WAM, Birthday Parties, and a Cousin Sleepover

Sarah Claire went to WAM (Worship and Music Camp) at church this week and had a BLAST! She loves to sing- I love that about her! She made musical instruments too.

Anna Britten loves to pretend she is going on trips- she gets her baby in the stroller, puts on her sunglasses, bracelets, and purse (filled with anything from Mr. Potato heads shoes to a bungie cord) and says she is going to Chick Fil-A, the beach, the mountains, etc...SO Cute!She is the little comedian.

We have a pear tree beside our carport...these two decided to pick the pears and then sale them to our neighbors! Blaine was excited about getting $1 (or $2 when they saw SC with him) for a bucket of pears.

We spent Monday night with Drew, Deepti, and Ava before they headed back to Canada. I had a heartbroken little boy- the kids enjoyed having them around this summer! They LOVE litttle Ava- she is such a sweet baby.

Sarah Claire's friend, Mitchell, had the cutest birthday party at chick fil-a this week. The kids got to "go behing the scenes" to see how the chicken is made. They also got to make their own ice cream. FUN!

Anna Britten and Emory had fun playing together!

Blaine and Sarah Claire got to spend the night with Walker last night! I stayed a while to help out- they were all so excited! Pizza, smores, rice krispie treats, shrek, popcorn, and a tent...what more could you ask for?

Tired kids today- Blaine's last comment to me before laying down, "Mommy, do not let me take a 2 hour nap!"

The Tooth Fairy Isn't Rich

I took all three to the dentist Monday morning. Everyone got a good report. I asked the hygienist to try and pull one of Blaine's front teeth, it was just hanging there. Well, she came out to give me the report and said they had pulled both! I knew this was going to be interesting when I saw Blaine again. He needs a little preparation before something happens and we had only talked about one of the teeth being pulled. He came out with a mouth full of gauze with big eyes...held up two fingers and just shook his head. I had to hide my smile as the receptionist did behind the counter...

It took me a while to get this picture...he wasn't quick to take the gauze out of his mouth.
We thought once the tooth fairy came he would be good. This is the note he left the tooth fairy...

The story behind the note is he has literally LOST his first two teeth and had to leave only NOTES for the tooth fairy.(The first tooth he swallowed and the second was lost by his darling little sister AB!) We almost had the same thing happen today walking to lunch with Mark. We were walking along the sidewalk and both teeth came out of the treasure chest (I had asked him to put the treasure chest in his pocket.) We found both after being on our hands and knees..(I am sure people on the road wondered what we were doing!) The note was written- the first sentence out of his mouth in the morning, was "I guess the tooth fairy isn't rich anymore, she only left me three half dollars..." Hmmm...guess we need to speak to the tooth fairy!

The Mountains

Blogging has been on my list of "to-do's" since our Mountain Vacation, but I am slow to complete the list!

The kids were GREAT on our trip both up and back! We actually got up at 4:00 in the morning to make it to Knoxville by 2:00 for our niece, Catie Beth's birthday! We made it about 20 minutes late, but we made it! I took lots of movies and things "to do!" On our trip home, we stopped ONE time! That is unheard of, for us, with three kids!!

We had a fun trip! The kids enjoyed themselves- Blaine and Sarah Claire had been to the mountains before, but neither remembered the trip.

We stopped at Elkmont Campground on our way to Gatlinburg. The kids LOVED playing in the stream. The water was so cold, but that didn't matter to them.

The kids had a little "hot tub" time before we walked into downtown Gatlinburg. Of course we went to The Smoky Mountain Candy Kitchen for some taffy and rock candy. Anna Britten and Caroline had an important decision to make, "What kind of gummies should we get?"

Rock Candy...GOOD STUFF!!

Blaine has his own restaurant!

Smoky the Bear outside of Ober Gatlinburg. Sweet cousins headed to play in the stream with braids in their hair!

Having fun at Greenbriar!

Sarah Claire and Blaine tried tubing!

These two were all about the snack!

Such a fun morning!

That night, we went to the Dixie Stampede!

Pictures before we left.

Listening to the band before the show- they were GREAT! We sat on the "South" side during the show. It was fun to watch the horses, performers, and animals while we feasted on cornish hen, corn on the cob, potato, and yummy soup! The kids were very entertained!

It is hard to get a good picture with seven kids. Blaine and Walker decided to climb and asked we get a picture.

Beginning our day at Dollywood...ExCiTeD!

The boys!

Our first ride was the Ferris Wheel and EVERYBODY loved it!

The shooting star- Sarah Claire and Walker were smiling the entire time!

We spent a good amount of time in the Country Fair area- lots of kid rides!

It was a very fun day! Considering the heat and ALL the kids- it went very well!

Seven VERY tired children with lots of fun memories!

Our long journey home- did I mention we only stopped ONCE!

The kids with their mocassins from Cherokee, NC.