The Bookers

a post i never posted

2012-02-01T16:07:00.003-06:00

below is a blog post i started this past SUMMER, in 2011.
[you know how God can be pretty persistent when He wants your attention on something? i find He's getting especially persistent when He starts using mutliple media :) It starts with a thought. but it's easy to ignore a "thought" or rationalize that it might have been my idea not God's. then i'll hear something on the radio or that very day's devotion will be on the subject, then i KNOW it was God's idea all along, and i have to smile because He loves me enough to orchestrate these circumstances.
so that brings us to today. i'll just be real. i love the internet- shopping, pinterest, blogs, facebook, googlin' stuff- i love it. and i wake up about 20-40 minutes before my children sometimes less, but i will hop on my laptop and read a few blogs i like or look at things in that time. but last fall [that would be fall 2010] i first had the thought that maybe i should give that precious time to God. it wasn't that i didn't have quiet time, i do my quiet time at nap time because it's longer. so i thought, no i'll keep doing what i want to do. but the thought would come again, and again and i would enjoy my computer time less and less because i felt like i was cheating God so to speak. a couple of mornings i did read my Bible and pray, but i never stuck with it, rationalizing that i was having quiet time later. well, i had the thought this morning so i got up and i read my Bible and prayed a little. later i saw the title for a daily devotion i get via email by nancy leigh demoss. it said "starting your day with God" and i got it. i laughed to myself and said, well that does it, from now on i'm starting my day with God
i don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the internet or the things i look at, but God is asking me to give Him the firstfruits of my day. almost as a safeguard, because sometimes we have company or i have tasks around the house that have to be done right then and quiet time might get drastically reduced or squeezed out altogether.]
PRESENT DAY: so how's that going you might ask? well...i'm sad to say i again did not stick with it. i continued my 'mid-day quiet time' but did not consistently give God the firstfruits of my day. then monday i decided i would. and then everything went wrong. not wrong bad, just wrong not how i planned it. but i just thought to myself, that is ok. this day is covered in prayer and i'm not going to worry about it or let the devil steal my joy. and all day i felt confident in my choices and actions because i consulted the Acient of Days before i started my day. now i'm hoping since its 'out there' in blogland that it will make me accountable and i'll be disciplined in my early morning prayer. what do i pray? i'm glad you asked. right now, i simply bow my knee to the One True God and thank Him for His son Jesus. I thank Jesus for loving me. i ask that he order my day according to His plan (psalm 90:12) and help me show Jesus to others. i also pray for healing for friends and loved ones.
i feel almost hypocritical even typing this because i fail every day. every day it seems i blow it one way or another. but that's the beauty of serving a God who keeps no record of wrong. every day i get to start fresh.
for some reason i'm having a hard time hitting "publish post" for fear of sounding pious or like i've got it all figured out because the Lord knows that couldn't be more false, i guess my hope is, that if anyone reading this has wished they had time for prayer or felt they didn't know where or how to start, then just know i don't either! i am just learning day by day and we can do it together! it's a discipline just like exercise or anything else that will eventually produce positive results. God will bless the time we give Him and we'll never regret a moment spent honoring Him.

a 2012 update

2012-02-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

hello friends! it was pointed out to me by a dear friend that it had been quite a while since i updated our blog. frankly i was thankful that someone besides my parents read it! we had a great Christmas, i just don't really have great pictures to show for it.

2 friends emailed me these pictures from william's class Christmas party. william loves his little friends at school!

this is with my phone before church a couple of weeks ago. mary martin wanted to take her Bible to 'worship' and i certainly didn't want to discourage that even though she can't read. :) i did get a camera for Christmas, so hopefully i can add some better pictures soon! you can see our new rug in this picture, we got it right before Christmas. it not only looks pretty, but it keeps the sofa from sliding backward when you 'flop' on it. :)
in other news, william is 2.5 and is showing little to no interest in potty training. but is talking up a storm and i can understand most of it! what i can't understand his sister usually can. she is getting so grown up and will be going to "real" kindergarten next year. which excites and scares me.
i began a new beth moore study in january on james, called "James: Mercy Triumphs" it is really good so far. she encouraged participants to memorize the entire book of james! i personally am not doing this, but i am trying to memorize the "addresses" of verses i already knew and learning by heart (not paraphrase) other familiar verses. so that's about it for now...happy 2012, i hope your new year is off to a great start!

