Golf Obsessed

Marcus, being the wonderful (or crazy) dad that he is, took our children and one extra friend on a shopping excursion one Friday night while I had a night out with some friends. One stop was ToysRUs, and Luke's toy of choice was a new set of golf clubs. He has become obsessed with this set, and for several days in a row he carried them over his shoulder constantly through the house. I think the only thing that stopped him was that Sam began taking his clubs out, and he was not interested in sharing with his baby brother. Thankfully he will share with Ben. Do we have a future Tiger??

Soccer Madness

Somehow I have missed a picture of Sarah Caroline in her soccer uniform - yes, she plays too. That's why I call it "soccer madness". It is fun when you finally make it to the field, but it is "mad" trying to get there. Socks to find, cleats and shin guards to put on, soccer balls to load up, water bottles to fill. And that is after shoving supper down kids who aren't hungry because I just let them eat too many snacks while I was getting their gear together. Then on the way....what field are they playing on?? Was it the boys playing at 6 and Sarah Caroline at 7, or the other way around?? I am still trying to grasp this idea of sports and young children, but Marcus is convincing me that it is good for them! And it is fun to see them "run" around for a goal at the wrong end of the field, even if it does stress some of the parents out (mostly dads!). Maybe one day I will have some sound spiritual advice to young parents about why sports is good (or bad) for our kids, but for now, I am trying to figure out what I think about the madness. Any wise parents out there....I am open for advice!!

Fall Fun at Pickwick

Once again we were blessed with a weekend at Pickwick lake. We love the lake anytime of year, but it is so wonderful in the fall! Wendy, Mia Katherine, and John Nicholas came with us for part of the weekend, and we had so much fun fishing, hiking, boating, playing, and relaxing. Well, as much as you can relax with six children ages seven and under!!

Guns and...Tigers??

There is just no way to avoid that Sam is all things rough and tough at a young age! He is so sweet and mild in so many ways, but with two big brothers and three boy neighbors to play with everyday, all he knows is guns, swords, and light sabres. He loves to run in a room with a gun in hand ready for attack and....he growls like a tiger. I'm not sure why he thinks growling goes with shooting, but it sure is cute!

Sleepy Heads

I think Marcus planned to teach them about the game of football. It really is boring, huh? Don't you love those matching pj's Luke has on? Notice the blue bears that Ben has....they have been around a while. There started off being just one, but eventually we realized we needed a back up in case he lost one. So now he likes both of them. One is called "Dirty Blue Bear" and the other is "Clean Blue Bear". Neither is ever really clean, but to him it has to do with eye color. One's eyes are stitched grey, and one brown. Only he knows the difference! He just might be taking the Blue Bears with him to college, but that is just fine with me!

Big Sister

This is only a glimpse of what is so special about having a big sister! This was taken on the way into an MSU football game this fall. Sarah Caroline is so great with her brothers, but especially Sam!

Happy 10th Anniversary to Us!

Labor Day weekend Marcus and I spent a fabulous weekend in Boston celebrating ten years of marriage. We had such a wonderful time together, and of course it was a treat to get away from our normal routine (which includes four busy children)! Boston is a great city to visit! We loved the restaurants, the history, the shopping, and the weather! It was a nice break from the heat in Mississippi, although I am not sure we would enjoy it in the winter time! We did most of the tourist attractions - a trolley tour of the city, the Freedom Trail, Fenway Park, walking through Beacon Hill, and shopping ("window" shopping, that is) on Newbury St. We took a tour of Harvard one day, and my grandmother got suspicious that Marcus wanted to go back to school. My mother had to explain to her that we just went there as tourists! We also spent a day touring Cape Cod/Hyannisport, and saw the Kennedy Compound from water. All of the food was fabulous! For future reference, our favorite restuarants were Mama Maria's, Stephanie's on Newbury, Boushee, and the Parish Cafe'. And thanks to our neighbors' suggestion we didn't miss the cannoli from Mike's Pastry in the North End (Little Italy). You just should not go to Boston and miss the cannoli!! One night we walked into Little Italy not realizing that it was the Feast of St. Anthony. And wow, it was quite a feast and festivity! There were Italian people everywhere, with beautiful heavy accents and lots of food and parades. It was like nothing I have ever seen, but it was so much fun walking into it not knowing what to expect. We loved this trip to Boston and would love to one day go back! We are so thankful to God blessing us with ten wonderful years together!

