A Little Bit of Everything

First Basketball Practice

2011-12-07T10:46:00.001-05:00

A Day at the Park

2011-10-25T07:27:00.004-04:00

Halloween Preview

2011-10-21T09:04:00.000-04:00

Vanity, vanity. Or self confidence. Let's hope for the latter.

2011-09-28T09:36:00.000-04:00

Me: "Avery, do you know how pretty you are?" Avery: (insert her eye roll) "YES! I can see myself every time I look in the mirror!!" Oh dear.

Avery's Tangled Cake

2011-09-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

On this day in 2009

2011-09-10T09:19:00.001-04:00

While Elijah was helping Avery put on pajamas, she was staring at the top of his head and asked "how come I have hair and Mommy has hair and Benjamin has hair...and you don't???" I about fell over laughing. He did not. :o)

My Tennessee baby (even though he was born in Georgia)

2011-09-06T20:10:00.000-04:00

The Art of Delegating

2011-09-01T08:37:00.004-04:00

on this day in 2009....

2011-09-01T08:37:00.001-04:00

I've let Avery watch too many episodes of Looney Tunes. In the car just now she was screaming "IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE....IT'S SUPERDUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o)

FB post on this day in 2009

2011-08-31T08:01:00.000-04:00

This was after Avery's first day of preschool:

I picked Avery up from school and she was SO excited and trying to tell me everything at once! I swear her head almost exploded. Her highlight? Princess gummies. You'd think that child won the lottery the way she described princess gummies. I think she had a good time.

Super Baby

2011-08-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

These were Benjamin's pajamas from before he was one. I found them in the boy's closet the other day. It brings back such sweet memories from when Benjamin was little.

Cut and Paste from Facebook, One year ago today.

2011-08-29T08:11:00.000-04:00

Rachel Hohn Sleighwas more than a bit embarressed when at the end of a great church concert Avery yells (as loud as she can, of course) "THAT was boring"!! Sorry, C.T.W. if you heard that, I didn't find it boring at all! And also a big sorry to Pastor Jim and the designer of the t-shirts when she critiqued your shirt calling it 'girly'. I don't know where she gets her overly opinionated personality... ;o)
LikeUnlike · · August 29, 2010 at 10:13pm

Lynn McDowell Pearcy and Catherine Morris like this.

Sandy Conway Grubbs I love that sweet girl :)
August 29, 2010 at 10:17pm · LikeUnlike

Melissa Carr Dickerson Lol!!! I didn't hear it but I did see the look you gave her!!
August 29, 2010 at 10:26pm · LikeUnlike

Jeff Grubbs Out of the mouth of our kids!! I love it!! She is a sweetheart!
August 29, 2010 at 10:30pm · LikeUnlike

Lee Castleberry lol
August 29, 2010 at 10:49pm · LikeUnlike

Samantha Depriest hehe - I love Avery!!! :)
August 29, 2010 at 11:42pm · LikeUnlike

Doug Van Arsdale She gets it from Alex of course!
August 30, 2010 at 7:04am · LikeUnlike

Lynn McDowell Pearcy lol!! I missed that :)
August 30, 2010 at 9:20am · LikeUnlike

LeeAnn Denham Hohn I wonder why people love to hear what she does:)
August 30, 2010 at 9:20am · LikeUnlike

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Avery's Robot Logic

2011-08-26T17:02:00.001-04:00

If R2-D2 married K-T (a female droid that looks like a pink R2-D2) then the priest, you know, the one who does all the talking at a wedding couldn't say you may kiss the bride since they don't have any mouths. He would have to just say you may now bump into the bride since they don't even have lips.

Avery's 6th Birthday Wish List

2011-08-25T14:09:00.002-04:00

1. My own tv. On the wall.

2. Nintendo DS.

3. A sister.

4. American Girl Doll

5. Belle's Tea Party doll set.

6. Swimming Baby doll.

7. Barbies, only with all pink clothes.

8. An ice cream store. In our backyard.

9. A puppy.

10. Charm bracelet (which is actually is getting)

11. High heeled shoes.

12. KT Droid (Some girl version of R2-D2)

13. Full size bus.

14. Lego girl

15. Bigger crib for her babies.

Soooooo Avery.

