Never a dull moment

around here with these two kids!! The other day in the car Annslee asks "Why is Jon Jon's mommy's belly sooo big?" I explained that she had a baby in there..a baby sister for Jon Jon. Well, Miss A then announced "I want a baby sister in your belly and I will name her Lily" Yeah, I let her know that would not be happening so Lily was merely added to her list of "my honeys, my babies" (I need to video how she says this..so cute.) Anyway, she has to call the babysitter a lot and check on them and it is always Johann (who is a girl, from China but we met her in Vietnam) causing all the trouble. Below is the face she makes when "scolding" Johann : )With Annslee's expressive language delay we were always worried that when she started talking she would loose the facial expressions that we loved so much. I think we worried for nothing LOL



Let me clarify that I can probably count on one hand the number of times she has been left with someone and we have never called and received a bad report on Annslee so I am not sure where she gets this!

I guess she was hearing something funny about "her huunies her beeebies" at this point. Likely it was Fia (the decided favorite) doing something good.



Not to be outdone by the antics of his sister~ I was changing Coby out of a swim diaper the other night and had to run across the hall into the bathroom to get a diaper for him. He took that opportunity to get up and go out into the hall, hold on to the banister and proceed to pee into the living room below. I heard Annslee screaming "look at YOUR son" as she jumped out of the way of the "shower" headed her way. I came out and he was grinning from ear to ear! I didn't grab him up as I thought it would just make it worse! My friend Tracy put a positive spin on it pointing out that at least he was getting a head start on peeing standing up LOL Didn't have a camera to catch him in the act (too bad) but here is the evidence running down the wall...oh the JOY of BOYS!!

The joy of watching memories being made

Below is what I wrote about this event in 2007 but nothing has changed and I can't say it any better now so I will just share this again~

Here it is again..the weekend I look forward to and dread at the same time. I grew up walking up the road to our church BBQ each year and my mom was a huge contributor to the success of it. She helped prepare the slaw, potatoes and cornbread. We all hung out the night before with everyone at the "pit" as the pork cooked overnight. We only lived two houses down from the church so it was a fun time. There was music,lots of loud talk and I am sure drinking...and early the next morning the meat had to be pulled and so at around 6 am everyone gathered to do just that.Each year we went, we ate, we worked and we made memories. After I went away to college and later moved away from home, I still came back each year. Although I had long "outgrown" the small country church, the annual BBQ was home to me..and I knew it meant so much to my mom. All the proceeds went to the cemetery fund and that was a cause she was close to as so many of her family (and of course mine) were buried there. The funny thing is I grew up playing in the cemetery, we played "hopscotch" on the foot stones, we had seances, and played hide n seek. I guess living so close to what we called a "graveyard" made me totally at peace with it and totally unafraid.
The BBQ that is etched in my memory is the one in 2002 which unfortunately was also the last time I saw my mom alive. I don't remember how much time I actually spent with her that night, I don't know what I said, but I do know I said "I love you" before I went home. I was newly married (for only a few weeks) so I imagine I was busy talking to people about that. I really meant to see her soon afterward. We had just returned from our honeymoon in Spain and I had a photo album I put together that I wanted her to see. They had travelled to the same area of Spain years before so I was anxious to "compare notes" with her. I know I talked to her on a Sunday on the way home from the lake...I told her I would see her on Tuesday. I don't remember now why I changed it to Thursday...I really don't. I just know that on Wednesday night I got a call that would shake me to the core. My dad came home from work and found my mom on the kitchen floor. She died suddenly from a brain aneurysm and I was left wondering why I hadn't seen her in a few weeks. It took me a long time to deal with the regret of that two day change of plans decision....So this weekend we went to the BBQ as usual and it was so fun watching Annslee run around, laugh and "shop" at the country store like I used to. I somehow now think it is fitting that I saw my mom last in this place that meant so much to her....I only wish she could have met her grand daughter..they would have been big buds!

*I will just add that as Annslee gets older her sassafrass ways remind me so much of my mom's personality and believe me she and Coby would have been big buds too. She raised three girls and then was blessed with only grandsons while still living and loved those boys dearly.

*side part added to sanctuary later so the church I grew up in was much smaller than it is now*



Here is a little flashback from years past~no, no pics of me as a child (I will dig some up)

BBQ 2006 (Annslee holding a bottle for a friend's child..practicing her big sister skills early)



BBQ 2007



BBQ 2008




When we arrived this year Coby wasn't sure what to make of all this



It was unbearably hot and Annslee knew just the thing to cool her off after dinner : )



Coby enjoyed a game of "pee pie" with cousin Shelby



Annslee and her crazy cousins Gabe and Jacob..yeah, of course this is the pose they gave me *Annslee's shirt says 'don't blame me- I was born awesome'



Annslee and cousin Gabe rode the cow train over and over!! They are 9 months apart in age and had a great time together~ much laughter was heard as they always insisted on riding togther and screaming "go SUPER fast"



Annslee held Coby in the train but I was afraid to let him ride with her because it does go kind of fast and over some big bumps in the field



He kept watching Annslee having fun so I decided to take him for a ride..Annslee squealed from the seat behind us the whole ride "Coby a big boy now riding the train!!"



