A Birthday to Remember

HAPPY 80th MAMAW POGUE

I'm sure I've mentioned before that my dad comes from a large family. He was the first of six kids. Growing up with 13 FIRST cousins, I thought my family was HUGE. And, I guess in a lot of ways it was, until I met Matt. His family is even HUGE-ER. His mom is the first of five and his dad is the third of six children. He has even more cousins than I do. Plus, he's one of five children in his own family. I can't wait for the day that the Deaton brothers (and wives) expand our family even more, and my children have loads of first cousins like I did. Funny side note, Matt's youngest FIRST cousin is Miles's age. His Mamaw has a great grandchild and grandchild the same age.

At any rate, large families are awesome, PERIOD. I love being with my extended family (and Matt's). Most of my family, however, lives in Louisville so I don't get to see them as often as I would like. And, we're not kids anymore. Most of them are married and many of them have children of their own. This makes our gatherings even more exciting. The picture above is all of us Pogue cousins (missing is my cousin Brittany who lives in Germany, my cousin Brad and my cousin, Michael, who passed a couple of years ago). The picture below is all of us with our spouses (some are missing there as well).

On Saturday, we went to Louisville to celebrate my Mamaw's 80th birthday which was a surprise party. My aunts organized a party extravaganza at the church they all attend, Okolona Church. Wanna know how they got Mamaw there? They told her that she and my uncle David were playing in a corn hole tournament. If there is ONE thing my family loves to do, it's COMPETE. You name it...skiing, fishing, cards (rook, hand & foot, shanghai rummy, etc.), washers, softball, and now CORN HOLE. Mamaw is a pro. at corn hole and could probably beat just about anyone. I have a cousin-in-law who actually competes in tournaments--didn't know such a thing even existed. She's was up for the challenge and didn't suspect a thing when she saw so many cars in the church parking lot. She was so CUTE walking into the party (unsuspectingly) with her corn hole bags. Everyone yelled "surprise" and started singing to her. She was completely caught off guard. EVERYONE was there including old friends and neighbors. It was such a wonderful party.

My aunt Sharon also organized a family photo scrapbook. I have never done a scrapbook page in my life but enjoyed putting my page together SO MUCH. I can see how people get addicted to scrapbooking. I must admit though that I'm a computer person and prefer to do all my designing on the ol' desktop. But, this book was A-mazing. I loved looking through it and know Mamaw will cherish it.

Mamaw and Papaw and all their stinkers =).

Me and Kenton. My nephew Evan took the first picture. I must admit, I like being cut off from the double chin on down. Kenton is the life of the party. I seriously doubt he's ever had a bad day in his life. I laugh and have the best time cutting up with him. Sure wish he would move back to BG (he lived here while he was at WKU).

Me and my beautiful cousin Kim. She also blogs (check out her link sometime).

Me and Memaw. Bless her heart, she was trying her best to learn who belonged with who and who's kids were who's and all that good stuff. Like I said, my extended family is large and expanding by the minute with marriages, babies, etc.

Mike, Miles and Matt or the three MMM's.

My Mamaw is one of the kindest people I know. I had the opportunity to live with her and Papaw one summer during my junior year at Western. I took an internship at the Courier Journal. My grandparents took such great care of me. We went to church together. She was always wanting to feed me. We'd go down and visit my uncle Mark (who was pretty ill with cancer at the time) together. We'd entertain the other cousins with movies (everyone lives really close). It was a special summer. Mamaw and I like to write each other too. I love getting letters from her and love sending them. I'm thankful that she raised such a wonderful son LINDLE who has been a great father to me. I can see her gentle spirit in him when he wants to help those in need and expects nothing back. He is not materialistic and would give anyone anything they needed. He's loud (all of us Pogue's are) and has the best sense of humor JUST like HER. I'm very lucky having all my grandparents and so very thankful for their influence in my life. I wrote this scripture on my scrapbook page "He had made everything beautiful in its time." Eccles. 3:11 My Mamaw is one beautiful person inside and out.

