Let the Games Begin....

Aunt Patty & Uncle Steve came down to visit us over Memorial Day weekend. I know I've talked about this before, but we absolutely love them. There are always those certain family members that you get along with no matter what. Well, Uncle Steve & Aunt Patty are those two people. We simply adore them and love it when they come to see us. Anyway, we have a fierce competition when it comes to games. We always play into the wee hours of the morning and it's ALWAYS the boys versus the girls. It has been that way since the day Patty came into Steve's life. This time was certainly no different. The first time Mark and Steve have ever beaten us was the last time they were down to visit, which was Thanksgiving. That was the FIRST time they had EVER beaten us. That's a pretty good track record, don't you think? Anyway, we decided to play this game because it is one of our favorites.....

The game is called Cranium and it is hysterical. Of course, you are in teams and there are four categories: (1) Data Head where you have to answer true/false questions, multiple choice questions, trivia type questions, etc.; (2) Word Worm where you have to spell words (without writing them down), spell words backwards (without writing them down), fill in the blanks, etc.; (3) Creative Cat where you have to draw like Pictionary, draw with your eyes closed called a "Sensosketch," create items for your team to guess by sculpting with Cranium clay (i.e. Play doh), etc.; and (4) Star Performer where you have to perform Humdingers (hum the tune), perform "charades," get up and act just like the person without saying the names of people and/or places, etc. You get the idea. Anyway, the Star Performer is my favorite category. I LOVE it. For those of you that know me, you shouldn't be surprised by it either. Patty doesn't like the Star Performer quite as much so she pretty much gives me that category every time. However, Patty is good with the Creative Cat category so I pretty much give her everything when it comes to that category. We laughed so hard last night while playing Cranium three times that I actually hurt today. My stomach hurts and my cheeks hurt from laughing. Of course, the girls won ALL THREE GAMES, but I have to give it to the guys because they put up a great fight. Better luck next time Boys! I wanted to share some stuff from our games.....

This was Mark's Sensosketch (remember his eyes are closed) and Steve had to guess "Pearl." Not too bad, huh? Steve actually guessed it!

Following are all pictures that Patty had to draw for me. They get pretty funny.....


This was "Chaps."




This was "Garlic Breath." I actually got this right! Yeah!



This was the "Great Wall of China." I managed to get this one, too!



This one was "fingerprint." I actually got this one and props to Patty for drawing this with her eyes closed!



This one was "Bar Code." I didn't quite get this one. I actually guessed piano keys, etc. But, to give Patty her due, she did have to draw this with her eyes closed.

This one was "Coffee Maker." Of course, as soon as I saw the cup I started guessing everything you could possibly imagine that had to do with coffee. Pretty good, huh?

Now, I know Patty is creative and everything, but I had to sculpt "ear muffs." That sounds simple enough, doesn't it? I was so proud of my ear muffs, too. Poor Patty. I think the wine started to affect her because she just didn't guess it. She guessed Walkman, iPod, Ear Phones, etc. At the end I was laughing so hard at her for not guessing "ear muffs." Now, don't you think these looks like "ear muffs?"

I do! I told Patty, "I'm soooo taking a picture of this so I can Blog about my pain. I can't believe you couldn't guess "ear muffs!"

Well, we did win all three games! Go girls! Like I said.......Better luck next time boys! We can't wait for Uncle Steve (a/k/a Uncle Poopy) and Aunt Patty to come back again! We love you guys!

By the way Shelley, we soooo needed you last night. I'm ashamed to admit that we missed a trivia question about Harry Potter! We had to guess what position Harry Potter plays during Quidditch. I kept thinking "striker" and many other variations. I can hear you groaning out loud right now! For those of you that don't know, the answer it "Seeker." Ugh!

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Giddy Up

Daddy & Zoe were playing the other night and Zoe decided she wanted to be "Cowgirl Dora." Anyway, she decided that Daddy needed to be the horse so she rode her "horse" all over the house. It was pretty hysterical. I took a video, but I think Daddy would shoot me if I posted it for everyone to see.....

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Moved......

I have posted about this Blog before:

I have never read someone who is so faithful. I can relate to her in ways you can't imagine unless you've walked a mile in a mother's shoes who has lost a child. Anyway, you should click here and watch her story. She is simply amazing. And remember to hold your children a little tighter today because we're not guaranteed any tomorrows.



