Birmingham Tourists

Well, last weekend my old music minister from B'ham invited me over to sing in church on Sunday with the praise band. He is leaving to plant a new church with his friend and pastor Aubrey Spears. We look forward to seeing God work in that endeavor! So, for old times sake, I got to sing with them. It was an amazing treat for me to sing again with the band and Robert, and to see our old friends. When I look back a year ago, I couldn't imagine ever leaving that church, but praise God, He brought us to our new church here in Tupelo, and we know it's where we are supposed to be!
As a family, we decided to be tourists in Bham. We usually spend time just seeing friends when we go to B'ham, but this time, (and to you friends, I swear, we were there only 24 hours and didn't have time to visit!) we hung out at the good ole' Galleria. We NEVER went there when we lived there, but I swear, we had more fun than we've had in awhile. The girls loved that mall like they never loved it before! Here are some pics! We finished the day grilling at a friends house, and had such a great time with great food, great conversation, and great music.


O and E a Build-A-Bear rubbing the hearts on their hearts.

E got her elephant stuffed.

M and her bear, "Honey." She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Drew and E on the carousel.

O doing Wii fit. It was pretty cool!
Little M, and O....they love shoes! M actually walked out of the store with some on! That little shoplifter...

Fun quiz

I promise to blog about my weekend tomorrow! I have a bundle of pictures and stories just itching to be shown, but that will be for tomorrow! In the meantime, my friend Nikki had this on her blog, and I just had to share it, it was so much fun. This is for all you Austen lovers...
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Family, Fighting, and Flowers

This weekend, my brother and his family came to stay with us since we had my cousins wedding here in town. It was so great to spend so much time with them. Our kids really enjoyed getting to play together.....well....maybe not M, so much. My nephew Griffin seemed to feel the need to conk her over the head every time he got near her, so much of our time was spent separating them. I quote, "Griffin, are you going to hit M again?" Griffin replies, with a sheepish look on his face, "Uh-huh." Oh well... we tried.

As a side note...and I wish I had a picture of this.....but our cousins new wife threw the bouquet at the reception, and M's head caught it....I mean square in the face!! That's a wedding memory she won't ever forget...she hit a baby at her wedding!!! (M doesn't have a scratch on her, by the way.)

Also-"Kudos" to my niece Madison for catching a rose from the bouquet. Now, young lady, 11 yrs old is too young to be considering marriage!!!

What a blessing to share lots of laughter with family.

Summer Joy

"To get the full value of Joy, you must have someone to divide it with." -Mark Twain


Playing in the rain puddles..........

Picking blueberries with friends........




Eating at the restaurant afterwards.......and no, these girls didn't empty these wine bottles....

Making clay pots with Daddy........

Playing at the Splash Pad...........

Fishing for tadpoles............

But catching one tiny fish instead........(E gets credit for the fast hands on this one)

Does life get any better than this????

Happy 34th to Me!!

Well, what do you know, if it's my birthday, noone's going to make sure to take pictures so I can post MYSELF on my blog. Typical. So..no pictures, but a recap of the day.
Drew and I have tried, since the girls were born, to make a really big deal of birthdays. We have certain traditions we've tried to keep. For instance, whoever's birthday it is, gets to choose their very own breakfast. So far, the girl's choice EVERY year is chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, and 7-up floats. Crazy sweet, I know, but they usually eat every bit of it. So, when it's one of mine or Drew's birthdays, the girls have learned to hype it up. I love it. I felt like such a kid when I woke up Saturday morning, and the girls were taking my breakfast order and screaming, "Happy Birthday!" All day long, they kept saying, "It's your birthday, Momma, you can do/have/say whatever you want." Wow. What power. Can I pretend it's my birthday every day? That night, we all went to the local Japanese steakhouse that has the hibachi grill. My mom and dad joined us. It took awhile to be seated, but once we got seated, it was worth it. The girls loved the chef (except M does NOT like the fire!). My dad also branched out. (proud of you Dad) He ordered some sushi! Oh, Dad, you are so "metro!" My mom branched out, also, and tried the stuff! I don't think she was impressed. Luckily, Drew and I got to eat the leftovers of that! So, thanks to all for the birthday wishes, and thanks to my family for making me feel special! Happy birthday to me!!!!

RIP Oliver

Well, we said goodbye to our friend Oliver yesterday. Drew ran in the house yesterday yelling my name. His voice didn't sound normal. I ran outside, yelling to the girls to stay in the house. Oliver was laying in the driveway, and he was not moving. Oliver was an outside cat. We always made sure when we pulled out or drove in to the driveway, to look for him. But how much can you really watch a cat? They're so unpredictable! Drew apparently pulled into the garage and we think Oliver jumped in front of the car. After placing Oliver in a his box, we called the girls outside to conduct the funeral. The first thing E said was, "can we go get a new cat?" O cried a tiny bit, but didn't seem overly upset. I think Drew and I were the most upset. It's so hard to find a good pet, and Oliver was a good one! Plus, if I have to admit it, thinking econmically, that cat was worth around $250, with the neutering, shots, and flea medicine. Though he was a worthy investment, it stinks to have it all disappear in one second! After each saying what our favorite things were about Oliver, (fiesty, loving, licking our faces, cuddling with us), O closed us out with a prayer. It went something like, "God, thank you for giving us Oliver. I hope he's alright. We will miss him. Help us find another cat as good as Oliver." We will miss you, Oliver, and are so glad you were our special, very first, pet.

O the Second Grader

O is officially in second grade, now. It's weird, when I look back in my childhood, that is really when I start remembering a lot of school, so it makes me realize how much more permanent every memory we make is for her. I am praying hard that she will have a wonderful year in Mrs. Click's class at Rankin. I pray she will be challenged, and rise to meet the challenges, that she will thrive on learning new things, and really explore her creative side. I am so proud of her and can't wait to see what a year we have!! The scripture I wrote on her note in her backpack today is one of my favorites. It's Proverbs 3:5-6, in The Message translation, so she can understand it more clearly: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track."