Old Testament Books of the Bible By Kendal

My favorites are Clementations and Nalagi.

Here is how we spent our Sunday afternoon. Since our yard is literally tore up from the dirt being brought in for the backyard and we have had non stop rain, there is lots of mud around. This was Kendal's idea. She LOVES mud.

I'm Back!

Okay, so I have been a horrible blogger lately. But it is for a good reason. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of 4 little ones. Hannah is getting more independent which is due to her new found freedom in mobility. She just waddles around the house. Since I am only nursing her 3 times a day now, I am not sitting and feeding her all day and not on the computer as much. Sometimes all I have is a minute, which is not enough to post pictures and write. But I am more productive around the house now.

We are officially starting school next week so today we did a run through of my new schedule I wrote up last night. I posted it on the fridge and Austin really did great with it. At the designated Snack/Break time I told them after snack they could have playtime and Austin was concerned because the schedule didn't say 'Playtime.' I'm really excited about this school year now. The hardest thing is going to be keeping Jacob and Hannah cooperative when I need them to be.

Our backyard is almost done!!! The wall is up and reinforced; just a few more bolts and we are ready for dirt! Lots of it. My life is going to be SOOO much better when I can just let the kids go outside and play and see them from inside and not be baking in the sun.

Interesting things going on with the kids right now:

Hannah has two bottom teeth in and one top one coming in and the other cutting through. So cute.

Austin is teething, too. He has his second permanent tooth coming in, but he still has only lost one tooth. The tooth will not let go! It looks like a shark with all those rows of teeth. It's bound to come out soon.

Austin, Kendal, and Jacob will be playing soccer this Fall! My life is about to get busy.

Hannah Walking

Here is a video of Hannah walking this past Monday. She has been taking a few steps then would sit down or hold back on to whatever was near her. Last week we were on vacation and she started taking more steps on Saturday night, but really did not get alot of floor time. Well, Monday afternoon she started showing off. I got a few videos of her, but this one has the least amount of children running in front of the camera. The cutest thing about her walking is that every time she would stand and take a step, we would all clap and praise her. Now, if I want her to walk, I just clap and say "Yay!" and she grins real big, and stands up and walks. Too cute. She still prefers to crawl if she needs to get somewhere, but it won't be long until she's running around.

Tonight we celebrated her 1st birthday!!! I'll get the pictures up another day. We had a nice relaxing evening eating dinner then finishing off with some strawberry birthday cake. Mmm...

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jacob turned three yesterday. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He is my third baby, so full of life and energy. As Barry always says, "He's so stinkin' cute." I wish I had the pictures I took of him on this computer from when he was born and his first birthday, but they are all still on the old one.

Here is my 'little' 9 lb 4 oz boy.

Hanging out at Grammy's.

Jacob turns 2!

I got the kids little Cars tatoos to play with and he ended up with them ALL over!

Happy Birthday sweet Jacob. I love your big blue eyes and 'yellow' hair. I love your passion for life. You have been such a blessing to our family. I love you, little man!

Jacob

"All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go."

~Gen 28:14-15

Sorry

Okay, so its been awhile. We have been so busy, and I have been trying to spend less time on the computer, so no posting has been done lately. Hmm, what has happened? Here's a what I can think of right now.

Barry finished his first semester in the ministry program. I am enjoying him being home every night (until the Fall.) Although, I am currently ignoring him in order to write this.

His sweet Grandfather, Pawpaw, or Great Paw to my kids, passed away. Do any of the Lanes have the negatives to the photo shoot done at Chuck and Lee's about 4 years ago? I don't have a copy of all the Lane men and would like one. I want the kids to remember him.

Austin graduated from Kindergarten. I'll get some pics up from that another time. He played on the piano for everyone. No shy bone in his body.

Hmmm... I know I'm missing something.

My sister visited a few weeks ago with her sweet little ones. I miss them. Move to the Ham, Katie! jk

Kendal had her dance recital. It was so sweet. She was business when it came to dressing and hair fixing and being back stage. Not sure if I can upload her video off the camcorder (are they still called that?)

Barry and his stepdad, Karl, have been clearing out the woods in our yard so we can have a play place for the kids in the SHADE!!! Super excited about that. I dread playing outside when it is SOO HOT and I have to put on sunscreen. Its an event. Can you tell I'm complaining about it? Karl has a super duper weed eater that can take down small trees.  I can't wait until its done. I'll then be fencing the yard and Barry has an awesome idea for a tree house. The kids are already talking about what they want to put in the tree house. so far, I've heard they want to put checkers in there and the game Cootie, along with a potty. I then noticed the little Diego potty was moved out on the back deck.

