Lil' Man Turns 3

My - Oh - My does the time fly by. Baby boy turned three. Here are a couple of pics from his party!!!!

His cousins came!

Anything goes on your birthday. Even eating your ice cream cake all at once!

Get it boy!

Rocking out to his new guitar.

His birthday party at St. Marks. He is applauding himself.

<3>

Stuffing his face again.

Don't grow up and leave your mama. Ok, well maybe grow up to be self-sufficient, and then don't leave your mama. ;0)

Missing Mama

When do you wake up, and the pain goes away? When do you get to think of your mother and be happy? When do you get to look at her handwriting, listen to her voice or look at her pictures without busting into tears? I still have a message from her on my answering machine. I can't imagine erasing it, yet I skip over it every time. I can't bear to hear her voice. I was going through my inbox last night. I saw an old email from her. I wouldn't dare delete it yet I couldn't even think about opening it and reading it. Her cell phone number is still logged in my phone. The number isn't even valid anymore, but the thought of deleting it out of my phone would make it too real. These things seems to happen all day every day. I keep waiting on that magic moment to move on. Not that I want to forget her, but I just want to be able to remember her without hurting. I have no doubt that God's plan is perfect, and this is what was planned before the foundation of the earth - but it doesn't feel perfect. I'm suppose to have a mama to talk to. I'm suppose to have a mama to go shopping with. I'm suppose to have a mama to rock my babies. I want my mother. It seems too long to have to wait until the other side of this life to see her again. I can't help but get jealous when I see people out with their mothers - having fun, shopping, talking, etc. etc. That use to be me. Cherish it as much as you can. I don't want to have a 'woe is me' attitude. I just truly miss her. I keep wanting to wake up and realize this was all a bad dream. I hate thinking about my children never knowing who she was. I miss that feeling of knowing I have a mama. The person that would walk through hail, sleet and snow to be by your side in a time of need. The person who loves you regardless of all your many skeletons. The person who would sacrifice anything to keep you safe. The person who would shoot it straight to you in a way that only a mama can do. I dread the holidays. I've never been a big holiday girl myself, but I can't even begin to think of what this year will be like. Who is going to make the Christmas morning casserole we've had for the past 30 years? Who is going to fill the stockings? It will be a year of new traditions, and that makes me happy and sad in one breath. The Lord has been gracious to us. We have a close family, and without them this holiday season would seem unbearable. Many people ask me why the Lord would take such a good person. At the expense of sounding like I'm preaching, the truth of the matter is that my mother was no better than anyone else (she would say the same thing) We are all sinners - she just realized that fact and tried to live in a way honoring to Him. However, I think he has given her the best gift of all. Sure she didn't want to leave her loved ones behind, but she always longed to be with the Father. He gave her that. No more tears, heartache, sadness, misery, bad days - etc. Who could ask for a better gift. (That's the peace I have to rely upon on days like today.) Thanks for listening to my rant - you are my online therapist. Thank goodness ya'll do it for free, my wallet is getting a little bare! ;0)

Halloween 2009

For those of you that are not on facebook, I thought I would let you see the kids in their Halloween costumes. They were so much fun this year. Cohen couldn't wait to put on his little chic outfit. He wore it with pride. Elis could have cared less, but maybe she'll be more in to it next year. However, she did keep on her piggy head all night - which I thought was a huge accomplishment. Cohen was so cute. He thought that it was amazing that people would give him candy at each house. He was so polite and would say thank-you every time. (sometimes he was coached - none-the-less, too cute.) Hope you enjoy the pics!

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

We spent the weekend with our Atlanta friends. We went to Dahlonega, GA to visit Burt's Pumpkin Patch. We cooked out up in the mountains afterward. It's so refreshing being in the mountains with good friends. I miss them.

Cohen didn't know what to do with such big pumpkins. They were almost as tall as him.

Now this is what I call a pumpkin patch. Cohen kept running from pumpkin to pumpkin.

