June-June

My dad called after church today with some sad, unexpected news. My grandaddy (June-June as everyone called him) passed away this morning. It is bittersweet. We are rejoicing that he is with Jesus, but sad that he is gone.



I am especially sad for my grandmother Mema. She has been in an assisted living facility for almost 2 years and dementia is slowly robbing her of her mind and memory. It breaks my heart to think that she will not be able to see him every single day as she has over the past 68 years that they have been married. But he was 90 years old and lived a very full life. He loved his 3 children, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren. And for that, we are so thankful.




Please pray for my mom and her siblings and for my Mema, as we are not quite sure how she will process this. But God is good and He is sovereign, and knowing that they will be reunited in Heaven brings great peace.





I hope Steve and I will be married for 68 years! My grandparents are an inspiration for sure!

We took a little trip

We took a little day trip to Auburn last weekend. The first trip for the girls and a trip down Memory Lane for Steve and me.



We packed like we were leaving for a week.



Taking care of the necessities along the way...





When we got into town we stopped for lunch at Niffer's. (Not my all time favorite restaurant from college but kid-friendly and good food) It's a good thing we went straight there because we experienced the 3rd case of "car sickness" with Anna Clare (first in the mountains and then on the way to Tuscaloosa last fall) and made it to the restroom just in time. Bless her. So pitiful :(



Then we headed out to show the girls some of our old favorites.

Grand National...the golf course where Steve and I met.



A little play time on the driving range



Steve's garage apartment where he lived while working in Auburn (His was the one in the back, also known as "the palace" because it was so incredibly fancy)


Told them that Daddy kissed Mommy for the first time standing in that driveway. Anna Clare's response, "Ewwwwwwwwww!"

Next up, some of the places I lived during my college years




Alpha Gam dorm - had such a great time living in that 3rd floor suite on the end


Loved this little duplex on Gay Street where we could walk down to Amsterdam Cafe (which was one of my favorite places...turkey wrap anyone?)



Apartment during grad school on Donahue (right next to Momma G's on Magnolia)

Then we drove around campus (Owen kept asking, "When are we gonna get to camp?")




We parked downtown and walked to Toomer's Corner to see first hand the sad state of the Toomer's Oaks.







And then, of course, headed across the street for a visit to Toomer's Drugstore










Finished off with some Chill yogurt (except for Owen who inhaled a Blue Bell cone at the drugstore)



And then all got naps on the way home, including Steve






Just Kidding



It was such a fun trip with lots of great memories, and I'm so glad we got the chance to go! War Eagle!

Valentine's Day

Making Valentine's with GG...










My sweet parents brought me flowers Sunday night. Tulips are my favorite!




A surprise pedicure from Steve the girls!





I made Steve a strawberry cake. This is so not a joke. I decided at the last minute to poke holes in it and pour sweetened condensed milk over it (because he LOVES sweetened condensed milk and could eat it out of the can) and though I have done this with many a "pyrex" cake, the combination of this cake and the holes and the milk and the cream cheese frosting = complete come apart.



Obviously my crew is not into presentation, thank goodness.



Steve's surprise for the girls



Daddy/Daughter backyard camp-out coming soon!

Proud of this girl!

If you know how much of an issue we've had with Owen and her teeth brushing you will be proud of her too! She despises brushing her teeth...screams, cries, you name it. We have tried everything and while it has gotten better, I was dreading our trip to the dentist this morning. She did GREAT! (And so did her sister, who took this picture with my cell phone, but I knew she would:) Their hygienist is excellent and so incredibly patient and child-friendly. Go Owen and your clean teeth!

Also, I started this blog exactly three years ago today. I had no idea how long I would stick with it but so far so good. The girls have changed so much since my first post and I love going back and reading old posts and looking at pictures. Happy Birthday Blog and Happy Monday!

How's this for completely random?

Steve and I had a hot date a few weeks ago with some friends and my sister snapped this before we left. We had the best time! A delicious dinner and even better fun and conversation! I laughed until I cried.

Speaking of dates, I completely forgot to report on my hunting date with my husband. (HOORAY for February! We are seeing a whole lot more of him and that's the way I like it!)


I took this with my cell phone. See the deer? That's his decoy. We call him Taylor. He can be spotted in our backyard on any given afternoon. We did see two yearling (Is that the right word? Is it supposed to be plural? As you can see I am quite the deer expert. I will just go with it because Steve is not here for me to ask and I don't think I will call him at work with that question). It was extremely peaceful and beautiful and I can totally see the appeal of escaping the chaos of 3 drama queens the quiet.


He also surprised me by bringing along some red wine and cheese which I thought was awfully sweet and romantic. And since I was not handling any firearms, I enjoyed the picnic:)



Completely busted her wedged between some furniture hiding out while scarfing down ice cream.


Check out that getup! Doing her laundry just about sends me over the edge. I do not think there is another child on the planet that changes clothes so many times a day. I am contemplating putting a lock on the outside of her room to keep her out of there! :)

She told me the other day that her nails needed trimming. Now let me go ahead and confess that Steve has always trimmed the girls' nails. Always. Like since birth. Something about putting clippers to those thin newborn nails terrified me so he started doing it then and has always just done it. So when she told me they needed trimming, I told her to bring me the clippers. She turned to go get them, stopped dead in her tracks, and said "Are you allowed to do that?" I laughed so hard for the longest time.



Last year Anna Clare and I went to see Annie at the Fox Theater. It was great! She is thrilled to be participating in her school's production of "Annie" this spring. She is in the orphan chorus and is so excited! And one of my former students was cast as Annie and she will be great! We are really looking forward to the show.

Three more things to wrap up the randomness...

1. I am doing a boot camp twice a week. It's pretty much an hour of torture and I wake up to all different kinds of soreness. But it feels so good when it's over.

2. Steve asked me before Christmas to pick up some blades for his razor. I couldn't find the right ones and was fairly certain they didn't make that particular kind anymore. He informed that he wasn't sure he could switch to a new razor because he had had that one since high school. The SAME razor for TWENTY years! I have never heard of such! So I bought him an electric razor for Christmas (exciting, right?) and he loves it.

3. And last but not least I am happy to report that the girls are over the flu and went back to school today. I also think we may have had the 2 mildest cases known to man. Praise the Lord!!!

Stay warm and healthy!