The Terrible Two's

My Little Angels

2009-12-23T15:42:00.003-06:00

FALL PICTURES 2009

Birthday Extravaganza

2009-11-18T07:59:00.002-06:00

We had two birthday parties this weekend.

Happy 4th Birthday, Jude S!

Where: CDC Upstairs Gym

Highlights: The perfect party place, familiar to the kids, minimal decorations, and inexpensive. Max, Maddy stayed with Cousin Ann for the first time to take a nap, had a blast!

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!

Where: The Little Gym

Highlights: The very huge, very delicious, princess cake, complete with castle from Mickey's. The children had a blast! Nothing like almost controlled free play.

2009 Holiday House

2009-11-18T07:43:00.004-06:00

My weekend started off with planned visit to the annual Holiday House. I got surprise free tickets and had an unplanned girls night out. Rodney took the kids with him to pick Kisha up from school, so I was free as a bird.

I was supposed to be shopping for Christmas presents and decorations, but it didn't turn out that way. I bought earrings for me, a wallet for me, a new hat, scarf, & gloves set for me, and I got some headbands and hats for Maddy and Be'yah, but I have been wearing the headbands for the last few days. I think the only unselfish gift I picked up was Be'yah's Christmas present. I also got some mesh and a new tree topper that matches the new Christmas balls KWK picked up at Sam's. So maybe I accomplished a little bit. I also got some cool new sauce that's for marinade of meats or can be served with cream cheese and crackers.

Ended my night with okay food, terrible service, and plenty of laughs with my good friends that I call my City Hall Crew. Surprisingly no drinks, but I still woke up the next day with a hangover. If you ever get an opportunity to try the Wine-A-Rita frozen drinks just try one. They had a booth at the Holiday House, it's this mix, 1/2 bottle of wine and ice. Best frozen drink I ever had. Unfortunately, I had two teaspoon size samples and I was buzzing. I went back the next day to buy some for entertaining but my head was hurting so bad I forgot to make that stop again. I did buy more stuff for my self and picked up a hat for Grayce.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

2009-11-10T17:13:00.005-06:00

Olivia had her 6th birthday party at The Jump Zone.Maddy had a blast; got her footing right off and went to business. Maddy and I conquered the Incredibles slide with great triumph. I was worn out after we got to the bottom. It was hard carrying 30 extra pounds up that steep slick plastic thing they call a ladder.
The cupcakes were homemade and had a really cool chocolate hand made kitty cat head on the top that was really good. Maddy really enjoyed the cupcake.

This was Max's 2nd trip to The Jump Zone. The first visit he sat on the bench and whined most of the time. He doesn't like unsure footing. he was inspired by his little sister's bravery this time.

He did find time during his first visit to go to the baby area and bully a few of them. he visited it again this time. He is such a wuss some times.

I was glad he was in the kitchen though because there was a television there and it was playing the Razorback game. They actually won that one. I have a little cousin that plays for them team that I really don't know, but I used to have a pretty good relationship with his mother. Go Joe!

This was my first self portrait since the creation of digital cameras. It was taken from inside the big carousel bounce house that the kids lured me into. I really got a workout that day.

I forgot to mention that I am testing some new hair products that my stylists recommended. Or really I should say old school hair products - spray curl activator! Can you believe it! I promised to commit for a week, but I can't shake the smell and I don't like the stickiness. I only have two more days to go.

The Party - Part 4 - Randoms

2009-11-10T10:12:00.007-06:00

As the party winded down Kobi Janai took a few moments to get her model on! There are about a dozen different poses of this one. This is the best of about 10 shots that Rodney tried to get of the kids.
Preston who had been in Max's class since day one got a chance to come to the party. He has graduated to the big kids school with his older brother and sister. Max was glad to see him and I was happy to visit with his mother.

Poor little Kennedy was worn out after they took him out of that hot costume.

High Profile: State Representative Darrin Williams dropped by to wish Max a happy birthday.

Rodney was actually at the party. This was the only picture we have of him out of the 200+ that were taken. His costume was "Angry Yard Man."

I was supposed to be a glamour witch but I never had time to put my make-up on. So I was just the hostess in the black dress with a witch hat.

Rodney says the party was really for me, but it was all about Maxwell and he loved it!
Happy Birthday Baby!

The Party - Part 3

2009-11-10T09:26:00.004-06:00

Double, double, toil, and trouble,
Fires burn and cauldrons bubble . . .
Calling all witches, goblins, and ghosts,
The Blocker family will be your host . . .

That was the wording on the invitation and so they came all dolled up in their costumes . . .

Uncle James and our newest member of the family, our nephew Kennedy. We still haven't figured out his costume. He was some type of blue sparkly monster.
Kason was the white ninja from G.I. Joe - Storm Shadow, I think.
Elena was a really cute Minnie Mouse. Hannah was one of our many princesses.
My niece, Kobi Janai was a super cute flower.
Jude was Optimus Prime from the Transformers - Max's ally.

The Party - Part 2

2009-11-10T08:29:00.007-06:00

Maddy was up early that day and ready to party -- until the action started and then she was just plain cranky. She floated from arm to arm, in and out of sleep for hours that afternoon, but didn't get her real sleep on until about 7 PM. Poor kid was also hungry, but didn't ever eat because she was just too excited or mad.The cake by Robin Abdullah was a smash hit. It was cute and it was good. It went fast and as usual there was nothing left. I ordered one the following week so that I could just have one to eat at my (our) leisure. The cake is always my favorite part.Max has finally got this birthday thing down - he knows the song very well and is familiar with the tradition of blowing out the candles. So much so that as soon as I got them lit he blew them out, but that was before another of his party guests could beat him to the punch. They were ready! That's him smiling during the birthday song - his favorite part! He cares nothing about the cake.

My friends S & S - the least likely to be holding babies. Neither one of them really like children, but somehow they always end up with one of mine or my nieces or nephews.
After the Balloonman, before and after the cake, the children ran and played in the yard. You know, the one I never go into. They discovered the cool rocks on the side of the driveway and climbed their hearts out. They collected sticks and leaves and played chase. Rodney huffed and puffed about doing the yard because he wanted to wait until the last leaf had fallen, but I insisted and even hired one of my brothers to help. Thank you Rodney and Kobi; it was well worth it.

Of course the yard looks like it has never been raked again!

My nephew Kam. He was Megatron! There were a lot of Transformers running around!

The Party - Part 1

2009-11-10T07:55:00.003-06:00

The birthday party will continue to be a multi part blog because there were so many pictures. So finally I got it all organized and here we go. The guests and their parents arrived and were seated after taking a family photo on the porch with our Halloween/Fall backdrop. Aryshona and Be'yah were among the guests that sat in the kitchen while the magic happened. Mostly Max's uncle, sister, her boyfriend, other adults . . .

The children really enjoyed Mr. Don-The Magical Balloonman. Max was his special helper for all of the magic and balloon creations. We were also the test group for some of his new stuff. The older children and some of the adults were totally amazed by him.

Max passed out the balloon creations to his guests. Oh, and he was Bumblebee from the Transformers, but somehow we never got a good shot of him in action.Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales was one of the more non-traditional creations.Spider Man was also a very complicated creation; he drew the face and spider on him. The more traditional poodles and swords were also present.

Party Pics are coming

2009-11-05T10:14:00.002-06:00

I have been so busy trying to get the gifts inventoried, the thank you's ordered, prepping for the dozen or so more birthday parties that we will attend through February, returning my house to it's normal state, and enjoying Blocker's day shift that I haven't had time to go through all 300+ pics to choose what I wanted to put on the blog for the actual day of Max's party.

But I guess you can enjoy all of the previous blogs until I get them posted!

Halloween House

2009-11-03T05:24:00.021-06:00

It was a long time coming, a little planning, and a lot of hard work, but I pulled off another successful event for Mr. Max.

So let's start from the beginning. I ordered a "Happy Halloween from The Blockers" banner to hang out in the yard. I put some scarecrows and fake mums out on the porch and in the yard (the kids picked them). That handled outside, which was pretty easy. I had also ordered some ghosts that hug the trees but they didn't make it out in time. The leaves were just being finished up in the yard when the first guest arrived.

These are pictures of my living room before I started transforming the house for the party.

I started off simple by gutting the room of most of the furniture and fixing up the mantle complete with floating candy corn candles and spider web scarf. And then I rearranged the furniture that remained to clear out space for little tables and chairs.

Then came my favorite part of the room decor - the giant spider on the ceiling! And boy was it labor intensive, well more than I wanted it to be. I thought it was one piece that you blow up, instead it was several pieces and an hour later . . . .

I had originally ordered a giant piece of black carpet to cover the floor, but the delivery date was going to be too late. Gigi had a brilliant idea to use felt; it was 50% off at the fabric store and it was 1/4 of the price of the rug I had ordered. Yea, Gigi! It was perfect after I made the right cuts. And then I put the tables and chairs out. They were blue and red, but I just covered the tabletops and kept it pushing. Then I put the remaining furniture in places for parents to sit. Maddy thought the party was for her. She was very early and already seated when the magician arrived.

Each table was set with Halloween tableware, a Halloween bowl filled with individual chip bags, a Halloween tray filled with hot dog condiment packets, and a witch hat cooler filled with assorted juice boxes. I realized after the tables were set that I didn't need those cups!

The entry hallway had spider webs in the doorway, tombstones against the walls, a gift table with an old ghost pinata, and Max's Halloween book (Max and Ruby is a cartoon about rabbits). The star rail had sparkly pumpkin garland running down it, there were decorative gourds, with little figurines and a family photograph in the hallway also. The bathroom door was marked with a pumpkin bucket and there were Halloween hand towels in there and a Halloween soap pump.

The bar was shielded with spider webs too. So no children would be tempted to climb up there and grab at the bottles or turn the faucet on like my little ones do. I had intended to have bear and wine available for the adults but I got so busy that I didn't have time to go buy the wine and I think my husband is the only person in the South who drinks Coors Light.

Of course there were balloons everywhere. Thank you Javon for helping me go through those very quickly. We didn't even pass out and still had enough energy for a 1 am trip to Wal-Mart.

This was the dining room during the process and then after. It was set up with food and snacks for the adults. The menu was chips and salsa, tequila lime chicken wings, white bean chicken chili, sodas and water. In addition to the hot dogs and chips.

And then the guests started to arrive . . .

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!

2009-11-02T22:02:00.004-06:00

This year for the first time ever Max got to go trick or treating!

Yes, after the party and after we opened the last gift and after the kids played for a few more hours. Shana and I decided to take them all out in the neighborhood for some holiday fun.

Max and his cousins and friends loaded up in the car - 5 total and off we went. Yes, we cheated and drove - have you ever been to my house in "the mountains?"The kids were so fun to watch. They were just running around every where trying to get the hang of it. Max was slow to start but by the 4th house he was leader of the pack; he was also the one that always ran off in no particular direction after he got his candy (never waiting for the group), and the only one that almost had a run in with an oncoming car. Next year, if I do this, we will have a small briefing session before we head out.There is this one house in our subdivision that always goes all out for Halloween and does this big cemetery for most of the month in the front yard (they have a circular drive). Never been out on Halloween so I didn't know that they add live creatures (people), fog, and black lights to complete the ambiance on Halloween night. Most of the kids stuck it out, but one stayed back. They had a gate complete with the Crypt Keeper passing out the candy. It was awesome!