Great Big God

2011-12-16T06:22:00.000-06:00

in late november the 4 and 5 year olds did a little play called "Great Big God" on wednesday night at church. it was So sweet. and mary martin did great :) we were so proud of her.

it was about noah's ark and her favorite song was about the rain and thunder.

william's little school class had their thanksgiving feast and it was the 1st school party william had that he actually knew what was going on.

one night when i was at choir practice george robert took these pictures of b and bustercat being sweet to each other. it does my heart good.

they do so love each other. don't get me wrong, they yell at one another and aggrevate each other on purpose a lot, too, but i'm so glad they have each other. does anyone notice that we no longer have the "banana boat!?!" our new sofa came in late september.

little red + big bad

2011-11-22T18:51:00.000-06:00

we had a superfun halloween. little red riding hood and the big bad wolf both looked very cute and loved their costumes.

we went on the 2nd annual brown family hayride (alison is holding the camera and her girls anna cate and abby are the ladybugs) we also had dora and little orphan annie along for the ride! we got to cover lots of ground and the kids loved it.

this is william's friend collier. if these 2 were in a beauty contest for boys, good luck pickin' a winner. ;) there are many things these 2 will likely do in the future but be in a beauty pageant is not one of them. i'm just trying to make a point about their cuteness. anywho...happy halloween!

a gentle & quiet spirit

2011-10-27T12:21:00.004-05:00

this topic has always been troubling to me because anyone who knows me knows i am not "quiet." i am gentle- most of the time- but i know those 2 traits are pleasing to God and it troubled me that i didn't feel i was quiet. i thought, does this mean i can't joke and be funny anymore? that's how God apparently made me, so am i to make myself into a different person? i'm not "loud" per se, just talkative and sociable ...so i beat myself up and questioned things for a couple of weeks because i'm not quiet and gentle. then i came across a tweet from revive our hearts that said this:

Mary Kassian says, "Quietness has more to do with the state of our hearts than the quantity and volume of our words (although the one definitely influences the other). Even women who are gregarious, extroverted, and sociable can achieve a calm, tranquil spirit."

God is everywhere and even used social media to answer a question for me. it was silly to think He'd want me to change fundamental personality traits. He wanted me to be aware of the state of my heart: worrying and fretting, not laughing or talking. the quiet is not necessarily related to volume, but calmness. then i thought about her statement that "the one definitely influences the other" and i thought about times when i was worrying and fretting over something..what did i do? i talked to people about it. i complained and the quantity of my words increased! definitely something for me to think about and be aware of. i wanted to share in case anyone else ever wondered how they could be a chatterbox with a queit spirit. :)

work

2011-10-23T07:58:00.000-05:00

william has been doing a lot of work on the farm this fall. he is working on restoring a 1960's international harvester lawn tractor with his daddy that he calls "ninnam tacta"

george robert let him play with the air compressor which makes a really loud PSHHHHHHH sound when you mash the button, but BC loved it. he wears that yellow/green john deere tool belt with the hat and boots every day. people ask, "aw, little buddy, are you dressed up like a farmer?" and i'm like, "no he is a farmer."

he was so proud to be helping like a big boy. this was also the weekend he became obsessed with those particualr pajamas. (dog damas) he wants to wear them all day every day. and most of the time i don't fight that battle. (won' wee dog!) i put my foot down on sundays and most preschool days, mainly because we have pumpkin jonjons and fall clothes that need to be worn.

who needs a playground when your papa has a SCOOOOOP! (read in the same voice that buddy elf says "SAAANTA" on ELF) he says it with that excitement every time.

it's cotton harvesting time and mm decided this year that playing in the cotton might be fun. she had been a little nervous in previous years. william wouldn't hear of getting in there. he rode the ferris wheel at the fair, but was afraid to bounce around in some cotton...go figure.

mary martin had been the one talking about riding the ferris wheel since this summer, but once she saw it, she chickened out. buster on the other hand heard the words "ferris wheel" and climbed right up there.

we're glad that william's grandmother, juju, isn't afraid of heights, because both william's parents definitely are. she said he didn't love it, but he didn't cry. happy fall everyone!

mary martin's pony party!

