New Nephew!

Jeff & Alicia had their baby this morning. Peyton Daines Bingham weighed 6 lbs 12 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Born at 2:37 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16th! I'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet the little guy!

I'm so impatient

Zack had some blood drawn yesterday and the doc said she'd call last night with the results. She still hasn't called. I'm about to lose my mind while waiting. I just wanted to share that with everyone.

He did so good yesterday as he was having his blood drawn. But as we walked out to the car afterward he told me that he "needed to be taken care of for the rest of the day because his arm was still stinging." He is so funny. He loves to be taken care of when he's sick or wounded.

I was taking pictures of Zack yesterday to put on my blog. He insisted that I take a picture of his battle wound while I was at it. Can you see the tiny dot?



***Update*** The doctor called with the results from the blood test. Zack is healthy and all is well. We had a bit of a scare yesterday b/c the doctor noticed a lot of large lymph nodes in Zack's body on his neck, abdomen, and groin area. So, she wanted his blood count tested. She told me that she thought he was probably fine, but wanted to run the test just to be sure. He's normal! She thinks he's just so thin that she could feel his lymph nodes protruding more than the average child. You know how thin Zack is... makes sense. Nothing like a little health scare to make you re-evaluate your life and relationships with your kids!

7 year well visit

We took Zack in today for his 7 year well check. Want to know what the most stressful part of his visit was? Having to get on the elevator! He is so afraid that he is going to get stuck there.

Zack weighs 47.2 pounds so he is in about the 37th percentile for weight. And he was 46 and 3/4 inches tall (I swear he's taller than that) and that put him in the 50th percentile for height! As a baby/toddler he was usually 5th-10th percentile for weight and 10th-20th percentile for height. So, he's making big progress! Very exciting times for me.

New Phone!

I broke my phone a while back. I have to wait until the end of July before I can order a new one. In the meantime I've been using the Razr which SUCKS compared to the phone I was using before, the Cingular 8125. This phone was a bit bulky, but Adam and I LOVE it nonetheless. It's awesome.




I've been researching phones for a while. Three things are a must for me: Windows Mobile, QWERTY keyboard, and a touch screen. So my choices boiled down to two phones:

The AT&T Tilt




Palm Treo 750



After reading a bunch of reviews I have decided to get the Tilt. It's basically just a newer version of what I had. Everyone says the Tilt is better than the Treo... it's easier to use. Short battery life, but who cares! I CANNOT wait to get my QWERTY keyboard back so I can text people with ease! It'll be worth the wait.

I have the greatest mom ever

I never finished posting about my mom's visit... there was just so much to cover. So, here's a recap.

Tuesday - she took us to lunch at CiCi's (one of Z's faves), then we took a trip to Wal-Mart and then the grocery store where she entertained my crazy kids while i shopped, this was followed by hours of her entertaining the boys in the pool, and then she started mowing my lawn.
Wednesday - Z's birthday. She switched off between mowing my lawn and helping Zack mow the lawn (cause he LOVES to mow) and playing in the pool, then she took us out to dinner for Z's birthday at his fave place, and then she and I went shopping to get stuff for the armoire & bought the clock, went to Hobby Lobby and got some stuff for Mason's room (which I haven't posted pics of yet), then we came home and had cupcakes and sang to Zack.
Thursday - Mom encouraged me to take the kids to the library to get a library card. I've been putting this off for about a year now & she finally got me to go and do it. Then she took time to take the kids around the library and find books for them while I went to the adult section to find some books for myself. She's such a good mom, seriously. Later we started working on the armoire. This took the entire day. she hates painting, but she gladly helped me anyway.
Friday - finished said armoire. Then the rest of the family came to town...
Saturday - more fun with whole fam.
Sunday - we went to church. After church we had lunch and then Adam, Mason, and I took a nap while my mom sat and reviewed sight words with Zack and had him read to her. You have no idea what a big deal that is... he groans and moans when I ask him to read with me. She somehow got him to sit for THREE HOURS and they worked on school stuff. She said she wants to get a video camera and start tutoring him over the internet. How cool is my mom? Yea, she's pretty freaking amazing.
Monday - she left for Dallas... and I almost broke down in tears. The boys were asking her if she could stay longer. We weren't quite ready for her to go!

