Manners 101

Today was sweet Bailey's birthday. She turned 9 years old. What a sweetie she is. We are super proud of her. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner. She told me that she would like a steak. Scott pulled some steaks out of the freezer and then a while later, said lets just go out for a steak. We had a gift card so we decided that it would be a good chance to treat her to a really GOOD dinner. Not to say that Scott can't grill up a MEAN steak, he's one of the best!

But after our outing I think that maybe we should have dined IN!

So we get our table and all the kids start coloring on their little menus. Then Gavin lifts up the little bread plate that they hand out and shows me the pretty picture that he colored on the plate. Nice. So I told him, with a stern look on my face that coloring on the plate was bad. He turkeyed up and started crying. So of course the guilt sets in. We ended up giving him hugs and kisses because his little frown just melts you in your tracks. Then he gets this little look on his face, the one where he is working it all out in his head--coloring on plate = getting in trouble = hugs from mom and dad....TOTALY WORTH IT!

I think that when the hostess seats our family it only takes them a nano second to see that our table will be the loudest table in the ENTIRE restaurant, so our section then slowly morphs into the daycare section. So I guess the fact that my kids speak at about 900 decibels shouldn't really bother me, but for some reason I am constantly telling them to talk quieter.

Then the salads come and my little baby birds all sit there with their mouths open waiting for their bite. Gavin was sitting next to Scott begging croutons off of him and I could see a pea sized gob of something shiny on his forehead. I told Scott to wipe it off. He swiped his finger across his forehead and takes a look. Good thing he didn't think it was that yummy honey butter they give you with the bread. In fact, it was a uber huge green booger, shinning like a north star on his face, Scott gave a little gag. Meanwhile, Isabelle is HACKING her lungs up right across from him, and had been since we sat down. The kid didn't cough one time all day until we walked into that restaurant. And it is now dawning on me that it probably wasn't HIS snot. Way to go Isabelle, your strep laden mucous landed on your brother. At least it didn't hit the family at the table behind us.

Finally our food arrives, after about 15 more 900 decibel inquiries from Gavin asking where his food was.

So we're sitting there enjoying our yummy overpriced steak dinner and Kylie starts yanking off the band aid that was covering her wart, and begins to wave it around at the table, announcing its presence. I couldn't say it fast enough to stuff that thing in her pocket-- I said it in such haste, I'm sure my voice traveled to every one of the surrounding tables. Then I look over at Gavin and he is doing "see food" to Isabelle. All I could do was think of my grandmother who would probably drop dead in her tracks if she saw how my kids behaved in a restaurant. I think I need to pull out her "Manners 101" manual and give them a lesson or two.

AHHHH......I love my family. Our outings are always so unforgettable.

My Second Amateur iMovie

This is our yearly trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. This trip was extra special because our aunt Christine was with us. Most of the captions are our little inside jokes and memories of the trip, but I thought it was worth posting some of the cute pictures of the kids.

I have been working on making small iMovies out of some of the pictures that just sit on my computer. There are files and files full of pictures that I have taken over the years and no one sees them or gets to appreciate the memories that go along with them.

As one of my new "projects" I have committed to organizing and compiling of some of our trips and outings as well as a compilation for each of my children to document their growth.

I think it will be fun for them to watch them and see how they have grown over the years. I know it will be a lot of work and hours sitting on the computer to sort through pictures, but the end product is worth it.

I still want to do a few scrapbooks too, but those also might take on a digital format. My Mac has a program for that. :)