A budding songwriter

As many of you know, Alyssa is really into singing and performing. She decided she wanted to write a song yesterday when she got home from school. Below is the song:

Kiss My Brain

Kiss my brain
I see emotional, I see emotional
4 times, 4 times
Call you on the telephone
I see babe.

What do you think? Does she have talent? The tune is rather catchy and has been stuck in my head all day. What a trip that girl is!

Isaiah funnies

Although Isaiah keeps telling us he's going to marry Elliott in his class, he still has a thing for Tasha (from the Backyardigans). Here are a few things he told me this morning and afternoon about her:

"Mom, Tasha is sitting on my lap again. (this is while we are riding in the car) And every time we get out and go somewhere I have to carry her in, but she doesn't get heavy."

"Mom, Tasha snores when she sleeps, but I have these little things I put in my ears so I can't hear her." (I think those would be ear plugs).

As I am tucking him in for nap, "Mom, sometimes Tasha snuggles up with me in the bed so she can keep me warm."

Isaiah: "I wish Tasha was real."
Mom: "Well, maybe one day you will meet someone you like as much as Tasha."
Isaiah: "But, she won't look like Tasha and she won't sound like Tasha"
Mom: "She might sound like Tasha, but she probably won't look like Tasha, unless you are into hippos" (which evidently, he is.)

A visit to Santa and a CRAZY night!

Alyssa telling Santa about Jamie the elf! Santa could have acted a little more interested, in my opinion.

Santa giving Ella her candy cane.

The picture of all 3. They would not let us take our own picture from "inside the set" (LAME), so Tim was pretty far away and on the side trying to get a shot. Guess what Isaiah looks like!

MAMA! Look at big sis trying to comfort her:)

Well, our weekend has been very eventful. All in all, it has been great! One good thing about being in a new place over the holidays is that there are not nearly as many commitments or events to attend. Therefore, we have had a lot of family together time which is just what we all needed! Anyway, above are our pictures of our visit with Santa. As we suspected, Ella freaked out when we approached Santa, but we decided to scar her for life anyway and make her sit on his lap (it's funny how things change from child #1, huh). As soon as I picked her up, Santa handed her a candy cane and she said "Thank you" and has talked about Santa non-stop ever since. Sugar does wonders for a relationship with a child doesn't it!

Anyway, about our night last night! We decided to go to the Bristol Motor Speedway, which has its "Speedway in Lights" exhibit of Christmas lights each year. It is a tradition for people in this area and sounded like fun, so we headed out about 6:30pm to see it! Little did we know HOW MANY people would be there. NO exaggeration - we did not get home until 11:30pm!!! 5 HOURS to see some stinkin' lights. What was so bad was that once you got in line, you couldn't get out! We were TRAPPED. We didn't even get into the exhibit until after 10 o'clock. Ella conked out about 10 minutes into it and the other 2 made it all the way through! They had port 'o' potties scattered throughout the line and the lady at the ticket booth told us it was the biggest night EVER! We were part of history, huh! Overall, the kids did REALLY well, but 5 hours in the car! SHeesh! But, we did get to drive on the track, which Tim thought was cool! It's a guy thing, I guess.

Winter sickness has hit us

Isaiah has come down with some sort of sickness that has yet to reveal itself except through a fever and a very sick-feeling little boy. I am not feeling that great myself this afternoon, so am hoping I don't get it. It will be a miracle if he is the only one in the house who ultimately gets it. We'll see. As for now, we will just hang out in the house, sleep and try to get better!

A visit from Uncle Tony

Isaiah cutting out Christmas cookies. The boy has been a project machine the past few days. Some of you will be receiving some fruits of his labor!

Uncle Tony and his nieces! Alyssa had a crush on Uncle Tony for many years. I think it is over now, but it looks like Ella is right in line to take her place.

Tony reading "Mr Brown can Moo" to Ella. She is asking him "what's this" for about the 50th time.

Ella getting her groove on.

Look closely at Tim and Tony's hands in this picture. Alyssa is performing for them and required them to wave their hands in the air. It was hilarious! She her gettin' down!