Jacob is doing great with potty training these past few days. He is letting me know when he has to go poopoo. He always tells me when he is sitting on there that he has to do a "mongous one." Too cute. He insists on sitting on the potty with the lid AND seat up. Strange.

And then its Birthday Season at Lane Manor. Starting off with Jacob turning 3, then Barry with the big 30!!!, Kendal will be 5, and finishing it all is sweet little Hannah having her first. All these within a month. CRAZY!!! I need to plan on not being around Barry in the fall.

Here's something funny to leave you with:

PBJ is a staple around here. The other day I was getting it all out and Austin ran off and got his new baseball bat and started singing, "Peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ZAGBL6UBA

The little memories

It seems like at the dinner table these days, we end up sharing stories and little sayings that the kids use to say. They crack up laughing at them, and they always seem to refer to "when I was three." This is especially funny when 2 year old Jacob gets in on the action. Sometimes I try to document the important dates - Christmases, Easters and birthdays - making sure I got the pictures I needed. Really, though, its the little things that I don't want to forget; the everyday things they are doing that will soon turn into "remember whens." So, here are a few of them:

Austin:

Use to play with my egg separater in the bathtub and wave it saying "Poo Ki Ki!"

Instead of saying "Uh oh, spaghetti O's!" said "Uh oh, spaghetti ghost!"

Called Frosted Mini Wheats "Coke" and I could pass them off as cookies to him.

He would call Kendal "Sweet the Pea."

"Creamy cheesy eggster, eggster, eggstersons!" - Not sure how that one started. I think that was a Daddy thing.

He really likes to clean the toilets these days.

We have this new thing now where I call him "kind sir" and he calls me "kind mommy."

Reading lesson time is now also called cuddle time.

When he was two he would say he was "Stimaman" instead of "Spiderman."

Barry liked to play a game with him called "Go Away Dark!"

Kendal:

When she was around 1 year old she use to rub her face on us when we were holding her like a cat.

These are not as funny unless you could actually hear her say them.

She would say in a low voice, "Hey baby!"

If you told her she had a little booty, she would say, "No, I got a big booty!"

Until just recently she would say girl - "gore."

She can definitely make a mess, but is a great cleaner upper.

Says she wants to be a mommy when she grows up.

Jacob:

We were eating corn on the cob and he was handed half of one, to which he replied he wanted a "mongous" one. He loves using that word now.

He likes to sing this sweet little song with the lyrics, "I love my daddy. I love my mommy. I love my cookie dough."

For a while he thought he was a race car and run around "shifting" gears.

Hannah:

When I pick her up, she starts gently squeezing the back of my arm. 

Twinkies

Okay, so we are watching Wall E for the 20th time this week. Everyone but Austin and I have had a stomach bug, so tv time has been a lifesaver. So, back to Wall E. There's a part in the beginning where the cockroach climbs into a twinkie. My kids had no clue what it was. I told them, and somehow they thought the cockroach was called a twinkie, then wouldn't believe me when I explained what was what. So after watching the movie several times this week and hearing them laugh at the "twinkie" (cockroach) I did what I never thought I would do - I bought a box of twinkies. Maybe I should have left it alone, but the kids had no clue what a twinkie was! We all ate one at lunch today and they weren't overly impressed with them. Neither was I. I kept thinking I should have gone for the Swiss Cake Rolls. Mmmm...

Austin's Piano Recital

Austin had his first piano recital on Sunday. He's such a performer and thrives on being in front of people. Not nervous or shy a bit. He played Heart and Soul first and then Ode To Joy. I didn't get the second song because I was filming on my picture camera and it only takes short videos. I was planning on taking a video of the first stopping it and then the second. When I tried to take the second song it stalled and had to finish saving. Arrgghh!!! He started taking lessons in January, but has been teaching himself to play songs. Heart and Soul is one of them. I love that he taught himself to play Amazing Grace and figured it out on both the white keys and black keys. He really loves playing!

Hannah is 9 months old!

Hannah is 9 months old today. My friend Adria took these of her Saturday at a get together. I love them! She did such a great job.

Easter Pics

Here's some pics from Barry's Aunt's on Easter. The kids had a great time hunting eggs. Austin now has a new way to smile:

Jacob sporting his new hat. I couldn't resist it:
Kendal blowing bubbles:
Hmm, no, not Hannah. Barry's Aunt gave me a ton of digital pics of the kids from past holidays! That's Kendal on her first Easter:
And there's sweet little Hannah:

My Boys

When Barry was little he had some lederhosen from his aunt and uncle that lived in Germany. His mom has a picture of him in one when he was 2, so she had the idea of having the boys taking their picture in them. They turned out pretty cute. Austin wasn't too thrilled to be wearing "Germany clothes," but he sure does look like he was enjoying it. I think these could only have been better if we could have gotten Barry in there matching them. Yikes!

