Best Buds

7 Years

7 years ago today I married my best friend, my knight in shining armor. A lot has changed since then. Our lives look nothing like what we envisioned in those early days of our marriage but it is everything we dreamed of and hoped for. The Lord's been good to us. So good.

My beloved is mine, and I am his. Song of Solomon 2:16

Our Children's Voices

This week has just been wonderful here at home and especially the last two days of it! These are the kind of days and weeks that remind stay at home mom's, like myself, as to exactly why we chose to be a SAHM. Not that I really need reminding because honestly, no amount of money or sanity could lure me away from the set up I got going on here!!  But seriously, it is nice to have those days or weeks where everything and everyone is in perfect (okay, almost perfect. we are still talking about life with 3 yr olds!) harmony with each other!! It makes those times just melt away where the kids are constantly whining or fighting or breaking stuff or stuffung paper towels in the toilet because she couldn't "find" any toilet tissue to wipe her tiny hiney with or one or both of them can't seem to be 3 inches from my legs at all times which, causes utter chaos while trying to cook supper. Being a stay at home mom is not easy breezy and as hard as I try, I never can get my pearls, dress and apron on by the time Jon gets home from work. Yes, I do daydream about being June Clever. It's weird, I know! But sometimes there are these perfect weeks/days where I am completely satisfied with the time I spent with my children and husband that day AND the house is virtually spotless when I lay my head on my pillow at night! Most days, these two things don't go together!

Besides the fact that I get to be with our children in our home 24/7, just being able to listen to them everyday, all day is the most amazing gift ever!!! Being able to hear first hand how their imaginations are just exploding with ideas at this age is awesome. For the most part they entertain each other and I have the pleasure of having a front row seat every day! I've heard people say they wish they could of put their children's laughter and tiny little voices in a bottle to keep forever and be able to open it when ever they needed a "fix." Well, I am so thankful that I live in a day and age where there is such an invention except, instead of a bottle we call it a video camera and we have all kinds of ways of preserving and sharing these most precious little gifts called, "our children's voices."

This and that

This video is from the Summer. A day at story time and a day at the beach. Normally there aren't so many people at story time but they have a large program during the Summer! James isn't shy one bit, as you will see in the clip but Audrey is/was. We went to the library yesterday for our first story time since this video and she actually participated in the songs and rhymes. Granted, she stayed in my lap most of the time but at least she participated. She usually shrinks into a little ball and wont even look at any body so maybe, just maybe, she is coming out of her shell! The clip from the beach is when we went to Hanna Park in July. Audrey wanted to catch a sea gull so bad.....

Oh, snaps! (an inside joke for u who were here!)

The in-love's came for a visit this weekend and us girls (+James) took a ride to Thomasville to take in the sites and eat supper. We had a good time, Thomasville is a lovely little town and we enjoyed browsing antique stores and sitting on the park benches taking in the beautiful old time feel of downtown. 

The land of Grandparents

We arrived home Monday afternoon, completely worn out but 100% satisfied with the reason! The twins and I had a most glorious week in Birmingham. We were there 6 nights and spent such good, quality time together and still it was so sad to leave. It felt like there was so much we didn't get to do or talk about but I guess that's the way it always is when you leave loved ones! And least we all felt like we wanted more, right?! The alternative wouldn't be so great!

Dad and Nelda recently moved (yes, again!) to a lovely apartment complex that has all kinds of amenities that make you feel like you are in a luxury condo at the beach, just with out the beach! There is a beautiful pool area, a gym, a playground, a game room. And a coffee house where you can get Starbucks coffee and sit and read. That's one of the things I never got around to doing!

I wish I had gotten some pictures of all the things I just listed but I didn't so, I will have to do that next time. It really is a wonderful place to live, I was slightly jealous!! And it wouldn't be a visit to see daddy and Nelda if some of the time wasn't spent shopping! They are super close to some of my favorite stores and I was able to get a head start on Christmas shopping which is a first for me!!

And a good time was had by all! Can't wait till the next time, Grandaddy and Nonie!!!

