We're Home...and guess who was here when we got here?

Well, we have been to the beach! Or maybe it is better to say that we survived the beach! I say that not because of the oil like you might be thinking but because we went as a family which means our trip involved a 6 year old and a 2 year old.....If any of you have ever been with kids this age, you know how much fun it is but also how much WORK it is! Whew! I will have to say this year was a huge improvement on last year's trip. And by that I mean we were actually able to go to the pool/beach and stay for more than 30 minutes at a time. We really did have a fabulous time! We went with some sweet friends of ours and their 2 kids....they are 6 and 1 so the kids had a great time playing together....And I was pleasantly surpised by the oil situation......it was there, certainly, but overall it didn't really effect our trip! That is not to say that we swam in the ocean, because, let's face it, I am a bit of a freak about our health/cleanliness, and even when I couldn't see the oil, I knew it was there. In fact, on the one day that we really couldn't see it, we did put our feet in the ocean and the remnants of the oil kind of looked a little like syrup on our legs! YUM! But we still had good times playing in the sand and in the pool. And, to be honest, I am much more of a pool girl myself. The crowds were also VERY small so it was actually a perfect time to go....at least with my bunch....we aren't exactly known for our patience! Anyway, all of these words are to say a good time was had by all....but my oh my, I am so happy to be home!!!!!

















And when we got home, guess who welcomed us home?????
















For those of you who having been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the kittens...well, they are here! As best I can tell, there are 4 little furballs, but I am not entirely sure! The boys cannot wait for them them to get a little bigger so they can play with them. Logan keeps saying, "When they come out, I can touch them!" So, we are excited!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Bible Study....It was Awesome!

Last night marked the first meeting of a summer Bible study that we are holding at my house. If you are familiar with Beth Moore at all, then you have probably been to her website at Living Proof Ministries. Each summer, she chooses a Bible study for her group in Houston to participate in, and she opens it up to her online community....so, I took the bait....and I am SO GLAD that I did. The study is Kelly Minter's Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy (I think I have that title in the right order). It is going to be awesome. Last night was just the introduction, but I could already sense God moving in some mighty ways. There were 6 of us ladies (and I know for sure of one more who will join us in 2 weeks when we meet again) and we all have a heart to know God deeper, more passionately. Our discussion was so encouraging. One of the girls even said, "I am so glad that y'all feel that way. I thought I was the only one!" It is just going to be great! We talked about the desire that we all have to grow closer as women as we grow closer to God.

One of the scriptures that we read that I just cannot get out of my head was Jeremiah 17: 7-14. It almost felt like a part of a Psalm and a snipit from Proverbs...and it was all tucked away in Jeremiah.

Anyway, all of this is just to say that I am so excited to see where God will take us! And if you are in Clanton and want to join us, it would make me so happy.....if you aren't in Clanton and want to join us, that would make me happy to! To be on location, just call me.....we will meet 3 more times (every other Tuesday) to complete the 6 week study....so our next meeting will be July 6th! Between now and then we will be working on "homework" learning about Ruth and the implications and impacts of her journey on ours. But even if you can't be with us, I would encourage you to be involved in a group somewhere. One of the questions that we addressed last night was to give one word to describe our current season in life....the general consensus was busy, but the more I think about it, I think mine might be lonely....I feel like I am missing God's voice....and I know that it is my own lack of time in His Word that has caused it....so a Bible Study is a good place to be...for me, it keeps me accoutable.

Praying for each of you today!

If Only........

Do you ever think about what you could do IF ONLY you had unlimited time?!? I am quite sure that everyone does, but I am a little excessive in these thoughts.....I know that you really come here to see pictures of my kids and I will get to that today, PROMISE, but since this is pretty much my only venue to "ponder" please indulge me for just a minute......

(Let me start with a short (or long) disclaimer. Last week we covered my job....and I AM so very thankful for it, ESPECIALLY for the time off in the summer. I realize that there are so many people who would love to be in my shoes, having some of the benefits of being a stay at home mom but not being one. I do not take my time off for granted nor am I unappreciative or unaware of this blessing; however, having said that.......)

