LOVE IS SOCKS AND CHARCOAL

Chris and I both are at a point where we really don't feel the need to go all out for things for each other like birthdays and even Christmas. I mean, he's gotten me some really great gifts in the past. And don't get me wrong, I've loved them all and appreciate getting them, but they aren't necessary. So of course on Valentine's Day the showering of gifts isn't really a big deal. We get the kids a little candy and a balloon (which the boys in turn either suck the helium out of or fight each other with until one pops), say Happy Valentine's Day and carry on like business as usual. This past Saturday I headed to Decatur without children and with my two sisters for Bethany's winter formal - post on that coming. It was an absolutely fantastic day which I didn't think could get any better. Well when I got home (which was late so Chris was already in bed), I walked in to find flowers, socks and a couple of other little happy's on the table for me. The flowers were beautiful.

But y'all. 

He thought to get me socks. I have been in some serious need for socks. I hate shoes so as soon as I get home I can't get in the door good and I'm taking them off. Not only do my feet get cold but I cannot stand to feel any kind of grit on my feet. I can sweep and swiffer all day long but with tile and hardwood floors there's no getting it all up. So as fast as I can get my shoes off I'm putting on socks. If I'm home, I'm walking around in socks. Because of that almost all of mine have holes in the bottom. It drives Chris crazy to see me wearing a pair with holes so he will literally take them off my feet and throw them in the fire if we have one going. :) My sock stash has dwindled. But I'm picky. There is one certain kind I like, and I just don't ever think to get them. 

But he did. And it made my heart go pitter-patter. ;) Silly and corny but so true. He didn't have to get me anything but since he did I seriously can think of nothing better. 

Something Chris always needs is charcoal and lighters for the Big Green Egg. He uses natural wood charcoal instead of briquettes and the kind he likes you can't find just anywhere. Being that we cook out almost every night it seems we're always needing it. He also is the world's worst about losing the big lighters he uses to light the grill. So guess what... 

Charcoal and lighters is what he has waiting on him when he gets home. And I promise you he'll appreciate it. Especially since he doesn't think he's getting anything. 

See. True love = socks and charcoal. HA! 

And because I'm missing her, a picture of my beautiful First Valentine from Saturday (and there are many more where that came from all of which I will probably post because I can't pick my favorites - as I said, post to come):

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Here's hoping all of you get your "socks and charcoal" today. 

WIFE OF THE YEAR & SNOW

I've won Mother of the Year enough that I thought I'd add Wife of the Year to my collection of awards as well.

Chris is feeling a bit under the weather. He is running a low-grade fever, has a cold and overall just isn't feeling well. But being self-employed means you don't get to call in sick. He was getting ready to head out for work and I remembered we had some Theraflu in the cabinet from when Bethany had the flu. I asked him if he wanted to try it. He isn't one to take medicine so when he said yes I knew he must be feeling pretty rotten. I gave him a dose, he took it, and I went on about my business getting the boys ready for school.

Right before he left he came over to kiss me bye as he does every morning and said, "Bye, baby, I love you. I'm going to work. But I may not be gone long since you just gave me nighttime Theraflu."

Me: "No I didn't. We don't even have the nighttime kind."

Chris: "Yeah, we do. And I just took it. And I really need to be able to work all day today. I have a lot going on."

Me: "I think you must've read the box wrong or something. I haven't bought that kind."

So I go in the kitchen and take a look for myself.

Yep, that says nighttime.

Me: "OH! Wait. Oh crap, honey. I totally forgot I bought a combo pack when Bethany had the flu with both daytime and nighttime because she couldn't sleep. I must've grabbed the nighttime assuming it was daytime {ya think?}. Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!"

Chris:  "Yeah, me too. See you in a little bit."

And with that... Wife of the Year.

Snow. The weatherman told us again it was coming. Grant woke Reid up to look outside to see it (obviously not looking outside for himself beforehand). School was delayed for it. And once again we got none of it causing Reid to have a complete meltdown.

They delayed school because of the possibility of a dusting of snow. Really? A dusting? GIVE ME A BREAK!! I'm so over winter. I've actually been over it because I'm never into it but held out for this one more chance of seeing some snow. And nothing. So let's get on with spring, shall we?!? Because snow or no snow it's too cold to be outside and this cabin fever causes us to become desperate for entertainment.