I think Coby had a pretty good time even without riding the train : )



Sweet girl gives us this sign all the time



We stayed late and Coby was tired but never slept on the way home (we had the VBS music playing and he was dancing) I heard Annslee laughing and this was the view I saw in the back



I like to think my Mom sent this beautiful sunset to us tonight



*can you believe I almost didn't take my camera tonight...so glad I did*

VBS!!! We had a BLAST!

I mean, we literally did...the theme this year was Galactic Blast (we are a test church for Cokesbury so our church does the theme that the rest of the Metho*dist churches will do next year) The kids LOVED the outer space theme!

Here are my cuties in their matching shirts : )



Ok...one pic was all he would do before trying to escape



This morning I made sure the three of us got our picture taken. I was the photographer for our VBS this year so this is the only picture I am in (actually a good thing LOL)



Coby wanted Paige to hold him for a second and it was soooo sweet!



I walked by story time the other day and all the kids were at rapt attention...well, Annslee was until she spotted the camera...



She did get pulled out for a video at one point and got her picture taken a lot by the Cokesbury people. We will see how many appear in next year's literature. She did another VBS this week at night (yes, she is tired) and they did the Edge (which our church did last year) and Annslee and Paige both were pictured in the Director's book (photos taken last year at our VBS)

*many more pics to come*

Play Date Fun

These pics are from our playgroup last Thursday. It was HOT and honestly the kids were miserable so we weren't there long. Next time we will meet at the fountains!

Here is our first group shot. We took it early b/c we thought the kids wouldn't be melted by then : )



Like I may have mentioned, it was HOT outside so Annslee loved having her hair like this. She sweats so much and like she will say "I have jet black hair...it is hot"



Coby and Anna are only a couple of months apart in age but Coby is all over the place while Anna is much calmer ... it was hard getting a pic of them together



Annslee and Olivia were enjoying the shade and Coby of course had to go wherever Annslee was



My Sai*gon boy was the only kid there who seemed to enjoy the heat...now that it is in the 90's he is finally not shivering at the pool : )



Another group shot as we were leaving since two more sweeties had joined us..yeah, they were NOT into it and just ready to get home to the A/C!!



* Our diverse group~ 6 from China, 3 from Korea and 1 from Vietnam*

Father's Day

Last Tuesday we went to a pottery place and Annslee made an ice cream bowl for Daddy~ he doesn't drink coffee so the obvious mug was out : ) She had a great time but Coby did not...he just screamed in the stroller while she painted...she announced "next time get Coby a babysitter" LOL




All week she would say "Daddy I have surprise but I no tell you" She did great keeping the secret until we picked it up on Friday...once it was in the house she had to give it to him!



It turned out really cute..and it was hard for her to write on the bowl while I held it but I think she did a great job. Last night she and Daddy shared ice cream out of the new bowl



This morning Daddy opened the rest of his gifts which included flip flops (Daddy always jokes that his sandals are flip flops so Annslee got him real ones) and a book that Annslee loves and got for "Daddy" and two pair of swim trunks : )



Coby is in few pics b/c well, he is NEVER still and this is his version of helping with gifts



Yeah, I tried to put him in Daddy's lap but he wouldn't stay



Ok..here is the group shot ; )



We are heading to the pool in a little bit...too hot to do anything else.

Two Great Play Dates!!

This has been a busy and fun week! On Monday we met up with a Aiden and his mommy (along with her friend and sweet daughter) We have followed each other's blogs for a couple of years and actually were in Vietnam at the same time but never met up. Funny enough Kelli saw us at the water puppet show (actually she spotted Annslee) but couldn't get to us in time to say hi. Today we did meet up though and it was HOT outside but great fun!

As most of you know Annslee LOVES pushing people on a swing and waited years to push her own sibling. Coby likes to swing but doesn't love it like Aiden does so Annslee was thrilled : )



Coby did get a little jealous though and wanted in



The highlight for our boys was eating mulch!



I hope my boy (who only has 8 teeth) is getting more and all this drool isn't in vain



Both boys are from Southern Vietnam...they are about the same size even though Coby is 4 months older



My daredevil ventured over to the big slide and loved it



Annslee always finds rocks wherever we go~ this one was actually pretty cool



Group shots are sooo much fun to take ; ) We had a great time with everyone and can't wait to meet up again! Stephanie, thanks for playing so well with Annslee, she loves hanging with a "big girl"



On Wednesday, we met up with Amelia and Jack for storytime. It had been way too long since we've seen them and everyone had a great time. It was raining when we arrived and we had to wait for a few minutes so the girls enjoyed playing with the umbrella



Our handsome boys from Vietnam! Tracy and I spent hours dreaming of and talking of bringing our second child home...I remember when we changed our paperwork to "either gender" she was one of the first calls I made. I talked her ear off as I waited in the parking lot to pick Annslee up from school. She alleviated any fears I had of bringing home a son instead of another daughter. Now I can't imagine my life without this sweet boy : )



It is always fun to see who is tallest



My Southern Belle in front of a beautiful magnolia tree



Story time was so much fun and so were the games they played



Tracy took and edited this gorgeous picture~thanks for sharing Tracy!



I always think trying to take group shots is interesting and this was no exception. I LOVE this one as it really tells a story.



I sat Coby back down and Annslee held on tight to him ... they are all looking and that is all one can hope for. We had so much fun and can't wait to meet up again soon!



*we did do something fun on Tues but it relates to Father's Day so that will have to wait. Yesterday we met with our playgroup then went to see Paige dance and tonight we are doing a pajama party at a neighbors so there will be more posts coming *