SURPRISE!!!

Tex and I got a night out on the town! We were so excited that the snow didn't ruin our plans and we got to go to Lexington to celebrate Erin's Birthday at an awesome restaurant! We had so much fun getting together with friends and eating a nice dinner with no kiddie interuptions! haha

The Birthday girl and me!
All the Girls!
Tex and I enjoying our night out on the town! (Thanks Aunt Ashley and Uncle Joe!)

Frank and Kimmie
Kourtlee and Jamie

More Girl Time
Erin, Lindsey and I! We have 13 years worth of pictures in this pose! I love these girls!

Since the most excitment Tex and I have had lately is potty training we were pumped to have some celebs sitting two tables down from us at dinner! I think the whole restaurant was in awe when this guy walked in....


LeBron James

And then in walked this guy to eat dinner with LeBron...

Coach Cal! As a life long C-A-T-S fan this was definitely a treat! Good dinner, Best Friends and Great Celeb Watching!

SNOOOOOW!

AGHHHHH! We woke up this morning and it had snowed 4 inches! I am praying this is the LAST snow storm of the winter and spring will hurry up and get here! Here are P and Ann Mason getting ready to go out in the snow!

I love this picture! Palmer reminds me of Ralphie and poor Ann Mason just looks so happy to be in the mix of anything! Iove that girl! Sadly, Ann Mason is ill-equipped in the snow suit department so we had to be creative and use layers as well as an old Halloween Costume to keep her warm! haha

PS: SHAMELESS PLUG! Don't forget BST Designs! I have some new stuff on there and I would be happy to create or personalize anything from tiles, frames and much more!

http://bstdesigns.blogspot.com/

Happy 30th Ernie!

From L to R: Ann Mason, Blake, Riley and Erin

Happy Birthday Erin! I can't believe that we are old enough to be 30! I know that 13 years ago God knew I needed some best friends starting college and put you and Lindsey on the same floor of my dorm! I never could have guessed that 13 years later you would still be one of my very best friends! I can still remember celebrating your 18th birthday as homesick college freshman in the dorm and again your 21st with all of the glory that only 21 year olds can posses! haha

We have been there for each other thru tears and laughter... stood by each other at our weddings... and shared the miracles of having our own kids!

You are such an amazing friend, daughter, sister, wife and mother! I am so blessed to have you in my life! The memories we have made over the last 13 years are priceless I can laugh out loud just thinking about most of them! I love you like my sister and I can't wait to celebrate 30 more years of life with you!

Out with the Old... In with the New!

Everything seems to be changing at our house and FAST! :) Yesterday was a BIG day in the Templeton household!!!

Palmer said bye-bye to these...

Hello to this...

and put on these....

We have a LONG road ahead of us! I wish there was a step by step manual to potty training that assured you that IF you followed these steps exactly in 2-3 business days your child would be fully potty trained! :) I fully anticipate many accidents, many meltdowns and many tears but we are moving in the right direction! Palmer used the potty all day yesterday and is seeming to like the attention he gets when he pees!

I guess Ann Mason took note that things were changing so she decided to...

Say bye-bye to this.... (Hallelujah no more $$$$ on formula!)
And Hello to this...

Pray for a little sanity for the Templeton's... it seems like my kids are getting bigger and I am NOT ready! Isn't that the way it always is?

Back at it...

We are officially back from our mountain getaway! We had a GREAT time and it was SO relaxing. Although for some reason even a relaxing weekend with two small kids is still exhausting :) We swam, played and ate a lot! I think I need food detox for sure!
I am completely disappointed in the pictures that I took! I got virtually no pictures and the pictures I did get I was lucky if someone was looking at the camera! ha ha At least it is put away in the memory of my mind :)

Here are the two Cook boys! They give me hope that my kids aren't the only ones who are difficult to photograph! ha ha They are so sweet and Palmer and Ann Mason just loved being around them!


Palmer and Ann Mason "toughing" it out on the streets of Gatlinburg in search of Ice Cream!

Ann Mason is teething horribly right now! 3 teeth all coming in at once. So the only thing that sufficed her was daddy's toothbrush and a pacifier! I can't wait to get these teeth in!
Ann Mason in the baby pool! It took two of us to chase her... she would walk and then fall face first and get up and be grinning from ear to ear and do it again and again! This girl has NO fear!

The kids in the pool... take notice of two things. 1. I get the camera out and the boys walk in different directions. 2. Um, is that Ann Mason all the way out there on her own? Um yeah!

We have a lot of exciting things to come! Hopefully I can get someone to take a good picture one of these days!

Goodbye Reality.... Hello Mountains!

The Templeton's are off for a 3 day excursion to the Smoky mountains! It is a trip with no plans, no fuss and hopefully lots of fun! Luckily all 4 adults and 4 kids have not come down with some rare sickness (which is usually what happens when we plan anything fun!) I am SO looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with good friends and most importantly my family! Pictures to come!!!

Birthday Mania...