My mom did so much for me while she was here. There were so many times that she entertained the boys for me while I was inside doing something else. She got INTO the pool with them and PLAYED with them and THREW them around! They absolutely loved it! She thought of fun activities they could do - with educational value. Like one night she made bottle rockets with them! She is such a good mom. I just wish we lived closer to her. Maybe one day...

Free blog backgrounds

I just found this website via Tip Junkie. Leelou makes blog backgrounds and you can copy them as long as you don't try to claim it as your own design and aren't using it for personal (commercial) gain. The only problem I had was that you will lose your widgets. But, I just ended up using the url codes and pasting them in myself.

She also has another website where you can hire her to do a custom background, header, signature, etc. She does some really cute stuff! Go check it out!

When it rains it pours!

Man, do we need some gutters on that part of the house! Adam is outside right now sitting on the porch and watching the rain. Thought I'd take a picture of it since it was coming down so hard...

More mom stuff!

My mom got some index cards while she was here along with a card box for Zack. She put a bunch of the sight words from the Dolch List (200+) on cards for him. They sat and practiced sight words for I don't even know how long. He told Mason at one point that he didn't want to play & that he wanted to go do sight words with Nana. lol. She paid him $1 for every 10 sight words that he knew and then he'll continue to get money for the new ones he learns. Zack does not enjoy doing anything school related when he's at home, but this sure worked!

So far he knows 67 words off the list!

House projects with my mom

My mom bought this clock for me while she was here. I've had my eye on it for a while! That space was bare before and looking so drab!





I've had this UGLY wreath on my kitchen wall since we moved in almost 4 years ago. And I've hated it ever since, but didn't know what to put on my wall. I didn't want to just buy any old painting to put up there. And the space is big. Heather told me that I should get one of these wrought iron deals, so I did. And I think it's SOOO cute. Thanks, Heather. My mom and I went to buy this last week, but it wasn't on sale and I knew it would be at some point. I found it for 50% off this week!

Before:


After:

Picking Blackberries

We put on our grubby clothes and went down the street tonight to a blackberry farm to pick blackberries. The kids LOVED doing this. We got 6 pounds of blueberries for $15... not bad! They are pretty good and sweet. I am not sure what we are going to do with all of them... maybe we'll make a pie or try to make some preserves! Ooooh, wouldn't my dad love that if we made him some...

Here are a few pictures of the boys with their gatherings!

My mom's week long visit

The last two summers my mom has been in school getting her master's degree so she wasn't able to come for a visit during her summer break (she's a teacher). So, before school let out this year I called her and asked her to come for an extended visit. Extended meaning, more than 1 or 2 days. Our visits are typically pretty short and quick... just weekend visits. I was hoping she could come and help me out with a few projects around the house.

She called last Monday and said she'd be here the following day and would be staying for 6 days! I was so excited! I wrestled between going out and doing fun stuff with her OR instead doing projects with her. She insisted that I get my projects done and she would take care of the kids while I did so... "that's what she was here for." We got several things done and she bought me a few new things for the house that I had been wanting. She totally spoiled the boys with lots of love, attention, & toys too. What are grandmas for, right?

I got this little saying from my friend, Jen, who is a demonstrator for Uppercase Living. My mom and I decided to put it up above Mason's closet doors. It is perfect for my boys seeing how they play IN the dirt ALL day long!! I put it up a little crooked. :(





We also put this one up in the living room, which I also put on crooked. I'm going to order another one since (this is how I'm justifying it) it really needs to be quite a bit bigger to look right over the french doors.





