HO!HO!HO!

Well, here is a picture (although it isn't great) of the baking project that I had going yesterday, and the one that I've done today...who knows if it will be worthy of having it's picture posted! I've worked off and on ALL DAY on a snowman cake. My brother and his wife gave me a very nice snowman cake pan for Christmas last year. I haven't ever used it. They are coming into town tomorrow, so I thought I'd whip up this cake! HA! It is a snowman that stands up! I got it all put together, but my icing was too thin. I was making it work, it just wasn't gorgeous, but it tasted great. So....I had it going pretty good...went to give Macy a bath...came back to the kitchen and the thing had broken in half and fallen over. I tried to put it back together with toothpicks and a lot of icing. I put it in the fridge in hopes that everything will "cement" itself!

This is a picture of the cake pan...followed by what the cake is SUPPOSED to look like:

HAHA! Yeah, right! That is the "easy" version...sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Well, that would be great, but then, how do you cover up the "seems" where you've "glued" the two halves together? We'll just say that mine doesn't look very good. It looks OK from a distance! When I get him out of the fridge tomorrow, we'll see if I can get a good picture of him! Happy Holidays!

KA-CHOW!!

OK...so if you haven't seen Cars (then shame on you...it's a great movie!), the title of my post means nothing to you. If you have seen it, then you realize how clever I am having come up with that title for my post! HA!

So, here's a picture of what I've spent the majority of my day doing...

I must say that this is the cake that I'm probably proudest of to date. I'll tell you that I am NOT an artist at ALL...and when I got the cake out of the pan, I couldn't see any of the details. I pretty much did this whole thing looking at the picture (if you look at the lightning bolt behind the 95, it might be more obvious to you). Brady's birthday is Tuesday, but his party is tomorrow. I decided to go ahead and do the cake today because it is so time consuming. He loves it, and is ready to put the candles in it right now! Maybe I'll have more to post after his party tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's one last picture of the kiddos in their new shirts:

Time For A New Song!

We're getting ready to head out early in the morning to go to Georgia and visit Calloway Gardens. My husband and kids, his parents, and his sister and her husband and son. We're looking forward to it, and I hope I'll have some fun pictures to post when we get home. Until then, it's time for me to post some lyrics! I can't get these out of my head! I can listen to them over and over, and never get tired of what they say. It's amazing to me that someone is able to come up with all these different descriptions of God. Isn't it amazing how we veiw Him differently at different times in our lives!? This song makes those visions SO clear to me.

Pencil marks on a wall

I wasn't always this tall

You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed

You watched my team win

You watched my team lose

Watched when my bicycle went down again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said, Elbow Healer, Superhero

Come if You can

And You said, I AM

Only sixteen, life is so mean

What kind of curfew is at 10pm?

You saw my mistakes

Watched my heart break

Heard when I swore I'd never love again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said, Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper

Be my best friend

And You said, I AM

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight

I said forever to what lies ahead

Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream

Too much it might seem when it's 2am

And when I am weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Oh Shepherd, Savior, Pasture Maker

Hold onto my hand

And You say, I AM

The winds of change and circumstance blow in and all around us

So we find a foothold that's fimiliar

And bless the moments that we feel You nearer

When life had begun, I was woven and spun

You let the angels dance around the throne

And who can say when, but they'll dance again

When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer

Comforter, Healer, my Redeemer

Lord and King, Beginning and the End

I AM,

Yes, I AM

Thankful

Obviously, we've all just been through a week where the focus was on being Thankful. I like to think that as Christians, we don't limit our thanksgiving to one week of the year! I know that when Thanksgiving rolls around, it does make us focus more on the things that we give thanks for. Among the more obvious ones for me: healthy kids, family, friends, church family, health...that list can go on and on. But one thing that I have come to realize lately that is SO important to me, and that I'm SO thankful for, is music.

This might seem strange (to some of you, I know it doesn't, because some of you love music as much as I do). I can't remember a time in my life where music didn't play a huge role. My dad has been a song leader all of my life, and for a large part of my life, was a choral director. I grew up with that. I have a tape of my dad and I singing together when I was 2 years old (we played it at my wedding just before he walked me down the isle). I took piano lessons for 9 years. I sang in chorus from 7th grade until I graduated. I sing on the praise team at church...music is probably about the most consistent thing in my life! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear music, play music, or sing music. Thank God for the gift of song!!!

I have really come to realize lately that music is the way that I communicate best with God. The praise songs that we sing (and that are a constant on my car radio) say exactly what I would like to express to God! Music/song is MY best form of worship...it's not for everyone, and each person has their own personal way that they feel most comfortable worshipping, and mine is speaking to God, and crying out to Him, through song. Sometimes, when I beat myself up for not praying as often as I should, I remind myself that I've been in prayer while I'm listening to or singing these songs to God.