Basketball and Christmas

We decorated the house last night for Christmas and put up the Christmas tree. The kids were really into their ornaments this year. Also, Isaiah is doing basketball this winter and he got his uniform this week. It is really cute, even though it is trojan green. Just wait though, the high school here in Johnson City is burgundy, white and gold! HA HA. Some rivalries never end, huh!


One of our little elves painting some Christmas ornaments.

Ella likes the Santa towel on the stove.

It has now become a tradition that Alyssa puts up the nativity set every year.

Isaiah had his first basketball practice this week. He LOVED it. Here he is in his uniform. It is very cute, but a little big.

Alyssa made a gingerbread house at school.

Chocolate chip cookie faces

Daddy made chocolate chip cookies after dinner tonight. We all enjoyed them very much, can you tell.

Jamie the Elf

This picture just cracked me up. It is a bit blurry but look at Mr. Intense on the computer. I probably should teach him how to use a real mouse because he has become a master at the touchpad.

A friend told me about the book "The Elf on the Shelf" a couple weeks ago. It is a book that comes with its own elf. The elf that comes with the book is sent to each home to silently observe the behavior of the boys and girls and report back to Santa each night so as to determine if they make the naughty or nice list for Christmas. The family must name its elf and the elf must be in a different place every morning for the kids to find. (Our elf is bringing candy each morning too, but that is not required. I know, great to start the day off with straight sugar! Mom of the year I'm not, huh!) Anyway, we read the book last night and our elf arrived for the kids to find this morning. They decided to name him Jamie, although Isaiah's first pick was Frankenstein. Alyssa was SO excited. I went to get the candy out of Jamie's lap and she screams "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" I forgot that is one of the rules in the book that his "Christmas magic" will disappear if he is touched. Woops! So, she calls Tim right away on the phone to tell him that the elf is here and what they named him and what he brought them and what he looked like. So cute. Later, I was dropping her off at school and as soon as she gets out of the car, she runs up to her principal to tell him about the elf. It was the cutest thing. He just smiled from ear to ear. It also made me SO happy to see some innocence in my little girl who seems to be growing up WAY too fast lately. I will forego mom of the year for a little elf magic with a bonus sugar rush.

Also, an Isaiah funny--Today we were coming home from the open gym we sometimes go to on Tuesdays and Isaiah was getting out of the car. He pants got hooked on something and started to fall down a bit and he says "Uh oh, my pants are cracking." HA HA!

Some pics

Oh yeah, Ella got her first haircut over the weekend. Thanks Grandma! She no longer has a rat tail in the back!

Some pics of the kids. Here is Alyssa in her matching jammies with her American Girl doll that Grammy and Papaw and Zach got her for Christmas. We celebrated with the Neals over the weekend for Christmas. It was a great, relaxing time. And here is just some cute pics of Isaiah and Ella. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The last 48 hours

The last couple days have been really weird here at the Neal house. I decided I would get my haircut on Thursday night. One of the hardest things about moving to a new place is finding doctors and hairdressers that you really like. You just really don't know. Anyway, I found a coupon for this place which I thought was close to our house, so I made an appointment. I was just planning to get a trim, but somehow the lady talked me in to highlights. Now, if you would have seen the place, you would have told me to drive past and pretend I never made an appointment. Can you say that I am WAY too nice and WAY too trusting of a very large, VERY southern talking, short-bleached blonde-haired lady! What was I thinking!!!! I walked out of there an officiall blond. Tim kept telling me I looked like Kirstie Alley with the big blonde streak in the front of her hair. HORRIBLE. ANyway, thanks to great advice from my sister-in-law JoAnna, I went to CVS yesterday afternoon and bought some Clairol dark brown and dyed over the crazy highlights. So, for less than 24 hours I was a blonde. I wish I had a picture to share, but I guess you will have to try to imagine me with bleach-blonde East TN hair.

And, Tim and I had our first date night here in the new city. A friend of our family goes to ETSU and she babysat for Isaiah and Ella. We went out to dinner and did some Christmas shopping. It was a great night. We got home and sent Courtney on her way and put the kids to bed. About 20 minutes later, we hear Isaiah get up and we go upstairs and he was throwing up all over the hallway. We got him to the bathroom and after it was all out of his system, we inspected the damage. He gave a new meaning to the term "blow chunks" (sorry for grossing anybody out). So, we spent the end of our date night evening, cleaning up Isaiah's puke. But, he felt much better and was happy as a lark, so luckily we all got some sleep.

