Rub a dub dud, three cousins in a tub

The girls are always happy to see their cousin, Ivan, come to play! Ivan and Maddie played especially well this visit and they got along so well that Ivan wanted to come home to play with us. His Mommy and Daddy were out and Ivan told us he wanted to sleep with Uncle Jeremy, so we let him spend the night. He actually slept with Riley, but after a little initial fussing, he went right to sleep (snoring in less than 5 minutes!) and woke up a happy camper. They ate breakfast and before long he was ready to head back to Memaw Bakes' house....I'm sure he was missing his Mommy and Daddy.

More on the weekend family reunion later, I'm supposed to be working...shhhhhh!!!!

Catch Up Time

Time to do some major catching up!! I haven't posted in almost three weeks! So much has happened since then....*sigh!



Last week, we went on our very first family vacation. We didn't want to travel TOO far, so we decided to visit St. Louis. I was surprised at how many fun things there are to do there! The girls had a great time. Maddie got homesick whenever she got tired, saying "I want MY house," while Riley was saying, "What are we doing next?" Grant's Farm was probably our favorite. We got up close and personal with quite a few animals!
It was pretty cool and rainy most of the time we were there, but that beats HOT and humid anyday, for me! Our hotel had an indoor pool, so the girls got to swim despite the weather. Maddie preferred the "warm pool" (a.k.a. hot tub) over the "cold pool." Riley HATED the hot tub...yet again showing how different they are!





Here's a funny picture of them I caught at the mall. This was taken at the St. Louis Galleria. Much too "swanky" a mall for our tastes, but it was a beautiful place and you can tell from the picture. Lots of beautiful fountains and flowers. We found a Club Libby Lu inside, but Jeremy wouldn't let Riley get a makeover :( Daddy, she's only THREE! Regardless, it was a nice place to visit.

About a week before our vacation, Jeremy had interviewed with J.B. Hunt for a great job. His friend Cory called him up and got the ball rolling. They told him they'd let him know something early in the week. Monday while the girls were napping, Jeremy was downstairs checking out the hotel's restaurant and got a call from the HR guy at J.B. Hunt. They were offering him a job! They told him all about it, sent him an email with all the details and asked him to let them know by Friday if he would accept or not. We were so excited, but a little sad to know that we'd be moving.

He called them on Friday and accepted the job. Bed Bath & Beyond have not wanted to let him go. They've offered him the moon to stay with the company, but he has declined. Looks like Daddy realizes that all the money in the world isn't worth missing seeing your little girls grow up.

He'll train in Little Rock for 3-6 months and then be assigned somewhere (most likely in Arkansas.) We decided it would be too hard on the girls to change daycares twice, me to change jobs twice, and so on...so we got Jeremy an apartment at the Links of Sherwood and looks like Mommy & the girls are going to camp out at Memaw's house for a few months! Jeremy isn't looking forward to being a "weekend daddy" again, but he knows it's best for us in the long run. He put in his notice on Monday and his last day at BB&B will be Friday, June 2. We'll get moved (all over creation it seems) and he'll start his new job on the 6th. Congratulations, Daddy!!!

So, that brings us up to date. I'm working today, then will have a long weekend for Memorial Day! YAY!! We'll have our Alumbaugh family reunion this weekend like every Memorial Day weekend. Both of Mom's brothers and their families will be here.

Also have to say ****Happy Birthday**** to our nephew Jacob! He turns a year old tomorrow and we're celebrating with a party at Craighead Forest. Gonna be a hot one!!

Oh, and gotta throw this in JUST for Christina.......

SOUL PATROL!!! WOOHOO!!!

Some TBall Pics

Finally got the pics from Riley's first TBall game. I took most of the pictures with Papaw's camera (it's better than mine!), and he emailed them to me last night. First, though, an awesome pic of Maddie. I'm such a fan of pictures that aren't posed.





Playin' in the dirt.......again.



CHEEEEEEESE!Lined up to "hit hands" as Riley calls it!







Here's a video clip of Riley at Bat!


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As it turns out, Papaw is a pretty good photographer! This was taken a couple of weekends ago when Riley spent the night w/ Nana & Papaw.


Maddie gettin' up close and personal with the camera!

A Show about Nothing

Ok, so this isn't a show, but sometimes I feel like my life IS Seinfeld..."A Show about Nothing." Not because my life is nothing, but because of all the crazy things that Seinfeld addressed.

Having trouble with pics lately, so I'll just do some text entry I suppose. Riley's supposed to have her 2nd tball game tonight, but it's rained here all day, so I'm sure they probably won't play. From the look of that radar, the rain will be around a while!


We truck-shopped yesterday. Jeremy's truck is a LEMON (what would you expect from a Ford?) and we feel like we're losing money on it daily. Here's a sad situation: You know it's going to rain tomorrow, so you have to run outside and disconnect your battery cables or your truck won't start the next day! Oh, and what about that water you hear sloshing around everytime you make an abrupt stop? Anyway, Cheverolet has $4,200 off all their full sized trucks right now, so it's a good time to buy. Now if he could JUST make up his mind. **Sigh

Last night before church, we ate at Front Page Cafe. It seems to be Riley's new favorite place (or at least is a tie w/ Fuji Steakhouse). She can't get enough of the passed-around fried okra. She says they're "little green surprises." Maddie is less than enthused about the okra, but she likes the mini corndogs!

As we were eating, the news said something about someone named Peter. Riley heard it and said, "I know about Peter! Peter, James and John are Jesus' friends. They stayed with him." That led Maddie into a rendition of "How I love to pat the bible with hands God made me." The restaurant was entertained, I'm sure.

The interview Jeremy was supposed to have with J.B. Hunt for today got postponed until next Thursday. Could we POSSIBLY drag this out a little longer? Hmm?

I'm hoping it stops raining before the end of the week. I just learned that you can buy a whole truckload of topsoil at Southlawn Nursery for $6!!! I need to build up my flower beds and make some new beds around our massive Oak tree.

Weekend Recap

Jeremy surprised us Friday by getting home early. I was SO tired and was laying on my bed watching Oprah (and letting the girls roll around all over me) when he called to say he was leaving Memphis. A few minutes later, there he was! We got cleaned up and headed to J'town. Ate supper at Front Page Cafe where Riley could get her fix of fried Okra. How many 3 year olds eat fried Okra? She said they were little green surprises!!! Maddie wasn't so impressed. We also went to Wal-Mart and walked around the mall for a few minutes.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was rain, rain and more rain, so Saturday we stayed in all day. Cleaned house, did laundry....I left the house only once to check out the painting my mom did in her bedroom.

Sunday we went to church, and out to eat at Riley's new favorite place, Fuji Steakhouse. She loves the show they put on at the hibachi grill. Maddie likes it, too, but gets a little spooked by the fire show. What Maddie likes the best is that they scramble an egg for her!

The rain never came on Sunday, so we mowed the grass and played outside with the girls and Papaw until it was time to get dressed for church again.

Had a good weekend!