Happy Spring!

-Someone did this to our mailbox in Paris...

On a positive note...our house is still for sale and if you buy it you can pick out the exact mailbox you want.  What a deal, right?!?
-Our boys have some really good friends at church.  Her two youngest boys have birthdays close together.  So, she decided to have a sleep over with all my boys to celebrate.  Andrew had a list of things to pack which included, but was not limited to, his blanket, Kindle, snoopy, Poco, lion, and a few other stuffed animals.  Well, after spending the night with our friends Poco has been renamed Rhett after our friend's dog.  I totally see the resemblance.

-We went out this week and Andrew came to the door with this look...

This would have been a fight with the first child.  The third child?!?  Oh great, you got your shoes on by yourself.  Get in the car. :-)
-I had the opportunity to visit with some childhood friends Tuesday night.  They did not get together until 9:00 p.m.  That is crazy talk.  Crazy I tell you.  I am usually snuggled up under my covers and almost asleep by this time.  I went.  I was not disappointed.  We did not get home until midnight.  I cannot tell you the last time I was up at midnight by my own choice.
-Clayton's teacher at church came to me laughing with a story.  They were studying the verse that says Man cannot live by bread alone.  She asked if any of them knew what that meant, figuring none of them would.  Clayton raised his hand and said, "Well, it's actually a metaphor" and then he continued to explain it.  She said all she could do was laugh.  Then five minutes later he interrupted her lesson by saying, "I have a knock, knock joke.  Would you care if I share it now?"  Keeping it real.
-We have taken a few days off school for a little spring break.  Several friends from Paris happened to be in town so we have gotten in lots of good times.  It began on Monday night with a burger from Huey's and a Grizzlies game.

 Fred and Renee joined us for this game.  The Grizzlie Grannies came out and preformed while we were there.  I saw a sparkle in Renee's eyes.  I'm thinking she may sign up.  Ha!

  

-Tuesday was pretty cold out.  We were planning on an outdoor activity, but quickly changed to the Children's Museum.  

 We have the entire museum and somehow my crew always ends up in the back corner building with Legos.  Funny guys.  According to the boys this was a post-Apocalyptic scene...whatever that is?!?

 Just a brief pause before running off to play again.

 Getting a picture of five boys takes talent...a talent I obviously do not possess as you can see from the pictures below.

After the museum we introduced them to La Michocana (the Mexican ice cream shop on Summar Ave.). It really is delicious.  I have no pictures from this.  I was too busy eating my corn ice cream.  Yes, corn ice cream.  It is SOOOO good!  

-Wednesday we met for lunch at Pop's Deli and Clayton dined on a Memphis burger.  Yum!

After lunch we headed to Sky Zone for a little trampoline jumping.  

 This is what Andrew did when we got home.  Tuckered.out.

-Thursday and Friday the big boys had Stanford Achievement testing.  I ran a few errands and met up with Stacy at Goodwill.  Then when I picked up the boys I told them that we were meeting more friends. We met up with the Cain's for lunch at Rock 'N Dough.  I'm pretty sure when Jack saw B he ran over to him, hugged him and lifted him off the ground.  

Before the rain came we introduced them to two of our favorite things

Shelby Farms...

 And then Menchie's

Man, it's been a great week!  We have had a blast.  Having friends by us was beyond description.  Friendships are such a blessing.  

This week

-While eating breakfast this week Jack was smacking.  I've been trying to break him of this habit.  I looked at Fred and said, "I think this smacking is a result of him putting too much in his mouth."  He quickly responded with (with a mouthful of muffin and eggs), "I think it is a result of this being delicious!" Click here for the delicious recipe.  I use coconut oil and sour cream.  I also add a little milk because they are pretty thick without it.  Oh, and I double it because of the deliciousness factor!
-This sweet boy went to the dentist for the first time this week.  They got all the "bugs" (as Andrew calls them) out of his mouth.