Hey, I'm reading here!!!

2011-08-22T15:13:00.000-04:00

Someone won't share

2011-08-22T08:19:00.002-04:00

Spiders

2011-08-19T08:41:00.003-04:00

A conversation with Avery last night. I say conversation, she did all the talking:

Why are they called Grand Daddy Longlegs if some are girls? Can't we just call the girl ones Grand Lady Longlegs??? And what about the babies?? Why can't we just call all of them all Grand Family Longlegs??

She has a point.

Avery's Art

2011-08-15T18:32:00.001-04:00

Avery has been playing on the program 'Paint' just about every day. I think she's getting pretty good!!

Thank you, Facebook!

2011-08-14T10:03:00.001-04:00

Facebook has all of a sudden started putting a little blurb in the corner of my screen that says "your status two years ago" I just love reading these. The kids say the funniest things and I post it, but forget to write it down. I only noticed this yesterday but will start putting them on here. Here is the one from August 14, 2009:

was trying to remind Avery what to do when she gets lost in a store. While recapping, I said now what do you do if you get lost? Her answer?? "I got to the front and ask the lady at the register for some MONEY!!!" Great. She gets lost then arrested for attempting to rob the place.

Avery

2011-08-10T09:20:00.001-04:00

I'm probably using this for her birthday invitation next month so I haven't posted it anywhere else, but I love this picture.

First Day of School

2011-08-09T10:38:00.003-04:00

Avery loses her first tooth!!

2011-08-02T19:53:00.003-04:00

Elijah has been out of town for two days and will be gone for 9 more. Avery's tooth had not been that loose until yesterday morning when she bit into an apple. I was dreading this. I really hoped that it would hold on till Elijah came back. One bite into that apple and we had a hanger. She's been wiggling it for days and I've been avoiding the issue. Avery has been asking me for days to just pull it, but I know how dramatic she can be and I had no desire to get her (and me) all upset. Finally tonight I sat her on the counter in the bathroom and tried to tie floss around it for a good 10 minutes. She lost patience with that pretty quickly and asked again to just have me pull it. She was being so tough and I was the one being a wuss. I got a washcloth for extra grip and held on to the bottom of it and gave one hard yank and it popped right out. She didn't even feel it, she had to ask me if it was out yet. Such a trooper.

Now the whole tooth fairy is another issue. This child wakes up if you even put a hand on her door knob, let alone try to sneak in and take something from under her pillow. I have been trying to figure out how to do this for weeks, ever since we found out in Florida that her tooth was even loose. I finally decided to tell her that since she's such a light sleeper that we'd write the tooth fairy a letter and she could draw a pretty picture for her and tape it to the door. When she asked why, I said because no one can know what the tooth fairy looks like so if you start to wake up she'll just leave, and you don't want that. Hey, since we're already lying about the fairy in the first place, who cares about the details???

Mud vs. Dirt

2011-08-01T13:10:00.004-04:00

Avery: "What is mud?"
Me: "Wet dirt."
Avery: "Well why do they have to give it a different name?? Why can't it just be wet dirt?"
I honestly have no idea.

Only Avery:

2011-06-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

Avery: ' Know what I'm thinking?' (oh dear) 'Wait. I forgot. Let me think for a while and THEN I'll tell you what I'm thinking.'

The kids with Grandma and PopPop

2011-06-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

Alex's First Birthday Cake (finally)

2011-06-16T20:15:00.005-04:00

Avery's Recital Pictures

2011-06-13T09:47:00.004-04:00

From Uncle Jeremy's Phone

2011-06-07T08:58:00.006-04:00

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

2011-06-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

Happy 9th Birthday Benjamin!!!

2011-05-30T16:59:00.000-04:00

How to get engaged, according to Benjamin

2011-05-26T21:00:00.002-04:00

We were driving home from school today and I overheard Benjamin telling Avery all about marriage proposals: "From what I understand, the guy goes out and spends money on a ring, then gets on one knee and says 'will you marry me?' the girl (9 times out of 10) says yes. She has to say yes or they can't. I'm pretty sure it has to be a mutual agreement."
When I asked where he'd gotten his information, he just shrugged and said "tv". Figures!!