There have been several times when I've posted song lyrics as my post for the day. I have been listening to a CD lately that has several on there that I would like to post at some point, but today, I thought it would be fitting to post one called Gratitude.

Send some rain, would You send some rain?

'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again

And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?

Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down

Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude

For lessons learned in how to thirst for You

How to bless the very sun that warms our face

If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread

Bless our bodies, keep or children fed

Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight

Wrap us up and warm us through

Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs

Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time

Or maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude

A lesson learned to hunger after You

That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead

And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between

Everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace

Move our hearts to hear a single beat

Between alibis and enemies tonight

Or maybe not, not today

Peace might be another world away

And if that's the case...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude

For lessons learned in how to trust in You

That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream

In abundance or in need

And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please

The Lion King

WOW! It was fabulous! I am so glad that I was able to see this play! For those of you that don't know (and might not even care...but humor me) my mother-in-law took me and Macy to Nashville last night to see The Lion King! It was amazing! What a spectacle! That's the only way I know to put it! The costumes were incredible... the set....it was all so neat. Macy loved it too. We didn't get home until 1:15 this morning, but it was worth it. She slept all the way home (yes, it was a school night, but it was the only night we could get tickets) and she woke up happy this morning...mainly because she got to wear her Lion King t-shirt to school! I intend to take a nap today when Brady does! It's a nice gloomy day for it!

One of the highlights of my evening was running into several people that I knew. It is funny that in a place that size, I was able to see 6 people that I never get to see. The funniest was that 2 of my...well, let's just call it what it is...pretty much 2 of my extended family members sat RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. What are the odds? In that huge theatre? So, hello again Ben and Laurie (if you happen to be reading)! It was great to see y'all!

Well, that's about all I've got to say. It was a fantastic theatre experience that I would highly recommend to you all! Thanks to Nana for taking us!!! Oh, and here's a picture of me and Macy ready for the trip to Nashvegas!!

Throw Back to American Idol

DISCLAIMER: If you didn't follow American Idol, or if you cannot even stomach the thought of country music, this post is not for you!

Well....I've got to say that, for the most part, I really enjoyed the CMA Awards last night. I don't listen to country music nearly as much as I used too, but I tuned in last night because I am fond of several of the people that were scheduled to perform. Then, I heard that Carrie Underwood was nominated for some of the "biggies." "Jesus, Take The Wheel" was nominated for a couple of song awards (which Brooks and Dunn beat out with the song that just wouldn't go away...but I'm happy for Craig, Brad!!). She was also nominated for the Horizon Award and Female Vocalist of the Year! Now, I know Martina McBride has won this award 4 times in the past. Here was her competition: Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, and Faith Hill. SHE WON! She beat out these women that are all so great (with the exception of Grethen Wilson, in my humble opinion). I was glad for her...I've followed her since her American Idol days! So, here's my little shout out to American Idol and Carrie Underwood! Not to mention that she also took home the Horizon Award....also some stiff competition in that category!


OH, and speaking of American Idol, did anyone notice who it seemed Carrie had brought along for her date? Remember him?

Anthony Fedorov! Pretty good picture, huh? I'm looking forward to kicking off another season in January...right? I think that's when they start showing all the crazy auditions! They came to Birmingham this year! I can only imagine the people they'll pull out to make Alabama look like a bunch of rednecks! Great!

Trunk or Treat!!

We've had a big day! We started off at Mars Hill (where Macy goes to school) for Punkin' Day (games, food, etc...kind of a small scale carnival). We were there several hours. Came home for a rest, then got ready to go to our Harvest Festival and Trunk or Treat at church. It was great! It is a FABULOUS outreach...I will be anxious to hear how many people came. Last year, we estimated around 1500. I believe it was bigger this year. The kids had a great time...and looked cute, if I do say so myself! Tomorrow, we're headed to Huntsville after church to see Disney on Ice! I think me, my parents, and my husband are just as excited as the kids!! I'm also quite excited about the time change! After this crazy day, I welcome the extra hour!!

Farewell, Overnight Guest!

Well, our little "friend" finally left. After Jarrod pushed his "house" outside, I kept checking throughout the day, and he never moved. He slept most all day. When I got ready to leave for church Wed. night, I checked on him one more time. That's when I took these pictures. He was obviously awake, and just looking at me! It was starting to rain, so I figured that he would be gone when we got home from church. I was correct. I guess he just waited until dark to move...how often do you see opossums in broad daylight? It was a very interesting experience, but needless to say, I'm a little jumpy when I'm in the garage now!

Plenty to post about!!

