A Career in Interior Design?

This is what happens when I am stuck at home weekend after weekend....I clean and rearrange the furniture. Whoa...watch out HGTV!

Pumpkin Carving

Usually this is Lee's job....but since he is not home much, I had to do the duty this year. We have stopped by Aldi twice awaiting the new shipment of pumpkins and just found out that they are not getting any more this season. What a bummer! So instead of the $2.49 price at Aldi, I was forced to stop at Publix and pay over $5 for our chosen pumpkin. It pays to shop early, right! Sarah picked out our template online and the garage became the place of our masterpiece. Ok...Sarah was more interested in playing with the 'guts' and Ben could have cared less---he was playing like the janitor and sweeping with the broom. We all were quiet impressed with the results of our jack-o-lantern. Hope dad agrees!

Had to post this pic of Ben grabbing the cat's tail....notice how fast Shadow is moving!!! HaHa!! Poor kitty!

My First Haircut

Pictures of my first haircut.

Before

During...Notice Thumb!!

After

Since Sarah is in LA with grandparents, I took Ben to have his picture made. Being the second child, I know firsthand how my parents have all these pics of my sister...THE FIRSTBORN... and then all the pics--which aren't many--of me have my sister in the SAME picture....I never understood that!!! Until now, of course!!! Wow, with life so crazy, it is good just to take a picture every now and then---who cares who is in the picture!!! :o) And to make the day even sweeter, I had a coupon for a free package, so I PAID NOTHING for these pictures!!! Gotta love The Picture People, right!!
If you look closely at Ben's left shoulder, you will notice that the fabric is pulling and the button is about to pop off. Well, I will just say to my defense that this outfit fit just fine two Sundays ago when he wore it to church!! Note to self....this is the last time he will get to wear this outfit!!! I about freaked out when I went to put this outfit on him and it did not fit!!! You can only imagine what was going through my mind at that time. True to the nickname that Lee calls him...BOB...Big Ole Boy!!

Happy Birthday to...ME!

Let's be honest. There is a time in life when you reach a certain age that birthdays just become another day, right? Well, that is what I thought. Until...my new friend Lenee, who has been watching my kids on Tuesday nights so I can go to a Bible Study, chatted it up with her friend (and mine too) April that it was my birthday. That was all it took...My quiet evening at home was transformed in to a small party of three!!! My dear friends April and Leigh showed up at my house after I put Ben down (Sarah is at MeMe's in LA) with Five Guys burgers and Brusters ice cream. We had the best time just sitting around the table, enjoying one another's company. With Lee in St. Louis and Sarah in LA, I found myself surrounded by friends who cared about my not spending the evening alone. Later that evening I found myself reflecting on the One who made my birthday even possible. It was not a mistake that 34 years ago I was born in to a loving family. He has a special plan for me, and it is my prayer that I may strive to be more and more like Him as each day passes.

Water Logged

This weekend we went swimming at my cousin's house in Alpharetta and had a blast. They have such a beautiful pool. Sarah practiced and practiced her swimming skills. Even Ben loved it!! He liked for Lee to throw him up in the air and then he would go under. He would pop his head back up just grinning and laughing! They swam so hard that I thought that I would never get them full afterwards!! Both just kept eating and eating!

Finally Updating!!

Ok....so it has been awhile since the last post...sorry! Just having fun with the fam. We have been very busy. On Easter break, the kids and I went to LA. Dad did not get off so we went without him. Our friends Antonio and Juliana with their kids Violet and Gabi made the trip with us. All seven of us crammed in a mini van for 10 hours....wow!!! But we all had fun!! The kids had a great time visiting Grandma and Grandpa.
Then it was the end of school---Sarah's first year flew by. It was amazing to see her advancements in reading and math!! She enjoyed kindergarten but is glad to be out for the summer. She is going to the Methodist Church's Summer Camp again this year and is so excited! Juliana will keep Ben.



We just got back from Myrtle Beach! We--my mom, dad, sister and her two boys, me and my two kids....no husbands, except for my dad!!! Lee was cramming for Step 2 Boards and Brian had to work. We still had fun in the sun without them! Hopefully we have started a family tradition of taking a vacation together. The kids loved it!!! And the adults survived, too!!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers....Lee starts 'The Tour de Lee' in July with 4 wk rotations starting in St. Louis, MO then hopefully Augusta at the Medical College of GA in August (home on weekends!!!!), then to Michigan and possibly Ohio. He is still uncertain where he goes October through December, but most likely the rotations will be out of town. I am just really nervous about Daddy's Little Girl, Sarah. She did not handle it very well when Lee had to do some rotations out of town but came home on the weekend. These rotations will be a little tougher on the fam!!

Until next time...I will try to do better with the posting!!!

Happy Birthday Ben

On Tuesday, March 17, our precious Ben will turn ONE! Wow, how time flies. It seems just like yesterday that we were preparing for his entrance. He has truly blessed our family. It is so rewarding to see the way Sarah looks into his eyes with such love and adoration. And the way Ben looks back at her with a wide grin on his face, as if to say, "I love you, too!"