This is what Kobi looked like after she returned to the car with a stranger. She did not get out at any more houses after that one and she asked at every remaining stop if there were "monsters in that house." And yes, that is Maddy's costume, but the time we decided to go out their anal Gigi had already thrown her costume in the washing machine. She was also very traumatized when we put her candy in Kamron's bag because hers was so full that the handle broke. She didn't understand that she was getting it back.

After the last house - outs - we sorted all of the candy and took out what we wanted and left them with Gallon sized bags full of candy. Max's pumpkin is hiding in my closet; he can't eat all of that candy. I found the last of last year's candy in Maddy's closet when I cleaned it out and got rid of stuff a month ago.

Happy Birthday to Max . . . I mean Rodney!

2009-11-02T15:33:00.003-06:00

In spite of the fact that we were having the big party at the house the day after Max's birthday, his father insisted that we do something to acknowledge his birthday on the actual day, which we usually do pretty small - cupcakes at school or something and we don't even show up for that.

But Dad has a new schedule and was home so we had pizza and ice cream cake from BR.No candles for the cake though so he just grinned while we sang happy birthday!
His cousins were over to help him celebrate and they all had a good time. Javon even stayed up til 2 am helping get the party stuff together.

I also got a new hairdo that day to go with my witch costume. Check me out!

I Will Survive

2009-11-02T14:06:00.004-06:00

After the party I was still able to smile. We had about 60 people at the house the day before this for Max's party. The party started at 1:00 PM and the last child left at 1:30 AM. I will explain all of that later. But I thought these pics were cute so I posted them.
My boys watching Kungfu Panda - The Legend of the Furious Five for the 100th time. Look how they are so interested - as if they have never seen it before. They have grown up so much. I love to seem them peacefully interacting with one another and/or agreeing to do the same activity without a fight.

I forgot to mention why I was smiling. While I was outside entertaining some of my late guests. Sharon, James, KWK, Markisha, and Bob broke down the entire party. I walked into a clean room. They took the tables and chairs down and put them in the corner, they cleaned and folded the tablecloths, they dumped all of the trash, shook off and folded the felt that was on the floor and cleared away most of the food -- and vacuumed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Daycare Halloween Celebration

2009-11-02T13:54:00.004-06:00

While preparing for Max's big party I still had to get the required items together for their school Halloween parties. Max had to have treat bags which I tried to avoid like the plague because I had so many other things to get done. I kept telling Rodney to watch out for the list so we could sign up for something simple like juice boxes or chips, but we didn't make it in time. When I got to the list there was one slot left -- treat bags! But thanks to Gigi and Daddy for helping out. I took a short cut on this one and I think it worked out.

Maddy only had to have a bag of cheese puffs - we were the first to sign up on her list. But I did treat bags for her class too, what's another 9? I am used to doing 24 for Max's last two classes; they were two separate classes that shared the same room with a very small divider. This year there are only 12 of them and they are very much separated from the other class.

Max was BumbleBee from The Transformers

Maddy was a butterfly

Happy Birthday Max!

2009-11-01T23:14:00.002-06:00

Max's Birthday was on Friday Oct 30!

He had a big party on Halloween . . . . pics to come later.

Too tired!

Greg & Tiffany's Birthday Party

2009-10-27T12:28:00.004-05:00

Greg, a member of DW's (my boss) "Boys Club" and someone I have been getting to know over the past few years since he, my new boss, and my old boss are all friends that go way back, celebrated his 50th birthday with a big "all black" party in conjunction with his younger cousin Tiffany who was turning 30. Rodney and I were invited - I felt all special and stuff!

Greg, Tiffany, and her new fiance' - he proposed during the party!

Me, Rodney, Virgil, and his ex-wife overlooking the river. Terri is in the background.

At some point during the party Gabrielle Union joined in the fun; she was so regular. She was in town for a speaking engagement and looking for something to do. That's her in the pic with Greg and his wife. Dave Hollister also performed several songs.

It was a good party and I had a blast! I had three straight weekends of adult entertainment. John Legend, this birthday party, and then Maxwell. That hasn't happened in at least 5 years and probably won't happen again for a very long time. It was fun while it lasted.

The Pumpkin Project

2009-10-25T19:08:00.012-05:00

Each year we get this assignment. This year I stepped it up a notch. I got everything cleaned upstairs and got the laundry done. Started on downstairs and discovered the assignment as I was cleaning the kitchen table.

I never blogged last year's pumpkins so I added them to this post. I think this year's pumpkins would eat last year's pumpkins alive!

This is Max's from last year.

Black one is Max's.

Orange one is Maddy's - complete with her signature "never leave home without it" hair bow.

Maddy's from last year.

7 days and counting . . .

2009-10-25T01:40:00.007-05:00

My house is a mess right now. I have all of the party stuff and Halloween decorations spread out over the place. I am also in the midst of my Fall cleaning. I have one more room to clean upstairs including shampooing the carpet. And I have to shampoo the hallway carpet. And I still have all of downstairs to do; I have done a few of those windows already.

I started the laundry before I took a break for a late evening birthday party for one of Max's classmates who had a T&A around the same time he did. So she celebrated her birthday late. Happy Birthday Jacey and welcome to the crew! She's new to his class. I forgot to take the camera so no picks. I was knee deep in wet carpet right before we walked out the door.

After the party I came home with the intent to finish upstairs but Maddy and Rodney were asleep so I came downstairs and wasn't motivated enough to do anything but sit on my behind. I have this big project at work that I have been working on for weeks; should have had it done last Friday. So I have been working on it for the last several hours. The program is slow so I have time in between sessions to blog, play computer card games, and do laundry. I thought I was almost finished but I just saw where there was an additional 5000 documents added to my 8000. I wonder if I am supposed to do those too. I only have about 500 left on the current set. I guess I'll plead ignorance and see where that gets me.

Party next week!

Pumpkin Carving 101

2009-10-25T00:46:00.006-05:00

We finally got around to carving one of those pumpkins we picked up in Mayflower. I ran to the store as soon as we got home to get one of those pumpkin carving kits but it took me a few evenings to get motivated.Thought the kit would make the job easy. It's been years since I carved a pumpkin; probably when Jamey was a kid or maybe once when I lived by myself at the old house.

Yes, that's a watermelon. Such an oxymoron, but KWK decided she didn't get enough watermelon this summer (even though we brought back 4 or 5 from the Hope festival).
It was hard work. Maybe because of the help/semi help from the kiddies. Or maybe it was just plain difficult. Notice I said one. We decided to save one for fun with daddy.

The directions make it seem so easy. Half the crap in the kit didn't work the way it was supposed to so I had to improvise. Fric n Frac were totally fascinated - beats watching TV.

For extra fun I had Max pick the pumpkin seeds from the flesh to take to school for Friday's show and tell. I figured his teacher could use them for some fall project. They ended up smelling. I probably should read up on how to dry and store them for next time. I think you can eat them.

Did you know that you don't put an actual fire in them now. They sell some fake tea light thing that they recommend you use instead. I do kind of remember the handle on my last Jack O'Lantern burning up or something.

I guess we did all right because Uncle James thought we had someone make this one for us.

Max in the Middle

2009-10-22T11:51:00.004-05:00

Max and I went to see "Where the Wild Things Are" this weekend while Maddy and Blocker watched the Razorbacks get whipped by the Gators. The movie was amazing - happy but yet sad. They did a really great job of bringing the book to life and Max loved it! And I don't think it had anything to do with he and the main character sharing the same name. It's one of Max's favorites; we will definitely buy the movie on DVD when it is released.

"Let the wild rumpus begin!"

We met Maddy and Blocker afterwards for dinner - I enjoyed my date with Max.

Cowboy Max

2009-10-22T11:39:00.003-05:00

Max is typically frightened by the live animal displays and heads the other direction. I can still remember Aryshona taking them to the zoo one weekend when we were out of town and her calling me to say that they only stayed for a short visit and that Max said, "I want to go home. The animals gone bite me." It was just a few goats and ducks or something.

He is starting to grow up. He asked for the pony ride and he had a blast. I started off walking beside him, but he told me I could stand on the side line. Freaked his over protective dad out, but I say let him go with it - it's a pony for crying out loud. Maddy was pissed because we didn't let her get on, but I didn't realize that she had an interest until she started screaming.

Getty up, Max! Mommy was so proud!

Maddy vs. The Slide

2009-10-22T11:27:00.002-05:00

Maddy discovered that she loves the slide on our pumpkin patch visit. It may have had something to do with the fact that the slides on the farm were not those playground standard super safety models. They were old school - slide or die type kinda slides!

The first round ended like this. Backwards, but she loved it and went back for more.

After a couple of backwards rounds and watching the other children she figured out from which direction to approach.

It ended with that face, but she kept going back for more.And yes we were all dressed in our Arkansas gear even though they had lost the day before. They got robbed!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-21T17:09:00.005-05:00

20 minute drive from home

$10 hayride and pumpkin picking straight from the vine

$6 for icee's

$5 for handcrafted hair bows

$5 for decorative assorted gourds and dried corn

$3 Pony Ride

Sunday afternoon with your family smiling non-stop - PRICELESS

Rodney was fascinated with this tractor. He remembers his grandfather having a few of these on the farm that he spent his childhood summers.

Oh, and I haven't mentioned in any of these blogs that he finally shaved his head. He's been talking about it for years; he finally did it and I am getting used to it. I just wish he would stop messing with his mustache.

Max was scared to death of the hay tunnels but we finally got him to go through a couple of times. It's crazy how he will jump off a three feet jungle gym with out balking, but has the nerves to be afraid of the dark.

Maddy discovered and fell in love with the slide.

Best three hours of unadulterated cheap fun we've had in a long time. They were passed out in the car before we got back on the expressway heading home. We didn't even miss the fair this year. They had livestock on the farm premises. If I didn't know any better I would say that living on a farm is cool - the mowing alone would do us in.

Preston's 4th Birthday

2009-10-21T17:07:00.002-05:00

Preston's birthday is always the 2nd one of the year. He celebrated this year at Chuck E' Cheese's. Max was only one week into his recovery, but we didn't want to miss it. Preston is at another school now and we really like his family.

Chuck's place was jam packed that day; they had like 20+ parties that day and were jam packed. Maddy stuck close to me, but Max had a blast! Somehow we didn't get any pictures of Preston or the cake. I think Max was in the bathroom at the time.

It's always amazing to me how we end up with all of these great picture of our children at other folks birthday parties and events, but it's always questionable when we host our own. I guess it's hard to play hostess and photographer at the same time.

T & A

2009-10-21T17:06:00.001-05:00

Get your minds out of the gutter. Well, if it's not, I have to admit that that's where mine went the first time that term was thrown out at me. Max had a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy a few weeks ago - T&A. We had to stay at home for two weeks for the recovery. I slept the first 4 or 5 days - guess I was tired. He never missed a beat. So much for the old days when you laid around and ate ice cream and Popsicles and jello all day.

I ran out to the store to stock up on pudding, jello, applesauce, bananas, and Popsicles. I still have a stock pile of that stuff it will take us until next year to eat it. Brother man left the hospital asking for pancakes and pizza. His appetite has actually picked up since he had the surgery. He was his usual talkative, busy little self for the entire two weeks and I was worn out.

Below is a picture of him on the third day with his goody basket and Get Well balloon that Mrs. Ellis and her family sent him. It was a very nice surprise. Thanks to you all and everyone else who called to check in on us during the recovery period. If I didn't make it to the phone, he probably had me tied to a chair or something . . . . Let's just say he and I both were glad for him to go back to school on the third week.

