Five on Friday

1. Fred is going to Elizabethtown, Kentucky today to (hopefully) buy us a car to replace the van.

2. Before we had children I have wanted a Volvo V70. Fred said it was ridiculous to drive a station wagon with no children.My how the times have changed. If all goes well today (see #1) I should have it by tonight. It's silver and used.


3. Clayton had three teeth pulled Tuesday. School pictures were Thursday. We practiced his smile before he left for school. I have a feeling this school picture will be the one to beat all.

4. Jack visited his preschool yesterday. He was beyond excited! He will start Tuesday. I still don't feel like it's real. I can't believe we are here!

5. Andrew has the sweetest, softest hair. I rub my face against it all the time. When he wakes up and still has sleepy eyes he has the most precious bed head you have ever seen. We have tried to take pictures, but it never seems to capture the full look. Note the side of his hair...

Look who lost more teeth

Did I say "lost" teeth?? I meant to say look who had three teeth pulled at the dentist...yes, pulled at the dentist for $45 a tooth. Well, since this makes five teeth pulled at the dentist they gave us one for free. (Clayton would not call it free!) One might ask...how many teeth does a kiddo lose? I'm not sure and I don't want to know. I can do math too quickly. I'd rather be in the dark. He sure is sweet though. Despite lots of money spent at the dentist I think he's worth it!! Besides, I'm sure he'll have braces later. Pulling teeth is just the tip of the ice berg.

Out trip to Chicagoland

We headed out of Paris around noon on Thursday afternoon in a rented Chevrolet Malibu...yes, a Malibu--our van was in the shop. Our destination was eight hours away in Chicago. My cousin was getting married. We took our time getting there and actually the first five hours were heaven. We even stopped for a leisurely dinner at Outback. After we left Outback our trip took a turn. We got stuck in traffic and didn't move a mile in one hour!! Stuck! I made an illegal u-turn (to which Clayton is still worried about) to get us out. Fred said it is not illegal if you are stuck in traffic. I haven't read that rule so I'm really not sure. Thankfully he had his computer and we were able to pull up google maps to view traffic. Who knew traffic could be backed up at 11:00 at night?!? We finally arrived at 12:30 Friday morning. Andrew cried the last four hours of the trip and then wouldn't go to sleep in the motel room. He was up till 3:00 a.m. It was a nightmare, but Friday morning when the big boys got up I knew things had turned around. We headed to Lego Land and Clayton put it best..."It was awesomer than I thought it would be!!"

Note the guy walking through our picture. That is a two story tall giraffe made of Legos. They even had two movie theaters. We chose the 4-D movie. Clayton and Jack both said it was the BEST movie EVER!!
They had a ride inside the museum. It was awesome!
Our favorite part...shopping!! Clayton had birthday money that he's been waiting to spend and he was so excited!!
After we left Lego Land we headed to Navy Pier. It took us a while to get there due to traffic. Once we got there it was $24 to park. My dad let us out and drove around while we went to ride the ferris wheel. It was $30 for all of us to ride and there was a long line...we passed, but at least we saw it, right?!?
After that we headed to the rehearsal dinner and then the following day we went to the wedding. Sad to say, but I have no pictures from either event. Thanks to Ben, Becky, Gene and Leeta for the opportunity to spend some time together in Chicago!!

This goes out to my Diet Coke fans!

It is very rare that we have soda in our house, but when we have pizza I need a soda to drink. Andrew found the bottle the next morning and had the best time. He has yet to have a drink (that I know of!) of Diet Coke, but he looks like he's going to like it!!

Evansville, Indiana Triathlon

We headed to Evasnville, Indiana this weekend for Fred's olympic distance triathlon: 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 10 K (6.2 mile)`t run. Because of excessive temperatures the race officials changed the run to a 3.1 mile. Guess who was disappointed because he didn't get to run 6.2? Yes, that would be Fred!
This next picture is for Meg! Mel will get me later, but it's SO worth it!! Meg, we met for breakfast at 6:30 and by 7:09 a.m. Melody was singing and smiling...singing and smiling!!! What in the world!!
Of all the races Fred has done I always have these pictures of a sea of competitors before the swim. I never can tell which one is Fred. I just know he's in the crowd. Well, this morning he stretched REALLY big right before I snapped this picture. See him?

Jack and Clayton also got to participate in a race for kiddos. We are so proud of them!

No triathlon is complete without a picture of a sleeping Andrew!


After the race we went to a pizza place in Evansville known as Touroni's. Fred and I split the Iron Man pizza. It was delicious!!
We are a pizza-lovin' family!!


Now introducing the newest member of the pizza-lovin' family...Andrew!! He LOVED it! Can you tell?

Five on Friday (a day late)

1. Fred is competing in an olympic distance triathlon--1 mile open water swim, 25 mile bike and a 6.2 run. We all came to Evansville, Indiana to support him. He's going to do great!

2. We are looking for a vehicle to replace our van. I loathe/despise/detest spending money.

3. Clayton started school last week. He has done really well. His teacher sent me a note home that said I have the most honest child. I'm a little nervous as to what he's been so honest about...

4. Jack asked me what we were doing Sunday. I told him we were going to church.
Jack: Yes!! I love church!!
Me: (Heart skipping a beat and thinking thank you Jesus) That's great bud, so do I.
Jack: I know. I get candy AND snacks in my class! I love it!

5. Andrew had his nine month pictures taken Thursday. They turned out precious. Thanks Liz! To view them click here, enter her blog and scroll down.

Happy Birthday Clayton, McDonald's style

Clayton has been talking about his birthday party since August of last year. I can't begin to tell you all the ideas he had for a party! We narrowed it down to several options and he finally picked McDonald's. It was the best party ever!! He was surrounded by friends, family, cheeseburgers, fries and last but not least--air conditioning!!
Mouthful of chicken nuggets, but what a precious grin.Did I mention Clayton was surrounded by friends and family? Some might say we took over McDonald's play place...
Here is Andrew kicked back with his two grandmothers eating his first McDonald's hamburger. You think he's having a good time? Wait until they pull out the candy, chocolate, fruit snacks and snack cakes. He has no idea!!
Too cute to not post!!
Opening presents...
Even Jack was excited to see what "they" got for "their" birthday!!
We, along with my parents and Fred's parents gave Clayton a new bike. He was pretty excited!!

I bought trick candles for Clayton's cake. He was afraid of them because they sparked. You can see here that Davis and I (and several others) had to blow out the candles. Clayton's not causing too much wind from way back there...
Once we got home he tried out his big bike. We were excited to see that he could ride it.
Jack's turn...
Fred's turn...
Good times!! I don't have pictures, but we started off the day at NeNe's Donuts. What a great, fun-filled day of celebration!