Tee-ball and Rebounds

Miles is our ONLY child playing a sport this spring. Woot, woot! Karson and Isaac had no interest in it this year. I am SO very thankful for that. The idea of running from ball field to ball field, game to game, on Saturday is not the way I want to spend my weekend. I received a phone call from Miles's coach a few weeks back--a woman coach. She was so kind over the phone, and I am grateful for the task she has taken on (working with 4 year old boys with bats scares me). Miles had his first practice on Thursday night. On the way there, he brilliantly stated "I'm going to get LOTS of rebounds at my practice."

He was so stinkin' cute out on the field warming up with his teammates. I really don't have high expectations for this age group (and expressed that to his coach during our conversation--I could tell she was relieved I said that), but they all looked pretty good. I was SUPER excited to see that his buddy Jonah was on our team. Jonah's big brother Donovan and Isaac are the best of buds, and I'm pretty crazy about his mom Amanda--very sweet gal! Karson and Isaac didn't make it to the first practice, but I was sure to bring them to Saturdays practice (plus, Matt was golfing) as I knew Isaac and Donovan would have a blast together.

WELL, let me JUST tell you about Saturdays practice which has NOTHING to do with Miles. His practices are at Cumberland Trace Elementary which has two ball fields--a top field and a bottom field. The top field is where our practice is, and there is a huge parking lot right next to it. I decided to bring Karson and Isaac's Razor's so they could have a WIDE OPEN space to ride during practice. I phoned Amanda ahead of time so Donovan could bring his scooter along too, and they could all ride together. Fun? You bet. WRONG. Within minutes, Karson's scooter went off the sidewalk into the grass--I witnessed the fall. She bounced up immediately and said "I'm all right, I'm all right." But I knew she wasn't. It was a CRASH and BURN kind of fall. When I got over to her, her leg was ripped up like a sausage and her hand was cut. Fortunately, I had wipes in the van and my BFF Amanda was racing to her car to get us some band aids (great gal, like I said). As soon as we got Karson fixed up, WHAMMO, Isaac takes a spill and had a cut on the back of his leg. Are you KIDDING ME? Once the kids were mended, Karson had to go and sit for a while but Isaac was back at it. Karson's leg still looks terrible, and she says it really hurts to bend it. The question is, do I take the Razor's to the next practice or not??? Things that make you go hummmmm....

Country Pines and NO WHINES

We decided to spend a couple of days this Spring Break in the Smoky Mountains. Our kids have never experienced all the frills that area has to offer, and it's fairly close to home which makes travel easy. Matt and I spent hours searching for the "right" cabin to accommodate our brood. We found the perfect fit (and price) with Country Pines in Pigeon Forge.

We toyed with the idea of going to the Wilderness of the Smokies which is a giant, indoor waterpark. The more we thought about it though, it just wasn't ideal. Matt and I wanted to be able to relax on vacation, and the idea of getting into a swimsuit, being COLD, chasing 3 kids around, appealed to me NONE. Plus, if we spent loads of money at Wilderness, we wouldn't be able to do any of the other fun activities. We decided a cabin with a HOT TUB was the solution. Our kids loved their new home! When we pulled into Pigeon Forge, Karson said, "If we lived here, we would have a paradise everyday." The kids were in heaven from the moment we pulled in the driveway of C.P.

The hot tub is where the majority of their time was spent.

Karson and Miles snuggling in their king sized bed.

We did venture out into Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, but honestly, I think the kids would've been content staying at the cabin the whole time. In fact, many times when we were out, they asked repeatedly if we could go back. On Monday night we made our way over to MagiQuest (the children had to pick out mythical names Karson = Clover, Isaac = Cobra, and Miles = Monster). This experience was definitely Karson's favorite. She loved all the quests and hunting for the right answers. I did too, but it was hard wrangling all three kids on a time crunch. You only have an hour and a half on your first visit which goes by FAST when you're trying to figure things out. Plus, it didn't help having two incredibly SLOW tagalongs.

Like everything in Pigeon Forge, this was a costly experience, but well worth it. And, if you hang onto your wand (and receipt, both will be challenging), you can play anywhere there is a MagiQuest and pick up where you left off. The charge is also minimal.

