Playing Tag Can Lead to Trouble

My best friend got Belle some Sea Monkeys for Christmas last year.

Now, I have come to realize that not everyone knows what Sea Monkeys are.

So here:

What are Sea-Monkeys?

Anyway, we set them up a few months ago and watched them grow.

Then, one day...they all died.

Belle cried profusely.

We realized you are supposed to aerate the water daily.

Ok...mental note as I frantically search for more.

Until we saw 3 swimming around.

Some eggs hadn't actually hatched yet. YIPPIEE! Sea Monkeys live!

So now we have about 10 of those little monsters and they are about an inch long and the kiddos love to check on them every day.

Well...one day Belle says to me, "Mom...are they gonna play tag ALL DAY LONG?!?!"

That would be the day I discovered that we have a rambunctious boy SM in the tank with some pretty little lady SMs.

And yes...they played tag for 3 straight days.

I came home from work the other day and text'd my Hubs to tell him that pretty little lady #1 was great with babies and rambunctious boy SM has moved on to greener pastures and is currently playing tag with pretty little lady #2 and I can see babies in her tail now too.

I receive the following text back:

"We are going to make GREAT shrimp parents!"

I laughed.

And cried.

When I realized...I'm a grandma at 30.

Playing tag has lead to this!

Absence Made MY Heart Grow Fonder

Many people don't know this, but David has an older "brother". He has always called him "brother" and my kids have always known him as "Uncle Stacey". He is actually David's cousin, but he lived and was raised by Johnny and Becky since before David was born, so in all actually he really is David's brother.

We don't get to see Stacey and his family as often as we like. They have crazy scheduled with 2 teenagers and we have crazy lives with work and kids and church. But you just make time for those you love.

Write that down.

And we made time Saturday.

And I realized...my heart is so very fond of them all. And they love us so very much.

I literally thought Stacey was going to snap David's neck off hugging him so tightly...and David returned the favor.

Multiple times.

Brothers.

We didn't do a whole lot. David and Stacey wanted to go fishing, but they all wanted us all to be able to visit as well. So that's exactly what we did...VISIT! We got all caught up on each other and after one AMAZING crappie fish fry...we lounged.

You know you got love when you can all sit in a room and just be quiet and it not be awkward.

Anyway...here's some photos of our family visit.

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Couldn't miss an opportunity for one of Luke's famous "cheezer";; shots.


She stole my heart with this look...


Trampoline time


Frying some YUMM-O fish!


Sheila and the Kids. GOSH they have grown. I mean, the first time I met them all, Tyler...he was 3...Luke's age! Now he is 16. Crazy.


Belle fell in love with their Kitten, Odie, and made me take photos.


And secretly...I think that kitten loved her too.

So, call or go visit someone you haven't seen in awhile. You'll realize...Oh, how your heart has missed them!

Cast and Tug

Thursday night we headed out to Grammie Tammy and Pawpaw Robbie's for a little fishin'.

For those of you who know my family, they all (except for me) bleed deer blood and breathe air thru their gills.

It's a little known fact.

They have ALL had the itch for quite awhile but with the weather being un-cooperative and our jam-packed weeks, David has only been able to go on his lunch breaks.

Until Thursday.

Me and the kids got there around 5:30.

We all left 8:30.

I left for a little bit in the middle with Tammy and Debbie, but returned to more castin' and tuggin'.



Grammie even provided us some picnic-y foods. Yum!



Daddy getting us all started.



The first of Belle's 4 that we kept and 3 that was thrown back! 3 of them were with zero assistance!


Grammie fell in love with the Spongebob Pole!



All in all...a great break night!

I Could Totally Sue for No Royalties

My best friend, Becky, made this for the kids and sent it to them.

And they LOVED it so much that now, every time they see the movie or listen to this song in the car...Luke pipes up with, "That's me" when Troy is singing and "That's Belle" when Gabriella is singing.

Flashback: I used to say the same thing about Danny and Sandy in Grease when I was little.

Anyway...enjoy!

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There Were no Troy and Gabriella, but there WAS Belle

I took off work today (not hard to get me to do, though).

Belle was slated to be in her first (and I'm betting the first of many) Musicale!

The Musicale wasn't until 2:00, but Luke and I met her for lunch. She was so surprised. And, of course, Luke made her beam with pride as she showed people her little brother.