My New Baby

2009-10-21T17:03:00.002-05:00

Shortly after Aryshona and Be'yah arrived home we went over for a visit. We had not seen the nursery in it's finished state so we got to check it out. It turned out super cute and thanks to Godfather James for the wonderful paint job and furniture construction.

I was all excited to see her all cleaned up and smelling like Johnson's baby products.

Maddy is pretty excited about her new baby cousin as well. I hope they become good friends.

Max is already very protective of them both.

Welcome Be'yah

2009-10-21T16:46:00.005-05:00

September 22, 2009

Aryshona was highly impatient and so one day after her due date her doctor sent her to the hospital so that he could induce her labor. Of course she went hair combed and makeup done.

Greta and Neil - Proud grandparents await the coming of Be'yah.

After waiting all day for her, leaving work early in a frantic panic to get to the hospital before 5 (Greta told me that's what time the dr said the baby would be here), and taking Maddy to the ER for respiratory distress - Be'yah - 6 lbs 9 ozs of sweetness arrived.

Mother and baby survived the process with no complications. Shona's hair was still in place. Be'yah was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Juju and her new baby!

Auntie (Cousin) Taki and her new bundle of joy. Awww, she's so sweet!

I get to babysit for the first time on Halloween.

Proud parents!

Luke's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-10-21T15:54:00.003-05:00

The annual birthday party circuit has begun. Luke kicks it off every year with his late September birthday. This year he celebrated with everything on wheels!

Max had the same type of party last year and wouldn't ride his bike. This year he was like Evil Knievel.

We took the wagon for Maddy! Of course that involves parental participation.

All of the kids had a blast. My children's favorite part of any party is the food.

Luke had help from his friends with the candle blowing, so we staged a second shot.

Maddy's first dance with her dad.

Then she decided to take the trike for a spin.

Me and Starla.

Luke was fearless with his new skateboard!

Rodney's 42nd Birthday

2009-10-21T15:34:00.003-05:00

September 11, 2009

Ice Cream and Cake do the ice Cream and Cake!

I thought the man was already 42 but he claims he was not. I played along with him, but I think he's starting to lie about his age.

We celebrated with our first ice cream cake. That Baskin Robbins commercial really had me going. Great job, who ever did that ad!
My nieces and nephews were visiting so all of the children loved the cake! We had dessert first and then Rodney and I went out for dinner. KWK kept all of the children. My little nephew is getting big. He's starting to grow into those perky little eyes of his. Isn't Baby Kennedy a cutie pie. They call him Israel, but in keeping with the K's it's Kamron, Kobi, and Kennedy for me.

Max and Maddy are always ready for a treat!

More Kennedy!

Max's 4th Birthday - Sneak Peek

2009-10-19T15:00:00.003-05:00

He delivered his invitation MTV style on Friday in his Jack o Lantern shirt with his pumpkin pail and candy. I mailed the others last week.

Plans have begun and the Blocker house is in transition to host the greatest Halloween Birthday Party ever!

Moo - Month 17

2009-10-19T14:56:00.001-05:00

Aryshona came by this particular day. We watched the Wiz while I beaded Maddy's hair.After spending all day to make this work. The daycare called the next morning and said that she had to take them out because they were a choking hazard. It was worth the try.
I am still looking for creative ways to keep her hair neat and to do as little damage as possible. Keep the coming. I think my thighs and butt are growing with my hair.

Moo - Month 16

2009-10-19T14:51:00.002-05:00

In August we hosted a baby shower for Aryshona. Be'yah was due on September 21.This is Maddy and I after the shower. We hung out on the deck with Shana, we where all tired. See how big my hair is getting.
Maddy had a good time playing with the other children and eating during the shower.

Aryshona looked absolutely beautiful and we can't wait for Be'yah to arrive.

Moo - Month 15

2009-10-19T14:32:00.003-05:00

In July Rodney's family reunion was in Little Rock. We did not participate in the actual reunion, but we did host a fish fry at out house on July 3. It was supposed to be small a few cousins and Aunts, but it turned out to be about 70 people. i think everyone came to our house after the meet and greet was over.

We handled it though. One of Rodney's cousin and his wife came early and help us pull it together. Thank you Ronald and Jackie. We had a really great 4th of July weekend.

While in town, Rodney's favorite Aunt Emma wanted to meet Maddy, but it was always after her bedtime when they were around, so on Sunday afternoon he took the kids over to his Aunt Geneva's for a first visit.Maddy finally got to meet her Aunt Emma.
And she got a chance to visit with Aunt Geneva too.

Talladega, AL

2009-10-19T14:10:00.004-05:00

This one was a big deal for Rodney and Max. For Max it was like real live Lightnin' McQueen from Carz which was his last year's birthday party theme. i have to admit that I thought it was pretty cool too. I have passed it bunches of time and never thought twice about it. I had no idea it was actually a a NASCAR thing.

The Blocker family giving the thumbs up in the winner's circle.

Max and Kisha at the wheel of an old disassembled NASCAR.

Max and Maddy. Maddy didn't like this leg of the trip much. She and Kisha were bored after the first 30 minutes. We spent several hours - we did the tour of the race track, and the Motor Sports Hall of Fame.

The museum entrance. We got cool t-shirts and actually considered bringing Max back for the races which are being held on his birthday weekend this year instead of throwing him a party. We opted for the party - the thought of NASCAR fanatics on Halloween in Alabama frightens me. Maybe we will try it next year.

About 30 outside of Talladega is when I noticed my rings were gone. Good-bye rings.

Back to Little Rock! All in all it was a good time, but I was ready to get back home. We arrived in Little Rock at 1 AM; I was at my desk at 6:30 AM working my heart out.

Greensboro, NC

2009-10-19T13:38:00.004-05:00

Our entire vacation was centered around one thing. Going to Kiandra's high school graduation. And we finally made it! Kiandra is my first cousin Vernard's only child. We are very proud and excited for her and her plans to be emancipated from North Carolina.Kisha and Kiandra after graduation.
Me and my cousin Gina (Vee's sister); not hard to tell that our mother's were sisters. We look more and more alike every year. She fell in love with Maddy and is now her Godmother.

The Blocker family

Gina and Dwayne

Vee, Kiandra, and Gina (her mother).

We call them Gina-sister and Gina-wife to distinguish between the two.

The diploma and the reason for our journey; check out the Cum Laude seal.

Me and Maddy. I keep thinking that if I hold up to my face enough times that she will start looking like me instead of her dad and sister.

Fric and Frac before we left for the auditorium.

Funny story: During graduation, right as the graduates begin to march in and everyone is asked to remain seated and all entries are sealed, Max announces that he has to go to the bathroom. He's three and potty training has just been mastered so there was no telling him to hold it. I take him down to the floor (we are sitting on the very front at the very top) and head for the bathroom. Halt, I was stopped by the security guard who informs me that I can not cut through the area to get to the bathroom because the graduates are already moving. The pee-pee dance ensues. Oh no, the white suit, I think. I inform her that he is three and he can't hold it. Another guard comes by to scream at me that they are not letting anyone through and then stands in front of me to block our path. I inform the nicer guard that we can just slink down the side wall where no one will see us. She says no; the mean guard glares at us. Pee-pee dance continues. So I say to Max aloud to be sure that both guards hear me. "Baby, if you get to where you can't hold it, just whip it out right here and go. We don't want to mess up your white suit and I didn't bring a change of clothes for you." He says, "Right here." I smile and say, "Yes baby, right here, and be sure to aim in that direction [towards the mean guard]." By now the nicer guard has gotten on the radio and another guard has shown up to escort us to the bathroom. While in the bathroom a woman and her daughter appear and I ask if they gave her a hard time, she said no. So I guess it was worth telling Max to pee on someone to pave the way for all those who came down after us. I heard her telling her daughter later that I was crazy. SMILE!

We stopped in Charlotte and hit the Dave and Buster's and the outlet mall before retiring in Atlanta for one more night before going on to Talladega.

Kitty Hawk, NC

2009-10-19T13:22:00.002-05:00

On the way back to the mainland we had to pass Kitty Hawk. This was Rodney's thing; the history buff in him wanted to visit the birthplace of human flight. Of course, I didn't mind. As a child of James Knight all of our vacations were filled with more historical and educational activities than just plain blow your mind away fun stuff. The theme park was always last on our agendas, after the museums and monuments.

Kitty Hawk was amazing. I hate that we didn't have the foresight to pick up a kite; it was perfect weather. Above is a metal replica/scene enactment of the first flight.
This is Rodney and me at the base of the actual monument. This I think is the last i will ever see of my rings. We got rained on on the way up, but it was so far that there was no way I was turning back. Kill Devil's Hill was murder on my calves and thighs and I was pushing Maddy in the stroller. BTW . . . that is the actual name of the town where the Orville brothers did their flight testing. I learned that in the museum.

The monument.

Family portrait in the museum. The kids loved the museum and all of it's different attractions and areas. It was very interactive.

Kill Devil's Hill. This area was once all sand and dirt. This shot was taken from the parking lot. It was a very long walk up to the monument. But well worth it. There are four views from the top of the hill - the metal replica, the barn where they lived and stored the gliders and planes, the museum, and I can't remember the third. But it was really nice. The monument is actually shaped like a bird's wing from the side view.

On the way out we stopped at a local Wal-mart and a side of the road cafe for lunch and to visit a small scale light house. Off to Greensboro . . . .

Corolla, NC

2009-10-19T11:14:00.004-05:00

From Atlanta we travelled to Corolla, NC - The Outer Banks. It was the outer most portion of the peninsula off the coast of North Carolina. The ocean baby and it was cold! We forfeited a night's stay at our resort because we left Atlanta late and were still travelling but we got there in time to watch the sunrise over the beach. Everyone else unloaded and went to bed. Max and I suited up and headed for the beach, he had waited so long to see it. He asked me every other hour that we spent on the road or doing something else, "Are we at the beach yet?" We walked around and collected sea shells and watched the seagulls fly by. We were the only ones there and it was so peaceful.

At some point the waves came to shore while our backs were to the water and all I know is that I felt the stabbing cold around my ankles. After the initial shock, I turned around to find Max, who had been digging in the sand near my feet. He was missing, my initial thought was, "Oh no, he can't swim. I am watching the shore line going crazy and then I here his voice screaming, "Mama, the water, the water!" I follow the direction of the excited screams and there he is standing at the base of the steps leading back to the resort, a very long walk in the sand away from me. All that talk about the beach and the boy runs at lightening speed in the opposite direction the minute the water hits the shore.

We headed back up to the room to corral the rest of the troops and everyone joined us back on the beach after a couple of hours. I actually left him in the room playing with trains while Moo and I went down to enjoy one of our resorts three outdoor pools. I looked like a beach whale in my too little swimsuit so no pictures of that; I packed the wrong suit; the look very similar when they are folded.

Kisha rented a body board and enjoyed riding the waves while I sat under the umbrella we rented on the beach and watched Max dig holes and build his sand castles. Maddy ate a lot of sand which made for a very horrible diaper later.

Rodney soaked in lots of sun and enjoyed the freedom of being shirtless on the edge of the water. Eventually I took a nap since I had done most of the driving. Then we enjoyed lunch at a local beach side diner and drove around town. We tried to catch a tour of the lighthouse before it closed but we missed it. We had dinner at another town favorite, did some laundry, and packed it all back up to head to Greensboro the next morning.

