It's a good thing we didn't meet, because what would have happened to poor Paul?!

Here we go, most memorable moment time.

Let me set the stage a little bit first.

Picture it, 1986. Me, a chubby little 12 year old girl who just discovered the beauty of MTV. This was very taboo, but believe me a girl finds ways to sneak it in ;) And one day my life forever changed, I will literally never forget it. I sat down to see what music videos were on and there they were.....

For the first time, I laid eyes on Bon Jovi. It was love at first sight. I'll never forget calling my best friend Dana Albertson, and telling her, "there's this group called Bon Jovi, they all have long hair, I know that sounds gross, but they are sooooooo cute" and so it began people.

An obsession with a group. I learned everything about them. I hid pictures of them under my mattress. I would go to Dana Albertson's house and Melissa Detrick's house and we would play their music all.the.time. We would watch MTV with the prayers that their videos would be played. We would rent VHS tapes of them, and watch them until we finally HAD to go to sleep. I don't think I can explain just how obsessed we were.
I loved the whole group, but two in particular I really loved. Of course Jon, and then Richie Sambora. When I think of my youth, they color it. They were always in the background and when I hear particular songs of theirs, I am immediately a young girl again.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Me and a friend are headed to a Bon Jovi concert, and on the way there, I was given the news that I would be going backstage to meet the group. Let's just say, I almost passed out. My companion thought I was losing my mind. I mean, how could I meet them???? REALLY???!!!!

We get to the concert and the meet and greet was actually before the show. There was a line of us, and I'll never forget how jittery my stomach was. This concert actually had a lineup of performers, and we would meet most of them. For example, we met the group Train, but I could have CARED less. This is also when Richie Sambora was still married to Heather Lockler, and we stood by Heather's aunt and uncle. It was all so surreal. Then the moment was approaching, Bon Jovi was to be entering the room. And I'll never forget the door opening, and in walked.....Richie Sambora.
Tico Torres.
David Bryant.
And then I'll never forget this moment either. Someone had a hand radio, and they radioed that Jon would not be coming up "he was hesitant" my stomach kind of sunk, but it didn't last for long. I understood, and besides I was in the presence of a group that I loved, I had to take it in.

So, here we are. Yes, this is a picture of a picture. Sorry. By the way, I have no idea who those other two dudes are behind me. But there's David to the far left, then Tico, and Richie on the far right. And me right there in the front. Proudly wearing my Superman tank, HA! If you know anything about Jon, you know that Superman is one of his things, and of course being his girlfriend I would know that.
Here's the t-shirt. They signed it on the back.
And the front. I keep this is a very special place ;)
So, you see I understand why Jon was hesitant. He knew I was out there, he could feel my presence, and we both know, that once he saw me, he would drop to his knees right then and there and ask me to marry him. And just think, what would have happened to poor Paul?!? ;-)

Until next time Jon....

Hey bloggers....

You know sometimes we do these "blog topics" where we all share about a certain topic. I wanted to invite anyone that reads to play along if they would like :-)

Tomorrow we will be doing "most memorable moment" BUT there are a few rules. It cannot be related to getting married, engaged, pregnant, or birthing a baby. Something we all have to dig deep for. I for one, have been stumped by this one!! I am a boring gal!!

Anyways, homework is due tomorrow, so play along if you want! It's fun getting to know different things about everyone :-)

Goggle Boy.

Pierce got a pair of goggles in his Easter basket, and I do believe I mentioned he LOVES them. I also believe I mentioned he wears them all.the.time.

Check him out watching t.v.

And sleeping.
This cracks me up!!!!

A butterfly party and an Easter I will never forget!

April is a good month to be born :) In our family, we have three very special birthday's in April, and on Saturday we celebrated for Jo, Paul, and of course Hopie.

Me and the kids headed up on Friday, and drove through BAD rain, and it was very stressful, little did I know what the drive Sunday would be like :/ More on that later....

Here are the birthday peeps!!!
I do believe this one thought the party was all for her though ;) She had asked for a "butterfly party" weeks back, and my mom delivered on the butterflies...Crystal butterflies...
Butterflies on the table...