On Tuesday, we decided to take the kids into Gatlinburg. Monday night it had stormed really bad like it did in Bowling Green, and the effect on Gatlinburg was pretty extreme. As we were heading into G-burg, we noticed lots of fire trucks, police officers, EMT, rescue people, etc. Later in the day we heard that a plant basin wall had collapsed and killed two workers. It also was leaking raw sewage into the Little Pigeon River. How sad! Also, as we were making our way in, we saw workers cleaning up an area where part of the mountain had slid down onto the road at the entrance. Quite a storm!

We decided to take the kids to Ripley's Aquarium which Matt and I have decided will be our LAST trip to this venue. We've been one other time to a Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, but the kids were younger and didn't remember much. I like aquariums, but this one was a bit on the crowded side. It was dark, packed with people moving 1 inch at a time and simply not enough action to keep the kids occupied. Don't get me wrong, they liked it, but I would rather spend money at a zoo or a LARGER aquarium like the one in Chattanooga or Newport.

Sharks and tropical fish, very neat to view.

Clowning around in the play area. This was a definite highlight. It was a wide open, bright space with lots of things for the kids to do and play on.

There was a new exhibit called the Penguin Playhouse. I could've spent all my time here. Penguins are fun to watch and quite comical.

After the aquarium, we went to Aunt Mahalia's Candy shop for some goodies. Matt and I both got a scrumptious caramel apple. We decided to pound the pavement and window shop. We made our way to the big, water ball at Ripley's and over to the SkyLift. After that we were pretty worn out and made our way back to the car. We decided to order a pizza from Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Besides the Mellow Mushroom (to-go order), we ate all of our meals at the cabin not because we're cheap but because we are smart. Very few children I know want to go to a nice sit-down resturant and eat. And, I don't like throwing money away on food they will barely eat. PBJ's, chicken fingers, macaroni, spaghetti and cereal are the key to satisfied children in our home =). Plus, I wanted to avoid fast food if at all possible--we eat it WAY to much at home.

On Wednesday, we made our way over to Wonderworks. The kids had been super excited about visiting this place. I was too, but again, like the aquarium, it just wasn't that impressive once we got inside. The Louisville Science Center and I suspect the Adventure Science Center in Nashville beat this attraction, hands down. There was very little for Miles to do and he cost as much as the older kids did (which didn't seem fair to me as he couldn't do most of the things). Everyone had fun though, and that's the point.

Watching my kids climb the rock wall was quite impressive. They both made it ALL THE WAY to the top and never fell. Since the line was a mile long, I witnessed MANY climbs and very few of them (older children and adults) made it to the very top. My little monkey's scaled the wall quickly. I highly doubt I would've been able to.

I love how Isaac is waving to everyone in the crowd on his way down. Turkey.

Enjoying the exhibits.

This exhibit was called Mind Bender. Two people challenged each other with a moving ball at the center. Whoever was the most relaxed, won. It was neat because your brain waves showed up on a monitor. Miles beat Karson, I beat Isaac, and Karson beat Matt. Wednesday was our last full day in Pigeon Forge, so I decided to take Karson and Isaac back to MagiQuest that night to continue their journey. Matt and Miles decided to play mini golf.

No journey to the Smoky Mountains is complete without an air brushed t-shirt. We had a marvelous time in the mountains and are looking forward to visiting there again real soon. Since we left Pigeon Forge on Thursday morning that gave us a couple of days to relax at home which was incredibly nice. Miles had his first tee ball practice Thursday night. On Friday, the kids went over to Meme's for the morning and Matt and I went to Mammoth Cave and hiked Green River Bluff. Later that day, Matt and Pap took Miles to the lake. He loves doing stuff like that. Our break actually felt LONG since we broke the week up. I cannot WAIT to have my babies home for summer break. This weather has gotten me pumped up for summer days at Beech Bend and relaxing in the lazy river!

I'm 34, and?