Another project we worked on was painting an armoire that I recently bought off of Craigslist. Some of my good friends are teaching me to be thrifty and crafty! Heather has been searching for an armoire for me for a while now & found this one! It was more of a pine/honey color originally. I'm so sad I didn't take before pictures. But I do have one of the inside of the door so you can see what the armoire looked like before my mom and I painted it black! This took several hours (like 2 days) to finish up, but was well worth it! Before this armoire I had one of those cheap pressure treated wood bookshelves/tv stand. Zack had climbed all over it the past 3 years and it was falling apart. I'm so excited to have a GOOD piece of furniture to hold my tv. Plus I love being able to shut the doors!!!!! I need to find some decor to go atop of it.







More to come on our projects and time with my mom!!! Too much to put in one post!

Critter Update

I'm SOOOOOOOO happy to report that in the last few weeks we have had NOT ONE mole, mouse, pocket gopher (which is the other animal that Adam caught on the same day as the mole), wasp, hornet, or bee hanging around the house! THANK GOODNESS. There was one GIANT spider, but eh... whatever. That's nothing. This has made me inexplicably happy. I was getting so tired of having wasps hovering around while we were trying to play outside.

4th of July weekend

We had lots of fun this 4th of July. Scott, Nicole, kids, and my dad came on Friday afternoon (my mom was already here). The kids hopped in the pool and swam for a little while, Nicole and Ashley made these cute & yummy 4th of July strawberries, we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch, played the Wii, swam some more, had fruit pizza for dessert, and then went up to the local college for some 4th of July festivities. They had some stuff set up for the kids... those big inflatable slides, inflatable obstacle courses, etc. We did that for about an hour and then went and hung out while waiting for the fireworks to start. The fireworks show was honestly the BEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!! Can't say enough good things about it! It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The finale was spectacular and I think it would be hard to top it. We'll be going back every year for that one - I don't know why we haven't gone before. It was awesome! Well worth the wait (that's not what I was saying that night when it took us an hour to drive 9 miles to get home, but oh how quickly we forget).























Saturday we did more of the same... played the Wii and swam and then my dad took us all to see Kung Fu Panda. The movie was really cute and the kids (and adults too) liked it. They all came out of the theater trying to do some Kung Fu of their own on each other.



After the movie our guests left to head back home to Arkansas. Thanks for coming guys!!! We sure enjoyed having you all here!

Then on Saturday night we had some friends over to do fireworks. I love doing this every year. I LOVE fireworks & it's even more fun to hang out with friends and watch them. Plus I just love to see the husbands act like little excited children while they get to set the fireworks off. It cracks me up! We had quite the arsenal and the sad thing is that Adam barely even made a dent in our little stash. We STILL have TONS of stuff leftover. I told him to just save it for next year. Here are a few pics that I stole off of Jennie's blog since I didn't take any pics of my own! (Hope that's okay, Jennie!)

Trip to Dallas recap

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I've been so busy. Plus, I just haven't felt like blogging. Anywho, I'm gonna do a bit of catching up.

The weekend of June 28th we went to Dallas to see my aunt, uncle, and grandma on my mom's side. We were supposed to leave on Friday evening after Adam got home from work, but he had a lot of work to do and an opportunity to make some good money that night if he could squeeze that one last job in right at the end of the pay period. So, we ended up leaving on Saturday morning. We went straight over to Paula's parents house to take the kids swimming. I wasn't there 5 minutes before I took off to go to Erinn Brown's shower. Erinn is my friend from Katy - the one I've been friends with since Kindergarten! (I am still amazed that we've stayed friends this long so I always have to throw that in there.) The shower was great. Got to see some old family friends while I was there. Was glad to be able to see Erinn (even if for a short time) and see her little pregnant belly!

I left from the shower and met up with Ron, Paula, Adam, the boys, my cousin, Casey; his girlfriend, Katy; and her little boy. Ron and Paula took us to Medieval Times. It was awesome! You get to watch a live show and have dinner at the same time. This is such a fun thing to do with the kids (or without them for that matter)!

After the show at Medival Times we went home and watched my cousin Casey play on the Wii for the first time. THIS WAS HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He almost punched the TV while boxing on Wii Sports. He was literally inches away from hitting it. He got so into it that he was sweating and had to take his shirt off (he had an undershirt on) and take his shoes off. He was giving the game all he had. It was just SO funny to watch.

