Friday June 3 we left for Hilton Head Island with my parents, my sister and her boys, and my grandma. We drove leaving at 3:30 on Friday and we pulled into our beach house at 4:45 eastern time on Saturday. So yes, it was a whole 24 hours in the car! The 11 of us were divided into two cars and having the kids split up helped. All 5 kids were amazing the whole way. No one even repetedly asked are we there yet! We drove all night and yes we were very unsafe and let the kids out of their carseats for the night. We folded the seats down and made beds. I think that tactic saved our sanity. It was a little strange though because Steve had a trailer with his Harley on it and five car seats because they couldn't fit in the car with all the seats down. We stopped at a gas station at about 2am on the way there and a police officer pulled in beside us and just sat there for a long time. We started worrying that he was waiting for us to pull out so he could pull us over and ticket us for kids not in car seats. So, Steve being Steve, went over and shot the breeze with him strategically offering that he is a retired police officer. He drove off when Steve walked away.

One night we had professional pictures taken. They turned out pretty good considering all the little kids and sand. These are ones that Josh took the night after our professional pictures so we could have some digital images. The photographer had a reasonable sitting fee but of course you can't have any digital copies and it is pretty outrageous to get prints.

We spent most of our time either at the beach which was a short walk down a beautiful street and sandy path or at the pool/hot tub combo in our back yard. James started swimming across the pool completely on his own while we were there. He also loved boogie boarding. It took him a couple of days to catch a big wave but once he did he rode it all the way to the shore.

Kinley loved playing on the pool step, jumping into the pool with her baby boat on, and chasing the waves at the beach. They all loved playing in the sand.

The second day we were at the beach there were dolphins breeching within 100 yards of us. We saw jelly fish washed up on the shore most days which was really cool and disgusting. The last day we saw two huge horseshoe crabs. However, the water and beach were really clean and free of sea life which made for nice prissy girl swimming.

Funny Stories-Tristan said "Old people are no good" (referring to Gigi, Bop and Grandma) James responded with "I know they're old but they're still good".

Kinley and Grandma Dorothy shared a room and every night Kinley did something werid. One time when Grandma walked in she was sitting in the middle of her bed talking on the land line phone and looked just like a teenager. Another time grandma walked in and she was spinning her panties around her finger and flung them in the closet. Then after nap one day she went in and Kinley was stark naked.

Our most recent memory verse has been Ephesians 4:2 "Be patient, bearing with one another in love". I was riding my bike pulling Kinley and Cade and Cade kept saying "no" then Kinley would say "yes" and they would laugh and do it over and over. I guess Kinley decided she was done but Cade kept saying "no" in a loud mean voice and she said "beaw wif one anofer in wuv" then again a little louder then she screamed it at him. I had to teacher that while it is good to use scripture to remind us all to make good choices, it isn't ok to scream it at each other. I was cracking up...at least she retained the verse and used it in context.

One day we drove to Savannah. We tried to eat lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant but we didn't think to make reservations so we ended up at a hole in the wall local diner which turned out ok and actually was the restaurant in Forest Gump where Jenny worked. Then Mom, Grandma, Kelly and the babies went on a trolley tour of the city and Josh, Steve, James, Tristan, Kinley and I went to Old Fort James Jackson. The kids thought it was cool and we got to see them fire a cannon.

Kinley has been mostly potty trained so we did only panties on the trip. She did great in the car and perfect with her pee pee but pooped in her panties every day of the trip except the last one. So frustrating, but we're going to get there. We took a picture of her on the princess bike she wants so that we can hang it up and motivate her. She has to go 7 days without any accidents to get it.

We all took turns cooking meals and only ate out a couple of dinners and they were both crazy with all the kids. We talked often of how if we take another family vacation while the kids are little there will be a nanny on the trip which if funny because there were 6 adults on the trip.

Josh and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on the 5th. It was fun to be on vacation for that. My parents had a little toast for us. We feel so thankful for each other and are learning to love better and better each year. We praise God and give Him all the glory for our marriage because there is no way we could do it without His love, grace and strength. Speaking of marriage we are leading a small group for the next 9 weeks. We are studying Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge. It is a pretty intense book covering a lot difficult topics. We know that God has asked us to do this to strengthen our marriage and to provide an opprotunity for others to do the same. Please pray for us...we're nervous! There are 6 for sure couples none of which we know!

