What a week!

TUESDAY


Wow! That's my "one word description" of my past week. It has been crazy... but fun. See, as most of you probably know, The Clarks like to cram as much activity into one small time span and see how stressed out we can get. (Okay, maybe it's just me that has that problem) Regardless... as much fun as it was, it wasn't without a bit of tension and stress. I guess it comes with the territory. So, our week started off with Mason & Hallie wanting to have a swim party. So, of course we made that happen. The original pool popped and Ross had to run and get a new one. (just a minor bump in the road) But of course we forged ahead!



Ok, so it might have rained a bit too... (just another bump in the road), but we didn't let that spoil the fun. Besides, I think 2 little ones (1 particular 6 year old) would have been devastated had anything put an end to this excitement.

Tina & Payton thought they could hide, but I found them!

So this was our Tuesday. It turned out great - all in all.

Thanks for coming everybody and making our day!

WEDNESDAY

Yep! We finally did it - we bought a new car! We've been talking about it for some time now, and it finally happenned. I'm really excited. So, I decided I am somewhat drawn to "BLACK" cars. They just look classy to me. (when they're clean of course) I know, I know... you all think I'm crazy cuz they're hot, and are hard to keep looking clean. But for now, I'm loving it. So, don't go givin' me buyer's remorse y'all! I told my sweet husband that I wanted a black car with leather interior, a third row & a DVD player. And he made it happen. Thanks babe. It's a 2004 Toyota Sequoia. (in case ya couldn't tell)


And the kids LOVE it!!







THURSDAY


On Thursday, we went to Kyle & Kristy's for some brats and some homemade root beer. Brad & Julie & the kids came along too. After dinner, we made the trek up to Eaglewood for the fireworks. Kyle knew the perfect spot to park and head up - and we sat right on the golf course. The kids had a blast together. It turned out to be a great day! (I'm still waiting for pictures of this to be emailed to me - so stay tuned! ) Thanks, Kyle & Kristy!


FRIDAY (4th of July)


So... our tradition is that we get up at the break of dawn (not exactly my forte') and pack up the kids and head out to Murray for the 4th of July parade. We sit and bake in the sun and watch the kids have a blast, (which is what makes it worth it) hurrying to get as much candy as possible and laughing with their cousins. It's always fun once we get there, but as we all know, it's a bit of a struggle for Amy to make it places in the A.M.!


D. Will, gettin' himself some H2O! Always in a Jersey. And usually with shorts that don't match. (not my choice... I usually lose that battle) -

This was little Cole's first parade experience, and he was a trooper! But would you expect anything less with this little fella? LOVE this kid. He is my perfect child... always happy!! (okay, almost always)

After the parade, we went to Aunt Julie's park & ate lunch followed by a little slip n' slide action! It was so much fun. We set up a huge plastic slide down the hill and just let the kids go nuts! I couldn't even get Mason's attention for hours. This kid loves water! And he's got the tan line to prove it!

It was all fun & games for Hal until she slid off the slide & scraped her leg up a little. It was all over for her after that. I'm not sure if it was the humiliation of having everyone's eyes on her, or that it really hurt ... but either way it was traumatizing enough to end her sliding for the day! Don't go thinkin that she was the only injury of the day, though. Ross managed to blow his knee out (again) while trying to play some soccer with the kids. We try to stay in one piece, but somehow we always manage to hurt somethin'. What' ya do?


And of course, it wouldn't be Independence Day without a little fireworks action back at home with some friends. Preston wasn't a huge fan, but he warmed up eventually... & everyone else had a great time. Ross, Jake & Scott really knew how to put on quite the show. Next time we'll try and remember to buy some matches!

SATURDAY

And of course we would have a family reunion to go to first thing Saturday morning. Why not throw that in the mix of things? The kids had a blast once again with their cousins and it was fun to see everybody. Even though I don't know 3/4 of them. (probably more) Here's Hallie and Uncle Steve at the park.

And Cole cuddling with Aunt Cari. What a sweetie.

All in all - it turned out to be a really fun day. We finished up the reunion that night at Aunt Mary Lou's for an all adult dinner. It was fun to get together with that side of that family and see how everyone was doing. And of course we did some fireworks again that night down and Jake and Angie's.



SUNDAY

So... to finish the week off, we went out to Rob & Mary's for little Joshua's baby blessing. It turned out to be a fun-filled week with family & friends. I think I'll try and stay home a little this week. (sigh)

**Looking forward to seeing my cutest little niece and nephew from Arizona this week! Can't wait to squeeze 'em!**

TAG this!

Ok, so apparently I've been "tagged" and I'm just learning what that is. So, I am finally doing this!

JOYS

1. My kids


2. My family


3. Fresh Flowers
   

FEARS

1. Losing a loved one


2. Deep waters / drowning


3. Disappointing loved ones (I have issues)

GOALS

1. Be a better mom (& wife, daughter, sister, friend)


2. Get Healthy


3. Get Organized!!

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS

1. Taking pictures of EVERYTHING!


2. Recipes (even though I never make them)


3. Blogging!!
   

RANDOM FACTS (Maybe you don't know)

1. I am incredibly uptight - I have issues staying calm about most things. And unfortunately the ones I love suffer because of it.


