Relatives and Dead Fish

You know what they say about relatives and dead fish? They both begin to stink after three days. That analogy couldn't be further from the truth with my relatives. The day we drove back to Texas, our first stop was my mom's house because my brother and his family came to visit from Utah. The kids couldn't wait until the morning and quite honestly, neither could I. We don't get to see them very often so we try to spend as many waking moments as we can with them while they are here. Their baby, Millie, was the constant entertainment to her three Greene cousins. She's growing so fast and is so cute, we all just ate her up. They left today and it's quite a bummer to see their tail lights.

My younger sister, Chelle, blogged about Aaron, Lisa and Miss Millie's visit too. She's way better with words than me and expresses my thoughts better than I could. You know that Saturday Night skit called "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy". Well this is more like "Deep Thoughts by Chelle Feidler. Read my deep thoughts through my sister's post here.

My brother, Aaron, with his beautiful family, Lisa and Millie.

Aaron with my adorable neice, Ciara.
Sassy Miss Millie....how cute is she?

Pretty momma, Lisa and pretty girl, Millie

Isn't my brother handsome? You can see why we love him so.

Visiting All Our Greenies in Georgia

Yes, I'm fully aware that I haven't blogged since May 18th. All the chastising I've received has finally worn me down. I'll be working on updates, but please excuse the fact that everything is pretty much out of order. Also, be prepared for lots of pictures and lots of reading. Sometimes you've got to be careful what you wish for....haha.

Last Monday, the kids and I returned from Georgia. We spent two weeks visiting Jon's parents, brother & sister in law and their kiddos. I don't recall ever doing so much on any other single trip to Georgia. We were kept busy and out of trouble.

Faithie and Charlie arranged for our first adventure.

They have a dear friend who was gracious enough to have us out to his cabin in the mountains. There we spent the day enjoying the sun and the Coosawattee River in Ellijay, Georgia.

Erica made us some hot dogs and brought them to the river. She's such a thinker. She knew the kids would be hungry but would not want to get out of the river. The water was cool, but very refreshing in the heat. Uncle Brad initially took Anna and Ian a little ways up the river to float down in inner tubes.

Of course they loved it. While he was gone with the older two, Grandpa put Ella and Brennan in a raft that had a long rope on it.

He would let them down stream as far as the rope would allow and then pull them back up. Of course they loved that too. We tried, but Joy wasn't going for any of that kind of fun. She was content holding Grandma's hand and walking around on the rocks.

As soon as Brad, Ian and Anna got back, Ella and Brennan were ready to go. Back up the river they all headed-Brad with Ian, Anna, Ella and Brennan.

After a couple of hours on the river, the grown ups and Joy were reading to head back to the cabin. Anna, Ian, Ella and Brennan hadn't had quite enough of the river, so I offered to stay with them for a little while longer. By this point they were feeling really comfortable in the water (translates to not as much falling down and such).

Anna found a rock that she thought might have been a dinosaur tooth (not really...only kidding...just made for a cute Kodak moment.

She and Ian were also lifting up rocks to see what creepy things were living under them. Ella was picking out pretty rocks to put in her stepping stone that Miss Martha gave the kids to make.

Brennan was just enjoying the sun and then rested for a few minutes.

Everything went fine until one of the oars to the raft got lose and started floating away from us. I tried to get it, but was quickly faced with the decision...stay with the kids or chase the oar. I know what you're thinking, but I did not choose the oar...I chose the kids. Quickly I sent Anna running back to the cabin to tell Uncle Brad about the oar and he caught up with it. Needless to say, he didn't need any additional exercise that day. We had some sandwiches and visiting for awhile before heading back to Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

The kids and I will have fond memories from this trip to the Coosawattee River. Thank you Mr. Tyson, for your hospitality.

Next Stop...Six Flags Over Georgia

Next, Erica (and Brad) took over as our travel agents for a couple of our excursions. I couldn't have planned better outings for us. Erica, Brad and I took the older kids to Six Flags while Miss Joy stayed with Grandma.

Brad took Anna and Ian to ride some big kid rides, while Erica and I went around the park with Ella and Brennan.