I spent a lot of time on this trip looking for a car charger for my new 120 GB Ipod, so Kisha and I struck out on our own later in said search. Didn't ever find a place that had one, but we did find a mall and a bunch of cool beach wear stores. We got a little shopping in before we left the next morning.

It was a beautiful peaceful time and we definitely plan to visit again.

Atlanta, GA

2009-10-19T10:28:00.004-05:00

First stop Georgia Aquarium. I didn't know that you could have an aquarium in an area that didn't seem to be near any particularly large or significant body of water. Surprisingly, it was very nice, we took advantage of everything they had to offer. We stayed all day and still didn't get finished.

We visited the Titanic display where they give you a ticket up front with the name of a real passenger and then you have to check the roster at the end to find out if you survived. I can't remember who did and who didn't. We saw an animated 3-D film who's main character was a fish named Deepo (we picked one up in the gift shop) and the main theme was conservation and saving the Earth.

Then we went to meet Gina, Dwayne, Vee, and Nancy (my hairdresser from my college year in Atlanta) for dinner at this really cool burger joint.

The kids were zonked and we couldn't resist taking this picture of the peaceful Mohicans.

Before we went to visit the Art Institute we had breakfast with my best friend Denise and her hubby Michael. I hadn't seen her since I was 9 months pregnant with Max and drove the 8 hours to make it to their wedding. So she got to meet both of the baby's and we got to chat it up for a few minutes before we got out of town.

The Art Institute visit was great! Campus was awesome, we have to figure out how to make it happen. Pray for us.

Blocker Family Summer Vacation 2009

2009-10-19T09:46:00.003-05:00

Staycation, smaycation, we went all out this past summer. So I have to interrupt my tribute to Maddy with the highlights of our family vacation. It all started with a few little words from my three year old, "Mommy, I want to go to the beach!" The beach I say, what the hell does he know about the beach! Some crap they learned at school.

We were already planning to go to North Carolina for my cousin Kiandra's graduation, so we tried to find a beach on the way or in the near vicinity. What we found was a piece of heaven on Earth. Corolla, NC was awesome. Max's request turned into a request from everyone else. Kisha got to visit the Art Institute in Atlanta, a school she wants to transfer to next Spring. Rodney got to visit the Kitty Hawk monument and the Talladega Speedway. All I got was to plan, pack, and get everybody moving everyday. I did get to see some of my favorite cousins and they got to meet Maddy for the first time. Oh, and I lost my fabulous 3.5 ct diamond and platinum wedding rings at the last hotel. I hope that maid is enjoying her very big tip.

Over an 8 day time period we logged in about 2,300 driving miles and about 46 hours of driving time. We all know I hate to drive and I ended up logging in a bunch of this time just so that we would make it to our next destination alive. Rodney gets so excited about road trips and then he's sleepy within the first 30 minutes. I knew it was going to be a long trip when we had to stop and change drivers before we got to Memphis.

Imagine this: 2 adults, 1 teenager, and 2 toddlers in a small SUV packed to the gills, huge cargo thingy packed on top, for all of that time. We travelled from Little Rock to Atlanta, Atlanta to Corolla, Corolla to Greensboro, Greensboro to Charlotte, Charlotte to Atlanta, Atlanta to Talladega, and then back home. Whew!!!

They had a blast! I enjoyed seeing them have so much fun. I needed a vacation from the vacation.

Moo - Month 14

2009-10-19T09:25:00.004-05:00

On June 10th, Maddy lost her reigning title as baby of the family. Israel David Kennedy was born to my brother and his wife. If you look very closely you can see me holding him with the other arm. Maddy was very excited about the baby, but she did not want him cutting in on her lap time.

Me and nieces and nephews. We just need one more to make a basketball team. Poor Kennedy lost in the sea of toddlers. You probably know all of the characters but in case you forgot. Standing up on the coach is Kobi Janai, my 3 year old niece. In my lap are Maddy and Kennedy. The boy with his eyes closed is Kamron, my 5 year old nephew and the other child is my 3 year old Max.

Here is a closeup of Baby Kennedy. I am sure he is happy to be saved from the pile of siblings and cousins.

Moo - Month 13

2009-10-19T09:12:00.002-05:00

Right before her first birthday she started cutting these teeth. Yea, they finally got here! Sad to say she still only has six. But her little 6 toothed grin is to die for.

Moo - Month 12

2009-10-19T09:09:00.002-05:00

My last official blog entry was about Maddy's 1st birthday, so go back a few and check out all of the great pictures from her Easter Egg Hunt party.

As an aside, at the beginning of April one of my friends got married and she let me help plan every detail of the wedding between the engagement and the honeymoon. We had a great weekend in El Dorado, AR. Congratulations Starla and Corie!

Maddy and Starla at the church during or after rehearsal.

Maddy teetering around the church while we decorated. She was still getting the hang of walking. Starla's mother became her new bestest friend; she's charming like that. Oh, her auntie braided her hair - I do not possess those skills.

Moo - Month 11

2009-10-19T09:07:00.003-05:00

Here she is enjoying some of Gigi's 62nd birthday cake.

Hair is a little suspect, but I am getting better.

Moo - Month 10

2009-10-19T09:03:00.004-05:00

We celebrated my 35th birthday at Golden Corral with the children, Gigi, Shana, and her new old friend Stephen. It was our first time meeting him - we felt very honored. Maddy slept through most of it so she had this dazed look on all of the pictures.

Moo - Month 9

2009-10-18T22:20:00.003-05:00

Maddy got caught up in Gigi's Obama madness. This is the hat Gigi brought her back from DC.

Moo - Month 8

2009-10-18T22:13:00.003-05:00

Maddy's first Christmas was a very good one. She didn't know what was going on, but she really wanted to rip paper off of the boxes. She also started pulling up that month.

Moo - Month 7

2009-10-18T22:09:00.002-05:00

All dressed up! I think we were on our way to a birthday party. She wasn't walking or pulling up at this point.

Moo - Month 6

2009-10-18T22:03:00.005-05:00

Maddy and Aryshona at "Boo at the Zoo."

Who knew that one year later Aryshona would have her own newborn baby to hold this Halloween.

Moo - Month 5

2009-10-18T22:00:00.002-05:00

Celebrating her daddy's 41st birthday at Copeland's.

I know . . . he's too old to have a newborn baby! People are starting to ask him if Max and Maddy are his grandchildren.

Moo - Month 4

2009-10-18T21:58:00.001-05:00

The hairstyles begin. Watch my parts get straighter over the months.

Moo - Month 3

2009-10-18T21:53:00.002-05:00

I think we were on our way to church in this shot or just getting back. Watch how my hair changes and grows as Maddy grows.

Moo - Month 2

2009-10-18T21:42:00.004-05:00

All dressed up with her serious face on.

Moo - Month 1

2009-10-18T21:32:00.006-05:00

Fresh out The bathtub and looking very large.

She looked much smaller dressed. This is her and her sister Markisha on Kisha's 18th birthday and Mother's Day. Personality not developed yet.
Two sisters enjoying each others company. I think Maddy peed all over Kisha a few minutes after i took this shot. She had to go on her date with pee-pee pants.

Long Time Coming

2009-10-18T21:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged in so long it's a crying shame. There is way too much for me to go backwards so i decided that I would move forward and try to do a better job of things. Maddy is getting the short end of the stick as far as updates. Poor, poor second child, but she is keeping me so busy that there is barely little time for much else. So the next 18 entries will chronicle Maddy's time since she got here. Moo is a big girl now and getting to all sorts of things it's hard to believe how fast she's grown.

This is Moo with her Gigi on the day she got home form the hospital.

Happy Birthday Maddy

2009-04-19T19:30:00.005-05:00

Officer Maxwell

2009-04-19T19:24:00.002-05:00

Pictures speak 100 words . . .
None needed!

Starla's Wedding

2009-04-08T10:52:00.003-05:00

Starla's Wedding was beautiful; they are off on their honeymoon in Panama City Beach. I was dog tired, but still smiling. Starla and Corie were happy. And most importantly Tasha and Shantea were happy, well Tasha was. Pictures speak 1000 words . . . . . .

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-02-11T14:44:00.003-06:00

My City Hall girlfriends got me this spectacular cake from Mickey's and treated me to lunch. I am not used to working on my birthday, but I had to this morning. I messed up Rodney's big plans for the day. I'll keep you posted on what all I did on my big day!

Markisha Update

2009-02-01T04:27:00.004-06:00

Congratulations to Markisha for completing her first semester of college with a 3.00 GPA. She really likes Arkansas State University and she returned for a second semester with the goal of achieving a 4.0 GPA like her Uncle James did this semester.

She still likes to take pictures of herself and she's going through this new "modeling, self expression through fashion" stage.

We love you, Kish! And we are very proud of you! So if you see this and get home sick. Log off and go study -- Chancellor's list, baby!!!

Madeline Update

2009-02-01T03:58:00.005-06:00

Yes, I really do have a second baby. And no, you don't get a picture of her every week claiming that she is extraordinary, spectacular, and smart. There is some truth in that stuff they say about birth order, and the second child getting slighted, but for me it is a matter of time and finances. Buying two of everything makes it harder to buy more. And tuition is much more expensive than child support! :)

That being said, Maddy Moo (she answers to just plain Moo now) is the same spectacular, extraordinary, and smart baby that her brother is and was at the same age. But she's different in so many ways. Who needs to compare. If I didn't have my mother around I wouldn't even remember the differences in their markers. And who cares anyway!

She will be ten months old on the 14th of February. She is weighing in at almost 25 pounds. She is very tall. We get peculiar looks from people trying to figure out why we have the toddler in the infant car seat. The numbers don't match up yet and her feet dangle about half a foot over the seat.

She is so easy going and just look at her - I think she's a doll. I would say that if she didn't belong to me.

I forgot to mention that she is crawling now. And she's very quick!

She is also coasting. No balance yet and no teeth. Not one single solitary tooth.

Keeping her hair neat is still a challenge, but I am getting better. This was an in between shot. I started taking it down and then she decided she wanted to eat. It's like a booking shot.

And Gigi thinks these are the best pictures. There are only so many pictures of an exhausted baby asleep in a high chair that you can call cute.

We all love our little "Moo"!

Obama Babies

2009-02-01T03:44:00.002-06:00

Mama is Obama crazy! It's really at a stalker level right now. Of course she went to DC the Friday before Inauguration and stayed until the following Thursday. She had tickets to all kinds of stuff but probably only went to half of it. She had us recording CNN around the clock for two or three days. The kids and I picked her up Thursday night and she immediately unpacked to reveal all of her Obama paraphernalia. Everyone got some gear but me. I got a Michelle (it's all about her for me) button and an awesome car magnet with Obama's picture that Rodney says will be stolen if I put it on my car. The next day me and the kids wore our gear.

Maddy was all dolled up in her plaid mini skirt, 56th inauguration t-shirt and skull cap. Max and Maddy had matching t-shirts, but his skull cap read "United State of Obama" and had a Presidential seal. Kobi Janai's hat was pink.

I wore Mama's black t-shirt and hat that was bedazzled with these really pretty crystals in images of Obama. It was really overdone, but we had to show our appreciation.