Here are 34 things you DID NOT KNOW about me: 1. I only eat vegetables because I'm supposed to but do not like them and you will rarely find them on our dinner table. I did recently read that raw vegetables are good for weight loss (although I don't think this is proven research) because your body uses lots of energy to break them down--this and this alone is the reason I may eat more vegetables. Yuck! 2. I won Outstanding 7th Grade girl at Bowling Green Junior High. I wore the most hideous Benetton outfit EVER. Picture this: a melon colored, button up, short sleeved sweater with multi colored stripes on the sleeve. A turquoise sweater skirt with the same matching stripes at the bottom. I was stylin' back then. 3. I was dared to pull the school fire alarm on the last day of school when I was in 5th grade and DID IT. Thanks Amy Pearson for being such a great influence. 4. I had a birthmark removed from my back at a young age because of the risk of cancer. 5. All four of my grandparents are still living--awesome! 6. I once received a lower letter grade in college from a professor who told me I did MORE work than was necessary on my ad design project. What? 7. I wore brightly colored lipstick A LOT in high school. If you see any of my sports photos, you'll surely see it. 8. My car was once bird seeded by the group of guys, me and my posse hung out with in high school. They spread lard all over my super cool, white Mitsubishi Galant (equipped with the automatic seat belts attached to the door thingie) and sprinkled bird seed all over it. My dad was livid and slept on the living room couch for a while waiting for their return. I, on the other hand, hopped in the car, rolled the window down, stuck my head out and drove to my tanning bed appointment that morning. Oh the priorities we set in high school =). 9. I have been on many mission trips visiting places like Frontera & Moclova, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Belize. I would love to take my children to Central America so they can learn to appreciate the luxuries (like running water and paved roads) we take for granted here in the states. 10. My absolute FAVORITE Christmas gift EVER was a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses just like the one's Tom Cruise wore in Top Gun. 11. Speaking of Top Gun, I believe I have that entire movie along with Grease and Goonies memorized. Cocktail was my first rate R movie =). 12. I played with Barbies until I was in 7th grade. 13. I could not choke down a glass of sweet tea up until Matt and I lived in Georgia when we got married. Apparently, there is NO other drink worth having in the deep south. I can't imagine a day without sweet tea now. 14. I broke my nose in 6th grade and knocked out my front tooth which is FAKE. Matt, ironically, has the exact same FAKE front tooth--destiny. 15. I got my very first pedicure about two years ago, what took me so long? They are awesome! 16. I have ZERO interest in playing on the iPad, iPhone or any iRelated applications or games. I would much rather sit down with someone and play an actual game than do something on a device. 17. I could eat a Cinnamon Crunch bagel from Panera everyday for the rest of my life. 18. I named my daughter Karson after the main character in the movie Shag which I saw in 5th grade with my friend Shannon Oliver. I have LOVED that name for quite a long time. 19. My favorite place to vacation is Destin, Florida. I can't imagine a prettier place on earth. 20. I have always worn clothes that are usually way to big for me. I have issues with tightly fitting anything. I did, however, purchase my first pair of skinny jeans this winter. They are growing on me--literally. 21. My nickname in high school was Chicken mainly because I was lanky, bony and thin and partially scared of everything. 22. I have five ear piercings in my left ear and three in the other. I went through a weird piercing phase in college. Do you all remember Jane Child? I think she inspired me? 23. I love the People's Court and feel like I could definitely fulfill that role if Marilyn Milian ever left. 24. On my 16th birthday, my mom hosted a big party for me and all my friends. She had them all buy me charms for a charm bracelette she purchased me. It was a very cool birthday. And while on the subject of my 16th bday, I stressed about taking that stinkin' drivers examine. Simply put, I DO NOT TEST WELL especially on anything that counts. I am a wonderful student and make mostly A's but testing is HARD for me. Well, my birthday is on March 30 and I wasn't able to take the drivers exam until the next day and barely passed. On April 1, I received a phone call stating that a cheat sheet had been found in the testing area and that all testers would have to come back in a re-take the test. I was a mess and started crying and panicking. Little did I know or make the connection that it was April Fool's Day and that my dear ol' dad had set the whole thing up. My mom had him call almost immediately to me that it was a joke--a NOT SO FUNNY one I must admit. 25. When we were little, my sister and I used to dress up in my mother's old dress clothes (dress up clothes must not have existed when I was a child or I don't remember them) and we would do multiple musical performances on our fireplace/hearth stage. Our most memorable performance was to Pink Cadillac by Natalie Cole...rose velvet seats, riding in the back, crusing down the street....yeah I still know all the words. 26. I got to go to Hawaii in 4th grade and was able to visit Pearl Harbor, but that CERTAINLY was not the highlight of the trip. One day when we were out shopping, a store clerk told us that Blair (from the Facts of Life) had JUST left. Shannon and I raced out searching for her with NO luck =(. 27. The last book I "read" was 127 Hours but was not able to finish it because I knew what was going to happen and simply could not read about it. I did, however, watch the movie at Paul and Shannon's one night. YIKES! 28. I was sports editor of my high school newspaper the Purple Gem. 29. Outlet Malls are my favorite places to shop mainly for the deals but partly because I love looking at the poor schlubs (men) that are drug there by their wives and children. They are always SO miserable. BTW, I could people watch ALL day long. 30. I absolutely love high school basketball especially when the district teams play each other--LOVE IT! 31. I, like my children, loved writing books as a kid. I had a series collection called "The Blue Moon" books. 32. I could be bare foot at all times. Shoes (and winter jackets) are just a nuisance all together. 33. I gained 50+ pounds with each one of my pregnancies. And while on the subject of pregnancy, I was induced with ALL three kids on a Tuesday (thus the title of my blog). Tuesday child is full of grace--I can think of no better slogan for three kids with a dad as a minister. 34. Matt and I have been together 15 years. While we were dating, we would "daydream" about our future. We never thought it would be this wonderful. Words simply cannot express how happy we are =). Life is good.

