almost WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I say almost because rarely am I without at least something to say. HA!

The boys sleep in a bed like this:

A little sidenote about that picture: It's one I got off the internet of the type bed the boys have. That is not our actual bed! That's just a better picture showing it in its entirety.


Mac sleeps on the bottom bunk - he likes having his own space. Grant and Reid sleep on the top bunk. Grant sleeps in the "normal" spot. Reid likes to sleep vertically at the foot of the bed. Don't ask me why. That's just where he decided he likes to sleep. And that's how they sleep every single night. When I went in their room the other morning to wake them for school, this is how I found Reid:

Ok, so this wasn't exactly wordless but it's about as close as I can come to it. :)

LEVI AND LOUIE GO SWIMMING and THE CIRCUS

I wish I could report this past weekend would go down in the books as one of the greatest ever, but I came down with a nasty case of strep throat. Goodness I've forgotten how bad that stuff is. It was not pleasant to say the least. But today is day 3 of antibiotics so I'm definitely on the mend. It no longer feels as if I've swallowed a porcupine on fire - just a baby cactus. :) As much as I wanted to stay in bed, though, my baby girl and her friend, Mad, who I affectionately refer to as Country Girl because I find it difficult to call anyone by their given name, were here this weekend so I had to be tough and persevere. We had plans, and I was resolved to keep those plans.

Saturday was gorgeous (a bit windy but we're not being picky at this point), so after a trip to the store for some Sucrets and Chloraseptic spray, I decided some fresh air would do me good. And although we had high hopes the weather would be a little warmer, it didn't stop the girls from getting in their bathing suits and soaking up the sun.

Louie and Levi (yet more nicknames). Can you tell I like nicknames?!?

Country Girl being the, well, country girl she is, saw a lizard on her chair and would not stop until she caught it, but that little sucker didn't want to be caught.

She finally got it.

And then it peed all over her!!! She decided she'd return it to nature.

Then Reid decided he wanted to catch it.

I didn't think he would actually do it but he sure did. I think it was one of those, well a girl did it so I can too things. :)

Don't think for a second Bethany and I had our turn too - NOT interested! I can hang with the boys for the most part but not when it comes to things like that. Remember this?

After a while they claimed to be hot and wanted to get in the pool. I think you can tell from this picture it was a bit cold. :)

That didn't stop them. They said they were already half-way in so they were going in all the way. They're 14. I know nothing. Just like I told the boys the other day, be my guest.

Click on this picture of Country Girl and enlarge it so you can fully see her face because that pretty much sums it up!

That would be Bethany's crazy self.

And Country Girl:

CRAZY! She said, "I'm already over the worst part. I'm gonna make the most of it now."

After their skin started turning red not from the sun but from hypothermia setting in, I made them get out. They didn't argue.


The Circus was in town this past weekend, and although Bethany has been a few times,the boys have never been.

I cannot tell you how excited I was to take them to the circus. I had high hopes it would be something they would remember forever, that it would be so great, that they would be in awe the whole time, etc., etc., etc. Well it wasn't. THE CIRCUS SUCKED! It sucked and it also sucked my wallet dry. It was ridiculous what it cost. Ridiculous. Not only that, but it just wasn't good. I was really disappointed. Of course, the porcupine in my throat could've had a little to do with that. There were a few things that did entertain, so it wasn't all for naught.

Like Mac eating his weight in cotton candy:

And this look I got from Grant on a few occasions when they did some magic tricks. He is my thinker, and it really bugged him that he couldn't figure them out.

And it gave me another opportunity to get a picture of these two girls whom I love very much. They can make anything fun, and you can only imagine some of the conversations we had this weekend:

When Bethany was little I used to daydream about her being the age she is now and us having the relationship we have. The one where she calls me about anything and everything: from boys to school to "women stuff" to Christianity to you name it - from the smallest every-day things to things that are monumental. And while I didn't quite envision the circumstances we're in, maybe if it weren't for those circumstances we wouldn't have what we have. I'm so thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, good-hearted daughter who loves the Lord and her family like she does. I love you, Umby!

Oh, and B, the next time you get on the golf cart, please do so without driving under the influence of A WHOLE MONSTER ENERGY DRINK! Hee hee!

