Thanksgiving Blessings

I really can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. 2009 is just a blur when I think about it. It has been a good year & a difficult year. Even still, we are very blessed. When I start "counting my blessings" there are too many to name. Of course the first things that come to mind are family, friends, good health, our home, our jobs, two thriving-happy-healthy boys, a wonderful God-loving husband, and a loving God who loves me & forgives me every day. I could go on and on with blessings God provides every single day... loving parents, food, clothing, water, good schools & wonderful teachers for our boys, freedom, laughter, opportunities, nature & it's beauty, a wonderful church, cars, more "things" than we will ever need, and on and on and on the list goes. But of all these, the ones that matter most are not the "things" but family, friends, and a relationship with our loving God. I know I neglect these every day but as I get older the more precious they become. We are truly blessed beyond measure & may I always be mindful of that. So today I want to say thank you to God & all our family & friends and wish everyone a happy & blessed Thanksgiving.

Who's Who?

Everyone is always commenting on how much Samuel & John Michael look alike so I thought this would be fun. Below are two pictures. One is of Samuel in 2002 when he was 2 years old. The other is of John Michael this year at 2 years old both wearing the same Lion costume. Can you tell which is Samuel and which is John Michael?

They really do look alot alike. I better be putting names on the back of these pictures or 10 years from now even I won't be able to tell.

Random

I rarely post things of this nature but when a three hour nap is in process on a rainy day such as this, why not? And this is my third post today. WOW! Anyway, I love to decorate especially for the seasons and holidays. So here are some random shots from around the house this fall.

"Let's go to the farm." These are some of my boys favorite words to hear from their daddy and John Michael is not about to let himself not be included. Anytime he hears the word 'farm' he pipes up with "me too, me too"! Especially when there is a tractor, 4-wheeler, golf cart, ponds & streams, deer stands and deer involved, BOTH boys are all about it. My philosophy is "what happens at the farm stays at the farm" and "what momma don't know....." because I'm sure I don't want to know what all goes on while they are there. I would freak, I'm sure. One day Samuel started to tell a story that involved the golf cart and JM being launched...... stop! I don't even want to know the rest of that story. Just bring everyone back safe and sound and I don't need to know what happens in between. Lots of great memories and father- son bonding going on and that is what matters. But I do say extra prayers on "farm days". These pictures were taken bright and early this past Saturday just as they were getting ready to leave out.

Fall Fun

A fun Sunday afternoon! I remember doing this as a kid and having so much fun.

Halloween - a rock star, a lion, & a cowboy

Halloween Night the boys enjoyed being a rock star and a "cute little lion". This is what we had to call John Michael's costume to convince him that it was okay to wear. To begin with he wanted nothing to do with the lion. He ended up having a great time pretending to be a lion. Samuel started out wanting to be a werewolf to which I agreed without really thinking about. I guess I was thinking about a cutsie type of werewolf but that was not what he had in mind. So, we bought a costume of which JM was terrified. So after a week of listening to JM cry about the "scary hands" and "take it back to store" Samuel agreed to be something else and that was a rock star. Samuel wore the lion costume when he was two and I just love it.

John Michael was a cowboy at preschool the day before Halloween. I didn't think he would be too comfy in the lion all day. This he loved! He is all about cowboys and horses. So CUTE!

A Late Beach Getaway

What a nice surprise! Monday, a couple of weeks ago, a very dear friend of ours from Kentucky offered to let us use his condo at Hilton Head Island for that upcoming weekend. We decided to do it and surprised Samuel with the news as his reward for getting all A's on his progress report. He was so excited! So we left out on Thursday and had a great weekend. The weather was perfect. We rented bikes first thing and used that as our mode of transportation. I think we got in the car once the whole time we were there. What a nice change of pace! We spent the mornings riding bikes and spent the afternoons on the beach and I don't think I broke a sweat the whole time. John Michael loved the sand and the water and Samuel loved biking, "surfing", and playing football on the beach. We ate at some great seafood restaurants and Samuel loved being able to ride our bikes to dinner.

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday afternoon, John Michael and I picked Samuel up at school and we headed to the pumpkin patch to pick out some Pump-TINS as John Michael says. They had fun picking out their own special pumpkins. John Michael picked out several little ones and Samuel picked out the perfect pumpkin to carve in a couple of weeks. We took them home along with some mums, got out the rest of our Halloween and Fall decorations, and are now FALL ready. I love it!

