oldies but goodies

FYI -- these pictures have no rhyme or reason. I was just going through my photos on the computer & found them. There are PLENTY more that I probably will post someday...looking at them definitely brings back a LOT of memories!

I hope ya'll have a great Tuesday. We're not doing anything but staying at home & playing!

August 2008. On a way to a childhood friends wedding...

that friend has since had a beautiful baby girl!

June looks SO much like Sara here.

Love this one. Same day as above.

Sweetest picture ever. Sara & Daddy.

Late summer 2008.

I LOVE this. My Uncle Sonny (like my father), meeting Sara for the first time.

She was probably 4 days old.

October 2007.

Great beach memories!

Sara's first trip to Destin. 

July 2008.

fill in the blank friday

Ya'll know what time it is! Head on over to The Little Things We Do & link up!

1.   One of life's most simple pleasures is  

snuggling in bed after my babies are bathed. 

2. Seeing a child not in a carseat -- or worse, the wrong carseat -- 

makes me want to punch someone.

3.  I like cotton fields  because they remind me of home.

4. Any word is a funny word 

(if you repeat it enough times!).

5.  If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be  

lotion.

6.  I'm happy that  

we have NOTHING planned for this weekend!

7.  I would never 

dive off a diving board. yep -- I'm THAT scared of water!

daddy's 52nd birthday

On Friday, my sweet daddy turned 52!

We went through SOOOO many different plans for his birthday...

First, we were going to surprise him with a deep sea fishing trip to Destin.

Then we changed it to Panama City.

THEN, we decided to just take a day trip to Lulu's.

Then we thought we would take him to the Wild Animal Safari and spend the day in Pine Mountain, GA.

Then we decided we'd just cook him a good old birthday supper & spend the night at home with him. :)

I took the cake-baking duty & Sara was very excited to help!

yes, I made a boxed cake....shoot me!

Let's just say the cake turned out.....interesting.

Miss Sara got a little slap happy with the spatula when she was icing it...

But it's the thought that counts, right?!

The girls loved crawling all over their Papaw,

& then we enjoyed a supper of grilled ribs (thanks, CJ -- your grilling rocks my socks!), green bean casserole, roasted corn on the cob & deviled eggs.

Sorry it's blurry....they wouldn't stay still!

I took a picture of everybody sitting around the table, BUT...

I'm 1000% positive they would not appreciate me posting it.

My sister's mouth was wide open because she was arguing with someone

Sara looked mad as all get out because I said no cake before she ate her supper

June was about to do a somersault out of her daddy's arms

CJ (my little sisters boyfriend) was rolling his eyes

Daddy looked exasperated

and my other sister was mid-chew

Hahaaaa......blackmail!

In our family, we put the exact amount of candles for however old the person is.

So this year, my daddy got FIFTY TWO candles on his cake.

We got 20 magic candles and there were SO many candles on the cake,

 they were starting to spark against each other.

We turned the lights down in the kitchen & he literally saw the glow coming down the hallway

before he ever even saw US!

Sara spent the night there with him & she had a BLAST.

Dear Daddy,

I hope that year 52 of your life is so much more than any other year of your life has ever been. I hope that you continue to live your life in a consistent, loving, kind manner in which you glorify God and your family. Year 51 was quite a struggle -- many, many stones were thrown our way, but through it all your faith and love shone and you supported us all in your gentle way. Thank you for being a great Papaw to my girls! I am so proud God saw fit to use you for their grandfather. He couldn't have chose a finer man.

Here's to 364 days of fun, laughter, memories, cookouts, spend the night parties, lawnmower rides, bubbles, tug-of-war games with the dog, using you as a jungle gym, hellos, goodbyes, see-you-laters, squeezing on the couch with you & my sisters, and most of all....unconditional love. We love you!

hello lovelies!

This post is a picture dump and all around catch-up.
Consider yourself warned!

Let's see....where to start.

Last Saturday we went to the mall, & while walking around I found this:

Loved it! I so wanted to buy it for my house, but didn't. I wish I would have!

