -Finals/Championships $ 26
Lunch at Sonic $34
A Change of clothes for Barret  $8 on clearance (so what if they were brown corduroy cargo pants)
Drinks and candy at the concession stands $15
9 long hours with 3 bored little kids and sore rear ends  (Payback from our parents)
Watching our son win a medal -Priceless

                              We were all misty-eyed and didn't notice that his shirt was on backwards.

Here are the matches in case anyone else besides  Dad is interested in Watching :)

Semi-Finals:
Match 1
Match 2 (Nathan had a squeeze on his opponent and was doing what Scot calls "The Kickin Chicken")
Match 3 Round 1
Match 3 Round 2
Match 3 Round 3
Match 4  No pin but, Nathan won by points

Championships:
Final Match

Final Two

Soddy played against the top two in the county.  Last Wednesday it was Hixson.  Hixson had only 1 loss- until the Showdown at the Round Gym.

Here's Nathan  No Pin, but won 7-2 (I think).  They cleared the board before we could see the final score. 

Hixson match

Last night, Soddy was up against the undefeated champs for the last umpteen years- Hunter.  We creamed them 62-30.   What a shame.  Hunter fans stopped cheering after they lost the first 4 matches.  No pin for Nathan but he won the match  by 9 points.


Hunter Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Soddy Daisy is officially undefeated.  The boys are so pumped. Hamilton County Championships are this Friday and Saturday.  Go Soddy!!

Did you hear Emma?  She's coaching from the stands.  I'm sure Nathan's eyes would roll if he could hear her.  He said with the head gear on, he can only hear the "ocean".  When the season's over I'm going to start wearing them when the kids are home :)

Barret turns 4

I can't believe our baby is four.  He still looks smaller than our other children at four.  I still carry him on my hip.  He still drinks from a sippy cup and still wakes up at night.  He's the only one that never leaves my side wherever we go.  I love to take him for lunch.  He has good table manners,  he's shy when strangers try to talk to him.  He'll hide behind me, or look at the ground and tap his foot.  I still love to snuggle with him. I wish I could freeze time.

On his birthday, he woke up and said he grew overnight (All my kids have said this). Emma and Andrew were measuring up to him.  He wore his boots with spurs and his double holster everywhere. He talked me into getting him a Zhu-zhu pet, a boat for the thing, and a remote control motorcycle that does wheelies at the store. Nevermind that we had already gotten a few things already. Nathan had a match that evening, so he chose Mc Donald's for his  birthday dinner (Blech!)  When he opened his presents, he would say A _____ ! It's just what I wanted!  Even the birthday cards.  It was so cute.
Here is a video of him blowing out his candles:

Barret's Birthday


Happy Birthday Barret!

Signs of Affection

This past week I was up to my eyeballs in crafts.  Emma and Andrew had parties at school.  A simple box of Valentine's cards from  Wal-Mart was too simple for Emma.  She was satisfied with making the girls something for their hair. We worked on these for a couple of nights.

Little Miss Martha

 

We ended up making about 15 of these things

I suggested  personalized chap stick holders for the boys.  She spilled the beans to her classmates about her tokens of love and the chap stick holders where given a "thumbs down" by her friend Russell.
So we went with plan "B"... Suckers.  I found a tip on a blog on how to make heart shaped lollipops from mini candy canes.  I found them in the clearance basket at our local grocery store.  We already had the sticks from a failed project.

 

Take 2 mini canes to form a heart and put them in a 350 degree oven for approx 5 mins. to soften them.

Take them out and place a lollipop stick on the ends and use your fingers to press around the stick. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Once you've burned all your fingers, here is the end result.

We printed labels and attached them to the lollipops and Viola!

2 Happy Kiddos and One Tired Mom

Scot etched a vase for me with little words for  Valentine's Day.  I thought it was so pretty.

It came with a dozen roses, but I forgot to get a picture of it with the flowers while they were alive. Doh!
We forgot to tell the each other that we got something for the kids.  On Sunday morning, they ended up with 2 boxes of chocolates each.  Andrew loved them so much that he slept with them. When  he woke up Monday morning, everything, including his pajamas were covered in chocolate and caramel. It looked disgusting

Emma gave us a Valentine card  that said "I Love You Mom and Dad" Love, Emma.  PS.  I love my toys too.  =)

Saturday Fun

 It is a rare occasion for me venture out without a kid or spouse for a full day since moving here.  Saturday was the exception.

On Saturday,  I took a course on the embroidery software that Scot bought me in November along with a new commercial embroidery machine.  Boy, I was surprised!  I would have never bought it myself.  He said, "That's why I bought it for you."  I love my man =)

Anyways,  I got to rub shoulders (literally, it was a full class) with a large man named Bob.  He had a gray beard and a cute little handlebar mustache that he curled up the ends with mustache wax.  He was lost most of the time, but I helped him out.  He was so grateful.  I enjoyed it.

Scot set up a hair appt. for me as part of my V-day gift. This place is supposed to be the best salon in Chattanooga according to our Realtor.  I couldn't remember the name of the stylist she referred me to ( I thought it was Shana) so they gave me an appt. with "Shasta" (like the cola).  I was a little worried when I found out her name but they said she was a "Master Stylist" (code for black belt in Cosmetology).  The salon was a 3 level Greek temple.  I was escorted by "Star" to the second floor and waited to be called.  Every chair had a woman sitting in it getting something done to their hair.  It was loud with chatter.

A man came and asked a woman on the couch across from me a question.  She looked a little offended till he showed her the paper that was in his hand.  She shook her head. He came over and asked me "Are you Ezie (pronounced easy)?"  "Yes, that's me." I said (I have been called everything). He escorted me to a closet and asked to change into a smock and  to hang up my jacket and shirt.  It was FULL of clothes.  I figured,  no one would take my Banana Republic Shirt if I put it behind a hanger with lovely gold necklaces draped over the front of a woman's  REAL Fur coat.   When I popped out he showed me to a chair and gave me a stack of celebrity smut to read while I waited. 

I was happily greeted by "Shasta"  5'8 curly red head with a huge blond streak on the top of her head. She had tatoos on her arms and several ear piercings.  She gave me a consultation.  I nervously told her I would like highlights that look "natural" and a simple hairdo. She said "Great, do you want me to take your purse?" Um no.. that's alright."  After seeing the clothes closet, I could only imagine my purse lost in a sea of purses.

Shasta was actually a pleasant person to talk to. We got along well  AND she does great hair.  I learned alot of interesting facts about Shasta:

She's only been in jail once, but only overnight.
Used to work at Little Debbie making honey buns.
Has a "developing" ten yr. old daughter that's about to get a lesson about the birds and the bees.
Lives with her boyfriend that has dreams she's cheating on him instead of going to work
Has more tattoos that aren't visible
Talks in her sleep

I'm looking forward to my next hair appointment.  She said she going to talk me into doing something different with my hair :)