One Week From Today

Is August 2nd also known as the primaries!  Please take time to study your candidates and decide the best for the job!  It is very important! Most of them have websites or facebook pages that you can easily find!  They will decide where our county and state and therefore our nation is headed! Also, take this time to pray for them!


If you live in Madison or Rankin counties, you can click on this link to see the candidates and their positions: The Candidates


Here is the MS statewide Republican ballot: Statewide Offices
If you live elsewhere, google: 2011 sample ballot and your county! It's easy!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Kate

Sweet Kate turned 2 last Saturday!  So, some of David's friends gave Kate a party!  It was at our house, but Sarah Jones did all the planning and organizing! I think Kate had fun!  She loves Mickey and Minnie!  She sleeps with a Minnie Mouse when she spends the night with us! So, of course, that was the theme!  

The slide helped the kiddos get going on the slip n slide!

Sam was in quite a mood, but really enjoyed Dr. David!

Love this pic of David and Kate

David's birthday is this week, so we couldn't let it go by unnoticed!

I think she enjoyed it--well, at least the cake!

The Moment by Lysa Terkeurst

Lysa sometimes writes a devotional that gets emailed to me.  This was on her blog.  For some reason, it just really hit home.  Maybe because the summer months when kids are home all the time, its easy to focus so much on them.  I love summer.  I love having my kids home.  Now, don't get me wrong.  It is oftentimes hard and exhausting--both physically and emotionally.  Zeb and I try to make an effort to focus on us.  We wish that we were able to go out on dates more--it's been over 6 weeks! ha! However, with 3 little ones, including a little boy who just wants his parents, that doesn't seem possible right now.  We do sit down many nights and just visit.  It's fun and I enjoy those evenings.  I think this may be our moment--when we slow down and really focus on what is going on with the other person.  This quote from the article below is my favorite:

I stop because great love isn’t two people finding the perfect match in one another.

Great love is two people making the choice to be a match.

A decision.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  What's your moment?  I'm going to slow down over the next few days and see if we have more of these moments!

The Moment by Lysa Terkeurst

So familiar can some of our relationships be, we forget.  We rush.  We assume.  We feel like we have forever.

And feeling like we have forever cheapens the right now feelings.

Each morning I have a routine with my man.  It’s simple.  Nothing profound.  Nothing for which we’d ever stop and snap a picture.

It’s just a moment.

He asks me to help him pick a tie.  He then goes away to fuss with this fixture of his professional job.  Soon, he returns with a flipped up collar and a pressed down, knotted tie.  He needs gentle hands to fold the collar over.  No, he doesn’t need.  He wants gentle hands to fold the collar over.

And I do.

It’s just a moment.

But it’s something I would miss with the deepest ache imaginable if today was the last of the moments.

If today.

Tears slip as I think about this.  Dear God, help me think about this.  Let me snap a hundred of these moments with the lens of my heart to be stored and appreciated and thought of as the great treasure they are.

Let my mind park there.

Let my heart relish there.

Let my mouth dare to whisper what a joy this is.  “I love you.  I love us.  I love this moment each day.”

No, our relationship isn’t perfect.  No relationship is.  We’re two very strong willed people with vastly different approaches to life.  And oh how easy it would be to list out all the differences. He likes the towel hanging in the same spot.  I am more creative. But I stop the list here.

I stop because great love isn’t two people finding the perfect match in one another.

Great love is two people making the choice to be a match.

A decision.

To fold his collar and snap the heart lens and find myself grateful to the point of tears.

Tears of relishing today are so much better than tears of what was missed.

It’s just a moment.

Or is it?

Lysa

An idea for extra buttons...

I don't do a good job of keeping up with extra buttons--or I used to not.   A few weeks ago, I made some ponytail holders for the girls.  When I sew (or should I say used to because I have no time now), sometimes I made ponytails for the girls using the button makers and cute fabric.  These, however, were made from the buttons that were attached to the clothes.  I took a rubberband and some tweezers and pulled the rubber band through the tiny hole.  It was harder than the ones you make, but very do-able!  I think it added a lot to this outfit--plus I didn't have the exact color bow I needed!  The girls love them!  

Chez Ami Show

My friend, Brittany Odom started selling Chez Ami in the spring.  I agreed to do a show for the fall!  The clothes are really cute!  Shipping is super quick (although who can even imagine wearing long sleeves now!)  Monogramming is free!  My kiddos have worn lots of their clothes over the years.  Their knits last forever.  I have several outfits that have lasted 4 years (2 for each girl!)!!!!  Below are some pics of my kids in Chez Ami over the years.  Come check out their clothes:Monday the 25th from 4-6! At my house (leave a comment and I can send you directions).

If you are out of town next week, let me know what you want before you go!  I can go ahead and take orders!  Or, if you want something, but can't make it Monday night.  

Brittany will be here to answer any questions!

I have some catalogs if you want one, or you can click on the the Chez Ami link above!

