Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter this year! We had a blast at grandma's house hunting for eggs and playing with our friends. McKenna was very proud of losing her front tooth and was showing everybody. I thought I would share a few pics....

Manners

Growing up, good manners were not an option, but a must. My parents used to threaten us that if we had bad table manners we would have to eat outside with the dogs. That always made me chuckle a little because we didn't have any dogs. Nevertheless, we didn't want to have to eat outside, especially in winter. I even had friends who were terrified of joining us for dinner after I told them they had to watch their manners because my parents were manner nazis. But I must say that I am very grateful for their teaching. I can not stand to watch someone eat their dinner while laying on the table and chewing with their mouth open. But I will say there are some things I don't do that my parents taught me. For example, sorry mom and dad but I don't cut my sandwich in half. I never have. I also lick my fingers which is one topic my parents disagreed on. Now that I have kids of my own, I have tried to pass on the torch of good table manners. Well I am married to a southerner. Now don't get me wrong, Mark has come a LOOOONG way at the dinner table, but there are some habits I just can't fix. (Talk to my dad if you want to know about Mark's previous table habits). The kids happen to pick up on those bad manners more quickly than the good ones. They know that drinking out of their bowl is not allowed, but how do you tell them no when their dad is at the table doing the same thing? Now it's a game and they think it's hilarious when they do it. McKenna likes to call Pappy just to tell him that she did it. Kaitlyn is innocent and doesn't do it just for laughs. She actually drinks the milk out of her bowl BEFORE she eats the cereal. If you look closely, you can still see the Chex in her bowl. But overall they are pretty well-mannered at the table. Now all we have to work on is that pesky burping!

I couldn't leave this post without putting up pictures of my boys. I am very proud of Joseph's teeth. He is my only child to have more than one tooth at their first birthday! Also, Jacob wanted me to take a picture of him walking on the roots of one of grandma's trees. He thought that was pretty cool!

Tagged

Ok, Andrea tagged me to tell about my husband. Here goes......

1. His name: Mark Allen Lowther, Jr

2. How long have you been married? 7 Years 7 months

3. How long did you date? Well, that's a good question. We started dating in January 1997, spent the summer apart, spent 1 semester together, another semester apart and then 2 years apart while he was on his mission. We got married 3 months after he got home in Aug 2000. So if anyone can figure out how long we dated, please let me know.

4. Who eats more sweets? That's a no-brainer: ME!

5. Who said 'I love you' first? Mark did--left a message for me with my roommate Tina to tell me goodnight and that he loved me.

6. Who is Taller? Unlike Andrea's sarcasm in her answer, this one is close. I will give the edge to Mark though, but not by much.

7. Who can sing better? Mark

8. Who is smarter? Um yeah, Mark.

9. Who does the laundry? Are you kidding me? I don't even let him in the laundry room after I found a load that had white underwear, jeans and towels among other things. I think he intentionally got banned from the laundry room because there's no way he could possible be that clueless about laundry is there?

10. Who pays the bills? Depends on the month, but usually Mark.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Mark

12. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Mark does help out when he can. He is definitely the breakfast cook. I can't make a pancake to save my life.

13. Who drives? Mark, unless he has to study.

14. Who is more stubborn? I tell him that he is, but it's definitely me.

15. Who kissed who first? It just kind of happened--no one can take credit. We were arguing (playfully) and then we were kissing.

16. Who asked who out first? Tina. Yep, gotta give her the credit. She would ask Mark to come swimming with she and I and then she would bail at the last minute saying something came up. This happened several times, so those were our first "dates" I guess you could say.

17. Who proposed? Mark did.

18. Who wears the pants? Well I like to give Mark ideas and let him think they are his. It works out well, I get what I want and he thinks it was his fantastic idea! :)

I love you babe! You are the best decision I ever made!

Wii Wii

I have got to start updating this more often so that I don't have so much to say at once. I'll begin by saying that it seems everyone is finally well at our house (knock on wood). Now let's pray it will stay that way! McKenna is back at school and on Tuesday received awards for High Honor roll and Excellent conduct. I am sure proud of her! Mark gave his 2 weeks notice at Gulfstream and his last day is tomorrow. He is so excited he can hardly sit still. He really didn't like the work he was doing there. Now he will be working as a graduate research assistant with a professor at Georgia Tech, doing something he loves. Plus he will actually have time to study now.