So far, this summer has been a bust in terms of getting things done!!!! I pretty much spend from January to June (literally) mentally lining up all of the "projects" that I will get done once the blessed summer arrives. Well, it is here, AGAIN, and I am already runnning about 2 months behind......and I barely even have 2 months off. Of course I have the typical goals of cleaning out closets, having a yard sale, keeping my house clean ALL THE TIME (not just once a month when it is finally so disgusting the flies won't even come in), but I am a lofty dreamer so I also wanted to clean out the basement...all of it, study and take not one but two huge tests, and then, my indulgence, I have TONS of reading just waiting for my attention!

Somewhere about March I got the idea in my head that if I could just get organized enough, then my life would totally fall into place. This is kind of how my thought went, "Hey you! I know what you need! You need for the world to completely stand still for about 7 days. You can get the house immaculate with no little precious people to go right behind you making 10 times the mess you cleaned up. You can get all of the dishes washed and the laundry completely done (meaning washed, dried, folded AND put away - Yeah, Right) without there being more to do every single SECOND of the day. You can totally clean out every nook and cranny in the house and sell it all for fabulous prices at a yard sale (because I am delusional like that). And read ONE of your fiction books (my conscience, it knows me, so it bribes me these thoughts)." Then, WHAM! World start turning again! Now, in my mind, if all of the above was done, my life would be bliss and would be totally involved in just "keeping all of these things up" rather than always being behind.....but, guess what, God told me no! Instead this is what he said......

"Hey you! How about you make time for me? How about we grow our relationship and you let me take some of the burden. No, I can't do your housework, but I can do something inconceivably more.....I can give you PEACE! (Ah, now there is a word!) I can give you joy in the messiness of your life. I'll make the moments with your family so awesome that you won't have a care about your house or your closets. I will hold your hand and help you WRITE your favorite book...a book all about your life....and we can fill it with pages of memories of your kids being small and funny things that only you and H will ever know about. Come away with Me! We will get back to that life thing...that is the way I planned it! But you have it all wrong, My child, the world can't stop, and even if it could, it wouldn't help, because you have got to get me in there first. The rest just works out!"

WOW!

So, I am behind, but that it okay! I am starting a new Bible Study group at my house on Tuesday night where we will be doing Kelly Minter's study of Ruth. I am so excited! And today, I am going to renew my promise to my Creator! To love Him first and let the rest just fall into place......

And speaking of enjoying my blessings.....check out these 2 cuties! (Forgive the quality. I took it with my phone!)



















We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday! CUTE movie! It was Logan's first time to actually go to the movies and I was NERVOUS to say the least...but he did great!

Now, I am off to sneak in at least one chapter of ONE of my new books! Here's to summer!

Today...I feel crazy!

I know you won't believe this, but I have actually tried to post for the past 2 days with no luck! My computer kept giving me some type of error message when I tried to login to blogger.....so I tried to pretend that blogger was having some sort of trouble....but let's face it....if there is some type of computer "problem", you should always bet on the problem being me.....

Anyway, I am not even sure why I was going to post because we have pretty much done the equivalent of NOTHING this week. I did work on Tuesday, so that did require some effort on my part, but other than that, zilcho! It has been delightful!!!!! The boys did do some painting yesterday. I wanted to hang some stuff in our playroom upstairs. It almost drove me to drink (the painting - the brushes, the mess, the mess, the set up, the take down, did I mention the mess?)but I somehow survived (I always do, right?!) and the pictures turned out great!

