Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Good-bye Norfolk

2010-08-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

So I am feeling a little sad this afternoon. We left my sister's house this morning. :-( We had so much fun with her. We went back to Sandfiddler for another yummy breakfast and then to a coffee shop for teas. We got one that my sister named Memaw's Garden. It's so yummy! Now were on our way to PA. Tomorrow we'll head to Canada. We're having a blast so far. The kids loved the beach. We saw dolphins playing with a couple of surfers. The kids found lots of shells. Big thanks to my sister for a great time. We love you and miss you Michelle.

Kiddos with Aunt Shell

Me and my sissy

Last day at the beach

2010-08-27T17:00:00.001-07:00

We went back to the beach today. We head to Pennsylvania tomorrow. We've had so much fun. JD went into deeper water this time. He is so funny. A wave would hit and he would say, "Please, please...I'm too young to die." When he would say that I would laugh so hard and the next wave would take me out, so he said it a lot. It was a great day. Heading to Michelle's to order in Chinese and pack our bags. Thanks Aunt Shell for everything. :-)

Heading back to Aunt Shell's.

In Virginia

2010-08-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

We made it to my sister's late Tuesday night. Wednesday we went to the SandFiddler Cafe in Norfolk for breakfast. It is an awesome restaurant. Check it out if you are ever in the area. We went to the beach for a little bit and then went to see a movie.

(Me @ the beach)

Wednesday night Michelle hosted a Celebrating Home party. Yes, I am working on vacation and you know that you NEED a bean pot, so call me. :-) I made a bean pot lasagna and a microwave cake. Then this morning we went to a different beach, Sandbridge, to watch the sun rise and gather shells.

(Sunrise @ Sandbridge)

(Running from the waves)

Then we got Krispy Kreme and Starbucks and went to Michelle's. We took a nap and headed back to the beach and Michelle took our family picture. We went to Sandbridge Island Restaurant and had all you can eat crab legs and shrimp. Then we swam and built sand castles. JD buried me in the sand. He gave me a mermaid tail. Too funny. Had a great day.

I love this picture of Phillip!

Geo Caching

2010-08-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

Well, for those of you who don't know what geo caching is...the Air and Space Museum knows and can fill you in. :-)

A day in DC

2010-08-23T20:14:00.001-07:00

Today we toured our nation's Capitol. We started at the Library of Congress and went on a tour. Next we went to our Congressman's office. We met the sweet lady that set up all our DC tours. Then Jacob, the intern, took us on a tour of the Capitol. It was so cool. We even got our picture taken on the steps and a copy will be mailed to us. We learned so many interesting facts. Definitely do the Capitol tour if you are ever in DC. We had lunch at Union Station. We even found a few virtual caches. Next we walked to the Washington monument and went to see Lincoln. Man, we did so much walking. Everyone was tired and sore. We took the train back to the car. Went to the hotel and the kids went swimming. Then we ordered pizza for dinner. Noah helped me do laundry. Tomorrow we're going back to DC to the Smithsonian. Then to Norfolk to see my sister. Yeah!

On the Capitol steps.

Visiting Mt. Lincoln.

Sunday

2010-08-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday we drove all day long. We got stuck in a lot of traffic and got to the hotel really late.

Stone Mountain

2010-08-22T09:11:00.001-07:00

We spent the day at Stone Mountain, so am just now able to update. We road the ducks. The kids loved it. We even had Captan Tiny as our driver. You may remember him from Under Cover Boss. He was a hoot. We went up to the top of Stone Mountain on the sky ride. It was pretty over cast, so the visibility was low. On a clear day, you can see downtown Atlanta. Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite. It's 864 feet above the surrounding area. The granite base, meaning what's under ground, reaches to Tennessee and Kentucky. There used to be a quarry there and stone from Stone Mountain is in all post offices built before 1972 and was used in construction of the steps of the US Capitol. The boys (Phillip and Noah) did some caching on the mountain. We also got to tour the antebellum plantation and farm yard. Got to pet some goats, sheep, and pigs. (I liked the plantation tour the most.) Did you know that when Sherman burned Atlanta you could still see the mountain through the smoke? Also, Sherman had all the rails from the railroads in the area pulled up and put in bon fires and then wrapped around trees, so that they would not be useable. They called them Sherman neck ties. We did a ton of walking and were very hot and tired. It was so humid. I think you need gills to breath the air. We stayed late to watch the laser show and fire works. Very cool. It was a really fun day.

This was some rock in the parking lot.