Do me a favor...fight the urge to look at the picture until you've read all the story leading up to it! You'll be glad you waited! You wouldn't want to ruin the excitement!!!

Well, as you've all noticed, I haven't been at a loss lately when it comes to posting. Thanks to my mischievous son, I had a good story to tell yesterday. Well, thanks to God's wonderful creatures, I have a whopper of a story to tell this morning.

I was going out the garage to get something out of the car this morning. When I opened the door, I immediately noticed something was not quite right. Let me start by saying we have lots of random things stored in our garage...First of all, (and this isn't too random) Jarrod keeps a pair of old tennis shoes on the back step that he mows in. The first thing I noticed was that one of them was lying on the ground, nearly under my car. Then, I noticed that Macy's beach chair was lying flat on the ground (it's usually standing up against the wall). Thirdly, we keep our recycle "stuff" beside the back door...there was a box that had been scratched and chewed on. So...obviously, we had an intruder. I was thinking it was probably a cat. Then, I glance over to the other side of the garage...where there ARE lots of random things. I had a paper grocery sack full of baby shower invitations (to explain...a lady that I go to church with used to restock cards and she gave them to me because I'm in charge of the baby showers at church. I cleaned out the trunk of the car and just sat them in the garage against the wall). OK...this paper grocery sack was shredded. There was also a plastic Hibbitt bag with a shoe box inside it...yes, more randomness. This sack was also torn up. So, I'm thinking..."OK...something is going to jump at me any minute. I'll just open the garage door and watch whatever it is go running out to his freedom!" Well, nothing ran out. So, I tiptoed over to the shredded sack to see what I could find. Any guesses? Well....here you go:


THERE WAS AN OPOSSUM IN MY GARAGE ALL NIGHT!!!!!!! How crazy is it that he found that box, chewed through the bag, through the box, moved a shoe, and made himself a little house. Wild! Jarrod was supposed to be home from the fire station any minute, so I called and told him not to pull all the way into the garage because he had a job to do when he got home! So, he got a shovel and pushed the box all the way outside, and the opossum never budged. I took Macy to school, and when I got home, it was still curled up in the box out in the yard!

Well, there's another interesting day in my life! I don't know if my next post will be quite this exciting! I almost hope it isn't!

Two in One Day

Well, I just thought I had nothing to post today. Leave it to Brady to give me somthing to post about! Now, let me say, I've had to go back to yesterday's post and look at the sweet picture of his hands...when they WEREN'T getting him into trouble! Oh how quickly he can go from sweet to horrid!

He's nearly 3 years old. He's trustworthy most of the time. I shouldn't have to stop everything I'm doing around the house to babysit him. At least I didn't think I should. I was going about my business this morning...checking email, getting ready to do laundry, cleaning up the kitchen a little...etc. I got ready to go back to the back of the house to gather up some laundry, and he came walking toward me from his room. Something didn't look quite right about him, but I thought it was the way the light was reflecting on his face. Then, I realized that his nose what kind of white...and so were his clothes. Then, I looked to my left, and here is what I found:

That would be Baby Gold Bond Medicated Powder! I don't know what's different about it than regular baby powder, but it doesn't clean up quite as easily. It "bonds" a little more! Sure, I know you're looking at this picture and laughing, and that's OK...it is a little funnier now than it was several minutes ago. Hopefully he won't give me anything else to post about before this day is over! Luckily, this is Tuesday, which around my house is referred to as "Nana night" (my mother-in-law gets the kids after school and keeps them until bedtime). Tuesday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week!!!

My Babies

This is just me being a proud mommy. I don't really have anything to post today, I just love this picture of my kiddos and wanted to share it with anyone who might be looking! I'm so blessed that they are so loving most all the time. We don't really have trouble (yet) with them fighting. Maybe we won't! My brother and I never fought much at all. I pray that they continue this loving relationship!! Have a good day!

Good Times!

I would like to start this post by saying that I'm quite certain that blogger...maybe even computers in general...are from the Devil. This is the second time I've tried to post this. The first time, I got it all typed and ready, with pictures and everything, and clicked "publish post," and it disappeared! I LOVE when that happens. Let's try again.

Whenever Brady is acting like a real stinker, I just need to look at this picture! He climbed up in my lap yesterday and went to sleep. I couldn't resist having Jarrod take a picture of our hands. I cherish the times he'll actually get in my lap and be still for a few minutes!

