cats are so different from dogs, which is what i'm used to. even when she's being cute, i think she's on the attack. i think she has a tiger complex or something. doesn't she look fierce for such a small animal? 
ian loves playing with balls. here he was throwing the ball into the pool...over & over & over again!
emmy spent the night the other night & they sure had a great time. they love being together & wish they were "real sisters".
cory is raising tarheel fans for sure! here is my sweet family all decked out in their team attire. elise especially is defensive of her daddy's team. no one better mess with her when it come to unc! she and ian both think that any team who plays any sport is the tarheels.
uncle blaine treated us to lunch at pizza hut today and it was delicious! we met at grandma's house beforehand to drive together. when grandma and aunt verona came out, we realized what a pair they were. grandma was dressed in her flag outfit and carrying a black purse. aunt verona, on the other hand, was wearing black & carrying a flag bag. we thought they were so cute. mama was also very proud that i had my camera close by to whip out and take a picture. =)
i love the way kids learn to talk and how they interpret things and their little "kidspeak". ian has a couple of cute ones. he calls m & m's "emmy-mims". he and elise have this thing (started by elise) where whenever they get dressed or want to show off something they have us say, "now presenting lisy barnett in her new outfit..." or whatever the case may be. i didn't realize the impact this had on ian until he was showing me the picture he colored in nursery. at the top his teacher had written his name and i asked him what it said. he goes, "its my name. ian barnett new outfit." i thought i would die laughing!
recently i decided that i wanted to help our kids get to know their great-grandparents better. so for one family home evening each month, we're going to have a night to honor one of our grandparents. we started with grandpa arnold, since he was the oldest. i talked to family members to find out some of his favorite foods which we ate for supper that night. we ate steaks on the grill, tossed salad, corn on the cob, watermelon, cornbread, and dr. pepper. and we had vanilla ice cream for dessert. during family home evening i told a little bit about his life, and told some stories that family members remembered. i was touched by all the stories and memories of him and enjoyed passing those on to my children. one of most surprising moments occured during the afternoon. i was talking to elise about the dinner and activity that night and telling her how we were doing it to learn more about grandpa arnold and honor him. she just looked at me so innocently and asked, "is he going to be there?" i almost gasped when she asked the question, because i guess it hadn't really occured to me in that way. it was a nice, sweet evening together and i felt the closeness to my family and i felt the bond we shared with grandpa arnold. i know my kids felt it too. and that, more than anything, is what i wanted to get out of our evening together.
we spent the first week of june with cory's family at camp singletary. i like to say it was rustic. we had a mess hall and cabins, so it felt like girls camp. there were cabins for the showers and toilets, although cory & i (along with neal & amanda) lucked up by getting there first. our cabin has a kitchen & bathroom in it. that was really nice. we had the best time cooking & eating together, swimming, playing games, doing crafts, going to a nearby water park and lots of other things. i think the best part of all was just being together. there's just nothing in the world like family.
since there were lots of ants & bugs around, the kids lined up for bug spray! l-r: marleigh, kyleigh, katie, ian, elise, emmy, & ericka
we also did crafts each day--painting, finger painting, and beads. here sarah and lynetta work on sarah's necklace.
some of the kids, like marleigh, preferred the sand to the sea. but she's got her trusty life vest on--just in case!
the kids played great together all week. here victoria is being a good older cousin by pulling katie along for a ride!
most of the kids spent their time trying to figure out a way to soak neal. he was a good sport. throwing water balloons at him was the best part of their day....
...although stuffing balloons down your bathing suit was a close second!
we all took turns on the bumper boats at the water park. they were lots of fun, and for ian, at least, the highlight of the park.
i can't say enough about how sweet these two are together. they sure love each other!
when the week was over and we were leaving, the kids were still trying to get in some playing time. they sure missed each other after a week of being around each other all day! from left to right there is marleigh, ian, sarah, elise, kyleigh, ericka, ashleigh, and trista.
so, the other night we were coming home from seeing cory's family. we had just gotten off the interstate and were coming up on a stoplight. it turned yellow as we approached, so we slowed down & stopped as it turned red. immediately it turned green again, allowed us to go under, and just as quickly turned red again. it was kind of a bizarre incident, but it was one of those time where i wondered if we were being protected from something. i think we might all be amazed to realize how often we are watched over. there are times when i feel like i "get it", but i wonder how many times i don't....
i think i've posted in recent weeks about my ongoing battle with a uti. i finally was referred to a urologist and began a new round of antibiotics this past friday. thursday night i hadn't gotten much sleep...ditto, friday night. so when i woke up saturday morning with swollen eyelids, i just figured too little sleep had done me in. sometime saturday....maybe that night?....i noticed a rash on the insides of my elbows. again, i wrote this off as just "one of those things". by sunday night, the rash had spread to my stomach & back. it's a little hard to see, but it feels like goosebumps all over my body. and it itches--not too badly, but it does itch. and my eyelids are more swollen than every and they really itch a lot and burn, too. so now i think i may be having an allergic reaction to penicillin. hopefully i will hear back from the doctor shortly.
i also have a list of 101 things i need to get done, but don't know how or when i will be able to. some days are just like that!
we got the leftovers from tropical storm alberto. even that has been quite a show . cory even had to come home a different way because of flooding. we're starting off with a bang!
this is a funny thing i heard about. go to google & type [your name] needs & see what comes up. (skip any repeats or anything inappropriate.) here are my top ten....
1. Kristen needs to wash her socks because she will need them on Sunday morning .
2. Kristen Needs a New Connection Petition.
3. Kristen needs to go home.
4. Kristen Needs a Haircut.
5. Kristen needs someone with her at all times
6. Kristen needs to die her hair brown for God’s sake and get over it.
7. Kristen's medical needs are many.
8. Kristen needs to loosen up big time.
9. Kristen needs to notify the billing companies in writing that she wants the service/billing to be stopped.
10. Kristen needs to go somewhere else!!
i feel very "logan" by writing this random post, especially after not posting in a week. but ian spilled his scrambled eggs this morning & i was reminded of an incident that happened a few months ago. i noticed a strange smell emanating from the general area of the kitchen sink. i began searching for the culprit. i found a small piece of scrambled egg caught in the drain. i got it out with a napkin & brought it up to my nose to make sure i was taking care of the problem. oh the horror! the smell was so rank & so strong i wanted to hurl. even now, if i get too deep into the memory, i can feel the stink in my nostrils. who knew eggs were that gross?
OH-MY-GOODNESS! don't you just think that face is adorable? i just can't stand all the cuteness!