Cuppy Cakes

Today is the Labor Day Holiday and I hope everyone is enjoying a long weekend like we have! This is the first weekend that we have had at home with absolutely no where to go and nothing to do in what feels like an eternity! Seriously, it's been like 2 months since we were able to wake up on a Saturday morning and just hang out and spend the entire day doing whatever we wanted. Sunday was just as relaxing, we went to church in the morning and then came home and just chilled. Today is more of the same and how very thankful we are for it! We, like most Americans these days, live a pretty fast paced life. And being a Primitive Baptist preacher's family and living away from both our families doesn't help matters much! We stay in the road and to prove that I'll share a little tid bit with ya: We bought a new(well new to us) van on June 22 and it had 49,000 miles on it. Today it has 54,700 miles on the odometer. That's 5,700 miles we have traveled in a little more than 2 months! I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just sayin'!

Any who, back to the ranch. Saturday, the husband and I made some chicken and shrimp Gumbo that was outta this world and the twins and I made cupcakes and then decorated them. They helped pour the ingredients in and stir the batter up, waited patiently for them to cook and then decorated them when they were done. We had fun, so much fun!! Although, next baking day I think I will choose something that doesn't make 24 of something. Because even though James and Audrey have eaten their fare share of them, I seem to have a 'cup cake with a glass of milk' craving every night and there are still a dozen left that keep calling my name!!

Waiting and watching

Carefully icing his cup cake

SO proud of his creation

Carefully icing her cup cake

Concentrating hard on pouring sprinkles

My little chef's!!!

James, Audrey and myself will heading out for 'Bama bright and early in the morning to spend a week with Grandaddy and Nonie!!! So,  Papoopsie Darlings will be quiet for a while but Lord willin' we will be back soon. Prayers for our travels would be greatly appreciated!

Snip snip

Some of you may remember way back when when I cut James and Audrey's hair for the first time. I was totally proud of the job I had done and thought I'd keep cutting their hair myself, ya know, to save a few pennies! Well that dream quickly went don the drain when I almost cut James' finger off one day. Never again, I said. I don't care how much I have to pay, it is worth it to have properly groomed children and ones that have all 10 fingers!

Because Jamesy boy is such the ladies man I knew he would do well for my hairdresser and he didn't disappoint. From the very first time I took him in (which was months ago, I just never remembered to bring my camera till now) he sits still for her and gives this sheepish little grin every time Ms. T talks to him!

Audrey averaged getting her hair trimmed about every other time I took James in. Well today she was past due for more than a trim. In my opinion. It was two different lengths and starting to look stringy so......

before

after

Although it is short, I think it's adorable! It's all one length now and looks much healthier! And the reason there are no pics of her in the chair is because she flipped out when it was her turn to climb in the chair. And I mean all out panic attack. I'm not sure why because she has never done that before but whatever the reason, I finally got her calmed down enough to at least sit in my lap and lay as close to my chest as she could and let Ms. T cut it. As soon as T was done, Audrey sat up perfectly straight and started talking to us like nothing in the world had just happened. Almost 3 year olds are bipolar. Honestly!

Naughty rabbits

Fall is FINALLY in the air. Okay, maybe just a hint of it in the mornings but still, it's there. I can hardly believe it, but it's true. Oh, I'm sure we will have another H O T spell before it's all said and done but at least I know that cooler weather does still exist! It's been so pleasant the last few mornings that J & A have begged to go outside to play and have done so without complaining that it's too hot and they want to come inside. So I have gladly sent them out on the deck to enjoy some fresh air and a welcome change of scenery while I watch and listen out the kitchen window. Perfect setup since most of my time in the mornings is spent in the general area of the kitchen window!

One day last week while I was washing a few dishes, I got the biggest kick out of watching them pretend like they were dogs and take turns feeding each other. A little strange since people don't usually spoon feed dogs sitting in chairs but whatever. They were having fun and I was enjoying laughing at their fun little game.

Until I realized that they were actually feeding each other actual water that was in a plastic bowl that had been out there festering for at least 3 days. Or more.

It wasn't so funny or cute after that. I really should pay better attention to what they are doing!

They were a little disappointed when I made them stop but they quickly found something else to do. Their little imaginations are bursting with ideas these days! They decided to plant a garden since they could no longer feed each other nasty, dirty, rain water from a spoon.

They gathered the dead plants together and filled the pots with pecans for the chipmunks to eat. They said that their pecans were going to grow into really tall trees and the chipmunks could eat the acorns from them. Then James told me his name was Mr. MacGregor and he said he had to make sure Peter Cottontail didn't eat his radishes. That naughty rabbit. (can you tell what story we've been reading lately?)

They planted this garden about 6 days ago and ask periodically to go check on it and see how it's growing! Scoundrels.