2011-09-29T06:53:00.001-05:00

precious invite by emily at 29:11 creations. you can find her on facebook! that is actually mary martin's silhouette.

the birthday girl in her new pony shirt dede surprised her with and rockin' the best hand-me-down ever...purple cowgirl boots!!

i used our storage house as the backdrop because it kind of looks like a barn, it even has the little rooster on top.

pony pops that i made with a mold and candy melts (super easy!), ruffle cake and cupcakes by dreamcakes, and pink popcorn made by drizzling the leftover candy melts on the popcorn.

i made the happy birthday cake banner with a pack of letters from michaels, hot glue, ribbon and wire.

the favors were the cowgirl hats and goodie bags with my little pony socks from target's $1 bin and a purple whirly pop and pink rock candy. mom and i did the flowers. i went to the flower wholesaler and got the purple and pink flowers, some baby's breath and greenery and it made a ton of arrangements.

the birthday girl and peanut the pony

william and blackjack the pony

he LOVED the ponies. he would be pretty much inconsolable when we made him get off so other kids could have a turn.

singing to the birthday girl! the M's in the background are cupcake liners hot glued on cardboard M's i cut out of boxes.

thanks to my sweet friend jamie lane who gave me my stella & dot earrings! :)

william and his buddy abby brown.

mm checking out her sweet presents

uncle scott trying to console bustercat

the birthday girl had a GREAT time at her pink and purple pony party. thanks to everyone who came!! i did decide that this would be my last "big" party to do for her. next year we'll have a friend or 2 over or go somewhere. it is so fun to plan the parties but then when i start executing all the ideas i have i end up spending days making things, not to mention the money we'd save :) william wants a "weedy" party (woody..from toy story) for his 3rd birthday, so it looks like we'll be having mrs. ruby and peanut and blackjack back again.

these boots are made for walkin'...on the plains

2011-09-13T11:25:00.002-05:00

william walking as fast as he can to get to tiger walk.

whew. we made it.

trooper! william liked giving the players high 5's for a little while then he got a little shy

mm starstruck by the tiger pause

they were SO sweet to her

here we are in the giant paw (which mm LOVES to stand in) hey

look, there's a new sign on the stadium! ;)

ahhh, the glory days. :) that is for a few of my friends

who heard me reference this season many times

william wore his boots the whole day, he got quite a bit of attention too. his daddy said it was too bad he didn't need to pick up any chicks because william was a total babe magnet. i don't think twice about the boots anymore since he has worn them literally every day for about 8 months. he had a great 1st visit to auburn and b had a great 2nd visit. war eagle!

schooltime again

2011-08-18T10:41:00.000-05:00

mm and ww started a new preschool year on monday. they both did great and are having a ball in their new classes. mary martin is going 5 days a week now, and william still goes 3.

mary martin is into ponies right now and LOVES her new pony lunch box.

she started ballet on wednesday, and we are still very neutral on ballet/tap...she just doesn't love it..likes but not loves. however we started gymnastics on tuesday, and she LOVED it! she was so excited and has talked about it non-stop. so we're going to give ballet/tap a few more weeks or maybe until Christmas and if we're still "meh" we're going to drop it. gymnastics pictures coming soon.

i can't think of anything cuter than a little girl all dolled up in ballet clothes, but i can think of things to do with $600/year instead of lessons we don't love. ;)

our last week of summer, we tried to keep busy. painting...

playing outside when it wasn't too hot...

painting the fence...he dips the fly swatter in the fountain and "paints" the fence with water

and helping daddy in the yard. we're glad to be back into a routine and are having fun playing with friends. this is mm's last preschool year...BIG girl school next year!!

disco bunny

2011-07-27T08:22:00.001-05:00

mary martin ran downstairs yesterday sportin' my tap recital outfit circa 1984 saying, "i'm disco bunny!" william wasn't far behind apparently as mr. t.

he doesn't care what she makes him wear as long as he's in the thick of things. he traded his crown for his pie-chuck hat pretty quickly, though. for those who aren't fluent in william, pie-chuck is firetruck ;)

1st dance recital

2011-07-20T19:37:00.000-05:00

beach pictures

2011-07-15T15:25:00.001-05:00

in may, my bff of many years and i took a little trip to the beach with just the boys. braxton liked the beach right away, but william had to warm up.

he ended up loving it, unfortunately elizabeth and i didn't get to visit very much for chasing after them. we still had fun and always make the most of any visit since they live far away.

we went back to the beach last weekend, and i forgot my camera so all i got were these phone pictures. but we had fun, and can't wait to go again!

