We have officially been in Tennessee for a year now. I will be able to easily mark the day because it is when the county fair is in town too. I remember seeing the ferris wheel last year, but we never found the time to go – you know in the middle of moving your family of four to a foreign state and all. So this year, I was ready.

We had a lot of fun. There was dog shows, hog racing, BMX-ing, petting zoo, rides, fireworks, and of course nachos. What event is complete without nachos? Megan is a big fan of dogs, so we thought watching the water-jumping dogs (I am sure they have real name) and the frisby dogs would be fun. They both enjoyed the shows and Megan had people around us turning around laughing because she was cheering them on. We viewed some farm animals like Texas Longhorn, calves, baby goats and sheep, chickens, rabbits, camels even a kangaroo. I would like to know what farm is raising kangaroos. However, with the e-coli signs on every pin, I refused to let the girls touch any of the animals, except the rabbits well and the goats “touched” Alyssa. She wanted to feed them out of her hand and I should have known that was a bad idea. She stuck her hand out and about 15 goats raced to the fence and then I hear screaming and the 25 cents of food is on the ground. You would have thought the goat bit her, but turns out they were just licking her hand. That’s our sensitive child. There were several rides that looked fun for her too, but again, she only wanted on the carousel. Maybe next year, Megan can encourage her a bit.

As we were leaving, we caught the firework show. Alyssa and Ethan sat and enjoyed it while I took Megan to the car covering her eyes and saying “too loud”. All the way home she repeated, “mommy, firewooo tooo loud.” All in all a very fun evening.

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We took a drive last weekend into Dallas. Luckily, the girls were making their way from Houston so it was an enjoyable drive. Not much to see though since it was mostly interstate. We spent a few days with Blair and Nicole and then celebrated my Papa’s 90th birthday.

Oma joined us in the car on the way back to Memphis where we spent one night. We met with Alison and Ryan and visited the Memphis Zoo before we all headed to our house for the week. I came up with this brilliant plan, succumbing all of us to 100+ degree heat only to see the polar bear. The employees at the zoo were very lucky that the bear decided to make an appearance and swim around a bit for our enjoyment.

We played around the house for a few days with family. Alyssa would have hung on Ryan all week if he could have handled it. She would chase him around the house or constantly ask to play his Wii (or really just watch him). Then Ali and Alyssa did some painting.

Thanks to Oma, Ali and Ryan for taking to time to visit us and spend time with the girls.

That was our lesson of the day. It was our first 4th of July parade and we (or just I) were excited. Amanda and I spent the day before decorating the wagon for Megan and Mallory to ride in. We had hats, outfits, flags, and even a bubble machine. Alyssa and I wrapped crepe paper around her bike and she was ready as well. I could not help but remember my parades as a child in Quail Valley. I may have only done it one year, I don’t know, but it just goes with the 4th of July to me. And today I was looking forward to starting this tradition with our girls. We lined up, took a few photos, and then the rain came. And it wasn’t just a light drizzle. Megan decided she did not want to ride in her decked out wagon, so poor Mallory sat there alone, soaking wet. And since the rain was so bad, we couldn’t get the cameras out to actually document the wet adventure. Amanda sure had a good attitude about the whole event and just kept smiling through the rain. I on the other hand, was a little disappointed that my first parade was not what I intended. God has a funny way of continuing to remind me that even these things are not what is important. It looks like it will clear up for the day and we will have a cookout with our neighbors and then take in some fireworks. Happy 4th to all of my friends.

For Alyssa’s birthday we bought her a Butterfly Pavilion. We sent in our coupon and received 10 Painted Lady caterpillars. Lucky for me my mom was here when we started this process and helped walk me through it. While the process is amazing to watch it is also a little gross. We made a calendar and noted every time we saw a change in the caterpillar. When they emerged, we kept the butterflies in the net for a few days then decided they would like their remaining 8-10 days of life better outside. This evening we enjoyed reaching in for each butterfly and holding it for a minute before it flew away. Megan yelled at hers when it flew away. We also had a couple who decided their life was short so they better get started with their sole purpose. These two butterflies did not come apart or fly away, so we placed them on a flower out front. 2 hours later, I checked and they are still there together. How sweet. See more

Ice cream in the evening

Making Papa smile

We have had lots of fun around our house over the last two weeks. My mom and niece, Blakely, were here for a week and my dad joined at the end. The girls had a great time together, and I just enjoyed having one of my girls occupied 24 hours a day by someone other than me. Alyssa and Blakely would disappear into her room for hours at a time. They would come back dressed alike in some way pretending some random game. They were even able to sleep in the same room all week. Usually we have to move one of them, but they finally figured out how to be quiet. They were up before anyone else in the morning quietly playing in their room.We all drove to Chattanooga on Saturday for the Acquarium and then they headed out Monday.

Tuesday, Kedra and her kids joined us for several days. Managing four kids is difficult enough, so we didn’t ventured out of the house much…or did we at all? But we had fun just being together. We could not get Lauren and Megan to be friends. They just walked right by each other and refused to take a picture for us. Kedra and I are 6 months apart and have known each other since about that age. Our girls are 7 months apart and will be friends whether they like it or not! Thank you for making the effort to see us. It is not easy to be away from home with young kids for very long and I welcome your visits anytime; crying, disobeying, sassing, vomit and all.

Are they actually playing?

Our walks for some peace and quiet

The best we could do as a group

Mommy-made outfits

I hear those words from my husband at least once a week. Usually relating to the weather or the scenery. Today we went to Percy Warner Park in Brentwood to enjoy some nature. They have a really good nature center displaying the birds and wildlife that can be seen in the park. We saw everything from a baby skunk to snake skins. There are several trails to follow and we choose one of the shorter ones so we wouldn’t end up carrying two kids back. The girls had fun just wandering the path, seeing wild strawberries, spotting chipmunks, squirrels and birds. We stopped and threw about 15 dozen rocks into a creek and enjoyed a picnic in the Tennessee breeze. I think that is when I heard, “I love Tennessee.”

The other thing Ethan loves here is that his patience for birds has finally paid off. After staking out his bluebird box for months, keeping it free from sparrows, we finally had a bluebird couple move in, make a nest and lay eggs. Though Ethan found one of the tiny blue eggs on the ground with a hole in it [stupid sparrow], mama bluebird is still guarding the other eggs. You can see her flying back in the bluebird box after I scared her out of it. She didn’t go far, but watched her eggs from our fort waiting to return.

Then with no help from us, robins made a nest on our front porch. It is great, because we can watch them from my office window without bothering them. Here are a few shots from in the house, then I decided to go outside.

I was able to get a good look at the four babies, and mama sat nearby watching. Then I think she had enough. I don’t know that she was really coming for me, but it was enough to scare me back inside. I guess her plan worked.

My brother and family were here for a very quick visit. They had a funeral to attend nearby in Tennessee, so were able to spend one night with us. We kept their visit a surprise from Alyssa and when they knocked at the door, she was a little in shock I think. She talks about Blakely coming all the time, so I thought she was going to be so excited. But her reaction proved that she didn’t understand why all her family was peering at her through the front door. We had a great time hanging out with them and I know the kids enjoyed being together.