Update

Back to school! Yay! We are back in school and loving it. Samuel is so enthusiastic about school this year. He has always loved school, but this year he just can't wait to get there every morning. He loves his class, his teacher, and the new responsibilities of a third-grader. The first day, they did some of the usual "About Me" kind of worksheets. His answers were so mature! He has decided to venture out this year and play football for the first time. It is flag football, not tackle. No, mom isn't ready to allow that just yet! He is also playing Fall baseball and will move up to kid-pitch this season. He is continuing his piano again this year as well. We will be celebrating his 9th birthday this weekend. He has decided to have a swimming party and we are going to Six-Flags on Saturday. He is excited! John Michael is back in school also and he too loves his class and his teachers. I am loving the structure and the things he is learning already! He is taking a computer class called Compu-Child. Yes, he is two years old and taking a computer class. He also has music and art while he is at school. He is talking and saying just about anything he wants. Just ask him, he will tell you! One of his favorite things to do is go to Barnes & Noble and play with the trains. So, on Samuel's first day of school, John Michael and I went to BN to play. So sweet! It's not so sweet when it comes time to leave though! It usually isn't pretty.

We are looking forward to football season and can't wait for the first game to finally roll around. We are tired of talking about it and ready to get it started! Roll Tide!

A Good Big Brother

Samuel plays with John Michael at his birthday party even though the toys were so "silly". He's a good big brother!

Birthdays and Baseball

This past Saturday was John Michael's 2nd birthday. He is such a big boy! We celebrated last weekend with a small birthday party for just a few of his little buddies. We did an Old MacDonald theme at the indoor playground at Imagination Station. They played and had a good time exploring & climbing. John Michael really enjoyed the cup cakes. As a matter of fact he helped himself to three of them! Then on Wednesday, his PaPaw and Nanny came and spent the day with him and took him to Chuck E Cheese. Of course, he loved that! On Saturday, his actual birthday, after spending the morning at the ballpark, we took him to see the horses, one of his favorite things to do. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at the "poo" another of his favorite things to do. I think he had a good birthday and his proud to say now that he is TWO! But he's not finished yet! He still has one more party with his grandparents coming up soon.

On to baseball... Samuel's baseball team won their district championship game on Saturday morning. We were so proud of them. Samuel had a fantastic play at home plate tagging a kid out! He also hit a triple! They are doing a great job even in this extreme heat. Area tournament is this weekend. Go Americans!

Summer... Then & Now

I love summer. The only thing is, summer vacations are so short now. Wasn't summer break longer when we were kids? Was it really? I don't know for sure but summer seemed a lot longer when I was growing up. Of course we didn't have all of the many sources of "entertainment" that our kids have now. I grew up with two sisters and we lived in the country. We spent our days riding our bikes, playing with the water hose, "swimming" in a little plastic pool in the backyard, playing with our barbie dolls on the front porch, playing on a swing-set in the backyard, helping mom and dad in the vegetable garden, going to Vacation Bible School or a Gospel Meeting SOMEWHERE just about every night, chasing fireflys (lightning bugs) around at night, shelling peas, lying in the cool grass under a shade tree reading a book, playing with the neighbor kids, playing red-rover and rock-school for no reason other than to pass the time, and dreaming about our upcoming one & only annual vacation to the beach. How different is that from how our kids spend their summer days now? We stay so busy that it seems August rolls around before we blink an eye. Is it better this way or was it better the way I grew up? I don't know, just something to ponder. As I was sitting at yet another baseball practice over the weekend I was looking at our calendar for the remainder of the summer break. We have only two free weekends before going back to school and one of those weekends we hope to go to the beach. The word that comes to mind when I think about my summers as a child is carefree. How much "carefree - nothing to do - use my imagination" time do my boys have? Not much and maybe not enough. Again, something to ponder.

Moving On....