Quack! Quack!

Silly Daddy.

Quack!

Aren't we cute ducks?

On top of Stone Mountain.

Waiting for the show to start. It was so hot and it rained some, so our tushies got wet.

5 states - 1 day

2010-08-20T17:51:00.001-07:00

So far we have traveled through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. We'll reach Georgia tonight too. Our family tradition is to take a picture in front of the state signs. We don't have an Arkansas one (but will when we come home) and Georgia will have to wait till we leave on Sunday as it will be too dark. We've gotten a geo cache in each state and left a Razorback pin in each cache. We won't be getting the oldest cache this trip as it will be too dark when we get there. Another time. Kids have been doing really well, especially considering how long we've been in the car. Everyone will be glad to get to the hotel tonight. JD especially, since his blister popped and needs a fresh band aid. Poor guy, it hurt when it popped. Playing with mommy's iPhone made it better though. :-)

Lunch

2010-08-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

We stopped in Russellville, AR for lunch, which greatly improved everyone's moods. :-) Phillip stopped to get a geo cache. Don't know what that is, look it up or check out Phillip's blog at www.totosphotos.blogspot.com. We went to CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers for lunch. So good! Phillip and I split a burger and were still so full. They have the best home fries, just like my grandma used to make. She would have loved them. Back on the road. Abby is doing her homework and the boys are playing Lego Batman on their DS's. We're listening to the satellite radio. We'll get into Atlanta late tonight. The5Ts may have to stop in Alabama to get the oldest active cache. (Again, look it up. Fun hobby.) Going to Stone Mountain tomorrow. History lesson for the kids. :-)

This is after we ate.

Outside of CJ's. Yum!

Vacation here we come

2010-08-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Day one of our vacation
We got a later start than we had planned. Phillip and I stayed up late loading the car. When we woke up this morning, we found a gross mess. Our dog, Candi, had pooped all over the front room floor. Yuck! We cleaned it up and got the carpet shampooed. We hit the road at about 9 this morning. The kids slept. Below are some pictures in the car. Noah was quite grumpy and told me that he didn't want to go on vacation. A nap helped some, but as you can see from the pictures he is still feeling kind of grumpy. JD has been asking since we left if he can play with his DS. Abby is in a great mood, even though she has to do homework. Gonna be a fun trip. Stone Mountain tomorrow.

Home made cleaner

2010-03-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this weekend my sister-in-law was showing me her home made cleaner and how great it works. Well, so I decided to try making some. It's incredible! It's an antibacterial, anti fungal, and a bug repellent. It's really cheap to make as well. Just get a spray bottle to mix it in. Recipe is below. Happy cleaning!

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
4 TBLS lemon juice
10-20 drops of tea tree oil

Shake it all together. It's great. If you don't like the smell, add some essential oils like lavender or rose.

Heading Home

2009-06-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we left New Mexico this morning and started heading home. We stopped in Rozwell, NM, but didn't see any aliens. Well, no real ones. There's pictures of them everywhere. Even on Walmart! We went to the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX for dinner. We're heading to Tulsa, OK tonight to spend the night with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Chad. Our puppy dogs are there. We can't wait to see them. Tomorrow morning we'll head back home to our kitty and fish. Thanks you Ms. Traci, Mr. Jon, and Dallas (Presli too) for taking care of them while we were gone. Mommy and Daddy said that the grass is probably very high, so they'll have to mow when we get home. We had a great vacation. We're really sad that it's over, but we're also glad to be going home. Hope you've liked reading about everything. We'll post some more pictures when we get home.

White Sands

2009-06-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

When we left Tucson, Daddy took us to this cool place called White Sands in New Mexico. We had so much fun running up and down the dunes. Daddy wrote a message in the sand for Mommy. We didn't become Jr. Rangers here, because the visitor center was closed. We had so much fun.

Good-bye Tucson

2009-06-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the day finally came that we had to head home. We were all so sad. We told Uncle Tim and Aunt Brigita good bye. JD was really sad about leaving Aunt Brigita. Then we went to Memaw and Pop's to say good bye to them. Aunt Patty walked over. Daddy was really sad to leave. We drove over to see Uncle Jim and Cameron to say good bye. Adam was at physical therapy, so we didn't get to see him. Then we went and found cowboy hats for Noah and JD. We also went to Trader Joe's to get Candi girl her favorite peanutbutter dog treats. Daddy took a picture of JD in the desert, because his eyes were very blue out there.