And big hanging butterflies....Hope was in heaven I tell you!!Here's the traditional "family dinner photo" Please note, we all behaved and no one photo bombed the picture :)
On to presents, and little man was the "present hander outer" he thought he was big stuff ;) Paul and Hope got tons of goodies!! We are way blessed and appreciate it all soooo much!!!
And no butterfly party would be complete without a butterfly cake. So pretty!!!
My beautiful sister and her adorable boys!!

Of course, the always charming Rico ;)
And our sassy 4 year old!!I do believe I've mentioned before how we BOMB the birthday song. I mean we sing as loud and as horrible as we can, and we are all in stitches by the time we finish. I just love this picture, Pierce is DYING laughing while we do our best to sing awful ;)
And I guess that butterfly party must have been too wild for two of the birthday peeps ;)
Moving onto Easter!!!

Look at the cute bags for the kids this year. I got these at Jami's 31 party, and love that I will be able to use these for all kind of things :)
Oh my. My son is IN LOVE with these swimming goggles, he wears them all.the.time.

Of course we had to get more bubbles!! Not to mention the 65 pounds of candy that should keep them until Halloween ;)They dived right in. I can't begin to think of all the junk they consumed this weekend!
We went back to Graceland for Easter service. We hadn't been there since before we moved, it was good to go back, and the kids stayed with us during the service, they did great, and of course I think they looked adorable, but I would! :)
Look at us! We look like a group of colored Easter eggs :)
Easter Dinner!!! Traditional dinner shot #789564.
Of course, the kids were chomping at the bit to hunt eggs, and of course like everyone else this year, we had to do it inside. This pic cracks me up, Paul was laying down the rules..."no pushing, shoving, gnashing of teeth..."
LET US HUNT MOM!!!!

Neena gives good eggs!! Each one had candy or money, us grown ups thought about knocking the kids off, so we could get all the loot :)So excited about the loot!!!
It was a great weekend, and the kids didn't want to leave AT ALL, but after much discussion with Paul, I decided to go an and brave the trip back. Paul had to stay back for business. As everyone knows, the weather had been less than desirable lately, and I have done my fair share of travel through torrential monsoons, and was dreading the drive back to Bowling Green. In 6 months, I have come back 10 times, but the trip back this time was terrible, and I was vowing this would be my last time ;) This is basically what my trip was like the entire time...
Actually it was better than the drive up, and the trip was going fast, and my travel companions were enjoying much needed naps...

All was well, and we were only 30 minutes from home, when we were stopped. And when I say stopped, I mean DEAD STOPPED. Cars as far as the eye can see....
I thought to myself "surely, we'll move soon" and I kept thinking the same thought. Finally the kids woke up, and a few meltdowns later, maybe 20 feet later, and an HOUR later, I was beginning to lose my ever loving mind. What does one do, when they think they might go insane and be on the evening news?? Why, the crank the music and sing AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS, that's what they do.
After 695 phone calls with Paul, he convinced me to take another exit, big deal for me peeps, cause I am directionally inept, thank goodness for GPS.

And after hours in the car, I was NEVER SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS BEAUTIFUL EXIT.
Okay, so maybe I exaggerate some, but let me tell you, this was a stressful trip, and when we got home and had tons to unload, laundry out the yin yang, and general tiredness, I never expected what came next.

Pierce wanted to talk about Jesus and asking him to "come into his heart" You know I always thought Paul would be the one to handle this with the kids, but when Pierce looks at me and tells me that "he wants to pray right now" I knew I couldn't put him off. Pierce first prayed, and I never want to forget what he said "I love you Jesus, I don't know much about you, but please come in my heart" Then he and I prayed together. I know that his understanding is that of a child, but he knows love, and he was very serious about taking this step. So needless to say, I will never forget this Easter. Ever.

Posting just because I feel like I should...

I haven't really blogged this week and it feels strange.

I've been busy. Busy getting ready for this weekend. I will be heading to the land that flows with milk and honey, of course Indiana that is. There's been lots to do for this trip, and it's kept my week full. We will be celebrating April birthday's, and of course Sunday is Easter. You wouldn't think that 2 hours would make things difficult, but it does. Maybe not difficult, but just more complicated.

