Keeping Up

I don't if I've even mentioned this on my blog, but have all you fellow bloggers discovered Google Reader yet? It is so easy and so nice. I know many of you are probably still trying to keep up with all of your favorite blogs by going to your blog, then clicking on each of your "friends" and then back to yours then on to the next one, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, on Google Reader, you just add each of your "friends" blog address to your subscription (it's all FREE btw). Each day, you just log in to Google Reader and it updates each blog that has had a post added since you're last session. You can scan through all of your friends very quickly. The only thing you can't do (or at least I haven't figured it out yet) is to comment directly from the Reader site. You have to click on the blog post you want to comment on and it takes you directly to the post. So, all in all, this does save lots of time and it allows you to keep up with all of your blogger friends on a daily basis.

AHHHH, Sweet Southern Days

As I type I am sitting in my swimsuit on a quilt that my great-grandmother made in my backyard soaking in every ray of glorious sunshine that I can! No joke! Thank goodness our backyard is not visible to anyone. I can tell it has been a really long time since I've actually been able to sit and do nothing in the sun because I'm feeling a little guilty and antsy that I should be doing something around the house. But, you know what? It can all wait while I take a few minutes to myself! Anna is napping and MM is playing quietly in the playroom. I can vivdly remember doing this for hours and days at a time back in college. Man, why did I ever quit doing that? Oh yea, that's right, mom and dad wouldn't pay for it anymore, I met the man of my dreams, have a beautiful family that I always dreamed of, and am living a wonderful life!!!!! Perfectly great reasons! Although, I could get used to doing a little more of this now that the girls are getting older. I found myself at the country club pool last summer being so jealous watching those moms whose kids were older and could manage themselves at the pool while they just relax in the sun reading a book, all the while I am chasing my 2 young ones around the baby pool trying to keep them from falling in or just falling in general. Gosh, I didn't realize how quickly we would be getting to that place.

On another note, we have big news . . .no we're not pregnant! ANNA TEE-TEE'D ON THE POTTY LAST NIGHT!!! She is just barely 2 and much further along in the potty training area than MM. We all made a HUGE deal of it. MM said the sweetest thing to her. She said, "Anna, I can't believe you are getting to be such a big girl and tee-tee'd on the potty!" It was in the sweetest little angel voice she could muster. I soak up moments like these because lately all I hear between the 2 of them is fussing and arguing! Well, that's all from this part of the world. Hope everyone else is able to take a little time to themselves and enjoy the nice weather that it seems we are all getting right now. Before we can even blink, we will all be complaining about how hot and humid it is!

Totally Tuesday Randomness

Sorry Susie, but I had to do it. . .a little girl's mother in Anna's class brought this to me at preschool drop-off the other day. Wow, I don't think we've changed one bit - yea right!!!! Well I can always "think" that, right? That was actually the cover of the the national AXO magazine when we were Freshmen (Summer, 1997 - ouch, that was more than 10 years ago).

And these are my favorite most recent purchase! No, I am not auditioning for the sequel to Gladiator! I have been eyeing several pairs of these awesome gladiator flat sandals and I finally found a pair yesterday that I just couldn't live without (and that did not require a loan). I actually got these on sale for $20! They were originally $74.99, on sale for $49.99, and then that price was reduced - what a bargain???!!! Well, at least in my book that is a bargain! I think that these will probably be my "go-to" shoes for the summer and you will probably see them a lot in future pictures posted!

Wow Me?

Ok, so since I was awarded this by 2 fellow blogger friends, April and Kellie, I guess I will take a little credit for our Blog. I love (oops, that will be one of my loves below) blogging and documenting our trials and triumphs in our family, so thanks for the award girls!

This is what you do to share the award:
1. Post the award on your blog, and link to the person who gave you the award.
2. List seven things you love.
3. List seven blogs you love.
4. E-mail or comment on those blogs to let the people know you've given them the award.