My parents came in on Friday night from LA to celebrate his birthday. We went to O'Charley's to celebrate...of course an Irish restaurant to celebrate our St. Patty's Day baby!! I'm not sure that my parents understood the significance...my dad only knew that it was NOT the Golden Corral!!! :o) On Saturday, we had a small birthday party for Ben. He loved the cake....I am still getting icing out of his nose!! Happy Birthday Ben!

Oh, how I love thee...let me count the ways!

So I really know that Lee loves me! Ok, I have two beautiful children to remind me, but I just have to share this. I bought a used treadmill from my friend, Ms. Leigh. I say "used" very loosely....it still had the price tag attached to it!!!! This fancy treadmill was put together by professionals in her bedroom as part of her purchase price. Of course, when I agreed to buy it, I just knew that my sweet, handy husband would not have a problem at all getting it out of her bedroom and placed right where I wanted it at my home. WELL....let's just say that it was a little more difficult than I expected. It would not fit through the door frame and only weighed a TON....he ended up spending 4 hours taking this thing apart! I won't mention that we were doing this on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon since we didn't have church that night. But we now have it up and running. Thanks Lee! I love it!!!! :o)

Where's Ben?

This is where I found Ben last night....in the shower!! I was in the bedroom doing laundry, Sarah and Ben were on the floor playing right next to me, and Lee was in the dining room on the computer. Next thing I knew, Ben had crawled into the bathroom---which is not unusual. He has a box of toys that he plays with in the mornings as we all are getting dressed. I heard him playing with those toys and jabbering away. All of a sudden, things got really quiet. I peeked my head around the corner into the bathroom...NO BEN. I looked in our closet...NO BEN. I walked over to the bathtub, thinking "Oh, no...he's crawled over in the tub." Then I heard a whimper, but NO BEN!!! I moved the curtain back on the shower...THERE'S BEN...looking up just grinning from ear to ear.

Weekend of Excitement

Last weekend, my parents visited from LA and brought my 5 yr old nephew Ethan with them. What FUN! Sarah had a blast. We celebrated Sarah's birthday AGAIN :) The kids helped me make ANOTHER cookie cake.

Since my dad's favorite place to eat when he comes to visit is the Golden Corral, they took Sarah there for her birthday dinner....and the waiters even sang to her. She said, "How did they know my name?"
The kids had a great time playing outside (after the rain) on the swing set and riding bikes.

Saturday night, Lee and I thought that since we would enjoy seeing the Bodies exhibit, so would everyone else....right?

WRONG! Note to self, do NOT bring children to this again. We had purchased our tickets ahead of time online and still had to stand in line over an hour and a half. And everyone thought it was boring, except Lee and myself!! Well, I take that back...Sarah showed some interest...maybe there's hope for another science lover in our family!!! Ethan kept saying, "I am ready to go!" Over and over, I might add. My parents had the same look on their faces but polite enough not to say it!!! :) And Ben was cheerful as ever, just laughing and talking to everyone in line. NIGHTMARE

Happy Birthday

On February 10, Sarah turned 6! She invited her special friend, Violet, and her family over for dinner. The menu consisted of roast beef, potatoes and carrots (in the crock pot, of course!!) and salad. For dessert, we had a cookie cake, which Sarah helpled me make the night before, and ice cream. We had a great evening!

This is at Sarah's 3rd birthday. Wow how time flies!!!

Couldn't leave out Baby Ben....always so happy! (Thankfully)

Father Daughter Dance

Saturday night, Sarah had her first dance. Yes, I know she is just in kindergarten but she took her dad as her date!! Lee and Sarah had a great time together at her school.

Ben kept me company at home, all smiles as you can see (along with all the mess on his shirt....and yes, we do have bibs but just did not use one this time!!!).

Sleep Over

Sarah and Violet have become great friends. They were in the same Pre-K class at Legacy and now go to the same elementary school. Violet has a sister named Gabi that is one month older than Ben. Our families get together all the time and share dinner and play games. Violet's mom, Juliana, stays at home during the day to keep Gabi. Starting in March, Ben will start going to their home for childcare and Sarah will ride the bus to and from their house. We feel very blessed to have them in our lives.

This past weekend Violet had a sleep over at our house. The girls wanted to stay up past midnight....then Sarah asked, "When is midnight?" They both were asking to go to bed around 9:30 at the end of their movie!! On Saturday, they painted our driveway.....thankfully with washable paint, because not only did the driveway get painted, but also part of our gutter on the house, the trunk of one of our trees, the garbage can, and one of my flowerpots!!!! I was very excited to see it rain today!

Science Fair

Sarah won first place at her school's science fair in the biochemistry category! She did an experiment on osmosis by putting raisins in water. She did a great job, but just a word of advice...the school gives you three months for a reason to get this project done! Do NOT wait to the last minute and have a kindergarten try to write the results of her project in one night. WOW....it took only an HOUR to write two sentences!!! I thought I was going to pull my hair out!!! Of course, Dad stepped in and calmly took over. Thanks, Dad!! :)

Happy Holidays

We had a great holiday! It was especially fun watching Sarah and Ben open their presents at Christmas. Even though things were busy, we did not forget the real meaning of Christmas and reflected on the most precious gift of Jesus. As we welcome another year, we pause to think about the many things we are blessed with in life. Our families, our children, my job, Lee in medical school, our health...just to name a few!! So often we take the little things in life for granted. May 2009 bring more opportunities to be more thankful for these blessings in our life.