Where's his tooth?

So, this afternoon we were all playing outside and Austin freaked out because he accidently pulled his own tooth out and couldn't find it. I don't think he expected there to be blood involved either. Austin was standing in the driveway when he lost it, so imagine looking for something the size of a pebble amongst little pebbles. Barry found it after about 10 minutes. Austin calmed down once I told him all the cool things he could do with food and spit now that he has a window in his teeth. Somehow, he knows about the Tooth Fairy. Actually, Kendal brought it up...

My Publix Trip

Here's my recent trip to Publix. That's Austin giving me a high-5, Kendal hiding (maybe I'm embarrassing her), and Hannah thinking I'm crazy. My total was $75.94 and I saved $93.19!!! I was able to stock up on some items and picked up some rainchecked items from last week. I know that most of that savings is because Publix is higher to begin with, but I would be spending at least $100 at Target buying store brand and never stocking up.

More pics/stories of the kids for those family members who read and think I'm crazy for taking pics of food!

Back In The Swing Of Things

I have been SOOO behind on clipping coupons and getting them organized, so I haven't been frugal shopping the past few weeks. After throwing down around $100 at Target for groceries a couple times I was motivated to get back in the game. Here's how I did:

CVS

I spent $5.08 on the items to the left with $9.99 ECBs. Not bad.

Publix

My Grand Total was $26.89 with a Savings of $49.63!!! I was very excited to find that $5 off $30 coupon in the Wed. paper that comes in the mail. I also got some rainchecks for the deals they were out of.

CVS (again)

Bounty 8 roll and some Crest Pro Health toothpaste for a Total of $1.69 and left with $3.49 ECBs earned in that trip and I still have $2.99 ECBs from the earlier trip.

Which leads me to the topic of paper towels. Not all paper towels are created equal. I really love Bounty. I've tried others, they just don't do it for me. I know the Strategic Shopping Lady from church says to NEVER buy paper towels, but I just can't quit them. I've cut back, though, by using the cloth napkins we received as wedding presents and have yet to use. My mother in law bought me some recently, also. (Thank You, Kathy!) But I have this thing against sponges and dish rags. They just scream germs to me, and Bounty is tough enough to use when you need to hand wash dishes. Select-a-size basic white is my preference. I also am blessed with a glass kitchen table which gets Windexed and Bountied at least 3 times a day. I'm just not ready to part from it. I tried using newspaper once to clean the table off with; that lasted one day, not for lack of efficiency, just mainly convenience. As for Windex, I saw that Glass Plus is BOGO this week at Publix. We'll see if it measures up.

What are some thing that are just not worth being frugal over for you?

Doodlebug

Here's Hannah crawling at the High Museum of Art. She started doing a few 'crawls' when we first got to Atlanta, then I looked down that day and there she was crawling all over the place. Of course she does it when we're away so Barry misses it. Kendal did that with walking. At least I got them on video.

It seems that she has been changing a bunch lately. Still no teeth, but she has discovered Cheerios and loves them! Last night I found her STANDING up in her crib holding on the rail. She is branching out in vocabulary from "Mama" and "Dada" to "Bye" while turning her little hand toward herself and waving it. She also started signing "All done" by lifting her hands up and saying "D". 

Spring Break

We went to Atlanta for Spring Break to visit with Barry's aunt and uncle. I wish Barry could have gone with us, but it just wasn't possible with his current schedule. We have been in the habit of going to Atlanta every year, but it was always Atlanta's Spring Break. I thought that since we were going during B'ham's and not Atlanta's it wouldn't be so crowded; not the case. We got the City Pass and did it in 7 days.

FRIDAY: We went to the zoo. It was almost perfect weather. Every time I've been there it has been VERY warm. This time it was a little cool. It looked like it was going to rain all day. I suppose that kept others from venturing there because it was not crowded at all. My friend met up with us there with her son. The kids had a great time. They enjoyed petting the animals, watching the lion roar (the lion at our zoo is always sleeping just far enough away to where you can't see it, so this was neat), and playing on the playground in the children's area.

SATURDAY: We went to Fernbank. This is one of Austin's favorite places to go. They had a dinosaur exhibit there and the kids love the playrooms. No pictures. Sorry.

