Reflecting

August has been one of the busiest months, I think, in a really long time. We had SOME sort of commitment each weekend, not just one day, but both days, every single weekend.

Never any downtime.

While I know I am blessed to be able to BE busy, to have friends and family that love us and want to be with us, I am tired. I am mentally and physically exhausted and I'm looking forward to September - where we have few commitments. I am looking forward to calling friends on a Sunday afternoon and saying "Hey, come over for lunch, let's hang out" - casual and nothing planned. I absolutely LOVE entertaining and doing things for others. It fills my 'love tank' and my love tank is overflowing- thank you JESUS!

I am also spiritually tired. Meaning, I feel like I've been neglecting my quiet time. With activities comes preparation, and I've been putting my quiet time on the back burner because I need to get this room clean, or get those groceries bought. I'm starting to feel it now.

Our pastor did a sermon last weekend about calamity and getting your house in order. Now while I know he meant spiritual house, I also know he means our personal house. Big Daddy and I sat down over lunch and talked about this sermon. It was, by far, the best sermon we've ever been taught in the 3yrs we've been attending our church. It spoke to me more than any I've heard. We have agreed to go, room by room, and get our house in order.

It started with our closet - not trying to be funny - seriously - but good LORD - it was so bad it would have made a preacher cuss! It looks amazing now and I will post pictures as soon as I finish the minor details.

I say all of this to get here ~ yesterday, in between services, I sat down and just opened my bible. I find it NO COINCIDENCE that I opened it up to the following verses:

Matthew 5:3-12

³"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

⁵"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

⁶"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

⁷"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

⁸"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

⁹"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

¹⁰"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

^11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Now I am not a bible thumper, stumper, or jumper - but I have become less scared of sharing a word when it comes to me. You never know who may need to hear it. I read a blog last night and it was EXACTLY what I needed.

I hope y'all have an awesome week - one of my goals is to get back to blogging regularly. I still need to post about Shawn's AMAZING birthday brunch - it was beautiful and perfect. I also need to post some recipes from the baby shower we hosted this past weekend!! OH MY GOODNESS - did we have some AWESOME food here!!

Weekend Away ....

As you all know - Big Daddy and I celebrated his birthday this past weekend. We went to the Don Cesar Beach Resort for one night - NO KIDS - and had a wonderful time. Our goal was to relax and catch a sunset! By the looks of this first picture, you'd think we would not see the sunset .... this was just as we were arriving!

We decided to have dinner by the beach (obviously - look at my hair!) - after dinner, we headed down to the beach with a bottle of champagne - to catch the sunset.

We had Big Daddy's friend take this picture of us. Did you hear that?? Big Daddy's FRIEND. He went back up to the room to grab the champagne (we had it chilling on ice - yes, we brought our OWN!) and as he was getting on the elevator, he heard someone calling his name. It was a friend of his that he has known for over 20 yrs!! GO FIGURE! Big Daddy ALWAYS sees someone he knows ... yes, even in the Dominican Republic! What's funny is she was with a group of girls, and two of them were great friends with one of my great friends, Debi - total 6 degrees of separation. SO we chatted with them for a little bit and watched the sunset - it was really fun!
The obligatory ghetto ghangsta shot -- I do this alllll the time - Big Daddy HATES it.

The kids were with Shawn and she kept them entertained. When Shawn brought the kids home, Wild Child walked in the door, arms crossed, pouty face, saying he DID NOT WANT TO COME HOME - he wanted to stay with Miss Aunt Shawn. I laughed but also was loving that he is that comfortable with our friends. It's a great problem to have!

Shawn - THANK YOU for keeping the kids for us. I know that even if they were terrible, you wouldn't tell me and I appreciate that! We had a wonderful time and it was JUST what we needed!!

OK -- more blog posts to come tomorrow - I'm back on my blogging kick!

We are B to the IZZY!!

Sorry my bloggy friends - I have been a terrible BLOGGER!! With school getting ready to start - and the real estate market picking up - I have been so busy! I believe BUSY IS GOOD, though!!

We have an exciting weekend planned!

Me and this guy:

are going here:

~* The Don Cesar Resort *~

It was my birthday present to Big Daddy - we're only staying one night, but we're hoping to make the most of it! Eating a great dinner, relaxing at the resort and just enjoying each others company! Is it wrong to smuggle in my favorite wine b/c I know they don't have it there??!?

My sweet babies are staying with Shawn - apparently she has an amazing Friday night and Saturday planned. They may not want to come home!! I'm grateful we have such sweet friends that are willing to watch our kids for us so Big Daddy and I can 'reconnect' - that's important, ya know. Hopefully they will still be our friends when we get back!! HA!