Different Hair

2009-02-01T03:33:00.003-06:00

On New Year's Day I let Markisha straighten my hair with a flat iron. The result was almost an exact replica of my 5th and 6th grade school day pictures. Awful - I traded the zits and coke bottle glasses for about 150 pounds. Can't win for losing!
I couldn't stand it. The hair was nice, but it had no style. It was in my face on on my neck. I washed it and went back to the curly fro after a few days. I love my fro!!! Thank God for Miss Jessie's hari care products.

Fric & Frac

2009-02-01T03:15:00.003-06:00

We've been spending a lot of time with my niece Kobi Janai lately. Her mother is in beauty school. Her dad is working. Her older siblings are in school during the day. And the economy is bad so the old babysitter had to get a real job. Backup baby sitter - Gigi. So a lot of the time I have three babies. She and Max get along great when it's just the two of them. They are only four months apart, but he's really tall and she's really petite. I hope that they are close like Aryshona and Jamey are.

These are a couple of shots that I took one weekend she was here. I bathed all three and put the matching Christmas pj's on the older two. Kobi Janai is actually wearing Maddy's pj's. I thought they were cute running around wreaking havoc on the house. The picture above was their silly shot. And yes she does have on purple glitter slippers that we could not get her to take off. She slept in them.

Utter Randomness

2009-02-01T03:12:00.002-06:00

New job! Two babies! Holidays! Birthday parties galore! Cold outside! No time for much! Got a new ipod, spending more time on computer late at night. Going to catch up soon. All is well though.

Peace out!
Nataki

Easter 2008

2008-12-12T14:14:00.005-06:00

I know it is time for the birthday of "Baby Jesus," (as Max likes to say) but I just got these pictures that Max took around The Resurrection time. You know I was giving birth around that time so a lot of stuff fell by the wayside. These pictures were intended to go out around Easter and I know I am an awful mother, but this was my favorite picture of the bunch. You can't tell me that's not the cutest little man you have ever seen. Now sweet, is a whole nother story!

Here's one more for good measure. Best darn day care pictures ever!

Kisha gets to College

2008-11-05T21:05:00.005-06:00

As I mentioned in the blog before. We took Kisha to Arkansas State on August 23 and moved her into the dorms. Below is the bare dorm room that we arrived to on that bright Saturday morning. A bed, chest, desk and chair with rockers.

She is sharing a suite with three (3) other young ladies. They share a bathroom that has no locks from the inside. They are going to have to get creative with the signals for letting each other know the bathroom is occupied. There was no door for the toilet, a shower with a curtain, and a double sink with wall to wall mirrors.

After about 6 hours of hard work I finally got sifted to the mess of "the friend" who had the stash and grab technique for decorating a dorm room and the room started coming together. Kisha and I were exhausted and frustrated by that time and her father had discovered the joys of the Zine (MP3 Player), as you can see below as he sits in the chair.
When we got it all put together and had made the list of things she still needed we took a few moments to snap some pictures.

Oh yea, her mother showed back up, and I got a nice picture of the 1st Blocker family. Max still doesn't understand about our little blended family and he gets Kisha and her mother mixed up some time.

I would be doing you a great disservice if I did not show you the well organized closet that I left her with. Boy did my OCD kick in.

Even after I got the room put together and she was all comfy on her bed, she did not want us to leave her. Her father wanted to take her to dinner and then she wanted to go to Wal-mart with us.

More to come . . .

Kisha goes to College

2008-11-04T21:26:00.005-06:00

Well this one will have to come to you in several parts. And I guess this is as good as any spot to begin. The junk. Not all of this is Kisha's, some of what you see was already in our garage, which is a whole nother story in itself. But take what you see here and multiply it by three and that might be as much stuff as she ended up taking between my mother's Expedition and her mother's friends Tahoe. Yes, it was a lot of stuff! And I loaded a lot of it by myself the night before. We arrived on campus bright and early at 9 AM. The campus sorors were on hand to help unload the truck and a local church took everything up to the room. Kisha and I started unpacking while Rodney parked the car. Then he made two trips to the store for various necessities. The cleaning stuff was three hours behind us in her mother's load. That's a whole nother story also.

Kisha's room had the best view ever of the parking lot!

Once Daddy got settled from his hour long trips to the Target store, he proved to be very helpful. Eventually Her mother and the friend showed up and they waited an additional hour for a trolley to load those items up in the parking lot a bring them around to the front door.

Shortly after they got in the room and I waded through what I had just gotten control of, the fire alarm went off. And no it was not a false alarm. Eventually we smelled the smoke and an RA had us evacuate. Shortly there after the fire trucks and emergency vehicles arrived.

Her mother and the friend decided they were hungry (I guess from all the sitting and waiting and watching) and decided to go get food. Markisha disappeared with some friends to the student union. Rodney and I waited in the hot sun for the building not to burn up with all of her stuff in it. He took pictures - I was annoyed, but not by the fire.

They never told us what had happened, but eventually they let us back in the building. We had to wait another 20 minutes for Markisha to show up with the key. And that was the first 4-6 hours I spent at the dorm. On the next blog I'll show you the room.

New Hairdo

2008-11-04T21:14:00.003-06:00

In mid August, after four (4) long months of resistance and rebellion, I finally got up the nerve to comb Maddy's hair into one of those traditional African American baby hairdo's. I don't know why "picking out" her 'fro almost everyday did not count as combing her hair - it works for me. Those of you who know me well, know that hair is not my thing. But after about an hour or so of screaming, kicking and crying (from both of us) - below is what we got. Actually this is the next day after all of the nylon bands broke during the night. She was too traumatized for pictures immediately following and then she slept for three hour from the exhaustion.

I think it was a good first try and she's cute either way it goes, but it did make her head look even bigger than usual. Poor, baby! "Mommy is going to try harder to get it right."

Total Randomness

2008-11-04T19:37:00.004-06:00

Barak the Vote!!! There is a blog down below this one that I just posted, but it appeared where it was intended; it's about Starla.

Did you miss me or what? Life has been so busy. I have been taking plenty of pictures. Max has been getting into plenty of trouble and discovering new things. Maddy is growing like a weed. Markisha is off at college and mad as hell at me. Mama is still KWK. And Rodney is still the love of my life (and I still wish he lived next door).

I have a few hours today. Took the baby's to their well child checks - all is good! Rodney is off and we are having our own private Blocker watch party - pizza, fries, chicken wings, and salad. The stuff on TV is just too complex and high tech for me. I just want to know who wins in the end. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to sort through some pictures and hit you with a couple of blogs.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2008-10-03T08:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my father's birthday. He would have been 63 yrs old.

I gave blood on Friday for a sickle cell event we were having here at work and it made me think of him. I decided that every year around his birthday that I would make sure that I gave blood. Giving blood was something that he did on a regular basis. Whenever he could - he did. I remember growing up thinking that it was part of his job; he would say things like, "You know I had to give blood today," or I would hear him tell people that he couldn't do something else because it was the day he was scheduled to give blood. And occasionally I got stuck with him when it was time for him to go to the Red Cross and in later years would drop him off and pick him up. I even remember seeing his name on the wall one time as one of those 40 or 50 gallon donors. So I think it is only fitting that I pass on the same legacy to my children. Giving blood saves lives and I am going to do it more often, but most definitely on his birthday in the future. I think it is a fitting tribute to the great man that I got to call "Daddy."

Rest in peace, Daddy! We love you!

Bride To Be

2008-09-02T15:36:00.002-05:00

One day while I was out on maternity leave, Starla called to casually mention that she was engaged to the gentleman below. I immediately started planning the wedding in my head and casually mentioned that since I couldn't be a bridesmaid that I would be her personal assistant for the day. That way I would get to be all in the mix on the wedding day and wouldn't miss a thing and it would put me in line to give my great pre-wedding pep talk and of course slap her if needed - I think she would forgive me later rather than one of her long time friends. Shortly thereafter I got promoted from Personal Assistant to the Bride (On "D" Day) to Wedding Planner. I was so psyched! First order of business - the dress! One Saturday we went dress hunting at a few of the local retailers.
Doesn't she look excited!
The tuck thingys are the latest in wedding gown fashion.
We looked at tiara's and veils too.

Happy Birthday Dominick!

2008-09-02T15:24:00.006-05:00

In mid August, Max went to his first swim party! He and Daddy went ahead while Maddy and I went to pick Kisha up from work. The girls missed the pool part of the party, but the boys said they had a good time in the water.

Dominick is Markisha's little cousin. He was born about 6 months before Max. He is the youngest of five and all of his siblings are way older than he; the oldest being 19 or 20. Anyway that's him below. His mother always makes sure Max gets an invitation to the party. He is so much more mature than Max. They call him Man-Man; probably because he acts like a little old man instead of a toddler. His party theme was Spider-Man - Max's will probably be Backyardigan's or something from Nick Jr. Us girls showed up right on time for the food. You could smell the grill from a block away. Then of course it was time for the cake. I think the cake is a Blocker favorite.
If you pay close attention to the picture above you will see the icing on Max's face. If you give the same care to the picture below, right next to Spidey's foot, you will see the white streak on the cake. I know from a distance it looks intentional, but it was not. As soon as Pam uncovered the cake, Max ran his finger right across for a little taste of icing. I was very embarrassed, but Pam was real cool about it - I like her a lot.
The older kids stood around and talked with each other or interacted with the little children. Here Markisha stands with her cousins.
Maddy had on a cute little swimsuit under this dress, but she didn't get to show it off. We weren't at the party long before she got gas and started screaming. A nice older man that I had sat down next to, took the time to tell me that he did not bring his new granddaughter for that very reason.

The party was great and Man-Man got lots of cool gifts. The Blockers gave him a Spider-Man and Friends Memory game. I now wish I had gotten one for Max - it was real cute!!! I was thrilled when I found it because I had been looking for some age appropriate Spider-Man books, which don't exist. I was pleased to mix his theme with something educational. He loved it and was ready to open it right then!

It's Over Now! In Case You Missed it!

2008-08-15T15:17:00.009-05:00

Well, I survived the wedding, but I have been off work for the past week with a sinus infection and strep throat. The wedding consumed my every waking moment last week and I guess I just wore myself out - not to mention that I went to work every single day and kept up with all of that stuff too. It was a very beautiful ceremony and I hope the happy couple enjoyed themselves and appreciate all of the effort I put into their big day. I am still not sure why they decided to have a vow renewal ceremony, but you know how much I like weddings, so when she called I was ready to get busy.

I had a very well scripted ceremony and reception planned, but it was very clear at Friday's rehearsal that nothing was going to go as planned. It was good practice though; and it was really good footage for WETV's Bridezilla! Don't get me wrong, Lenieka was a model bride throughout this whole process, but the rest of the wedding party and vendors is another story that I don't even have the energy to write about. But I will say that Kobi and I have some very bad kids. The three little ones nearly tore City Hall down - I am surprised they were able to open the doors on Monday. My little Max was the worse!

Anyway . . . on to the wedding . . . . .

Kobi walked Mama down the isle to her seat in the front. Kamron and Kobi Janai were to follow with roses to place in an empty seat to represent Lenieka's mother. Kobi Janai didn't make it and had a total meltdown. I wish you could see the expression on Tasha's face in the background, holding up the wall, in this picture. She said that she "quits" Kobi Janai - first the baby broke the rose stem into two pieces, then she cried about it being broken and Tasha taped it back together. Then she and Kamron argued over who would get which rose and then Kobi Janai threw a tantrum and never made it down the aisle. We could hear her upstairs as we waited to walk down into our places. She can be seen asleep in Ms. Foreman's lap in all of the pictures throughout the rest of the ceremony.

