A Great Weekend!

I love when David and I can both be off work for a holiday! Plus, he didn't have school since his classes are on Monday nights...even better! We told Belle we were taking off work to spend time with them, b'c she is ALWAYS asking us to take off work and we say we can't. Now, we "could"! She piped back with, "Well, I think I'll take off school too." Crazy kid...

Saturday after David got back from helping a friend paint, we loaded up and took the kids to Beaverfork. We took a picnic supper and ate and then headed out to fish.


I lost my son in this photo...


...there he is...Silly boy!

My children are fisher-folks by blood. You see, I'm pretty sure my husband and father-in-law's blood smells an awful lot like crappie. Just a hunch. My daughter...she lives to see her bobber go under. My son...just wants to cast.


(Insert Andy Griffith theme song here)


My favorite folks


Her favorite person...

After a while of "kid fishing" I walked the kids to the playground area so Daddy could fish without fear of one of our children going in the water. We won't say his name.

Luke.

Anyway, we didn't catch any fish, but they had a great time.

At the playground area...you see...there is this rock wall that Belle was at first afraid of but then she just couldn't do it. I mean, she tried. She really tried, but couldn't ever do it. Well...today was the day. She literally stayed at that rock wall for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to conquer it. And she finally did it!!!!


Go girl!!!



Sunday was church and then yesterday we headed out to my family's Ponderosa for a cookout and swim. As you can see...the kiddos had a blast...

...and slept well last night!


1-2-3 GO!


He LOVED it all!


His mastered skill


Me and my Papa


She's getting it! My little fishy...


Papa Joe's Cannon Ball! (See his head in the middle?)


2 of my men riding in the Gator

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all of those who sacrificed so this little family can be free to fish, play, go to church and swim among many other things many folks can't do. Thank you!

A Conversation with Belle

...while brushing her hair...

Me: Belle, you are beautiful!

Belle: Thank you.

Me: Did you know that you are the most beautiful girl ever? (I take every opportunity to tell her how beautiful she is, especially since someone told her she was fat. And she really is beautiful.)

Belle: Yes. But, not everyone thinks so.

Me: Really?

Belle: Yes. To you I am the most beautiful, but to other Momma's their little girls are more beautiful than me.

You just became even more beautiful, my darling Belle...

More Rebecca Pictures

Yes, we went...again. BUT, this time it was really Andrea and Camryn's session. We just snuck in a few for Alison. I won't post them all (64), but here are a few of my favorites.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I finally got my DVD player (that has been shot for a while now) replaced with a DVD/VCR combo that burns to DVD! I know..I know...we are so behind the times. But, we have always been that way. We were the type that stuck with VHS forever! Now we have to work on copying those to DVD.

Saturday I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to the Taste of Home show at UCA. It was her Mother's Day and what she wanted and it mad her so happy.



I got some great cards from David and the Kids, but then...oh then...I was woke up to this first thing this morning...



Way to melt a Momma's heart! I made them sing it over and over and over again before I finally thought to grab the camera. But oh, am I so glad I did!

Happy Mother's Day to Becky and my Momma. You two are more than I could ask for! And Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommas, step-moms and "like-a-moms" out there!

What is a Mother?

Somewhere between the youthful energy of a teenager and the golden years of a woman's life, there lives a marvelous and loving person known as "mother".

A mother is a curious mixture of patience, kindness, understanding, discipline, industriousness, purity, and love. A mother can be—at the same time—both "lovelorn counselor" to a heartsick daughter and head football coach to an athletic son.

A mother can sew the tiniest stitch in the material for that dainty prom dress, and she is equally experienced in threading through the heaviest traffic with a mini van.

A mother is the only creature on earth who can cry when she's happy, laugh when she's heartbroken, and work when she's feeling ill. A mother is as gentle as a lamb and as strong as a giant. Only a mother can appear so weak and helpless, yet be the one to put the fruit jar lid on so tightly that even Dad can't get it off.

A mother is a picture of helplessness when Dad is near, and a marvel of resourcefulness when she's all alone.

A mother has the angelic voice of a member of the celestial choir, as she sings a lullaby to a baby cradled in her arms, yet she can dwarf the sound of an amplifier when she calls her boys in for dinner.

A mother has the fascinating ability to be almost everywhere at once, and she alone can somehow squeeze an enormous amount of living into an average day.

A mother is "old-fashioned" to her teenager; just "mom" to her third-grader; and simply "Mamma" to the little two-year-old sister. But there is no greater thrill in life than to point to that wonderful woman and be able to say to all the world, "That's my mother"

Frederick E. Kruse

We Really Did Go to Gulf Shores, I Have Proof!

I bet you thought we really didn't go to Gulf Shores. No photographic proof. Only a few videos (See a little further down) that I could have swiped from some other tourist, huh?

Not the case. We really did go and we really did have a wonderful time!