And, Alyssa had her first sleepover last night. I was REALLY nervous about it and wasn't sure we should allow her to, but Tim talked me into it. It just seems that she wants to grow up so quick. Freaks me out!

Hello, again

Well, I have been a very sporadic blogger over the last few weeks and I apologize. Without pictures to share, it is just not as fun. And, the camera battery is dead, so I don't have any pictures to share with you today. Tim has been home now for a week and life is glorious. You would not believe the change in my demeanor just to know that some other adult will be walking through the door at 6 o'clock. It's like night and day! Now, we are looking forward to the holiday!

Some funnies from recent weeks:

Ella - We were at a friend's house for dinner last week and she has a son who is a little younger than Ella. He is her only one, so he is not used to being around older kids. So, Ella was running the "circle" in their house around the staircase through the front room and living room and kitchen. The mom asked the little boy to follow Ella or chase her ( I can't remember) So, Ella takes off and he kind of stops and looks at us like what am I supposed to do and she comes around the corner, stops right in front of us and says "I won". Can you tell she has older siblings who are slightly competitive.

Isaiah - He has developed a crush on a little girl in his class named Elliot. He told me that he is going to marry Elliot when he gets older. And, he told Tim last night that he doesn't like another little boy in his preschool class because he "ALWAYS" plays with Elliot.

Alyssa - We were playing charades a couple nights ago and Alyssa was on the bed in the bonus room. She kept standing up and emphatically falling right back down. She kept at it for a few minutes and We finally gave up and she said "I was a person in a wheel chair who kept trying to stand up, but kept falling down." I thought we were going to die laughing. First of all, that was SO on the tip of our toungue and second, there is something very politically incorrect about it that makes it hilarious.

2 words

HE'S HOME!

Today could be the day

Look in the sky today for pigs flying! Today just might be the day that hell actually did freeze over. Anything is possible today, because. . . . . . Isaiah is wearing jeans!!!!! By his own choice! Wow, I might go buy a lottery ticket!

Bring on the Gas

The best thing about gas stoves---------------------------------S'MORES!!!!!!!! Yes, I have been eating them every day now since Friday and my mouth is loving it!!! Some comfort food does a soul good!!!!

My vote is rocked!

Can you believe that I walked right up to the voting booth with absolutely no wait. I think God was granting me a little favor since I had all 3 kids in tow. Alyssa was interested somewhat in the voting process during the primaries, however, she was VERY into it this time. Her school voted yesterday and all the kids got to cast a vote. It was a great experience for her, however, she was not happy that John McCain got voted in at Towne Acres. Her passion was great though! Anyway, I let her push all of our selections and hit the red "Cast vote" button. She was stoked!

Did anyone else find it odd to see all the other candidates for president besides Obama, McCain and Nader? Who knew?

Add another dead bird on the deck to our tally! And, I am OFFICIALLY sick of eating kid food!

Bless you

We were on our way upstairs to do bath and bed and I told Alyssa and Isaiah they could take their coloring books and crayons to color while I got Ella to bed. Isaiah was carrying his coloring book and a school box full of crayons. All of the sudden I heard him say "Eeeeeewwwww". I came around the corner and looked down and there was some kind of goo on his box of crayons. I said "What is that". He said "I bless-you'd on the crayons and that came out of my mouth." It was really gross and cute at the same time!

Murphy's Law

Remind me never to put in writing that my kids are great again. They have been very challenging today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One more thing

I also have been thinking a lot about military wives and husbands who are left behind alone when their loved ones are shipped off for months and years at a time. What a sacrifice the entire family makes! All the more reason to work hard to bring our troops home and keep them home as much as possible. Asking a family to "succeed" when faced with such odds is close to impossible!

Surviving

We are on Day 5 of our great 21-day adventure and are doing very well. We have had our moments, but that happens regardless of where Tim is! I have the support of great friends and family (even though it is long distance right now). Thanks to all of you who have listened to me over the last few days! Your ear has meant a lot to me!!!

