We love Tennessee!!

We just got back from an amazing vacation in Sevierville, Tennessee.    It's Ross' and I forth time there, Leanne and Clay's second time, and a first for Allison, Luke, and Reed. 

We left here on Friday morning at 3:30 A.M.  The kids did great in the car on the way down to Tennessee.  Maybe about 5 minutes of crying from the twins, I couldn't ask for it to go any better.

 

Reed riding in the back of the car

 

 

Allison and Luke in a deep sleep



 

We made it there in twelve hours with a few stops along the way to eat and stretch our legs.  We really didn't do much exploring when we got there.  The kids were having fun being out of the car and playing with the air hockey table in the lower level of the cabin.

 

 The name of our cabin was Hidden Romance.  Yep,

the romance sure was hidden.  We stayed in this

cabin because Ross knows the owner.  (Reed in red,

Luke in blue)

 

 

 

 





 

It is a beautiful cabin.  The main floor has a fully equipped kitchen, nice family room, small laundry room (my favorite thing there), half bath, and a large bedroom with a KING size bed (at one point we did end up have 3 kids in the bed and we were not squished!!!!!!).  Our bedroom had a Jacuzzi tub in the actual room (the kids loved taking baths in there, I'm sure they were not thinking of it for that purpose when they built it that way). There is also a hot tub on the deck that the kids loved using. The loft had a Foosball table and a pullout twin sleeper sofa. 

 

 

Leanne and Allison slept together on the twin

sleeper sofa.





 

 

The cabin also had a lower level.  The  lower level had an air hockey table, video games (if they still call them that), and a pool table.  This is also where the boys slept on a large pull out sofa bed.



 

Luke on left, Clay, and Reed on right

 

 

On Saturday we went exploring.  We took the kids to throw rocks in the river.  They could do this for hours.

 

Luke in white, Reed in green





 

When they were finished doing that, we went to go check out abandoned houses in the Smokey Mountains.  Ross loves that sort of thing and Leanne is exactly like her daddy in that respect.

 

 



 

Ross and the kids sitting on the steps that used to go to

a house.



 

Enjoying ice cream at the cabin

 

 

 

Sunday we listened to a sermon online in the cabin and then went for a nature drive in Cades Cove. 



 

small, adult, male, black bear (that's what the park

ranger told us)

 

Horses they use for trail rides.  One of the horses

came right up to our car and stuck his head in.

 

Family picture

 

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a fun

self picture

 

Family picture at Cades Cove

 

Can't help but laugh at Clay.  What a goof!

 

We would always do a big breakfast in the morning

and a light snack in the afternoon. 

 











 On Monday we went to the aquarium.  This aquarium is well worth the money.  My camera died, as in broke, right before the awesome walk through tunnel where the sharks swim over.  I was pretty bummed not to take pictures of that, but it is what it is.

 

"Not another picture, mom!" Luke would not

leave Ross' side, so he missed out on a photo opportunity.

 

I have a secret.  I really love to look at huge ugly odd

fish.  The odder the better.  If I'm looking at the Yahoo

stories, and there is a picture of an odd fish,

I have to look at it and read the article. When

we had cable, I used to always watch River Monsters. 

 

Look at this fish!!! My favorite in this tank because

it's so odd and HUGE!!!

 

See that catfish behind me?  I'm one happy girl.  I

want to try noodling.  For those that don't know

what this is, it's where you go down south to a river

that has huge catfish.  Instead of using a fishing pole,

you either stick your hand or foot in the catfish's mouth

and pull it up that way.  Ross said if I ever get to do that,

he'd watch from shore.

 

I didn't deserve the mother of the year award right then.

I got so caught up with these odd fish, I forgot about Reed.

He was sitting there crying for a few minutes before I

even noticed.  My face was red with embarrassment. 

This is a selfie of Reed and I and he still hasn't forgiven me

quite yet.

 

 

The last picture I took before my camera quit.



 

It took us 4-5 hours to go through the aquarium and then we headed back to the cabin for a little rest.  We went to Pizza Hut and took that to the river for a picnic.  We went swimming after we finished eating.

 

Tuesday we went to Clingmans Dome (after we bought a new camera).  It is a paved walkway to a top of a mountain with a lookout.  It is pretty much a upward winding paved hike. 

