HaPpY BiRtHdAy

Happy Birthday Bud!

Six years ago today, God brought you into this world and allowed us to be your parents. What a wonderful gift that is! You have the fire and spunkyness of your daddy but also the soft,quiet and sweet heart of your mommy! What a blessing you are to us! You make us very proud and we love you soooo much!

8 days old


6 years old


We asked Bud what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go eat some sesame chicken, so we gathered with a few close family and friends and celebrated his day. (We missed you Stephanie, Robert and boys!)



He also wanted a cake with "a fancy A" on it! Fancy A.....love it!!



We had a great time! And even Little Man enjoyed some cake too!!

Happenings this Month

Earlier this month Bud and Mimi had little "dances" at their school. It's basically where they showed off what they had learned in that particular unit of P.E.

Bud's grade danced to age appropriate songs and they were so cute!





Mimi's grade learned about square dancing.







Boogs had his Valentine's party at school. He was so cute!



This was Boogie's craft. So cute! To all of us OCD people out there....It's ok his nose is sideways.



This was his friend, Aiden's bear. I thought this was so funny. The black thing on the bear is his "pants". It's really the foamy thing that the eyes came out of. LOL!



Our first snow fall of the year.

You can pretty much guess what he was doing. He was so excited!



Notice the difference in the above picture and then this picture in regards to the snow coming down. That's a blizzard here in the south. HA!

I also thought it was funny that this guy was just sitting on the ramp to the interstate. Wonder what he was waiting for? Hmmmmmm.......



Little Man's first snow fall. I don't know if you can see it or not but he had a snowflake on his nose. It was the cutest thing!



Just watching the snow come down.



Not liking the snow so much anymore. :)



Ittie Bittie was NOT having any part of the fun in the snow.



My blessings! :)



Awww, look at him. So precious! He was exhausted after playing in the snow.



So much so that he fell asleep here.....



Just some other random pictures I took on our snow day.

Filters

I have had several instances over the last year where I have been the recipient of someone else's need to unload their personal story. It wouldn't bother me so much if these people weren't complete strangers. I think of myself as a friendly person and am always willing to lend an ear or a shoulder, but it's generally with people that I actually know. Maybe these people see something in me that I don't.

Example #1: Last year when Bud started playing All Stars I was standing around at the batting cages watching him bat with a friend, Chris, that we had met through baseball and we were just small talking. David hadn't gotten there yet so he missed the following conversation. This guy walked up to us with his child in an umbrella stroller. He first introduced himself as one of the team coaches and told us that he was wanting to meet all of the parents since he would be helping coach. Ok, sure. No problem. Hi, how ya doin? I was ok at that point. He then started to go on and on about how he had "let" his wife go fishing with her dad since they didn't get to spend much time together and that he was "babysitting" the kids. WHAT?? I'm sorry, but husbands (Daddy's) don't babysit their kids. That's just called being a PARENT. Babysitting usually involves someone other than the parents watching the kids, but anyway......

He then started talking about these bat bags that the team would be getting and how he knew someone who could monogram them for the team. WHAT?? What man knows anything about monogramming? I know my husband doesn't. I think at that point my friend Chris had walked away because this guy, and I'm NOT kidding, talked like he had just stepped out of high school. He kept saying "Like this and Like that". It absolutely drove me nuts but being the friendly person I am, I just continued to listen and nod.

The conversation went on for a little bit longer (I really can't remember what about) and then it just got plain weird. I really don't even know how he got on the topic but by the time our conversation ended, he had told me that he was contemplating a vasectomy ,but that he was only 27 years old and he thought he was too young for that. I'm sorry, WHAT????? I was so grossed out. I had just met this person and here he was talking about his man parts. I honestly hadn't realized that my friend Chris had abandoned me until that point. I looked beside me to get his reaction of what this guy had just unloaded on me and he was no where to be found. Yeah, thanks Chris! LOL! I immediately told this guy that I had to leave. Can you believe it? Where was his filter?

Example #2: Another time during All Stars, we were at a tournament and we had a little break so I had left to run home but stopped by McDonald's to get Boogs & Mimi a milkshake. As I was waiting to get their milkshakes, the woman at the side window started going on about her daughter that had left home and was in a lot of trouble. I really felt sad for this lady because you could see the sadness in her eyes. I just tried to listen as best as I could but was thinking, how could this lady tell me all this stuff when she didn't even know me? Maybe she just needed someone to talk to. Even if it was a stranger at a drive up window.

Example #3: A few weeks ago, David and I had taken the kids to a birthday party at Pump-It-Up. It's one of those places that has those big jumpy things. Anyway, there was a lady whose child was also at the party and she introduced herself and literally talked the entire time we sat there. Probably about 40min. I heard everything about her kids, her "girlie" problems and anything else she needed to talk about.

I really don't mind listening to people and what they have to say, but what I do mind is when someone starts telling me about personal stuff like if he needs to get fixed or what kind of menstrual problems a lady is having. I just think information like that should be kept to one's own self or shared with close family or friends.....not complete strangers. I hope I'm not being insensitive here. I just think it's kind of weird.

But now that I think about it, it hasn't always applied to strangers.

We had gone to a family gathering a few years ago for Thanksgiving. There was some extended family there that I had never met and that David had not seen since he was young so it was kind of a big deal that everyone was there. So that I don't embarrass anyone I will keep names out of this post, but as everyone was sitting around catching up, I was being caught up on this persons yeast infection. WHAT?? Yep. She was sharing with me, right before we were supposed to sit down to a very delicious meal, about her feminine problems. Gross. Let's just say that my Thanksgiving meal was "lite" that year.

