It's a baseball bat!!

Also titled... Isaac's birthday celebration with the Delks.

Isaac turns 4 tomorrow. We have already signed him up for T-ball and have a Pre-K selected for next year. I just can't believe he's 4 already!!

Grammy and Papa Delk, and Uncle JD came for a small party to celebrate my giving birth to Isaac 4 years ago. Last year, we had a baseball cake. This year...



He had a baseball bat. Daddy made it just for Isaac. Notice the fingerprints from wandering fingers. (Isaac's)



Abby cheesing with Grammy Delk. This picture took a while to get. Abby loves being cute, but it's like pulling teeth sometimes to get her to stay still.



Isaac and Uncle JD. Isaac was laughing, not screaming. :) I tried to get a picture of JD with Abby since she stuck to him like glue for the longest time. Unfortunately, Abby was playing shy during that time.



Isaac cheesing before we sang to him. The twins were put to bed after lunch since they were falling asleep in their chairs. Sorry, no pics of Andy.




Yes, that was me blowing them out at the end. It was taking forever.

Let me explain about the next video... Isaac loves this thing! He gets so excited about it when we see it on tv. Joe and I had joked about getting him one, but when Joe saw one at Walmart, it was like a sign from Heaven.




Don't judge. It's all about keeping the kids happy.

Grammy and Papa Delk got him something he will treasure forever.



A new box of 2011 baseball cards of his very own.
(p.s. if that was what you were planning on getting Isaac- go ahead. Chances are he's already eaten 4 of them by now, he'll need replacements)

Thank you for coming Grammy, Papa Delk, and Uncle JD!!

Happy Birthday Papa Joe!

Papa Joe was born on Valentines Day; we celebrated him on the Saturday before.
Joe was unable to come with us, but we had a fun time!



Aunt Boo, Uncle Jason, and Isaac. I really just wanted the fellas, but Boo just had to be cute too. (Proof that Abby and Boo are related) :)




The twins holding a twin! (and the outfits were planned)



Julia table-dancing. All the toddlers have the best time crawling on and under that table.



Boo and Isaac



Papa Joe needed help with his presents; Abby and Joshua answered the call!



Boo and Andy. This was the best picture of the night!



Oops... spoke too soon.



This was Isaac's highlight of the night. He loved watching Uncle Jason play games on his ipod.

The kids all had a great time. Isaac and Joshua had fun wrestling during dinner. (Jenny got video, I was not that lucky) Thank you Grammy Pat and Papa Joe for having the whole crew over! Happy Birthday Papa Joe!

Hello Joshua and Julia!

My kids love to watch their cousins on Jenny and Jason's blog. Their rockin' awesome camera makes mine look archaic in comparison.

My children love watching certain videos over and over; they request them when I sit down with my laptop. "Mommy, I want Josh-e-wash bicycle!" or "Mommy, Josh-e-wash monster truck!".

I need to point out that my kids think that Joshua, aka Josh-e-wash, is the coolest cousin in the world. When Uncle Jason posted the monster truck videos, my children labeled the blue truck as being "Josh-e-wash" and the green one as being "Julia". You know, because they drove those trucks themselves.

Anyhoo- recently Jenny posted a video of Josh-e-wash and Julia saying 'hi' to their far-far-away cousins. The kids went ballistic. "Mommy! Mommy! That's Josh-e-wash and Julia! Hi, Josh-e-wash and Julia! Hi!"

We had to take the time to send the love back to Franklin, TN. Hi, Josh-e-wash and Julia!




I swear they were more excited before the camera started! Keep posting videos Jenny!

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood...

Perhaps I had a miserable youth,
But somewhere in my youth, or childhood...
My mother was preparing her revenge.

My mother bought my children a Box of Torture. Far worse than Pandora's Box, which merely inflicted plagues and evils upon the world; this box unleashes headaches, flashes of nausea, and weeping and gnashing of teeth upon any unsuspecting adult in its vicinity.

I realize I might not have been the "perfect" child my mother had hoped for in her second born. I was stubborn, willful, and too smart for my own good; but really, she had Jennifer and Joanna to counter-balance my precocious antics, so what was the big deal?

Apparently, I was worse than I originally thought.
My mother took her revenge in an amazingly creative stroke of genius; under the guise of "encouraging the children's learning."

My mother bought my children a "Band in a Box".
WARNING: Don't stand too close.



The children love this evil instrument of torture. They love to stomp and sing while inflicting each piercing blow. They request the Box when they sing and roar with the dinosaur song. It's fitting that they equate the Box with evil lizards of mass destruction.

So, thank you Grammy Pat. You have encouraged your beloved grandchildren to join forces in slowly chipping away at my sanity; such that it is.

Your revenge is complete.



p.s. The kids really like the instruments, and I have talked to the music teacher at my school about how to use them educationally. Good job, Grammy Pat!! :)

Late Christmas with Gommy Petty

Yes, this is long overdue.

We were not able to make it to Dickson over Christmas break as we had planned, so the Delk Clan, minus Joe, went for a visit over the long MLK weekend. We stayed with Grammy and Papa Joe Friday night and traveled to Dickson on Saturday. The kids had fun seeing Gommy, Aunt Susie and Aunt Sandy! Abby said "Bye!" to them most of the way back to Chattanooga the next day.



We got Gommy a fabulous '31' tote with her first initial on it. Everyone can use a fabulous tote! Isaac was very excited to see Gommy because she had... BASEBALL CARDS!! Lots and lots of baseball cards! He sat with Gommy for full tens of minutes telling her the different teams. I have a feeling that the words 'Gommy' and 'baseball cards' are going to be linked forever in his mind.



One of the presents Abby received was a tea set. It was a MAJOR hit! As soon as we took it out of the box, she was a perfect hostess. She made sure everyone had a turn to drink, and every cup had its proper plate.



Isaac also appreciated the gift. He jumped right in!



Andy, being literal minded, seemed to wonder why the cups were empty.



Isaac received an airport- complete with plane, terminal, people, luggage, and NOISE! It was lots of fun when we opened it at Grammy's house. It had enough parts that each of the kids could choose one and play with it, then switch every few minutes. Maybe one day they will play with it all together!



Andy's gift combined his 2 favorites; trucks and blocks. Both of those are solitary pastimes that allow Andy to escape from his siblings. :)

We had a great time and the kids talk about seeing everyone again!
Merry late Christmas everyone!