 

View of the mountains from the top of Clingmans Dome

 

Reed and mommy  

 

Luke and Daddy

 

The older three.  If you look in the background of

the picture, you can see a little bit of tan.  The little

bit of tan is the parking lot.

 

Sometimes it's just easier to pull them down

the mountain, instead of pushing them down. Ross

and I each took turns pushing the boys up the path.

People couldn't believe we were.  I even had a man

shake my hand at the top because he said he could

barely make it up there himself and I was pushing

a stroller.  It really wasn't that bad.





 

After we did Clingmans Dome, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Chimney Tops.  Chimney Tops is a park with picnic tables.  It is a must if you go to Tennessee. 

 

 

Allison, checking out the rocks.  Clay is down there

in the yellow shirt.

 

picture of the picnic area

 

I stayed with the little ones while Clay and Leanne

were rock hopping.

 

Allison is doing a happy dance because she rock

hopped all the way over to this rock.

 

Clay could have cared less about his socks

and shoes being soaking wet.

 

The twins found a good rock to lie down on and

take a rest.  (Reed in gray, Luke in blue)



 



We also took the kids swimming in the river again that night.  We all collapsed into bed after that.  Wednesday we didn't do as much.  After a bit of a lazy morning, we took the kids fishing down by the pond near our cabin.

 



Clay, with his first catch.

 

Alli, with her first catch.

 

The twins didn't fish, but they liked touching it.

 

Unconventional bait.  We didn't have worms, so

we fished with hot dogs, pretzels, and cookies.

 

The fish liked the cookie bait she used.

 

The pond was located at the end of a curvy, steep, downward road.  Alli

and I decided to run back up it.  We were hot and

tired after doing that.

 We took the kids swimming again that evening.  It was pretty hot in Tennessee, so we did this often.

 



 

 

Clay, Alli, and Leanne playing Titanic.



 

 

Thursday was our last full day in Tennessee.  We had a large breakfast, packed up the cabin, and did a little bit of shopping at the local country stores.  Then we took the kids to the Titanic Museum.  Leanne is obsessed with the Titanic and has read a lot about it.

 

The twins are showing their souvenir pennies here. 

Luke in blue, Reed in red.

 





The museum does not allow people to take pictures inside of it, so this is all I got of it.  Leanne was one happy girl.  We went out to eat, and then after that, Ross came up with a surprise for the kids for their last night in Tennessee.





 

 

 

Ross noticed that this open grassy area became full of fireflies at night.  We took some clear plastic cups and let the kids catch them.  The kids liked dad's surprise. 

 

The following morning we left.  It took us 13 hours to get home because of bad traffic and rain.  Ross got to drive home with this lovely mirror.

 

 

 

 

The story behind the mirror is, before we left I may have accidentally backed up out of the garage, and hit the mirror on the side of the garage door.  Well, at that time, it only had two cracks.  Ross, one evening in Tennessee, went out to the store and then went for a drive by himself.  I guess he was checking out a house and got too close to a mailbox, as he was going around a curve.  He only nicked the mail box, the mirror fell off and the glass was smashed. At least it was the mirror that was already cracked.

 

 

We had a great family vacation.  I couldn't have asked for more.  I'm so happy we were able to go this year.  Although, I may need a vacation from vacation.

 









Just one of those days

Today was just one of those days.  The kind where it starts with a bang and just never stops.  It started around 3AM when the boys started to cry in their room and slept with us.  I don't sleep well sandwiched between them.  Reed decided that 6:15 would be a good time to get up and raid the school lunches I had on the counter.  With that I got up and started my day.  Luke decided about 5 min later that he should join Reed to welcome the day.  They were both super crabby and wouldn't stop crying (some mornings they just cry through breakfast).  I got the older 2 up for school and made Ross climb out of bed to take care of the twins.  Clay mentioned his throat hurt, but he had no other symptoms.  After he polished off a mixture of 3 different kinds cereal in one bowl, (Reese's Puffs, Cocoa Pebbles, and Rice Chex) he was ready to go.  Clay and Leanne left for school and then Alli got up.  She was so happy this morning, it was Kindergarten round up day!!!  All morning, the boys would not stop fighting and throwing themselves on the floor crying.  It was pretty stressful.  At 8:15AM I got a phone call from school that Clay got sick in the bathroom.  Ross couldn't help me out, so I had to call my mom.  My mom was planning on watching the twins while I took Alli to round up.  My mom saved the day by saying she would go get Clay.  I went downstairs to check on Alli (she likes to get dressed by the pellet stove) and by the time I went back upstairs, the twins were already being naughty, or as they say naugh-nee.  I found them in the bathtub, with their pajamas on, spreading shampoo in each other's hair.  It was slathered on their heads thick.  I stripped them down and rinsed it out.  With that task done, I got them out of the tub and got them dressed.