The Pirates came in 2nd place in the tournament which was great but I have to admit, we were all a little disappointed. Not in the team, just in the outcome. Winning the regular season and coming in 2nd in the tournament is nothing to complain about. That's a great season but we felt that our boys deserved to win it all. They played their hearts out the entire season with only 9 players when all of the other teams had 11. Oh well, we have moved on and Samuel is now playing All-Stars which means baseball all summer long. They have already started practices which have been for about 3 hours every night. He loves it and we are looking forward to it as well. We have been swimming most everyday since school got out last week. Samuel and I went on Saturday and Sunday then on Monday, of course, we took John Michael. I obviously wasn't thinking when I packed my book in our pool bag! I mean, did I really think I would be able to sit and read with a two year old at the pool? NOT! Let me say that the nice, relaxing, poolside visits are over when you take a two year old little boy who thinks he is as big as his eight year old brother. Needless to say, the book hasn't been back to the pool since Monday. Another interesting visit this week was to the library. I thought I could take John Michael in withOUT the stroller and we would sit and read some books while Samuel made his book choices. Mistake #2! Again, what was I thinking? We left with NO books, and one child kicking and screaming AFTER I found him hiding from me in the Adult book section! And don't even ask how many books had been pulled off the shelves when we made our escape. Aahhhh... the WONDERFUL TWOs! Isn't that what they are called?!? I am trying to plan John Michael's birthday party but once again, just as last year, we have baseball tournament conflicts. I thought I was being smart and started planning it for three weeks before his actual birthday because we know we have a tournament both the weekend of and the weekend after. We got to practice last night and found out we are playing in a tournment THAT weekend also. Poor thing.... will he ever get a real party?!?!? I am still waiting to find out if we will be playing on Sunday and hoping that it will work out. Don't even ask what Samuel's first and second birthday parties consisted of. Let me see, the word overboard comes to mind! Two words that have been on my mind lately are "simplify" and "rocketship". I will expound on the rocketship more later and I think we can all probably relate to simplify. My thoughts keep coming back to YES, but HOW? Can anyone else relate? Happy summer to all!

Update

Wednesday was the last day of second grade for Samuel and as we walked down the halls of Northport Elementary I had tears in my eyes. Third grade already? For some reason third grade just seems so "big" and I can't believe we are there. I very distinctly remember my third grade school year. I remember it being a tough year academically but I also remember experiencing a lot of difficult growing pains. I also remember my teacher, Ms. May, who I would have sworn was 80 years old then but just recently retired so I guess she really wasn't that old. But boy was she GRUMPY! I pray that Samuel's third grade experience will be better and he will have lots of wonderful memories to reflect upon when he is my age. So far we have been SO wonderfully blessed with teachers. Case in point... just last night, the first night of summer vacation, I walk into the bathroom where Samuel is taking his bath, and he is just boo-hooing. I asked what in the world was wrong and he said that he missed Mrs. Sparks already. He went on to say that he didn't even want to think about a whole summer of no school and not getting to see her every day. I love it! And, I remember tears and similar conversations after kindergarten and first grade. He has LOVED his teachers which has turned into a love for school in general. I feel I should pass last nights conversation on to Mrs. Sparks who has obviously meant so much to our son for the past 10 months. Baseball - Well, the regular season is over and Samuel's team, the Pirates, came in 1st place with only ONE loss the entire season. How exciting is that? AND, we are in the final 2 days of tournament and have not lost a game yet. If they win tonight at 5:30 they will play in the championship game tomorrow. It was been a great season not only because of the winning but because we have a great group of boys and parents. We have all enjoyed it soooo much and are so proud of our boys for always rising to the occasion and for always conducting themselves like true winners. They are an awesome group of 8 year old boys. So, I will update on how the tournament turns out after tomorrow. Go Pirates! John Michael will be two in less than a month now! I can't believe that my baby is turning two just as much as I can't believe Samuel will soon be turning nine. They are growing up tooo fast. The saying "the days are long but the years are short" is so true. He is moving up to the two-year/toddler classroom this summer. I think he will enjoy this class even more because of the structure and the level of activities he will be able to participate in. He is so smart and is a constant source of entertainment around our house. And, boy does he keep us on our toes! He loves going to the ballpark. Only problem is, he thinks he should be playing baseball too! Forget that stroller, he is NOT keeping his little bottom in there. SO after depleting all of the snacks, drinks, and whatever other tricks I can muster, I chase him around while trying to watch as much of the game as possible. Joseph is the official "book-keeper" for our team so it's up to me to do the chasing. Oh well, it's all part of the fun! We are planning an "Old Macdonald" themed birthday party for John Michael. He loves all things related to the farm. Particularly horses, cows, tractors, and most anything else so it is the perfect choice for his 2nd birthday party. I love planning birthday partys especially at this age. We actually did this same theme for Samuel's 2nd birthday and it was one of my favorites. I can't wait - He is going to love it! More Later...

