Sweetness

When I picked Annabelle up just now, she gave me a big hug and said, "hey there mama. Hey there".

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I haz a new trick

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At the Cheese's

I used to think that Chuck E. Cheese's was only a place to take your kids for a special occasion, but today's visit to Chuck E.'s place made me rethink that.

Chuck E. Cheese's is one of the only places I have found that only charges one token per ride/game. Most other places around here charge up to 4 tokens per game, which works out to be roughly $1.00. Today for $24.99, we got a large pizza, 4 drinks, and 96 tokens. We ate lunch, the kids played for an hour and a half, and they got a prize for about what it costs to have pizza delivered.

When we arrived, they stamped each of our hands with a matching number. When we left, someone verified that we all matched before we left. I found that extremely comforting. It's easy to get separated from your kiddos at Chuck E.'s place especially when I take them there by myself. Colin wants to win tickets, and Tyler wants to ride stuff, which means they are constantly running in different directions. I like knowing that if one of them leaves my field of vision for a minute, that I don't have to worry about someone else leaving with them.

Today was a perfect day with the kiddos. They had a blast, and I didn't go broke funding it.

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Santa Baby

Annabelle loved everything about Santa. She didn't fuss when his elf took her to sit on his lap nor did she fuss the entire time she sat on his lap. She just looked at him like he was the most wonderful, magical person she had ever met.

Santa on the other hand took one look at Annabelle and and declared, "you look like a beard puller. Let's hold hands!".

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Best Punishment Ever

Matching up the world's biggest pile of socks. Mommy hates matching them, so when we get in trouble she makes us do it. She says it's a team building exercise.

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5x7 Folded Card

Berry Merry Frame Holiday Card

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6 Months

In honor of being 6 months old, Annabelle got a big girl cup and some baby candy.



The baby candy is really yogurt melts, but Annabelle ate it with the same gusto as most people eat chocolate.

We also have some new words to report this week. Annabelle can now say:

Hey there!
Daddy
Mama
Mama boobie
Hey Tyla (Tyler)
Hey bubba (brother/Colin)

At her 6 month check up, she was in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for height.

She is growing up so fast!

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Craziness

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Mama

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Annabelle Says...

Don't get your tutu in a tangle!

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This guy...

Is now one of four kids reading
on a 3rd grade level in his class!

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I did it mama!

The other day, Tyler broke the training wheels on his motorcycle. He was doing a "big jump" and landed wrong. Luckily, Tyler didn't get hurt. Sam rushed over thinking Tyler was seriously injured, but he quickly discovered that Tyler was crying because his motorcycle was hurt. This is particularly troublesome in Tyler's eyes because he rides an average of 15 miles a weekend.

The broken training wheel necessitated a decision. Did we buy Tyler a new set of training wheels or did we just teach him to ride without them? This was a hard decision because Sam just took Colin's training wheels off of his motorcycle a few weekends ago despite the fact that he's been riding his regular bike without them for two years. Unfortunately, Tyler and Colin have two different brands of motorcycles so we can't use Colin's on Tyler's bike. In the end we decided to see how Tyler did riding his bike without training wheels and go from there.



Tyler tends to do things his own way, and learning to ride without training wheels was no exception. He refused help from anyone. Instead he rode his bike down a grassy hill using his feet to balance. Then when he had gained enough momentum to balance himself, he'd put his feet on the pedals and take off. I figured it would take a few days for him to experience any kind of real success. It actually took him about 30 minutes before he had a pretty good handle on it. By the end of the afternoon he was riding on the concrete.

My guess it that we won't be needing new training wheels for his motorcycle after all.

This is Tyler's 4th or 5th ride down the hill.

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Cuteness

I tried to take one of all three kids, but three out of three of my children didn't want to.


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Mama

Most of the time Annabelle calls me mmm. As in mmm...mommy your boobies taste good. But today I heard the most magical word spill from her sweet little lips. Today I got mama three times. There is no better feeling in the world.