On Sunday we went with Ron, Nana, and my cousin Adam to their church. They go to one of the mega churches, Watermark. I *believe* they have something like 5,000 members. There were *about* 1500 people at the service we went to. None of which were children. Well, except maybe 2 or 3 of them. This was a group of 1500 adults. It is such a different experience than what I am used to. It's interesting to participate in their services. It's quite the production. They have camera men and big screens where they have live camera feeds of the pastor (or person on stage) giving the sermon. You can tell that a lot of work goes in to the Sunday service b/c as the pastor is speaking about something you'll see the scripture references pop up on the big screens. And they have a live band who plays all of the music. They play songs that you'd hear on Christian radio stations (some of the songs might be original, I don't know?). It's just interesting to be a part of the service, coming from a much more traditional background. The sermon that day was on meditation,"Don't Hem and Haw. Learn to Hagah." You can find the sermon on that link under 2008 messages. It was interesting. The pastor had some great points. Take a second and go listen to the sermon.

Sunday, after church, we went home and had lunch with everyone. Casey and Katy joined us. After lunch the guys played some more Wii. Adam played for the first time... and again it was hilarious to watch him... just as it had been with Casey the night before.

We had a GREAT time seeing everyone. We love to see my aunt & uncle... they are just so much fun. I didn't take any pictures since I didn't have my camera with me. I'm hoping they'll e-mail me some pictures soon & then I'll post them on here.

My Little Boy is SEVEN!

Today is Zack's birthday and he turned 7 years old today! He spent most of the day swimming with my mom, Mason, and his friend Brycen. Then my mom took us out to dinner at Zack's restaurant of choice, "Chips & Salsa." That's the name my kids have given the mexican restaurant down the street. Then we came home and had cupcakes! Adam bought Zack a new game for the Wii and a steering wheel to go with it. It was a good day, but the festivities are just beginning. We typically celebrate his birthday again on the 4th because we almost always have family here on the 4th. This year my mom and dad will be here (my mom got here on Tuesday). Then my brother, his wife, and their 5 kids are coming too. Should be lots of fun!

I can't believe that Zack is 7 years old. The last 7 years of his life (through my eyes) have just FLOWN by. I wish I could get some of that time back! It's going by too quickly. Zack is such a good little boy. He is so full of life - more than anyone else that I know. He has enough energy for several people. He challenges me daily and pushes me to be better. I'm grateful to have him in my little family!

I love you, Zack. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Boys' hair cuts

Adam cut the boys' hair tonight. Here are some pics of them!

BIG D, here we come!

We are going to Dallas this weekend to go to a baby shower for my friend from Katy, Erinn. Erinn and I have been friends since we were FIVE YEARS OLD. DO THE MATH... THAT'S TWENTY-THREE YEARS THAT WE'VE BEEN FRIENDS!!!! We are also going to spend the weekend with my Aunt Paula and Uncle Ron & my Nana and maybe we'll see some of my cousins too. Here are some pics from our trip to Dallas last summer! Can't wait to see the fam this weekend. Adam and I have a ball when we are with Ron & Paula... they are SO much fun!!!!!! And I LOVE FUN.

Adam at Chuck E Cheese!


Ron's traditional pancake and sausage breakfast!


My with my cousin, Adam. OH MY GOSH, I think I'm a Tharp!


My Nana. I have the coolest Nana ever. She's SO FUNNY! Mostly b/c she's going senile, but still... YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU NANA!!!!


Zack at Chuck E Cheese!

I got my hair did

Remember how one side of my hair has been shorter than the other for the last several months... on purpose? See picture below which was done by below referrenced girl #2.