Saguaro National Park

2009-06-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Andrea and Jon came down to Tucson to go to the Saguaro National Park. A saguaro is the cool catus with arms, but they only grown around the National Park. A saguaro takes 75 years to grow it's first arm. When you're talking about more then one cactus it's cacti. That's silly. We became Jr. Rangers again. Ranger Richard asked us lots of questions. We saw Nonnie that morning for brunch and we got to have an Egee's for snack. Then Andrea and Jon went to Uncle Tim and Aunt Brigita's with us for dinner and swimming. It was so fun. We watched a movie outside on the big screen. Aunt Brigita made spring rolls and pineapple cookies. Yummy!

Hooch the mooch

2009-06-05T18:12:00.003-07:00

Aunt Patty and Uncle Jim have a funny dog named Hooch. He got in the pool with us. He would sit there and look at us when we had food until Uncle Jim or Aunt Patty told him no. I took a "nap" with him on his bed and he shared his toys. He's so funny. He goes to Memaw and Pop's house every morning. He sits there and drools until Pop or Memaw give him a treat.

Batman

2009-06-05T18:08:00.001-07:00

This is my cousin Adam. He used to play Batman at Six Flags. He's so cool. He does stunts in movies. He gave me a toy car. Daddy threw me in the pool after I got dressed, so Adam let me put on some of his stuff. I miss him a lot. I liked hanging out with him. I hope I get to see him again soon.

Swimming

2009-06-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, we did a lot of swimming while on vacation, especially at Uncle Tim and Aunt Brigita's house. We swam at Aunt Patty and Uncle Jim's too. It was so much fun. Uncle Tim and Aunt Brigita got a life jacket for JD to use in their pool. They also had lot of floaties and balls for us to play with. It was so fun!

Fun in Arizona

2009-06-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

When we left the Grand Canyon, we headed to Andrea and Jon's house. We got to meet them at a baseball game. We saw the Diamondback play the Braves. Daddy got us a pizza to share. It was a lot of fun. We went out for Mexican food that night with Andrea and Jon. The next day we went to the park in the morning. Then Mommy had a Celebrating Home party at Andrea's, so Daddy and Jon took us to see Night at the Museum 2. Then we went to Rawhide for dinner with Aunt Laura. Jon had Andrea arrested. We got to pan for gold. We ate rattlesnake. For real! We had a lot of fun. The next day we headed for Tucson. We'll hopefully get some pictures posted of this part of the trip when we get home.

Grand Canyon (Day 4 & 5)

2009-06-05T17:16:00.001-07:00

Wow! The Grand Canyon is so cool!

We got to become Jr. Rangers again. We went on a Rim walk with Ranger Nicole. She told us that the only state without a national park is Delaware. That's sad. She also told us that the Grand Canyon is not the biggest canyon. It's pretty big though.

We really liked the view from the watchtower. You could see the Colorado river. It's the highest point on the south rim.

Mommy had to keep a close eye on JD. He ran too close to the edge a couple of times.

We took this picture on our way out of the park. That's why we don't have shoes on.

Arizona (Day 3)

2009-06-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

So we didn't do our blog most of the trip, because we were busy having fun. We did finally make it to Arizona. It felt like we were in the car forever.

We went to the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert. It was so cool. We went on an off trail walk with Ranger Rita. We learned how to figure out if a rock was actually a bone fossil. You lick your finger and stick it to the rock, if your finger sticks it's a bone fossil. We even found some, but we left them there, because it is wrong to take things from a nation park. We also became Jr. Rangers. We did a work book and took a pledge, which is a serious promise. We got a patch and a badge. Cool. Below is a picture of Noah and JD doing their "Fire Power" from Night at the Museum 2 in front of the painted desert. It's important that we protect our parks, so everyone can enjoy them.

Day 2 - 4 corners

2009-05-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today we went to 4 corners. We stood in 4 different states; New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. You're also in 2 Indian nations there too. We had snow cones and Indian fry bread. We took pictures with the mountians behind us. Abby got 2 braclets, one for her and one for her friend, Schyllor. It was a lot of fun. Then we went to Gallup, NM to spend the night. Noah had a blast at 4 corners. There were lots of pretty things to look at. Someone made a double dream catcher. It was so cool.

A post by JD

2009-05-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

What do you do when Bubby and Sissy are sleeping?

Eat cookies of course!