2011-05-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

A royal fit!

2011-05-18T09:10:00.000-04:00

A few graduation pics

2011-05-18T07:59:00.002-04:00

For some reason Blogger won't let me post any more pics than this right now, but here are a few from Avery's graduation:

Playing ball with Daddy

2011-05-02T07:46:00.001-04:00

Benjamin's Baby Pictures

2011-04-29T10:14:00.002-04:00

I was going through a drawer of mine that is a pit and found the pictures from one of Elijah's old wallets. All of these baby pictures of Benjamin were in there:

Throwing the ball with Boo

2011-04-29T07:59:00.000-04:00

Avery Spring Pics

2011-04-27T13:48:00.004-04:00

Easter Sunday

2011-04-25T15:26:00.003-04:00

Alex playing

2011-04-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

Alex bouncing

2011-03-25T18:41:00.001-04:00

Benjamin's new glasses

2011-03-25T08:05:00.003-04:00

Benjamin had been complaining of headaches for a while. I didn't think too much of them since my kids seem to over exaggerate every little cut and bruise. However when a note from his teacher came home with him, I started to worry. I asked him about being able to see the board at school, and he insisted he could, so off to the doctor we went. I didn't want to be really concerned, but I was. What else besides bad eyes would cause headaches in an 8 year old? I have to admit I was relieved when he failed his eye exam. So now I have a child with glasses, and I have to admit, he looks pretty cute with them on:

Avery playing soccer

2011-03-15T07:45:00.002-04:00

He's getting quick!!

2011-03-13T19:56:00.001-04:00

Alex's first big boy bath

2011-03-09T20:34:00.001-05:00

We got a Wii!!!

2011-03-07T20:27:00.002-05:00

I never got this to post of Facebook, but it's too classic not to share. This was Christmas Eve when we wrapped up a game for each of the kids to a new Wii system that was the actual present. Avery of course did not understand, and it took Benjamin a few seconds to get it. When he first opened the gift he didn't see the Wii label and thought we got him yet another Tiger Woods golf game. His realization is priceless:

Alex goes' TA-DA!!!!

2011-03-07T20:20:00.001-05:00

One of my favorites!!

2011-03-06T22:31:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NINE MONTHS ALEX!

2011-03-03T15:18:00.001-05:00

Just some favorites...

2011-03-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

2011-02-28T08:07:00.002-05:00

Avery: Where did you live while I was up in Heaven waiting for God to put me in your tummy?

2011-02-17T20:05:00.001-05:00

Avery: "Mommy since you'll get to Heaven before me can you ask Jesus for a piece of paper and a pencil and write me a letter telling me what it's like?"

Me and My Boys

2010-08-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

Alex's Birth day. (very late, but oh well!!)

2010-08-17T08:19:00.008-04:00

A hole in the head...

2010-05-27T21:10:00.003-04:00

Tonight was the last baseball game that I was most likely going to be able to go to before the season ends since the baby is coming two days before their final game. I probably should have just stayed home. We got there and before our game could even begin, a huge clap of thunder shook the entire area with a monstrous flash lightning that some people leaning on the metal fence swore they felt it. Elijah was standing under a light post that looks like it may have been hit, because it was out and smoking. Elijah says he felt the hairs on his neck standing up and he jumped a mile. I missed that, I just heard the storm noises and all the kids screaming and running under the shelter I was already sitting under. We all sat there while the storm passed to see if they were going to cancel the game or not. Once they made the call to go ahead and play, we were able to settle in to watch B's game. Avery had gone to sit with one of the other player's grandmother's under the shelter, and I was sitting at the bleachers watching the game. It was maybe all of five minutes later and a woman came running up to saying "your little girl is hurt bad." Nice. I go waddling (since I can't go running) to where she is and there is blood pouring out of a hole in the child's head. A hole. She had apparently run into a nail sticking out of a board in a picnic table. One of the boy's dads is an EMT and he came up to take a look at her and said we needed to go get a couple stitches. I thought that going 8 years was a pretty good run on no stitches for the kids, so I wasn't too upset by it honestly. I'm surprised I kept my cool like I did. Elijah was more shaken up than I was. He got out of eyesight and ran as fast as he could to go get the car. We ended up at the Urgent Care center and were able to get her right in. They were able to use Dermabond and glue the opening together instead of stitching it, and since she had just had her PreK shots she was all up to date and didn't even need a tetanus shot! All in all, a busy day at the ballfield. I didn't even get to see Benjamin hit, so I may be swinging by on the way home from the hospital to watch him hit one more time!! Here's my tough girl!!

