Queen City Vacation

In honor of my best friend (Ashley) from kindergarten's visit home from Kansas, the Slades decided to make the trek to Charlotte for the weekend. When we arrived, Boo and Gan's house was spotless and the type A parentals had gone babysitting for J5 and Savannah. We were excited to have the "grown up" house to ourself and the boys were overjoyed to have a new home to destroy. Bless Boo and Gan because destroy is what they did!!!

Thankfully Boo and Gan had brought some Slade boy favorites down from the playroom! (Take note of the spotless, neat freak home...)

Who knew that drinking milk in Gan's leather chair could be so much fun??

And if you ever wanted to know what was in all 100+ drawers in Boo's morning room, check this BLOG report out. This was before Taylor thought it was a good idea to munch on some new batteries and drag the drawers through the morning room, past the living room and down the hall to answer the door. Interstingly enough, I played a memory game with them by hiding my phone. These are smart boys because they found it every time!!

And a special thanks goes to my second mother, Betty who brought an amazing dinner over for us. We enjoyed catching up over the barbeque. A matter of fact, we woke up on Saturday, wishing we were at Betty's for leftovers. Something about Betty's cooking is out of this world!!!Special thanks to daddy for putting the boys to bed so Betty and I could peacefully gab uninterrupted with a glass of red wine!! Extra thanks to Carl for letting us gab til too late and patiently waiting in the kitchen as we had girl talk!!

Breakfast at Boo's...

Who knew playing in the pantry could be so much fun?

Nothing finer than sitting in Boo and Gan's lap.....




Turner's "business man" stare at Ashley's newborn, Baby Hayden!

Taylor's stare at Ashley's necklace. Homemade I bet. She has great taste!!!

Momma getting some love from Hayden, while Taylor gets love from Mrs. Van (my other mom growing up; Ash's mom) Surprisenly, the boys were totally okay and not jealous of my holding a baby. It must have been all the snacks sitting around.

Momma laughing with T and T (16 months)

Taylor was fascinated with Ashley's baby. He sat patiently, staring at him, pointing and grunting.

Hayden, Turner and Ashley posing for a quick shot.

Sweet Hayden Hockersmith!!! He is one handsome boy and reminds me so much of Mr. Van. I know he is looking down from above and smiling at his perfect grandson.

Turner posing in Boo's bathroom before the big swim in her bathtub!!

Turner and Gan enjoying some 1:1 as somebody ate all of the cookies. Yes, 5 adults and two kids ate a whole package of oreos and half a package of fig newtons. Oink, oink is right. Funny thing. I blamed Ben, dad blamed Nanny, Nanny said "huh", Turner grunted for "more" and Taylor cried. Who knows who ate all the cookies? Probably skinny minnie Boo. Boo eats more than a horse and weighs as much as my left thigh....then again if I walked two hours a day and went to Curves, I might be a 0 too. As Aunt Caroline has always said " I would rather be fat and happy , then skinny and bitchy". LOL. Not that Boo is bitchy, but if I was that skinny, I would be so bitchy!

Suspicious cookie thefts....Nanny Y, Turner, Taylor and Boo

Look at that devilish smile....I think we have our cookie theft. TURNER SLADE!!!

Play date with Davis Kruse

You will always hear me refer to Davis Kruse as the triplet boy that I did not have. We all love this kid. Davis is a neighbor and classmate of the boys. Ben and I adore his parents, Kelly and Tom, too. Added bonus!!! Today, we had a playdate with Davis at his house.
Turner's nap ran over, so Taylor and mommy enjoyed some one on one with Davis and Kelly. Here is Taylor and Davis, enjoying a ride in the radio flyer wagon!

Playtime in the Kruse garage as it rained. Taylor loved the lawn mower, while sweet Davis played in his car. Funny thing. The minute Taylor showed up, he went for the mower. Sweet Davis shared so nicely, giving his guests the "good stuff".

Turner and daddy showed up and just in time for some baseball!!

Throwing the balls in and out of the wagon---10 minutes worth of entertainment. The look on Taylor's face is PRICELESS!!! Even the Kruse's dog, Lakota, is enjoying the action...ok, so, maybe the snacks!

Daddy teaching Turner how to use a bat so he can play baseball.

Who knew that beating the neighbor's air conditioner units could be so much fun???

It got quiet. We looked around and saw no boys. We walked to the side of the garage and heard, "giggle, giggle...."

Need I say more.....I love my Shellpoint Triplets!!!!

Play Date with Berlinsky's

It is that time again! Play time with the Berlinsky twins...Lela and Meddin!
Double trouble times 2...... Thank goodness for our friends, Elizabeth and Kenneth who feel our pain and love with being a parent of multiples!!!

The Berlinskys and Slades taking over the pantry...... How cute is this picture!!!

"BUSTED!" in the closets with their girlfriends......

Meddin and Taylor pulling dog biscuits out of the box for the dogs! (Both Baby B's)

Lela chasing Taylor around the house for some of his snacks. Taylor thought it was a game and was running from her while giggling hysterically.

