These Can't Be MY Kids

 My little farmers sure do love being at Nanny and Grandpa's. I found them in the barn helping Grandpa feed the calves when I got there after work. I had to stand outside the barn b/c I can't stand the smell. I let them run around for a little while before I wrestled them to the car. At one point Jennifer had to go in to check on Sophie and Grant b/c she could hear him teaching her how to mooo. Sure enough he had her in one of the pens. Sophie thought it was funny that the cows were licking her shirt.

Sutton loved the calves, but watched from a distance. He had to ride with Nanny and Luke on the golf cart to go see the dead skunk again. They had spotted it (and smelled it) on the morning golf cart ride and the kids got a kick out of it. Luke and Sutton were cute saying "kunk" 

They really do have fun on the farm. Even though it isn't anything I enjoy, I am really glad that they can have this experience. They will have great memories of the fun things they get to do on the farm!

ESOP Conference at Pinehurst

The conference was held at The Carolina at Pinehurst Resort

 I went to an ESOP Association conference at Pinehurst last week. Big G Express is 100% employee owned through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and I have been given the task of communicating the ESOP with the employees and serve as chair of the ESOP Communications Committee (that I created in September of last year). I have been fortunate to attend several of the ESOP Association conferences - in Louisville last September and Atlanta in October. I have enjoyed learning from other employee owned companies and finding out new and fun ways to communicate and build and ownership culture. This was a Tri-Chapter Conference that included the Carolinas, Mid Atlantic and New South Chapters.

I was awarded Employee Owner of the Year for the New South Chapter (thanks to the ESOP Communications Committee for a great nomination letter). I was very surprised to receive the award since they had told my boss, but he decided to keep it a secret! Now I am in the running for the national award and my conference registration is paid for the ESOP Conference in DC in May.

You can check out the ESOP blog I started (with Alli's design help) at www.biggesop.com if you want to find out more:)

The famous 18th hole on Pinehurst No. 2

No. 2 is $400 a round and you have to have a caddy...notice the white jump suits

Just realized I didn't even get the pose right! 

I played in a golf outing to benefit the Employee Ownership Foundation. We played our own ball and I shot a 99 (pretty good for me considering I hadn't played since last June in a scramble) and beat one of the guys in my foursome by 6 strokes:) It was a beautiful day - mid 60's and sunny. We played on Pinehurst  No. 5. It was a great experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to play. 

After the golf round, I headed back to Raleigh and met up with Belle (friend and sorority sister from Vandy) for dinner. She lives about 15 minutes from the airport so it worked out perfectly that I got to see her while I was in town. I had the first flight out in the morning and got back to Nashville by 7:20 am so it was a long day at work waiting to see the kids!

Cracker Barrel Lunch

 After church, we met up with Nanny and Grandpa at Cracker Barrel for lunch. We were driving and Chad and I were trying to decide where we should go and Sophie chimed in from the back to tell us she wanted Cracker Barrel. She and Grandmama pretend they are eating out and practice ordering and that is where they were pretending last. She also knew about the toys that she could play with before we got seated. It was nice to have her make a decision because we really didn't know where we would go!

Egg Hunt at "Our Kroger"

James and Amber's church, City Church, sponsored an egg hunt in (as Sophie would say) "our Kroger" parking lot. We headed over around 11am and let the kids play for about an hour and a half. There were bounce houses and the kids had fun on those. We also enjoyed free pizza from Fox's Pizza.

I don't know if I will be able to get any good pictures of the kids looking during egg hunts...I should just give up on that idea now before I waste too much time!

Mary's Bachelorette Dinner

A friend from work was getting married so we got together for a celebration dinner on Friday night. We met up at Samurai's in Murfreesboro. It was the first time that I've eaten at this particular hibatchi restaurant and I think it might be the best in town. We had a very entertaining cook so it was a lot of fun. The party stopped after dinner for me. Chad was at dinner with his parents so he came by to pick me up on the way home. I was going out of town on Sunday night for a conference so I wanted to spend time with the family that night too.

Sake Bombs

The cook was very creative:)

Mary Poppins at TPAC

Chad and I took Sophie to watch Mary Poppins at TPAC. I got the tickets the day after Thanksgiving when they opened up sales for that day. I got front row seats...not sure how it would be for Sophie being able to see. It was probably a little too close with the wall right in front, but it was still good. She sat in a booster seat the entire time and loved it! She had watched the movie a couple of times so she knew a few of the songs and that is her favorite part (if you were to ask her).

Amber watched Sutton for us, but it won't be long before we will have to buy four seats!

Look what I get trying to get her to pose! Thought I would include all pictures so you could see how hard it is sometimes!

We stayed after for the "Talk Back Thursday" where they had cast members come out and answer questions (sorry Amber). It was interesting to hear the kids story and how they got the roles and what their lives are like on tour. Maybe one day Sophie will play "Jane Banks":) I think she will be our little actress.

Easter Photo Shoot with Relive Photography

We had a "mini" Easter photo session with Julie Smith of Relive Photography. I saw on Facebook where Carrie had signed up for her "event" and thought it would be fun to get some pictures with a bunny for Easter. We did something similar when Sophie was Sutton's age so it was good timing to have the pictures done. Special thanks to Carrie for helping me cloth the kids. She let us borrow the tie and hat and pink shirt of Cooper's. She also went to pick up a new white bow for Sophie. The kids did great and I thought the pics turned out so cute!

Sophie and the Easter Bunny

I took Sophie with me to The Avenue on Sunday afternoon. She was in need of spring/summer clothes since everything from last year is too small. When we got there a bunny was outside of the toy store (and I happened to have my camera in the car) so we got a piciture.

I thought Sophie was at the age to shop with me, but I don't think we are there yet. She got bored quickly and crawled under racks and was a little whiny. May have been that she was really tired and didn't get to sleep long in the car, but not to make excuses...not making a habit of taking her when I need to get things done quickly.