Again, I have to say that Lenieka was the model bride. She took direction and suggestions very well, which is why I didn't balk about the stuff that I didn't want to fool with. For example, cooking all of that food for the reception. The reception menu consisted of Chicken Spaghetti, Spaghetti with meat sauce, Chicken and Broccoli Rigatoni with Alfredo Sauce, Meatloaf, Green Beans, Whole Kernel Corn, Cornbread, and Punch. All was cooked after 12:30 AM on Friday night at my house. I had a headache from being up two nights in a row until 4 am and getting back up at 6am to go to work. So I took a nap and asked them to wake me at 2AM. By the time they woke me at 2am on the dot, I had a full blown migraine from not eating but two times in two days and they were done cooking. The two of them had never made any of the dishes but regular spaghetti, but they pulled it off because the food was a hit at the reception. We are still getting feedback from people who attended.
Reverend Lock, one of Kobi's long time friend's father, did an excellent job on the ceremony and was sweet as pie. The chaos didn't bother him at all - he just rolled right with it. And from what I here the chaos was not very transparent at all during the actual ceremony. I guess that's the goal of all events -just look good!
The bridesmaids - well, ask me in private and I can tell you everything, it would take me to long to do so here on this blog. But it all worked out - I was the matron of honor and the only one in some pink, her cousin was the maid of honor, and the other two bridesmaids were a long time friend who used to do Lenieka's hair, and a new friend from beauty school.

The groomsmen - all I have to say is that they took better pictures than us. They were sharp as tact's in their black tux's with latte accessories. Rodney and James Jr were the best men and Rodney looked good in his pink! James refused to wear it and that was okay - it worked out. The other two guys are long time friends of Kobi. I heard one of their wives was very concerned with who her husband was going to walk with.
The cake was gorgeous and delicious, not at all what I thought it would like like from what she described and not at all her expectation, but it was also a hit.
After the ceremony they took some shots outdoors. They really looked nice together. You can't see Kamron's tie in this picture, but it is pink and in his words to his mother, "[Mama] they accidentally put a pink tie on me!" He was not pleased with the color choice. I am not sure what's up with the Knight men and their pink phobia! I tried to tell them real men where pink and my Rodney was a shining example!
Better picture of the pink tie. They had really been active and I was just trying to corral them for a minute or two. The reason you don't see Max is because he acted a complete and total monkey before and during the ceremony and had to be kept off the stairs which was the stage for the ceremony. He fell asleep, sitting straight up in a chair, with the fork in mid air, while eating a plate of spaghetti at the reception. He spent the next few hours asleep on my office couch until it was time to leave the building.
There he is below before the ceremony began in his pink shirt. None of the kids had the right shoes. Kobi Janai and Kamron's shoes were in Wrightsville on the prison farm in Ms. Foreman's car; she couldn't gain access to them. Max's shoes were in my office one minute and gone before he got changed and dressed. They showed up Monday morning in one of my bosses in-box's that she rarely uses. Max was totally in love with her half of our office suite this weekend.

This was a real innocent moment between Kobi Janai and her mother. She is perfectly sweet when no one is looking. The sad part is that in another 6-9 months my baby girl will be in the mix with the rest of the crew. Pray for her!
The bride's bouquet. Why is it all special and highlighted here you ask? Because I made it, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, and 6 boutonnieres. First time for everything! I think I did a damn good job! Pink and white roses, blush alstromerias, various ferns and other greenery. I was the coordinator, matron of honor, personal assistant to the bride, florist, musician, and part of the catering and decorating crew. I also made and sent the invitations - late, but I did it. And I made the programs and spent 6 hours with her on choosing music for the ceremony - whole nother story. I forgot all of the heavy lifting and last minute errands. Thank God for Aryshona, who spent a couple of late nights with me and ran a lot of errands for me on Friday while I was at work.
Rodney and I looked good in our pink, but I was dog tired by the time we took this picture. I don't even think I had a chance to shower or brush my teeth that day. He on the other hand was all cool and collected and perfectly groomed - spa facial and everything. The wedding started at 3:30pm although we were there by 12:45 to take pictures we never took. I was home by 7pm, after helping to breakdown, pack up, move, and reload everything. And dropping my 82 yr old Godmother at her house. Shouts out to Shantea, Tasha, and Amanda who held it down for a sister. Without them, I would have been at City Hall until midnight again. Thanks so much, ladies!! By 7:30 PM, after unloading my SUV, Rodney's truck, and Mama's SUV, I was passed out on the couch still dressed.
Kobi and Lenieka had a really nice Mercedes, loaned to them by a friend to ride home in. I think they were supposed to go to a birthday party for one of Lenieka's cousins, but I heard Lenieka passed out when she got home too. She was a very hands on bride. Kobi Janai thought she was riding with them and would not get out of the shot.

The End - It's Ova!! So much more to tell, but not enough energy!

Max and Maddy

2008-08-07T10:58:00.004-05:00

This morning Rodney put Maddy in Max's bed while he gathered Max's daily attire. While she was there and Max was fast asleep, she kept hitting him in his head and smiling. Of course, by the time Rodney got the camera Max realized he was not alone and turned over, but not before putting his arm around her and saying, "Hi, baby."

These are just some shots that he did take, while Maddy stood innocently by as Max stretched.

For some reason she likes his bed. This may present a problem later when she starts climbing out and roaming the halls like her brother does now.
Later as we prepared to leave the house, they laughed and played. I can't wait for her to be old enough to actually play with him. He's so rough it may present some problems, but hopefully they will continue to love each other as they do now! I know it doesn't look like it in the picture, but she was laughing and cooing while he was trying to kiss her.

Back - To - School Tea

2008-08-07T09:41:00.004-05:00

Mama invited a few of her friends over for tea so that they could have a little time for relaxation before the school year begins - for them, not her. So when I asked her what they were having and she responded "tea and crackers," - what! You know I had to kick it into high gear! What she ended up with turned out really pretty on the table. I hope they enjoy their party.

I worked real hard on this table and Kisha was the perfect sous chef for the food. Actually she showed me a few things that I didn't know and did a few other things better than I did. There's still hope!

Now before I move on I have to make special mention of the palm tree apparel on the table. My mother has a friend from Rhode Island College that has acknowledged every special event in my life, which started with running around Hungary trying to find a gift for Mama at my birth that was not made in China. Only to discover later that it was and then sent me a personalized train for the wall of my nursery. Can you imagine the look on the shop owners face when that extremely white woman went in to order something that said "NATAKI!?!?" At any rate, although I have never seen this woman in person (or mother's other friend from college), they have both always been a part of my life. My wedding was no different - Aunt Dottie sent me this really nice, hand woven and hand painted set of glasses with matching pitcher, napkins, and napkin ring holders. In five years I have used the glasses and pitcher maybe five times, but never have I had an occasion to use the whole set. Today was perfect. The set coupled with my wedding china and other miscellaneous crystal pieces turned out fabulously! Thank you Aunt Dottie!

Pampered Chef is making it easy for me and it is motivating me. I was up till midnight last night and back up at 4:30 this morning. The fruit presentation was not perfect, but to the naked eye it was alright. Kisha had to show me how to use the melonballer - I've never been able to get that right. The new can opener is also a mystery still, but I am going to work hard at it. KWK and I cut the rest of the fruit this morning.

The cake was some box cake called "Pineapple Supreme," can't wait to find out how it tastes - it smelled different. It was inspired by my lemon creation the other day. Cream Cheese frosting. And I love those torte pans. My layers were even this time.

The pasta salad was a low calorie solution to cleaning out some of the stuff in our messy pantry that turned out to be a hit with the family. So KWK requested it again. I was very methodical about it the first time I made it and of course, had no idea what I did. Kish was there to remind me of what was in it and to help me chop all of the veggies. She cooked the pasta and put the dressing mixture on it. I tasted it and gave a few final touches before we put it in that beautiful scalloped bowl. It is one of her favorites of my dishes also.

I have to make sure that I say that Markisha was a hugely significant contributing factor to the preparation of the food because she wants me to make sure I give her some credit. She texted a picture of the cake, for which she did most of the piping, to a few of her friends. She got a wedding proposal out of it - if only they knew.

The Backyardigan's Part Two

2008-08-07T09:24:00.006-05:00

Max and Rodney enjoyed the show. No flash photography, but they got a few pics before the show started. Rodney's exact works were, "It was awesome!" He and Max even gave me a little sampling of some of the music and choreography.

I got a chance to visit with them before the show even though I didn't go. I wish I had; I hate I missed it! Max was interested by terrified by this fountain. I think he thought I was trying to toss him in.

Rodney was the one of very few fathers that I spotted in the lobby and one of a few people of color. As the engraving on his wedding band reads: "My strong Black man." He was the only Black father I saw in the crowd. I am so glad he is interested in his children, many of them are not. Kudos, Rodney - another good reason to stay married to him! SMILE!! Side Note: Don't my boys have some gorgeous legs!?!?
Max was so excited he wouldn't stand for this picture. I really hyped him up the last few days, but I don't think he really knew how special a treat he was going to get until he got there. The Marquee
Last shot before "no flash photography." They gave all of the kids shields before the show began. We all know that Max's was destroyed before it made it to the house.
Afterwards, we all went to lunch - me, Rodney, Markisha, Max, and Maddy (3M's) at the Doubletree. Then Rodney and I went to work, the baby's went to daycare, and Markisha went to court (A whole nother story). It was a great outing and I think everyone had fun!

It's Official!

2008-08-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

After a long career (30+ yrs) in education, "Check" KWK has retired. Yes, you heard right the "Teacher of the Year" has left the building!

For months she has been complaining and eluding to the fact, but I never believed that she would do it. I have be teasing her the whole time, and just to be honest, expect her to report to work on next Friday with the rest of her colleagues. But all of the paperwork has been filed, the proper people have been notified, the classroom is cleared out, and the first check is on the way . . .

Congratulations, Mama! Now I will start planning the retirement soiree and what a grand affair it shall be! I shall also followup with blogs about some of my most memorable experiences having a teacher for a mother - next week everyday.

P.S. And for those of you who are wondering why I inserted the photo of myself - it's not me, it's KWK in her mid 20's. We were both fine in our 20's!

Backyardigan's, LIVE!!!

2008-08-06T11:33:00.005-05:00

Every evening when we get home Max says, "I need to watch TV." I respond, "You don't need to watch TV, but I will let you watch for a little while. What do you want to watch?" He in turn responds, "Tyrone!" Tyrone is his favorite character from the Nick Jr. show The Backyardigan's.

That's why today I am so excited that my baby is at his first live show - The Backyardigan's - A Knight's Tale. Rodney couldn't get off for the evening show and I couldn't get off for the morning show, so we decided it would be easier for Rodney to take him to the morning show. I think we are more excited than Max, but I have been pumping him up for the last few days. I hope they are having a good time. My fear is that Max will freak out from the live characters and that Rodney will respond poorly. He did get him a hat or t-shirt and a souvenir plate! I hope they take lots of pictures so I can post them later. Oh, and in case you were wondering the Backyardigan's is a cartoon with lots of singing and dancing which Max loves. But the thing I like most about it is that it encourages children to use their imagination to go on lots of adventures and it teaches a few history or science lessons while entertaining. It first caught my attention when I discovered that the characters names were Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin. Does that sound like the Rainbow Coalition or what! They also end each show in the backyard where they then go into the house for a snack - Max loves that part too.

