Go Fish!

I think Phil has been waiting for this day since she was born

Oh, I caught a fish!
Do they make these things for lefties?!

A Beautiful Sight

This has literally happened once in the past year...both little ones asleep at the same time. Guess who stayed up late and wouldn't go to sleep for Nana last night.

Lady's First

The kids have a Thomas the Train track and lots of engines that they love to play with. We had them out this morning and Andrew had the boy engines (Thomas, Percy, Diesel, etc) and Evie had the girl engines (Lady and Rosie). They were trying to figure out who was going first on the track, which runs in a circle, so it's a little hard to tell who is really in front. I said, "Ladies first" thinking I am teaching my son to be a gentlemen to let Evie and the girl trains go ahead. Evie looks at me and says, "Lady's first. Yes, she is our leader." It was just too funny. We are all speaking English, but there is still a language barrier between adults and kids sometimes.

Released from the ENT

Andrew had an appointment with his ENT, Dr.Graves, this morning and we got nothing but good news. He is healing well and unless he has any more problems with multiple sinus infections we don't have to go back to Dr.Graves. He is a wonderful doctor and we really like him, but I hope we never see him again :) We also confirmed a possible cause for chronic sinus inflammation. Andrew has been on a wheat free diet since October when his skin test showed a severe allergy to wheat. A couple of weeks after surgery we re-introduced wheat for a week and it caused major sinus drainage and reflux, which he hadn't had any trouble with since going off his medication in October. Two different allergists had assured me in the fall that no, wheat was not causing his sinus problems. That would just be too rare. Dr.Graves agreed that it would be very rare, but so is a two year old that needs sinus surgery. Food allergies affect the GI and respiratory tracts, so there is no reason to rule it out as the cause of Andrew's problems. I hate that Andrew is allergic to wheat, but I am thrilled that it is something I can control and we may be able to avoid any further sinus complications.

Happy Birthday!

Evie made cupcakes for Papa's birthday. Since his birthday is on Valentine's Day they had to have heart sprinkles!
The traditional birthday meal at Wasabi with the family
Everyone had candles to blow out

Happy Birthday to Mimi too! Her birthday was Saturday, but we will have to celebrate it next month.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Evie's preschool class sent her a goody bag since she would be missing the party today. She was so excited to get valentines and treats. She left a bag of valentines for her preschool friends and she took boxes of conversation hearts to her gymnastics friends today. She was very generous and gave her 3 friends two boxes each and kept two boxes for herself, but a little boy came in early for the next class and she gave him one of her boxes. I was so proud of her for sharing without being asked to. She was definitely a cheerful giver today. I don't think Andrew cared much about the cards, but he loved getting the candy.

Good morning Valentine!

A treat bag from friends

We gave the kids sunglasses tonight...Andrew was loving his!

Playdate and a little nest

We met our friends this morning at Chuck E Cheese to play games. We had a talk in the car that we were going to stick together and walk. They did great at both of those for the first 45 minutes. Even after I let them go their separate ways they were very well behaved. This was the first time I had taken both of them alone, so I was nervous that they would take off running in opposite directions. It took an hour and a half to go through 80 tokens, and they loved every minute of it. Andrew has been fighting against his nap for awhile and today just flat out refused to get in bed. He was exhausted from his big morning and we have church tonight, so a nap wasn't optional today. I made him a little nest of blankets and pillows on the floor beside his bed. He curled up and went sound asleep.

Andrew picked one mole to whack over and over

Evie loved this monster truck!

Evie liked putting the puck into her goal slot, so Andrew won big time

So sweet! He put his sock on his arm before he went to sleep...don't know why.

Dinner & Basketball

Stanley, Lydia, William, and baby Shawn came over for dinner tonight. Andrew and William loved playing together. They get along so well and always have fun. Evie had so many questions about baby Shawn. She asked Ms.Lydia at least a dozen times why he couldn't eat. The answer: he doesn't have any teeth. Other than asking 10,000 questions, she was really sweet with the baby and tried to teach him how to roll over.

Baby Shawn hanging out in Andrew's chair

Dinner at the kiddie table

Train fun during the basketball game. GO VOLS!

Healthy Family

No, I'm not talking about ways to avoid the flu and stomach virus that are spreading through Knoxville right now. This is something much more important for young parents. I want to share with you a list of ways to create a healthy family that our MOPS speaker, Doris Moreland, gave us last night.

1. Showing and talking about your love for God

2.Showing and talking about your love for each other

3.Catch your child doing something right and praise them for it

4.Ruthlessly eliminate all hurry

5.Smile....and mean it

6.Pray for and with your children

7.Have family devotions every night

8.Show trust, respect, and forgiveness...expect it in return

9.Have a family fun night-mark it on the calendar and don't let anything get in the way

10.Do many things together as a family (camping, board games, travel, etc)

11.Pick a discipline plan, agree on it, implement it and follow through

Doris came up with this list after raising two kids, being in ministry for 30 years, working as a school teacher, and watching what has worked for successful families. This list isn't guaranteeing perfect children, but by following it when the day comes for you to let go of your children you will have no regrets. I absolutely loved this, and some of it is not going to be easy, but Phil and I realize this is Evie and Andrew's childhood and we only get one chance to do right by them. A huge thanks to Doris for sharing this blueprint!

Andrew is getting really good at talking on the phone

This outfit is just so Evie right now!

Backwoods Politics

I try to stay out of politics, but you would have had to be living under a rock in Knoxville to not know about the county commission disaster with term limits and appointments. Well, now the nation gets to be shocked and appalled by how it has been handled. The New York Times ran an article about our little city and its government, and it is not flattering (click on the word article to read it).