So my 7 loves are:

1) My faith

2) My husband - could not have dreamed anyone better for me

3) My kids - cannot imagine life without them and who make me a better person

4) Our family - whom we do EVERYTHING with

5) Blogging, of course

6) Enjoying the world around us and watching my children explore it

7) Anything water related - beach, lake, pool, etc.

8) FOOD - yes, I am a foody - love shopping for it, preparing it, cooking it, EATING IT, talking about it

7 Blogs I Love:

1) Jamie

2) Molli (mainly b/c they live so far away that this is one of the ways we keep up)

3) Heidi

4) Lindsey

5) Susie

6) Rachel

7) Sarah

Ok, I know some of you have already received this award, but you are still ones I love to read and therefore I wanted to acknowledge that!

A-Day 2009

This past weekend was A-Day here in T-Town and the excitement is already building for the upcoming season! This year they held the First Annual Alumni 7 on 7 Flag Football game and Sam decided to play! He had a lot of fun and it was great to see several of the guys that he played with and some that I cheered for back in the day! And, no, I did not make my come back in uniform!!!! Not a chance!!! The link below (you may have to copy and paste it into you browser b/c I can't get the "&" sign to be part of the link) are pictures from the day. If you click on the 7 on 7 gallery, you will find a great picture of Sam on one of his catches in the game(it's the 10th image in the gallery). He should have scored twice, but was robbed! But, his team (the white team, and definitely the "underdogs" on paper) won! Sam was able to show off that he was actually still in pretty good shape (unlike many others) and still has his skills and speed!

These are also some pictures of the girls at the game. They really don't "get" that they are very privileged to get to go on the field to watch, but they preferred sitting with Nanny, Pop, and cousins (the triplets were here for Spring Break) in the stands. Oh well, maybe one day!

http://www.rolltide.com/photogallery/gallery_index.html?school=alab&sport=m-footbl&

Waiting outside the locker room while Daddy changed clothes - this is the same place I used to stand to wait on him when he played

You can tell they are really excited to be there! Anna just kept saying, "Too Loud, Mommy"

Player Introductions

On the line of scrimmage - I think I have several similar pictures of this, only he was in uniform!

Clarification for Sam's Sake

Sam wants everyone to know that our yard nornally looks much better than it does in the pictures of the trampoline! We had a few holes in our grass so he filled them with sand to help the grass grow - so, no, those brown spots are NOT DEAD, it is just sand. Our yard looking perfect is his a thorn in his side, so I just wanted to make sure I made that clarification!

Anyone Seen The Trampoline?

After such a beautiful day yesterday, we had some really fierce weather last night that kept Sam and I both awake for several hours. I kept thinking that any minute a tree or limb was coming through a window! It was worse than the winds that have come through with the hurricanes in the last few years. I kept getting up and checking everything out making sure everything was intact. So, I get up this morning to Sam texting me (he gets up WAY earlier than I do to workout - yes, he has much more motivation than I do) asking me "Who decided to move the trampoline?" Not knowing what he was talking about I go to look out the back porch and this is what I find. . .

Yes, that round, kind of dead looking spot is where our trampoline has always resided. Take notice of the fence (untouched), the tiki torch (still standing), the furniture (in place), the plant on the table (in place). . .
And this is where we found it!!!!!! You think our neighbors will be excited that we decided to "share" our trampoline with them? Surely they won't mind! I cannot believe this!!! It's like the trampoline fairy just picked it right up and dropped it on the other side of the fence! And all in one piece and the fence in one piece too! I can attest to how dad-gum heavy that thing is too because I helped put it together (what little I could do). The only damage to it or the fence is one of the net rails is bent and the top of one board in the fence is broken! How in the world!!!!????? Wow, I knew it was strong winds, and suspected that we may lose the net, but never imagined this! I'm just glad it didn't get carried into any of our neighbors houses! NOW, the question is, "How the heck are we gonna get that back inside the fence????"