During the last couple weeks leading up to the trip and over the last few days, I have been thinking about quite a few things. The first being that the modern day mother works just as hard as a pioneer woman. It may not take the same form, but the amount of work is just the same. The addition of car seats alone is surely equivalent to a couple loads of laundry on the washboard and some butter-churning!

When Alyssa was a newborn and I was nursing and talking to my Grandma Smith about how tired I was and how I didn't anticipate this much sleep deprivation, she looked at me in her southern voice and said "Caroline, A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done." NEVER have I agreed more with that sentiment than right now!

I have also realized what AWESOME kids I have. As many of you read, I took them to the circus. All 3 and it lasted almost 3 hours. They were great! Alyssa especially is so compassionate and I can see her trying to be extra helpful to me right now. (I hope that is not caused by any passive-agressive manipulation on my part, but I can't promise it.) Isaiah is just as easy to love as always (minus the change of season clothes issues we have going on) and Ella is just so sweet and talking so much. I am very blessed to be their parent and hope that I am not scarring them too bad!!!!

Things of note--part 2

1. Tennessee is hard on car brakes! Squeak, Squeak.

2. Sunrooms are hazardous to the health of birds! So far, we have had one dead bird on our deck from flying smack into our window and another bird who appeared dead, but sat up about 30 minutes later, walked to the edge of the deck about an hour later and then flew away sometime while we were away. Creepy!!!

3. Saw a sign at a church "Fall Hoedown"! Pretty sure I never saw one of those in Indiana.

4. No one knows which mountains we are surrounded by! It is my goal to find out.

5. I think we have found a church--WOO-HOO. Nothing worse than church-hunting!

6. People are very friendly and very welcoming. So far, we have gotten 2 loaves of homemade bread and a cake from the people in our neighborhood. Awesome!

The circus

The kids and I went to the circus this afternoon. It was a blast!!! I wish I could share some pictures with you, but Tim has it on his "trip around the world". (It did occur to me today that I will have to buy a disposable for Halloween!) The circus was Awesome! I have never been and the kids had never been and we had a great time. Alyssa's favorite were the acrobats and the tigers when they jumped through hoops of fire. Isaiah's favorite were the elephants and the "strong men". I did note 2 things about the costumes of the acrobats and the strong men. The acrobat girls wore cheerleader-like skirts with thong tights. No joke, thong tights. So, more than once, we were staring right at their bootays! And, the strong men wore no shirts, spandex blue pants and red boots. There was an audible chuckle when the spotlight hit them. What is the purpose???????

One of my favorite moments of the show was when Alyssa commented on the "ringmaster". It was a female who was attractive and wore very glittery, shiny outfits with big flashy hats. She also talked in a formal/announcer-type voice. Alyssa leaned over to me the second time she was on and said "mom, that lady is FANCY." To those of you who know my fashionista, you know she was VERY impressed!

It was a great time!!

Today, we ventured to a state park about 45 minutes from our house. It was called Roan Mountain and we drove almost to the very top of the mountain. The scenery was unbelievable and we saw a couple deer too. On the way up, my ears started popping and within a few minutes Isaiah says "Mom, I just tooted out of my ear!" Awesome!

Things to Ponder

From Alyssa - "Mom, what happens to the cows during a tornado? Does the farmer get them and take them to the basement? Because he sure doesn't take care of them now!"

From Isaiah (the day after his 4th birthday) - "Mom, I am 4 now and all my clothes still fit" I say "yes, Isaiah, even though you are 4 we did not have to go buy you all new clothes." Isaiah - " yeah, we will only have to do that when I am a teenager."

From Ella --Ok, nothing to ponder, but quite a bit of biting her brother--UUGGHHH.

We shall meet on that beautiful shore

Ok, so we sang "In the sweet, by and by" at the end of the church service we visited today. It was complete with the fiddle and everything! It has left me singing and smiling since we left.

A few things of note about Tennessee

1. Walking/running the hills in this great state is sure to get my keester a little more toned right? I might just be back to Flakey Jakes "Best Buns in town" Gotta have goals!!