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Mother's Day Weekend

This past weekend was wonderful! My parents came down on Saturday and Mark and I actually got to have a date night on Saturday night! We went out to eat and then went to see this:



I must say that the movie was AWESOME! We had such a good time. Don't get me wrong, I missed my baby terribly, but it's good for Mark and I to get a little time to ourselves.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church and had a little bit of a lazy day because we went to see this at TPAC:



If you've never seen a musical, you should go and broaden your horizons. And my daughter LOVED it. She was dancing and clapping! Seriously, it was too cute! My husband even enjoyed this musical! My girlfriend Shelley and I plan on having a girls night and going to see Wicked in September.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day! I know I did. I'm so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful husband, wonderful parents and a BEAUTIFUL daughter! God is good!



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The Signature.....

I'm excited....I now have a signature for my Blog posts!



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"Behind the Wall"

Zoe and Daddy have a game they play pretty much each night before bed. It's hysterical and I was finally able to catch it on video. You have to watch each video in order....

Zoe Would Make A.......

great big sister, but I don't foresee that in her future. Unless God has a different plan for the Lawrence household, we've had our two babies. Anyway, Zoe absolutely LOVES babies. Yesterday morning before school she was sitting in her new chairs from her Aunt Julie feeding Baby Seth, who used to be named Baby Beth, but Zoe changed the name because she absolutely LOVES Setharoni! Anyway, we've been trying to teach her to sit with her legs closed when she has on a dress or skirt. These are pics Daddy was able to take while Mommy was getting ready for work. Too cute, huh?

Can You Say Prissy?!?

Zoe has become obsessed with all things Princess. She absolutely LOVES the Disney Princesses. Anyway, I've been trying to get her to let me polish her toenails since last summer, but she didn't want anything to do with it. However, the Easter Bunny left her some Disney Princess nail polish and she has been all over it! Here's a picture of our girl's newly polished pink toes!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was awesome for our family. We got up Easter morning to find that the Easter Bunny had eaten his carrots and drank his orange juice and left entirely too many gifts for Zoe. I wonder how that happens?!? Anyway, Zoe dug into her Easter basket and then we went to church (I don't have any good pics to post of all of us dressed). We came home and while Zoe was napping I fixed a big meal that turned out great! Enjoy the Easter pics below!

The Easter Bunny's Carrots & Orange Juice
The Easter Bunny left some carrots behind!

Zoe's Easter basket!

Zoe's new fake smile! It cracks me up!

Zoe and her chocolate bunny!

Zoe and Daddy looking at one of her many new books!

Another big smile!

Good Friday with the Peaks

On Good Friday, one of my best friends, Julie, decided to have an Easter egg hunt for the kids. It was too sweet and, as usual, she went above and beyond. The kids had their own Easter poster to color, they had their own eggs to color, they each had their own little gift basket, the Easter Bunny hid eggs (i.e. Mark and Judd) while the girls had snacks and cupcakes and then they got down to the business of finding eggs! It was so much fun! Thanks to Aunt Julie, Uncle Judd, Shyla and Setharoni for making our Good Friday one of the best ever!

Making our Easter poster!
Easter Party 2009 Poster

Zoe and her colored eggs!

Hunt those eggs Zoe!

Courtney, Zoe & Shyla

Zoe adding stickers to her colored eggs!

Aunt Julie, Zoe & Setharoni

Zoe sure does love her some Setharoni

I Want to be in the Band!

Nana and Papa came down last Wednesday so Mark and I could have a little "alone time" and they could have some "alone time" with "their baby." I honestly feel like I don't see my parents much anymore because they literally kick us out of our house once they arrive. Don't get me wrong, I greatly appreciate it! It's just funny how the times have changed! Anyway, they formed a band and here are some pics from it. I also caught it on video, which you can see below. You'll notice that Papa renamed the band "The Munchkin Band" after Nana joined! Poor Nana! It was too funny!

Vocals: Papa & Zoe

Lead Guitar: Zoe

Wiggles Guitar: Papa

Tamborine: Nana

The Munchkin Band - Part I

The Munchkin Band - Part II

Happy Birthday McKendree

Every year McKendree has a parade and cookie party to celebrate its birthday. This year was McKendree's 19th birthday.....with its original director! You just don't hear of that anymore! Anyway, we had a ball and both Daddy & Mommy got to go this year! Enjoy the pics!