Day 1

2009-05-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Today we left Paw's house in Oklahoma. We had breakfast with Paw, Aunt Maggie, and Uncle Chad at the club house in Flint Ridge. Aunt Maggie and Uncle Chad are puppy sitting for us. JD got to see his girlfriend JoJo. (She's too old for him though.) We road in the car for a long time on the first day, but we didn't fight at all. We went all the way to Santa Rosa, NM. Below are pictures we took of mommy and daddy. They're kissing in one. Gross! Daddy made us walk all the way from Texas to Oklahoma to get a picture in front of the Oklahoma sign. :-) We ate lunch at a rest stop in Oklahoma. Mommy made PBJ's. There were swings there, but they were too low to really play on. It was really windy. "Oklahoma were the wind blows!" We got to our hotel late and swam for a bit then went to Denny's for dinner.

Blog taken over

2009-05-28T07:45:00.001-07:00

This blog has officially been taken over by Abby, Noah, and JD Toto. We're going to tell you about our vacation, so enjoy.

The Toto kids

Our New Baby

2009-02-03T08:39:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I haven't posted in awhile, so thought this would be a good time to go ahead and post and tell you about the new addition to the Toto family. He's small, cute, and furry. His name is Romeo and and he is a full blooded golden retriever. He's too cute. I went to Tulsa yesterday and got him for Phillip. It was a huge surprise. A few weeks ago, Abby's guinea pig, Snowball, died. The kids took it pretty hard. Well, we had been talking about getting another pet. Well, I was looking at small dogs and all Phillip could talk about was a golden retriever and how he wanted one. Well, I thought he was just giving me a hard time. Saturday night, we got together with Phillip's family and met his sister's golden retriever. Phillip fell in love and begged me to get one. I said absolutely not. All weekend he asked and told me about how he's wanted one for a long time. Well, I decided that since he always gives me such great surprises that I would surprise him with a puppy for Valentine's day. Monday morning I looked for Golden Retriever Puppies in NWA with no luck. I called Phillip's sister to ask where they got their puppy. She looked in the paper and found Romeo. I came up with a reason to go to Tulsa for the day and picked him up. The kids were at Phillip's mom's house and wanted me to stop by so they could meet Romeo. I got Phillip to come over to his mom's also. When he got there I was holding Romeo and Phillip just stared at me. I told him that this is Romeo and still looked at me. Then I told him that this is his puppy. He was so excited. He couldnt' believe that I had actually got him one. Romeo spent his first night in his new home and did really well. He's had a few accidents on the carpet, but is doing great. Candi and Shalom aren't quite sure what they think yet. Below is a picture of Romeo. He's such a sweet boy and love to hug, cuddle, and kiss. We picked a good name for him.

Abby's New Hair

2008-09-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Abby and I have a go round about every day when it comes time to brush her hair. Thursday morning was no different. I did my usual, "if you don't brush it we're cutting it off." She said to call and get her an appointment, cause she didn't want long hair any more. Friday I took her in and she got it cut. It's really cute, but I did cry a little as those long locks fell to the floor.

Farmer's Market

2008-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the kids and I headed to the Farmer's Market in town. There was a lot more there this time. We went to get corn for tonight. (We have company coming and are grilling steaks and wanted corn to grill as well.) Anyway, we got our corn. The cool part was there was a guy there making balloon animals and he put on a puppet show. The kids LOVED it. JD really liked the dog puppet that kept giving the guy kisses. Sadly, I didn't have the camera with me. The guy calls himself "Fish Bucket". There is actually a story behind the name. When he was a kid, his parents would take him to school and his grandpa would come and take him out of school to go fishing. He would carry the fish bucket. Well, his parents didn't know until he failed that grade, but he's been "Fish Bucket" ever since. Too cute. He made Abby a balloon flower, Noah an one eyed monster, and JD Spiderman. They loved it. Sadly, I was cleaning my corn today and most of it was bad or had worms. YUCK! Guess I won't buy corn at the farmer's market any more. I'll just have to find the road side stands. Hopefully the corn tastes okay. The kids and Phillip love grilled corn and hopefully our guests like it as well.

Wedding Pictures

2008-07-21T09:50:00.001-07:00

So here are some pictures from the wedding. There's a really nice family photo and some of us dancing. There's also a nice one of Phillip and I. Just thought I'd share. We had a lot of fun.

2 weeks

2008-07-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I just had to post. Phillip and I leave for Haiti in exactly 2 weeks. I'm getting so excited. We were still short a little over $700 last week, but our trip is now completely funded. Praise God! Now we just need to start getting packed and our supplies together. I'm really excited though and look forward to sharing when I return.