Three days after we got home from Hilton Head we left for Dallas for the Edward Jones summer family meeting. We got to stay at the Westin in Frisco. Jason and Emily kept Mallory for us which made things so much more fun. Hotel rooms are no fun with babies. James and Kinley and I had a great time swimming at the amazing pool while Josh was in meetings. We had fun getting to know other Edward Jones families too. Sunday we went to church with Jason and Emily then Emily made a great father's day lunch and we sent Josh and Jason to play Top Golf which is a kind of electronic driving range. We are so thankful for Josh and the amazing father that he is. He leads our family with strength and integrity and we love him!

Last week the night of all the tornado activity we spent some time in the hallway with all our pillows, flashlights and bike helmets. Good times let me tell you. We had to keep them up until 8:30 to make sure the weather had passed and by that time I was begging to put them in bed and take our chances with the tornadoes. Chubby face was pretty cute in the helmet.

James and Kinley have been having a lot of trouble using their words with each other so we have been using the last two weeks to retrain. James just starts grabbing or pushing and yelling in a bossy voice very similar to mine and Kinley does a HIGH pitched scream usually accompanied by a slap. I am seeing a tiny bit of improvement in frequency but there is still work to be done. I am afraid I will need a hearing aid at a young age though. Dealing with them and their impatience and harsh tones with each other has been one huge mirror reflecting my own sin. Last week the verse we were memorizing was Ephesians 4:2 Be patient bearing with one another in love. (By the way that was just then next one in the memory verse book for us to memorize...nice God thing don't you think!) I have been working really hard with the Holy Spirit to calm my nerves, quiet my tone, and soften my heart toward them and I think I am getting a little better too but still have a ton of improvement. I am starting to realize that I am a REALLY selfish person. It is really ugly to see but even uglier to ignore like I have been. I am so thankful for God's grace and power to change!

Kinley is very close to potty trained. She just went almost 72 hours without an accident. I am so excited that this milestone might happen before 3, isn't that sad!

Below is picture of Ezra, James, and Levi playing in the back yard in their underwear. We had the boys over to spend the night and they had been swimming then they all got cold and asked to get dressed then they all went back outside to play and ended up in the swimming pool in their underwear. Then we looked outside and James had the boys, both younger than him at 4 and 2, giving him a ride in his own wagon.

I can't remember if I put this picture in the last blog but this is Mallory sleeping at James' graduation. She got a fat lip today. She was reaching for a toy from the sitting position and fell on her mouth on the wood floor and her two bottom teeth cut her top lip. It was so sad and pathetic. She is saying "mama" now but only when she's upset. She'll say it while she's crying. It is so cute and it makes me want to give her anything she wants. She is getting a little more active on her tummy and bottom. She can go in circles and backwards while in both positions but still does not get up on her hands and knees.

Last weekend Josh went backpacking at the Buffalo River in Arkansas with 5 of his friends. The left Friday morning. It rained all the way down there, they hiked two and a half miles in, it was still raining, they set up camp and tried to dry out, it rained most of the night and a couple of their tents flooded so they got up the next day and came home early. I was proud of them for trying but really sad for them to go to all that effort and not get the full experience. They normally hike around 8 miles and spend two nights. He said it was a bonding experience for sure. This weekend for Memorial Day I cleaned a house with Alicia which involved climbing a 20' (I might be exaggerating a little but not much) ladder to clean windows. Talk about bonding experience...we had each other's lives in our hands! Then we had a cook out with James and Samantha Wagner and worked in the yard. This Friday we leave for Hilton Head so we are trying to get all our ducks in a row to be gone for 10 days.

I do have a funny story about Kinley. We've been talking about getting the junior bed out of the attic for her to sleep in so we can put the twin bed in Mallory's room and move Mallory in with the big kids so that we will have a guest room again. Well, the kids are really excited about this idea, so Kinley started asking when she could have the "asparagus" (which she says like expawacus). I kept asking her to repeat herself and asking her what asparagus she was talking about and finally she said the "expawacus" for me to sleep on. She couldn't remember the word junior but in Veggie Tales there is an asparagus named Junior and that is what she associated junior with was an asparagus so we now call it the Junior Asparagus bed.

We celebrated Easter in Duncan and had a wonderful time. The only bad part was that Josh and Granddad got sick on Easter and had to spend most of the day in their rooms. Granddad and I went shopping one afternoon and ended up getting the girls matching watermelon dresses. James got a coordinating shirt. Kinley and Mallory are kissing and Kate is watching waiting for her turn. Kinley has been doing really well with Mallory and she is starting to enjoy her more.