First Bout with Glue

Friday night/Saturday morning at 3 a.m. Sara Beth came in and told Zeb that she had fallen off the bed and that it really hurt.  There was no tears and no production, so he just put her back in  bed.  Seeing how this had never happened before, he just assumed she had a bad dream or something and was just making up excuses.  Well, not the case! He was running Saturday morning at 7 when she came around the corner with a cut on a swollen eye.  I had no memory of anything during the night so needless to say I was quite shocked.  When Zeb got back he looked at it and decided it needed some glue.  Thankfully he fixed it--along with 2 mighty fine nurses!  It looked so much better once it was glued!  I think we might need to start keeping a thing of glue around here all the time!

It looked great on Sunday and Monday and today it is bruised.  But, it is in the crease of her eye so once it is healed you will never be able to see it!

(On a side note, it was so nice to see the sweet and tender side of Leigh.  She is always so funny and tough, but she has a dear sweet side!  She ran quickly and got Sara Beth the animals that she sleeps to comfort her and asked her several times, "sister, you alright?")

Sam's Stats

We were completely shocked to find out that Sam was long and lean!  Ha! We knew he was and that is exactly what we learned yesterday.  He is 19 lb 6 oz (about 5% weight) and 31 inches long (almost 90%).  I think I have two tall and skinny boys in my family!

Reservoir Picnic

Late afternoon today (or night--it was from 5-7) we went to the Reservoir Family Picnic.  It is an annual event and always proves to be fun.  We didn't make it last year because Sam was a newborn.  We almost missed it this year because we didn't find out about it until church this morning!    

The girls jumped,

and ate watermelon,

and snow cones, hotdogs, hamburgers, and chips.

Sam chilled while eating his first burger,

and then chilled some more with Bo Bo.

While we met all the political candidates from Governor down to Coroner.

The weather was perfect!  (Crazy that 91 seems cool! ) All had fun!

It was a year ago today when "it" happened!

I cannot believe it's been a year since I had that "neaky, neaky, nake" in my bathroom.  Seriously, not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it.  It has nearly paralyzed me with fear.  I think about it every time I get up in the night, get out of the shower and there's a kid in the bathroom, or when a kid goes outside to play!  Click below to read the story!

neaky, neaky, snake 

100 Books

We just read our 100th different book of the summer.  I say different book, because there are those favorites that we have read many times each.  I wanted to do this for several reasons.  One to hold me accountable...I need accountability to do something.  I noticed that I would go several days and not read anything to the kiddos---and I have my reading speciality degree! I know how important it is to read, and I just wasn't making the time!  Also, we have tons of books.  Many of which we have only read once or twice before they got stuck on the shelf.  So, I am reading a book and then stacking it in my closet so that we will get to all the books that we have. (I left a few of their favorites out because I know kids love and need to read a book over and over again.)  Both girls have really gotten in to it.  They both ask me to read very a lot of the time.  My favorite thing from all this reading is when one of the girls say, "Momma, will you read us a book so we can snuggle."  I have absolutely loved this snuggle time!  We all pile on the sofa or a bed or on the floor and just read!  It's been great!  School starts a month from yesterday, so we still have a long way to go before we reach my actual goal of 200 books this summer!

Bows for $2.99

Did y'all know Hobby Lobby had hairbows for $2.99?  Sure wish you had told me, if you did!  They also have cute flower clippie things too!  I just happened across these as I was shopping for things for Sam's birthday!  I will be going back soon to replace some of ours!

Our Week

We started off the week on a fun note!  We spent the July 4th morning in Millcreek where they have a great parade (at least on election years)!  

Since they were tiny babies, this has been their reaction to loud noises!  

My May came for the parade and Sam was glad to have some attention.

Catherine and Brittany organized their streets float.  They were the Millcreek Super Heroes.  

Sara Beth decided she wanted on as they were passing by.

And the little sisters caught the candy.

While the little brothers just hung out!  I have a feeling Trey and Sam will do a lot of hanging out with 5 older sisters between them!

At the end, Mrs. Brittany was kind and let Audrey and Leigh climb on to practice their wave.

Afterward the parade, it was time for eating, swimming, sliding, and jumping.  All of which our family did!

Monday afternoon is when our week sort of fell apart.  Sam got fussy and didn't nap.  Also, we got all five of us dressed and sunscreened to head to the pool and as soon as we got their it thundered-so we headed home with two disappointed girls.  Zeb and I thought we were giving the girls a huge treat and cooked hotdogs and had chips!  Let's just say the dinner was not fun nor a treat and we won't be eating hotdogs and chips anytime soon.  

What started with Sam being  fussy ended in 3 days of 103 plus temps.  So, he spent a couple of days like this... 

While Sam was sick, the girls and I caught up on some of our reading.  We had gotten behind with Bible School, the beach, and cheer camp all in the month of June.  

Today, he's all smiles...sort of... so we headed out of the house for a bit!  Sam needed to check out his new ride after turning one!

I asked the girls what they wanted to do, and Sara Beth wanted to go to the library.  We checked out 15 books that they are chomping at the bit to read, so that's what we will be doing this afternoon.  After the library, we went to Renaissance with my mom and had fun playing in the fountains! At first Sam wasn't too sure what to think about them, but it didn't take long.

Mom treated us to lunch at Pepper's which is always yummy!  I think everyone benefited from a morning out!

And this is what I came home to....I'm up for ideas of what Austin got into...