enjoying his day....

after a wonderful 30th birthday dinner last night for brett and i (thank you so much everyone for a great celebration!), we spent today just relaxing at the house.....brett declared at one point that he may not get off the couch all day! well, he moved to cut his cake and to eat dinner but he has lived up to his promise otherwise.....i guess he does deserve it!

Happy Happy Birthday....

....happy 30th birthday honey! you are THE father, THE husband, THE most wonderful man in our lives. we treasure you always & we love you dearly ~ audrey, grant & kelly

basketball game....

last night was brett's first game as a lady lancer assistant basketball coach....and last night may have been our first and last game of the season!! the lady lancers put in a good effort, though falling at the end.....grant as well put in a good effort of EXHAUSTING ME, and the only one falling at the end was me! we have an expression in my family.....
raising children is like trying to nail jell-o to a tree..... that was truly the case.....hey, he's 16months old....the fact that we made it through the game was truly amazing...i did at one point start shoving skittles one by one in his mouth to get him to sit still....i felt like a dog trainer trying to get the dog to obey and do a trick! hmmm...childrearing and training dogs ~ not too different :)

audrey was in absolute heaven.....she was able to sit with the cheerleaders.....i could have left her for hours....she was in total awe.....i'm sure she will want to cheer when she is older but her father has his own plans ~ basketball, softball, golf, tennis, any sport but cheering.....check back in a few years and let's see who wins :)

isn't he handsome....

gotta love a good school picture....and this one is no different....oh and this handsome man has a birthday coming up soon too!!

we have moved on to a new sport in our household, girls 7th grade basketball. first game tomorrow afternoon....

results coming later.....go lancers!

yuck....

does anyone else have a child that looks like this right now???? oh that nose, YUCK! the beauty of cold nights and warm days.....

but isn't he the cutest little snotty kid :)

coffee shop truths....

as i was sitting in a local coffee shop today finishing up my biblestudy lesson for tonight ~ nothing has changed since college, still waiting till the last minute to study ~ i looked over as saw this saying stitched into a piece of beautiful fabric.....i wanted to share, i felt it was so true...

Reputation is what man and woman think of us...
Character is what God and angels know of us.

truths of life.....found in your hometown coffee shop....

Family...

Reflecting back on this past week i realized my love for family.....and the ache for those i don't get to see often enough....i wish we could go up north and visit more often, and of course under better circumstances... there are aunts, uncles, cousins and one very special grandmother that my little family and i don't get to see often enough....i learned even more where my independence, sarcasm, sometimes picky eating & bunion feet all stem from...my grandma gert....oh what a woman!

me, my mom & grandma gert

grandma, my mom, auntie joan & uncle joe (my mom's brother)

a few pics from 22,000 feet.......... yes, i pulled out the camera on the airplane!

Day at the Zoo...

So I realized after naming this post Day at the Zoo you may not know if I was referring to the actual zoo or just any ordinary day at our house!.....well, it was a perfect combination of the Birmingham Zoo and hanging out at home watching football....my brother michael and his daughter olivia came up for the day.....the weather was absolutely beautiful and we decided to take advantage of it....after the zoo we parked ourselves, well the adults at least, on our couches and watched some good ol' college football ~ we try so hard to support our Blazers, but FOR THE LOVE they need some help! it was a good day...the kids played for hours, which included a princess dinner :)
....oh to be 4!!

Happy Halloween!

We had happy haunting and hunting....we hope you all did as well!

Mom and I got back today from Connecticut/Rhode Island mid-day and never stopped going until right now. Audrey had her class party at school, went to pick up the BigMan and then we carved another pumpkin ~ my cutesy monogrammed polka dot pumpkin....I know, I have issues :) Then pizza for supper & birthday cake for dessert. I was quite surprised when I was welcomed home by a homemade birthday (i turned 30 wednesday while we were out of town) cake by Brett and Audrey ~ how sweet was that!?!?!?! And it was so good, yummy chocolate....Quick costume change, few standard pre-trick~or~treating pics and off we went...Audrey had to be carried most of the way due to her uncontrollable, unbelievable fear of dogs/cats....Grant, god-love, kept falling down because his pants were too dang tight! Sorry son, fashion & costumes come first, comfort later :) 10 houses of drama and we were DONE, baths were given and we all settled in for an encore of the Great Pumpkin.....

