Our Vacation in Gatlinburg

Tyler was playing spiderman at the park. We don't seem to be able to leave spiderman even on vacation.

This is a picture of the kids taken at the little campground that we always cook out at. This year while grilling our hot dogs and hamburgers we noticed the park ranger kept driving around the campground. He just kept going around in circles and we also noticed that he had a bear trap on the back of the truck. Then we noticed that a large group of people were taking pictures and video taping something in the woods. We can only guess that a bear must have become a nuisance and they were watching for him. We were not crazy enough to go over there to video tape so not we don’t have pictures.

Brianne loving her moo cow. She has made a sucker out of us. We have bought 4 guilt stuffed animals in the last 2 weeks. She loves stuffed animals like Tyler loved balls. If she see a stuffed animal she will hold her hands out and make sweet happy noises. If we don't let her have it she cries.

This is a picture of Brianne and Tyler with the animals I won for them at Dollywood. I accidentally won that HUGE stuffed cat. I got the ball in the hole in the first throw. We will need an extra truck just to move it home.

Brianne eating pie at Dollywood.

It is Tyler's "up and down" ride. Dollywood is an excellent place to take kids. They have alot of rides and shows for them.

Tyler and Brianne with 2 of the cast from the show “The Little Engine that could.” Tyler is still singing the song. Dolly Partin sends every kid (in Davidson County) from birth to 5 years old a book each month. This is the first book she sends them. We have really enjoyed receiving the books.

One of the new restaurants in Gatlinburg is the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We did not go because we knew that the food could never compete with the food we have near the coast. Tyler did step in Forrest Gump’s shoes.
Wish everyone could have been there with us. We had a good time and the days went by too fast.
To see more pictures use the following link:

http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l127/TylerandBrianne/

Quick Update before Leaving for Gatlinburg

I thought I would post one more time before we leave for Gatlinburg. We are all so ready to get away. We are going to take Tyler to Dollywood again. It has so much for him to do. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures so everyone can see how much fun he had.
We put up the playpen with the intention of getting Brianne use to sleeping in it so maybe we will all get a little sleep at Gatlinburg. Tyler and Brianne decided it was more fun to play in it. We were afraid that she would never sleep in it because she likes it so much. Tyler said it is his doghouse.

Tyler really enjoyed playing with his cousin Jacob this weekend. He said he really misses Jacob. Boy did he get to earn his dollar when they were done playing! We are very proud of all the dollars he has earned. He is always eager to earn another $.

Miss Priss loves the Leap Frog table just like Tyler did.

We changed out her car seat, and she has decided that she likes to sit in the old one and watch TV.

We definitely have a climber. When the car seat is near the couch she will get on it and try to climb onto the couch.

Last but not least, she has again gotten into the food. Earlier she found a bag of Cheerios and cried till I gave her some. I left the room and she followed me with the bag in hopes of getting more. While I was preparing her breakfast she got into the crackers. She was just eating away when I turned around. She definitely is a better eater than Tyler was at this age.

Tyler's Thought for the Day

We were at Wal Mart and Tyler told his dad, "Look at all the tools daddy. You can get some tools if momma tells you it is ok." He then went on to say, "you can have a tool if you earn your dollars." Thats my boy!

Our Week.......


Mac looks like he is asleep, but really he is waiting for me to yell at him for being in Tyler's room.

CHEESE!!! Look at those pretty teeth.

I would like to point out the things in his hand. On one side he has a drs bag and a SAW and in the other hand he has the sandman from Spiderman. Dr Tyler used the saw on my back and then he patched me up.

My beautiful angel!
This week so far has been uneventful. Monday morning I hosted a meetup at our movie theater in the complex and after that we helped our friend Cindy pack. We helped her pack Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we packed Tyler’s clothes for our vacation next week. Today we are going to a meetup at Cici’s pizza. I hope you are not as bored reading this as we have been doing it. 4 weeks and 3 days and we are coming home!!!!!!

June 17, 2007





Brianne is helping me take everything out of the drawers. Brother will earn his dollar for the day by putting back everything she gets out. Brianne says he has to do something to get that dollar so she might as well make a mess for him.


It has taken me having 2 children to find out how wonderful a baby gate can be. I plan to invest in some when I move back to Alabama. Lee and I cleaned out the freezer today and put chairs up so she could not get through. She just stood there fussing at us like usual. She actually thought it was funny.

She continues to amaze me!!!!




She went right over to her dinosaur and started putting the balls in the hole. Neither brother nor I showed her how. It is amazing how kids are so different. Tyler would not have been able to do this at age 2.

Oops Brianne is hungry.

Daddy gets Brianne




Brianne loves for someone to tell her they are going to get her. She will crawl down the hall as fast as her knees will take her.