Well, it was cute when the girl #1 did it, but then she went on maternity leave. Then girl #2 tried to trim it up and make it look the same as girl #1, but just couldn't get it right. Quite frankly, it looked like shmoo for the last 2-3 months. I finally go so sick of it that I went to a new girl, April, and had her even it up so we could start from square one. This is literally the shortest my hair has been since I was about 3 years old. I'm not crazy about the cut, but there wasn't much Miss April could do with it. (I feel like April could be my BFF. Have you ever had a hair dresser like that?) I went back today and had it colored. I LOVE the new color. It's not blond, it's more of a lighter brown. Check it...

Um, I have no make-up on (except some eye make-up) so you can see how awful my skin is. Please excuse my ugly face.

Janna aka Professional Wasp Killer

In the last three weeks I have killed no less than 15 wasps. I bet it's more that that b/c I've killed at least one a day since I discovered that the little buggers were hanging around our house. (Buggers... get it... hahaha) Today was the first day that I did NOT see one single wasp the entire day. I am crossing my fingers that I got rid of them!!!

Here are two of the wasps that I killed and a bee that I killed yesterday too. We are having some weird luck right now... either that or the Lord is purposely torturing me!!!! :)

MOLES AND MICE!

Updates on our nasty little... (outside) house guests!

So, we finally caught the mole today. But, then we noticed another tunnel on the back side of the house this evening, so that means that there is more than one mole. Adam also caught something else this evening. It looks like a mix between a mole and a rat. What the heck is going on around here????

Adam ended up catching THREE mice in his car. They had made a nest inside his dashboard. Makes you think twice about parking the car in the driveway! Doesn't help that we live in a wooded area. My neighbor was telling me she saw a mouse the other day in her yard. YUCKY things.

I still have yet to post about the other "infestations" we have encountered recently. I will do that tonight. I bet you are so excited.

By the way

My kids are no longer being cute and funny when I ask them what they learned at church on Sunday. All I'm getting now is an "I don't know." They're bored of my little game! :( That's why I'm not posting it anymore.

Gas Prices

I'm gonna start posting gas prices every once in a while just for the sake of being able to look back and see how times are changing.

My friend, Sarah, told me that the gas in her city was $4.25 on Thursday of last week!!! Adam had filled up that day at $3.61 a gallon.

I filled up today and paid $3.67 per gallon.

How much is gas in your part of the country?

Awww, isn't that the cutest picture you've ever seen?

I just ran across this picture on my computer. It's from 4th of July in 2005! I look like a baby in the picture. But, I still think it's a cute one of me and my mom. I love my mommy! She's the best mom in the world.

5th of July FIREWORKS!!!!!!

YOU ARE INVITED!

Every year we invite friends over to do fireworks... typically we don't do it on the night of the 4th b/c people are usually with their families that night watching the big shows. This year we are going to do the fireworks on Saturday, the 5th of July.

So... come do firework's with us that night. You can just come and watch Adam's firework's show or you can bring your own fireworks and let your husband set them off. This is usually more fun b/c then we have lots of fireworks to watch... plus, trust me... your husband will be jealous if he's the only one who isn't blowing things up. And he'll end up leaving to get fireworks anyway if he doesn't show up with his own!

We get started when it gets dark, so you can show up just before the sun goes down. Bring your lawn chairs and bug spray. We'll have sparklers for all of the kids to do.

Hope to see you here that night!!!!

The Ultimate Compliment

Zack told me yesterday (after I spent 4 and a half hours mowing the lawn and then weed eating) that I "mow nicer than dad does." So, he asked me what I did differently. "Do you mow it lower than dad?" No. "Well, why does it look so much nicer?" I don't know Zack... why don't you ask your dad that question!!!!

It takes Adam 2 to 2.5 hours to do the lawn. It takes me 4-5 hours to do the lawn. My husband is a typical man... pays no attention to the details! When he cleans a room he cleans up the center of the room. Taking everything that was on the floor and piling it in the corners of the room (instead of putting things away where they belong). Then he vaccums and calls it a day. It's the same with the lawn. He mows the center and leaves the outskirts of the lawn looking all raggedy.

Last summer I took over the yard. And I thought... rather than be the nagging wife and asking him to do certain "extras" why not just do it myself. It was nice to have someone recognize my extra effort!!!