Good advice, too! :)

Sunday we just laid around all day long & didn't do anything.

Monday -- June had OT & PT. Her sweet older sister forced her to put this on:

She was not a fan!

It came off about 25 seconds later.

We did some of this:

Delaney & Homer (our two "sweet" dogs) chased this poor kitten to the top of a light pole --

but they didn't want to hurt the thing, they just wanted to play!

(It was gone the next morning, so I'm assuming all was well.)

Plenty of cool mornings started out like this:

Breezy summer nights + nothing important to do the next day =

Aaaahh.....love!

I love summertime -- and I'm really sad that it's on it's way out. :(

BUT, with that sad -- I am also definitely looking forward to fall!

I cannot WAIT for football to start & the cooler temperatures will be nice.

Still....there is nothing quite like sweet summertime. :)

fill in the blank friday

Hey ya'll! It's Fill in the Blank Friday!

Before I get started I just want to proudly say that this week,

since TUESDAY (the day I began), I have lost 3.2 pounds!

Losing weight for me is no longer a "want"....

it is a NEED because of my health.

(More on that later.)

Without further ado....

1. My most favorite birthday

was my 21st. We celebrated in Oxford, England (we were living there) with my sister, BIL, and a few other friends. Went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show musical & pub crawled afterwards.

Loved it! Great memories.

2. My worst birthday

It's a tie -- either when I was turning 14 or turning 15. The day before I turned 14, my uncle passed away unexpectedly. A week before I turned 15, our home burned & we lost everything.

3. My favorite birthday memory

was around my 12th or 13th birthday. I'd been saying forever that I wanted a surprise birthday party, and I was SOOOOOO upset that morning when I woke up & thought everyone had forgotten! Turns out my  mom had it all planned out behnd my back. :)

4. The best birthday present I've ever received Hmm..I don't know! I have enjoyed them all.

(Lame answer, I know!)

5. The best birthday present I've ever given I haven't given it yet, but it will be in May for my little sisters 21st!

We're taking her for a girls-only weekend to Panama City,

 complete with amazing condo & spa treatment all weekend. :)

6. Birthdays are

special in our family. It's the one day each year that person gets to be spoiled!

It's tradition to make that persons favorite meal & favorite dessert.

Love it!

7. My favorite age so far21! I had an awesome job, we lived in England, no kids yet, free as a bird....loved it!

Head on over to The Little Things We Do & link up!

what i'm loving wednesday

I'm linking up again this week with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!
Head on over & check all the great links out!

I'm loving that I've already lost 2.8 pounds this week

& my offical weigh in isn't until tomorrow!

I'm loving all the rain we've been getting lately.

We've really needed it & it has certainly cooled some days off!

I'm loving planning for my sweet cousin Baylee's baby shower.

Little Tyeson is going to be spoiled rotten!

I'm loving LSU! :)

That's right....I am setting aside my die-hard love for the Crimson Tide for the next four years and will also be cheering for LSU! My middle sister is headed there in the fall & I have to represent, right? Don't worry, Alabama -- Mama O will still be cheering for ya'll every weekend! Ya'll will always be my #1! :)

I'm loving all the rain we've been getting lately.

We've really needed it & it has certainly cooled some days off!

I'm loving planning for my sweet cousin Baylee's baby shower.

Little Tyeson is going to be spoiled rotten!

I'm loving this little restaurant up by the lake called Bubber N Ems. If ya'll are ever in the Lake Martin area -- it's located on 229 in Red Hill & it is SO good!

I hope ya'll have a great Wednesday -- not too long til the weekend!



tuesday randoms

• Yesterday June had three doctors appointments for the second Monday in a row -- and next Monday will be the same. Not lovin' it. But it's necessary. So I do it.

• Since we spend so much time at the rehab center, I feel like the girls there are family. So I'm thinking of baking them some really awesome dessert & taking it up there. Any suggestions?

