Wedding Weekend

Tim's sister Deanne got married to her sweet Matt, Saturday in Charleston which meant road trip for the Kirven five. Since he had a meeting early Thursday morning T went down ahead of the rest of us on Wednesday and we followed on Friday when the children got out of school. We had an amazingly uneventful ride considering my children's favorite activity in the car is to poke, kick and tease each other until someone cries. I guess the excitement of going to Charleston for the first time kept them on better behavior. It was awesome to see their reactions to the city. I decided I take too much for granted after listening to their words of wonder as we passed each new landmark. I heard numerous times, "that is so beautiful" or "that's crazy pretty" or "that was amazing". Seeing the city through the kids eyes was so much fun.

Guess I'll just start at the beginning. On Friday, we got to town just in time for all five of us to get showered and back into the car to attend the Rehearsal Dinner at the Citadel Beach House. What a neat place right on the ocean. Everything was beautiful and delicious. The children were still riding that high and behaved remarkably well. I even gave them the camera to document the night. (good thing to keep in mind as you look at some of the pics.) Deanne and Matt were toasted by friends and family. What a nice way to spend your last night as a single person.

Saturday we were up early and eager to see more of Charleston. After the babies got their fill of the hotel breakfast (another first for them) and a stroll around the marina, we headed downtown. We walked through the market where the children asked for something from every booth and store and Joshua touched EVERYTHING. Before we went back to the hotel for a nap we went to the battery and let them run a bit and climb on the cannons and trees.

The wedding Saturday night, at Summerall chapel on the Citadel campus, was beautiful. The girls had a blast dancing at the reception while Josh found the crawfish an interesting treat and ate several. I unfortunately left my camera behind and have no pictures to show of the reception and my beautiful family all dressed up. Sadly, we had to leave kind of early as my boy needed to potty and refused to go at the club. He needs his "own" potty at that time.

Sunday was yet another early start. We had made plans to meet up with a group of family for brunch at The Triangle in West Ashley. It was nice to all sit down and visit a bit without any pressure and to have a yummy brunch to boot. My girls fell in love with baby Anna who appeared to be as taken with them. We made a stop at the South Carolina Aquarium before finally hitting the road for home exhausted and loving our life.

You Might Be a Redneck If...

...you spend your Saturday afternoon shooting guns in the back yard.

Before anyone freaks out, the guns are locked up and only Timmy can get them out. None of us touches them unless he is with us. We also had a long lesson on gun safety.

More Q and A This Time About Daddy

I had so much fun hearing the children's answers to these questions about myself that I thought it would be interesting to hear what they had to say about their daddy too.

1. What is something daddy always says to you?
SA To clean our room, I mean bathroom
AG Hi, hello, I love you
J Take a nap

2. What makes daddy happy?
SA When our room is clean.
AG When our room is clean. When our bathroom is clean.
J When I do stuff for him.

3. What makes daddy sad?
SA When I get hurt.
AG Oh man, I don't know.
J When I don't listen.

4. How does daddy make you laugh?
SA He tickles me.
AG He's funny, he tells jokes.
J tickles me

5. What was your daddy like as a child?
SA I don't know mommy, I don't know.
AG I don't even know what you were like.
J bad

6. How old is your daddy?
SA 41
AG 41
J 41


7. How tall is your daddy?
SA shrugging Um 8 feet, no I mean 5.
AG pretty tall
J very tall

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
SA hunt
AG He really likes t0 shot the gun I guess. (this after we had been having target practice)
J shoot

9. What does your daddy do when you're not around?

SA hunt

AG I don't know

J I don't know.

10. If your daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
SA hunting
AG french fries
J singing good

11. What is your daddy really good at?
SA hunting
AG He's good at hunting.
J coaching

12. What is your daddy not very good at?
SA eating cheese
AG Hmmm not yelling at us when our rooms not very clean when he comes to tuck us in
J shooting balls um basketballs

13. What does your daddy do for a job?
SA I don't know mama I don't know that question.
AG He's a forester.
J Measure trees

14.What is your daddy's favorite food?

SA steak

AG burgers

J vegetables

15.What makes you proud of your daddy?
SA that he's my daddy
AG We love each other.
J When he lets me buy stuff.

16. If Daddy was a cartoon character, who would he be?
SA Mickey Mouse
AG Goofy
J Scooby Do

17. What do you and daddy do together?
SA We ummmm go out for dinner sometimes. (this after a lot of thought)
AG We go out to eat.
J shoot

18. How are you and daddy the same?
SA eyes
AG we have brown eyes
J We both drink soda

19. How are you and daddy different?
SA feet
AG He's tall, I'm short.
J He drinks beer and I don't.

20. How do you know daddy loves you?
SA he hugs me
AG He gives me hugs and kisses and says I love you.
J I be nice to him and I love him too.

21. What does daddy like most about mommy?
SA that you read (again lots of thought)
AG I don't know.
J Ya'll are boyfriend and girlfriend.

22. What is Daddy's favorite place to go?
SA hunting
AG I really don't know that mom.
J work

Sometimes I Need to Rant

Why for the love of all that is good in this world do my children feel the need to leave the toilets unflushed? I get really tired of making my twice daily rounds of toilet flushing. Is it really so hard to push that little handle down for a few seconds? Do they have such pride in the gross things their bodies produce that they need to leave them as treasures to be shared by the next person who comes into that room? Seriously EWWW!

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy

Josh lost his first tooth at church yesterday. My baby is growing up too fast.