Also, on another totally different point, I forgot to update everyone on the horse back riding!

After her 2 falls on the previous Friday, we took MMC back to her lesson on Wednesday and she was eager to get back on Jimmy. We let her kind of do what she wanted on him and let her trot around and walk around and go over the ground poles and just take it easy to help build her confidence back up. She was so proud of herself (and so was her Mom and Dad and Carly) and just beamed the rest of the afternoon! So, I guess, she truly is going to be a horse rider and she proved to us just how stubborn tough as nails she really is! She was a little hestitant and nervous, but who wouldn't be! The first thing she told Sam was, "Daddy, I rode Jimmy today and I didn't fall off!" Awe, how cute!!!!

Easter Weekend

Here are a few pictures from this past Easter weekend. Friday night we had a little impromptu pizza and ice cream picnic on our porch while we played outside. As you can see by the silly faces (which were probably brought on by the sugar high), the girls thought this was fantastic! They were being silly all weekend and we had a hard time getting a really good picture, but I think these show their cute little personalities perfectly! Instead of doing a big lunch at the country club like we normally do on Easter, we decided this year that if the weather was nice then we would do lunch at the lake and ride on the boat. The weather held off just long enough for us to take a nice ride around the lake and enjoy the truly Glorious Day that our Lord and Saviour made! Both of the girls got the chance to "drive" the boat too! We had a great weekend and are so blessed to have such wonderful little girls that brighten each and every day AND to have such a great family that we get to spend so much time with!

Easter, Easter, Everywhere

Just like everyone else, we are in Easter mode FULL FORCE in our house this week. The week started off on Tuesday by celebrating my mom's birthday (a couple days late). I decided that she and I needed some quality mother-daughter time (without kids or husbands) and it has been a REALLY long time since we have done this. So I told her to clear her calendar for Tuesday night and surprised her by taking her to My Monet and then to dinner at DePalma's (Dad and Sam met us there). For those of you who don't know what My Monet is, it is similar to Sips and Strokes. You show up, pay $35 and they "teach" you how to paint your own masterpiece. Each class is a different painting and everyone does the same painting. It's amazing how different each person's can be. We had been talking about doing this together for some time, so I thought, what would be better than to do this for her birthday. We had a ball and we both did pretty well on our paintings - the picture of the eggs is the one I painted.

Anna's class had their party and Easter Egg Hunt Thursday and she had a ball! I'm not sure she really "got" it, but oh well! She was terrified of the Easter Bunny too! She kept telling us last night, "Anna not yike bunny rapit!"

Today is MMC's party and hunt. We signed up to make cookies for the lunch, so yesterday while Anna napped, we made cookies. After Anna woke up (and after threatening MMC to be patient until Anna woke up), we dyed our Easter Eggs! I only boiled about a dozen (plus a couple extra, just in case) this year and that was plenty! MMC was the only one that got to help last year since Anna was still a baby, but this year they both helped! Anna was not about to get left out of that much fun! So after getting everything ready and together, and getting the girls clothes covered in smocks, the first round of eggs went into the color. Next year I think I will try and plan some activities around the time it takes to dye the eggs because trying to keep their little fingers (especially Anna's) out of the bowl while we "waited" on them to dye was a huge challenge. MMC had a meltdown (one of many these days) because she got the dye on her fingers and it wouldn't come off by just wiping it. Whew - thank goodness we only dyed a dozen. They are not the prettiest of eggs (despite me wanted to make the Martha Stewart-ish), but the girls thought they were the best. Anna did not quite understand that we couldn't THROW the eggs into the dye - she cracked one doing this - again, oh well, it's all about the experience and the memories, right? Now only if I can keep the girls from getting them out of the frig until the Easter Bunny comes.