Isaac the Gr8

In the event this book doesn't make it into publication (or gets trashed at some point), I had to dedicate a post to Isaac's newest book, "Isaac's Theme Song Book". Isaac is one creative child. His brain goes 90 miles an hour morning, noon and night. Lately some of his school papers look like this:

I'm fairly certain we've told him on more than one occasion that his middle name has TWO T's in it, but it hasn't sunk in or he's created a new version. I think the dashes in-between give it a little something extra, don't ya think?

Isaac says some of the craziest things and is always making up some elaborate book or movie. He has videos on youtube--don't ask me where but Matt has loaded a couple of them for him (per HIS request). His has "release dates" for his books. He JUST told me, "Mom, "Crazy Post Mason 2" comes out on June 1 which also horsey's birthday"--his stuffed horse.

"Crazy Post Mason"--the 1st edition comes out on April 2. There is a poster on his door to prove it. I said, "Mason?" He said, "yeah but not my friend Mason (Mason DeVries is the only friend named Mason that I know of). It's another friend, Mason Cornea." I hear stuff like this ALL DAY LONG. There is way to much information (and funniness) to keep track of it all.

On to the book....Isaac told me a couple of days ago he needed to write his theme song book. Who doesn't have one of these, right? I DID NOT help him with any of the spelling which is awesome (that might be obvious based on the spelling of some words). When he writes, he simply sits down and does it all himself.

He does love the Beatles. If I hear the song "All You Need is Love" anymore, I will most likely not be so loving. He wants to be a dartist when he grows up--a doctor/artist. He only wants to be a doctor because they have stairs in their house. He has told us countless times he wishes daddy was a doctor like Uncle Paul so we can have stairs in our house. Not sure that having stairs in your house makes you a doctor, but it does to our son. Does not like that much food--his diet is very limited. He survives on yogurt, chicken, chocolate milk, fingernails and boogers most days. He loves Bruno Mars and Maroon 5--segue into a funny story--Isaac and I recently went on a date to Fazoli's. It was during the Girls Basketball Sweet 16 tournament (which takes place at WKU) and the entire Louisville Manual basketball team was there with us. As we were sitting there enjoying dinner, the song "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars came on. When it got to the chrous, when I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change, cause you're amazing--Isaac belted out in his loudest soprano voice JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. The entire basketball team looked at him, giggled and thought that he was the cutest thing ever (it was pretty cute). He got beet red and was so embarrassed.

The rest of the book speaks for itself. My quirky, creative kid. I may have him write a theme song book about me just to see what he comes up with. I love my super talented 6 year old.