Best Buds - James and Tristan

All six kids waiting at the start line for the easter egg hunt to begin. We had to hunt inside because it rained all weekend but the kids didn't seem to care, they still raked in a ton of candy and money.

We got so many cute pictures of Mallory. Pardon me for overloading you with them. I just can't resist pictures of cute babies!

Nana organized a group egg dying event. It ended up being an ugly egg contest, which is a Morris family tradition, I think James won and grandma Jeanne helped!

We enrolled James at Hoover Elementary in April. Hoover is our Tulsa Public neighborhood school. We researched the surrounding schools and felt like this was what God was saying to do. In May the board had to start making changes because of budget cuts and decided to close 12 schools which will effect every district somehow. We heard that our neighborhood was being moved to a different school that is not doing well. Then a week later we heard that we will not be moved. Nothing is final at the moment but we are waiting on a letter to tell us for sure. If he is sent to the other school we may consider homeschooling until we can move to Broken Arrow. We are willing to do whatever God wants us to so we will wait and see!

It rained so much at Easter and the kids found a puddle in the driveway and decided to enjoy it. We brought Mallory out and let her play too. It was freezing and she loved it.

Mallory had her 9 month appointment at the end of April. She weighed 22 pounds which promotes her out of the infant carrier into the convertible car seat. That means I have to throw out the infant carrier and I can't bring myself to do it. I can't believe it is the end of an era. Baby days are over...well they don't feel like they are because Mallory doesn't even roll over...but I know we'll be at the toddler stage before we know it. She has figured out how to eat finger foods and is loving it. She likes eggs, puffs, cheerios, goldfish, strawberries, bananas, chicken, and carrots. I hope this means she is going to like variety, not just carbs.

Kate loves Mallory. They liked playing with the same toys over the weekend and Kate did a really good job sharing. They will get to see each other a lot over the summer. Jason and Emily are going to keep Mallory in June and hopefully we are going to keep Kate in July!

Oh this girl is one of a kind! She got to have a "girl weekend" with my mom and they got their nails done, hair cut, went shopping, had a tea party and she was totally enthralled with all of it. Then a couple of days later James was trying to buckle her in her car seat and she said "OUCH that's my penis, don't quash my penis!!!" (yes, she knows she does not have a penis I just haven't been brave enough to use the "v"word) She can be such a girl and such a rude, crude, violent boyish creature. I am so curious and scared about what she is going to be like as a teenager. I asked her where she wanted to have her birthday party and she said "bouncy barn" I said "who do you want to take with you" and she said "my animals". "Oh you don't want to take any friends?" "No, I don't like any". I'm glad I won't have to tell her none of them would come anyway because she's so mean. It is funny because she only likes to play with much older kids. If the are 3 or under she doesn't hit or kick or scream but she gives dirty looks and stays far away.

The kids made these stepping stones for Nana and Gigi for Mother's Day. I think they are really cute. (Nana sorry you have to wait until 4th of July!) The kids got me new measuring cups and spoons and new wine glasses.

We found out that in April Josh's office was profitable which means that after rent and expenses he made money for Edward Jones. That is a big deal! I am so proud of him. He has hit two huge milestones in building his business in the last 6 months. I am excited to see what God has in store for us. He is so faithful. What a journey it is to learn to trust God with our work and finances and to learn to be obedient, generous and disciplined. We have so far to go but we have also come a long way and it is exciting.

James is doing really well riding his bike and we have been taking family rides with our fleet. It is so fun! However, the trailer is on my bike and pulling 60+ pounds up a hill is REALLY hard. I'm wondering how soon we could get Kinley on a bike of her own?

James lost his first tooth right before mother's day. One of his adult teeth on the bottom started breaking through the skin before any of the baby teeth fell out. The dentist said we needed to wiggle that tooth and get it out within the week or they would have to pull it. So he wiggled and wiggled it and finally it came out when he woke up two days later. The kids were so excited about the tooth fairy in spite of the fact that about six months ago James asked me "is the tooth fairy real" and I without hesitation said "no, the parents do it". He totally played along and Kinley got into it too and was so upset that the tooth fairy wasn't going to leave her anything. We talked about wanting to save his tooth and put it in his scrapbook so he left the fairy a note that asked if she could leave the tooth and give him money. So when we went in we did what he asked and sprinkled glitter all over both of their pillows. Now Kinley can't wait to loose a tooth and James is over the fear of the unknown.