On a more serious and more meaningful story, I have been reading MMC the story of Easter out of her Bible and they have been discussing it at school, too. So the other day, she asks if she can color on my little chalk board man in the kitchen. I was not really paying attention until I looked up and saw that she had drawn what looked like a cross to me. I said, "Mary Mac, what is that you're drawing?" And she looked at me dumbfounded (like, duh?) and said, "It's a cross, Mom!" Ok, I thought, WOW, she really is starting to retain some of her Bible Stories - yea! I get busy again and come back to see the picture (above). Again I asked her what that was and she said, "Well, mom, that is the cross that Jesus was nailed to and that is Jesus on the Cross!" WOW!!!! How cool that not only is she retaining the stories, but she is able to tell the story in her own words and images! She is totally our artistic child and has such an imagination and ability in her art. Oh, and by the way, she said she drew the hair on Jesus crazy like that because He has long hair and he was sad! I have never been artistic (or didn't think so at least) - I pray that I can nuture her artistic spirit in a way that will always feed that side of her! May the Spirit be within you all as we celebrate the true meaning of Easter this weekend!

In Mary Mac's Words

I got this from another blogger friend and thought it would be funny to see what kind of answers MMC would give me. It is pretty cute to hear how she thinks on some of these.

1. What is something mom always says to you?

clean up

2. What makes mom happy?

when I make funny faces

3. What makes mom sad?

when I do something bad

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

she makes funny faces at me

5. What was your mom like as a child?

just like me

6. How old is your mom?

50 (yikes, i hope i don't look that old)

7. How tall is your mom?

very tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

go to the grocery store

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

working

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

being a mommy

11. What is your mom really good at?

cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?

playing games

13. What does your mom do for a job?

play on the computer (only wish it was "play")

14.What is your mom's favorite food?

bread

15.What makes you proud of your mom?

Being in love for me (she meant in love with me)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Komono from My Little Pony

17. What do you and your mom do together?

play games (obviously not that great from the answer above)

18. How are you and your mom the same?

we have the same hair

19. How are you and your mom different?

our eyes are not the same

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

she gives me hugs

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

being friends together (I guess she means that we like to spend time together)

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

to the store

DADDY QUESTIONS...

1. What is something dad always says to you?

I don't know but he calls me Buddy

2. What makes dad happy?

when I play with him

3. What makes dad sad?

when I do something wrong

4. How does your dad make you laugh?

makes funny faces at me

5. What was your dad like as a child?

like Tyler (my brother? not sure about this one)

6. How old is your dad?

25 (no fair)

7. How tall is your dad?

very very tall

8. What is his favorite thing to do?

to hug me

9. What does your dad do when you're not around?

he plays tennis (huh? never played!)

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?

for being famous at football

11. What is your dad really good at?

drawing and playing games

12. What is your dad not very good at?

cooking, but he can put stuff in the oven

13. What does your dad do for a job?

works on the computer

14.What is your dad’s favorite food?

garlic bread (not so, he HATES garlic bread)

15.What makes you proud of your dad?

Being friends together

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?

Spongebob

17. What do you and your dad do together?

play and play and play and play

18. How are you and your dad the same?

we have the same eyes

19. How are you and your dad different?

we don't have the same hair

20. How do you know your dad loves you?

he tickles me

21. What does your dad like most about your mom?

he likes to eat the same food (again, not sure about this one)

22. Where is your dad’s favorite place to go?

work


You should try this on your kids if they're old enough to understand the questions! It makes you realize where and how our children see us as individuals and as a couple! Maybe I'll try and be a little better at those games that I'm not so good at!