Good Times...

Pecan Picking...

Our new yard has been quite plentiful to us.....this summer we had pears, lots and lots of pears....now we have pecans!! This afternoon we went Pecan Picking with Grams.....hmmm, maybe there will be a pecan pie at Thanksgiving dinner!

The fruits of our labors......

....I won't be posting again until probably Saturday or Sunday.....Grammy and I will be boarding a plane bright and early in the morning to head up north.....Grandpa Russ has passed away and we are going to Providence to spend some time with Grandma Gert.......please keep Grandma Gert in your prayers and Grams and I as we travel this week....

Introducing....

Dorothy & the Lollipop Munchkin

OH MY GOODNESS!! She looks so beautiful and he is the cutest thing EVER!!!! Seriously, we laughed until we cried - for hours.....I hope he cooperates as well friday night for trick or treating.

good day....

as i am sitting here in the bed next to my peacefully sleeping daughter i began thinking of our good day....

fall festival at audrey's preschool ~ seeing grant dressed as the lollipop munchkin, priceless!! (pics to come soon.)

birthday party at the lake for sweet read ~ drama of audrey with dogs, RIDICULOUS!

football, food & new friends at shea & bill's ~ being able to relax after a long day, perfect!

~ we feel so blessed by the new adventure we have started, old friends we have been able to reconnect with and new friends we are meeting along the way....God's plan is being very good to us :) we ABSOLUTELY miss being close to our georgia friends and family but know that they will always be there for us, through thick and thin....we are thriving so in our new little home and new town.....thank you everyone for you prayers and thoughts throughout our move!

audrey tried to make it through the Great Pumpkin tonight but tiredness got the best of her.....she is beyond sweet sleeping here so soundly.....oh i love this dramatic, smart, beautiful, feisty, little girl......

tomorrow morning is church....as long as grant's runny nose stays clear! we are looking forward to a wonderful start to another great fall day....

searching for the great pumpkin....

his head his big and round like charlie but he loves his blankie like linus!

is this the great pumpkin?

who's idea....

who's idea was it to make grant's costume myself??? someone remind me in a week or so that it was all worth it!!!

so, as i said in an earlier post....he is going to be the lollipop munckin.... green plaid shirt, shorts with little pockets, whole nine yards...i will not take the credit of actually sewing the clothes myself - i have not become that crafty yet! i managed to find some look alikes....but i did have to do some alterations....that's when trouble started....

i cut the shirt to get the jagged edges.....did pretty good, not too bad for eyeballing it.....i round up my munckin to see how the shirt looks on him and there it was - the issue - his big ol' buddha belly! i did not take that into consideration when hacking off half the shirt.....what does any good non-sewing mother do??? pull out the iron-on hem tack! i managed to put his shirt back together with my iron and these little god-send pieces of sticky stuff.....for the love!

but then there were the striped stockings....UGH! think, think. ok, he will be wearing a pair of his sister's old tights tomorrow - you all can use this against him when he is older, i give you permission :) of course, remember he probably will end up being bigger than all of us! now, i have the tights but no stripes.....green washable marker and an hour later we have striped green socks and i have green finger tips.....i'll get you my pretty!!

is it over?? i hope so, but we will see for sure in the morning when i dress BigMan....why are we doing this so soon you ask?? tomorrow morning is audrey's fall festival at her school....fun, fun ~ wish me luck :)

fyi ~ audrey's dorothy costume was bought ready-to-go at Target....worth every penny!

so nice....

aahhh, 65 degrees a little cloudy and a great fall afteroon..... the kids and i are outside enjoying the weather before the rain gets here..... grant could stay outside for HOURS.... and this fenced in yard is my life-saver! it is like an oversized play pen - Perfect!

what an awesome time of the year....WE LOVE IT! i've included some pics of all things fall.... Enjoy!

yum-o....

things in life that are good:

babies


really cute babies


really cute fat babies


really cute fat babies eating cupcakes

mmmm, mmmm now that looks good.....those cupcakes were yum-o!!

~ but what have we learned from this experience and other run-ins with sugar in late afternoon?? WE DON'T SLEEP!!! Nor do we sleep if we have been snuck a little sweet tea at the local mexican joint! Audrey we could feed whatever, nothing effected her - Grant, he will forever be limited of his sugar and sweets late in the day :)