SUNDAY: To the Dollar Theater we went to see Bolt since it was raining out and we were trying to avoid downtown that day. There was a guy in the mall making balloon swords and flowers for the kids. They had a blast. There was a stage set up and all the boys were sword fighting and then there's Kendal in the midst of them skipping around with her flower. 

MONDAY: The Aquarium! This is the one place I was really looking forward to not being so crowded, but no such luck. Kendal's favorite part was when, "Billy swam in my mouth!" We saw the 4-D movie and the little fish, Billy, looked like it swam in her mouth. Here's Aunt Jenny and the kids petting the sting rays and sharks.
This is inside the shark tunnel where the kids are riding through the tank.


TUESDAY: Barry's cousin and her son came to play with us that afternoon. We headed off for a local park we had been to when Austin was a toddler. This is what we found instead: a new city hall with cute little shops surrounding a big grass field. After a few round of tackling each other we found another park. There was a trail that was next to the park. We thought the kids would enjoy that. ONE HOUR later we found our way back. 
WEDNESDAY: The CNN studio tour and The World of Coke. The CNN tour was interesting. They have an escalator that is 8 stories high. We ate lunch there then walked over to The World of Coke. The kids really enjoyed that. Here they are sitting on the American Idol couch.

In the tasting room:

THURSDAY: The High Museum of Art. So, we had a hard time finding the place and parking issues, but when we finally got there it was worth it. It was Toddler Thursday and they had an impressionist painting for them to look at in the gallery, there was someone to read them stories (we missed that), then they got to paint their own version of that piece using polka dots. It was really neat. I need to look into our art museum to see if they offer any programs for children. They also had an interactive play room for kids. I think Austin is an architect in the making.
No pictures please!
Hmm... I had more picture uploaded and now they are gone. More to come. Its my bedtime.

My Girls

Kendal had her dance pictures today. She looked so cute in her costumes. When we got there some of the moms were putting mascara and lipstick on their girls. I just don't want to start all that at 4. She already has told me recently that she is not beautiful and that Ariel is beautiful. She wants red hair so she can be beautiful like Ariel. She said it so seriously and sad that I wanted to cry. I need to make a point of building her up more now.

This first one they are tapping to E-I-E-I-O. The pigtails make it...

Here she is in her ballet costume. I wish I got a picture of her hair. It was so sweet all pulled up with little curls hanging loose.
Hannah on Sunday after watching The Sleeping Beauty ballet. She got her first bump on her noggin the other night when she pulled over a wrought iron candlestick onto her forehead. She is mobile and curious. Her crawl right now resembles that of an inch worm. Up on all fours, lunge forward, repeat...
I never got a chance Sunday to get the girls picture together in their matching dresses. There was another girl at the ballet wearing the same dress. She saw my girls and noticed the dresses and did not look very pleased. Somebody told me she thought the other child belong to us because she matched (and I have so many kids already, I'm sure.) You'd be surprised at the comments we get when we're out. "Are these all yours?" "You know what causes that." I even had someone tell me that we needed a tv in our bedroom! Well - Yes; We have it narrowed down and if its what we think think, we aren't stopping; We do have one.

Curly Kendal

The other night Kendal found some curlers my mom gave her and wanted me to put them in her hair. When I went in to check on her before I turned in found her sleeping like this:

Family Fun Weekend

We have had a fun filled weekend for the Lanes. We were all out playing Friday afternoon when Barry came home early from work. That made my day! He had plans for Family Fun Night to go to the movies. So we cleaned everyone up (when they play outside, they PLAY), loaded them in the car and headed off. We had planned on going to a certain Mexican restaurant on the other side of town near the dollar theater only to find it gone, so we got out the iPhone and used Urban Spoon to find another one near by. Lets just say that just because 100% say they like it, doesn't make the food good. However, we secretly enjoyed watching the soap opera on Telemundo. (I'm not being silly either. Barry and I wanted to know what happened to the bride whose groom was smooching on someone else in the courtyard.) Then it was off to the movies to see Bolt, which was really good. I can't recall anything in it that was questionable. The dollar theater ROCKS! $4 for all of us to see a movie! (Jacob and Hannah were free.) 

Today started off great. Barry let me sleep in some and he made everyone breakfast. He's so sweet. Then we were off to the zoo. We thought about going to the science center, but since it was beautiful out we opted for something outside. So did the rest of the city. Here's some pictures of our day.

That last one is for you, Katie. Well, tomorrow is going to be just as busy. After church we are going to see a ballet of Sleeping Beauty featuring sisters from our church. Kendal is going to love it. Their Grammy got the girls new matching dresses the other day, so they are going to be all dressed up at the theater. I am now going to turn in because after pushing 2 kids around all day in a stroller, I am exhausted!