Once we were at the "I'm about to melt" point, we headed to Skull Island, which is a small water park area of Six Flags. I do believe some of us would have stayed there until the park closed, but others were able to twist our arms enough that we ventured back out to enjoy more rides before closing time.


Brennan loved these swings. It was tough for me to capture the enjoyment on his face with it spinning so fast. He only rode it about 5 or 7 times before we moved on.


Anna, Ian and Brenna ran off to the bumper cars. Ella opted for some dippin' dots with Aunt Erica and her Crazy Uncle Brad. Shhhhhhh! Don't tell the other kids!


We wrapped up our fun day at Six Flags with spending a little time in "Toon Town". All the kids rode some kiddie rides and Ella and Brennan even got to hug on "the chicken". Notice my shy one is buried into the bird feathers, refusing to look at my camera. Although we were dead-dog tired and unbelievably sweaty and hot, the day was great fun.

Thanks Grandma, for watching Joy. Thanks to Brad, Erica & Ian for spending time with us at Six Flags and a special thanks to Erica for finding us coupons and good deals for all our play days.

On To White Water

The day after Six Flags, I had a slow start and thankfully Erica planned our trip to White Water with one day of rest in between. Erica, I am grateful for your kindness to your ol' sister in law.

Since we were at the water park, I chose to leave my camera behind. At the river I had a close call of dropping my phone into the water when I slipped on a slimy rock and busted my sandy cheeks. I am so glad that no one captured that on film. For that reason, my pictures are from the iphone. Anna and Ian were such big kids that they were off playing on their own so I never did take pictures of them.

Ella and Joy were best buds on this trip. The both seemed to love playing in the splash pad and water slide areas. I stayed there with those two while Erica went off with Anna, Ian and Brennan to ride the big green slide.




All of us were having a fabulous time and stopped to eat lunch when catastrophe hit. A little one, not ours thankfully, pooped in the splash pad area. Now, had this been one of mine and Erica's kids, we already discussed that the poop would have been picked up and gotten rid of before anyone could even say the word poop. But since it wasn't one of our kids, the life guards were on top of it so to speak. By on top of it I mean that they were in a tizzy about it, all gathered around and on their walkie talkies trying to get someone out there to clean it. They stood guard until the real guards came in. These were guys in dark blue shorts and shirts. Yes, they too were armed with walkie talkies and even cell phones. The poop was being surrounded by these tough guys as if they were guarding Fort Knox. Of course, these guys were calling for back up too. Let me also explain, that during all this time, the small piece of poop gradually turned in to a bigger, flatter blob of poop that was slowly but surely contaminating the entire section of water, which is recycled into the splash pad.



I do believe you can even see all the hoopla of the taking care of the poop behind this shady picture of Brennan helping Joy get a sip of soda.

After waiting for about 45 minutes, someone that appeared like a super hero, came and cleaned up the mess. The bad news was that since it took so long, all the water had been contaminated and the splash pad area had to be closed for the rest of the day. We packed up our stuff and were headed to another area when it started sprinkling. Erica and I decided to head on out because we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of the rain. It was a good time to get the kids home and lay them down for a nap, and we could always get our hands stamped and return later in the day. Off we went to Brad and Erica's house. Like the efficient moms that we are, Erica and I had the kids changed and laying down in about 10 minutes. Yes, there was some wailing and gnashing of teeth, but when that settled, the napping began and lasted for several hours. The older kids started waking one by one and played the wii for awhile as we waited for Joy to wake up. Joy slept on, and on, and on. Erica is such a go getter. She made an executive decision. The kids who wanted to go back to White Water and play until they closed were headed out the door in a matter of seconds. I stayed home with Sleeping Beauty, Ella and Brennan, who were too worn out still to have enough energy to return. Once Joy woke up, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma made spaghetti and we didn't want to miss that! After we ate, I bathed the kids as we waited for the White Water Fiends came home.

The new best buds getting squeaking clean!

Another memorable and fun day was had by all.



The Zoo & My Day

Let me start by saying how lucky and blessed at my family who realizes and insists on providing me with quality "Mommy Time". Erica, with her halo all polished, took her two kiddos and my three, to the Atlanta Zoo...ALL DAY. During this time I was to go and do whatever I wanted to do. In fact, she informed me that she would not answer the door even if she was home and she commanded my mother in law to not let me back into the house before at least dinner time (although my mother in law would have let me in, right Faithie?)