And courtesy of Grant's DSi:

Well it's noon and I haven't seen nor heard from Chris. I'm hoping that's a good thing. I'm just waiting for a call from one of his guys saying they found him sleeping in his truck on one of his job sites. HA!

MY NIECE THE GYMNAST - A REALLY GOOD WEEKEND

This past Saturday Mary Lou Grace had a gymnastics meet in Clanton. Most of her meets are a bit far for us to drive, so we were excited to be able to make it to this one. I'm amazed by the strength of these little girls. I'm very new to this so Rachel has to keep reminding me what to look for. I think everything she does is good. And although I'm obviously partial it doesn't take a seasoned eye to see that Grace is one of the most graceful gymnasts out there. She's beautiful to watch.

I had to post this one - way too cute of the little booty-boot not to:

It was a very proud moment for all of us but especially Martha when Mary Lou Grace medaled. She got 3rd place in floor. Only she didn't just medal, she medaled against Auburn Gymnastics who are known for their skill.

I do think she was quite proud of herself. :) As well she should've been.

The In His Steps gymnasts with their 2nd place trophy:

It was a fun day, and we always enjoy seeing each other and spending time together (we missed you, Claire!). So proud of you, MLG!

The rest of Saturday was spent at home enjoying quality time with the hubby and kiddos. We all piled on the couch watching various animal shows on National Geographic. Sounds fun, huh? Actually it was. We all love shows like that but to be honest I wouldn't have cared what was on. The boys piled on top of gathered around Chris taking turns and watching each other play Angry Birds.

Did you get that? They took turns. As in one patiently waited his turn for his brother to have a turn. That was angelic in and of itself. But what was really angelic to me was my baby girl who was so tired she curled up beside me, laid her head over on me, and I rubbed her head and hair just like I used to years ago. She looked like an angel. The longer we sat the more comfortable she got and the sleepier those eyes were. Reid obviously thought it was a scene worthy of a picture because he took this one.

Rather he tried to. :) Quite obviously the quality is terrible but it nonetheless shows how sweet and innocent Umby looks. Just look at that face (not mine - gracious that's awful). So so sweet and reminiscent of when she was 2 years old. Oh my heart of mush.

Sunday Teen Challenge held a rally at a church in Sylacauga. My parents try to go to as many rallies as they can, and Snuggs mentioned to mom and dad she would love for them to bring the boys. Of course the boys wanted to go if it meant they could see "Aint" Dawnie and spend the day with Meems and Granddaddy. :) It was just as sweet for me because it meant I could spend some much-needed girl time with Bethany. And that we did.

When mom and dad got back into town they brought the boys home and stayed for dinner. We capped off our weekend with the Super Bowl (I bet my Monday was better than Christina Aguilera's) and were entertained by the halftime show not once but twice. The boys enjoyed it so much we had to rewind and watch it again.

It was just a really good weekend.

As my dad has reminded me, "Count your blessings, name them one by one."

AN OLD MEMORY CARD

A couple of weeks ago while cleaning out some things I found one of Bethany's old memory cards from a few years ago. Being that everything has gone digital (as wonderful and convenient as it may be) the element of surprise is something I miss with film. Loading the pictures from the card onto my computer kinda brought that back. It was so fun looking through them. There were even some short videos which are priceless and which I would love to post but my daughter would kill me. :) I can't believe how much my babies looked like babies and how much they've grown and matured since then.

 

To this day Mackey still sleeps on that same big pillow that's sitting in his lap.

 

Happy Friday! Looking forward to a sunny (and hopefully a bit warmer) Super Bowl Sunday!!

