Jumping J

Our Flower Girl

I am sorry that everyone had to endure the poop pictures, but I fear removing them because I have to share a bed with the lady that posted them.

We had a great busy weekend. First off congrats to Barbie and Mike on their wedding! It was a great ceremony and reception. Delainey was asked to be a flower girl in the wedding and she couldn't wait. Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy were a little curious to see if she was actually going to make it down the aisle all by herself. Well, surprise she did it! She was so awesome and didn't even hesitate. She was so excited when the service was over, she ran back down the aisle. This was also Jacqueline's first wedding and she was great too! So enjoy the pictures from the wedding and reception.

By the way, Jacqueline decided she wanted to hold her own spoon this weekend!

My Glamorous Job

Ok, I know that blogging has been "Steve's job" lately, but I felt like I needed to post my "glamorous" morning for all to see. I only have pictures of the one incident, but I will describe the morning for your imagination. First of all, Delainey and Jacqueline (in her Bumbo) and I sat down to breakfast. Delainey was in a "mood" so she didn't want to eat, she was pouting because I wouldn't let her eat breakfast in the den watching cartoons (I'm a bad mom, I know). All of a sudden, I hear a loud "hiney burb" (thanks for the phrase Grayson :) and I thought MAYBE Jac had made a mess in her diaper for mom. When I picked her up to see what present awaited me, I found more than a small poo. See photos. Upon changing the young babe, I realized that I stepped in dog tee tee on her rug (mess #2). Then, as I was cleaning up this mess, Delainey decided she was ready to eat her breakfast, which included her chocolate milk.......and she poured it all over herself!!! As I was cleaning up that outfit and the kitchen floor, she had changed clothes and was going potty. I got preoccupied in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher and when she came out of the bathroom, she said "Mommy, the water in the potty got really big and spilled." Apparently she had used too much paper and flooded the bathroom. Mess #4 to clean....

As you can tell, it's been quite a morning. Let's hope the weekend brings less drama and a whole lot less cleaning!!!

So we had a little storm...

Monday afternoon some of Columbia got a severe thunderstorm. When I say severe, I mean every aspect of severe. There was a massive amount of rain, thrashing wind, lightning, and even some hail. Compared to others, we were very lucky, but we did have some damage. I came home from work and there was some small debris in the front yard, but the big surprise was in the backyard. So I guess when I evicted our little bat, I was cursed. I left the umbrella extended and somehow it completely smashed our glass top table when the storm rolled through. What a mess to clean up. We also had a decent size branch down in the backyard, but even though it fell against the house, there was no damage from that.

We are very fortunate though, a few houses down, our neighbors have a tree laying across their house.

Family weekend

This weekend was relaxing, but a little busy. Friday night, Delainey went to the Little Gym for a Parents Survival Night while her Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a a relaxing and quiet dinner with Jacqueline. She had a blast playing, eating pizza, and just being crazy!

Saturday we took the girls to the zoo. This was Jacqueline's first trip to the zoo and she slept through most of it. Delainey really enjoys seeing all of the animals, but she especially like seeing the snakes and alligators. She told me several times, "It's okay Daddy, they are good snakes because they are behind glass." I stick to my previous statement in another post, "Damn a snake!" Saturday night we had a Knights of Columbus function at church and Delainey decided she wanted to wear my jacket. She looks pretty snazzy, doesn't she?

Sunday, we hung out around the house and did some yard work and inside work. We spent the evening at Grammi and Pie's where Delainey now swims without any floaties! She is turning into a little fish. This was also another first for Jacqueline as she was introduced to the pool. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this experience.

Like I said, Wild Kingdom

Everyone meet "Charlotte." She is also anti-mosquito.

This feels like Wild Kingdom

Yet another wild animal for the Columbiafam to deal with. I noticed on Thursday evening some sort of animal droppings on the table on the back patio. Just thinking that a small bird had established residence in our collapsed umbrella, I casually pulled back a fold in the umbrella and saw this fella. Not what I expected! That's right, it is a bat!