Last week was a bad week for me. I lost my keys, lost a check, ran into someone's car at a stop light, and my shopping cart rolled across the parking lot and dented someones car. I asked Josh if he could just put me down because I clearly can't do life. It was so humbling and frustrating. I did feel God saying to me that I am way to hurried in my spirit and way to addicted to accomplishing things no matter how small or trivial as fast as I can. I had gotten to where driving was boring to me and not worthy of my full attention. I was putting a card in an envelope when I ran into her. So, while the accident was bad, it definitely woke me up and convicted me. The kids weren't with me by the way. I have decided I am going to put my bag in the back with the kids and I have asked James to keep me accountable to doing nothing but drive when we're in the car. I found my keys at Target, the check at Reasor's and the persons car I dented at the store hasn't called us yet so maybe we're off the hook?? Oh yeah and our 4 month old dishwasher quit working too so I've gotten to revisit hand washing which is oh so fun and time consuming.

This was the day she had her doctor appointment and got a finger prick. When we got home I realized she had been sucking blood out of her bandaid the whole time. Gross!

We made rice crispy treats one day and James spilled half the box on the ground so they acted like dogs and cleaned it up! Mallory LOVED it!

James has had his first crush. We went to the Y at a random time and he met her in the Kidzone. He said he liked her face and hair and the way she talked and that she was definitely older. He had a dream that night that they kissed at their wedding! He was emotional about all of it and said he got a funny feeling in his tummy when he thought about her which we later diagnosed as butterflies. We did have a lot of great conversations about feelings, talking about feelings, love, kissing, etc. I feel the sex talk coming on soon!

This is when Kinley was sick with a virus. She had a 104 temp for about three days. She was so pathetic and would fall asleep in the craziest positions and sleep like the dead. Is it bad that I really like it when they are harmlessly sick. They are so sweet and calm.

There's the missing tooth!

James had a PreK graduation ceremony. His whole class wore star glasses and they looked so cute. The teacher talked about each one as they went across the stage. She told us how adaptable and fun James is and how he stood at the van door and helped each girl get out when they were on a field trip one day. Before the graduation they had a little music program where the kids sang songs and did motions. Well all the kids except mine. James just stood there looking painfully shy and did a couple of barely detectable motions. Kinley smiled and wiggled the whole time but never did appropriate motions. She started slapping herself in the head and dragging her hand down her face slowly. It looked really beautiful. I guess performing won't be their strong suit.

Last week, yes my bad one, we went camping with our friends the Henslee's. We went to Natural Falls state park just outside of Siloam Springs, AR. It was beautiful and had a very clean well maintained camp ground. There is a waterfall that is about 70 feet tall with a couple of small ones beside it. I hope to have pictures to post in a couple of weeks. We forgot our camera so Derrick took all the pictures and promised to send them to us. The falls were beautiful but the pool below was full of snakes. Both times we went down to look at it we saw several. It did rain at some point each day we were there but it was nice because it never got too hot. We love our camping tradition and no matter how hard it is to make happen it is so fun and we are making great memories. This was on the way home. I don't know if you can see it but James has drool on the right side of his mouth.

Wow, that was a lot of info and I'm sure I missed a few funny stories. I will try to post more often so it won't get so backed up but time to sit down and think sure is hard to find and dedicate to this! We are going to Hilton Head in two and a half weeks! That will make for a fun post!

James is riding without training wheels!

He has been working so hard and practicing almost everyday. The only thing we have left to work on is teaching him to get started on his own. We still have to help him keep balanced while taking off. It is so exciting to see him grow so much in so many areas but it is challenging to keep up with him!

After a night of intense practice riding we rewarded him by going to Braum's. He is getting double dip kid cones now...he is really proud of himself.

At Braum's we let Mallory try some ice cream and needless to say she loved it and was opening her mouth to ask for more.

When I took the ice cream away to take a bite myself she threw a fit. She is so pathetic. She has been perfecting her fit throwing the past few weeks. She had her first ear infection and it was a double so maybe once her ears are healed she'll be a little kinder??

See her two little teeth!

