Why change isn't always a good thing

Yours truly thought that it was time (and would be a good idea) to move Audrey's clothes out of the chest of drawers that her and James have shared since they were babies, and into her room in her own dresser. So, my sister graciously passed down Hannah's old bed room set which includes a twin bed (which will be set up at a much later date!) and a dresser with 6 drawers. I was so excited to finally get it and get all of Audrey's clothes moved into it (I'm weird like that) and it was a nice addition to her room. Until she figured out that she can now change her clothes AND panties just as often as her little heart desires......

Still going...

Matthew came to spend a few days with us while his mama caught up on some much needed rest. James and Audrey had so much fun having him here and I think Matthew enjoyed not having any of his siblings around for a few days! Grandaddy and Nonie were here also last week and these 3 spent a lot of time out on the porch with Grandaddy "flying in the air plane"!! And how funny is Iron Man on the far right?!

Friday afternoon an hour or two after Dad and Nelda left, the Sanders crew rolled into town for a church meeting at Trinity and we spent the weekend at church. It was another great weekend, it just went by way to fast!

Sydney is the only one who really loves us because she stayed behind to spend some time with Jon and I the kids and will be going back to New Orleans with us to babysit the children while we are at the rehearsal dinner and wedding. Everyone needs a Sydney in their lives, she is a jewel and we are enjoying every second of her being here with us.

Face #12

Jon and I are beyond tired after our busy (but wonderful!) weekend. But for some reason our children are not. They have the most energy of any two human beings on the face of this earth and I am really wishing they would share some of it with their dear mother. I figured no one would be interested in my ugly mug so, I decided to let face #12 of my daughter show every one how I feel at this hour!

A hodge podge of events

Yes, we are still alive. Yes, we have been very busy and no, it's not slowing down any time soon! Please pardon our absence in the land of blog but we've been kinda busy these last two weeks. Lets start with the illness that plagued our house for 10 days. The day after we got home from my sister's(Sunday), Audrey started running a real high fever. No other symptoms, just fever. James started running one the next day right before bed time so I figured a trip to the doc was in order. Tuesday we went traipsing to the end of the world (not really) to the ped's office and he said they had a cold virus and it had to wear off. We ended up back at the ped's office on Friday for nasty coughs and left with scripts for antibiotics and steroids because they both had the croup.

10 days is a looonnnggg time for kids to be sick so as soon as they stopped running fevers and their coughs started to sound like it was actually going to go away at some point, we packed the van, threw them in it and headed out to New Orleans for SuSu camp. SuSu camp? Well, in a nut shell Jon's mother started Aunt Su camp a few years back when her youngest nieces and nephews were young(er) to give their parents a break for a couple days during the Summer. James and Audrey were old enough to enjoy the festivities this year, so we took them. After I got them all settled at "camp", I jetted off to Hattiesburg to soak up some rays by Aunt Becky's pool and enjoy some peace and quiet and not have to hear the "M" word for a couple days! It twas very nice and I am already looking forward to SuSu camp again next year. HAHA!! BTW, my husband stayed at "camp" of his own free will. JSYK.

On Friday, everyone came to Hattiesburg, met up at Uncle Andy's house and caravaned to a church meeting at the church where Uncle Andy pastors in Mize Mississippi and where Jon was the invited preacher. We had a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Pleasant Home Primitive Baptist Church is a precious place with precious members and that meeting will always hold a special place in our hearts!! And we had a blast at the Andy Mozingo's Friday and Saturday night, thanks again for the hospitality y'all! Saturday evening after a meal of delicious BBQ chicken, we convened back in the sanctuary to sing a few songs. Andy called on each of the boys to help lead a song and this one in particular caught my eye!

Our Summer's are always jam packed, especially the month of June. We've got 2 church meetings, 2 (hopefully 3) sets of company and a wedding in New Orleans to attend, still this month so......the blog will be taking a back burner for a while. I might drop in once a week or so with some pictures, just to keep the hate mail at a minimum!

Cousins

One of the fondest memories I have as a child (well, teenager) is that of my sister, my self and my cousins, Leanna and Ben, piled up on the couch together watching I Love Lucy re-runs and laughing hysterically. Our favorite was the VitaMetaVegimine one, no telling how many times we watched that episode! We were a close knit family for many years, there are 15 siblings in my dad's family so we really had no choice! I wouldn't of had it any other way, our cousins were our best friends, our compadres, our "I won't tell if you wont tell" partners in crime. They are easier to get a long with then your siblings, most times, since you don't live under the same roof. And when you are young (and sometimes old), cousins are what make family reunions and Holiday get-together's worth going to! And that is the way it should be, since cousins are bound by blood and a lot of times a last name!