I took Belle's camera b'c it takes longer video than mine, but when I got there I saw that Sarah's dad was taking a much more professional HD video. So he is going to get me a copy and once he does, I'll get it on here.

So, until then...here are some grainy photos for your enjoyment!


MiMi, Daddy and Bubba were there to watch.

It was called "Bubba the Cowboy Prince" and it was HILARIOUS!




With her Cow-girls! Emily, Sarah and Anna Grace


Yee Haw!

And last, but most certainly not least...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mother-in-law!

Family Night Edition #27

Last night's Family Night was a very simple one.

You see...when David stayed at home with Belle, they used to head up her to visit with me at work every couple of weeks. Belle would get smooched all over by the folks up here and then we would head out to lunch.

And THIS was always Belle's favorite place:



I think she has only been there once in the last 3 years and it was after a very traumatic doctor's visit that I don't want to remember.

So, we headed to Little Rock last night and surprised her with her favorite purple shakes!


Luke and his 'purple cow'


Belle coloring her 'purple cow'...she actually had a fit until someone found her a purple crayon. She had a cow to color and it had to be purple. Love her!

Easy and yummy...SCORE!

To see more family night ideas, check out Whittaker Woman.

To Sum It Up

PAUH-LEEZE let Lil and Anoop go HOME!

That's all I have to say for ya, Boo, because simply...that's all that matters.

PS--finally Lo-hu-uvvved Kris!

Ok. And that's all that matters.

Hawaii Makes for Pretty Girls

Check out my baby (2nd) cousin in from Hawaii!

Her name is Zoe and she is so sweet.






And Luke will get defensive from anyone touching her. He says, "No! That's MY Cousin!"

Date Night

Friday night we went on a date with Mom and Dad (for their 27th wedding anniversary) to Murray's Dinner Theater.

I didn't fail to impress again!

This time we saw the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" and it was great!


The anniversary couple...still in love after every storm that has come their way. Doesn't mom look great? And of course...Daddy-o is pretty cute too.


My Hubs acting all crazy AGAIN. He said let's take a serious one and I said nah...this is just how we roll!


We even ran into some friends!

This is my mentor Tammy and her friend Ann's granddaughter, Sage. Isn't she beautiful? And Tammy...check out her hot new hair! Anyway, Sage turned 15 and this is her tradition now for her birthday. What a great tradition.


This is Ann and her husband Fred. Don't you just love her? I mean look at her! I bet you would never guess how young she is. Now that I'm getting to know her a little, I'm guessing...about 30! I feel like I've known her for years and I just only met her recently. You see...the way Tammy has talked about her all this time is enough to convince me she is the cat's meow!

And the best part? Tammy says she learned about true friendship and love from her. And I'm learning from Tammy.

So that means...she IS the cat's meow!

Where's Belle Revisited

A friend was making some cute comments about the different kids in the class. And it got me to thinking about the kids in there I have gotten to know pretty well.

So I only addressed those that I know. And all of it is meant with good intentions. It's just based on their current 6YO personality.

Have fun!

Where's Belle?

I remember my Kindergarten class photo.

And I looked EXACTLY like the girl on the back row with the pink headband.

Seriously.

Except I was too short, so I was on the front row.

Seriously.

But while it drives me crazy...her anti-smile because of all of her missing teeth, it just thrills me to see her in this picture.

A Picture of how grown up she is.

A picture of how independent she is getting.

A picture that my baby is a big girl now and doing things I'm not a part of anymore.

A picture of me in what feels like just a few short years ago (25 to be exact!).

A picture of true beauty with the whole world in front of her.

Wow.

I Will Rise!

We finally got our picture from Sunday. Luke was really wanting to play on the bean bags rather than take a photo, but it's a great picture none-the-less.

Thanks Jim!

Anywho, a very talented young man at our church sang this song Sunday after our potluck. And it is so true, for those who are in Christ. And as I look at my family photo and ponder on the victory that has been won for us, I can't help but praise Him for the fact that we will rise when He calls our name! Glory!



Now...go get your shout on!

Normal Life

Here are just some shots of normal life around here...


Sissy and Belle could sit for hours and let Belle do this. It's funny....Sissy used to HATE Belle when she was little (much akin to how she feels about Luke at this moment). Now, she LOVES her! And will even sleep with her at times.


And Luke could sit for hours and watch the Laundry. Hmmm...maybe I could market this.