• I had a bad doctors appointment yesterday. Found out some sad news and I need your thoughts & prayers. I am getting referrals to several specialist and will update when I know more.

• You might have to remind me to update, because I forget every single thing am terribly busy & it may slip my mind. ;)

• This is my last week of working with Mrs. Ruth. So sad. :( But schedule conflicts have arisen with June's speech therapy & with my classes. I am so thankful to her & her family for the opportunity to "carry me over" in a hard place.

• Now I have to find another job....not lovin' it.

• This is the view I see every time I drive down my mom's driveway....it's so beautiful!

• I had 8 little vials of blood taken yesterday, but the stick didn't hurt at all! I told the nurse she was seriously awesome & she better never quit working in the lab. She said people call her "angel hands" -- thought that was so sweet! She said she practiced & practiced so that she could not hurt people.

• We're going to the lake AGAIN this weekend -- and I'm so happy about it! Trying to cram in as much as possible before summer ends!

• Sara is obsessed with all things fashionable right now. She is very into dressing up & putting on "fashion shows" for us. She even ropes June into it! I swear one day I am going to take pictures for ya'll to see!

• Speaking of Sara, she has been begging for a bike for the longest time. Her birthday is coming up at the end of September & we have already purchased a sweet little princess bike with a seat for her baby doll on the back for her big birthday present. When we're around her, we've been spelling it out -- "She's getting a B-I-K-E" or whatever. Well, the other night she told my little sister -- "I'm getting a B-I-K-E for my birthday and I can't wait to ride it!" LOL....I think she's got us figured out!

• And last but definitely not least -- isn't this sweet little thing just precious? I love her so much! She has such a temper and such an independent little attitude that she wears me out most days, but moments like this I just want to squeeze the ever loving daylights out of her!

our weekend

Hey ya'll! It's been a minute...I've been enjoying my sweet family this weekend & haven't even had a chance to blog anything...sooo this will probably be random!

Friday my mom & I took my cousins little boy (he is more like my brother, so C is more like my  nephew) school clothes shopping. C's mother isn't in the picture, so the females in our family tries to pick up as much slack as possible. Anyway -- let me just say -- a 3 year old + a 10 year old + a tax free weekend that reminds me of the day after Thanksgiving = this mama coming home and having a nice big bottle glass of wine after the kiddos were in bed. After all was said & done -- he had $600 worth of clothes & shoes for $250. I'm thinking that was pretty good!

Friday night we went to eat at this local BBQ restaurant:

.

Saturday morning we headed here with our family:

Ahhhh.....a little bit of Heaven! ;)

Saturday evening we went fishing & visited with my dad and then my mom for a little while.

I hope ya'll have a good weekend!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Head on over to Jamie's and link up!

I'm loving my Featherlock I had put in my hair by Missy at Garbos Salon in Montgomery....check it out here. It's been abou two weeks and it still looks great! I curl it, straighten it, whatever I need to do & it doesn't hurt it at all.

I'm loving that my sweet little Junebug is officially walking EVERYWHERE! No kidding -- that girl walks like she is a grown woman on a mission! Also, I'm loving that at her 15 month checkup this week she weighed 16 pounds, 9 ounces, and was 27 inches long. That's up from 1 pound, 15 ounces, and 12 inches at birth.

I'm loving that God is SO good!

I'm loving the LAKE!

One of our favorite places to go in the summer is Lake Martin. We LOVE it there! We went last Saturday. We round up as many friends & family as possible, go stake out our little picnic tables and grills, and swim the day away. We can barely get the kids to stop playing long enough to eat. Love it with my whole heart and my two left feet (as my dear Daddy would say!)

What I'm NOT loving is that my sweet sister & her family will be moving three hours away from us this Friday. :( We don't get to spend a whole lot of time together because she is a super busy homeschooling mama of two, and I'm a super busy mama to two under 3.....just doesn't make sitting and chatting very easy! I AM loving the job opportunity my BIL received and am so thankful for God's blessings on them.

But I'm still gonna miss them.