Saturday is a birthday party for another sweet friend at a very cool place in town and then Sunday, I am hosting a birthday brunch at my house for Shawn - I'm excited for that as well!! It's a jam-packed weekend, but I wouldn't want it any other way!!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Weekend Wrap Up -- a day late!

This weekend was BUSY!! Friday night we went to see a local band called "Disco Inferno" - lots of fun until we got rained out. We ended up going to eat dinner because of the rain and then headed home!

Saturday was Princess K's pool party for her cheer team! We got all the girls together for some team bonding and it accomplished EXACTLY what we wanted it to - girls had a great time!

This little guy - my WILD CHILD - was one of the only boys there so he got the playground all to himself. Talk about MOTIVATED to get across those monkey bars! He would get SO FRUSTRATED b/c he'd only make it across 2-3 of them before he'd fall. Now remember, Princess K fell off the monkey bars 2 yrs ago and broke her arm - but for some reason, I'm just not worried about my little guy!!

Yes, I took a picture of his back - only to show Big Daddy. LOOK at how it's shaped .. the muscle/traps/whatever you call them. He is SOLID -- going to be a GATOR one day (we can only hope ... and dream)!!

Finally - this picture cracks me up. I told him to turn around and he totally POSED! SO FUNNY! Yes, those ARE black skies in the picture and the party got RAINED OUT! It was the theme of the weekend!!
Sunday was spent cleaning and then going to a birthday party for Seriously-Shawn's baby. It was a great time and yes, we have MORE busy this weekend!!

What did y'all do this weekend?

7 yrs old .....

Dear K –

It is still so hard to believe that you are 7 yrs old today! Looking back, on the day you were born, was clearly one of the best days of my life – and your Daddy’s too! We were surrounded by family and friends, just waiting for you to arrive – and I remember the doctor telling me that she may want to borrow our ‘cheering squad’ for some of the other ladies in labor & delivery because it sounded like we were having a pep rally in the room!

Who knew all that cheering would someday lead you to doing something you LOVE!? This marks your 3rd year as a competitive cheerleader and we couldn’t be more proud of how far you’ve come! I remember you were so scared to let anyone even put you on their shoulders and now those girls are throwing you up in the air and putting you up in full extensions. I hope you continue to grow in your passion with sports – it definitely makes Daddy happy - but remember, you can ONLY cheer for the Gators!!

As your Mommy, I love watching you interact with others. You are so kind and tender-hearted. When Delilah brought you a dead bird (whether or not she killed it, still up for discussion), instead of FREAKING OUT like I was sure you would, you gently wrapped the bird in a grocery bag, dug a hole and buried the bird. I walked out as you were saying a prayer over the bird and then you put a makeshift cross in the ground so no one would forget where the bird was buried.

Daddy and I have watched you grow into a beautiful young lady. Your love for Jesus and for LEARNING more about him overwhelms me. I love that you LOVE Jesus. I love that you want to learn more and that you will SING SING SING to your hearts content all the worship music that you know. I love that we have a church that believes in rising up our youth and we couldn’t be happier that you are eager to go to church each and every week.

K, we love you more than you will ever know. I don’t know if we are ready for the sassiness that comes along with these years, but I do know I wouldn’t change a single thing about you – not even when you FLIP OUT when brought remotely close to the Chick-fil-A cow … honey, it’s just a person dressed up in a cow suit. Maybe this year you’ll get over that, but if not, well, we’ll just keep reminding you it’s just a person dressed up in a cow suit.

You are starting 2nd grade this year and trying so hard to write in cursive – even though you are not supposed to. I look forward to what this school year brings and watching you grow into an even more beautiful young lady!

Love Always,
Mommy

First Birthday Party ~ already a Princess

* NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY HAIR, PLEASE *

Meeting Taylor Swift this past March

What an AWESOME day for you!

Flip-Flop Birthday Cake ~ it ROCKED!

You, Delilah and Wild Child

This is what happens when you leave your camera and your 4 yr old alone ....

After a VERY busy weekend (busy past 2 weekends ... sheesh, who am I kidding?!?) -- my camera has been out and about to capture whatever may happen. I never really just 'leave' it b/c I'm on my 3rd camera in a yr due to being dropped, sat in Coke, etc etc etc ... so I guard this one with my life (actually, Big Daddy was smart and got a 'no questions asked warranty' on it - meaning they'll replace it - no questions asked - worth the $40) -- anyway, I was uploading pictures from the weekend and came across these .... my boy, my WILD CHILD.

Enjoy!





But I haven't a clue where he gets it from:

Accident Prone

That describes me almost perfectly .....

Yesterday, I walked in from work and my family was here! My little brother came to visit along with my sister and her family. Everyone is in the pool - swimming - well, all the kids.

I would tell y'all what happened BEFORE my incident, and it's quite pivotal to the story -- but -- because my blog is not private, I don't want to share TOO much info .... sorry, too many freaks out there and I don't need someone staking us out .... ahem ... continuing on......setting up the scene here.