I did meet up with an old friend this week (not that she's old) but we go back to school days. She reads my blog, and lives in Nashville, and was in Bowling Green, so I met her and her cutie pie son for lunch. Thanks Julie for making contact with me, it was fun!! :-)

I also want to document how close Pierce seems to be to accepting Christ. We've been having lots of in-depth talks and his questions are probing much deeper. I guess I worry that he's too young? Just pray for us, that we wont push him, but that it's of his own understanding.

Have a great Easter everyone!! I wont be posting or reading until after the weekend, I can't wait to see all the babies dressed up!!

Happy 4th Birthday Hope Elizabeth!!

You may want to grab a cup of coffee and put your feet up, because this post is long. Hey, you don't turn 4 everyday!!!

My dear sweet, sassy daughter came into this world with me screaming, but she's added spice and piazzas ever since. More on that later.

Festivites started on Friday when a package from Meemaw and Grandpa arrived in the mail. SOOOOO excited!!

It's so fun to have gifts come to your house!!

Yes she is daddy's little girl!! Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts, she loves them all!!

Pierce also couldn't wait to give her the card that he made for her. He also wrote her a sweet note and bought her some gum and candy with his own money. He's a very thoughtful brother.And Hope thinks so too. So sweet!!!
And today is the actual big day!!! The day we've talked about for what seems like weeks!! She's so happy to turn 4 and most of all that she would be having some very important visitors :)
This is Hope's best friend Mya. They are two peas in a pod, and Hope COULD NOT WAIT to have her over.
Look who else was here!! Maggie May!! Look at her standing!! She's almost 1!! Seriously, these kids grow up way too fast.
Oh, and there's Cameron too!!! Maggie and Cameron shared a little moment. Chatted about bottles and paci's. Cameron gave Maggie some tips on how to make her mom let her keep her beloved paci ;-)
And Cooper!! Who is a big 3 year old now!! Wasn't he just born too?? Pretty funny, he grabs a hold of his mom's I-phone and goes to town on the games.

The original plan of the day was to have a cook out and take the kids to the park, but the weather was not cooperating. So we all loaded up and went to Chuck E Cheese for some kid paradise!!

Here's my great friends who drove 4 hours in one day so we could all be together. I love these girls, and all their offspring ;)
She looks a little like deer in headlights here. HA!
Fun stuff I tell ya!
Jami and her boys!!
And these two little dudes had a blast with each other. They haven't seen each other in a long time, and played, played, played. Levi really wanted to spend the night, and Pierce cried after they left.
Of course we had to do our traditional self portrait. No day is complete without this.
We headed back home after we played our hearts out so we could play more, and of course have cupcakes and presents!! Please excuse the 5 candle. I failed as a mom on this one. No 4's at home. She can add this to her therapy bill when she's grown ;)
She got so many great things!! All things a little girl could want!!

She's a blessed little girl with great friend and family.And she still has more to come next weekend!! Our kids are so spoiled!!
HA!! Look who was enjoying his cupcake. Oh, his SECOND cupcake, because "mommy ruined the first one" Too funny Cooper!!

Oh, and believe it or not, Rico was there too. And I might say, a little out of his element. Surrounded by women, and children. Not a grown man in sight. He had to listen to conversation of babies, shopping, and girly gossip. I do believe this picture says.it.all. Don't feel to bad for him though, he managed to play x-box with the boys. All, for the children, right?? ;)
We haven't had a group shot in a long time. Amazing how much all these kids are changing!!!
Me and my girlies. It's hard to move away from your best friends!!! It made me feel really loved to have them drive down for today. I love you guys!!!
And have I mentioned how much I love this one?? Oh, how I wanted you!! I wanted to have another child so bad, and wasn't sure I could/should have one, but you were destined to be. Our HOPE for another child, our HOPE for a healthy child, our HOPE for a little girl. OUR HOPE ELIZABETH. Here I am ready to have my baby!!Little did I know what a mess I was in for. My epidural dislodged and I had her natural. It was awful. I was a maniac, a complete idiot. Crying, screaming, cursing, but she was all worth it.
Happy 4th birthday baby girl. Mommy and daddy love you!!!!