Thank you, Aunt Denise!

2008-08-06T08:22:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago Maddy's Aunt Denise from Atlanta, GA went to Boule in Washington DC. Maddy recieved a sweet surprise in Monday's mail. Aunt Denise sent her a delightful gift for which we are greatly appreciative and her mama is tickled pink!!! She will be sporting her onsie this Friday with her designer jeans! I will put the coloring book away until she is a little older - at least until she can hold her big head up long enough to hold a crayon! Skee Wee!!

Cooking Fool and Space Chimps

2008-08-05T16:30:00.005-05:00

My poor kiddos had a slow weekend. When I wasn't doing wedding stuff, I was trying to get the house cleaned, get control of the laundry, unpack and review my new cooking stuff, and come up with creative ideas for the use of my new stuff. Max was three times as hype as he usually is. On Sunday, we let him out of the house and took him to see Space Chimps! I have been spoiled by Disney Pixar so I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the others I've seen this summer - Kungfu Panda was the bomb! Ka-dush!

I got almost everything unpacked, I got most of the laundry done, I made more cupcakes and a lemon/strawberry dessert, and a homemade pizza. KWK was out of town so it was just us Blockers about the house. Rodney enjoyed the new kitchen utensils just as much as I did and was very eager to help! He took a few shots of my process. I felt like I was doing a cooking show - I got caught up on a few episodes of Cooking For Real with Sunny Anderson and Iron Chef America too.

The finished product was beautiful and delicious.

We ate about three slices and City Hall enjoyed the rest of it!

The pizza was really ugly, but it was really good! It was hit with Max, he ate most of it.

The Knight Nuptials

2008-08-04T21:55:00.003-05:00

The day is fast approaching! Only 4 more days to the big moment when my brother and his wife recommit themselves to each other. A large portion of my weekend was spent finishing up the invitations (technicality) and going over the guest list, the final fitting, program, music, and menu.

The dress is fabulous! I don't even recognize it anymore! I think she's going to pretty. If you have any suggestions for covering tats, let me know - we have some in the neck area. My house is a wreck from all of the wedding stuff and Kisha's going back to school stuff. I've got to get it all cleaned up before the bridesmaids get there on Friday night.
A prototype of the invitation
The final invitation with a touch of pink!

PRAY FOR ME!!!! PRAY FOR US ALL!!!

Random

2008-08-04T11:34:00.005-05:00

As I was looking through some old pictures I found some similar shots of my little tots! Guess who?

Boy do I have some funny looking baby's!

Ummmmm, cupcakes!

2008-08-04T11:32:00.005-05:00

While I unpacked all of the pampered chef stuff, Aryshona entertained the children. She and Max decided to make cupcakes. Below is what happens when you bake with a two year old.

Step 1: Make sure the mixer is in the off position before you plug it in.Step two: Read instructions very carefully. Aryshona is no cook, but she tries really hard.
Step 3: Pose as if it were a Food Network photo shoot as you ice the cupcakes. Food Network would not dare have a cluttered kitchen like mine.
The finished product. These chocolate goodies were sent to the daycare. A batch of larger sized treats were enjoyed by some of my City Hall co-workers. I am still trying to lose weight.

My Inner Chef

2008-07-30T23:26:00.005-05:00

My Pampered Chef order came in on Thursday - four whole boxes of kitchen bliss! I made a huge mess while unpacking and putting all of the individual orders together.

At the end it all came down to my stuff. Oh what fun I am going to have!!!

Meet the Blockers

2008-07-30T23:25:00.004-05:00

On the Sunday of the 26th we decided to co-ooooor-di-nate! The theme was red, black, and white. Rodney would not cooperate for the picture because he thought we were late for church. He still doesn't get it that our church service starts at 11:30 not 11:00. We didn't get any really great shots, but it was worth the try.

Help me, I am being stalked!

2008-07-28T23:32:00.006-05:00

Once the kids had tuckered Daddy out. He brought them back to the salon. I can't even get my hair done!!!! They are always there, always watching! They really disrupted my ability to check out some of the super fine dreadlock men that were in the salon while I was there. Always with the camera!
But I love them dearly!!!! Max is trying to figure out the nuances of the hair dryer while enjoying a snack of crackers. He kept stuffing them into his mouth like he had not just had lunch at PF Chang's. He was much entertainment for the shop and Sherrill loves to see Maddy.

Happy Birthday, Shana!

2008-07-28T23:31:00.010-05:00

Saturday was my best friend, Shana's birthday and boy did I blow it! After 21 years of friendship, a husband, live-in mother, and two babies - I missed it. I didn't forget, I just don't what day it is - literally. Her birthday is July 26th; I thought the 26th was on Sunday. Because another friend has been saying for two months that she is having a housewarming party on the 26th. So last week when she kept saying that the party was Sunday, I thought that was the 26th. Still no excuse, but sleep deprivation does weird stuff to your brain.
After she chastised me over the phone for several minutes and a few ugly messages we decided to go to lunch at PF Chang's. Our tradition, since I got engaged, has been for Rodney to personally deliver her flowers wherever she was during the day, and then we would have dinner. A long way from our club hopping all night party days - more like party months! When we arrived Max said, "Mommy, I need to ride horse." Upon further investigation he tunred that into, "Horse too big."

All of the Blocker's, minus one got together for the celebration. Max was excited to see Auntie Shanie! Maddy does what she does best - look cute, smile, sleep, and request food when my dinner gets to the table.

Even though I forgot - we still had a good time! Yes she is that much shorter than I am. She is 4'9.5" and I am 5'10.5" - we like our halves. I cropped the bottom of the picture off because Rodney didn't tell me my belly was out.

New Park on Riverfront

2008-07-28T23:31:00.009-05:00

After lunch with Shana, the family dropped me off at the salon and off to the new park they went. It's riverfront park revamped! It has a really cool water feature with spouts that shoot out of the ground and a stone waterfall. Max had a blast!!! Do I have a future all-star or what? Check out that physique.
Maddy napped in the sunlight! Soon there will be fun stories about her. Right now she sleeps through everything.
The park also has traditional items like this slide, but it's super steep and long. There is also a system of tubes for them to climb through.
This is the hill he had to climb to get back to the top of the slide. I could definitely see the signs of sun exposure when he and his sister got back to me. He was three shades darker and Maddy was rosy checked!

All and all they had a fun outing with Daddy!

Father's Worst Nightmare

2008-07-28T23:22:00.003-05:00

Last Friday when I got to the daycare to pick up Max I found him in a very unusual state. See below . . . . Yes, he has on girl's pants. You can't tell from the picture, but they are knit walking shorts with pastel green and white horizontal stripes with a little frilly lacy thing on the edges. Another fashion atrocity brought to you by Max. It was my fault, I forgot to tell them that his extra clothes were in his backpack on "Splash Day," so they sent them back home. "Splash Day" is on Wednesday's and I found them on Friday morning, but thought he had enough to get him through till this week. Boy, was I wrong!
He was totally unaware and extremely comfortable. I was told by the daycare worker that one of his male classmates pointed and laughed at him and said, "Max, you have girl pants!" Clearly, he was unaffected. He spent the rest of the evening in the pants. I am happy to report that the pants have been washed and returned to their rightful owner.

Here Comes the Bride

2008-07-24T15:48:00.004-05:00

My brother and his wife are going to renew their vows in a few weeks and they are doing it in grand fashion!!! We went for her fitting this week. She is going to look so pretty all dressed up. She is so excited and I am very excited for her. Plus I just get excited when I get to plan a wedding or help plan a wedding.
Max and Maddy were doing their usual!

The Pampered Chef - My Party

2008-07-24T15:29:00.005-05:00

I had a Pampered Chef party last Friday and boy was it fun! Our demonstrator was April Dumond from Maumelle. She showed us some handy gadgets they offer and shared some really neat kitchen tricks as she made us dinner and dessert to enjoy while we perused the catalog. Madeline was totally comfortable with Phyllis. I heard later that Max had been upset with Phyllis because she had his baby and was sitting in a chair int he kitchen that was supposed to be in the living room. He actually tried to physically remove her from the chair. She is skinny enough (Size 0) for him to have accomplished that if Maddy hadn't been weighing her down.

Juanenna brought her new baby girl Jaila to enjoy the festivities also. She is super cute!
When I finally resolved to the fact that I could not work my new phone and that any guests trying to phone me for directions was just out of luck, I started to enjoy the show. I got to use their juicer to squeeze the lemon juice into the sugar for the glaze for the lemon dessert.

See the Heavenly Lemon Glazed Angel Food Cake. I also got to do the little whipped cream swirly thingys on the dessert. It was so good. And the best part was that it was fat free and low in calories. Below is the Colossal Pasta Chicken Salad. It was layered with penne pasta, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, black olives, chicken, and fresh Parmesan cheese. It was served with homemade Italian vinaigrette dressing. Yum-O!
The party was a huge success, I am closing my order today or tomorrow. I can't wait to get all of the stuff so I can uh and aw over it. And then get to cooking!

The Fishing Derby

2008-07-24T14:50:00.004-05:00

Every year MacArthur Park hosts an annual Fishing Derby where children under the age of 12 can come and fish with cane poles in their freshly stocked pond. They provide the cane poles and bait and certain fished are tagged so that the child who catches it wins a prize. The children get to keep all of the catfish they can catch!

Rodney has been talking about going fishing lately, so this year, I thought it would be a good idea for he and Max to get in some father/son time at the fishing derby. As an added bonus I asked Rodney if my nephew Kamron could tag along; his father would be working that morning. He agreed so I picked Kamron up the night before and the next morning Gigi (KWK) got him dressed for the excursion.

Unfortunately for Kamron, Gigi didn't remember the proper attire for a fisherman in the middle of an Arkansas July. Her intent was to protect him from sunburn, but instead she made him susceptible to heat exhaustion. In his words poor, "I'm hot, Taki," said the poor little sweaty child.

The festivities started at 9 am. Since I didn't have Max that morning I decided to take Maddy into the office with me. More like I missed my turn and just decided to keep going so that everyone could get a look at her. Around 8:45 am I got a call that there was no bait could I go to the local grocery store and get some chicken livers. During the second call I heard crying the background - Max was upset with putting the livers on the hook. After I dropped Maddy off at daycare, two more calls, and a trip to the store, I made it to the park. Where is Max I ask when I finally get to the far end of the pond they have chosen for their prize fishing spot with a cooler, hot dogs for bait, and snacks. Rodney started looking around. "What the hell," I couldn't help it. I found Max standing in the spot above looking mortified by the entire experience. That spot was behind and off to the left of where Kamron and Rodney were having the time of their lives below. I gave him some Cheetos and we walked around a little bit.
There were swarms of people out that day. Hooks were flying, fish were flapping around, and children were running everywhere. Before I left Kamron caught a fish!

Kamron was really excited about his fish. Max ran the opposite direction when they pulled the fish out of the water.
I think Rodney did more of the fishing than Kamron did. I decided to take Max to daycare before I had to get a divorce because my husband neglected to properly supervise the child because he was too busy having father/son time with someone else's child at the pond.
Later that day Max was going to Chuck E Cheese so I asked Gigi to keep him a little while longer so that he could go. When I got home I asked him if he had a good time, he said "Uncle Rodney took me fishin'!" They caught three fish.