Update

Well the camping trip was a huge success. In Samuel's words... IT WAS AWE-SOME! And according to his buddies parents, that was the same reaction they got. Despite the 38 degree overnight temperature, there were no complaints from any of the boys. Thanks Joseph! Memories they will never forget! Meanwhile, John Michael & I spent a nice weekend at my parents with my sisters and their kids. John Michael got lots of love and attention since he is the only "baby" in the family now. We hid easter eggs, played outside, blew bubbles and more bubbles which is a current favorite pasttime. Samuel and Joseph even made it downtown to see the Blue Angels on Saturday afternoon, even though they were dead tired, and I'm so glad they did since the show was cancelled on Sunday. They were really impressed and Samuel can't wait until they come back. One more school day until Spring Break! We are looking forward to doing some fun things around town. Some things we have in mind are a movie for Samuel and myself, library story time with John Michael, visiting the park and CHOM, and even a lunch picnic with dad. Of course there will be ballgames which we always enjoy! OH... something I am really looking forward to for myself is attending "My Monet" with my good friend Karen on Thursday night. I am so excited about that!

Camping Trip

Samuel is so glad that today has finally arrived. For about three weeks now, he and his dad have been planning an overnight camping trip. This afternoon around 3:00 Samuel, his dad, and four of his buddies are headed to Fayette County to the Jennings hunting land/family farm to begin their camping adventure. I can't even begin to describe how excited Samuel has been about this. They have been making lists, making plans, shopping, and getting things ready for this trip for days and the anticipation has just been building with excitement. The plans are to hike, fish, play in the crystal clear creek that runs through the property, build a campfire, and of course sleep outside in a tent. They will be cooking dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning over a campfire including monkey bread and bacon and eggs. In the morning after breakfast the plan is to hike to the top of a "mountain" (hill) and have a devotional centered around friendships. Yes, Joseph is quite the outdoorsman and I have to give him complete credit for all of this. Of course there will be all kinds of other spontanious "boy stuff" going on and I'm sure, without a doubt, there will not be a clean article of clothing coming home with them tomorrow afternoon. I pray they are all safe and no emergency room trips are necessary. Otherwise, I hope they have a great time! Meanwhile, John Michael and I are heading to Winfield to my mom and dad's to enjoy some time with my family. We will also enjoy a nice warm bed to sleep in tonight while the big boys are enjoying the great outdoors. More on the trip next week.....

Baseball has Begun

Go Pirates!! Baseball has begun with the Jamboree taking place this past Saturday. Samuel is on the Pirates team this season and their colors are black and gold. The fun thing about this is, my highschool was/is the pirates and our colors were also black and gold. Lots of good memories of cheering for the Pirates so this will be a fun season if nothing else for that reason. However, we have high hopes for a really good season for this little team. They looked really good at their first game this weekend and beat what was expected to be the best team 12 - 3. They were so excited! We are all excited actually about this upcoming season and we are looking forward to a great time. I'm taking bets on how long it will take for John Michael to actually flip over the railing down about 5 feet to the ground below. Way too much excitement down in the dugout that he just wants to be a part of! We will keep you posted on that and on how the Pirates are doing!

Snow Much Fun

What a fun day! Sledding, snow ball fights, snowman building, hot coffee, and just a lot of fun! We even made Snow Cream! And it was really good... Thanks Joseph!

SNOW

Now this is the kind of day I love. I just wish the snow would stick around a little longer. We were up and outside playing well before 8:00 this morning and both boys didn't want to go inside. Samuel spent most of the day outside playing as a matter of fact. I don't think he came in until most of the snow had melted away this afternoon. It was fun while it lasted. Our house/yard was the place to be since we are the only ones who actually own sleds AND we live on a hill. It was so much fun.... See for yourself!

Basketball Highlights

Halftime entertainment for John Michael. Don't even think about it!

Samuel takes it out!

I'm not positive but I think this was a "Yes!" after getting a basket.

The lineup!

Basketball is over but, as always, we had a great time. Samuel had a good season and improved his basketball skills as well. My biggest challenge was keeping John Michael off the court during practice and games. It won't be long till he is out there! Baseball begins this week!

Busy Weekend

Birmingham - Race Day!