feathering our nest

2011-06-13T08:29:00.000-05:00

when we moved, all of our existing furniture would literally fit in one room of the new house, so we've been adding a few things here and there. i've been taking my time, living in the spaces to see if i'd like art or photographs, ottoman/no ottoman, etc.. which i hope will keep me from making costly mistakes, such as the banana boat. (our sofa which i will address in the future) about a month ago we got 2 comfy chairs for the family room. then my brother helped me pick 2 pillows and a beautiful alabaster lamp to accessorize. i'm ready to accessorize but i'm learning that in designer world, they will NOT accessorize your space until all furniture is in place. so it still looks pretty sparse in here, but i'm living with it. then hopefully i'll be able to live by the statement that some famous designer made: don't live with anything you don't find to be beautiful or useful.

one of the 2 new chairs, pillows, and the lamp in the background. and for now i've hung 3 black and white pictures of the children over the washstand. that was the 1st antique piece of furniture my mother ever bought. so it is special and will always be in our home somewhere. there's also rug sample on the floor back there that we're thinking about. btw: curtains are also in the future. also, that little metal table was only $70 at a cute store here called @home. that's my kind of end table!

mary martin and william planted these zinnia seeds a while back and BOY have they grown! george robert said they didn't stand a chance because william kept raking and shoveling over them. but thankfully zinnias are hardy and now they're as tall as william! we also have tomatoes back there, so plenty of blt's in our future. and this year i am going to make a tomato pie, i always mean to but never do.

the best 99 cents ever spent. i love the colors. they say if you cut them it encourages new growth but i still am very conservative with my cutting because they look so pretty. that's all for now, we have a fun project in the works for the living room i hope to share soon!

william's tractor party

2011-06-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

for brunch we had bacon and country ham, parmesan grits casserole, homemade biscuits, muffins and sausage balls.

on the dessert table we had: tractor tire pops (made by me, g.r.'s idea) tractor cookies (made by hollie), and a precious tractor cake and cupcakes

the birthday boy didn't love the attention, but he did like having everyone around.

the tractor tires were krispy kreme crullers dipped in chocolate

it was a great party, lots of family and like-family, yummy food and a sweet sweet birthday boy to celebrate!

william's birthday day

2011-05-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

first we started the day with his favorite breakfast...bacon. my dad spent the night with us because he had gone to the AU baseball game with GR, and both kids were super excited that he was there when they woke up. william said (at 7:30) "lets go shug, lets go play outside!" so they did. :) then he, sissy and i ran 2 little party errands and played together. sissy even let him play IN her room WITH her 'stuff'...normally when he gets in the doll high chair she has a fit. that flower baby toy on the table is the "centerpiece" for all mm's tea parties.

then we went to mexican and came home for some cupcakes

walden, wubbzy, birdy-bird, widget, and wubbzy's kickety-kickball

he had a great day and we loved spending it with him. stay tuned for pictures from the tractor party!

sweet william

2011-05-03T16:39:00.003-05:00

my baby will be 2 on may 26th. it is so hard to believe! he has been my snuggly, cuddly baby. i never imagined i would love him like i do. i thought it would be impossible to love anything as much as mary martin, but like my mom says, God just opens your heart and you love them equally. william...what can i say about him? he started out a very mediocre-looking baby (no offense buddy) but has turned into such a handsome wittle fella, we call him eye candy. his sister has taught him to share and it warms my heart as they will share anything they have with one another. lets see...he loves tractors (boom-booms or tattas) tools, "working"- sweeping, mopping, raking, etc, playing outside, animals -dogs and now-nows (cats) and boots. he loves wow wow wubbzy (uzzy) and blues clues (goos gooz) a little bit of elmo and lately he loves thomas (donnits) he loves his donnits books and toys. his other favorite books are called 'trucks' and 'diggers' can you guess whose son he is?!?! i love it though, just how a little boy should be, busy ridin' on something and covered in dirt. he is talking a lot, and we understand most of it ;) he is getting to be a big boy. however he does still love his pacifier..whose days are numbered. he is still a very low-maintainance baby just like he's been since day 1. he's also been remarkably healthy which we thank God for! his nicknames are budders, buster, buster-cat and bubba. i want buster-cat to stick because i think its funny. i also want him to play a sport like football so i can make a big sign that says "git em bustercat" hehe. here's a little photo montage of his year :)

spring sing

2011-04-24T14:31:00.000-05:00

4.12.11

2011-04-24T14:10:00.000-05:00

april 12 we celebrated uncle scott's birthday! mary martin asked what "kind of party" he was having, and i said, "i don't know, maybe you should decide for him!" so she picked scooby doo. every 41 year old's favorite theme. but we made up for that with his (and my) favorite- chocolate ganache cake! we had so much fun and love living close enough to celebrate special days with him. we love you uncle scott!

