Temporarily Out Of Order

Sorry, folks..I have found a new love/distraction/waste of time/etc....FACEBOOK..

It is so much fun! I can't believe that people that I haven't even heard from in 15 years, would suddenly find a way to communicate through facebook. It is so much fun!

I'll be back.

ROCK STAR

There is nothing like making a birthday a week long event! As you know, M's birthday was last Tuesday, but her party wasn't until Friday night. So there was a lot of hype and anticipation for the "Rock Star" party we had planned. It lived up to all the expectations and more!

After many months, even years, of my girls being obsessed with the idea of a limo, T decided that make a cool suprise for M's birthday party. Everything else just fell into place after that...the whole "Rock Star" theme. I found an idea off the internet to use VIP cards that hang around your neck for the inviations, which cost me near to nothing and were so cute. Then I was lucky enough to find great party favors online at a very cheap price! All the girls got a pair of white rocker sunglasses, a fake microphone, a few bracelets and a few cheap bead necklaces. Everyone came dressed up in their favorite "rock star" attire and even the adults participated! It was so much fun.

After all 12 girls arrived we past out our party favors to help complete their star look. Then the doorbell rang. We made M answer the door. There was a gentleman in a shirt and tie, holding a rose. He said, "Are you MW?"

"Ughh (very confused) Yes, I am." M said.

"This rose is for you," he continued, "and your car has arrived for the evening."

At that, he pointed to his super stretch Ford Excursion white limo sitting in front of our house (which was nearly as long as our house, by the way). You should have seen M's face and then seen all the little girls running out of my house and piling one by one in that limo. They were so excited! It was priceless.

The limo was the perfect amount of "cheesy." It was a party limo, complete with lights, a fog machine, a laser show and (as the driver put it,) "a sound system you can feel." They had a ball.

I will have more pictures soon because my sweet friend January, a professional photographer came along with her daughter and acted at the paparazzi!

Here are a few that my dad or I took. (more to come)

This one is of my step-mother (in a blonde wig), my mother, and my mother-in-law

Here is her face at the door!

I am the one in black with a crazy hot pink and black hat. I think this might
be the only picture of me the whole night.

Happy 8th Birthday!

All day today I have been trying to figure this one out: How is it that the 8 years of high school and college go by so slow yet the past 8 years have flown by at bullet speed? (Well, I'm actually not going to even pretend that it only took me 4 years to get out of college, because, well, it didn't...but just for conversation sake we will pretend that it did). Seriously, why does time go by faster the older you get?

The reason for all my confusion today is this: My first baby is 8 years old today. EIGHT! And the time has past by so very quickly.

I remember the first few weeks, even months, of her coming into our life just wishing it away..."Boy, I wish she would sleep through the night....Man, I can't wait until she can tell me what is wrong..." And now, I sit today and wish I had her back as a teeny tiny newborn who only depended on me.

I just sit in disbelief that my girl has gotten so big so quickly.

She had me from the beginning, with her great big eyes, black eyelashes and the most adorable curly ringlets that adorned her porcelain skin and round face.

M, my sweet girl, you have brought me so much joy and I love you more than I could ever tell you. Thank you for being you, my precious daughter. I love you. Happy Birthday.

"And the Winner Is..."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. (blowing kisses to all my "fans") I couldn't have done it without you."

S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y kidding!!

Apparently I have been awarded the Arte Y Pico blog award. Honestly, I really didn't make this up myself, although not a bad idea to occasionally just give yourself an award to make yourself feel good. Hmmm (thinking about all the blue ribbons and gold medals I am going to adorn myself with. Things like # 1 ribbon for making it through the morning without raising my voice, or a gold medal for actually finding time to shower and put on make-up!)
Oh, I digress.

The Arte Y Pico award was created to give to other bloggers that inspire others with their creative energy, whether it be through their writing, artwork or more. I was so honored with this award by a new blogging buddy, AuburnGalAlways. For the life of me I cannot figure out how in the world I could inspire a person like her for she is a far better writer than I am. So, I am very humbled, friend.

The Rules for the Award:
1. Put the logo on your blog (picture above)
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs that inspire you
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog to
let them know you gave them the award

Before I present my nominations, let me just say that all five of these people have inspired me on a personal level. All five of these bloggers are real life friends, and I am so blessed to know such fine women, mothers, wives, and friends.

And the nominees are....(drum roll)...
1. JMom @ Lots of Scotts
2. Wendymom @ Mom of Eleven
3. Joni @ Jonis Joy
4. Georgia Mom
5. Just Another Ordinary Miracle

(Participate if you wish)

New Friend!

Baby George is finally here. My dear friend, M, had him Monday at 7:59 pm. A handsome baby boy weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs 3 oz!!! He has the most beautiful head of hair that I have ever seen.

Welcome to the world Baby George. We have waited on you a very long and hot summer!

Pre-Schooler

Today was the big day, K's first day of pre-school. She was so excited getting ready this morning. She was really eager to start school and has been for a long time. She hopped right out of the car with a great, big smile on her face and said, "Ok Mom. I'll see ya later. Bye." Then she was out and that was it. Driving home with only one child in the car, one that doesn't talk much, I was struck by how quiet it was in the car. It was very strange to me. Only it didn't feel good like I thought it would. My heart literally ached with the silence. But after a few short hours the car lines started all over again, and the noise, fights, and giggles filled my car once again and that's when everything seemed "normal" again.

My beautiful, green eyed girl on her first day of school.



I'll miss you every second you are away, sweet K, but I can't wait for all the opportunities you will have in life!