Giving it his all!!!

This past weekend was a busy one for us, as they all seem to be these days. We started out on Friday with a 2nd grade field trip to Birmingham to the WcWane Center. Hair cut immediately after arriving back in T-town and then over to some friends house to hang out and visit for the evening. At the same time Samuel has basketball practice at 6:00. Up bright and early Saturday morning and head back to Birmingham for the Mercedes Marathon kids run. That was fun! Now we are all starving and ready for lunch and it is Valentine's day so let's do something special. Let me remind you that our family FUN time has been limited lately with my working extra and all of the busyness we have going on. So, we decided to have lunch and go bowling. We had a great time and arrived back home around 5:00 that evening. Thank goodness it was a long weekend with no school on Monday. Samuel decided sometime during the week that he wanted to go fishing with his Dad for Valentine's day. So Sunday afternoon they head out to Zidon and had a blast. Samuel is still talking about the "big one" he caught that his daddy wouldn't let him keep. I stayed home with John Michael and he took an extra long nap, catching up for all of the activities I guess. I actually relaxed and watched a couple of movies while doing laundry in between. I finally got to watch "Nights in Rodanthe" and rewatched "Pearl Harbor". I had forgotten how good "Pearl Harbor" was, and how long, and I also liked "Nights in Rodanthe" actually more than I thought I would. I love to read Nicholas Sparks and always enjoy the movies but why do they always have to end so sad?!? Anyway, I enjoyed it and really enjoyed the down time. A couple weeks ago, John Michael got his first hair cut. Now he looks like a big boy!! I love those chubby cheeks!

Just Another Pic

I love beach pictures!

Just a Pic

Happy Birthday and Other Happenings

Tomorrow (Thursday) we will celebrate Joseph's 40th birthday! Soooo...if you see him, you have my permission to give him a hard time about it. I remember very distinctly, and so does he, him saying several years ago (even before we had Samuel) that he did not want to be a 40 year old with a 2 year old running around. Well guess what? Tomorrow he is 40 and in June John Michael will be 2!! Funny how things work out! Basketball is well underway and Samuel is having a great time. He is on the same team with several of his good buddies from church and school so he loves that. He also loves the games and just has a great time. John Michael loves it too!!! So much so that we can't keep him off the court! Talk about keeping us busy!!! Since Joseph and I are both accountants, January is always a busy month for us and even more so this year. Back in December I was approached about doing some Audit and Tax work for a local CPA firm on a part time basis through tax season. Well, there goes my Tuesday and Thursdays at home. So we are just trying to stay afloat these days and my Mom has been a lifesaver by coming down a couple of days each week to stay at home with John Michael. She has been spending the night so Samuel has really enjoyed playing board games with her after John Michael has gone to bed. Joseph and I really appreciate her help (she always catches us up on laundry). John Michael loves staying with her and she enjoys the special time with both boys. I am actually enjoying the audit work more than I thought I would. I think I was kind of ready for a change of pace and it is nice knowing that it is only temporary. Come March/April I will be done, until next year. It is amazing how God gives you what you need just when you need it. He is giving me extra measures of patience at home and the energy and good health to keep this pace up and meet my obligations. We are looking forward to a little break soon and heading North to visit good friends and hopefully see some snow and even do a little snow skiing.

How quickly things can change

I just realized that my last post was just a couple of hours before we received a phone call from one of our very good friends who's husband was at the hospital and passed away around 10:30 that very night. It has been a very hard week and I would like to ask all of our out of town friends and family to be praying for this wonderful family. Her name is Karen and you will see a link to her blog below. She has two precious little boys, Phillip (7) and Evan (5). Brad was only 33 years old so this was very unexpected. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers over the next several weeks. As we were sitting at the hospital that night one of the girls mentioned how the things she was so concerned about earlier that evening, now were so unimportant. This has been a reminder to a lot of us to appreciate our husbands and children because we never know how quickly they might be taken away from us. I hope to be a little more appreciative and not take what God has given me for granted.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and the new year is off to a great start. We have been so busy I almost feel as if we haven't even had a break. Well, I do but you know what I mean. We are back to school tomorrow and I am starting a new career venture on Thursday which will run through March and will tie up my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am excited and nervous about the whole thing but it will be good I think. It will be a rough three months but hopefully will be worth it. I will post some Christmas pictures later.