This is the best I could do for a pic with the both of them. They were too ready to play to sit still and take a pic. Everyone kept saying that Elis looked like she was riding a bull. but Hey... she stayed on.

Heather and Davis

Elis claimed her pumpkin. She wouldn't leave this thing. Since she just started walking, the mulch was making it hard to stay steady. This little boy tried to take her pumpkin and she was ready for a good fight. She was victorious.

Cohen was so ready for the hayride that he couldn't understand why we had to wait in line. He thought if he stared at the people in front of us it would hurry them up.

Elis loves men. (I know - we need to break her of this habit before high-school) She's a daddy's girl, and every time she gets around Davis - she clings to him. We are more than happy to pass the torch for a couple of hours.

Justin and Brandon at the back of the hayride. The men weren't fond of the idea of a hayride, but us girls bought tickets for them anyways. Then I think they actually had a good time.

Yasmin, Heet and me on the Hayride.

They had cute little scenes like this on the hayride. The pumpkins talked to us. Cohen loved this part.

Cohen staring at the pumpkins of the back of the trailer.

Family pic on the hayride.

We cooked out at the top of the waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful. This pic. doesn't do it justice.

Again, Cohen loved every minute of it. It so much fun to see the world through your children's' eyes. He is getting to an age where he can really enjoy our outings now.

Yasmin and Alan walking to the bottom of the falls with Cohen. I think a baby would suit them well. (I'm ready for my friends to jump on the baby train.)

This was at the bottom of the falls. Again, the pic. doesn't do it justice. It was amazing.

Happy Fall Y'all.

The Girls

I lost this pic somewhere in the shuffel. This is our last night in Nashville. Sorry Girls - better late than never! ;0)

Can Trees Be Charged With Vandalism?

Who needs crazy teen to smash your mailbox when you have a Bradford Pear? I've known for a while how bad Bradford Pears are at splitting when they get too big. My husband cuts off big limbs ever so often to prevent such an instance from happening. Well..... it didn't work.

It was pouring down rain a couple of weekends ago, and we got a knock on our door. It was our neighbor. They weren't able to get home because half of our tree had fallen across the road destroying everything in it's path (ie the mailbox). So much for free time on a Saturday! We spent the day cutting it up and playing clean up.

She is not as pretty as she once was, but I'll keep her around. Brandon threatened to cut her down, but I have spared her life..... for now. She better not decide to ruin our new mailbox anytime soon.

It was a good mailbox. Too bad it wasn't strong enough to withstand a tree!

This just gave me an excuse to do a new vinyl decal on our mailbox. I like this one!

So the mailman knows he's at the right house - as if they didn't see it screaming on the other side.

I couldn't abandon the last design - so I put it on the other side!

Nashvegas '09

The only thing I can say as a result of our Nashville trip is.... "I'm not 20 any more." We have been doing these Nashville trips for the last 5 years. I was sick to start off, and then add late nights and early mornings, lots of laughing, dancing and loud jabber, and lots of junk food and you get an even sicker patient. If I was 20 I could have bounced back, but it took me about three days and a LOT of vitamin C to recover from this trip. We all laughed and said in ten years we would be playing checkers in the hotel room the whole time. (hahaha - hopefully not!) We had such a good time, and all the sickness was worth every minute with my girls.

These girls are my heart and soul. They know all my ins and outs, and I know all of theirs. You know when you know all the good and bad in someone, and still love them anyway... That's a true friend.

We are getting better with age. Last year we packed 12 girls in one hotel room. This year we only packed in 9. (granted it is a bigger than normal room) We threw around the idea of splitting into two rooms, but then we quickly realized it wouldn't be near as much fun. I can sleep anywhere for two nights.

We always tailgate at the Vandy game on Sat. This year it was against Ole Miss. They blew Vandy's pants off. We didn't care though - we were there for the fun!

Last year we posed with Elvis. This year it was stashey. He looked just like our cab driver. That is why I'm cracking up in the pic.

CAN'T WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!