And last but most certainly not least, there's Reid who was of course affixed to my lap so here's the best I could get of him:

Happy Tuesday! We're off to enjoy this gorgeous day!!!

WE NEED A SANDBOX - OR MAYBE I SHOULD JUST PAY ATTENTION

I've been wanting a sandbox for the boys for quite some time now. One is in the works but if you know Chris, hardly anything he does is on a small scale. Please refer to the batting cage post if you don't believe me. But just because we don't have one yet doesn't mean we can't make-do. The boys can literally play in the sand for hours. They love it. The weather was absolutely beautiful Wednesday, and I knew Chris had some sand at one of his houses, so I decided to empty out a plastic bin full of toys and fill it with sand. It's not what they would prefer but beggars can't be choosers, right! Do you have any idea what it took for me to get this container of sand from the back of my van to my backyard?

Let me just fill you in. I took the container to the spec house, filled it with sand, then one of our very nice spanish-speaking brick masons helped load it in the car. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get it out by myself at home but Grant is pretty strong so I felt sure we could tackle it together. NOT! Sand is heavy! With neither Chris nor Mondo anywhere in sight, I had to think fast. The boys had already run inside, changed clothes, gathered up their buckets and shovels and were standing around me getting more impatient by the minute because of me staring at this container full of sand stuck in the back of the van. I ran in, got a trash bag, and proceeded to fill this trash bag full of sand until the container got to the point I could lift it. I managed to get it to the back yard then needed to get the trash bag to the back as well. My thinking was that I could just slide the bag because of course it was too heavy to pick up.

Trash bags don't slide on concrete. They rip and tear. So mid-way to the back I have to stop, get another trash bag, ROLL this trash bag, which is full of holes and losing sand with any movement, into the other trash bag and hope for the best as I again drag it to the back yard. It made it, I emptied the sand from the bag into the plastic bin, and (minus a few issues with the size of the bin) they had fun! Please keep in mind that before I got the sand from the house I called Chris to make sure it was okay for me to get it. So he knew what I was going to do.


I'm so observant. I mean, NOTHING gets past me. Seriously. I pay attention to everything.


If you believe that you're gullible and you don't know me very well. Because I'm totally lying. :) Let me give you a perfect example. While we were playing in the sand, Mimi and Granddaddy stopped by for a visit. Of course, sand pales in comparison to QT with the grandparents so it was off to the swing set to show them a few new tricks. While we were swinging, flipping and talking, Mac proceeds to head to this:

That would be a big fat sand pile right next to our garden - ALREADY IN OUR BACK YARD. It's even in the background of some pictures I took of the boys playing in the "sandbox." See? Observant. Everyone got a good laugh out of it. And I'm still not sure if Chris (a) just wasn't really paying attention to me when I told him what I was doing about getting the sand; or (b) knew exactly what he was doing and just wanted to see happen what did happen. :) Probably a little of both.

Here are some snapshots of the boys playing in my wee little sandbox I worked so hard for and now need an adjustment from a chiropractor because of:

Who can have a day in the sand and sun without Kool-Aid???

All done!

Aw, heck, let's have another - the weather put me in a good mood. HA!

My sweet little Mackey picked me a "flower."

And shared his Yogos with Daddy:

I already had the talk with the boys on the way home about the fact that the pool water was absolutely too cold to get in so not to even ask. I've said before that every time we have a warmer day (although there have been few lately) they automatically think it's time to swim. Sweet as he is, Mackey's my Sly Guy. He thought he was being sneaky here:

Only he got busted:

Then tried playing it off by telling  me he was just doing push-ups by the pool.

I can't imagine what their teenage years will be like if they're already coming up with this stuff at the age of 4.


We ate blew a few bubbles:

Then Mimi and Granddaddy showed up. 

The boys have always been fascinated by the bugs and such that end up in the skimmer, and Granddaddy usually knows the name of pretty much everything in it:

Notice my mom is keeping her distance. :) Smart woman!

Grant showing off his back flip which makes my stomach flip:

Grant taught Mac how to do it just this week. He has no fear. Which makes me have much fear!

Reid has never liked to swing until now. Up until this week whenever I tried to push him on the swings the look on his face (even as hilarious as it was) was that of real, genuine fear - eyes big as saucers and acted as if it took his breath away. He just didn't like it. However, at the Sonshine Playground earlier in the week, he asked me to push him "weal, weal high" on the swings. And just like that he was over his fear. I guess he has a lot of swinging to make up for because now that's all he wants to do. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! 