What to do? What to do? I wasn't sure I could entertain myself for that long in an unfamiliar city. Surprisingly enough, I managed my time pretty well.

PEDICURE...including some bright orange polish and some pretty flowers on my toes.

FACIAL...so relaxing that I hated for it to end.

MASSAGE...since the facial had to end, I needed something for more of that relaxing feeling.

GOODWILL HUNTING...those of you who know me well know that a free day for me is not complete without a little resale shopping...or a lot for that matter.

When I finished with the massage I was feeling soooooooo good. Words fail to express how wonderful I felt. The closest thing to express it would be a natural high. Like nothing could upset me that day. As I was getting dressed, I happened upon a mirror. I looked like I'd been rung through the ringer. Not a pretty picture, but I felt so good that it didn't matter at all.
Can you believe all that took me till dinner time? How does time fly so fast when you're pampering yourself?

Thanks again to Erica for her selfless service to her ol' sister in law. It meant the world to me and then some.

Drama Central at the Greene House

A week ago today, Anna and I left the house for work/school as usual. As we left the house, Anna stopped to pet the pregnant, stray cat that she had been asked not to feed but fed anyway and that she named Star Bright the instant she first laid eyes upon her. Later that evening, after piano lessons and after picking up Brennan and Ella, we got home to find Star Bright NOT pregnant anymore. Do I need to explain to you how excited the kids were? There was plenty of squeals and screams as they ran all over the yard and garage looking for where she had the kittens. They were so hysterical that even I helped in the search. We searched high and low and in every place we could imagine she might have had them. And I thought it was going to be so simple just setting up a nice box with towels in it for her in our garage. Apparently, Star Bright didn't like that location. Once we had searched just about everywhere, I began to get nervous but didn't let on to the kids. Anna had already started asking if she could make signs and put them around the neighborhood or could she go ask a neighborhood friend to help them search. Ella, aka, Drama Queen, was too busy clutching her chest and bawling. "Momma, I can't breeve very well and my heart is beeping. I don't want the kittens to die!" And anyone who knows Brennan, he follows behind sisters doing whatever they are doing. I sat Ella on my lap and told her to breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, all the while keeping my giggles to myself. The only thing I could think of to do was explain to the kids that they needed to just go about their evening in a normal routine, but follow Star Bright around. I told them that momma cats don't leave their babies for very long before they have to feed them. Brennan kept coming to me saying, "Mom, Star Bright had her kittens. Her tushy is bleedin' and that's where she had them." Okay, not exactly what I thought would come out of his four year old mouth, but wow, what an education he's getting with just having this stray cat have kittens near us. They did this for a few minutes, but quickly became bored. So off they ran with the neighborhood friend to look around the yard some more. As they were doing this, I took the few minutes of quiet time to make some hair bows. Nice quiet house....mew...mew.... At first I thought it was just my imagination, but then I heard it a couple more times so I followed the mewing. It was coming from our sunroom where all the kids' toys are. Around the corner of the doorway, Star Bright rapidly ran through the doggie door and I followed her. Right in the middle of the kids' toy box were four little kittens, each with different coloring. Star Bright jumped in and started to feed them. I hollered for the kids and they ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. More squeal and screams than before even. The kids all crowd around the toy box and are all oohing over the newborns. Ella, remember Miss Drama Queen, started bawling again. This time she was saying, "Oh Star Bright...your kittens are soooooooo cute. I wish that you had a daddy..." I grabbed Ella and hugged her and asked her why she was crying now that we found the kittens. Her response was, "I'm sooooooo happy. Mom, you know you cried when you had me!" Hilarious. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning, watching, naming, oohing, preparing, renaming and figuring out what to do with Star Bright since our house was not set up for an indoor cat. Some time after 10:00 p.m. I was able to drag the kids off to their beds, and after a half hour or so of them each running down to "check on the kittens" a time or two, or ten, the sandman finally got them. Below you will find a picture of Star Bright with her babies and the drama queen herself after we found the kittens. You can only see three kittens, but one is hidden among the others. I'll post more pictures in the future. Currently the names are Peace (multicolored), Spider (black), Joel (gray) and Zipper (orange and white). Oh, and Anna has decided that she already knows the gender of all the kittens, even though I've googled it and tried to figure out myself and haven't had any luck. She says that Peace is a girl and all the others are boys.

