I swear he's mine

The fact that I carried him. The fact that I pushed him out, and the fact that he has my blue eyes, I know that he is mine. Other than that??? He is his father's son.



Those are turkey feathers stuck in the back of his camo hat. Horse belt around his little shirt.

A pen stuck in his belt, aka, a "sword."

Yep, I swear he's mine.....

Oh my word!!!

All this fuss over thank you notes??????

So, Miss Jaime Mac mentioned something in one of her posts about not getting a thank you note, and well somehow this snowballed into a "thank you ,or not to thank you blog off" Here we all are, letting our personal opinions be known on the mere subjects of thank you notes.

So here mine goes....

I do write thank yous. I wrote them for my bridal showers, baby showers, wedding, you know the usual stuff. I try and write them for when someone does something special and unexpected, but here's the imperative word, TRY.

There are times when I don't write them. However, I always tell a person "thank you" in some sort of fashion. If that person does not feel that they are appreciated enough with that, then I think that said person has issues. I have known people to hold grudges over not receiving a "thank you note" and also never to give to that person again!! When we give to another, it should be from our heart, and not to see what we will receive in return.

So, mine philosophy is pretty simple. Yes, I try and write them, I think more than anything just to make sure the other person knows that they are appreciated, but I don't sweat it if others don't. I will teach my children to always be appreciate and that being thankful is a heart issue. I think we truly know who the thankful people in this world are, and not because they write thank you notes, but because they live out a thankful life.

A Honeybee and a Cubbie!!

So my sweet kids finished their Awana programs for the year :-)

Better yet...me and Tracey finished it for the year, HA HA!!! Shew, what a commitment!! I had Pierce in Cubbie's last year, but I didn't teach, this year we took that on, and let me tell ya', it was draining!! I know full well, that we should serve in this life, and that when we do, we are serving Jesus himself. However, teaching a room full of 3 and 4 years old's, well I might have to serve Jesus elsewhere from now on ;) Enough about me....

Pierce graduated!!! Next year he will be a Sparkie!!! And Hope I believe will be a Cubbie. Great program, I really do love it, and am proud especially of Pierce, he had to do a lot of memorizing.





My little man, ready to move on up (Tracey do you see Levi back there??)

Me and Hope on stage....yeah, she didn't cooperate, little booger ;)

Love this ;)

Yeah, I know I look goofy. Trying to convince her to sing her "happy honeybee" song. She chickened out on me. I asked her "why didn't you sing" "too many people mama"

Getting his ribbon.



So serious ;)

So, miss thang' was in a mood!! Wouldn't it be awesome if us grown-ups could get away acting like this whenever we felt like it?? HA!!

So, here's to next year (TRACEY, you can't use that baby excuse on me then ;)) Who knows, maybe I'll teach again, funny how God changes your heart about stuff, even if you do go in kicking and screaming!!!

Thanks mom and dad for coming and the pictures :)

Traumatized by a goose.

So, me and Jami Leigh Lee, finally made it to the zoo today. Bout time! It was worth the wait though, it wasn't crowded and the weather was perfect Pierce just loooooves the zoo, and for the first time in a long time, we made it through the whole stinkin' thing.



So, take a look with me and all the fun we had today :)

Perfect day, with cute kids...
A little boys dream, hanging out with dinosaurs.

Just precious.

Oh and what PERFECT day would be complete without pink?

So, you see? You see how perfect out day was? Fun with friends, looking at cute animals, and perfect children, I MEAN WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Insert a seriously aggressive goose.

Who would have thunk it? We couldn't even finish our lunch, because my children were having nuclear meltdowns over the goose. Now in their defense, that goose was quite aggressive, he was all up in our space, wanting some cheez-its. Finally I started throwing that darn goose crackers. Trying to save my children's lives. Ummm, maybe not a good idea, that goose knew I was his pimp. We finally had to pack up lunch and leave. Poor Cooper and Jami, just innocent by-standers, had to give up their lunch time because of our attack goose.

Okay, so maybe not a perfect day, but close.

A letter to my daughter...

Dear Hope,

Today is your 3rd birthday!!! WOW, you are growing up right before our very eyes. It really seems like just yesterday we were thinking about having you....


You know that your name is just more than a pretty name to us. We always liked the name Hope, and when I was pregnant with your brother, if he were to be a girl, it would have been his namesake. However, God knew that name would mean more the second time around. You see, we were told to not have another child. Doctors said the baby would have deformities, and be unhealthy. Yet after much prayer, your daddy and I knew that there was a plan for another baby, and so the name Hope, came to mean much more. Plus do you know how stinkin' excited we were for a girl??? Oh my goodness. A girl had not been born on Mommy's side of the family for over 30 years!!! So even though your birth kicked my rear end, you my pretty girl were well worth it.

At the ripe old age of 3, you are such a joy. You are sassy and, oh so girly. Sometimes, you speak as if you are a teenager, with such a tude' (completely get that from your daddy) but the good thing is when I deal with you, you're easily reached and the big tears begin (also from your daddy ;)) You love your big brother, and it's fun to watch you two play together. Your smart as a whip, and have been very verbal for a long time!! You like your veggies, which makes me happy, but not too crazy about my meatloaf ;) I'm not sure how you'll handle your brother starting school, but I think we'll find plenty of things to do together. You are a fun little girl, and I can't wait to watch you grow up.