 -This sweet boy read this entire book by himself.  He laughed through most of it.  It is called Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Andrew refers to it as Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid.  It always gets a chuckle around here when he says it.  He doesn't say it to be funny, that's honestly what he thinks the book is called.

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-Andrew's life is one long sentence with lots of commas.  He does not stop.  Here is an example from this week while we were alone. (I'm going to use punctuation for easier reading, but know that this is all said in one breath.) 

"Mom, someday when we get a house I'd like to get some chickens and a turtle.  Don't you fink  chickens and a turtle would be a good idea?  We could get eggs from the chicken and I could hold the turtle.  Well, never mind.  I don't want to hold the turtle.  He will make my hands stink.  Do you fink a turtle will make my hands stink?  Okay, I'd just like chickens then.  What did you do to your hair?  (My first time to respond...It's in a pony tail.)  Why is it called a pony tail?  What is a pony?  Why do they have tails?  I don't like your hair in a pony tail.  Do ponies stink?  So, can we get chickens some day?"

I'm not kidding.  This is exactly how our conversation went.  Some nights when I close my eyes I can still hear him talking.  I hope I never forget what 4 year old Andrew sounds like.  Fortunately for me he is giving me plenty of opportunity to remember.  :)

-The big boys and Fred participated in the Tour de Grizz.  They met at the zoo at the Grizzly bear exhibit and then rode their bikes ,complete with a police escort, to the FedEx Forum to a Grizzlies game.  One way it was a 5 mile ride.  Fred said they had a blast.  They did not get home until 11:30 pm.  They even stopped for tacos on the way home.  These late night shenanigans never happen around here. 

    -While the big boys got to do this fun event with Fred, Andrew was pretty bummed.  We just did not think this was the thing for him to participate in just yet.  So, to help him "deal" with the unfairness which was his life, I promised him a trip to Incredible Pizza.  Never.again. on a Saturday night.  There were so many people in that place you could not stir them with a stick. (Between 2500-3000 people were there.  I know.  I asked the manager.)  Have mercy.  It was intense.  Zachary, Eli and Renee met us there.  I intended to take some pictures, but honestly I was more concerned with my child's safety.  It was intense.  Whew.  My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.  Never again on a Saturday night.  

This week

Everyone in Memphis is on Spring Break, but not this crew.  We've tried to squeeze in a little fun in between class.  Our church went skating Monday so we joined them.  I'm not really sure if my boys were excited about skating or riding the big bus.  Clayton asked if we were riding the big bus. When I told him we were he let out an excited, "YES!"...complete with fist pump.  The boys really had a blast at the skating rink.  They do these little contests at the skating rink.  My big boys did not participate, but Andrew decided to race in his age group.  Here's Clayton congratulating Andrew after his race.  He did not win (nor did he finish), but I don't think he was aware so shhh, don't tell him.

Wednesday I decided to take the boys downtown to ride the trolley and eat a piece of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Corner.  (You should know before we left our middle child almost didn't get to go due to a trip to the "principal's office".  Hurling a football at your brother in the back seat of the car??...honestly, what else can a mom do, but take them across the parking to dad's office?!?)  We drove 30 minutes to downtown, paid to park, waited on the trolley, rode it through two stops, got off at the restaurant and THEN figured out the restaurant did not open until 3:00 pm.  It was 1:00 pm.  Whoops.  We headed back to the trolley, paid to get back on it (We were off no more than 30 seconds) and then the big boys lost their minds.  One was dying of thirst.  One was utterly disappointed that we didn't get any cheesecake.  This went on and on and on.  I rallied with Muddy's, but we had to load the car and drive to midtown to get this little treat.  It was touch and go for a little while, but we made it.  I had a brownie with cashews and then drizzled with white chocolate.  It was called a therapy brownie.  I thought it fit the day.  Two would have been better than one...

-I drove to Paris this week to get a few items such as the boy's spring/summer clothes. My car was loaded down.  I got everything unloaded...looked around...and then realized I forgot all my shorts...whoops again.
-This week in Memphis the weather has been beyond beautiful.  I came in from a run and literally laid on the sidewalk to soak up as much sun as possible.