We have been busy around here just having fun. The weather has been beautiful still so we have worn ourselves out playing outside, flying kites and playing soccer. We drove through the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and saw about 5 or 6 alligators. Not the most we've ever sighted, but still a ton of fun! We listened to my nephew Ryan open his mission call yesterday which was a fantastic experience! Helsinki Finland will be his hime for the next 2 years. Congrats Ryan!

Mark and I had a fun Valentine's Day. We put the kids to bed and made ourselves a nice dinner that we ate on china while watching Pride and Prejudice. Mark fried shrimp and grilled steak and we also had twice baked potatoes, a salad with cranberry vinaigrette, rolls, peas and some sparkling cider. And most importantly, the Cheesecake Factory Godiva cheesecake we had for dessert! Perfection! And we can't forget that we shared this wonderful evening and dinner with Joseph because he decided it was more fun to be with Mom and Dad than in his bed!

There really is nothing else happening here. Oh wait, I finally found a Wii! We love it and have had so much fun. My kids got the hang of it really quickly and are so competitive! I am amazed at how good they are! I like to box with Mark because he has only won twice. I don't know if he has problems hitting a girl or what, but I kick his Wii butt! It's great exercise by the way, so I highly recommend it to anyone who may be thinking about getting one. Our bishop and his wife our coming over for dinner tomorrow and bringing their controllers to play. Should be a blast!

Random

Ok, don't ask me why in the world I thought about this song because I don't have an answer for you. But if you are a member of my family, you will probably know every word. Thanks Daddy for teaching us ALL different types of music. Weird or not, we love it!

I was wrong

Well I was wrong about February....we are still sick. McKenna had the flu last week and Kaitlyn has it now. Fortunately it was pretty mild and the worst symptom was a fever. Kaitlyn is getting over it, so we will keep our fingers crossed for better health! I actually have to be grateful for the flu this time. We were supposed to go to a PTA program put on by the first graders on Thursday at 6:00. Because McKenna was sick, we obviously didn't go. Well as everyone was leaving that meeting that night, they saw the sugar factory explosion. I am so glad we were not there to witness that, especially with our young kids. The factory is directly across the street from McKenna's school, but it sits pretty far back from the road so the school was in no danger. They did have to cancel school on Friday because they were still trying to get the fire under control and the whole area was blocked off. Crazy stuff!

I thought I would add a few pictures of my kids. I think they were all taken outside. We have had the most beautiful weather lately and have been opening all the windows and doors in the house to let the fresh air in. I am really looking forward to spring and summer so we can go to the beach and the swimming pool here in our community. Our kids love being outside!

I will leave everyone with an FYI just in case you aren't in the loop. Mark got accepted to Georgia Tech and started in January working on his PhD in Electrical Engineering. I am so proud of him for getting into the #7 engineering school in the country! He will have his Masters next summer, and it will take another 3 years after that to finish his PhD. He works so hard as an employee, a student, Elder's Quorum Pres, a husband and a dad! I am so grateful for his hard work which allows me to stay home and be a mom and for the blessings that brings into our home. I have the best husband in the world, just don't tell him or he might get an even bigger head! :)

Finally February

Well I am hoping February is a healthier month for us than January. We all took turns being sick the entire month of January. I took Joseph to the doctor twice and the insta-care once, Mark went to the doctor and I finally broke down and went myself. Now that the rounds of antibiotics have kicked in, I have stripped all of our beds, sprayed them with lysol and washed the sheets. Oh, and I bought new air filters. Hopefully that will do the trick!

I have spent the better part of yesterday and today potty training Kaitlyn. Now when it's her idea to go to the potty (which is generally when she is supposed to be in bed), she does great. But when it's my idea and I ask her to go, she has a fit. This girl definitely has a mind of her own. That's why many people call her "Battle Ax." If you know her, you know why. If you don't know her, well battle ax is a perfect description! I just took this picture of her a few minutes ago jumping on my couch and eating chips at the same time. And she put on her own shoes, necklace, sunglasses and glove today. We are minus pants because they are wet. Potty training, remember?

I have to take a few minutes right now to brag because for the past few days, my kids have been able to go outside and play on their swingset and play soccer, etc. It is 75 degrees here today. Can't beat that! Also, happy birthday to all those who have a birthday this month. I would name all of you, but there are a lot and I am afraid I would miss someone. But today is Bill's birthday, so I hope you have a great day Bill!