I thought to myself, "how can this morning get any worse?"  I should know that I should never ask that question because it will usually lead to another incident.  Alli came upstairs so I could do her hair and while I was doing her hair, the boys managed to spill out most of a large container of salt on the floor along with onion flakes. 

 

 I hauled out the vacuum and took care of that mess.  We amazingly left the house on time (although the house was a complete disaster).  Dropped the twins off to my mom's house and checked on Clay.  He was doing much much better and left with Alli.  Kindergarten round up went great.  Allison is so excited to start school next year.  We said hi to Leanne and left for grandmas.  I walked into my parents house to find two little boys only wearing diapers.  My mom informed me that they got into grandpa's cologne and dumped it all over themselves.  The smell was so potent that she had to wash their clothes.  My mom said that she had just taken her eyes off of them for 2 seconds.  They are usually very good at grandmas, but they do this kind of stuff all the time at home.  Not 5 minutes later, still only wearing their diapers, they came out with glitter glue all over their faces and tummies.  The blue color came off but the glitter remained.  They were handsome boys with glitter and smelling like grandpa.  We ate lunch there and went home.  Thankfully, the twins fell soundly asleep on the way home. When I put them in bed, they actually stayed asleep!!!  I looked around my kitchen/dining room and cringed.  It was really bad, but I was exhausted with a headache so I decided I needed a little nap before I tackled the mess (Clay snuggled with me and I did catch a few zzzz's).  When I heard the twins up, I went into their room and found them playing NICELY with their toys.  I thought, "oh, good.  The nap helped their mood."  I should have tried to keep my mind blank and not thought anything, because again, I was wrong.  They cried and threw tantrums till Ross got home (I cleaned up with them crying and clinging to my legs).  It went much better when they had their daddy home.  They are now sound asleep in their beds (don't know if I should say that or not, knowing how today went).  So thankful for a fresh new day tomorrow, door knob covers (to keep those twins in their room!), and all kid safety locks.  Here's for a better day tomorrow!

Baker's Helpers

I have been baking as long as I can remember.  My mother used to set me up on the counter top so I could "help" her bake.  Cookies, cakes, and bars were some of our favorite things to make.  By the age of 10 I could bake with minimal assistance and would often bake for fun with my friends.  Adding ingredients, licking spoons, and baking cookies was fun and comforting and one of my favorite hobbies.  Now I have a family of my own and I hope that I instilled the baking gene in all of them.  I have them on the counter with me when I bake and it usually happens before the age of two.  If anyone hears the mixer going or hears me taking out containers, they come running and pile up on my counter to take turns dumping flour, sugar, soda, and anything else the recipe calls for.   

 

 This is Leanne (my oldest) probably at

age one (I'm pregnant with my second there).

My first little helper.

 

 

 

Leanne again at about age 3(I had just had my 3rd

child)

Leanne, Clay, and baby Allison making/eating

Christmas sugar cookies 



Allison mixing up ingredients.  Another

future baker.



Leanne, Clay, and Allison helping make and press

pizza dough into pans for our weekly family

night.



 

 My newest helpers.  Reed in brown and Luke in

blue.  They love to help.

The older 2 are in school so they don't get to help

as much, but Reed, Allison, and Luke do. 



Yes, I know, I need to invest in some boy aprons,

but they don't care, just as long as they get to bake.



 Baking with the help of kids can be trying, messy, but also it can be FUN!  I'm happy that they all like to help me and take turns dumping ingredients in.  Now that I have 5 children, baking is a necessity and not just a hobby.  I'm happy I learned over the years how bake well.  Now sounds like a good time for a delicious chocolate chip cookie.  Too bad they are already gone and only lasted us a mere 24 hours.  Happy Baking!