Mother's Day 2010

Jordan walked into my room this morning carrying a book and asked if he could read me a story. "Once upon a time, there was the greatest mom in the world, and she had these three awesome kids. They decided to give her something special for Mother's Day. So they brought her a nice drink." (Enter Alyssa with a glass of milk, complete with straw and paper umbrella.) "Then they decided to bring her a whole breakfast in bed." (Enter Alyssa with a breakfast tray with muffins and doughnuts.) "And then they decided to get her some gifts." (Enter Courtney with three envelopes - each with a note and a picture of a different flag for my flagpole on the porch.) "Then they decided to show her a video they made." (Enter Courtney with laptop.)

Behold their creation...

Definitely a great Mother's Day!

Spring Break Adventures

It's now become a tradition - meeting up with cousins at Nana's house for Spring Break.

Here's the whole crew - ready for the big Easter egg hunt in Nana's backyard. We're up to 15 kids now with #16 due to arrive in May.

The kids played cards...

and had pedicures on the front porch.

And baby Autumn was a huge hit. Luckily, she's completely happy go lucky (and so cute!) and never minded the constant attention from her admirers.

The big thrill of the week was discovering this huge vine down by the creek behind Nana's house. Jordan and Tyler cut it loose from the bottom of the tree and created a rope swing to cross the creek.

The only downside was the mucky shoes and clothes. =)

There were seven grandkids at Nana's house on Easter morning. The Easter bunny is obviously very smart and assigned each kid a different color. They each had to follow the trail of eggs to the right basket.

Enjoying their Easter surprises in Nana's sunroom

One afternoon we headed to the park. Here's Alyssa hanging out with Christian and Diego.

The dynamic duo - Courtney and Julia

(They even look a lot alike!)

Corinne and Jordan

We pretty much had the place to ourselves. (Or maybe everyone else just stayed far away from us!?)

The weather was perfect (even a little hot) the entire week, and we took the kids down to the lake. I love this picture of Jordan and Jayden. And yes, those are toboggans they're carrying. There was hope they would float.

They didn't. =)

It was still a little too early in the season, so the beach wasn't officially open for swimming.

We told the kids they could wade. =)

The water was freezing, but none of the kids really cared.

Courtney spent a good part of the time running up and down the beach. She was completely carefree.

Corinne, Anthony, and Alyssa warming up in the sun

It was a fun vacation, and as usual, no one was ready to head home!

How Did This Happen???

Jordan had his birthday a few weeks ago, and it's now official:

(This is the part when you think to yourself, "Oh, but Jason and Karen are much too young to have a teenager!!)

Jordan celebrated by going to see the Percy Jackson movie with some friends. Then it was back to our house for pizza, ice cream cake, and Wii.

It was the preference of the teenager that we all disappear upstairs, but I did manage to sneak in a few pictures. =)

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

The Perfect Southern Snow Day

• It snowed Friday night, so it didn't affect school. (We don't have snow days built in here.)
  
• We got about 3 inches - enough to get everyone excited.
• It was "good snow" for making snowballs and snowmen.
• It was warm enough Saturday that pretty much everything melted by the end of the day, and Jason didn't even have to shovel the driveway.

Life is good.

One Step Closer to 40

Jason's birthday was two weeks ago, and he's now a mature 38. We waited until the weekend to officially celebrate, and Jason wanted to go to Red Robin for dinner. While we were eating, someone at another table apparently had a birthday because the wait staff came out to sing. The kids tried to talk Jason into letting our waitress know it was his birthday, but Jason refused. He told the kids they'd have to tell her themselves (thinking, of course, that they'd never do it). Well, the next time she stopped by our table, she asked if anyone needed anything. Jordan said, "I need something. There's a birthday in the house." The wait staff was back a few minutes later to sing to Jason. =)

The kids at Red Robin - undoubtedly so happy because they embarrassed their dad.

Back home and ready to open presents

Jason really likes the show "The Office." Jordan surprised him with the gift of being able to play the theme song for him on the piano. (Jordan had worked on learning the song in secret - whenever Jason wasn't home.)

This picture is a little blurry because I was laughing, but it's still my favorite one. This was the surprise gift that turned up magically at the end. Jason started to unwrap it, saw what it was, and gave me the I-told-you-not-to-buy-this-for-me look. But hey - sometimes a wife has to ignore what her husband says when it's in his best interest. =) Happy Birthday, Jason!

The Mind of a Middle-School Boy

How does it work? Not completely sure at times. Especially when I walk into his room and find this:

No cause for alarm, though. The only crime committed here was one against the carpet.

Snowy Saturday

Snow in Charlotte is always a big deal because we usually only get it once or twice a year.

Unfortunately, the snow was really icy, so it didn't pack...at all. So no snow balls or snowmen. Hence, the kids didn't stay out very long.

But at least there was still hot chocolate...

...with lots of whipped cream. =)