See...life isn't all busy-busy-fun and games around here.

Just enjoying the moments of life.

Did You Know?

That Jesus dies on the cwoss and then today, JESUS GWOWS!

--Luke, Yeserday

I Can't Say it the Way She can

Beth Moore

We have had a beautiful day in the Lord this Resurrection Day. We worshipped with our church family and followed that with a dinner and singing. oh, if this is just a taste of Heaven, I cannot wait!

For Your victory...for Your Triumph....and You're soon coming to reign over ALL!

Happy Resurrection Day to you all!

Our Easter family picture to come, but this is more important...

The Gift Every Mom Gets

I love these every time I get them!

Weeds.

Masquerading as flowers.

The purple ones are from my girl.

The tuft of grass...was from the boy.

Perception Has Become Reality

A conversation Monday night...

Belle: (On the bed behind me) Hey, Momma! Watch this.

Me: (Sitting at Computer)Just one second.

Belle: Just use the eyes you have in the back of your head and watch!

I've never actually said I have eyes in the back of my head...hmmm....

Family Night Edition #26

Tonight's Family Night will probably go down as my Hubs' favorite.

We celebrated the passover, the crucifixion, and most excitedly...the resurrection!


We began the night with a semi-sader-type supper. Here we have lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, dried fruits and olives served with grape juice. Now, we aren't jewish and this isn't a strict Kosher meal, and we by no means intend to offend anyone who observes this tradition in it's truest form. We just wanted to help begin this type of observance with our 6 and 3 year old.


Here, Daddy is reading the Exodus account of the Passover. What excited me the most was before he started I asked Belle what the passover was. And she told me. Right down to the door posts.


We also, for the first time, did the Resurrection Cookies. Here, we were beating the nuts while Hubs read the Scripture about the beating that Jesus endured. Each step that you do has Scripture and was awesome!


Here we were whipping it all together and talking about how the pure spotless Lamb came and did all of this for you and I!


After the cookies are ready and placed in the oven, the kiddos sealed the oven up with tape (sealed the tomb) and waited. Now, normally, you should do this overnight and open it up on Resurrection Morning to find the empty tomb cookies. But, we just waited about 3 hours. And we opened them and ate them and they were a WONDERFUL illustration.


Then the kiddos made Resurrection Day cards 4 folks they chose from church. Luke's 2 cards was full of lots of pretties. Belle's 2 cards had one with Jesus on the cross and the other with the empty tomb and a risen Lord. I pray the recipients are blessed!


We also made our very own flower arrangement. Look at our beautiful Resurrection Lilies!


We then all took time to write some of our biggest sins that each of us struggle with on slips of paper. Belle came up with her own and phonetically sounded them out and wrote them herself. Hubs asked Luke about some of his and then told him how to spell it. Of course, you couldn't read a thing on his slips, but our hearts were still blessed by it. We then pinned our sins to the cross and talked about what that meant. It is in our dining room at this very moment.


Our last activity was going on a hunt for the Resurrection Eggs. I hid the eggs and then had them go and find the specific color I was looking for. We would open each egg and Hubs would read the Word that went along with the items. Here was the last egg...the empty egg. Glory!

PS--Pardon my girl's make-up all thru these photos. She had acting class right after school tonight where they they learned about stage make-up. There...I feel better.


We ended the evening with the cross/resurrection scenes from "The Passion". Now, before everyone freaks out on me, yes, Belle has seen the entire movie. We didn't just sit her down and say, "enjoy". We spent time talking with her about it and pausing it to make sure. We actually did this with her last Resurrection since it was her first as a converted Christian. And while Luke and I were getting ready for tonight he found the cover of the movie and kept carrying it around and in a very weapy voice would say, "Oh, my Jesus. He dies on the cross!" And he was very concerned...until Jesus rose! This wasn't something we took lightly either, and since Luke was watching we were very careful with that they saw. That said...it was a perfect end to a very poingnant evening.

I look for this to become a wonderful family tradition.

I hope everyone has a very blessed Resurrection Sunday! Rejoice in the risen Lord!

For more fun family night ideas, check out Whittaker Woman and all the contributors over there.

So, What's on Your List?

We asked Belle to sit down and write us up a list of her favorite music so we can put a "Belle's List" on my MP3 player.

On the way to the hair salon, this is what she came up with. I just helped her with the spelling.