Tennessee Safari Park

You have got to go if you haven't already done so.  A few weeks ago we took a day trip over to Alamo, TN to the Tennessee Safari Park.  It was a blast!  We all had a lot of fun.  The drive thru part was the best part in my opinion although the kids did have fun feeding the goats and seeing the Ostrich eggs and reptiles in the walk thru "petting zoo" part.  For the drive thru portion you get to drive a 2.5 mile path that winds throughout their property and through the entire path animals come (run) to your car to eat out of the buckets (that you bought there with animal food in it).  The animals are forceful and strong so most of the time the kids observed more than they fed them but they still had a blast.  Caden fed some of the animals and Avery Lynn liked the pigs the best because she could just throw handfuls of food out the window for them.  We learned quick that you roll up the windows FAST when the ostriches start heading your way.  Those birds are Fast and Greedy, and not very nice.  We chose to not feed them.  We much preferred the deer and other "deer like" animals.  We got some pictures of animals we saw.  Be warned if you go that your car will be dirty and there will be animal feed ALL over the inside of it when you leave so be prepared to clean & vacuum your car when you get home.  But it was totally worth it.  Before we could even make it back home the kids were asking when we could go again.

We tried to be nice and feed the ostriches at first but we ended up stopping.

Caden feeding some type of deer out his window

An Ostrich running for us

Caden feeding something again

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  We had a good day celebrating at church and hunting Easter eggs at home.  Hope you had a good day as well. 

Luke 24 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Has Risen

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Here are a few pictures of the kids before church

Fall Photo Shoot

Back in October I took the kids (individually) down to the square here in town and we had a fun "photo shoot" time.  The fall weather was beautiful and they had a blast exploring and getting all the attention.  We came out with some cute pictures.  

Merry Christmas!

We expect a visit from the big man in red tonight, do you?  The kids are very excited.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This year we visited Santa at Caden's school

It's Monday

Can you relate?

It is hard to get up almost every morning but Monday's seem even harder!

Nap Mat for School

Avery Lynn needed a nap mat to take to preschool this year for rest time.  It needed to be small enough that she could carry it into school on her own and of course it needed to be cute so she'd like it.  After searching the internet for patterns I found one from this website,  http://sewlikemymom.com/nap-mat-tutorial/ that I liked the best.  Avery Lynn and I picked out some cute fabric and I went to town sewing it so it would be ready when her school started.  I made a removable cover for a KinderMat that you can find at back to school time at the store then added some straps to enclose everything together.  Then I made a pillowcase and blanket to go with it.  It was all fairly simple and turned out well.  There isn't much napping that has occurred on it since school started but I guess she is "resting" well on it.

Folded up and ready for school

Pretending to sleep

This picture shows the other side of the blanket

The under side of the nap mat

All closed up

Caden's 6th Birthday

Caden's 6th birthday fell on a Friday this year.  Since he was in school for the day Avery Lynn and I picked up McDonald's and met him at his school to eat lunch with him.  (FYI sometimes when kids eat lunch at crazy early times for school you have to take breakfast food for lunch because the fast food restaurants aren't serving lunch yet : )).  Anyhow he was surprised and enjoyed his sausage McGriddle and his hashbrown. For dinner we met Ricky at the Incredible Pizza Company to have dinner and play some games to celebrate.  It was our first time to experience The Incredible Pizza Company and I have to say it was a pretty fun place.  Although I think we may have gotten lucky because we've tried to go again since then and it was crazy busy...so busy we didn't stay, so I think we must have been very lucky that night when we went.  Caden got to do some games as well as do Miniature Golf, Mini Bowling (small lanes, bowling ball, and pins), and race Go-Karts.  He loved doing everything, especially him and Daddy getting 1st place in the Go-Karts!  We went home to have birthday cake and open presents before bedtime.  It was a good night!

Playing a basketball game

Miniature Golf

Avery Lynn loved bowling as much as Caden did

Caden had never bowled before and he walked up there and got a strike on his first try!  It was crazy!

Before they took off and left the rest of us behind ;)

He said he wanted M&Ms on his cake so we had a Blue Velvet Cake with M&Ms.

Caden's Birthday Party

This year Caden chose to have a Wild Kratts themed Birthday Party.  He loves everything animal related and loves watching Wild Kratts so that's what we went with.  We did a swimming party at MawMaw and Papa Dewrock's house in Cape,  Caden had a blast swimming with his cousins.  We played some games and the kids got to utilize their creature power discs.  I got a lot of inspiration and info for the Wild Kratts theme from a blog online found here for anyone who might be interested in doing the same theme.  What did people do before the internet???  Caden enjoyed the party and that is really all that matters.  The weather was good and we got to celebrate our boy turning 6!

The kids Goodie Bag Items

Cupcakes with Wild Kratt Toppers

The birthday boy in his cool birthday shirt!

Enjoying the pool

All the kids loved the slide!

The girls

Walking on ice blocks like a polar bear (for the polar bear creature power disc)

Safely carrying their platypus eggs (water balloons) to their nest.

Carefully placing the "eggs" in the nest for the Platypus creature power disc

Avery Lynn is Back to School

Avery Lynn had to wait a couple of weeks after Caden started before her school started up so she was more than ready to start when it was time.  She is loving the Mother's Day Out program she is attending.  The teachers are very loving and nice and I think she is going to learn a lot this year. She loves that she gets to take her lunch and take a nap at school this year.  Starting next week she will get to participate in Kindermusic and Tumbling once a week while she is at school.  She is SOOO excited about these.  Here are a couple of pictures from her first day.

Backpack on and ready to go

In her classroom ready to color