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Big Money Rappers

- A Memory Made

I mustache you a question

- A Memory Made

Big Girl

I have a tooth now! Mommy says I need one more before I can start eating french fries. I'm a big talker now too! I can say, "hey dada!" and "hey there!". Every morning I wake up and mommy takes me to play with my daddy, and every morning I look at him and yell, "Hey dadadadada!". Daddy says its a great way to be woken up.


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Santa Baby or Elvis is in the building

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Girl on top

You did what to my doll?



You're going down big brother!



This is payback!



Nobody puts baby in a corner!

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So I made these

And traded them for our family photos. Enjoy!



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Family Photos

Meet Scratcher Bun Buns Motorcycle Eater Linton

I'm pretty sure Sam's going soft in his old age. Actually I think having a baby girl has made him soft. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure the events of this past weekend never would've occurred.

Sam and I took Tyler and Annabelle to the Cotton Gin Festival in Bostwick, Ga. Colin was hanging out with his Nina and PawPaw, so he missed out on the festivities. The main reason we go to the Cotton Gin Festival is to watch the Tractor Parade. Yes, we are old, boring, redneck people. Sam and the boys love drooling over all of the antique tractors and making plans to one day drive their very own tractor in the parade.

This year we were a little late getting to the festival, so we had to park in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the middle of nowhere was right next to the children's play area. On our way to watch the parade, we happened upon a booth where the main goal was to throw ping pong balls in various fish bowls. Each fish bowl represented a different prize level-a goldfish, a blow up guitar, and, the grand prize, a baby bunny. You got 30 balls for $5. Sam and Tyler were immediately drawn to this game and insisted we give it a try before we hit the parade. I held my breath because I knew what was going to happen-Sam and Tyler were going to win the baby bunny. I knew this because my sweet husband has a talent for these kind of things. I was absolutely amazed $15 and about a million ping pong balls later (Sam kept sweet talking the lady out of free balls) when all we had won was a total of 6 goldfish.

It was getting to be about time to leave, and I saw a glimmer in Sam's eyes. I also saw a look of recognition in Tyler's eyes, and I knew what was about to happen. The poor woman running the booth was about to get sweet talked out of her grand prize. Bless her sweet heart she never stood a chance. Separately, Sam and Tyler are hard to say no to. Together it's impossible. They turned on the charm and the next thing I knew we were driving home with a baby bunny and a very excited three year old. Sam for his part had a huge grin on his face.

Later I asked what in the world made him decide to get the boys a bunny rabbit. He replied, "I just wanted to see if I could get the lady to to do it". In truth he did it because he knew it would make them happy. He wanted to see happiness light up their little faces and know he put it there.



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I love baby girl's hair

You haven't lived until you've seen Daddy blow dry her hair. There is something about watching the man, who swore it was probably a good thing he only made boys, playing beauty shop with his baby girl that just warms my heart.

Watching him dress her is another story. Let's just say he doesn't appreciate my love of over the top outfits and matching hair bows.

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The Linton littles ganged up on me...

I'm pretty sure I just got conned by all three of my children. I was sitting in the living room when the boys came over smiling ever so sweetly and declared their undying love for me. They then proceeded to give me a foot rub, a back rub, and a new hairstyle.
I should have known something was up. I mean they were even being sweet to each other, which is a rare occurrence in our household after the 7 o'clock hour when the can't help its usually appear.

After the back/foot rub part of the evening came to a close, I was treated to a chorus of, "you're the best mommy ever," followed by an all you can love buffet of hugs and kisses.

I was outnumbered and on a love buffet high when they ever so sweetly asked if they could all get a little extra mommy love and sleep in the big bed. I agree to dumb things sometimes.



I think Annabelle and I are going to sleep on the couch tonight. I've returned to my senses and remember why sleeping with the older children is a bad item. They tend to kick and hog the bed.

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Watcha reading brother?

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Trick or Whine...

I have several funny Halloween stories to share. I will post them later when Annabelle's not fussy from teething.

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How to make a 3 year old happy

Turn him into his favorite Power Ranger. I am especially proud of this shirt because I made it while holding a very fussy Annabelle. My only issue now is how to convince him to take it off long enough for me to wash it.


-A Memory Made