My brother is nursing a very badly cut finger - my sister and brother-in-law are laying on the couch, both tired from their long drive.

I am in the bathroom that is connected to our pool entry door. I hear my daughter come in and she tries to open the bathroom door. She tells me she wants the dog shampoo ... we go back and forth and she LOSES .... she wants to bathe the dog in the pool - no, I don't think so.

I come out of the bathroom and I had on no shoes. We have tile that is SLICK AS ICE when wet. Princess is standing in the doorway begging me for the dog shampoo - I finally yell "NO - YOU ARE NOT BATHING THE DOG IN THE POOL!" ... at this point, our cat, Tipsy (that's his name b/c I must have been when I allowed him to come live with us) - comes walking in and I grab the cat (he's not allowed in the house) -- I turn around to take the cat back outside and as I'm walking outside, I start to feel my feet come out from underneath me.

I throw, no, toss the cat outside as I do not want the wrath of his claws.

I feel my feet -- like slow motion -- leave the ground and go UP in the air. I have on a dress, which is now making it's way up over my head. I hit the wall, then the door, wall, door, wall, door .... I continue this popcorn manuever until I SLAM into the ground - feeling a CRACK. My foot is lodged underneath the door jam and I see stars. Seriously -- it hurt SO bad.

I started crying. Like sobbing.

I hear my brother say to my sister "Uhhhh, do you think she's hurt?"

as I'm LAYING there, trying to figure out what in the HECK just happened, I am numb. My butt hurt SO bad ... my brother comes walking around the corner, still nursing his messed up finger and helps me up. I'm DYING. I had managed to put myself back together so I didn't scar my brother for life seeing my dress up over my head - thank goodness.

I'm standing there, trying to get my wits about me ... and my sister, my sweet darling twin sister, walks around the corner - FINALLY ..... and she is laughing.

Hysterically laughing -- apologizing, laughing, apologizing ... are you ok? OMG. Did you break anything? I'm sorry. laugh laugh laugh OMG. I'm sorry. laugh laugh laugh Oh honey, did you hurt yourself. snicker snicker. OMG. i'm so sorry. Are you ok?

She didn't do anything I wouldn't have done. I suffer from inappropriate laughter - seriously. Ask ANY of my friends. I guess I deserve it though. Well, not the broken behind and crunked up foot, but yeah, the laughing?? Yeah, I totally deserved that.

Wish I could put a picture on here for y'all -- but I'm sure that's probably illegal.

The post in which I realize I have more patience than I thought ..

Big Daddy and I took the kids to the Nick Hotel this past weekend -- to celebrate Princess's birthday, Big Daddy's birthday - and hang out with some friends from our town who also were there. It was a great time - seriously - we had a blast.

Wild Child completely lived up to his name. He. was. everywhere. We lost him a couple times (or more) and although panic set in only once, he was always close by. It was losing sight of him that would make me nervous -- although who am I kidding -- anyone that would take him would bring him back within minutes. He's nuts ...

Then we had this couple:

I'm serious -- I thought "Honey, you're at a resort aimed at kids. Do you really think that's appropriate??" Her husband had on that Columbia shirt and a speedo - which looked like to me he had on nothing when you were standing behind him. They were the ONLY ones there that had on these kind of suits. I kept telling my friends "They're European, they have to be" .. but I walked past them and heard her tell someone "The last time we were here, blah blah blah" and it was as Southern as me. I will give her credit though - she had a rockin' body and could pull this off ... SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! Wild Child kept saying "I can see huh BUTT, Mama" .... nice.



This was "THE" slide ... actually, the kids played on it for 3 hrs on Friday and another 4 hrs on Saturday - before Big Daddy BEGGED to go home. He was a good sport. He does not handle heat well at all. He did go down a couple slides and the kids were screaming - they loved it!!


And my babies ... who stopped running for 3 secs so I could snap a picture ....


I leave you with this .... the madness that happened at 10:45 AM and 4:45 PM every day. Luckily, our kids got to take part in this twice ....

Incredible Giveaway ......

I normally don't enter giveaways -- I NEVER win ... EVER.

Big Daddy works at the country station here in town, so I can't even 'call in to win' there .. NOT ELIGIBLE. I can't even CASH IN MY POINTS to get tickets to any of the concerts (Oh, but I can walk backstage ... so that makes up for it).

ANYWAY ~

Tale of a Southern Belle is having a 200th post giveaway .... and it's SICK. It's one of the most generous giveaways I've ever seen ... so head on over and put in your entry. I would REALLY like to keep this one for myself, to up my chances, but it's too good not to share!!

I stumbled across her blog a few months ago and have been faithfully reading ever since ... anything SOUTHERN is for me.

Good Luck, Y'all