Now, for the reason I am feeling crazy....2 words....POTTY TRAINING!!!!!!! Evidently I have done this before because my 6 year old actually uses the potty, but I have pretty much no recollection of this with him....hmmmmm, maybe I chose to block it out! If you will remember, I wrote a post 2 months ago saying that I had possibly bought my last box of diapers...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!! The universe, it mocks me! Or maybe I just didn't want to "lose" my baby....nah, who am I kidding, the universe, it mocks me! Anyway, I have been putting this off for some time...but now, I am home and I can't fight it any longer. So yesterday, we hit it full force...and by full force I mean that we wore big boy underwear and I took Logan to teetee approximately 825 times and he still peed in the floor right after supper.....can't he just wear diapers until he is, well, forever! (I am sure that wouldn't be scarring at all later in life....maybe I just want him to have good material for a shrink.....) So, it is going pretty well, I guess. If nothing else, I get extreme joy seeing his little tiny self in underwear.....I mean, come on, have you ever seen anything cuter........



















Which leads me to the other reason that I feel crazy.....today I am feeling so abundantly blessed to be a mom....not that I don't feel this way everyday, but something about today...every time I look at either of the boys I just want to cry. How can they be so big!?! I just absolutely want to eat Logan up......he is so serious when he talks to me.....I am losing my baby! So, just for today, I am wanting another baby....never fear, I am sure the feeling will pass. If you have read this blog for very long or know me even a little, you know that I have this feeling from time to time.....but then the boys start fussing or I actually start thinking about the real logistics of having another child (and by logistics I really mean child care, which puts me into orbit) then I come to my senses and start appreciating the fact that I actually can carve out a little time for myself now and how we can do more things as a family.....okay, there, the feeling has passed, SHEW!!!!!!













Oh, and one more thing to add to the craziness.....I am trying to plan a trip to Disney World! So far, I am reading my book and changing my mind about what all we should do, where we shoud stay, character meals we should attend, etc, etc, etc approximately once every 15 seconds....I will keep you posted on the progress.......

Happy Day!

P.S. Here are the super cool jerseys....blogger and I made up!

Little River Rats

Happy Sunday! We have had a very HOT day today.....fun....but HOT....and did I mention that it was HOT!?! Okay, just checking! The boys and I took a little ride down to our place on the lake. My parents and my sister's family were there, so we just invited ourselves right along.....we just had a few hours but the boys enjoyed a little swimming (not in the lake...you know I am WAAAAYYYY too nervous to let them swim in water that is pretty much the color of, well, black, and is approximately 368 feet - or 12 feet - deep). So instead we have a small little pool that we put on the deck and fill to let them play in. This seems to satisfy them...well, most of them....Leighton informed me today that he was longer than the pool is wide and that it just wasn't working for him anymore.....so, I have vowed to him to try to muster up the courage to let him actually swim in the lake...NEXT TIME! I did have a huge lapse in judgment for a brief enough time to actually put them on the SeaDoo (I have never been much of a speller)with my dad and watch them ride off into the "big water" for a ride. I totally blame it on the extreme heat and the fact that I had not had sufficient amounts of caffeine to keep me on my toes....anyway, right after they rounded the slew a breeze blew in that awakened me.....OH MY GRACIOUS!!!!! PLEASE COME BACK! But, as you may guess, everything was fine and the boys had a fantastic time......and then we had to leave...oh pooh! But, we did get a few words of wisdom from Leighton....

"Mama, there is no sight more wonderfuler than the sea!" (said as we drove up and saw the lake)

"Mama, deep in the bottom of my stomach I just have this feeling that we are going to see a scorpion." (to which I can totally relate...I have that feeling sometimes too)

Thanks for our ride, Pop!

We Survived the Week

So maybe trying to get back on the blogging wagon the week of Vacation Bible School wasn't my best idea ever.......it has been a LOOOOONG week, but a fun week.....and we have managed to survive! But I have to tell you the truth......I ADORE VBS! Always have! We were actually talking today about how much it has changed just in the last 10-15 years. Where we were only out of our class for a quick snack and recreation time, now the only time kids are IN the class is for 2 30-minute Bible study times. Everything else is done as a rotation....which is great for the kids....but it is a little surreal to be "so old" that I can say "back when I came to Bible school....." And I have some great memories! But, I have to say, the music that goes along with VBS now, well, it has my heart! The kids love it, the adults love it, it is fun, exciting, has motions....and every song drives home the VBS theme (another thing that we did not have....unless your theme could be "Learn the Books of the Bible" every year...again, not a bad thing, just a thing!)Anyway, tonight is commencement and ALL of the kids will be up on our stage singing to the top of their lungs! I can't wait.....to see it and, honestly, to know that the week is over!
(Sorry, no pictures today.....I just couldn't go there!)