We had a great weekend. Friday was mom's birthday. Me, Jarrod, and the kids celebrated with mom and dad Friday night at Red Lobster. My sister-in-law (Lisa) had called me Thursday to see if I thought we could try to work out a surprise breakfast for her at Cracker Barrel on Sat. Ethan (my brother, in case you happen to be reading this and don't really know my family history) had been in San Diego on business and wasn't getting in until late Friday night. Long story short, we were able to work it out to meet up for breakfast after Macy's soccer game Sat. morning (in which she scored her first goal...YEA). Mom was totally surprised! The look on her face was priceless. So, we had a fun weekend. Here's a picture of my nephew, Sam, that I took at breakfast. This is him being "Solemn Sam."

Well, we were thrown a curve ball during our re-potty training last week. Brady got a little fever virus that kind of messed us up. We're going to try it again this week! Hopefully, he'll cooperate and I won't lose my temper too many times. Have a great Monday!!

Who's bright idea was this, anyway????

This is a message for the person that decided it would be a GOOD idea to invent make-up! Oh how you've destroyed the lives of us women! Sure, it makes us look better, but at what price? Having to roll out of bed that much earlier in the morning? Who ENJOYS putting make-up on, I ask you!!??

Wouldn't we all have been better off never knowing how make-up can improve our looks? If it had never been invented, we wouldn't know the difference. We wouldn't have to worry about going out of the house without our make-up on, because NO ONE would be wearing it! We could go to Wal-Mart without worrying that we would bump into someone we know that would see us WITHOUT OUR MAKE-UP! Guess what, they wouldn't be wearing any either!

So, thanks a lot Mr. or Mrs. make-up inventor! I for one do not appreciate your "genius!"

Little Devil!

I know, I know...he doesn't LOOK like a little devil! He might look like an abused child (the bruise between his eyes and the chapped spot below his bottom lip), but not little devil! Well, I'm here to tell you... HE'S GOT YOU ALL FOOLED!!! I'm kidding...it's not that bad, most of the time! He is mama's boy, and I don't know what I ever did without him (except maybe stayed a little more sane). He wears me out! This post is soley to solicit your thoughts and prayers! As a lot of you know, he decided to UN-potty train. It's been SO frustrating! I'm not talking about a little regression just as he was starting to figure it out....he just QUIT doing what he KNEW he was supposed to do. He was wearing underwear everywhere...out to eat, Wal-Mart, church, etc. I'm not even sure when it started happening, but somewhere along the way, he ended up back in pull-ups full-time. I blame my own laziness for part of it. I should've not given back in to the stupid pull-ups, but isn't there a time when you just have to make it easier on yourself? Who has time to clean up pee all day??

I am posting this to let you all know that tomorrow, we'll be starting over. Bringing out the training pants and going "potty" every 20 minutes. I HATE it, and we will BOTH need lots of prayers and encouragement! He'll be 3 in Dec., and we WILL have this down by then. It's costing me too much to keep buying the blame pull-ups. Plus, I'll probably be putting him in a mom's day out program a couple of days a week when he turns three, and I'd like for him to be in the "potty trained class!"

I'll take all the encouragement you're willing to offer...along with any advice from those of you that have potty trained a knot-headed little boy!

There WILL Be More...

If I wasn't so tired, I'd post more about ZOE...it will be coming in later posts. For now, I wanted to share lyrics to this awesome song that was sung at the late night worship session on Friday night. I had heard it before, and I was so glad to be reminded of it.

BROKEN THINGS

Julie Miller

You can have my heart

Though it isn't new

It's been used and broken

And only comes in blue

It's been down a long road

And it got dirty on the way

If I give it to You will You make it clean

And wash the shame away

You can have my heart

If You don't mind broken things

You can have my life if You don't mind these tears

Well I heard that You make old things new

So I give these pieces all to You

If You want it You can have my heart

So beyond repair

Nothing I could do

I tried to fix it myself

But it was only worse when I got through

Then You walked into my darkness

And You speak words so sweet

And You hold me like a child

Till my frozen tears fall at Your feet

My Boys

This made me laugh out loud! When I got out of the shower this morning, this is what I found in my bed...



How sweet is this? They are both truly asleep. Jarrod didn't even know that I took the pictures! Happy Monday...have a great week!

I Hate Blogger!!

So, let me start by saying that I spent a good 30 minutes on the computer this morning getting this post together. When I was trying to post my pictures, of course, blogger wouldn't let me. So, I thought I'd save it as a draft and come back later and try again to post the pics. Well, when I clicked the "save as draft" button, it popped up a big error message and I lost the ENTIRE POST! UGH!! So...here goes AGAIN! I've already got the pics posted...I did that FIRST, so maybe I won't have any trouble this time. I just hope I can remember what all I had to say earlier!

This post is all about my kids, so if you're sick of hearing about them, you better stop reading now! I just wanted to talk about each of them a little. Sure, they drive me nuts a lot of the time, but when they're not driving me nuts, they're making me laugh. They are such a joy, and I'm so lucky to be blessed with 2 funny, smart, loving, imaginative, creative, wonderful, and happy kids (I could list more adjectives, but I could've already overdone it!).