Gobble....Gobble

This past Saturday was opening day of turkey season in Tennessee. My husband is a big turkey hunter and I'm sad to say that he didn't get anything on Saturday. But, he did shoot a "big ol' gobbler" on Sunday morning. That's Zoe talk for Daddy's turkeys. Anyway, when he got home she was so excited to see the turkey. And, she insisted on getting her camo hat so she could match Daddy. Enjoy the pics......

Happy to go see the turkey!
Daddy's "Big ol' Gobbler"

Cheese! She didn't want to get in the truck for some reason, but she had no problem touching the turkey!

Attachments

I know I've Blogged about my daughter forming an attachment to her Tinker Bell dress. Well, it depends on the day, but our daughter certainly has her "favorite" items of clothing. Anyway, Friday after work Zoe and I went to our favorite store (Target) and I found a Disney Princess swimsuit that had been marked from $10.00 to $6.00. I immediately picked it up and bought it for Zoe because she needs one for school for water play when it starts back up. Plus, she has become a fanatic for anything with a princess on it. The week before we bought her some Disney Princess sandals, although she calls them her "Princess Crocs." She loved the swimsuit so much that she slept in it for two days. And I'm not joking. She would take a bath and then put it right back on! And she thought she was a ballerina!

Ballerina Zoe
Soooooo sweet!!!

And I Thought I Was Bad......

So, I know I've talked on here about how OCD I am about certain things. I admit I'm bad, but I'm nowhere near as bad as my husband. He's made me worse since we've been together. I totally blame the Army for making him that way. He definitely wants everything just "so so" or he can't stand it. Anyway, I love it that he's a perfectionist and that he keeps our home in tip top shape. But, even I have my limits. A few weekends ago my husband touched up all of the paint in our house and it looks wonderful. So, as I was cooking this weekend, I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. I said, "Are you serious?" He said, I don't want grease to get splatted on the walls I just painted. I grabbed the camera and said, "I am so going to Blog about this."

This is the picture I took.......

We were laughing so hard that my wonderful husband said, "Well if you're going to make fun of me, take that.....and he added another piece of cling wrap to the wall."

Now, I laughed until I cried. I know a few of our close friends will appreciate this, especially Uncle Steve and Aunt Patty. Wait, the Carters will DEFINITELY appreciate this, too. Hey Carters, remember Yahtzee and Chris' one paper towel? FYI, Mark did take the cling wrap down as soon as I was finished cooking!

Confession

I have a confession to make......I'm a Twilight fanatic! Yes, I've come to terms with it. Pitiful, huh? First, I had to see the movie. Then, I had to buy the first book in the series. I read it in two days. I then had to buy the second book in the series, New Moon. I read it rather quickly and then I just had to buy the third book in the series, Eclipse. Of course, any of you who have read that book knows that you JUST HAVE TO HAVE THE FOURTH AND FINAL BOOK, which is Breaking Dawn.

God help me!

I talked to my parents last night and my Dad said, "Sweetie, I know how much you like the series Twilight so I went out and bought you that new book, which is the director's cut. Make sure you don't go and buy it." Isn't that so sweet and thoughtful? My parents are ALWAYS that way.

Again, God help me that my parents know what a freak I am for the series!

Then, Saturday morning my beautiful daughter decided that she didn't want to sleep in and that we needed to get up at 5:30 a.m. Yes, you read that right.....5:30 a.m. My husband was already gone to scout turkeys for the upcoming turkey season that begins on Saturday, March 28th. So, I went ahead got up and got everything ready. I mean, I got me and Zoe ready. I got me and Zoe ready because we were going to our favorite store......TARGET! Target had the Twilight video for sale for $17.99, which includes a third disc with bonus features only available at Target. Our store opened at 8:00 a.m. Zoe and I pulled into the parking lot around 7:55 a.m. and there were already about 50 to 75 people lined up outside the store. I had told Zoe that she could have a new Dora movie since she has been such a big girl and gone both #1 and #2 in the potty. So, when we walked up and got in line I said, "Zoe, I'll bet all of these people are here for the same reason." All the people around me started laughing and saying, "Ya think?" Anyway, my precious daughter screams, "Yeah, we're here for DORA!" To which every person outside waiting in line heard and began laughing hysterically. Pretty funny, huh? She definitely has a great sense of humor!

God help me because I bought that Dora movie keeping in mind the whole time, "Zoe can watch her Dora movie when we get home so I can watch Twilight." Yes, I know it's pitiful. Wait.....it gets better!

Daddy actually got home before I got my movie started because I was on the computer downloading my free copy of the movie, which was also available through my video from Target and was only good for last Saturday. So, not only do I have the movie, I downloaded the movie free from iTunes!