Two of my very favorite people in the whole wide world are having birthdays in the next 3 weeks (Tex and Ann Mason)! So... Momma's in party planning mode! Tex,unfortunately will be getting the shaft since he will be celebrating a very anti-climatic 31 st birthday :) Ann Mason on the other hand has had me dreaming up girly birthday ideas for months! Stay tuned... I hope to be making some fun birthday crafts in the next few weeks!

So, for starters here are her birthday invitations, I haven't even sent them out yet so consider it a "sneak peek"! haha I was a little behind on getting things together so I just ended up taking the picture of her and ordering them off the Internet, I figure they serve the purpose and are cute enough! More to come....

New Camera, New Pictures

I am so thankful to my boss' wife because she gave me the greastest hand-me-down ever! She gave me her gently used Canon Power Shot S3IS, ok I have NO idea about cameras but I know this has a big lens and manual shooting! ha ha I have yet to master or even attempt to figure this thing out but I have been practicing! Here are some photos from my new camera.... Let me also say that I am NOT bias with pictures of my children. I have an almost 3 year old boy who refuses to have his picture taken thus leaving me with no other choice but to take as many pics of Ann Mason as humanly possible! :) Enjoy!

No News is Good News

The Templeton's are totally uneventful at the moment and for that I am grateful! We had a wonderfully low-key weekend and enjoyed a lot of family time! This week we are busy working, Tex is going out of town and packing... we are heading to Gatlinburg on Friday morning! Woohoo! Hopefully we will have some post worthy pics soon! :)

Lazy Weekend and a Birthday

We do not have many plans this weekend and that makes me happy! :) I hope to get caught up on some house stuff, laundry, sleep, etc... One plan we do have is that my nephews Griffin and Hayden are coming in to visit and play!!! These two guys stole my heart from the minute they were born and we haven't been able to see them as much lately with busy schedules, etc... Palmer is going to be on cloud 9 playing with his big cousins this weekend! Here are the 2 studs at Ashley's wedding, swooning my two nieces :)

I also wanted to wish my sis-n-law a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Sorry we couldn't be there this weekend to celebrate with you! We love you and thanks for everything you do for us! Palmer and Ann Mason said their Aunt TT rocks! Have a fabulous day!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!! TGIF!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESTIE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!

I have to give a shout out to one of my best friends in the whole world, Jamie G! Happy Birthday! I hope you know how much you mean to me, I could go on for days but I don't want to start crying :) I couldn't have gotten thru the last year or rather the last 11 years without you by my side! Your an inspiration, a motivation and a truly everlasting friend. I am so blessed to have you in my life to walk with me thru the good times and bad! I love you!

Ann Mason, Ann Mason, Ann Mason...

This post is about 4 days pre-mature but I made your 1st birthday invitations today and it made me want to laugh and cry all at the same time! Your 11 months old and we fall in love with you more each day! Here are 11 reasons why we love you SO much:

1. Your laugh out loud hilarious in everything you do!

2. You have more rhythm than your daddy and brother combined and you can shake your tail feather!

3. You could out eat any baby your age on any day and there is no food group that can't be tackled by your 4 little teeth! (You may look petite but you are right around 20 pds, You Go Girl!)

4. Your daddy and I call you "Fire and Ice" because you can be "sweet as pie" one minute and "hell on wheels the next"!

5. Your a tomboy that has to wear a bow! You can wrestle in pink any day of the week!

6. Your wrinkle your nose and make the funniest sounds when you see twinkies, graham crackers and your daddy! (Basically things you REALLY like)

7. You bang on the door with excitement until daddy and I let you in to go wake up your brother from nap-time! You squeal at the top of your lungs the whole time you walk to his bed.

8. That you make me re-organize everything in the house because of your non-stop curiosity and "inspector gadget arms".
9. That you let me put you in any outfit even though you scream the whole time until it is on!

10. That you have no fear and are already Miss Independent! ( I will be regretting this deeply in years to come :)

11. That we have attempted to let you " cry it out" to no avail... you can scream for 25 minutes consistently and the minute we go to pick you up you have a grin from ear to ear like nothing ever happened!!!

*** I am already planning a girly extravaganza for your birthday! haha It is so fun to decorate with pink... it goes a long way! We love you and have cherished these last 11 months more than you will ever know! You have completed our family!

P-O-P-CORN!

Since the snow has kept us home-bound the Templeton's have been renting LOTS of movies and eating LOTS of popcorn! For some reason P-O-P-CORN has become an infatuation at our house!

This is how it starts... sweet lil munchkins having a "movie night" (notice the blankets protecting the couch!)
Step 2- Annie goes in for the Kill! Her lil fingers can grab SOOO many kernels!

Step 3- Daddy intervenes and Palmer steps away thinking that his sis is "CRAZY"

Step 4 - Annie works her way around the kernels and eats the blanket clean!

P.S. You would think I would learn not to do this but I have lost the will to fight the good fight!