officially...

THIRTY!

My Husband...did not want this day to come. 

He thought he would be "old"...

(thanks dear, considering I have been thirty for 2 years now, I appreciate you reinforcing the "OLD" factor)  

I attempted to surprise him with Friends, Food and Cake!

(the cake tasted MUCH better than it LOOKED...Weird Banner)

He finally allowed me to take this picture...I have 15 of him avoiding not looking at the camera, and then I have this one. He sure is handsome, and I think he looks FABULOUS for THIRTY!!!

His friends (Twan and Mc...names changed to protect the "UNDER 30") really surprised him with this Banjo. 
(this is the first "at the moment" shot I have ever captured, it is priceless)

He has been wanting one for Y-E-A-R-S, but would not get one...
he claims he cannot play (fib, he can play anything).


I think I have a lot of Banjo listening in my future...no worries, I am sure it will be fabulous!

Happy Birthday to my Godly, Wonderful, Loving, Funny, Handsome, Talented,
Thirty Year Old!

Where have we been?!?!?!

First...I am sorry we have been away for so long. We have been busy around our house and then with Football...it is just go, go, go!  However, during this fun we did manage to pick up our photos from our 2yr photo shoot.  Here are just a few for you to enjoy!

They have officially been back in school for 7 weeks and we are LOVING it!! We have super great teachers that really love the kiddos and teach them lots of songs.  We know the alphabet and all the sounds of the letters (this they learned from the Leap Frog Letter Factory), we can sing the Alabama Fight song, and we know the Fifty States song. We know our shapes and colors and we still eat veggies!  Mama is completely biased and thinks they are the smartest 2yr olds. We are even helping in the kitchen with setting the table for dinner...

They are still sleeping in our cribs...I think, we will be in twin beds by CHRISTmas.  Definitely need to plan around a holiday so, we can have the time to loose a little sleep if necessary. I have been contemplating some of the shared spaces ideas and think we will have to make up our own.

Please know that all of our followers have been missed and we promise not to stay away so long in the future.  In fact, check back later this week...we are building a Scarecrow for the yard this weekend! 

Two plus One equals FUN!!!

Maggie and James are officially 25 months (2years plus 1 month) and they are SO MUCH FUN!!! They are into everything (which I love...to an extent), they love to talk (and they are so funny), they perform (Maggie loves to sing the Happy Birthday song), they are clumsy, EXTREMELY loving, and SIMPLY THE BEST (but I could be a bit biased).

2 year measurements:

Maggie: 35" and 29lbs

James: 35.5" and 28.4lbs

James fell on Friday...bonked his noggin and scraped his face.  He was not a happy camper when it happened, but we have been keeping it clean and doctoring it after bath, so hopefully no scarring. He is a tough little man, he only cried a few minutes and even let our Neighbor (a Pediatric Nurse) check him out. 

If you remember from their birthday preparation, we decided as an in lieu for gifts, we were accepting donations for a local Library.  This was a HUGE success!! We were able to donate 50+ books to the children's area of a local library. James and Maggie were so great, they were showing the director all of the books we brought and were very comfortable leaving them and not looking back.

Such an amazing gift to give to others...

where were you?...

To anyone reading,

I had just started a new job and oddly my computer was the only one in our office able to get live streaming video. It was erie...I never understood who could have so much hate. Then the more I listened the more I realized I lived in a bubble. I never watched the news (still don't), I rarely listen to the radio (probably less now), and I always assumed that if something bad were to happen, someone would clue me in (still feel this way).  That DAY...that DAY will always be alive in my heart and eyes, because I cried like I have never cried before-I cried for people who were missing, who were hurt, who had died, who had lost someone, for the kids without parents, for the parents without kids, for the someone missing their other one... That DAY will always be a sad day because someone hated so much...

one day, CHRIST will reign and we will never experience hate like that again!

Thank you to all of our soldiers fighting...Thank you to the families who have lost for my freedom, I appreciate your sacrifice, it does not go unnoticed!!

Much Love,

Free & Easy...Mega Reward

HELP Kids!!! That is one (of the many) values I want to enstill in James and Maggie. We pray for kids; kids who hurt, kids who are sick, kids who are alone...KIDS in general. Jesus loves the little CHILDREN...all the CHILDREN of the world. 

SO...here is the free and easy part. http://www.refresheverything.com/armswideopenchildhoodcancerfoundation

Click this link and VOTE...vote to save kids, vote to have Pepsi donate money to HELP KIDS!!!

We are friends with this KID...we think he is great, and want to help him!! Please vote...

many ADVANCED thanks!!!

Birthday Party Overload...

James and Maggie celebrated their 2nd Birthday with a Pool Party! They invited their friends and had a Splashing Good Time!! There was a total of 14 kids splished and splashed until they were completely waterlogged. After the swimming and fun, we enjoyed Papa John's pizza and Birthday Cake!

James was in and out of the pool...A LOT!

Maggie says, "watch me, I go jump"!!

Beautiful and YUMMY Cakes!!

Some of our friends...there were three sets of twins at the party!!!

Make a wish and blow out the candles!

He huffed and he puffed and still needed help with the candles...maybe next year!

No trouble digging into that yummy goodness...

Fast forward to Sunday...when we did it all over again! This time it was family, bar-b-que and tons of fun!

Can you say hello presents...

again there was cake...

Tricycles...

Next year we will do it all again...see you there!

Fun things to do when you turn TWO!!!

 Maggie and James are officially TWO as of 4:39 and 4:40 pm...  

So, what do you do...when you turn TWO???

First- We went to breakfast at the Ranch House for a good Big Breakfast. We ate a peach, banana, grits, eggs, bacon, hash browns and sausage all served with a glass of MILK.  We really enjoyed ourselves and think we will return there next year (it is almost a tradition since that is where we went when we turned 1).

Second- We went to have our 2 year pictures made. We did pretty good, except the camera and flash were having technical difficulties...but we finally got some pictures mama can be proud of. We're sure she will post them once they come back...in a week or so.

Third- We went to the ZOO!! We love animals and felt we were ready to venture to the wild. We really liked the animals, not to mention the construction. We were able to see lots of birds, gorilla, Rhinoceros, Flamingos, Giraffes, and don't forget the Big Trucks! After the sweltering heat and all the detours...we finally saw it all and were ready to go home.

Fourth- CAKE!!! We have to have cake, and so we talked Mama into stopping at Edgar's for a few cupcakes...

Fifth- we posed with Dada for our annual picture...we think we're getting to big, but Dada doesn't mind, in fact we think he enjoys it just as much as we do!

 2years old

 1year old

Actual Birth Day