I guess there really is a difference between girls and boys? Lela and Meddin sat quietly in their chairs having a tea party with the boy's snack cups, while the Slade boys crawled through tunnels, tore up their nicely put together train track, beat a stuffed cat on one another's head....you get the picture!!!

Clean Up

Turner wiping his tray down with a wet one after lunch.

" All done!!! " (Thank goodness I have one compulsive cleaner....guess whose side he got that from? His Gan will be so proud!!!!)

Play date with Aunt Ellen and Uncle Ray

In preparation for our playdate with Aunt Ellen and Uncle Ray, the boys thought they would practice their skill on the see-saw.
We had a 5 minute ride to the Daniel Island Park, where we were suppose to meet them......and of course, this would happen.

Turner: "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Brother Taylor: "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Mama: " You have to be kidding me!!!!!"

A startled awoken look from Taylor posing with his daddy

Barely awoken Turner riding on his horse....

" Ok, this is cool....."

10 minutes into our playdate, the rain started....

Mama (again): " You have to be kidding me", as we wave bye-bye in unison to the Brown's!!

Mr. Froggie!

Aunt Sabrina gave us Mr. Froggy for Christmas. He sings songs and blows bubbles. Who wouldn't love a frog who does all that???

Turner Slade!!! Guess if I saw some frog foaming from the mouth, I might be scared too??

Taylor loved it!!!

Taylor loved it so much that he continued to brush his teeth through Turner's meltdown.

"All done".....as Turner's smile is back as Mr. Froggy went to sleep.

We will miss you Ms. Judy!

Beware: This is a sad BLOG report. Cute photo of the boys in their pre-toddler classroom where they have grown so much. I strongly believe it is because of their fabulous teachers, Ms. Judy, Ms. Sonya and Ms. Suzette. The boys have started doing so many new things and many things are not things that Ben and I have taught them, thus I know they were taught by these amazing ladies! For example, Taylor signs "mine"...thanks to them!
Ms. Judy, at 43, suffered a stroke three weeks ago. I had just seen her the night before at school, how could she have had a stroke, I thought? I see patients with strokes every day and knew that the stroke occurred in a bad area, was large in nature and the prognosis was poor. When she was in ICU, I visited her often and prayed for a healthy recovery nightly. I told her about the boys and thanked her for her care. I have been pretty distraught over the past few weeks worried about her 4 children (the youngest is 9) and worried for my own, as this could have happened to me! Ms. Judy was in a coma for three weeks before her family decided to take her off life support, hence she passed away last week.

What a terrible loss. Her smile lit up the room. She was not openly outgoing, but you quickly found that her serious front was not serious at all. I will fondly remember the days that I watched her hug and kiss on my boys and held them tight as I left for work. I will remember the sweet notes she gave me daily as she told me their new skills. I will smile at the thought of her reaching out to them when I spied in on them. I will forever be grateful for her love for them and for the EXCELLENT care she gave them. Ms. Judy, we know you are in a better place, but will miss you terribly. We can't help but be sad that other children will not feel your love at Roper, but know you have a big job in heaven taking care of all of the lord's babies.

LECTURE: Please read this, avid bloggers!!! Strokes happen every day. They affect all races and all ages. I am seeing stroke victims younger and younger. Judy was 43, people!!! I have another friend, who had a stroke last week at the young age of 38. He was healthy (and not overweight), good looking, a dentist and a "yuppie white guy" Friends, please monitor your blood pressure! If your doctor prescribes, medications, stay on them! If he tells you to lose weight, start eating right and exercise! Educate yourself on the signs of stroke: arm/leg weakness; slurred speech; facial drooping; bad headache; confusion. If you think you are having a stroke, call EMS! Do not wait! If you have a certain kind of stroke and get to the hospital within 3 hours, they can give you medicine that can possibly reverse the side effects. Do what you can to save your life. Memorize the signs of stroke, educate your loved ones and take care of yourself. Taylor and Turner need and want you in their lives!!!

PS- Last but not least, get a living will, medical power of attorney and get life insurance. This has been a wake up call for us as we franctically try to make sure we have everything is in place for our sons.

Thank you, Aunt Sabrina and Beth!!!!

Nothing is better than arriving home from school and having our godmothers, Beth and Sabrina, at our house! Plus, they brought us presents....
Turner shovels his food in to allow for extra playtime with Aunt Beth!

Mommy and Turner get in some "loving" time!

Turner and Taylor checking out the new bubble machine...Oh, the trouble that it is about to occur in their bathtub!

Taylor and Turner fighting over who is going to sit on mommy's lap.

Aunt Sabrina showing Turner some of his new manners books. Thank you, ladies! You know how mommy feels about manners. We will raise these boys right!!


** Thank you, Aunt Beth and Aunt Sabrina for our new horses.....pictures to come! Needless to say, we love them!!!