Oh, and I just found a tick on the boy. What a day.

Avery singing on the pot

2010-05-17T08:05:00.001-04:00

Things that make motherhood so worth it....coming into a room hearing your 4 1/2 year old singing "Give Me That Old Time Religion" at the top of her lungs, on the toilet, in her daddy's size 15 shoes. Priceless!! I just wish I had it on video, because her toes were tapping away. :o)

More Callaway

2010-05-11T09:12:00.004-04:00

Some pics from Callaway

2010-04-27T22:57:00.001-04:00

More pics of the week

2010-04-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

Easter Weekend in Tennessee

2010-04-06T15:17:00.004-04:00

A day at the zoo

2010-03-31T09:51:00.004-04:00

Planting a Garden

2010-03-28T14:07:00.002-04:00

The previous owners of the house had built a small garden area and the kids and Elijah decided to plant some veggies and flowers today. I, however, kept my job as photographer. :o)

Pics from last summer

2010-03-21T18:06:00.004-04:00

Amanda posted these to her Facebook page and I never got copies, so here are some fairly old pics. I can't believe how tan the kids are and how blonde Avery's hair is!

2010-03-20T20:28:00.002-04:00

I got a new camera. It won't just upload to my computer, I have to download the software first and I'm being terribly lazy about it. Pictures will come soon!

Traveling Teddy

2010-03-08T19:20:00.002-05:00

Avery's class sends this bear around called "Traveling Teddy". Each kid gets to rotate taking him home over the weekend. You let the bear do some sort of activity and then take pictures to put in his Travel Journal. Here's Avery's that we sent. She kept putting the bear in the baby's things that we have set up. Kind of cute, but now I have to rewash all the bedding. :(

2010-03-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

A rare warm day...

2010-02-26T11:38:00.003-05:00

Storytime

2010-02-24T20:14:00.002-05:00

Elijah is the one who usually reads to the kids at night. He's out of town for a couple nights, so Benjamin asked if he could read to Avery for him this time. :o)
Avery doesn't usually sleep with Granny's blanket, but she was up most of last night crying from having bad dreams so I told her (crossing my fingers this works!!) that this blanket can help keep bad dreams away. That and praying she won't have any bad dreams, which we pray every night. I ended up sleeping with her for about an hour last night she was so upset. This has happened two or three times in the last few months, hopefully it won't keep up.

2010-02-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

Avery trying on her Easter Dress

2010-02-21T14:40:00.001-05:00

Avery with her Granny and Great-Grandmother

2010-02-17T10:47:00.003-05:00

Benjamin wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture of him the whole weekend. All the cousins and snow were definitely higher on his priority list. I kept Avery inside with me the whole weekend since it was so cold and snowy...and I didn't want her wandering off. That made her an easier target for pictures!

2010 Pickren Reunion

2010-02-15T17:01:00.004-05:00

Our new niece (Tony's baby)

Baby Boy

2010-02-05T08:52:00.000-05:00

More to come later....

Favorite Pic

2010-01-29T07:51:00.001-05:00

I don't know if I ever posted this picture, but it is one of my favorites of Elijah and me. Amanda took it sometime last year.

Random pics

2010-01-13T15:46:00.003-05:00

Here are just some pics from the last couple of weeks. I like this one because they thought they were just taking turns, I liked it because it was more dueling guitars.

Casey in his new hoodie.

Of course Avery forced him into this position, but he stayed a long time!

This was at our weekly playgroup. We had gone to a playhouse that had lots of dress up. I'm not sure how Avery ended up a bridesmaid and not the bride, but I guess that means she's finally sharing!