Congratulations, Pastor Diggins!

2008-07-24T14:22:00.005-05:00

KWK's most recent photography job was for one of her teacher friends at Parkview who is also a pastor at a church in Malvern. We all loaded up in the Expedition and traveled along with another family friend to attend the celebration in his honor. He told us that it was just a little old church in the country, but we arrived to find quite a spectacular facility that seated a little over 300 people. Little, yeah right! Congratulations, Mr. D, for 23 years of service!

Max was his usual rambunctious self! This is an hour (felt like 3) before he feel asleep.

This woman was a jack of all trades. She was the event chair, program MC, a part of the praise team who performed three numbers, the decorator, the caterer, and she baked several homemade desserts, including a German chocolate cake, for the head table in the dining hall.

Pastor Yarborough gave a really good sermon and said lots of great things about Pastor Diggins and the influence he had had on his life starting form when he was just a young boy.
I ran into my Goddaughter, Skylar, who now resides in Chicago. Her grandmother and aunts attend the sister church (also in Malvern) that performed during the program. She is in Arkansas visiting for the summer and I hadn't heard from her yet. So it was a delightful treat to run into her at church. I hope she has time to come visit a few nights before she goes back to Chicago for the school year.
Skylar and her new God sister. This is the first time she's seen Maddy.
This is another pastor who spoke during the program from Little Rock. I included this picture because I wanted to get everyones opinion as to whether he also reminded you of Neno Brown from the New Jack City movie.

RIP Mr. Redden

2008-07-24T13:40:00.004-05:00

One of my brother's closest friends (far left) lost his father to a freak accident a few weeks ago. I had never met Steve's father, but I heard a lot about him when Kobi and all of his friends used to hang out at my house during their late high school and early college days. I guess it pays off to have a older sister who has a house where you can eat, drink, and party. Kobi and Steve used to compare notes on the inequitable treatment between them and their little brothers. Mr. Redden sounded like a hard man, at least he was on Steve. But it worked out for him, he was so responsible and mature that at one point I wanted to date him - probably not a good idea. He did end up marrying an older woman though, so I am not embarrassed to admit that. Turns out his father wasn't as hard as I thought he was; he was just hard working!

Steve has been like a part of our family over the years so I wanted us to be there for him. I certainly know how he feels having lost my father by surprise also. And he was there for our family at our time of need. The Blockers plus one (KWK) spent the whole day with their family. Fortunately, but unfortunately, I finally got to meet his mother and the infamous little brother.

(l to r) Steve, Lynn (his wife), Mrs. Redden (his mother, and Cory (his little brother)

Kobi and Don (another one of their crew)

On a side note - my brother needs a haircut!

Pinnacle Mountain Picnic

2008-07-23T22:01:00.003-05:00

The Saturday before I went back to work, I decided to do something I had not done in a long time. It is actually a tradition from my early twenties, but every summer right before the Fall semester would begin I would go to Pinnacle Mountain for a picnic lunch and a hike. I know it's not Fall and that hiking is out of the question with my debilitated foot and that I was not starting classes. But I gathered up my little family anyway and off we went to Subway to pick up sandwiches and chips; our spin on the traditional picnic. Unfortunately there was rain in the forecast, but it was still a really nice outdoor outing and we finished up right before the rain.
We ate our sandwiches and then hit the playground.
There were quite a few children out that day.

I ended up playing tag team with this man and his granddaughter.
Little Maddy slept through the whole outing. This is her in the stroller as we walked the small trail that they have created across from the mountain. I think I am going to try to strap her to my back and tackle one of the smaller trails up the mountain next time.
Max is hard to keep up with these days so we have to come up with creative ways to keep him contained. This is our most recent method. It doesn't last for long though. I think we are too tall, plus, he doesn't like to be unsteady on his feet.
For some reason Max was mortified by this tree. We saw Shrek the Third earlier that week and it starred some wicked enchanted trees. Maybe that is what had him spooked; he totally freaked out when I tried to get a picture of them standing in front of the tree.
No trip to the park is official without a good swing. It was a really nice outing. I wish we had more time to spend with each other to do things like this more frequently.

New Posts Below

2008-07-23T03:35:00.002-05:00

If you haven't been here since Friday, July 18, 2008 . . . .

There are a few new posts below this one. Since I made the entry's but didn't complete them. They lines up so that I could put them in chronological order.

So Sorry

2008-07-16T14:01:00.003-05:00

To our loyal fans. The Blocker family has lots to share with you. The past few months have been busy with everyone trying to adjust to the new baby. We have been doing lots of stuff and taking lots of pictures. So over the next several days I plan to try to catch up. Please bare with me as I do so.

Thanks again for your calls, concerns, reminders - threats. Enjoy!

Nataki S. Blocker

I Miss My Daddy (Tearjerker Warning)

2008-07-16T12:13:00.005-05:00

My Daddy and my baby brother (Jamey).

Jamey was about 1.5 in this picture; he will be 24 in a few weeks.

The other day my brother and his wife and four of their six children were over visiting with my mom (very rare). Then I showed up with my two children, after which a friend of my brother's came over to help my mom with something. Later my other brother showed up. We had a house full and I cooked a spaghetti feast for everyone.

It was so reminiscent of the old days when none of us (me and my siblings) were married or had children, but we were all out of our parent's house. From time to time we all showed up and most times with a friend, maybe two. We could always find my dad cooking or grilling something and there was always enough to share even if he hadn't planned on having us over. It was such a fun time and always so loud. He was the only thing missing, I thought the other day, as I was cooking, corralling children, practicing violence intervention and prevention, watching the Backyardigan's, changing diapers, and leading sing-along's. For if he was there, I would not have had to cook and he would have shared some of the "kid duties" with me.

My mother was having a moment yesterday and I am sure the "whole house full" is what triggered it for her. In my effort to keep her calm I overlooked my own feelings, which came rushing in this morning as I admired my most prized piece of jewelry - my gold and diamond tennis bracelet.

It is not the most spectacular thing you have ever seen and I don't even wear much gold and wore none at the time that it was gifted to me. But the year I got married, right around my birthday (Feb 11) and Valentine's Day, my dad stopped by unexpectedly. I was in the kitchen cooking or something and not really paying much attention to him. He was standing there awkwardly holding a long, white jewelry box as we chatted about what he had been up to that day. I didn't even pay much attention to the box because I assumed it was a Valentine's gift for my mom and he wanted me to wrap it, as had been our tradition on many special occasions and holidays. I finally took a pause as he explained that he had been someplace that had a jewelry sale and that he had picked up something really special.

Here's the clincher and the sweetest moment I think he and I shared during my adult life. Up until that point he had been blasting me about my bad choices in men. He told me that he knew that I would be getting married soon and that I would have a new man in my life, but that I would always be his little girl and since this was my last single birthday and Valentine's Day he wanted to give me something special. He handed me the box and there was my bracelet. If I had known that he wasn't going to be with us for much longer; I would have jumped into his arms and showered him with kisses of gratitude and appreciation. I did give him a very hardy thank you - we didn't used to be huggers in my immediate family - we are now.

I didn't even wear the bracelet for a long time because I didn't have anything to go with it. But now that he's not here, it doesn't matter. I wear it when I feel like it and I have tried to collect some coordinates. The bracelet has replaced my grandmother's white gold and diamond Swiss watch that I only wear on special occasions (last time was my Daddy's wake in 2004 and time before that was my wedding in 2003) as my most prized piece of jewelry.

So today as I looked at it on my arm in staff meeting I got teary eyed. I am so sorry that he missed out on the rest of our lives and all of the grandchildren. Although he had acquired five by my and Kobi's marriages there had been only one birth at the time of his death - Kamron (six months then, 4 yrs now). We've had three more since then. But I am most grateful that I got a full 30 years out of him. It would take me 1000+ blogs to share all of the memories and good things about him. So I'll end it here. I love you, Daddy and I miss you dearly. RIP!

Deacon & Deaconess Nelson

2008-07-16T12:12:00.014-05:00

First Sunday - July 2008

My friend Shantea's husband, Ralph, was recently ordained a deacon at their church. Shantea has, in the past, refused to comply to some of the deaconess rules and guidelines. She did attend the six week training session. In July, after a whole lot of personal tragedy and controversy, and a little coaxing from her husband, she decided to wear the white and sit near the front row as all Deaconesses are required to do on first Sundays. I think it's so they will be front and center as their husband are for Communion. Who knows?!? Well this tasks requires an all white outfit (dress or skirt - no pants), hose, shoes, and hat! This was difficult for her on so many levels and she moaned and complained all week about what she wasn't going to do. Tasha and I decided to gather our family's and go to support (point and laugh) our dear friend, Shantea.

As it turned out, I almost forgot because I was so delirious with what ever sickness I was suffering from that weekend, but I did manage to tell Rodney we were going at about 4 AM that morning. Tasha and her family didn't make it and Rodney forgot to bring the camera into the church because, as usual, we were running a bit late. Shantea looked like a doll in her white suit and hat! SMILE!!! She is always pretty, but she fixes up nicely. She had a vintage style suit and a very modest hat. I even noticed her mother in the back row who probably came to do the same thing I did - support/laugh! And Ralph did an excellent job with his Deacon duties.

After church we waited around for them to finish up so that we could all go out for lunch. Max ran up and down every pew in the sanctuary as we waited - almost got Grayce in trouble - his father thought that was okay. We had problems the next Sunday at church in Malvern.

Below are a few shots Rodney took as we enjoyed our lunch at Olive Garden. Too bad he didn't get a good shot of Shantea before she ditched the hat and hose.

With all of the mockery I forgot to mention that the church service was great and that I was impressed with the facilities, the pastor, and the choir. Shantea attends church where I was baptized many years ago at the age of 18. I then went off to school and attended a few years when I came back. We had an old school preacher then that caused me to start visiting other churches and that is how I ended up where I am now; where I attended almost every Sunday for five years before I actually joined. Here lately we have been church hopping, but I still love home! SMILE!!!

Independence Day

2008-07-16T12:12:00.013-05:00

We had the most quiet 4th of July that I can remember in years! No one came to our house and we didn't go to visit anyone. We did receive a few invitations, but declined them all. And totally missed the one from Kobi and James because I didn't even answer the phone or call anyone. KWK was out of town and I was sick as a dog. I think I should have started work the week after. Rodney grilled lots of food and I helped where I could, but didn't get to enjoy any of it. I laid around from bed, to coach, to chair, to coach, back to bed and remained that way until Sunday morning for church. By Saturday Rodney and Max were sick too, and by Monday I think it had gotten to Maddy, but in a much milder form. Around 10 PM Max and Rodney went outside to fire up some whistling bottle rockets while Maddy and I slept inside. Maybe it will be more exciting next year!

I did manage to dress Maddy in her 4th of July outfit that my friend Bonnie sent to her from Branson, MO, via Fayetteville, AR. She was a doll! I was able to get a few pictures, but not without Max.

I think this little photo session triggered the green-eyed monster in Max. He didn't want me to touch Maddy the next day. He threw all of her empty bottles in the refrigerator so that I would not make her anymore and he sat in my lap for hours, which is something he never does. I can't hardly get him to sit anywhere for more than five minutes these days without restraints. I wonder if it was being sick (you know how men are when they are sick). He is still very protective of her and that hasn't happened since so maybe it was an isolated event. She's still "My [his] Baby!"