Excuses, Excuses

Procrastination is my specialty, I think! Yes, it has been a long time since anything has been posted. It all started in late August, when we unhooked our computer to have a desk and bookcases/cabinets built in. It was supposed to take only "two weeks" (every contractors famous last words). Marcus and I thought we surely could survive a two week interruption from technology. After four weeks, we thought it would only be another day or two, etc. The next thing you know it was early November! We finally got it all back in place, then we had some connection issues. Then I got really busy planning a trip to Disney, which I will be sure to post many pictures of later! Then it was Thanksgiving and Christmas, and here we are! I am sure I have missed recording some exciting times in the Ueltschey home, but I will do my best to catch us up.

Sunday Stitches

This Sunday we added a little excitement to church - Luke busted his head open on a pew! Well, thankfully church was over and many people had already gone home. We were gathering everyone together, and as usual, he was running around and chasing some other kids. Thankfully my parents were home and live close to church, so we dropped the other kids off at their house and went to Marcus' office for stitches (thirteen to be exact). He did really well sitting still, and Marcus did a great job, too!! We were back at my parents by 1:00 and Luke was bouncing off the walls (well, literally, jumping on chairs) in minutes.

Thankfully, this incidence was less traumatic than the first set of stitches for the Ueltschey boys. The first round, over a year ago, we had a babysitter while we were going out for dinner. Before we got two blocks from home, we received a call from our frantic sounding sitter (who is usually very calm!). She said Ben had fallen and hurt himself, and indeed he had! When we pulled up Ben was standing in the door screaming, with blood everywhere and his ear halfway off. The other kids and sweet sitter were standing there as pale as a ghost and eyes wide open! I yelled to Marcus that he better leave the car running, that we needed to go to the ER fast! He calmly proceeded to remind me that he does do stitches on a regular basis as part of his career, and that it would be quicker, easier and cheaper to go to his office. I reluctantly agreed, not becuase I questioned his skills, but could he work on his own son? Well, Ben's ear now looks wonderful and you can hardly tell his ear was ever cut in half! Needless to say, this time I gladly went to the clinic rather than the hospital!

New School Year, New Haircut

Sarah Caroline was a little hesitant to start school this year, but how can you have a bad day when you have a teacher calling you "honey" and "sweetie-pie"? We are really looking forward to a great year with sweet Mrs. Allen. I think that having a new hairstyle helped her get excited about seeing her friends from school! Such a girl thing! She has adjusted just fine, and has actually made it to school early every day, with no tardies on her record - yet!

Pickwick with the Nichols

We had so much fun on our last trip before school started!! We met our wonderful friends, The Nichols, at Pickwick Lake. We first met Jim and Shelley about 9 years ago, when their son Jonathan was a baby. We had just moved to Greenville, SC for residency, and met them in Sunday School. After all these years they still want to be our friends, and we are so thankful they drove 8 hours to spend a vacation with us!! They also have precious twin boys (Jim wouldn't appreciate me calling them "precious") Will and Jacob. We all had such a good time, and our kids loved hanging out with them.

Jonathan and Will? or Jacob?

Not the best picture, but the only time we could get all of them, (excluding Sam) to be still long enough for a picture together.

"I'm Driving!!"

A huge accomplishment - Sarah Caroline knee-boarding. Marcus and I traumatized Sarah Caroline last summer by trying to "make" her learn to ski. We ended that day with her threatening to go live with Sally Grace and let Mr. Kurt and Miss Jane Clair be her daddy and momma. Needless to say, we will never force that issue again, but this trip she did get brave enough to try a new watersport!

This is a shot of the highlight of our trip - a "show" put on by the kids!! They danced and did the train, and showed several breakdance moves to "We are Family" and other fun songs!

I attempted to put a video on here, but I think it was too long. Maybe later I'll figure it out. It was pretty entertaining!
I just realized I didn't have any pictures of the grownups! This is a picture from January of Shelley and me together in Chattanooga. Our husbands got together and surprised us with a trip to see each other - aren't they great husbands?!!