We did yard work a couple of weeks ago and let the kids play in the back while we worked in the front and Kinley came running to the front yard like this. She is so funny. One day she told my mom "our dad has a sugar problem...he eats all the jelly beans" (it's actually me who has the sugar problem but I'll let her think it's Josh) Then a couple of days ago she said "uh...I have a poop problem...I poop in my pull up"

We enrolled James for kindergarten at Hoover Elementary last week. I am in denial but I have a peace about our decisions and I think he is going to do great. I just wish I could slow the clock down a little bit. We are in for a lot of change next year. I'm afraid Kinley isn't going to know what to do with herself except terrorize her sister and talk my ear off.

I forgot to tell a great story about James in the last post. Josh and I have decided to start taking him to big church with us. His first time was a few weeks ago. Our pastor taught about being an overcomer and used Romans 8:31-37 (good stuff by the way). James sat still and listened the whole time, he even laughed when the pastor was funny. When we were on our way home we asked him what he thought of big church and if we wanted to keep going. He said "yeah, I want to keep going. How can I be a conquerer when a friend punches me?" He proceeded to tell us about a specific incident that happened with a friend and asked how God can help him. We were so amazed. No only did he behave well but he heard what was said and applied it to his life! We are really excited to experience church together.

We are going to the British Virgin Islands!

Josh earned a trip through Edward Jones so they gave us a book of amazing trips to choose from and we picked Peter Island. It is a private island and all that is on it is a 5 star resort. We get to go in July, without kids, all expenses paid because Josh works really hard for the greatest company. God is so kind and generous to bless us in this way. We are sinful, degenerate humans yet in His great love He saves us and grows us and lavishes His grace on us. This is such a huge success in our life and God gets all the glory. The last almost 7 years have been an intense battle but God has been faithful and Josh has become a strong warrior. We can't wait to see what the next 7 years hold!

Mallory has two teeth! She got the bottom center teeth last week. Finally we have something to show for that insane amount of drool! It really wasn't too bad. She was a little fussy the two days it took for them to break through but that is it. Now she has the cutest little toothy smile. I don't have a cute pic of that yet but I will get one up next time.

We have given her a couple of sink baths since she's been sitting up and she really likes it.

Last week we went to visit my college friend Kari. She lives in Bentonville, AR. Just the three kids and I went. We had a great time playing with Kari's daughter Sarah (10 months), visiting with Kari, and learning all about hunting and guns from her husband Daniel. The kids made me really proud for how flexible and considerate they were at someone else's house. Although, my proudest moment had to be when James pooped in the back yard and came up to the door with his pants around his ankles telling me there what a big blob of poop stuck to his bottom.

As we all know James has a great imagination. I find him playing the funniest things sometimes. Today he was pretending our dead mum was a trap for his Star Wars guys. There were bodies everywhere.

The other night I was tucking him in and he asked if I would pray for his hand (he had just burned it on the stove) so I did. Two nights later he said "can we do this new thing where every night you pray with us when you put us to bed?" Awww, so sweet! I was thinking aren't I supposed to be the one to suggest that? We say prayers together during the day but wise parents once told me to capitalize on bedtime because that is when kids start talking freely. I have always resisted that because I am such a sleep freak but now that James is getting older I might have to make room for some pillow talk.

This is what playtime often looks like at our house. James and Kinley pretend play and Mallory watches while playing with something that would usually be deemed as unsafe for babies (like the walmart sack she is playing with below)

Yea for tax refunds! With part of ours we decided to get bikes. We have wanted them for a couple of years and with James getting better and better at riding his own we decided it was time. We have really enjoyed it so far. If anyone has tips on teaching kids to ride without training wheels please share! James still has them but they are tipped up so that he isn't on both of them constantly.

This is the Morris Biking Fleet

The girls love their trailer! Mallory had to adjust to feeling a little cramped but she got over it. Kinley always says "go supa supa fast mommy".

The last rainy day we had I let the kids go out to play and Kinley insisted that she not wear pants...it was a battle I chose not to fight. She looked hilarious. With three kids my appearance standards have gone way down. I took the kids to the park a couple of weeks ago in their pajamas. It gets worse. We went at about 5pm and they wore the pajamas they had worn (and still had on) the night before.

One night at bedtime Kinley asked me to sing her a song and I asked what song because she is usually very opinionated about this and she said "sing me a Jesus song". The thing she has been saying more often that isn't so cute is "you are such a meanie!" She says it to everyone.