Birthday Pops

My dear old dad celebrated 61 years yesterday. I wouldn't classify my dad as "hard to buy for", I would classify almost EVERY guy as pretty hard to buy for. I can think of a million things to get for my mom, MIL, Shannon and girlfriends, but when it comes to buying for a MAN, I must admit, it's quite tough. My dad isn't a reader, so books are out. He's not a "techie" kind of guy, so anything iTunes or computer related is out. He's not a fashion statement, so if you buy clothes, you have to stick to the basics--socks, underwear and t-shirts---boring. His hobbies are barbershop singing, fishing and messing with his chainsaws--all of which I know very little about. Birthdays and Father's Day are always tough for me because I want to get him something thoughtful, affordable and something I know he would like--is there such a gift out there? Humph? I believe I found the perfect gift for him this year. It just so happened that South Warren High School's theater group was running their musical the weekend of my dad's birthday. The performance was:

I told my mom that I really wanted to get him tickets for the show and all of our family to go together (sans kids). She told me to GO FOR IT but to check with Matt on all of the basketball games. We would HATE for the guys to miss any of the important games =). Friday night was out because UK was playing so that left Saturday night. We met at Cracker Barrel for dinner. Those of you that keep up with my sister know what she's going through but for those of you that don't, Shannon recently tore her ACL while skiing in Colorado. Her surgery was on Thursday in Nashville, and she has been couped up at home most of the weekend. Her nerve block started wearing off on Friday night, and she's been in quite a bit of pain since. Shannon has a very sensitive stomach especially when it comes to strong medicines like pain killers so she has to be incredibly careful when taking them and they usually make her feel nauseous. She and Paul were able to come out and eat with us last night but weren't able to go to the play with us =(.

I bought some mini cupcakes at Walmart that morning just to have something celebratory at the table (plus, I thought the kids may come and eat with us, but they simply weren't feeling it--so we left them behind with Pap Colvin). Shannon had given dad his birthday gift the night before which was AWESOME. She went to Sam's got him some Simply Caramel Milky Ways along with a pack of legal pads and gel pens. He loved it--easy to please, but it definitely requires some thought and Shannon hit the motherload of loot my dad likes. I decided to get him the 2011 Grammy nominees CD. My dad and I have always shared a passion for today's hottest hits. We love music, and I thought he would enjoy that. He told me this morning at church how much he has LOVED listening to it--yessssss! I also wanted to treat he and my mom to the play. It didn't begin until 7 p.m. in SWHS's super cool auditorium. We had such a fun evening hanging out and enjoying each other. It felt like WINTER when we left the show at 9:45--burrr. I am SO looking forward to more of that spring weather SOON!

I made an acrostic about the things I love about him.

L-oves orange Tic Tacs as much as me and usually gives me a package of them every Sunday at church.

I-s always willing to lend a hand and has kept Miles (solo) for me when I've needed a break and Meme wasn't available. That's a pretty big deal =). He also helped me coach my basketball team and is helping Shannon coach her softball team.

N-oisy =). Everyone who knows my dad knows he is loud. What can I say, our whole family is pretty loud--AND we like to talk A LOT. I think that's a good trait and one that has worn off in a good way with Karson. I receive notes that say Karson is proactive in class and is able to speak in front of her peers and even help assist them (and, most of her peers are 3d graders). I LOVE that she is confident and not shy about public speaking--we don't do SHY in our family =).

D-ependable. No need to ever ask dad to do something twice. He has a great memory and is someone you can count on. He recently went with the kids to an event at Plano called Donuts for Dads. Matt couldn't attend because he has to work so dad stepped up to the plate. I think it's cool that dad can fill these roles when necessary and is always willing to do so.

L-oopidy, loo if you've ever seen my dad's handwriting, you would think you were looking at a letter written by a Southern Belle in the deep south. It's very curly and (really) hard to read. I think this is funny considering he is covered in greasy gas and oil from chainsaws and filling out tickets with fluffy handwriting.

E-njoys his family. My dad is simply a wonderful dad, and we are thankful for him daily

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD/POPS! We sure had a great time celebrating with you last night.