Birmingham Blast!

In July we had a special treat to spend the weekend in Birmingham. We stayed at a beautiful resort, Ross Bridge, and enjoyed every minute. Well, except for the minutes that Luke was coughing during the night. They have a great pool with a fun water slide, and that alone kept us entertained for hours. On Saturday we visited the zoo, which as you can see we met some birds up close and personal. The kids thought we had really gone on a big trip, although we weren't far from home. A great treat for mid-summer fun!

Really Behind

I do realize I am so behind with my blogging. Not that anyone is just tapping their fingers waiting on an update, but here I go with six weeks worth of action in the Ueltschey Family!!

Boys Day Out with Talmadge

Luke was treated to a very special day with his Uncle Talmadge yesterday! It all started when he told us a few days ago that Talmadge was going to take him to play golf, and do "a lot of fun stuff." Talmadge agreed to take Luke out for a day of "fun stuff", and "fun stuff" was what he got!!! They started at McDonalds for breakfast, then Chuck E Cheese for games, then to the driving range at the Country Club. After that they went out for lunch. Ben was going to be included for the "fun stuff" but woke up with fever and was pretty sick most of the day. Talmadge was kind enough to say this is only the first BDO and there will be more to come. Check out the video of Luke's swing on their blog, http://www.katieandtalmadge.blogspot.com/. It was a very special day - one that Luke will remember for a long time! Thanks, Uncle Talmadge.

A Fun Fourth!

Cassie Ray, our favorite dog!


Sam found a new friend: Dr. Hilbun

Graham and Sam waiting for the parade with Mimi

Ben, Luke and Mia Katherine

Ben

Luke

We had a great time at our neighborhod Almost Annual Popsicle Parade! We started off the morning hosting a breakfast at our house, which of course I don't have any pics of. It was fun to visit with the neighbors, and we enjoyed all of the yummy food brought! Then the kids walked over to Mrs. Jeanie Lagrone's for the festivities. They sang the national anthem, said the pledge and she introduced "Uncle Sam", "Lady Liberty", and the Grand Marshals of the parade. The parade was complete with police escort, a Waste Management truck (i think the "theme" this year was recycling), a fire truck, a trailer with porch swings on it with various area "celebrities" such as Church St Principal Miss Collins, followed by lots of bike riders, wagon pullers, scooter pushers, strollers, etc. All of this was led by Mrs. Jeanie decked out in a sequined drum major outfit twirling a baton. For those of you who don't know Mrs. Jeanie, well, let's just say she is retirement age. Although, she is very young at heart, and the other day we passed her and Ben said "There is that girl that lives in our neighborhood!" She was thrilled by his comment! The Hilbuns (a third set of grandparents) and my parents and Graham joined us for this fun event!

Sarah Caroline's Catch

After the parade we headed to Forest for the weekend. Marcus took the kids fishing at their pond, and Sarah Caroline caught this bass that you see! She did catch it by herself, but if you will notice in the picture she did not want to hold it for the picture! She also learned how to drive the all-terrain golf cart while we were there. And of course we ate lots of home cooked vegetables, a chocolate cake, homemade ice cream and a chess pie while we were there.

Visit With Graham

Isn't he just so cute?

Sam isn't sure about Graham!

Sam did love Graham's passy.

Graham, Rebecca and Justin's baby, came to Tupelo for a visit while they celebrated their anniversary. We got to keep Graham one morning, and our kids loved having him! He is a really sweet baby and was so happy and smiley! He really loved Sarah Caroline, and was constantly entertained with all the action in our home. Luke and Ben commented that he probably thinks our house is wild! And I guess it is! Graham, you are welcome any time!! We miss you!

Hmmm...Hmmm..Good!

Sam sure does love some strawberries!! No need in cutting them up for him- he prefers them whole and just eats them as fast as he can! We went to the Symphony in the Grove at Ole Miss last weekend, and took a picnic with friends Jenny, Kevin, Carlyle, Rhett, and Savannah Smith! The kids had a great time catching lightning bugs, and Sam just ate strawberries and other picnic treats. It was a fun summer night!