Happy Birthday Tony!

The kids love birthday parties...tell me a child that doesn't. I love it because I get lots of great help through the day with the threat of NOT going to the party being the motivation. Also, I do enjoy visiting with my friends. They rented the same water slide that we had a couple of years ago for one of Anna's parties. It is a huge, double slide and the kids had a blast on it.

Happy Birthday Tony!

Sad News Updated

Swine Flu has come to our house.

My in laws were telling their Bible study class about poor Brennan and Ella...they suggested some "oinkment". Too funny!

What Do They Say About Paybacks?

Walking to school one day when I was about 8 or 9, just about Anna's age, I heard my mother's voice screaming down the street and around the corner, "JENNIFER KAYE!! GET BACK HERE AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH!!" Running back home, I remember thinking, "How does she know I didn't brush my teeth?" (And now I'm thinking why didn't I just brush them!!) This was the question I asked as soon as I reached home and her response was, "I felt your toothbrush and it's not even wet!"

Fast forward give or take about 10 years. My brother, Aaron, went on a camping trip. My mom packed helped him get his bag and neatly rolled his toothbrush into a pair of clean underwear. He had a great week of camping. Once he was home, my mom helped him unpack. What did she find? His toothbrush still rolled neatly into his clean underwear. I don't know which is worse. That he didn't brush his teeth the whole time or that he didn't change his underwear. 

Continue pressing forward until today. I've done all a mother can do to encourage my kids to brush their teeth well and several times a day. Once in the morning. Another time before taking naps or after lunch. Lastly at bedtime. In our bathroom at any given moment you can find toothpastes displaying Hannah Montana, Princess, Spongebob, Cars, Super Star Sparkly, and many more. The number of toothbrushes that have passed through our bathrooms have been unreal too. There's been Thomas the Train who actually plays the theme song, The Cheetah Girls singing one of their phenomenal hits, brushes that light up, spin and many more. Currently the kids are on these crayon designed toothbrushes that light up when you smack them on to the counter top. So Miss Anna spent the night Saturday with her friend. I usually don't stand over the kids when they're brushing their teeth, so I think it was about Tuesday that I went in during the brushing of teeth. Anna said, "I can't find my toothbrush?" I asked her where she put it last time she used it and she didn't know. I asked her if it could possibly be in her overnight bag from her friend's house and she ran to check. Sure enough, there was her toothbrush. Before you get too shocked thinking she didn't brush at since Saturday night, my children don't have any qualms about using any toothbrush that they find in grabbing distance. Her teeth had been brushed at least a few times, just not with her own toothbrush.

For The Love of Mothers Contest

Surfing the blog world one day I ran across this blog called Bags That Scream Me. This woman designs and makes these bags and gives them away, along with many other things she does. She appears to be quite an extraordinary woman...take a look at her blog some time. There was a contest for Mother's Day. You were supposed to comment on her post leaving your entry. The topic was to write about someone you think is a great mother. Although I was not feeling terribly confident, not in sense I don't know any good mothers because I do, but due to my writing skills and my inability to express my feelings easily. I went ahead and entered anyway...and who did I write about...my mom of course.

Sunday evening, while I was checking on my blog, I read a comment on my last post. It was from the talented maker of the bags letting me know that I had won. Quickly, I checked out her blog and this what I saw...http://bagsthatscreamme.blogspot.com/2009/04/because-she-loves-her-mother.html

How great is that? Not only does my mom get a bag made personally for her because she's a great mom, but I get one too! For those of you who know me, you know I'm jumping up and down on the inside.

Then today it gets even better...http://bagsthatscreamme.blogspot.com/

My purse is ready and I can't wait to see my mom's.

Although I tried to keep it quiet, I ended up letting the cat out of the bag. I told Mom that we had won something and then told her not to go snooping around on my blog. Well, we know all about good mothers, don't we? Sometimes, they just can't help themselves!