Pretty much everyone who reads this blog of mine knows that Jon and I live away from our families. Our parents, our siblings, our aunts, uncles, grandmothers and cousins. We both come from big families, close families, so it has always been our mission to ensure that our children are close to their extended, far away families. Every chance we get, we scoot over to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and up to Middle GA to see our beloved families. And every chance they get, they come visit us! James and Audrey average seeing at least one set of cousins about every 2 months and it seems that our mission is being accomplished. Whether it is Hannah and Matthew or Harrison and Isabella, the 4 compadres pick up right where they left off! Families are the ties that bind and we are so thankful that our beautiful children have cousins of their own that they can make lasting memories with!

First birthday+kindy grad=good times!

My nephew Samuel turned 1 year old this past Friday, May 21st. Hard to believe an entire year has passed since I posted pics of his tiny new born self! He has had a pretty tough year with almost a constant sickness of one thing or another AND swallowing something that wasn't intended to be swallowed.....so we are hoping and praying for an easier year for the little guy! (and his mama!)
He enjoyed his cake, I think it's safe to say!

The kids and I went up to my sister's on Wednesday afternoon so that we could attend Hannah's kindergarten program, graduating her to the 1st grade, on Thursday morning! It was cute and I was so glad to be able to go. And the kids really enjoyed the cake and chips at 9:00 in the morning!!

Again, so hard to believe how fast a year flies by and how much our children have grown. 

*Sniff sniff*

Always bring New Orleans with you

Last weekend we made a quick trip to New Orleans for Jon's brother Will's graduation. It was a big deal #1 because it's just a big deal when someone graduates from college, such an accomplishment! And it was a big deal #2 because he graduated from the very prestigious Tulane University! Not to brag too much but he did graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.0, finishing his last semester with a 3.6. He started his college career at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA and transferred to Tulane after 3 years in GA. He initially moved to GA because Jon and I were living in Gray, GA at the time which is right down the road from GCSU and it was an adventure for him to move away from home. Plus he got the bonus of living close to his brother (and attending college with him for the 1st year!) who had moved away from home a few years previous. We left Gray in 2007 and moved to our current city of residence but Will stayed on in Milledgeville for a year. He's a cool dude, our William, and we are all so very proud of him!

On to the events of the weekend. We arrived in New Orleans Friday night about 10:30 EST and the kids were past exhausted. In fact, Audrey fell asleep about 10 minutes before we got there and James was trying his darnedest to stay awake. He was soooo excited! The graduation was to start at 9 a.m. the next morning so needless to say it was slow starting for us but we made it to the Super Dome with 30 minutes to spare. Score!! If you have ever been to New Orleans then you know it is a happy place. A party place, which is not necessarily a bad thing all the time! They know how to have a good time and Tulane's graduation ceremony was no exception. From the moment we arrived there was a Jazz band playing on stage and they were so good(not surprised, just remembering how much I enjoyed it)! While we were walking around trying to find seats Audrey said "Mama, I hear that sound" and started swaying back and forth to the tune! And I don't know of another city in the USA who would dedicate a big chunk of a private university's graduation ceremony to the city's NFL Super Bowl Champs. WHO DAT!!!

There were lots of people who spoke, as like any graduation, and Anderson Cooper was the key note speaker. It was neat getting to see/hear him in person and learn that he was born in Mississippi, who'd a thunk it?! He kept his speech short which was nice. A theme throughout the ceremony with the all the speakers was "Always bring New Orleans with you", since there were people represented from almost every state in the US and something like 47 countries in the graduating class, so many of the students were leaving the city. It's a good theme for people saying goodbye and the funny part is that they were quoting part of a song by Lil' Wayne, who is a famous potty mouth "gangsta" rapper who's home town is the Big Easy!!!

All in all we were there for almost 4 hours. Not complaining mind you, just saying it was a challange to keep all the kids happy for that long. My kids got a cokes and pretzels out of the deal! But I must say, they were all champs who held out until just before Will's name was finally called. Mr. Ronnie and Ms. Susan had arranged for a luncheon at Le Pavillion (a very old, very beautiful, very special hotel) and there was close to 2000 graduate names called that morning and Will was just about the last one. So, we were a little late to lunch!

It was such wonderful weekend. We made lots of fond memories and we are so thankful that we were able to attend such an event! I didn't get as many pictures as I would of liked to. Didn't get as many of Will as I needed to so I am disappointed with that. But, by the time we got to lunch my kids were so rambunctious that I had to give most of my attention to them so that curtains were not pulled down, crystal and china were not broken into a thousand pieces and keep them from being trampled by waiters, who in turn would have broken their necks and sent food flying in all directions! I was the first to leave and it was pouring rain so I didn't get any pictures outside the hotel. Still, so disappointed in that. But the important thing is that William graduated from college and we were all there to celebrate with him!