Let's talk about my first born. She is a live wire! What a funny girl, when she's not being a complete smarty pants! Boy, are the teenage years going to be fun!! Yikes! I am enjoying the relationship that we've already built in 5 short years. I pray daily that we will continue to have a good mother/daughter relationship. The thing that I'm really enjoying about her right now is watching her learn. She has always been eager to learn...enjoying mostly educational toys, workbooks, etc... Watching her learning to spell is fun! She's REALLY into spelling right now. She hasn't got it all figured out just yet, but she's trying so hard! For example, she wants to spell everything...even in conversation. She'll ask me, "M-o-m-m-y, when is s-o-c-c-e-r practice?" HA! Also, the worksheets that she's brining home from school bring a smile to my face! There are blanks underneath different pictures. In the blank, she is supposed to write the letter that the picture starts with. Well, she's taken it upon herself to write the word. Here are a few examples: appel (apple), trky (turkey), helukoptr (helicopter), and popskel (popsicle). I love it! The neat thing is, I think I would know what she was spelling even if I didn't see the picture with it. What fun to see their minds grow!!
Now....Brady! This child is gonna be the death of me! He is full of energy and his mouth never stops running! You never know what's going to come out of his mouth, and that scares me... especially after our trip to Wal-Mart on Monday. I don't really know if I need to actually spell this out, but I'll just say that he has recently discovered the major difference between boys and girls, and he thinks that he should explain it to everyone. Now, I never know when he is going to feel this need, so I can't ever get prepared for it!! He informed the cashier at Wal-Mart that he has a (insert proper word for male genitalia here). I guess he thought that she might not know. Well, I tried not to just get on to him and cover his mouth and make a big deal about it. She laughed and told a story about her own son. Well, when we were leaving, I told Brady that he didn't have to tell people that because they already knew. To this, he calmly and innocently responded, "Oh." A few days earlier, he had taken it upon himself to inform my mother that she "didn't have a (insert above mentioned word)." Great.
I guess my reason for this post was to remind me what a joy they are! Although there are days that I feel like I'm ready to give them away, I can't imagine what I ever did for entertainment before they came along!!! Have a great day!

Our latest family drama!

Two days in a row...can you believe it?? I thought that since blogger was finally letting me post pictures, I would share the one I mentioned in my post from yesterday. Pretty sweet.

Well, I thought I'd share the latest excitement from around the Wallace household. Wednesday afternoon, it was such a nice day, the kids wanted to go into the back yard and play after school. I sent them out, but I was working on some things in the house. I usually don't stay out there with them. We have a swing set and a fenced in back yard. I check in on them periodically while they are out. Well, I was headed out to check on them, and I heard Macy crying. She really was mostly whining. She didn't sound like she was terribly hurt. She said that she had been swinging too high and fallen out and hurt her arm. Well, I didn't think it was broken, because she could bend it and squeeze my fingers, etc...So, she kept whining about it, but we went on to church and she seemed fine. Yesterday, she said it felt better, but she really wouldn't use it much (it's her right arm, too) and was holding it kind of up at an angle. Finally, I decided that for my peace of mind, I was going to need to take her to have it x-rayed. I took her on to school this morning (because I couldn't call the doctor's office until 8 to see if they could even see her). Plus, she needed to get her school pictures remade. They said they could see her at 9:30. So, I went back and got her...blah, blah, blah!! All this to say, it's not broken, it's just badly sprained, so she's got to wear a sling at least through the weekend and take Advil every 6 hours. So, I didn't take her back to school. Since it's her right arm, she can't do anything. We're just going to take it easy the rest of the day!!

HELLOOOOOO!

Well, since all two of my readers have been after me to post something new, here goes! I guess I'll just update you all on the "goings-on" in the Wallace household. There are really 2 main reasons that I haven't posted lately. 1. I haven't made the time, and 2. I haven't had a topic. So here goes:

Over the last several weeks, we've been busy with school and soccer mostly. Macy is loving school and I'm thrilled for her. I was able to go up there and help a few weeks ago, and it was great. The kids love to have other adults in there. She's really got a very sweet class. I got there on that Friday morning, and they were all very happy to see me (although I only knew a couple of them, you would think they'd known me forever). It turned out that it was a good day for me to be there, because I got to be a part of several fun things. They had been talking about bears, so that day, they all brought their favorite teddy bear and we had a teddy bear parade around the school. Also, they had been having show and tell that week, and it just so happened that it was Macy's day on Friday, so I got to be there for that (she took the picture that they took in the castle with Cinderella at Disney World). But probably the most surprising part of the day came fairly early in my visit. Most of you know that Macy's teacher is our preacher's wife, so we already had a relationship when school started. I guess that's why she felt she could do this to me:

It's about 9:30 or so, and the kids are in PE. Summer asked me how long I was planning to stay. Well, most of the time, they just hope that the helper can stay until at least 11:30 or so, but if you can stay longer, they appreciate that too. Since Jarrod was off that day, and I didn't have to make any kind of arrangements for Brady, I told her I could stay all day if she needed me. She proceeded to tell me that she would LOVE that because she was hoping that she could leave school early to go to Georgia and help her daughter pick out her wedding dress. SO...she left at 1:00! Yes, that's right! School isn't out until 2:50. People, let me tell you, I do NOT have the personality that one needs to be a kindergarten teacher. I'm not sweet. I'm sure you are all shocked about that! HAHA Seriously, the two kindergarten teachers that those kids are used to are STICKY SWEET and can put up with all kinds of crap! I'm NOT one of those people. It went fine, though. I probably wouldn't have agreed to do it if there had been a lot of "classroom" things left to do, but all that was left was recess, snack, and rest time. Summer got their snacks ready while we were at recess, so all we had to do was come in and wash up. Then, rest time was a movie in the other kindergarten classroom. But, while they were in there, I was printing out/copying the newsletter, getting all their papers stuffed in their folders, putting check marks in their folders, and making sure that all their teddy bears were with their things. I was tired and was reminded why I didn't become a teacher! I REALLY did enjoy it, though! And, I must not have been horrible, because the next week, when I went up there to eat lunch with Macy, all the kids were very happy to see me! I am so glad that Macy wants me there...I will cherish those times, because it will soon be to the point where she wants me to drop her off a mile from school!!

Also, over the last few weeks, we've been to Tuscaloosa a couple of times. Jarrod's sister and her family live there now, and his parents have season tickets to the games, so we went two weekends in a row to the first couple of home games. It was fun. Jarrod and his brother-in-law went to the game, and me, Etta, and the kids hung out at the house. It was nice. It's so great that they just live 2 1/2 hours away now. This is the closest they've lived in their 5 year marriage. We're going back again this weekend after Macy's soccer game for Justin Michael's first birthday! Time flies!!

Also, I have been very busy in my house. I haven't taken the time to do much on the computer at ALL lately because I've desperately been trying to "de-clutter" this house. I can't believe how bad it had gotten. I finally decided enough was enough and flew into it like a mad woman. It's done! I have one room left that is going to be a challenge, and it's the office. I'll get to it soon. I've got one more load of laundry to do, and I'll be done. It's so nice to be able to spend time sitting here typing this and not feel guilty because I should be working in the house!!

OK...I've come to the end of this novel. I will be surprised if anyone even makes it to this point in the blog! All is well with the Wallace's. The kids are doing good and love each other so much. I'm so lucky that (so far) they don't fight much, but they love on each other a lot. I couldn't help but snap a picture of Macy reading to Brady last night, but wouldn't you know, blogger won't let me post it. Maybe next time. Hope you all have a great day, and I'll try not to wait so long about posting my ramblings next time!

Something to blog about!

Well, it's been a little while since I've blogged, and part of the reason is that I really couldn't think of anything to say! Then I had a thought. I know there are several of you that read my blog that have fond memories of the house on Patsy Drive. Well, you know that mom and dad built a house and are no longer on Patsy Drive. I have a lot of fun memories there, and a lot of them involve some of you. Then, I thought that some of you might like to see the new Jackson abode...so here are a couple of pictures. Excuse the fact that the one of the pool is crooked...I was standing at a funny angle trying to get the fountain in the background!


While I've got so many fond memories on Patsy Drive, I have made new ones on Plantation Springs Drive, as well! This will be the house that my children remember the most. Mom and dad had some family and friends over for my 30th birthday, several friends and I have spent time together in the pool...the list goes on. I'm sure there will be many more as the years fly by!! (and by the way...I'm sure mom wouldn't mind me sharing pics of the inside for those of you that might like to see them...that would give me another topic to post about!)

Update

Well, it's hard to believe that we're about to start our third week of school, and I haven't reported anything! Things are going great. Macy is loving school and making lots of new friends. Her teacher tells me that she is behaving, so that's also great news. Her favorite things are PE and chapel. I hope that she continues to be excited about learning. So far, she has told me the past 2 weekends that she didn't want to go back to school (but I could read her mind, and what she really meant was, "I don't want to get up before 7:00!") But, once Monday comes, she's always excited. Trust me, I don't like getting up at 6:30 everyday either, but you do what you gotta do! It's been good for me too. I started going back to the Y. I drop her off at school and go straight there. I even lost 3 pounds last week! Yippie! Thanks to those of you who have asked about Macy over the last couple of weeks!