Day Camp

2008-07-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I've written anything. It has been so crazy around here. Day Camp was over a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. Abby had a blast. I even camped. Can you believe that? We had fun though and I look forward to next year. The picture above is Abby and her new friend Sianna. Below is a picture of Abby and I. Then there's Abby with Austin and Abby with Miss Laura. Last is Abby with her group. They were the pink team. Hope to post again soon with some pictures from the wedding. You can go to our church web site to see the video from camp. http://www.gracepointchurch.net/adventure_point_info_08.htm

It is finished

2008-06-14T08:40:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's finally finished. We actually finished it Thursday night, but I am just now getting around to posting, so I'm sorry. Anyway, the kids love it and it's proving to be a great investment. We actually bought it with the money we made on our yard sale. The kids were a big help with the sale, so we promised to get them the play set with the money we made. Abby and Noah really love the swings. We had one of those metal play set and it would jump if the swung too high, so now they can swing as high as they want to. I had to include the picture of Phillip working on it. I even helped finish it up on Thursday. I sat in the crows nest and screwed on boards with the power drill. Scary thought huh? We're just really glad to have it done and I'm sure the kids are glad as well. It was a lot of work (for Phillip and the guys), but I think it was well worth it. I've even enjoyed playing on it. I love the swings as well. The slide if fun too. It's pretty fast though and the kids have already created a muddy spot at the bottom of the slide. We're hoping it dries up some today so we can go out and play. We've also got to finish laundry, as Daddy heads out of town tomorrow and needs some clean slacks to take with him. If the rain ever stops I'll have to let Noah camp out in the club house.

Pie Baking

2008-06-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

So you might be wondering, or maybe not, what we're going to do with the blueberries. Well, Thursday Miss Abby and I baked pies. We made a blueberry pie and a strawberry blueberry pie. They were both good. We did go pick again yesterday with our neighbors and I am hoping to make some jam with that batch of berries. We'll have to see though. Sorry, no picture of the completed pies. They got cut into before I had the chance to take a picture. They were very yummy though and Abby and I had a good time working on them together. Making jam should be fun. We're hoping to go pick one more time and take Daddy with us. Also, my mom is wanting some. I want some just to freeze for later on this year. They freeze great.

Blueberries

2008-06-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Pickin

Okay, so blueberry season has officially started in NWA. Just so you know, my family LOVES blueberries. (That's an understatement.) We've gone every year since we lived here. Even the year I was pregnant with JD, who was, by the way, born only a few days after we went picking. Anyway, we didn't get to go last year due to a late frost there were no berries. My kids were so upset. Abby especially. She really loves to go. This morning I called to see the price and everything. Then told the kids we were going picking. Abby was so excited she about hyperventilated. This was JD's first time to go, so we told him that you only pick the blue blueberries. That's a long running joke in our family. Abby was about 2 years old the first time we took her to pick and we had a long talk about not picking the green ones or the red ones. In her little voice she said, "Only pick the boo booberries." The only problem with Abby is she would always eat more then she put in the bucket. Before we left, Phillip and I both told her not to eat the berries. She could have a few, but not alot. We got to the blueberry patch (which is actually the name of the place as well) and got our buckets. Of course they all had to have their own. They were doing great. JD surprised us all. He only pick the blue ones. Then he tried one. Then he didn't put a single one he picked in the bucket. That kid is so full of blueberries right now it's not funny. We had a good time though. It was kind of hot, but that's okay. The kids really enjoyed it. We of course got our favorite blueberry jam as well. We all had a good time. I wasn't so sure we'd go, as yesterday I went to the doctor and I have a urinary tract infection, but I guess the medicine is working as I have been to the bathroom 20 plus times today. Anyway, there are pictures of the kiddos picking berries and one of them holding the berries. Noah is holding the bag we picked and Abby has the one Grandma requested we get for her. It was prepicked, since it was too hot to pick another whole bucket of berries.

Here we go

2008-06-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so thanks to my sister I'm blogging now. We do have some fun adventures at the Toto house. We've got a lot going on over the next few weeks, so hopefully I'll have time to post. As for news right now, Phillip and some guys from our small group have been building a play set for the kids in the back yard. I'll post pictures when they're done. They're about half way right now. It's one of those great big wooden ones with the club house. Noah is already begging to camp out in it. They've got the slide on and the kids wanted to play so bad yesterday, but it rained all day long. Hopefully they'll finish their school early enough today to play on it some later.