2010-01-05T09:18:00.003-05:00

I accidentally loaded them backwards, so this one is actually of the ride home after the game at about 11:45. Avery never did fall asleep. Of course.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T16:02:00.005-05:00

Avery's Christmas program at school

2009-12-22T10:04:00.002-05:00

I focused mainly on recording the program with the video camera, so I mainly have photos of the party after the program.

Avery and her teachers, Ms. Julie and Ms. Heather.

Finger ankle

2009-12-20T19:32:00.003-05:00

Avery was telling us at dinner that she had hurt her 'finger ankle' while playing. We asked what she meant, so she pointed.

Finger ankle. Makes sense now.

Upward

2009-12-16T17:25:00.004-05:00

I think she's excited.

God help me.

And of course a wrestling match begins.

Benjamin's School Picture

2009-12-10T15:15:00.003-05:00

You gotta love the shiner. That was from when the liftgate on the car came down on his face.

2009-12-03T10:59:00.002-05:00

I was feeling guilty about not getting the kids a tree last year, so I went to Wal-Mart and found a tree for not too much money. It's not the nicest tree, but I was feeling the holiday spirit and wanted to decorate the house this year. I don't have that many ornaments, but it worked out this year since the tree is small.

Benjamin was proud of this one. It's the one I bought for his first Christmas. I still need to get Avery's! (shame, shame, I know.)

Casey wasn't that into it, he just snuggles his blankie and ignores the chaos. He's wearing the sweater that Elijah's sister Julie gave him over Thanksgiving. I put it on him at her house to show her how much he loves wearing clothes because she didn't believe me. He jumped and flipped and got so excited when I showed it to him, and was equally as upset when I took it off. He pouted so much that she told me to keep the sweater for that 'poor baby'. We aren't too happy that it's a Georgia Bulldog sweater, but it probably cost her $20 or more, so he can wear it all he wants since I won't pay that for a dog sweater!

How cute are they??

Cotton pickin'

2009-11-30T17:25:00.002-05:00

So I didn't get any pictures of actual Thanksgiving, but on the way home Sunday we saw a cotton field and Elijah had mentioned earlier in the weekend he would like to show the kids cotton on the plant and how to pick it. Benjamin was more interested than Avery, but once we told her she could take it to school for show and tell she got pretty excited about it.

Making Rice Krispy Treats

2009-11-24T14:51:00.001-05:00

2009-11-18T15:20:00.003-05:00

Blogger is giving me a really hard time about uploading pictures, but here are a couple from our walk the other night.

2009-11-05T16:12:00.002-05:00

The kids are pretty creative. They are also pretty selfish. Benjamin had created this 'bus' that was a dining room chair with a lot of books and things stacked up on the sofa chair, then a giant preschool remote on top for the steering column and wheel. He was determined that he was going to be the bus driver and Avery could only be a passenger. In her frustration, she decided the only way to win was to annoy him to tears. She figured out very quickly, as little sisters do, that just being where he didn't want her to sit would suffice. She kept getting under the 'driver's seat' and laying there. This drove him crazy, which was the entire point. Here is the battle, and you can hear her satisfied giggle. My phone only takes 15 second videos, so there are two.

2009-11-03T08:09:00.004-05:00

For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me rearrange the pictures, so we'll just go in backwards order of time. Starting with Trick-or-Treating Halloween night, at the end!

The kids and I went with my Sunday School class on a service project to a local nursing home where some members are residents. We walked the kids around and let them show off their costumes.

This was the Wednesday before Halloween at a friend of our's church during their Trunk or Treat. Avery had the most fun with a balloon.

Her first Snickers...

Clearly, Benjamin did not want his picture taken at all that day. He stayed annoyed with me. I guess Ninja's don't like to be photographed!

The next best thing....

2009-10-21T07:29:00.002-04:00

Okay, so since her highness drug her feet for two weeks they were out of the Wonder Woman costume in her size. She had actually walked in and asked if she could be an angel, but it looked paper thin and cheap, so I told her no. So she looked around and picked Supergirl. I was pretty excited, at least it wasn't a Disney Princess!! (Granted I told her they were all out of them....bad mommy!!!!)

