
It's this type of sweet calm that I enjoy briefly before I pick her up from school and utter chaos ensues!!
He cracks me up! He's had to take them in the past, and he's always done well with them, but it was really funny to just hand him the mouthpiece and watch him sit there and take it himself!
We had a good time with all of our family over the Holiday. My brother and his wife were able to stay for several days. It was great to spend time with them. The kids get along SO well! Sam just LOVES my kids! He follows them around and is thoroughly entertained by them! It's great to see them interact. We enjoyed being with my in-laws as well, but my other nephew (bless him) had bronchitis over Christmas, so he wasn't himself! We look forward to getting those kiddos together again very soon!
I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures that came out of the whole weekend! It's amazing that we were able to get a picture where all three of them were smiling so big and naturally! I guess when you're watching your Papa act like a gorilla, it's likely to make you laugh!!!
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:
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!
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!!





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."

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!