I have to post a few pictures from a spur of the moment trip me and the kids took yesterday with Mimi and Papa (mom and dad). Ethan had just gotten home Friday night from a 3 week training session in Chicago, so we wanted to see him and Sam, of course! That baby is a doll...and he is really looking like his cousin Brady (who is also a doll, I might add)! Even Ethan and Lisa say that they can see more of Brady in him everyday!

He LOVES when his Mimi swings him...mostly, he just LOVES his Mimi!!

Gotta start 'em early! He likes playing the guitar with Papa!

Sam, Ethan, Brady, Mimi, and Macy after dinner.

There was one more picture I was going to share...but surprise, surprise...blogger isn't cooperating. Then, I decided it's better to save it for another post anyway! It'll give me another topic to blog about and maybe it won't be another 3 weeks before I blog again!

Gotta go get the school girl (and her tired old mom) in the bed!!

Finally!!

Here are the pics that I tried to post earlier:

Morning of the first day of school!

Don't forget the backpack!

Here she is in her classroom.


Check out Elliot's great taste in hats (not to mention the HUGE wad of gum)!!

I think he REALLY enjoyed being home!!

Hard to Believe!!

Well, it's official! Macy is in kindergarten! I can't believe it. She was so happy and excited. It just blows my mind how quickly time flies. It is so hard to grasp the fact that she is growing up so fast! She's having a great week so far. Most of you know that she's got a wonderful teacher (our preacher's wife) and we couldn't be happier. Brady misses her, but he does OK. It is easier on me when she's here because she helps keep him entertained, but they are so rowdy together that it's nice to have the break. The only thing is, he wants me to be right there with him a lot of the time and I've got things I'm trying to get done while I've only got one child in the house! (This is where I would insert a couple of pictures if blogger would let me...I'll post them later. A lot of you have already seen them.)

NOW...if I may say...LAST NIGHT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who don't know, or might have just forgotten, me and several girlfriends went to Birmingham to see the AMERICAN IDOLS! WOO HOO!! Let me just give a little "shout out" to Trina, Bridgett, Amy B, Scarlett, Gena, Shannan, and Cortney! Love you girls! It was a blast! The concert was great!! Bear in mind that I said it was in BIRMINGHAM...Taylor's home town! One word: PANDIMONIUM!!! It was crazy! If you think that boy was a dancing fool on TV, you should've seen him last night! HOLY COW! It was a great concert, but also a great time to be with special girlfriends. A time spent talking, sharing, and singing. What a blessing!

I loved that the idols all seemed genuinely happy to be in Taylor's home town. Taylor was noticeably blown away by the response. He seems so sincere and humble. It was really neat to be a part of it. I found a couple of pictures that I would like to share, but blogger doesn't want me to share them. I will be trying again later. I hope to have better luck then! Amy B took several at the show...check out her blog later, I'm sure there will be plenty posted! There is a link on the right...

Elliot is AWESOME, btw! Someone else that REALLY rocked was Lisa Tucker. She was great on the show, but she did her thing last night, for sure! Speaking of "doing their thing"...two words: Chris Daughtry! Hubba, hubba! HAHAHA (did I actually just type those words?) Paris morphed into Beyonce for a couple of minutes! Everyone did great...everyone except for Pickler. I don't know what was going on with her. I'm thinking that she might've even been a little under the weather. She didn't sound very good, and she wasn't acting as perky as I've always seen her on TV. Oh well...everyone has an "off" night!

Alrighty, that's it for now. I need to get some things done around here, and I really need to take a nap this afternoon!

My Girls

Well, I have posted a "girlfriends" post before, but I wanted to share another couple of quotes that one of "my girls" sent in a recent email. I trust that we all know the joy and importance of having strong relationships with other women, and I'm SO blessed to have a circle of friends that are so special to me. These quotes really made me appreciate those friendships.

"What matters is that you have a small chorus of female voices to speak into
your life. A group of women who know that your life and each of theirs
matters. A group of women who are invested in helping you and every other
member make a difference."

" A band of sisters who carry deep values and who watch over one another in
love, is stronger than any woman on her own."

Thank you, God, for bringing such special, strong women into my life!!

How Exciting!!!

I thought these two pictures were so great and really summed up the excitement at the ballpark last night! If you haven't heard, Josh Willingham won the ballgame for the Marlins last night in the bottom of the 9th inning! Way to go Josh! Check out these pictures:

The Florida Marlins wait at home plate for Josh Willingham after he hit a walk-off two-run game-winning home run against New York Mets pitcher Billy Wagner in the bottom of the ninth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006, in Miami. The Marlins won, 6-5.