I pray that you grow to be a compassionate soul, who understands the importance of others. Life isn't about us, it's about others. The most miserable people I know, are the self consumed ones. God has a plan for your life, and I pray that I never get in the way of that plan. Your daddy and I want to watch you flourish, and learn to let you fly. I promise you that I will make mistakes, but I also promise you to not be the kind of parent who is so cold that I will not listen to you. I don't know what all the future holds for us sweet girl, but I can promise to love you every step of the way. I know you can't read or understand this now, but I know one day you will. I hope you can feel my heart.

I love you,
Mommy

This post is random, just like my brain.

Roll with me, my blog people....



First of all, what did I tell you about a purse hangin' from the bars??

Second, will he need therapy for me taking 100's of pictures of him riding his sister's pink tricycle??

Onto another thing that I need to tell you that has no rhyme or reason here.....Pierce can now tie his shoes. Whatever, just one step closer to not wanting/needing his mama anymore.

And last thing I need to tell you....yesterday the kids asked me "How did we get in your belly" .....WHAT, I THINK MY EARS ARE BLEEDING, I CANNOT HEAR YOU. That is what I wanted to say, instead I stared off into space, while my brain raced for answers. Thankfully, I was saved by the thoughts of my almost 3 year old, who changed the subject and told me "she was scared in my belly" Shew, I have avoided that topic of conversation for at least a little longer....

"A big PINK birthday party"

So, this little one here, is obsessed....obsessed with a color.....PINK......it's literally an adjective that colors everything she does, says or wants to be a part of. That is not an exaggeration at all.

So, when I said, "what kind of party would like to have for your birthday??" There was only one logical answer...."A big pink party"
Now, our little princess does not turn 3 until Friday, but today was the day to celebrate another year of her precious little life.

Our family came over for a cookout, cake and of course lots of wonderful gifts. Hope is very blessed.

Check out the shoes to go with her "fancy pink dress" Seriously, she kills me. She is a girl to the core. I LOVE IT.



What I love even more?? How appreciative she was of every single gift she opened. She would ask every time "where does this come from" once I told her, she would look that person in the face and say "thank you"


Running to the gift from mommy and daddy. I promise she will be riding this thang' with her purse hanging from the bars.

Of course a proper pink cake.

Do you ever feel like you might explode because you love your children so much?? Yep, I'm feeling that tonight about this one.

What a blessing she has been to her daddy and I.Even though we look insane, we've had two wonderful children.

And Hope has the boys in this family wrapped. Who else could get a 15 year old boy to play makeup and fingernails with her??

Right before bed, after a wonderful "big pink party"
Hope Elizabeth, you are loved.

Jesus, Paul, and Jo.

"Jesus, Paul and Jo" ...sounds like some extra disciples added to the mix of the 12.....

Of course this weekend was ALL about Jesus. I love Christmas and that it's about His birth, but something about Easter seems more special to me. I guess it's the fulfilment of the promise.

So while we were celebrating the resurrection, we also celebrated Jo and Paul's lives :) Both of their birthday's are this week, so perfect time to throw a birthday par-tay while enjoying Easter. I mean how special are they??? Sharing a day with Jesus ;)



Here we are, ready for church. My mom did good, didn't she?? Remember, she bought the clothes without any input for me!!!

My little family.
Little Easter basket action.

Ridiculous smiles, but I still think they are cute.

No day is complete without this one pouting. She gets it from her dad.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister. Can you believe she will be 41???????




Happy Birthday Rico.

Cute stuff.

Pierce A-DORES his cousins. They rock his world.



Time for the hunt....

Yeah, he kind of demolished the competition with his little sister.

Please note the entourage following this one around. Oh, to be cute and 2 again.

So, that was our Easter. It was great to worship Jesus and be with our loved ones. Hope you had a wonderful Easter as well :)

Havin' a party for Maggie May :)

So, Saturday was a baby shower for Miss Maggie May......

It does seem like just yesterday that I got a text in a tent that said "there's two lines, the one is light, but it's there" to which I replied "shutup" And now within a matter of weeks we will all be meeting another person to love.

The shower was fun. We all said "AWWWWWHHHH" about 8 million times, consumed enough calories to sustain us for the rest of the month, and played some pretty ridiculous games. Good times.


How cute is this cake??

Me and baby mama.
Mmmm, k. This is one of the games we played. Who can suck the apple juice down the fastest. Let me tell you all, it's DIFFICULT. I have a new appreciation for the work babies have to do.

Tracey's mama and sister :)

Isn't that bag a-dorable??

AWHHHHH :)

Angela and Jill





Two baby mama's. Korrine is expecting her THIRD BOY, let's all pray for her now.....

Me and Linda Lou Who....who by the way, won the bottle sucking contest. She's got skillz ;p

Janna and Jill, and no, they are not sisters or even related.

Robin and Angela.

Mmmm, K. No real point to this, except that I think all women should own red heels.

Here we all are (minus Robin and Tricia) Good group of gals ;)

Me and mama. I love you Tracey and I know that I will love Maggie May as well, I cannot wait to meet her.