Fifa World Cup announces new star player!

Congratulations Mike Baugh, your dreams are finally coming true. Due to the extreme accuracy of the shot, coupled with the never-before-seen velocity of the ball, not to mention the miniscule size of the target, and the fact that the aforementioned target was in contant motion the Fifa Soccor Federation has voted unanimously that you should not only play AND officiate BUT ALSO commentate the next Fifa World Cup soccer tournament. This is an unprecedented decision, but look at this photo and you will agree whole heartedly with their judgment.

The Target (Alyssa's big toe)

"blend-in" treatment

Alyssa did not think that it was super funny that she was the intended target. She's not super tough. So, while she was freaking out about her broken toe nail, Emma Grace got right up in her face and started singing "Big girls don't cry" over and over agin. She was trying to help her sister, but it didn't go over so well. Alyssa just looked at her and said, "I'm not a big girl today."

Birthday party and such...

Alyssa is the queen of marathon birthdays. She really felt slided that we were going to the Bahamas in June. June is Alyssa’s birthday month. Therefore nothing fun should happen in the month of June that does not involve Alyssa.
Alyssa chose to have a slumber party this year. We invited 12 friends and 12 friends said, yes. After pizza, T-shirt decorating, hide-and-seek, water games (mostly rained out), and a black light dance party it was time to sleep. Yeah, right! At 3:00 A.M. I was walking downstairs to invite a few of our friends to PLEASE call it a night. Saturday morning brought French toast-a-la-Daddy and the water balloon fight we weren’t able to have the night before. It was A LOT of work, but I think everyone had a great time. I asked Alyssa what her favorite part was, she said, “Hide-and-go-seek. They never found me.” Kind of a letdown for the Mommy. That was just a “time filler” in between activities. Oh, well as long as she had fun.

Alyssa's groupies

Make a wish

Daddy spray painting T-shirts in the rain

Black light dance party
Sunday Savannah organized a surprise root beer float party. She invited the Daltons and the Simpsons to join us. I think Alyssa was a little suspicious. She was very paranoid all afternoon. Non-the-less, she was surprised when she came outside to see her friends waiting for her.

Surprise!!!
Monday morning brought swim practice. After class her team sang Happy Birthday to her and then her coach threw her into the deep end. She acted surprised, but she had mentioned maybe 30-40 times in the car that she hoped they would do that. After practice we went to Bruster’s for ice cream. Only on a special day does this Mommy encourage the eating of ice cream at 11:00 in the morning.

Tossed into the deep end

7 cute and sticky girls

A quiet afternoon at home was torture for my little girl who had yet to open a present. Mike came home around 3:00 for the event. Alyssa received many gifts from her Grandma and Grandpa Baugh, some money from Granny and Grand Dad, and some books from her cousins. Mike and I gave her a dresser for her room, some clothes, and a wii game. The day ended with a 3 hour gymnastics practice and a trip to Chili’s with Mom and Savannah for dinner.
We are very blessed to have Alyssa in our family. She brings a caring nurturing element into our home that we very much need.

Happy Birthday sweetheart.

Little House on the Prairie

Because my husband loves me and knows I love to go to the theatre, he bought the girls and I a season pass to the Fox's Broadway Musical Season.

Our first show was Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert as "Ma".

It was so much fun to have a girls day. We got all dressed up and headed down town. I pretty much hate driving down town. I never go there. We made it O.K. It was pretty lucky that nobody was traveling down the one-way street that I tried to turn on (going the wrong way!). The show was fabulous! It's amazing to see the creativity that goes into a show. We loved it.

Father of the Year!

I know this comes a bit late, but I just have to say that my children are the luckiest little ducks alive. Their Daddy thinks they are pretty great and they recipricate the compliment.

He's feels their every emotion. He's proud of them when they accomplish their goals. He's sad with them when their feelings are hurt. He's mad when he feels they've been jipped. He feels silly when they're ready to play. He feels serious when he know they're tired and need to go to bed. He's extremely protective when he feels they're in danger.

Logan thinks the best thing about Daddy is: playing ball and trucks.

Emma Grace said the best thing about Daddy is: chasing bunnies on the "4-liller".

Alyssa likes to snuggle with Daddy the best. He snuggles super tight.

Savannah likes it when Dad plays on the tramp with her.

Betsy loves to watch Mike play with the kids, letting them jump all over him and loving every second of it.

HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

9 YEARS AGO TODAY!

I'm thinkin' about it

Captain Panties

My Emma Grace is going to be turning three in August. Everybody, who has kids, knows that this is a very important developmental stage in a childs life. They start to figure out that they are not quite as dependent as they once were. They want to dress themselves in the clothes they have chosen for themselves. Who cares that it's 95* outside. She can wear long pants and a sweater, because she can "do it" herself.