GROUNDHOG; HOMEMADE BOWLING; MY DAD THE TAXIDERMIST; AND MAC's Mii's - JUST LOTS OF RANDOMNESS

I believe in the groundhog seeing his shadow or not as a prediction of whether we'll have 6 more weeks of winter or an early spring about like I believe that eating black-eyed peas on New Year's will bring good luck.  I don't. But the boys were really into it so I had fun with it this year. Being that I'm desperate for spring and the reports are that he did not see his shadow thus predicting we'll have an early spring, I have to admit right now I'm a fan of Punxsutawney Phil (although I think that's wishful thinking being that Phil's accuracy is only 39% and it is currently 30° outside with icicles hanging off my house). Whether or not this rings true, we'll have to wait and see. But no doubt Spring is around the corner somewhere because we're gearing up for spring baseball - tryouts are in a couple of weeks. Last night Chris took Grant and Mac to batting practice, and Turbo was feeling a bit left out. It was cold and rainy so we had to find entertainment indoors. We played Wii for a little while but Reid is not one to sit in front of a TV for long. He went to his room, grabbed a couple of balls then went in the kitchen saying, "I have a great idea." He came out with plastic cups saying he wanted to play bowling. So homemade bowling it was.

(My poor baseboards):

SO serious:

It was my turn so I asked for the ball. "No, momma, that's not your ball. That's my ball. This is your ball."

Thanks, Turbo. That's so fair. We had fun and that's all that matters, right?!? Ummm. NO, not when Reid is playing. He won. That's what matters. HA!

TAXIDERMY: 

My dad has perfected european deer mounts (I would put his up against any "seasoned" taxidermist), and was excited to bring Grant's to us last night. 

But I think a certain little hunter was more excited than his Granddaddy. 

Thanks so much, dad! They all turned out beautiful and we appreciate all the hard work you put into making them. It makes them extra special. I can't wait to see Bethany's!

Mac's Mii's:

Mac loves to make different Mii characters on the Wii. He has made one for pretty much everyone in our family. And they actually favor the person they're supposed to be. In fact, I can usually look at the Mii and guess who it is without him having to tell me. But...

This one has me scratching my head.  

As you can see, though, he mingles with the rest of us. :)

I BET THE ECONOMY HASN'T HURT THE MAKERS OF SHOUT

Because as long as there are little boys in this world, there will always be a demand for it. We buy Shout in bulk from Sam's and yet it always seems I'm running low. I'll think to myself, gosh have I really used that much already? 

Then it rains. Thus making mud puddles. Mud puddles that seem to draw little boys in as if to say, "Hey, over here,"especially when they're on their bikes. 

Then those certain little boys try to sneak their clothes into the laundry room without my knowing - because I probably wouldn't notice they were stripping down at the door or notice a shirt coming through the laundry looking like this:

And then I'm reminded. Oh. Yeah. No wonder I need more Shout. :) Boys will be boys. That's what I love about them.

REMINISCENT OF SPRING

Saturday was a day quite reminiscent of spring. It was beautiful. It made me so very happy. I knew it would only be temporary and thought it would, for the time being, satisfy my deep love and desire for warmer weather, but I think it made me long for it even more. I'm so looking forward to days spent throwing on a sundress and flip flops, pool and lake days, our garden, Chris and I sitting by the pool in the evenings watching the kids swim while we cook out. We still cook out pretty much every night but this time of year it consists of Chris running out to start the grill, running back in, running out again to put the food on, running back in and warming up by the fire, etc. We still have February to go which is usually quite cold. March has been known to bring along it's share of chill too. So I'm back to Grumpy McGrump-Grump for the time being. Ha!

Albeit short, the day sure was sweet. 

It's so hard to get a picture of the four of them. And they were not happy I was trying to.

But it's not hard to get them to laugh. :)

We walked around the pool just wishful thinking, and the boys wanted so badly to get in. One day of warmer weather and they think it's time to break out the bathing suits. They forget what it takes to warm that water.

Sissy tested out the water with her foot.

I think it's safe to say by her reaction it was pretty darn cold. That and the fact that she said her foot was burning when she took it out. :)

I know she's mine so I'm obviously biased but even in sleepy pants with her hair pulled up she's beautiful. In fact, I think this is when she's most beautiful.

And because I think there are only about 2 pictures of them together in almost 8 years (he's not a fan of the camera):

And one more because our day wouldn't have been complete without a little drama:

Whoa! I think someone licked all the red off his candy, don't you?!?

Just keepin' it real.

One day I will miss these days, tantrums and all. :)