The link to all of the photos is here ( http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=19f2lbzp.2xwbp71d&Uy=-2jopnx&Ux=0&UV=89250168486_702196714209 )

I have put just a sampling with each run down of the days below.

Here we go!

Saturday (Arrival Day!)

We mainly unpacked and got settled in, along with making a Wal-Mart list. Always fun. After a wonderful dinner at Lambert's in Foley we just came back an relaxed with some good ol' pickin' and grinnin' with my Daddy. Now, this touches this little country girl's heart. All my childhood my parents were part of a bluegrass band that traveled around in their spare time doing weddings, events and sometimes even funerals. (Yes, funerals!) And they let me tag along and even sing and play the tambourine, but that's a whole other post right there. But the little girl inside of me still sees her very own guitar hero in her Daddy. And we had the best time doing this just about every night we were there.



Then we headed out under the cover of night to do some crabbin'. Belle was fine until she got to the shore line and thought they were going to bite her. I assured her they wouldn't (forgive me) and we had a great time. Johnny and David found a few and even got bit a few times. They never caught the elusive "Big Buck" crab that first attacked Johnny. I could see the fire in his eyes as we left them there to chase him down.


Sunday

We got up and after breakfast headed out to the beach. Belle ran right out and dove in. Luke...well...he didn't like it much. He even cried. But think about how intimidating it is when you are standing in the surf and as it goes back out, you feel like you are going with it! Belle was that way the first time we took her when she was 18 months, so I can't blame him. Next year will be better! My dad and David dove off right into the water that was a little chilly that morning, but they didn't care. After a quick nap we headed to Orange Beach for a little Dolphin watching. At first I wasn't sure Luke was too keen on getting in that big Mariner boat, but after the boat took off and the Dolphins started playing in the wake, he was all about it! It was worth every penny and for almost 2 hours of just being out in the bay was beautiful! Grammie bought the kids T-Shirts from there and they don't want to take them off. Luke even makes us put his on backwards b'c that's where the picture of the dolphins and the boat is.






Monday

There is a little zoo in Gulf Shores that apparently had a series on Animal Planet last year. It was called "The Little Zoo that Could". And let me say...it was a very cozy zoo. It was big enough that you felt like you saw a lot of stuff, but small enough that you didn't get worn out. They built it where you feel like you are walking thru an actual forest/wooded area. I've been to many a zoo in my day (St. Louis included) and it was positively the cleanest zoo I've ever seen (or smelled). After the zoo, it was time for some "split" time. My Dad has always wanted to stop at the USS Alabama Memorial in Mobile, but Momma and I never would let him. And we made 2 trips (at least) every year from home to Florida! So, with he and Johnny being both ex-military, they were foaming to go. So, off the boys went to Mobile while us girls (plus Lukey) shopped! The men-folk came home happy as though they had just visited the Taj Mahal or something (you know...if it were me). I have included a sampling of what I thought seemed cool from the 98 photos that David took. Yes...98 photos in just a few short hours. Belle lost her first tooth that day too! She made $2 but Daddy told her that when you "lay up" your money it gains interest and she suddenly saw it was $3. An hour later it was $4. I gently reminded her that it really only happens that big with the first tooth...





Tuesday

Our day to do nothing! Oh, it was nice. I did make everyone get dressed and run down to the beach for some family photos, but that only took (literally) 15 minutes. Once I said "Ok, let's get in our swimsuits!" Belle tore back to the house! Then we all spent the rest of the day on the beach. I even fell asleep! It was so nice. And poor Becky...she was a LOBSTER! Made for a very uncomfortable drive home! That night we went and had more wonderful seafood and let Belle go to the souvenir shop (aka Shark's mouth) to spend her tooth money. She got a dolphin bracelet to remind her about the dolphins and a crab magnet.



Wednesday

We went our separate ways and my parents made it all the way home by that night. Score one for Daddy, b'c I know Momma wasn't having any part of that. We headed 2 hours over to Biloxi, MS to spend some time with Johnny's sister and her family. We had a great lunch and wonderful time with them. We left there around 5 and stopped in Hattisburg, MS to stay the night, and traveled home the next day.

That's probably the shortest story I've told yet! I hope you enjoyed our little trip. Next year, come go with us!

Thank You, Bear in the Big Blue House!

My little boy...I call him potty trained! Will we/do we have accidents? Sure! But that boy has spent the last 2 days dry in underwear...even thru naptime! Yes! He slept in his underoos!

I fully attribute it to a wonderful day teacher, the pee-pee in the potty dance (you should see our whole family doing that one!) and "Potty Time with Bear" that gets watched EVERY day!



It was the BEST investment. We got it for Belle and she potty trained in about a week. We tried to introduce it to Luke a while ago, but since he doesn't really like TV at all, it didn't work. But, we started with it about 3 weeks ago and it seems to have done the trick again!

...and the sticker he gets every time

...and the one piece of candy he gets every time (thanks Jon and Kate +8!)

We'll work on #2 now!

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