"THE LOVE OF A FAMILY IS LIFE'S GREATEST BLESSING"

Family truly is life's greatest blessing. And I'm very thankful for all of mine.

It's quite rare that Rachel and I get to leave our kiddos behind to do much of anything together, so you can imagine our excitement when we were able to do just that. Don't get me wrong, we have a wonderful time when we're ALL together (as chaotic as it may be) :) but every now and then it's nice to get away with just us girls. And I'm not referring to Bethany as one of the "kiddos" here because she's now one of us "girls." Congrats, Umby, for making it to the next level - HA HA!

A while back plans were in the works for mom and dad to spend the day with Dawn and Bethany at Bridge Street in Huntsville. All along it was just to be the four of them because Rachel and I didn't think it would work out for us to be there, and if one of us couldn't make it the other wasn't going. Well at the last minute (which is what works best for me and Thin Mint) we were able to make it happen for us to not only be there for the day without the kids, but to surprise Dawnie and Bethany since they didn't think we could make it. I love a surprise - being both the surpriser and surprisee. :) And surprised they were! We actually pulled it off. There were more happy tears, and of course good, fun, fulfilling, warm-your-heart quality time with people I love and love to be around. I didn't want the day to end. The only time they let my usually-non-shopping-self slow down to get any pictures was at lunch. So here are the few we managed to capture.

Cousin Anna graced us with her presence:

As well as her fiance, Brent:

Along with Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Rebecca:

Some snapshots of us:

Although, if there ever was a time I wish I had my camera in-hand it was on our way out. Everyone else had gone their separate ways except for me, Thin Mint, and B. So we decided to make one last stop at The Chocolate Crocodile. B was given the honors of holding The Chocolate Crocodile box full of the goods. Well, as B was indulging in said goods, said box full of the goods fell right through her chocolate-covered fingers, and all the chocolate-covered deliciousness went splat. We all three stood there for what seemed like 5 minutes just looking at the ground in disbelief. :) Ok, well, let's be honest here: SOME of them went splat. Some were deemed salvageable and I will not say whether or not B was none too proud to pick them up off the ground, dust them off, and put them right back in the box. :) Priceless, B!

And since I don't leave them behind very often, a great way to end a great day was with a very warm welcome from these sweet boys:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

If this posts when it's scheduled, I will be on the road to spend the day with my best girls:

And two of them don't know two of us will be joining them. Shhhh.... don't tell!!! :)

SHE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!

Bethany is officially a Decatur High School Cheerleader! Whoo hoo!!! Way to go, baby girl!!! I don't think any of us are surprised but all are proud beyond words, especially me. I'm so happy for you!

I love you, Boo!

A COUPLE OF VIDEOS

I look back at videos of Bethany around the age the boys are now, and they make me smile and laugh. It's a lot of fun to look back and reminisce. I want to be able to do the same with the boys. Here are a couple of videos so that I can remember these days.

The other day Mac brought home his folder from school of all his work, and he was showing me everything he had done. He had colored a picture of a computer at school and had to find his name on the keyboard. This is Mac telling me it's a picture of a computer, well, a "pee-ooter", rather a "com-pee-ewter." He's getting better. It still cracks me up.

Reid has his own little southern way of pronouncing words with "ur" or "ir" or "er" in them. It's hilarious, he's hilarious even without trying, and this was no exception. He had been playing in his room and came running in the den to tell me this. Not sure why it was so important that I knew, but he sure wanted me to know. I'm still trying to get used to boys and their bodily functions being such a big deal.

Sometimes I wish I could freeze time. Notice I said sometimes. :)

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S

Even if it is a cold, rainy one. 

A couple of side-notes:  One, Reid declined having his picture taken. He was too busy attaching himself to my hip. He did make a hat, though. I'll give you 3 guesses as to which one is his, and two of those guesses don't count. HA!  Two, these pictures were taken with my phone because I no longer have a memory card. I got ready to load some pictures yesterday and obviously wasn't paying much attention as to where I was putting my memory card. I put it in the wrong slot, the biggest one, and it is now somewhere at the bottom of my printer. SO typical of me! :)

And the best part????

Green milkshakes!!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO YOU!