The Birthday Girl

After many, many celebrations and many, many rounds of "Happy Birthday!" sung, we have finally recovered from Anna's birthday WEEK! I think I say this every year, but thank goodness birthdays only come once a year - I don't think I could handle many more! Here are some pictures from the week! The big Elmo cake is the one Sam's sister made and it was AWESOME!!! Not only did it look perfect (toook her like 2 hours to decorate), but it tasted better than any birthday cake I could have bought! Thanks Pancake! It was a hit! The bottom 2 pictures were from her party at school with her class. Oh, those cupcakes were a huge mess, but the kids loved them! Also, Pancake and Big Will gave us a "wonderful" birthday present (can you hear the sarcasm?). They thought that the girls needed a pet (as if I don't have enough to do and take care of already), so they bring in a big clear bucket with 2 baby Alabama Map turtles. Oh my, they have no idea what awaits them when they have kids - pay back is "H-E-double hockey sticks"! Might I add that they gave us one male and one female - I can see it now, turtles taking over our house! Anna has named hers Tuck (from the Wonder Pets) and MMC hasn't been able to decide on a name for hers yet, although I'm not sure which one is which or if they even know. I think these turtles might find a great home at Nanny and Pop's pond at the lake house, that is if I can sneak them out of the house without the girls noticing! Oh, and before anyone replies with warnings about turtles and bacteria/germs/etc., WE KNOW! We won't let the girls touch them without a good handscrubbing!

Scary Moments

Ok, so before anyone gets excited thinking you are going to see pictures of MMC riding in her first horse show, I need to warn you that the following pictures could be scary for anyone not accustomed to horse back riding! They say you are not a real rider until you take a tumble?! Well, MMC is officially a "real rider" now.

After running all over town yesterday to get all of her stuff ready, her trainer texted me that she probably needed to come out one more time Friday and practice with all the "stuff" that would be in the ring during the show. So, off I go to pick her up from school early - let me mention that she is sacked out at school when I get there. I tell her that we are going to the barn to ride one more time and then give Jimmy a bath. She was so excited! So we get to the barn and it is total chaos out there with horse trailers pulling in everywhere, people everywhere, horses everywhere, the Blue Angels roaring overhead. . .you get the picture! Due to the bad weather the day before, the horses had not been turned out all day because they had so much going on and the horses were wild! A couple of girls had fallen off already. So, MMC gets on Jimmy (who normally has to be wacked and kicked hard before he will run) and off she goes. Everything was great until Jimmy decided he was supposed to jump a vertical jump that was about 2 feet of the ground. MMC did great over the jump (she's never jumped before), but lost her grip and was chunked off the front on the landing. All I heard was gasping and screaming and then I see MMC on the ground in shock. Gratefully, she jumps up and then starts howling crying! Secretly, I think I could have cried too! Her trainer, Carly, who thinks MMC is her own, is beside herself but does her job and makes sure MMC is not hurt. Again, thankfully, nothing hurts, but we go and take a little break and give us all a minute to calm down (Jimmy included). Poor MMC tee-tee'd on herself during all of this (again, I think I could have done the same).

So, as the saying goes, she gets back up on the horse and we are doing great again. Keep in mind not much has changed as far as the "action" at the barn. So, off MMC goes trotting over the ground poles like she's supposed to do and Jimmy is doing great. . .until, he gets a little excited AGAIN and takes off jumping over the ground poles! Little MMC is doing all she can to hold on as he is bouncing her all over the place. She hangs on the first set and then the second set, but she just can't hang on any longer as he makes the turn. Carly and I are both running after her at this point yelling, "WHOA!!! Pull Back Mary Mac! Make Him Stop!!!!" Then, off she comes again and this time in the mud puddle! We could not believe it! Thankfully, again, she was not hurt, just A LOT shaken up. We decided at this point for us to leave, take a break, let everything settle down, and Carly would call us to come back when everyone was done. I know, you all are thinking, NO WAY - DO NOT LET HER BACK ON THAT HORSE, and believe me, part of me felt the same, but the other part of me (and Sam) said she has to get back on, just once more! Maybe it's the stubborness in us both or maybe it's just that she has LOVED it so much until these 2 falls that we didn't want that to be her last memory of riding (if she is totally scared away). So Carly calls and MMC is ready to go back and ride - I couldn't believe it! I guess she does have a little of our stubborn genes. We get there, she wants on Jimmy immediately, and she rides! Whew! Third time's a charm! She was very hesitant and nervous this time and wasn't so sure about trotting over the ground poles by herself, but she did it once and we (and everyone at the barn) cheered for her and told her how proud we/they were of her for getting back on after such a rough day. All the "big" girls hugged her and told that they had fallen so many times and it was just part of riding!