Speaking of the week being over, I had someone ask me a funny question yesterday....they said to me, "How has your summer been so far?".....Ummmm, excuse me? Can you ask that question again?......I worked the first week of June and have been to VBS this week, so pretty much, I haven't experienced summer yet....and so I was telling H about this last night....to which he answered, "Yes, it must be terrible to get to be off for approximately 6 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week in the spring, all holidays.....yes, I can see where you are seriously mistreated..." Point taken, H! It takes his, um, "encouraging" sometimes to remind me how blessed I am to be able to be a working mom and have a few of the benefits of being a stay-at-home mom, just for a little while.

So, although you probably think this post doesn't have a point, and maybe, just maybe, you wonder why you even wanted me to post again, know that the purpose of this post is to say that I love VBS and I am so thankful for my job!

The end!

Two Months to the Day.....It's good to be back!!!!!

Okay, okay......I know it has been 2 months since my last post......but now I am BACK!!!!! It feels good! There are no excuses for my lack of blogging over the past 2 months and I know that you pretty much don't want to hear my whining....but I must tell you that my life has been COMPLETELY out of control since the beginning of April! Work was CRAZIER than it has EVER been, Leighton pretty much had Kindergarten meltdown and cried hysterically every day before school, Logan experienced severe aversion to his daily routine....it short, it was HECK! I have heard people say over and over that you are only as happy as your least happy child....and when you have 2 that are unhappy.....well, at least now I understand why most everyone I know takes medication! LOL! I pretty much couldn't function normally....I mean, I went about my daily routine, but I took on an edginess that just didn't suit! But, finally, FINALLY, school's out for summer! (Go ahead, sing it!!!!) And, in the words of Leighton, "Mama, the worst day of summer is probably better than the best day at school!"....Amen, Baby, Amen!

Anyway, to bring you up to speed BRIEFLY, we finished baseball season and I must say, we have quite the ball player on our hands! He misses it, and to tell you the truth, so do I! We are thinking about fall ball.....













We did manage to complete kindergarten!

We got a super gift from Aunt Laurie.....how cool are these jerseys?!?!















We also got another super cool gift from Aunt Laurie.......(and yes, it really does look like the picture! I am pretty much accustomed to things looking way better on the box than in real life...totally not in this case! And, I know you are thinking that this would be so much better if I actually had pictures of MY children on the REAL slide...and I agree....but I haven't managed to juggle the camera and the slide yet...be patient with me!)


















And, today, we started Vacation Bible School at our church!














So, I will pledge anew to try to keep you appropriately informed regarding our daily comings and goings......but, rest assured, I am sure I will have some major catastrophe soon and I will hold true to my sporadic blogging....it is who I am people! Don't hate the player, hate the game!!!!!! (Yeah, I just said that...now I am going to go read my Teen Beat and watch MTV!)

Thank you very much!

(Just to clarify....Aunt Laurie did NOT buy the Phillies jerseys, and I do not think those are super cool....she actually purchased authentic Braves jerseys complete with their names on the back....I also realize that the picture of the slide is sideways.....just go ahead and thank me for the neck exercise that you will get while looking at it......Blogger seems to still be ticked at me for my long absence and REFUSES to help me with my pictures...and since I am working with DIAL-UP - yep, you read right, dial up - it has taken a portion of my life today that I will never be able to get back to upload these 4 pictures.....so, maybe if I get to high speed soon I will make the picture corrections...)