A bit of saddness

As I have been getting ready for our big trip I got a phone call from my dad this morning that brought a bit of saddness. My great grandma who I have mentioned before is not doing well. She has been very weak the past week and this morning not been very responsive to any of the family. The hospice nurse and dr think she is in her last days and all we can do right now is keep her comfortable.

Although I am incredibly excited about my trip and I know I will have so much fun, it is a lil sad having to leave on these terms. I know that we can't do anything about it and when the Good Lord calls her home she will be on her way. She is a truly wonderful woman who has meant so much to me.

So, I am asking for prayers for my great grandma and family. I pray that she doesn't have to suffer and that she will pass peacefully. Also, her sister who lives in Texas is on her way up so I also pray for safety for them as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

One thing I don't look forward to

I hate packing! It's true. I can't stand it. I always second guess myself, how much to pack, what to pack, what will I need, it goes on and on. If I could have my own personal packer who would pack exactly the right things and right amounts that would make my day. And then there is always the things you forget that you really do need but you have tons of stuff you don't. Oh well I know I won't care too much but I do stress over it which I know is silly.

Also, as many have seen the tropical storm or hurricane or what not but my hubby keeps telling me that everthing will be alright! So, I am praying for the best and hey maybe there will be a lil adventure :) Keep our safety in your prayers please!

Basically 2 days!!

Some of my favorite things

I was thinking today about different things and I started listing some of my favorite things. So, I decided after my rant yesterday I would share some of my favorite things.
*Spending time w/my hubby and kiddos
*Seeing my hubby w/my kids
*Hearing our middle daughter say that she gets something from me
*Listening to our oldest sing
*Listening to our lil man try and say words
*When my hubby holds my hand
*Watching our lil man try and figure out things on his own
*Watching the kids play together happily
*Taking vacations w/my family
*Girls Night Out
*The sound of a thunderstorm
*The sound of typing on a keyboard
*The smell of rain

I know that I could think of a ton more but I won't bore you any more than I already have. I hope you all have a great day! And enjoy some of your favorite things today!!

3 1/2 days until Jamaica!

One of those days...

There are days as a mother that I feel like a broken record. I feel like all I am ever saying is pick up this, throw that away, clean this, put that away, pick up this....And on days like that it makes me want to SCREAM!!!! Today was one of those days. I felt like nothing was getting through and I had to keep saying the same thing over and over and over. I told my hubby I think I might have a meltdown soon. Thankfully the evening has been somewhat better so I might make it through today w/o pulling out my hair. This trip is definitly coming at a good time. As my hubby says you need a vacation :)

So, if you ever have days where you feel like a broken record or want to pull out your hair, you are not alone! Thanks for listening and feel free to vent if you need to.

P.S. Basically 4 days until Jamaica!!

Picture Adventure

So I haven't ever taken lil man in to get his picture taken aside from the annual Mother's Day grandkid picture. I had really wanted to get his picture taken for at least his one year picture and after procrastinating for 2 months I finally made the appointment for today. And let me tell you my husband is not very patient when people are just inconsiderate of other peoples time. We get there and the waiting area is full and they tell us there are 3 groups in front of us. Which starts my hubby in a great mood :) We wait and wait and wait and wait and after 45 min they finally call us back. In the meantime lil man has been in a great mood playing, smiling and having fun. As soon as we get called back he gets into his shy, freaked out, won't let go of mommy mood. I am thinking great. So, we finally get a few pics taken and he is sitting on a block, falls off so of course starts screaming. By this time my hubby is ready to walk out and forget the whole thing. The photographer tells him well, corporate makes us take at least 3 different backgrounds....I was not sure if my hubby was going to stay quiet or tell her exactly what corporate could do. So, we toughed it out and got some good shots. By the time we needed to pick out the pics lil man was ready to go and I was so tired of the whole deal I just picked one shot and got the cheapest package and left. Needless to say my first experience wasn't the best. My husband told me if I ever want him to go again we make the first 9am appoint so they can't be running behind. I said whatever it takes because I want a family pic and a pic of my 3 kids, so we will see how that goes :)



But on a happier note 7 days to Jamaica!

Cousin Fun

The other night we were lucky enough to get to spend the evening w/3 of our nephews. It was a nice night so the kids enjoyed playing in the backyard. It is so fun to watch all of them together especially now that lil man is getting where he is trying to keep up w/his older cousins. One of the things they were doing was racing back and forth. Lil man tried keeping up w/them as you can see but in the end he was left behind :)

We also received from my Aunt's parents their swing set. We had been wanting to get one that was a nice wood one but hadn't got around to it. My Aunt called me one night and said that her parents were wanting to get rid of their swing set since the boys were older and didn't use it and wanted to know if we wanted it. We went and looked at it and said sure! It has been a nice addition to our backyard. Lil man has enjoyed it especially climbing up the slide. We were shocked when the first night it was up he climbed up the whole slide all by himself. Our middle child is also getting a lot of enjoyment out of it as you can see below. We are very thankful for them giving it to us!

PS 8 days until Jamaica!!

The End of the World as I knew it.....

The summer between my 4th and 5th grade year my parents decided it was time to move. They had wanted to get my sister and I out of the city school district and had wanted some land. So, our family business found some land, bought it, and before I knew it my uncle's family and mine were living "in the middle of nowhere" (1/2 a mile from the highway). I was not too thrilled. I didn't like being hours (20 mins) from my friends, I was starting a new school and didn't know anyone. It was the end of the world as I knew it.