Pre Halloween Try Ons

2009-10-20T09:28:00.002-04:00

The kids were really bored yesterday morning so I let them go ahead and play in their Halloween costumes for a little while. After I took Avery's off of her and hung it up, I noticed the bottom hem was completely detaching, so we are off today to go find a replacement costume. I really did like the princess dress, even though she was a purple princess last year. Hopefully today will bring a more creative one. Like Wonder Woman. Fingers crossed.

2009-09-29T17:26:00.002-04:00

Avery's allergies are bothering her. She got a runny nose and sore throat from the drainage. She had a bit of croup last night, too. If she was actually sleeping Benjamin was up coughing and crying. I took this of her a few minutes ago, and then she went to the living room. I was uploading this video and realized the screaming had stopped. I went and looked for her and she was passed out on the couch sleeping. I didn't get a picture of that because I wanted to wake her up quickly so she'll sleep tonight. She's already napped earlier today. Here is sunshine herself. Be aware, it's a horrible, annoying noise she makes:

So I'm a slacker

2009-09-28T08:36:00.001-04:00

I am finding it harder and harder to blog anymore. I say everything on Facebook, and I post all my pics and videos on there too. What is left to say or post?? Not much, but here's a couple pictures:

Time to wake up, Avery.

2009-09-23T15:27:00.002-04:00

Avery didn't sleep very well last night. Elijah and I didn't sleep hardly at all. I knew she would be tired today, especially since I got even less sleep than she did! She fell asleep on me on the couch, and I let her sleep for about five minutes before I decided to wake her up. If I didn't she would have been too tired and cranky for dance class. Here is her highness waking up:

Happy Birthday Avery!!!

2009-09-13T15:54:00.008-04:00

Four years ago today I held my daughter for the very first time. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She makes us laugh constantly, and can light up any room with a smile or a laugh. Here is a look back at some of my favorite pictures of my Little Bit:

The mouth wide open phase begins:

Happy Birthday, Bit. I love you!!!

Benjamin's 2nd football game.

2009-09-13T15:14:00.005-04:00

There's Benjamin, #56...They lost 25-0, but looked a lot better than last week. Hopefully we'll just keep improving. I'm proud of him!

Avery's First Soccer Practice

2009-09-11T07:38:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure what their coach was trying to accomplish here, but he would be playing Red Light, Green Light with the kids as they kicked the ball down the field, and when he yelled "Yellow Light!" they had to drop and 'kiss' their ball. Fine by me, I think the guy did a great job dealing with 12 three and four year olds. Here is the grainy cell phone quality video of Avery playing. She's all the way to the left and works her way back to the coach.

More ballet pics

2009-09-08T09:29:00.001-04:00

2009-09-03T08:11:00.002-04:00

Avery is working very hard at wrapping Elijah around her finger. She was having a high time playing Princess with him the other day and was on the bed describing her entire ensemble to him. She even tried some pieces on him, including the ring. All was well in Princess Land until her brother dared to enter the picture. See below:

What a drama queen!!!

First day of school!!

2009-08-31T09:18:00.003-04:00

Okay, so Benjamin's first day was a couple weeks ago. But I never got a picture, so this is from Avery's first day. He wasn't too happy that I wouldn't take his picture with his tongue hanging out or making a goofy face. This was the best I got:

I didn't really remind Avery that today was her first day, so I told her while she was eating breakfast and I snapped a picture. I got the face I wanted, I just didn't count on the mouthful of cereal. I asked her to smile again with her mouth closed for the next one!

I bought her a really cute backpack for school, but once we went to open house her teacher told me that they supplied bags and they weren't to bring backpacks at all. She was really disappointed because she loves her Fancy Nancy backpack, so she insisted I take her picture with it on. The first one she only wanted the backpack in.

At the school, getting out of her new car seat. She didn't want me to take this one at all!

And here she is in class!! She was so excited she couldn't stand it! They were starting the day drawing pictures of themselves. I was told we couldn't hang out too long, so that is it for now!!

Avery teaching us ballet

2009-08-26T10:35:00.001-04:00