Church Street Wedding

Sarah Caroline's first grade teacher, Miss McCain, got married last weekend! She and Mia Katherine were so excited to see her marry "Super Trey", who also works at Church St. School. Also at the wedding were classmates Paxton, Mack, Savannah, and Tamiya. They all had a great time and had looked forward to this big event for many months! Miss McCain was a wonderful teacher, and was such a blessing to us all this year. Now we'll have to get used to calling her Mrs. Wyatt! Best Wishes, Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt!!!

Would You Like to Buy Some Lemonade?

Last week the kids decided to be little entrepeneurs..... a lemonade stand was set up along with some snacks for sale. They made a few dollars thanks to some friendly neighbors coming by. They were really looking for Mr. John, the tree cutter who gave them $5 a cup last summer, but he wasn't around this week. A few days later they wanted to make a little more money, and before I knew it they were outside selling books! Good books! For one dollar each.....obviously they did not realize some of the book were recently bought for $10-$15 each. I ended that sale a little earlier than they would have liked, but they did have a good time while it lasted. Now if we can just teach them to save the money they have earned!!

Father/Daughter Ball

Sarah Caroline had a special treat recently...the annual Father/Daughter Ball. Marcus took her last year for the first time, and they quickly learned that this is an annual event they won't want to miss! The ball is complete with formal pics taken, music for dancing, princesses available to sign autographs, a silent auction, a station to decorate their own cupcakes, etc. She loved every minute of it! I wish I had a better picture of her beautiful dress- it is adorned with "crystal" beads on the bodice, and is just what any princess would love to wear. She wore this same dress last year, but we did update it with some new accessories! She wore a pink rhinestone bracelet, a tiara, and the shoes were to die for! They were clear heels and a silver heart shaped "charm" hanging from the silver straps. She says she did suffer from a few blisters because of the new shoes, but she said they were worth it! She loved it, and I am so thankful for such a special time for them to spend together. She says "Thank you, Daddy, for taking me!"

Summer Fun!

We are finally joining the world of blogging!! We are having a great summer, which started with a Memorial Day weekend at Pickwick Lake with all of my family. Mimi, Dodad, BecBec, Justin, Graham, Katie and Talmadge, along with us six, piled into a great cabin together for the weekend. It was a fun start to summer! Last weekend Talmadge's family was nice (and brave)enough to invite us to Lake Darden in Union County for another fun time together. Posted are pics of both family events.

A highlight of the summer so far was having pictures made at our home. What?? Did I really just write that pictures made of four kids was fun?! Actually, for the first time ever, it really was fun! Usually, everyone is crying, including me. And Marcus usually begins screaming (or at least talking VERY loud) and making empty threats. This time, there was no trauma! Stephanie Rhea came over and did all the work! She had them pose together for a few pictures, and after that she just let them play as she snapped away. They loved her, and Sarah Caroline really enjoyed being creative with some "modeling" poses. And I really did take them to McDonalds AND Baskin Robbins after it was all over. You can see these pics at www.stephanierhea.com/ukids/.

We also have had a great time with tball games! Ben and Luke were able to be on the same team, and Marcus helped coach. Marcus and I enjoyed it as much as they did! I have made a huge discovery about why God gave us mostly boys, and a girl who loves sports - we are much better at enjoying ball games than dance recitals!!!! Sarah Caroline did a fantastic job dancing in her recital this year (which was jazz/tumbling....she said ballet is too boring!), but about 10 minutes into the recital, Marcus started asking, "When is Sarah Caroline's turn?" Her turn, by the way, was one full ninety minutes into the program. Ben fell asleep while waiting for her to come onstage, and missed her part completely. In addition to the two hour long recital, she had been at practice about for four hours that day (AND had to be there one hour early, but who's counting?) Might I add that she is not taking dance next year, so we will instead have three soccer players in the fall! If you EVER hear me complain about soccer, just remind me of the dance recital weekend!

Here is a little about what Sam has been up to lately. He celebrated his first birthday in May, and he also is becoming quite a little helper. One of his favorite things to do is "help" me unload the dishwasher! And yes, he really does have a knife in his hand - typical fourth child being left in a dangerous situation - but it is a butter knife!