TYLER GETS BLACK SPIDERMAN

Tyler’s girlfriend, Heidi the manager at Bar B Cutie, gave him the black Spiderman. He told her he loves her. It was really sweet. He has been working for money for vacation and has been telling us that he will buy the black Spiderman on vacation. Now maybe we can buy something else.


Daddy’s chair has died. It will not be coming to Alabama with us. It is literally falling apart, and Brianne is not helping matters.

Fire Station #3

Today was an very eventful day. I planned an outing for our mom’s group to go to the fire station. We went to fire station #3 in Hendersonville. Tyler has been talking about the firemen all day. We also continue to be busy earning his dollar a day. We have already (thanks to Aunt Martha giving him a bonus) earned enough to get the Spiderman “machine man.” We are now earning money for him to do something special while on vacation.






The fireman made the siren go off while Tyler was in the truck, and when the fireman turned his back Tyler pressed the button. It really started blaring then. He thought he was in big trouble.


An added bonus was the paramedic truck. They just happened to stop by and Tyler had many questions for him. He is very interested in sick people. We hope not enough to go into the medical field.

As you can see here, there is a theme going on. Tyler is holding hands with the same little girl in all the pictures. This is his new girlfriend. The firemen really got a kick out of those two, and I think it made their day.

And last so it is really not all about Tyler here are some pictures of Brianne.

Another example of how smart she is already. She imitates me and puts the phone to her ear like she s talking.

Here she is with her new squeaky shoes. Thanks BeBe!!!!!


Tyler’s Thoughts for the Day
I put on the shirt that he is wearing in the fire station pictures and he immediately says, “I look like granddaddy (Moates).” Obviously the only thing granddaddy wears is plaid.

More about granddaddy… This afternoon he told me, “I am granddaddy and I am playing in the mud.” He started stretching on his tip toes and saying “UGH, UGH.” I asked him what he was doing ,and he told me he was trying to get big like granddaddy.

One night when I told him he had to bathe he asked why. I told him because he stinks. Today at Target I bought him a swim toy, and he told me when it gets dark he will stink, and he will bathe and take his toy.

He went and started looking in the mirror in the bathroom and I asked him what he was doing. He was rubbing his chin, and told me "I am looking at my chin like daddy."

He told me today and just about everyday, “It’s all about me.”

He told me "I have a girlfriend and her name is Heidi." Heidi works at the Bar B Cutie restaurant. He has since given her up for the little girl today.

Last but not least…. He says, “I tell the truth…. That’s my job….that’s what I am suppose to do.”

June 9, 2007

I don't know if you can see it, but Brianne is showing her pretty little front teeth in this picture. She is VERY proud of her teeth and will let you know by sinking them into your shoulder.


She is "loving" the baby. All we have to say is OH WEE and she will love on the bear. She is so smart. She picks up on things very quickly.

The little princess!!!!

Tyler learned to kick his feet today in the pool. Although he has not taken any lessons, he does very good in the pool. If only I could teach him to close his mouth and stop ingesting the pool.

Everyone but Brianne was cold in the pool today. She just sits there as calm as can be. The first time we took her to the pool she did not dislike the pool nor really like it. Today she seemed to have fun. Oh and did we tell you she let go today and took one step!!! She may show us all and walk by her birthday!

Tyler Must Work for Money!

Daddy said Tyler could not have any more toys till we moved back to Alabama. Daddy does not understand that would have been 2 months without a toy and Tyler would go through withdrawals. He wanted Harry (the goblin on Spiderman) so bad that we agreed that he could earn the money to buy Harry. The first few days I had plenty we could do to earn money. After a few days I ran out of things for him to do. Well I did not realize he would make his own mess to clean up. He came and told me he must clean his room to earn his dollar. I told him his room was already clean, and he said no he made a mess to clean up. Man, kids are so smart.

All this cleaning has made Tyler so tired. He often tells me he must take a break.

He finally got Harry out of dollar jail tonight. I do hope he does not want to earn any more dollars for a while. It is a lot of work for me to earn those dollars. I think daddy needs to help him earn the dollars.

Brianne just loves to play ball. Tyler loved balls but he never had “skills” like Brianne. She is definitely going to be a basketball player. She just giggles when she sees a ball.

She is sssooo sad no one will play with her. I don't know how she discovered how to sit on her knees. She has been doing this since she could sit up.

45 DAYS TILL WE MOVE HOME!!!!!

We are excited and maybe I am a little scared. We going home!!!


I have been packing already. I think I started about a month ago. I love to move. It is the perfect time to throw out everything that you don't really need. We are so excited to move back. I guess it has not been too bad here. I am the organizer of a group of 64 stay at home moms here in Sumner county so I have had the opportunity to meet alot of people. Me, organizing a group of women! Crazy!

Even after 11 months she still will not leave that cat alone. I think she thinks he is a big stuffed animal. So far he has been ok with her. He is mean to Tyler. He stalks him and Tyler get scared.