As the years went on some of my favorite memories were made on that land. When they dug our pond we had a "mountain" that we would climb up and down and play on for hours. We also tried to walk on that pond when it was semi frozen, but got caught by my aunt and ended up getting in trouble. And it is where at night you could sit under the stars and see more stars than you would ever be able to see in the middle of the city. It became one of my favorite places and is even where I wanted my wedding reception.

Now it is a place for my kids to enjoy. During the summer my kids spent time at Memaw's house and here are some pics to show you all the fun at Memaw's house.

Here Lil man is pointing out the horses to big sis.
Playing on the swing set.

Fun in the Jeep.

Driving into the "sunset".

P.S. 9 more days to Jamaica!!

Time for a New Look

Thanks to one of my good friends The Harrold Family who used this site for her blog I decided it was time for a change. And unlike the other site that I had used before, this site you don't lose all your links and stuff. Also my choice for a background is to get me ready for our getaway trip to Jamaica in 2 weeks! So if you are getting bored w/your background check out Cutest Blog on the Block. Updates coming soon!

Talk Talk Talk

I'm not sure where it started but my lil man loves to talk on the phone. And it doesn't even have to really be a phone to talk on. He uses everything you can think of as a phone. His toys, magnets, pretty much anything he can hold in his hand up to his ear he will use it. He will walk all over the place talking on the phone. And if he sees a phone he has to have it. Just be careful if you give him your cell phone. He loves pressing the buttons and to my knowledge has deleted my inbox of text messages and my mom from my contacts. The other day when my mom called me I was trying to figure out why it said the number and not her name when she called. Then I thought Lil man! But back to his phone craze. It is absolutely hilarious and also cute. It is nice when my mom calls me during the day when she has him he wants to talk to me! Here are some pics of him caught in action.

The fact that he sees me on the phone every morning at work wouldn't have a thing to do w/it would it?! :)

Olympic Mania

These olympics are killing me! I really enjoy watching some of the events in the olympics like swimming and gymnastics. The only problem is they start at 7pm and end at 11:30pm or sometimes even 12a. And I really want to watch them so I stay up as late as I can w/o having to hold my eyes open and then I am so tired the next day and I have to repeat the next night and not go to bed early and miss out on history being made. I can't miss Phelps swim. I mean come on he is an amazing machine. So, again tonight I am sure I will go through the agony of staying up late, watching the olympics, and dragging the next day at work. Oh well, good thing they only come around every 4 years!

School Time

I can't believe that it is Aug 13 and the first day of school for my girls. The summer goes by so fast. At the end of the school year you have a summer planned and before you know it, it's time for back to school. Our girls were ready for it to start back for the social aspect. Each girl has some new things to look forward to this year. Our oldest is a sophomore and in Madrigals (select choir) that she is very excited to be a part of. Our middle child got to change schools and move up to the intermediate school this year. She was a lil nervous because this year they had lockers and being a new school she doesn't know where everything is and she only knows 2 kids in her class. Our middle child is also going to have to get used to getting up a whole hour earlier. This morning she was great got up took her shower and was ready to go for the bus. I am sure as the year wears on it won't be that easy to get her up but I was excited for the great start!

The last couple of days we have been getting ready for the 1st day of school. We had to go buy backpacks, school supplies, clothes and all that good stuff. Last night was another big step for our middle child. She started shaving her legs! I can't believe she is old enough for that. She had been asking since her friends had started and I didn't want her to get made fun of at school so last night she shaved her legs. Well, she actually used Veet which is kinda like Nair but it works pretty good and she is happy and so am I. That way I don't have to worry about her cutting her leg yet. She asked me if she could use Veet because a friend had and then she wouldn't cut her leg. I said absolutely, but don't worry when you cut your leg shaving you're not alone. Every girl has cut her leg shaving at some time. Her mom even cut her leg real good right before high school graduation and there is a whole scrapbook page about it :)

So, here we go another school year. Lots to learn and places to go. Here are a couple of pics.

Our daughter learning to shave.

1st Day Picture of our oldest (she was really happy to have me take it ;)

1st Day Picture of our Middle Daughter

Wedding and Family

Family is such a blessing and important part of my life. I have always been close to my family and love being around them. This last weekend was a quick trip but we got to see a lot of our family. My cousin got married down in Oklahoma so many of our family members were there from all over the states. We had Kansas, Texas, Virigina, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida and even Alaska represented. With all the family around it reminded me of when I was lil and a lot of the family would gather at my grandparents a week out of the summer and we would spend the whole time swimming, playing volleyball, swimming, eating, going to movies, and swimming some more. It was such a fun time together. Unfortunately with all our families growing and changing we haven't been able to have all of us together in a long time. So, it was a lot of fun to see everyone.

My cousin who is just a lil older than me married his college sweetheart. It was a beautiful wedding and reception and they even got to leave in a Fire truck! My cousin's wife's dad is the Fire Marshall so he had some pull ;) It was my first wedding to see someone get to leave in a fire truck it was like just out of a movie! One of the neatest things at the wedding was the unity candle. My cousin's dad does a lot of welding and made the unity candle stand. It was absolutely beautiful! I wish I had one. The glass that the candles sat in was hand blown by a friend and in the 3 holders he had laser cut "I am the Vine and you are the branches". It was a very special part of the ceremony and is something very neat that they can display in their home. Another cousin asked him how long it took him and he said he had 100 hours in it but thinks he can go faster now that he has it down. He has 2 younger daughters so I am sure they will each be getting one someday for their wedding.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We start VBS tonight at church so for the next 3 nights we will be hanging out at the church :)