Beautiful Child

Today, we were invited to attend a "Tea Party" at the pre-school that K will attend this year. It should have been called, "Meet Your Teacher Day", because much to our surprise, there was nothing tea party related at all. We dropped off her supplies, met her teacher and let her look around her classroom, then we left. As we were leaving K looked up at me and said, "That wasn't a tea party....I wore a dress all for nothing!"

Here she is in her new classroom. My big, sweet, beautiful child that has grown much too quickly.




Here is K with her very first teacher, Mrs. Diane. I hope Mrs. Diane knows how very important she is to me and I hope she loves her just a smidgen of the way I do.


After we left the "TEA PARTY", if you will, I decided a trip to a local bakery was in order to get K a tiny cupcake to make up for the lack of a party they had for her. While we were there, she eyeballed a great big lollipop so I bought that for her too, mainly because I knew it might come in handy in about 30 minutes at the doctor's office. Yup, that's right...my sweet little girl had to get her vaccinations for school. FIVE of them!! It nearly ripped my heart out! After we got back in the car, eyes still wet from tears (mine, not hers), I made it all better with that lollipop. After all, nothing makes you feel better than a lot of brightly colored sugar on a stick.



Gosh, I love my baby girl! Oh, and besides the shots, we had a great checkup...perfect hearing, better than perfect eyesight, and my sweet girl is apparently in the 97% for her height. I'm so proud and so very blessed.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY...First day of pre-k. I hope I can see through my tears as I drive back home in the morning. This is going to be a hard one.

Queen Exaggerator

Here is what M did when I threatened to make her change J's dirty diaper. She is such a little drama queen!

I can't wait to show her this picture once she has a little one of her own one day!

Panicked For Nothing

The other night J was crawling around on the floor and he bumped his head on the door. He started to cry, but nothing horrible, so I wasn't in any "rush" to get to him, although I was making my towards him, when M (the second Mommy in the house) hurries over to him, scoops him up on her hip and started screaming, "J knocked his tooth out! He knocked his tooth out! Oh, No...He knocked a tooth out!"

She was panicking and she was holding something in her hand that she had picked up from the floor beneath him. I was not panicked, but I was startled and upset by it. I grabbed him from her and just hugged him first, trying to console him...all the while thinking in my head, "Poor little guy. He'll have a missing tooth for the next 7 or so years....Poor little boy."

Then, I pulled him away to look at his mouth, expecting a face full of blood, and about the time I looked at his clean mouth, M says excitedly, "It's a piece of a goldfish. It's not his tooth.. it's not his tooth! Oh mom, it's not his tooth, it's just a goldfish cracker."

Ahhhh, sigh of relief from all of us. Then M and I just looked at each other through our tears and started belly laughing. I'll never forget that moment!

I guess if he had lost some teeth we could have gotten him a nice set of dentures, but then again, he might have turned out to look like this kid:

Update

Well, sweet friend M still has not had the baby. They continue to monitor her closely, but thankfully at home. Continue to pray for her spirit...being at home just waiting, when you feel like your going to burst, is the worst.

Again, I'll keep everyone posted.

Prayer Request

Please pray for my dear friend M. She is pregnant with a precious, little boy, George, and is expected to deliver any day now. Her blood pressure is high because she suffers from pre-eclamsia (sp??). She is only about 2 weeks away from her due date and hopefully, due to those issues and health concerns, they will decide to deliver today. I also hope and pray that little baby George will be just fine and ready for delivery day. Please lift up my friend, M ,today and her little bundle of joy that will arrive soon. I'll keep you posted.

My Little

After a trip to a North Carolina store, during our visit recently, K decided she "really, really, really, wanted," and in fact "needed" her very own pink gun and holster. I gave in because, well, what's a girl to do if she doesn't have her own pink cap gun?..that,and the fact that she is so hard to say "No" to. Here is my cowgirl in action. Unfortunely she didn't have on her hat in this picture, but I thought I would share anyway.


And here is her big sister that looks more like she should be on a new version of Charlie's Angeles, instead of a cowgirl!

Snorkeling

At 10 months, little J appears to have a desire to snorkel.


Now we just have to teach him to swim.

A 3rd Grader

Our summer vacation is officially over now, with M starting school this morning. I feel like we did a lot this summer and most importantly we just spent time together, as a family. However, it did go by too quickly, as always, and this morning I had to wake up to the horrible buzz of the alarm clock, which came much too soon, waking me from my sweet slumber and warm bed. Here it was. The first day of school and my sweet little girl is now a third grader.

Yesterday, I wasn't ready for a new school year, a third grade school year. Today, while driving M to school, I realized that I am actually ready for a new year. It helped a lot that M was excited for school and didn't "even need to be walked in" this morning because she's "a third grader now." I told her, as she left the car, that this was the start of a brand new year and that she could be whatever, whoever she wanted to be...the smartest girl in 3rd grade, the sweetest girl in 3rd grade, whatever she wanted. A brand new year, one that brings a clean slate, a new teacher, new friends, new surroundings. Of course there is one thing that does not, and will not ever change..the fact that she is a child of God and I reminded her of all of that before she left my car this morning. Of course, I also gave her sloppy wet kisses and told her too many times how much I loved her and how proud I was of her.

Driving home after that conversation, it all just sunk into me. Wow. "A new year. A clean slate. Child of God. He never changes"..... HE allows us so many "2nd chances", cleans our "slate", makes us new, but He NEVER changes. He remains the same, He is solid ground. In a world and a life that is constantly bringing about changes and new things, isn't it just nice to rest on that simple fact, that He never does change? It is certainly comforting for me and I'm so glad he gave me the reminder this morning.

Here is my happy third grade girl!

She already looks like a third grader!!