While frustrating, this new sense of confidence brings another huge milestone in the childs and the parents lives. It is at this time that the child realizes that going potty in the "big girl potty" is something that they can "do myself".

I have been encouraging this step for quite some time. We bought Tinkerbell, Dora, and Princess panties just after Christmas. I was so excited, but when we got home she didn't want to wear them.
I asked, "are you going to go on the big girl potty?"

"I thinkin' about it Mommy."

A few months later when she rediscovered the panties I asked her again.

"I thinkin' about it Mommy."

When her cousin that was born the same day as her started using the big boy potty I asked her again.

"Not today. I thinkin' about it Mommy."

Well, all her thinkin' paid off. While shopping at Target last Thursday her sisters pointed out the super cute Minnie Mouse panties. That did it. She had thought it all out. Minnie Mouse it is.

She sucessfully pee-peed in the potty 15 times Friday. Who goes potty 15 times in one day? I'll tell you who, the "queen of the pot."

The Queen on her Throne

She was one determined little girl. I think we spent the better part of the day in the bathroom. She got the whole routine down pretty quickly. In fact, she started teaching me how it's done. One of my pet peaves is when people smack their lips when their speaking. They do it to punctuate their point and drive me crazy. It didn't bother me so much when my 2 year old was doing it.

"pull down you pants" SMACK
"don't forget you panties" SMACK
"can't pee-pee on Minnie" SMACK
"listen for the pee-pee" SMACK
"slush the toilet" SMACK
"pull up you pants" SMACK
"sing the "you did it" song" SMACK
"that's it Mom, you do it now"

Just after I got the babies out of the shower she had to go. I was telling her that she shouldn't try to "watch" it or it will miss its target. During the middle of my speech I felt a wet sensation on my foot. Had Emma Grace missed? Oh, No. Logan decided to join in the fun! I'm not even trying to pretend that he's ready to learn.

By the end of the day. Emma Grace was feeling pretty darn good about herself. I was hugging her and telling her how proud of her I am. She looked at me and told me, "I so proud of you, Momma. You did a good job sittin' with me. Lub you, Momma."

"Lub" you too, Gracie.

Bahama Mama!

Mike &Betsy 15th anniversary

We are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary this month. We decided that we should go all out. We don’t really have any time together. Our kids take every second of every day. We thought we could use some “US” time. Mike really was the driving force behind this. He did a great job. He arranged for his parents to fly out and watch our kids. He invited some of our friends to join us. He booked the resort, booked the butler, and booked the flights. Great Job, Mike.

It was so amazing. We left Friday AM for the Bahamas. We were snorkeling in the ocean by 2:00 that afternoon.

Because we booked the butler service, we had a private car meet us at the airport. (It was a Mercedes.) Our rooms were right by the beach. (I was a suite.) Our chairs were reserved for us wherever we desired. (They had our names on them.) Our bed was turned down for us every night. (With roses and towel sculptures.) My bubble bath was drawn. (With red roses sprinkled on top.) My family was wondering if my butler was super handsome. They were a tiny bit disappointed when I told them he was actually a she. That didn’t matter too much, by the end of the weekend I thought I was starting to fall in love with her. She was great. She called to check on me several times a day. She made our dinner reservations. She was available whenever I needed her.

The Daltons are so fun. We were glad that we went with good friends.

Chuck & Jen 10th anniversary

I’m glad Jen isn’t a super jealous type of girl. I did try to hold her husband’s hand while we were snorkeling. In my defense, I thought he was Mike, but still. And, the waiter on the pier thought Chuck was my husband. He even served us our “key lime pie” on the same plate. Granted, Mike and Jen’s deserts came together as well. Our poor little waiter was mortified. It was hilarious. But really, we had a blast.

Chuck has some serious sailing skills that came out of nowhere. Who knew he was so talented? Jen is fun to laugh with. We were sure we were going to get kicked out of the “quiet pool” for rough housing, but nobody tattled on us. Phew.

Showing off our "peacock chests"

float racing

Going to an all inclusive resort is definitely the way to go. The food was good, but having our pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris anytime we wanted was brilliant. At one point Mike actually swam up to the bar and ordered three Miami Vice drinks for himself. Oh, did I just say he SWAM up to the bar? Yes, I believe I did. There was a bar IN every pool. Amazing.



In the end the trip was a huge success. Our kids were happy, healthy, and excited to see us. Mike and I remembered that we enjoy each other, we love each other, and we’re cute enough to pass as newlyweds. (We got asked several times if we were on our honeymoon.)