Spring Concert

Last night was my Chorus's spring concert. The evening started out slightly crazily with me locking (or possibly the van doing it itself) my keys in the car, at the babysitter's house, with the car running. The babysitter's mom had to drive me back home, and she took our extra key and went back to her house to turn our car off. Perfect thing to do when gas costs like $40/gallon.

The concert went really well, despite forcasted severe weather. The second half of the concert was the operetta "Trial By Jury" by Gilbert and Sullivan. We all got to wear old hats, and I got to wear this beauty. I pretty much never wear hats, except baseball caps, so I had to get Brax to take a picture of me on his phone. The veil was really fun!

Funny Conversations

The other night I took Thomas and his friend Hayes to a birthday party. I didn't really talk in the car, and just listened. HILARIOUS, sweet conversations. Here is just one of the parts.

Thomas: Do you really smell anything?
Hayes: Well, I only smell the sun, and when my mom bakes cookies.
Thomas: I love cookies. Especially chocolate chip.
Hayes: Icing cookies are my favorite. Just kidding!
GIGGLES.

Fleece 'N' Boots

 

Note To Self:

If you send Mae downstairs after her nap, while you finish talking to Brax on gmail chat you might find...

This,

 

This

 

and This. (Mae: Because I got the snot off my nose.)

 

First T-Ball Practice

Thomas and (Coach) Brax had their first practice on St. Patrick's Day. There are 9 boys on their team, the Padres. Although, Thomas is excited for the games to start, I think he's starting to like the practices also. It's hard to adjust to sharing Daddy with a lot of other people when you're used to playing catch with him by yourself.

I didn't get a ton of pictures because there wasn't a good place for Mae and me to be. We walked over to the Greenway for a little while, but ended up leaving. I'm sure we'll have more fun at the actual ballpark.

 

 

 

 

Pictures from MiMi's Camera

There have been several times recently when I've been caught at MiMi and Papa's without my camera, during a photo op (shame on me, I know!). The other day I kidnapped MiMi's camera and brought it home to see what was blogworthy on it. None of these pictures really go together, but feel free to meander with me.

PaPa and MiMi have two closets, but they join in the middle. The kids love playing in the pass-through. Sometimes it's the first place they go.

 

MiMi and I were headed to a shower for Brax's cousin's wife who just had twins. We had just come from church so we were all clean, and we all smiled!

 

Thomas and Mae ready for church. PaPa went out to take some pictures of them in the daffodils before we got in the car.

 

I love this picture, even though Thomas has a funny look on his face, because they're hugging. Often when they're touching they are NOT this happy!

 

Building the new pier (or dock, if you're in my family). It's going to be perfect for fishing! Brax and PaPa are even sinking old Christmas trees under the Pier so the fish want to live there!

 

Playing in the creek. I loved that the kids got to do this one afternoon. Thomas LOVED it. He is at the perfect age for exploring something like a creek, and climbed up and down the different levels. Mae was ok with it, but didn't like getting dirty. Yea for rubber boots!

 

One thing I love about having a girl is that dresses become shirts a few years later. This dress made it's debut in the family picture that we got taken in May 2009 when Mae was about six-months-old (it's in our blog header). I had already thought it would be a great shirt this summer, and I might make some shorts to match it. But, the other day, I pulled it out and put it on with jeans. I thought it was pretty cute!

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(this isn't Mae's real smile. this is what we get when we say "smile!")

 

the evolution of a picture.

 

Funnies

Brax: Thomas, after supper we're going to go get you some cleats.
Thomas: Dad, I know a place where you would LOVE to get me some teats.

Mae: Can I have a Coke? (which she has never had before)
Kim: No!
Mae: Can I ask Mrs. Cathy?

Thomas: Do any of you want to be shooted with a fire dart gun?
Kim: No.
Thomas: What about just a dart gun?

Playing Outside

Thomas has been using the nice weather to practice his T-Ball skills. (He chose his own accessories) Mae has swung the bat a few time, but prefers to push things around or help Daddy!

 

 

 

 

Crayons and Paint

On yet another cold, rainy day we pulled out the bath crayons and paint for the same bath. My kids both love baths, and although they often pick at each other about things, they're a lot better if they have something to do! This bath allowed me to put away all of our clean laundry!

 

 

The Fort

We had beautiful spring weather here for a couple of weeks. So long in fact that I put away all of Mae's winter clothes. And then it turned cold and rainy again, and I had to pull out what the British call "warm, wooly underfugs" and come up with some inside activities. One thing we did was build a fort. Both kids realy enjoyed it. Especially the flashlight...

 

 

 

3 Minutes in my Life

Yesterday in the car this string of questions came out of Thomas's mouth in about three minutes. I thought you would enjoy.

Whose face is on the penny?
How old is George Washington?
Do we still have birthdays when we die?
Can Abraham Lincoln talk to us from Heaven?
What do we look like when we're dead?
Why is fire too hot for us?

A Big Date

On Saturday Brax, Thomas and I went down to Birmingham for the day. We met PaPa and Aunt Katey at his parents' property. The houses are going to be torn down and we needed to go through some stuff, and help PaPa move some big things. SInce I'm obsessed with family history, I thought I'd give a little lesson.

The house in the upper left corner is the house where Brax's great-grandfather, James Braxton Martin was born. The house in the upper right corner is where James and his wife Hulda spent most of their life, and where Brax's grandmother Catherine Mae Martin grew up. The house in the lower right corner is the house that Brax's grandparents Catherine Martin and JD Watkins built after they got married. It's where Brax's dad grew up. The other building is a shed. I just think it's cute!

 

Thomas had so much fun playing on the property. This is the field where PaPa grew up playing baseball. The boys had a quick game!

 

Three generations of Watkins men in front of Grandmother Martin's house. And Thomas with Aunt Katey.

 

After we finished up there we took Thomas to Samford to the basketball game. I wish I could say Thomas loved it. He HATED the buzzer, and actually spent two-thirds of the game with his hands over his ears (you never realize how much a buzzer buzzes during a basketball game until you're with someone that is bothered by it). He did however love the halftime show, which was elementary school kids doing a jumprope show.

 

We brought him home exhausted, but it was a fun day with our big boy!