Thank goodness for the helmet!!!!!

Her badge of courage - muddy from head to toe! Notice her little proud smirk!

Needless to say, after all of the excitement of Friday, MMC did not ride in the show! She said she just wanted to go watch this morning and take a few more lessons before she rides in a show. I can't say I don't blame her! I just wonder how many times a mom can watch their child take a fall like those before you get used to it - I'm not sure I can take much more of it! Oh, and by the way, after the second fall, MMC said "mom, I tee-tee'd on myself AGAIN!" Oh, she has no idea! I think I hurtled the fence both times like a track star! She says she wants to ride again on her next lesson, so we'll see! I'll keep you posted! I'm starting to think that playing Chess may be easier on Mom! Just kidding!

Horse Shows and Parties

And the excitement continues with the birthday celebrations! We are having Anna's official party Saturday night at our house. It is just family though. Shouls I feel guilty that I'm not having a big party like we did for MMC's 2nd birthday? I just really did not feel like planning anything big and she doesn't know the difference - YET! MMC keeps asking when Anna's "BIG" party is going to be. I just don't have the heart to tell her that it's just a family cook-out. We were going to have it at Sam's parents lake house and enjoy the boat, the weather, the company. Unfortunately, Sam's grandmother was in the hospital all this week and is now in a rehab facility until she can get back on her feet to go home so we decided we would take a little stress off of his mom's plate and not make her feel like she HAD to host the party. It will be great anyway and Aunt Kate (or "Pancake" as the girls call her) is making Anna's cake. She has been taking cake decorating classes and we are all anxious to taste her creations! Judging by the taste of one of her first cakes, this one will be fabulous - she's a little more practice since then!

On another note. . . MMC has her first horse show this weekend. I just pray that she doesn't flip out with all of the people watching her and that she actually gets Jimmy to trot over all the poles like he's supposed to do! We will be taking an "extra" ribbon in our pockets, just in case (if you get my drift). This is a big 2 day show with people coming from all over to compete and MMC is getting so excited she can hardly sleep at night thinking about it! Today, I will be busy running all over town collecting the "stuff" and getting it all ready to compete:
1) show jacket
2) white show blouse
3) ribbons for her hair
4) Show Sheen - to make Jimmy look "pretty" (he is a boy, you know)
5) clean her boots (it has been really muddy here lately)
6) jodphur pants (i.e. riding pants)
7) boot straps
8) clean her saddle and put her nameplate on it
9) clean her saddle pad
10) polish her pin for her shirt
11) punch holes in her belt so it fits
12) wash Jimmy, comb his mane
13) make sure her new show helmet fits
14) write check after check after check!

Whew! Well, as you can see, I've got a lot to do before 8 in the morning AND none of this includes anything that I need to do to get ready for Anna's party. That's a whole separate list in itself! HELP!!!! I don't know how you all do this with more than 2 kids! I hope I remember everything and get it all done! Stay tuned . . . I'll post pictures/videos or whatever I can get from the show! Wish us luck! I have a feeling this is only the beginning!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Anna!

Today is Anna's 2nd Birthday! She has been so excited all week about her birthday and that we would be singing "Happy Birthday" to her today! She is such a special little person and we enjoy every second of her! I cannot imagine life without her. The first picture is of MMC giving A a birthday hug; the second is of the birthday girl "cheesing" with Ming Ming; and the last is of a flower arrangement I made yesterday for Anna's birthday/Easter. It is jelly beans in the bottom and Peeps and then more jelly beans with the flowers in a water-filled plastic cup. It's so cute and easy to make! I am trying to get back into arranging flowers for our house each week - I love doing it and the fresh flowers just make everything better!