2. The size and relative coordination of your daughter's hair bow to her outfit is a status symbol. Even better if the mother makes the hair bows and subsequently starts her own business selling them to all the other mothers.

3. After almost 4 weeks here, Alyssa can no longer say "home" or "no" in just one syllable.

4. Our son is turning into a bully. I don't know if this is related to Tennessee, but troubling nonetheless. We think he gets that from his papaw smith who reportedly required neighborhood kids to pay him a quarter to play in his yard.

5. Fall is AMAZING here!

6. I actually have to think about it before saying "cart" at the grocery store. Buggy is on the tip of my tongue!

7. Big hair and blue eyeliner! Enough said

Birthdays.

Alyssa had her friends Riane and Claire over to play today and they shared her birthday cake.

Doesn't this picture crack you up. He has the funniest look on his face!

Birthday boy!

Alyssa and Isaiah both wanted us to hide their birthday presents so they could find them. So, you see some of the hunt. Alyssa got an Easy Bake Oven (old school kind with the light bulb and everything.) See her with her first creation. She thought it was just great! Overall, they had great birthdays!

Apple Festival--Fun, sort of

Isaiah and Gran hanging in the shade.

Here are some pictures of the apple festival. And, NO, I did not get a fried apple pie. Everyone was sold out. So, I was VERY let down!!! And, my gyro was less than stellar. But, the kids thought it was fun. Check out Alyssa on this trampoline type contraption which allowed her to jump very high and do flips. She LOVED it!!!

Birthday Fun

The kids had great birthdays. I can't believe they are 6 and 4!!! I will post some pictures tomorrow (hopefully).

A perk

We are planning to go to the Apple Festival in Erwin (the town Tim works in) this weekend. I was reading online about the activities and treats that are available and one of the treats listed was FRIED APPLE PIES! My great aunt Aud used to make the BEST fried pies in the world. This is definitely a perk of living in Tennessee. You do not get fried pies at Indiana apple festivals! I can't wait!!!!!

Ella Corin

I found this picture of Ella and I just thought it was really cute! She is hiding under Isaiah's bed in Fort Wayne with her graham crackers and cup. She is so fun right now. She is saying new things every day and REALLY wanting to be big! I will admit that I had a moment of sadness today thinking that she is the last one we will have in this phase. It is really fun watching them learn and discover things for the first time.

School carnival

I got a sucker!!!!!

Survivor Tribal War paint! Even on their legs!

Alyssa and her new buddy!

Milking the cow!

Not quite sure about the "cow's bottom"!

Alyssa also won a cake at the cake walk, so the night was fabulous for all!!!

Update

Ella on moving day! In the midst of 4 strange men moving all of our belongings into the house, Ella caught a nap in the sun room!

Isaiah was most excited about the refrigerator that he could get ice and water out of when we first took them to the house.

Rockin' on the front porch.
Alyssa on "grown-up" day at school today. They were supposed to dress like what they wanted to be when they grew up. Alyssa chose to be a rock star! Do you like her outfit?

A few pictures from our first week in our house. We moved in Friday and things have went great. We are still unpacking and arranging, but are feeling somewhat settled. And, we LOVE our new house. The playset will get put together this weekend, and the kids will really feel like the backyard is theirs! Alyssa had her first play date today with a friend from school. Oh, to be in kindergarten again and have a "best friend" 2 days after meeting them!!! We are blessed. And, Isaiah is making friends at his school. Unusually enough, both kids have made friends with girls who have boy names. Alyssa's friend is Riane (pronounced like Ryan) and Isaiah's friend is Elliot (yes, it's a girl). We just found that odd! Anyway, we are very good and not too homesick yet!


One funny real quick, we have met a lot of transplants into the area so far, but also have run into a few "locals". We were in Wal-mart yesterday and this lady who was about 65-70 stopped to comment on Ella and said "Woo-eee, I would get her in the floor and waller her to death." If I ever forget where I have moved, I will just take a trip to "the Wal-mart" and I am sure I will be reminded!!!