God help me I have more than one copy of that movie! I'm a FANATIC!




I'm just glad I have such an understanding husband who got home early and let me go ahead and watch my movie at 9:00 a.m.! And I must confess, I'm ready to watch it again! I plan on watching it real soon.....like this weekend while my husband is becoming one with nature!

God help me!


I already know that New Moon is scheduled for release in November.......

Shelley, get ready because we're going to see this movie following our Thanksgiving shopping excursion! God help me I already have plans for November!

This is Just FUNNY!

To Share or Not to Share?

That is definitely the question. For my tens of readers out there.....you know I can share. Anyway, I was hesitant to share this story for one simple reason.....my WONDERFUL father. Sometimes when I share stories with him that I think are hysterical, his response will be, "Sweetie, there are just some things your father just doesn't want to know about." Well, I'm sure this will be one of those, but I just can't help myself. I knew my precious mom, Sherry, would appreciate it so she was one of my first phone calls. Of course, she laughed so hard along with me that I had to get off the phone and concentrate on driving home through rush hour traffic!

Now, for the rest of the story........

As most of you know, I'm a little OCD (that's stating it lightly)! Anyway, I wash and dry my laundry EVERY DAY. I can't stand it if it's not done EVERY DAY. I've been known to run down and swap out clothes during commercials during a favorite television show! Yes, I know I should calm down about it, but I just can't help myself! Part of my OCD with laundry involves bringing home my daughter's sheet and blanket from school every day to wash. I started doing that when she was sooooo sick all of the time during that tumultuous first year. I don't know if that has made the difference or if it is just Zoe getting older and her immunity has been built up, but I like to think that it's a combination of both. I digress. Anyway, in doing my laundry every day, I pretty much know what is in my basket. One day last week I noticed I was missing something, but didn't think too much of it. Hmmmmm.......

When I went to pick up Zoe on Thursday, one of her teachers, Ms. Misti, came up beside me and said, "I've got a little something that belongs to you." I immediately responded, "(Big sucking in of air) You found my black panties!" She about dropped to the ground in laughter. She said, "WOW, Courtney." I said, "Well, I'm anti panty line. You do realize we're tight now, right?" She said, "Oh yeah. I almost hung them up on the Parent Board." And needless to say, I don't think it would've been possible to laugh harder than I did at that moment. You see, when Misti was pulling out Zoe's sheet to put on her mat for nap time, my black pair of panties came flying out of her little pale pink sheet. And, to top it all off? They are my skimpiest pair......they pretty much look like dental floss! (Thank you, Nikki! They were a gift with some lingerie right before my honeymoon! I know you know which ones I'm talking about......think black and red lingerie!) And, the director of McKendree was so excited it had happened to me because she knew I would have a great time with it!

So, do you see why I had to share? This story is tooooo funny not to share! Now, to my WONDERFUL father........I'm sorry if your face is red right about now. I just HAD TO SHARE this laugh! Love you LOTS!

Abra Kadabra....Although it Sounds More Like Abra Kajaba...

Icing on the Cake

I baked a cake this past Saturday and Daddy & Zoe iced it. Daddy made sure he took pictures since I was taking a nice long bubble bath!

Zoe Putting Icing on the Cake
Such a great picture of Daddy & Zoe

Can you say chocolate face?!?

There Are No Words......

.......to describe the outfit my daughter was wearing when I picked her up from school this past Wednesday. When I had dropped her off, she was wearing her red Elmo t-shirt with little black pants, a red bow in her hair and her pink and silver tennis shoes. It was definitely a casual day, but she still looked cute (if I do say so myself). Anyway, my child had a day. We have been potty training and she pretty much NEVER has pee pee accidents. She only has problems in the poop department (I've been told that takes time) and only wears a pull up at night. Well, she had QUITE A DAY on Wednesday. She woke up in a horrible mood and decided she was going to copy one of her friends and try to start "holding herself." Anyway, needless to say, she had MANY potty accidents on Wednesday and had run out of clothes. McKendree has clothes they keep as a back up for such situations. Anyway, Zoe had run out of pants, panties and had resorted to wearing a pull up. When I went to pick her up they were playing in the gym and I had no trouble picking her out. So, without further adieu, this is what my child was wearing when I picked her up..........

Now do you understand why I have no words? Well, I guess I could say that these are the ugliest pants I've ever seen! Somebody needs to donate some clothes to McKendree that are at least from this century!