Charades

Paul thinking about his next clue


I can't remember, mommy maybe.

my monkey boy

NOT Guitar Hero but Rock Band

Steven and Paul came over to play with us on Saturday for a while. I, being the good mother that I am, was on the back porch reading while the daddies tended to the kids. I heard them playing charades and had to check it out. My goodness our kids can be so funny. Josh was doing an imitation that appeared to be a person riding a motorcycle. Everyone guessed motorcycle but he insisted it wasn't. He was pretend riding a dirt bike. Are dirt bikes different than motorcycles? The best of the day though was Paul. He was stomping around, pretending to yell at people and shaking his finger. Was he a teacher? Nah An angry mom? Nah A deranged kid? Nah He was Anna Grace. I nearly killed myself laughing at that but she was furious and stomped out of the room.

A Beautiful Weekend

Wow was the weather amazing last weekend. We went from freezing on Monday to 80's on Saturday. I love when the warm weather returns and we can get out in the yard and stay all day. It was a busier weekend than we have had in quite a while and I loved all of it.

Friday night the girls had their annual Girl Scout birthday party. It was a 70s theme so they tie dyed t-shirts and made pet rocks. My babies always have a good time at a party. Gracie had her best good friend, Kamryn, spend the night but we couldn't get in touch with any of Rab's friends. The big girls were both really sweet to Rab which does my heart good.

AG and K concentrating on some tie dye

SA looking confused

Maggie liked the cake

Saturday we played outside most of the day and went to the Family Dance at school that night. It was a small turnout but the kids enjoyed running around the gym swinging glo sticks and being wild. Josh won one of the games and got a gift card to Toys R Us. He was so excited. Of course I left my camera on the counter at home so loser mom missed out on a photo op.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. The kids spent it outside while I nursed a wicked headache. I managed to get out of bed to take Sara Abbett to softball practice at 3 o'clock. My baby has begged to play ball for months. We gave in and am I ever glad we did. She loves being out on the field with her teammates learning the sport. I am honestly enjoying hanging out with the other parents getting to know some of them better. Ball practice was followed by children's choir at 5. I am so thrilled to finally have a children's choir at church. We have so many precious children most of whom love to sing and perform for the crowd. Mrs. Hicks is such a patient lady who I know will have our babies ready for performances before long. We mom's again got to hang out together on the playground with the ones not practicing. Life is good.

Our Sleepover

Guest Blogger for tonight:
Hey, this is Kamryn and Anna Grace!

We just got home from a Girl Scout 70's party!!!!
It was soooo much fun!!! We Did The Bump!!!
We got pet rocks and tie dyed shirts!!!! I, Kamryn named my rock Isabella and Anna Grace named hers Elizabeth.
We celebrated Girl Scouts 97Th birthday. We had cake, coke, and chips.
And Sara Abbett unfortunately fell down when we got home :(!!!!!
Now we are soooooo hungry!!!!!We are making toast yaaaaaaay!!
We'll put raspberry jam on it weeeeeeeeee!!!!!We are having soo much fun!!
Hi. Bye. Love Kamryn. I think she is bored writing this message C U L8ER!!
Watch out world or people in town this is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Little Q and A With the Kids

Here's another something stolen from Facebook. Since I am not coming up with much to write about on my own lately I thought I would try this questionnaire with the kids.



Josh first:

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? me cleaning up my room
3. What makes mom sad? me not listening
4. How does your mom make you laugh? tickles me
5. What was your mom like as a child? liked to play
6. How old is your mom? 40
7. How tall is your mom? very tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do? read books
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? wash clothes
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? softball
11. What is your mom really good at? catching baseballs
12. What is your mom not very good at? You're not good at catching hard footballs.
13. What does your mom do for a job? scan books and um work.
14.What is your mom's favorite food? vegetables
15.What makes you proud of your mom? When you play with me.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Jerry mouse
17. What do you and your mom do together? read books
18. How are you and your mom the same? we do the same stuff like reading and all that
19. How are you and your mom different? You drink wine and I don't.
20. How do you know your mom loves you?You kiss me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? When he bees nice to you.
22. Wheat is Mommy's favorite place to go? Olive Garden

Now Rab:
1. What is something mom always says to you? get my hair brushed
2. What makes mom happy? when our room is clean
3. What makes mom sad? when we get hurt
4. How does your mom make you laugh? doing your dances
5. What was your mom like as a child? a cheerleader
6. How old is your mom? 40
7. How tall is your mom? (giggling).. I don't know
8. What is her favorite thing to do? read
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? I think you cook or clean.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? cooking
11. What is your mom really good at? cooking
12. What is your mom not very good at? standing on your head
13. What does your mom do for a job? you be a mom
14.What is your mom's favorite food? salad
15.What makes you proud of your mom? You be my mommy.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Betty from the Flintstones
17. What do you and your mom do together? cook
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have curly hair.
19. How are you and your mom different? You're taller.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? You hug me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Because he works hard.
22. What is mommy's favorite place to go? the library

Finally, Gracie:

1. What is something mom always says to you? clean your room
2. What makes mom happy? when we keep our room clean
3. What makes mom sad? when we don't keep our room clean
4. How does your mom make you laugh? when you pull up your shirt
5. What was your mom like as a child? How am I supposed to know?
6. How old is your mom? 40
7. How tall is your mom? I don't know.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? read
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? probably play on the computer
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? your chocolate cakes
11. What is your mom really good at? cooking
12. What is your mom not very good at? waking up in the morning but neither am I
13. What does your mom do for a job? you work at the library
14.What is your mom's favorite food? oatmeal
15.What makes you proud of your mom? I love her, she loves me
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Mickey Mouse
17. What do you and your mom do together? watch tv, we play together
18. How are you and your mom the same? we look the same
19. How are you and your mom different? I'm tan, you're not
20. How do you know your mom loves you? cause I love you
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? he's nice
22. What is mommy's favorite place to go? the beach probably