Tasha and Uniqua

Isaiah has a very active imagination sometimes. Most recently, he has told me that he has 2 girlfriends--Tasha and Uniqua from the Backyardigans. I crack up every time he tells me that. He often follows it up with "Mom, why do the Backyardigans have to be pretend?" Well, today while we were waiting for Alyssa in the carpool line he was really in his own little world. Tasha and Uniqua were each sitting on his lap, they broke up, then got back together, then they were all riding on his motorcycle . . . the motorcycle then turned into a speedboat and they all took a ride. I was cracking up. He would just randomly spout off things they were doing. Hilarious! Go, imagination, Go!!

They talk funny

As soon as we arrived in JC, we went to the front desk at the hotel. Alyssa tapped me on the shoulder and motioned me to bend down. She whispered in my ear "mom, that lady has a Tennessee accent." She better get used to it, huh. I just thought it was really cute!! Any bets on how long it will take for our little ones to sound like locals. I am giving it 6 months!

Hello from JC

We have arrived in Tennesse as most of you know and we are slowly, but surely learning our way around town. Alyssa and Isaiah started school today. It was a morning of mixed emotions. We wanted to get them started in their new routine as quickly as possible, but it also seems very fast and weird to be sending them off in a place where we know NO ONE! Anyway, Alyssa was somewhat apprehensive and got a little teary-eyed this morning (thus no pictures of her on her first day in kindergarten in TN) and Isaiah practically ran into his class. So, we are off and running in our new schools and I really think the kids are going to thrive! We only have 2 more nights in the hotel and we close on the house tomorrow evening! We can't wait to get in our house and have all of our furnishings delivered. It will then really feel like home. Although, I will miss the free continental breakfast that I don't have to cook. And, I will admit, it has been rather nice not having to clean a house or do laundry for a few days!!! Real life is waiting in 48 hours though!!! We love you all and can't wait for everyone to visit. The views are just amazing!! I hope I never get used to it! Thought I would share some pictures.
Papaw, Grammy and Zach got Alyssa a makeup kit for her birthday present. She LOVES it, can you tell?

Isaiah on his first day of preschool in Johnson City!

I caught him on the "burger" of "cheeseburger"
Marissa and I on our last night in Fort Wayne. Marissa and her husband, Will, and many of the True Life kids grilled out for us at a local park to send us off. It was a real blessing!

I had no idea that I would literally feel like these were my children. They will tell you that I lecture them just like a mother! HA HA.

We have arrived in Tennesse as most of you know and we are slowly, but surely learning our way around town. Alyssa and Isaiah started school today. It was a morning of mixed emotions. We wanted to get them started in their new routine as quickly as possible, but it also seems very fast and weird to be sending them off in a place where we know NO ONE! Anyway, Alyssa was somewhat apprehensive and got a little teary-eyed this morning (thus no pictures of her on her first day in kindergarten in TN) and Isaiah practically ran into his class. So, we are off and running in our new schools and I really think the kids are going to thrive! We only have 2 more nights in the hotel and we close on the house tomorrow evening! We can't wait to get in our house and have all of our furnishings delivered. It will then really feel like home. Although, I will miss the free continental breakfast that I don't have to cook. And, I will admit, it has been rather nice not having to clean a house or do laundry for a few days!!! Real life is waiting in 48 hours though!!! We love you all and can't wait for everyone to visit. The views are just amazing!! I hope I never get used to it!

Party times

This is our last weekend in Fort Wayne and we decided to go out with a bang. We had a large party last night at our house in order to see a lot of our friends before we left. We had about 60 people there and it was a GREAT time! Today we had a birthday party for Alyssa and Isaiah at the YMCA. I had promised them we would celebrate with their friends in Fort Wayne before we moved to TN. I had no idea we would be moving a month before their birthdays. Oh well! Both parties were great and we were so glad to be able to spend time with so many people we love! Here are some pics from the kids' party today. All the girls!

Transformers cake! Thanks Grammy!
Hannah Montana! (Grammy again)
Check out the piece missing. I cut the cake and dished a piece out before I remembered that we had to blow candles out and sing! I am such a winner, aren't I! I am glad my kids know by now that mom is just a little slow sometimes!!!

All the boys!

For Ginny!
For Ginny too!
Parachute fun!
Action shot
Ella hung with the papaws for most of the party! She is FINALLY getting over her stranger/separation anxiety!