I'm writing all of these examples to say that I wish people would use their filters sometimes. I'm all for being there for someone, but sometimes I wish not to hear about certain things.

We all need to make sure that we watch what we tell people because some information is better off not being told. HaHa!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my MOPS group. What's MOPS? Mother's of Pre~Schoolers. It's a national organization that has groups all over the US. I just love mine and so I encourage you to check out your community to see if there is one in your area.

I started attending MOPS about six years ago. I started going because my best friend Stephanie encouraged me to visit with her. I must say that when I first started attending the group, I was a new mom and so unsure of myself. I went and really enjoyed myself and so I continued to go. Then Stephanie moved to FL and I was alone, but I continued to go even though I felt so awkward because I didn't really know anyone and a lot of the ladies had all been in the same circles or "clicks" you could say so I often times felt out of place. It went on like that for a few years but I kept on going and I slowly but surely got to know a few people. I'm so shy and hate speaking in front of people so to continue going when I didn't really know anyone was a big deal. A very big deal for me. I just sat there and took it all in. Not really putting myself out there. I enjoyed going but at that point decided to stop going. I felt, even after going for a few years, like I still wasn't part of the group.

Just as I had decided to stop going, our leader stepped down and the group dynamic as a whole changed. God worked in the heart of an awesome and funny girl (I say girl because we are about the same age and I don't feel old ,so.....) and impressed it upon her heart that she needed to step up into that leadership role. AND I am soo glad she did. When I realized that we were getting a new leader I decided to give it one more year just to see if things would change. To see if the ideas of the MOPS group would change. To see what our leader could bring to the table. New and fresh ideas. Well, the whole group changed. The attitude of the group changed. And when I say that, I mean the people. When our first leader left, all of the original people left too and we had new people starting to attend. It was nice because I felt like I was starting over and getting the chance to be apart of something new. I knew how those new ladies were feeling....awkward and out of place, but God definitely put the right person in that leadership role.

Let me just tell you, the last few years have just been awesome! I have really gotten to know some of these great and funny ladies and every time I go I leave blessed, inspired, encouraged and ready to go back the next time.

As a mom, we all face struggles. Let's face it, no one is perfect and no one has perfect kids. Life gets too busy sometimes and it's just nice to sit down for a few hours and hear what other moms are facing and dealing with and going through. We laugh, we cry, we give our different perspectives, we pray for one another, we encourage one another and it's such an awesome reminder that all moms face the same situations and that we are not alone in this "Life on Planet Mom".

I love my kids and I love who they are. I love how they are growing and I love that being a mom is the hardest gift ever. I say gift because being able to be a mom is a gift. It is a blessing and I'm so thankful that God has allowed ME to be the mom of my kids.

A while back I asked ya'll to keep a high school friends family in your prayers. Her name was Kelli and she was pregnant with baby #3...a boy they named Elijah Christian. Well, little Elijah was born yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon went to be cradled in the loving arms of Jesus. Please lift up Kelli, her husband Les, and their two girls plus both of their extended families as they grieve the loss of their precious little one. Their faith has been an awesome testimony to those that know them and even to those that don't. Kelli started a blog while she was pregnant with Elijah to tell his story and I encourage you to read it. It's called The Blessing of Elijah. (Just click on the link)I can't even begin to imagine what they are experiencing and today I held onto my little ones a little bit longer than usual and gave them a little bit of extra love. My heart hurts for them. :(

Wordless Wednesday

Well, sort of.....Here are some random shots I took in December.

Gettin' some lovin'.


Smores with friends.


I love Bud's face in this picture!


Daddy & Mimi.


My sweet Boogs.


Say cheese!


Tummy time. Get you a gander at those legs......(biting fist here) :)


Cuteness, precious, and just plain Awwwww!


Christmas get together with some high school friends.
L to R: Tim, Chris, Casey, Robert & Aaron/me, Allison,Stephanie & Jamie.


New Years Eve


AND one of my most favorite pictures! Isn't the sky just awesome! God is great!

If You Are....

A regular reader or know my family personally (if not, that's ok too), would you please say a prayer for my family this week? I know this week is going to be specifically hard on my mom and all of the family members on her side of the family. One year ago this coming Thursday, my precious grandmother went to be with the Lord. We know she is rejoicing with Him in heaven but those of us that are left behind still miss her terribly. She was such a sweet and funny lady and anyone who knew her was blessed to have her in their life.



Also, please pray for my dad. He has been battling cancer for the last 6 or 7 years. He has thyroid cancer and last year it moved to his lungs and he just recently found out that it has grown. He also found out that he has another "hot spot" in a lymph node. He has had several surgeries in and around his neck, but another surgery isn't an option anymore and up until now, he wasn't a candidate for chemo. He has had many lymph nodes removed but it still regenerates. It's just something he walks around with in his body. So, today he started a pill form of chemotherapy. The next 6weeks are very crucial and will be tough for him. There's no way of knowing if he will have any side effects. So please pray for strength and for his nervousness to go away. I talked with him this morning a few minutes before he was to take the pill and I asked him if he was scared and he said Yes. :( Just the not knowing of the outcome and how it will affect him is probably what I think he's worried about. So we need to pray for peace. A peace that passes all understanding and for strength when he gets weary.



Thank you in advance for lifting my family up in your prayers!