To the beach and back

Grandma Beulah spent a few weeks at the beach so she invited us to come stay with her for a few days.  Because of ice and snow tutorial was canceled for the boys so we were able to head out Monday morning.  We loaded up with Renee and headed south.  After traveling all day we arrived in Navarre Beach, Florida around supper time.  Grandma Beulah was going to cook spaghetti, but we insisted that we wanted seafood so we went out to eat.
Here's Andrew upon our arrival...

The next morning Jack needed to see the sand so we bundled up and headed for a walk.

The first day we were there it was overcast in the morning (while we did school work) and then beautiful in the afternoon.  The first day we were there the highs were in the mid 60's and absolutely beautiful.  The second day we were there it was a bit cooler and remained overcast all day.  From the 12th floor we saw dolphins swimming.  If you look closely at the picture below you can see them.  There were four.  

The boys played in the ocean and then swam in the hot tub and heated pool.  The pool was so warm there was steam rising from it.  The ocean was so cold that when a wave hit Clayton he yelled, "Whoa!! My crotch has ice in it!"  Normally I would ask him not to yell so loudly.  It did not matter we were the only people on the beach, much less in the water.  Thankfully.  

Andrew is a bit timid with some things.  He kept his socks and shoes on for the first day that we were on the beach for fear that a crab might bite him.  I told him I was 35 and had never been bitten by a crab so I thought he was safe.  Not skipping a beat Jack said, "Well, I'm seven and I've barfed twice in the ocean."  Again, so thankful for solitude.  

We enjoyed sticky buns and cinnamon rolls from a local bakery and completed school (Our bakery treats were $42, but that's a story in and of itself!) and then headed outside to the beach.  I was bundled up.  My boys were in the water.  Knuckleheads.  

I'm not sure what Andrew is doing here, but he was so excited.  And he finally took off his shoes...yeah!  Can you see the boys in the background?  The air temperature was around 50 and the water was around 65.  Again...Knuckleheads.  

At one point Jack was running from a wave and he tripped.  He fell in about 2 inches of water and his body looked like a fish flailing out of the water.  He was screaming and laughing because he was so cold.  I thought for sure he was done, but nope.  He got right in.  The image of him flailing on the beach brings me great joy.  I play it over and over in my mind.  

 I told the boys to jump for joy and this is the photo I got.  Classic.  Once again, Jack has provided me with a lot of laughs.  That kid is SO funny.

Jack gets a little restless and needs to go outside at times. When this occurred on our trip I took him on a 3-4 mile walk.  I'm not quite sure he was bargaining for this, but we had a good time.  The majority of our walk was over the two bridges that lead in to the island.  The first bridge was concrete with a walking path.  The second bridge was much higher and turned from concrete to metal grating.  It was unsettling to say the least.  About halfway up the bridge Jack said, "I don't know what everyone is doing back at the condo, but someone is going to have to come get us.  I'm not walking back over that again."  I agreed with him, but we did it anyway.  It was really a lot of fun actually.  I would also like to note that the jacket I'm wearing is not mine.  I can now officially wear my boys clothes.  Thank goodness.  That walk would have been cold without it! 

Here's Grandma Beulah with her pre-dinner snack of Doritos.  Each night we went to dinner and before we left you could always find her munching on some Doritos.  This too brings me great joy.

We loaded up Thursday and headed out.  We snapped a couple of pictures before leaving.  I love this crew.  

 While I was packing the car the boys grabbed my phone and snapped a couple of selfies.  Nice.

It was a quick trip, but a really good trip.  We had a blast!  The beach in the winter is one of my favorite places to be.  Honestly, I enjoy the beach in the winter better than I do in the summer.  It is just so peaceful.  

Saturday my mom and I went to the Southern Women's Show in Memphis.  As we were walking to the door I saw this...

What mom of three boys would not snap a picture?  How funny is this picture?!?

The boys played at Shelby Farms and then we all met for yogurt at Menchie's.  It was a great Saturday!