2. I can't say no (but I'm trying!)


3. I loveBRIGHT COLORS!

Ok, Angie! Hope I did it right. I have no clue what I'm doing. So... now I tag Mark, Dawnell & Teri! TAG - YOU'RE IT!

FUN in the SUN!

Now, this is what you call a POOL PARTY, folks! We had ourselves a blast on Saturday at the Allen's Pool Party! This was the most amazing house with the funnest pool ever. As you can see, the waterslide kicked some major butt - and we stayed until Scott & Tina kicked us out. Mason and I went down the slide I think over a dozen times. We are lucky to have good friends who invite us to do such fun stuff. The kids had so much fun.



This was Cole's first swimming experience. He looked so dang cute in his little swimmin' suit. He had a blast and loved the water. (He fits right in to our little family of fish!)

Nothin' like a day full of sun and water to really wear ya out! Neeless to say, we were all pooped Saturday night. (we won't mention that we might not have made it to church on Sunday) This made for a super fun weekend. Thanks, Scott and Tina - we had a BLAST!

Tiny Dancer

Okay so you can't tell me that this isn't the cutest little ballerina you've ever seen! Her routine was called "Ballerina Gets Funky" (as if the costume doesn't say it all!) She was so stinking cute I could hardly stand it. I have to admit that when "Miss Amy" (her dance teacher) gave us the costumes, I just looked at it and wondered "what the heck am I supposed to do with this?" But when I put it all together and saw her in it, I just about died. And even though this is the only time she was allowed to wear this much make-up in public, I must say she looked smokin'! She was in heaven when I told her that Mommy was going to give her a make-over. (Let's just say that we don't do make-up too often around here - it makes a mess and stresses Mommy out) This was by far my favorite dance recital yet. She actually danced, as opposed to just standing there looking pretty while playing with her dress. (see, Ross... those dance lessons really are paying off! ;) And of course, we had to give her a bouquet of flowers after her performance. She was so proud! Anyway, we are taking a break from dance for the summer, and we'll start back up in the fall. Swimming lessons and T-ball are about all Mommy can handle for right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA GORDY! WE LOVE YOU!

Swimming Lessons - (it's rough)

What have I been up to the past few weeks, you ask? I'll tell you - swimming lessons! Now most of you may assume that there must be other things taking up Amy's time besides swimming lessons... but you would be assuming wrong. Let's just say that when the lessons are from noon - 1:00 - every single day for two weeks it tends to consume your whole day. How does that work.? Well, now there's no need to remind y'all that mornings just aren't my thing - so needless to say, just simply getting up, feeding the kids and getting us all to swimming by noon is more than enough to fill up my mornings! And then after an hour of cheering on my 2 swimmers, hauling them home (wet), bathing them and getting them dressed and ready for the rest of the day - I'm pooped! I might as well call it a day, because anything else I accomplish is a miracle. So, when Ross gets home and asks me what we did - and every single day I say "we went to swimming lessons" - what can I say, I'm lucky we did that!

Well, on the bright side... the kids are doing awesome at swimming! Bar a few days of bribery to get them to lay on their backs and threatening them to get them to go in the deep end - they've done excellent! I'm very proud of my little fishies. They can definately hold their own. They've worked hard and faced their fears and I really believe that our consistency has paid off. So yeah! (pat myself on the back) We did it! And now we get a week off! Unfortunately, my week off will be spent away from my kids at Girl's Camp - but what d' ya do? The blessings will follow, I'm sure! Sigh...

Check out my Slide Show!

I think I can!

Okay so all I hear these days is "blog" this and "blog" that... so here I am gettin' my "blog"on. I put it off for so long, because I figured I didn't know how. But, then I remembered my favorite little train who made it up that darn hill (or whatever it was he was trying to do), and I told myself, "I think I can!" And looky looky! Amy's got a blog! Cuz "everybody's doin' it" - and what can I say? I like to fit in! I must say, though ... my buddy Ang was my biggest inspiration. So, thanks Ang, babe! Love ya!
So... don't set your expectations too high, and I'll do my best to make this exciting. I do enjoy this kind of a thing. I must say, it's right up my ally. Although, as many of you are aware - I am a bit of a perfectionist. Okay, let's be honest - I'm OCD and if it aint done right - I aint gonna do it! So, I'm obsessing a little bit over this whole blog thing and can't get it to work out just the way I want it to. Like, for instance - why are the font choices so limited? I am a font girl, and I need cute fonts in order to really enjoy this blogging experience. If anyone can give me some insight regarding this matter, it would be much appreciated. So, anyway - here's' my blog. It's under construction and bound to change a million times before I get it right. But - enjoy... or don't.

Life's good.

Mason kicked some butt playing with the "White Wolves" this year. He really enjoyed it and tried hard this time. And Mason once again grew up a little more and learned to ride his bike without training wheels. For a while there, I didn't think we'd get him off of it. I think he would have slept with the darn bike if he could. Just more of those moments that you wish you could pause! We have a good life.

Best Christmas present EVER!

On December 20th, we were blessed with our best Christmas present ever... our new baby brother! Cole Ross Clark weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. What a blessing... I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas! I got home from the hospital the day before Christmas Eve and our house has been filled with joy ever since. It's amazing how your heart can equally love each one of your children.