Don't worry, I have no intnention of hurting this guy and I am going to leave him where he is right now. I have been told that one bat can kill up to 1000 mosquitos in one night and I am anti-mosquito. I think I am going to invest in a bat house and then when it is dark one night and the bat is gone, I will just raise the umbrella back up.

Stay tuned for the next animal spotted in these parts!

ROAD TRIP!!!!

So, we actually had a weekend with nothing going on and I wanted to take all of the Columbiafam girls up to Virginia to see my grandmother and show them my hometown. Mimi decided to make the trip too and she and my wife ganged up on me and got me to drive "half-way" Thursday night so they get could go shopping at the outlets on Friday morning. So after driving through a Jacqueline meltdown and pouring rain, we finally got to bed around 11pm on Thursday night. Fortunately, the outlets didn't open until 10am, so we were all able to sleep-in on Friday morning. Mimi, Laura and Jacqueline hit the outlets while Delainey and I went in search of trains. Both of the excursions were successful as the girls spent too much money and Delainey and I got to do some picture taking and train watching. We finally got back on the road around lunch time and made a mid-afternoon arrival in my hometown. It was a bittersweet trip for me and Mimi as it was our first time back in Virginia since my Dad passed away. Not only is it my hometown, it is also where my Dad grew up.

So we arrived at Nanny's house Friday afternoon in time for Delainey to meet her cousin Alyssa and see her (great) Uncle Chris again. Mimi went to see some old friends for dinner Friday night, but the Columbiafam enjoyed a great home cooked meal by Nanny and then called it a night. Delainey and I woke up early Saturday morning so we could check out the pool at the hotel. Wow! The water was way to cold for an indoor pool and hot tub was way too hot for little girls. After everyone was dressed, we visited my grandfather's grave and then spent the morning at Nanny's house so the girls could play and Nanny could hangout with her latest Great-grandchild. We all headed to lunch at Chic-Fil-A, so Delainey and Alyssa could enjoy an air-conditioned playground since it was a little too warm to play outside. After lunch, we toured around town and visited some family friends before heading to an old family hangout for dinner. We enjoyed some adult beverages, good company, and some good Italian food before touring around some more and finally calling it a night.

Sunday was travel day and I knew it was going to be a long day in the car, especially for the little ones. We checked out of the hotel and headed over for breakfast with the family. Overall, it was a great trip and the girls did pretty well in the car. Delainey watched movies for the most part, but by the time we got home on Sunday, she was worn out and her behavior showed it. Mommy let her play in the sprinkler since she had been locked up in the car for 6 hours. Jacqueline had a rough trip up, as we think she might be getting some teeth in. However, the child slept from the time we left Virginia, Laura had to wake her when we stopped for lunch, and then she slept until after we had dinner at home tonight. I guess all of the socializing wore her slap out.

I am glad the girls got to see my hometown and see where there grandfather grew up. They won't remember much from this trip, but at least we got some pictures to show them. Delainey had a blast playing with her cousin and seeing her Nanny. Hopefully we can get back up there for a longer visit real soon!

Not again!

So we were enjoying a nice quiet evening at home this week. The girls were in bed, Laura was reading and I was catching up on some episodes of Dirty Jobs. I was about ready to call it a night when I heard Buddy the Beagle, aka Buddy the snake killer, start raising hell. Keep in mind, after the snake incident, I keep a hoe by the back door. So I turn on the flood lights, open the back door, and grab the hoe. I see Buddy and Tiger standing in a dark spot in the backyard pacing back and forth. What is the first thing that pops to my mind? Another freakin snake! Not so fast my friend, the boys have taken a liken to a good size box turtle. Of course they have turned him over and he can't go anywhere. I quickly usher the boys inside and put the hoe away. I checked out the turtle the best I could and it looked like the boys scratched up one of his feet and he was certainly slobbery, but appeared to be fine otherwise. I placed him in some bushes in the front yard and he was gone the next morning. I am just glad I didn't have to display my snake killing abilities again.

Just because...