Florida Marlins Josh Willingham (14) is greeted at home plate by teammates Miguel Cabrera, left, and Alfredo Amezaga, right, after hitting a walk-off two-run game-winning home run against New York Mets pitcher Billy Wagner in the bottom of the ninth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006, in Miami. The Marlins won, 6-5.


God has blessed Josh with such a talent and such a down to earth, humble attitude. I'm convinced that he has had such success because of the way God has equipped him to handle it. Keep up the good work, Josh! We look forward to having you home soon!!

It's Over!!

Well...it's done! One of the places I probably dislike most in this world, and I've managed to go there, get it over with, and not have to go back for a very long time (if ever)!! I told you all in a previous post that Macy did so great getting her shots, so this was her reward. It really wasn't too bad. We got there right at 11:00 and there was only 1 church group there! Luckily, they were older than Macy and Brady, so they were playing some of the games and things that my kids didn't care much about. The main time I started to get a little restless was standing in line behind a million pokey kids waiting to cash in the tickets. You know, they have little "counters" now, so all you do is feed it your tickets and it spits out a receipt telling how many you had, then you take it and collect your trash, I mean prize. So, they were selling cotton candy for $1.99. We only had 84 tickets, and all we could get for that was junk. What Macy really wanted was the cotton candy, so rather than stand in line behind all the same kids that had been in front of me at the ticket counter, I just pretended like I used the tickets to get the cotton candy! Pretty clever, huh?! Then, everyone was happy! The kids were really great...they didn't whine when I said, "Here is your cup of tokens and that's all you're getting." They didn't whine when I said, "When I say it's time to go, I don't want to hear any complaints." And they didn't even whine when I decided that it was time to go because it was starting to smell like dirty, sweaty children!!

So, now on to one of my more favorite places to go and somewhere that I don't get to go very often at ALL...George's. For those of you that don't know, it's a steakhouse, and it's YUMMY. My in-laws are taking me for my birthday (since we left for the beach the day after my birthday, this is really the first real chance we've had to go out). I'm looking forward to a nice quiet dinner without electronic mice, dogs, and gorillas singing to me and a bunch of kids running around yelling and emitting their germs all over everything! Have a great weekend!

Determined!

I've never posted twice in one day, but I've also never been so determined to get my pictures posted! So, I have decided that you all WILL look at every picture that I wanted to post on this crazy blog!! I just thought I'd give it a whirl one more time and see if I could get the last one on here, and it finally worked! This pictures is blurry, but I love it SO much! I guarantee you that Brady will hate it one day! OK...I'll spare you all anymore pics from the beach! Hope you all have a great Wednesday!!!

A Couple More

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I've been having all sorts of trouble posting pictures the past couple of days. Yesterday, I was going to try to post a few more pics, and it wouldn't let me. Today, it will only let me put two. I realize that I told you in my last post that I had 2 more to share. Well, I realized it is really three...but since it'll only let me post 2, I'll save the third for another time!!

This one really captures Brady's flamboyant personality!


This one was just too sweet not to share!


I thought I would brag on my sweet Macy. She is SO excited about starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks that she's been asking to get her shots! Can you imagine?? Anyway, Monday was the big day. She was ok all morning...she said she was a little nervous, but she never really got "freaked out." I had heard horror stories from friends and family about how their kids behaved when they took them to get shots...just ask my mom about the experience she had when she took my brother! YIKES! Anyway, I was a little worried that she might freak when we got there, but she was great! I couldn't believe how well she did. The funny thing is, after it was over, she said, "Next time, I will NOT be asking to get my shots!" Now, I know some of you reading this are thinking, "Oh shut up! My child was awful, blah, blah, blah!" Well, to those people, let me remind you...I still have another child that will have to have his shots in a few years. I have a feeling that I've probably got it coming to me! He'll be the one I have to chase around the room and then me and 4 nurses will have to hold him down! I'm going to start praying now that it doesn't happen like that! What a nightmare!

Look Out!!

Well...here it is! I'm about to flood you with pictures of our trip to the beach. We had a great trip. It was hot, but is there anywhere in the US that ISN'T hot right now?? The kids had a great time and we took so many sweet pictures of them that I can't help but share!! We're glad to be back with our friends, family, and church family, but it's always sad to leave the beach!!

A day at the beach


Beating the heat


Enjoying the view


Playing in the sand


Fun in the ocean


My beautiful beach babies


How sweet it this??


Well, there are two more that I really wanted to post, but it won't let me. Maybe I've met my quota. Don't think for a second that I won't make you look at them...they will come in a later post. Thanks for letting me share some pictures with you.