the pals

2011-04-07T21:19:00.001-05:00

the pals have been playing outside A LOT. and i should know better than to trust the quiet...because this, my friends, is not a rain puddle. buster turned the water hose on and made a little lake.

since the damage was done, i let them enjoy it for the afternoon.

william wears the camo boots rain or shine.

the cool mornings/warm afternoons, and random 40 degree days mixed in with the 75's have confused the b, she dresses for the high and the low...

i looooved this little video of mary martin giving william the animal sound quiz. you have to listen fast at the beginning to catch the "meow" which is my favorite.

the incomparable Christ

2011-04-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

i have just finished this book written in 1952 by j. oswald sanders and it is one of my top 5 books of all time. in the first half, he talks about Jesus' life and infers things given what the Bible tells us and what he knows from study about jewish life in that time. no assertions or embellished details, just things i had never thought of before. such as Jesus' carpentry. He spent His days from the ages of about 12-30 toiling away in a carpenter's shop. "when He was among men He made ploughs, yokes and other farm implements." in His later ministry he aptly used the metaphor of the yoke and plough to illustrate His point. "it is not difficult to imagine that farmers eagerly sought His yokes, for they were 'easy' to use His term and they did not gall the necks of the oxen...there was one shop in nazareth where benches were made to stand on 4 legs and doors open and shut properly- for no second-rate work ever left His bench. near enough was not good enough for our great exemplar"
the second half focuses on His work, from age 30-33 and the last part is called 7 words, and he details the words Jesus spoke from the cross. needless to say, i kept my pencil busy underlining! one other thing that keeps springing to my mind is "He knew how to wield the sword of the Spirit." He constantly used scripture in His replies and especially in His rebukes to satan. He had memorized much of the old testament as a boy. i thought, of course He knew it, He's God! but then i remember, He was also fully man (being made like unto His brethren), so He more than likely memorized it the same way we do. of course He devoted His life to it and bound it to His heart much more perfectly than i ever could. in the last few years i have begun to memorize chunks of scripture, but not enough. i want to be able to "wield the sword of the Spirit" i can't say enough awesome things about this book. in the introduction the author says "it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit who delights to reveal the things of Christ to us, will unveil His glory to those who read this book." i can certainly say that is true for me as many times i would just have to put the book down and offer a prayer of thanksgiving with tear-filled eyes. if you have read it or ever do, please let me know, we can chat about it!

spring cleaning

2011-03-22T07:38:00.000-05:00

first, i LOVE Easter and Easter decorations! they are just so cute :)

this is our small screened porch on the side of our house. we went from garage to no garage (one of homewood's only CONS!) and had nowhere else for the deep freeze. and a deep freeze on the screen porch was just noooot the look i was going for, so i found a picture in BH&G and asked my super talented husband if he could construct a "potting bench" to hide it.....and voila! no deep freeze! it's behind the curtain! and the top is on a hinge so you can access the freezer.

i haven't actually "styled" it out there (nor have i styled the rest of the house, but all in good time)but the bench is so cute and i'm so proud of it and HIM!

this is the front porch "after" ...before it was just empty. i got 8 pieces of wicker in monroeville at the antique store for $120. it looked like the picture below. pretty bad. but for that price i thought i could fix it up. i didn't want to go with stark white, so we decided on the same green as the floor. i re-covered the cushions and mom made the pillows this weekend.

a close up of the before. i had my doubts...

this is when i decided against stark white...and started thinking it may be futile. but now we're all set for lots of outside time this spring and summer!

signs of spring

2011-02-28T16:53:00.000-06:00

one exciting thing about this spring is seeing what blooms in our new yard. the previous owners had done some beautiful landscaping, but by the time we saw the house all the flowers were gone.

i found these snowdrops the other day all by their lonesome by the screened porch.

this little dove has made her nest on our front porch column in the confederate jasmine

i have a green thumb but i am still stumped on this one. we'll call it the surprise plant. i hope its pretty because there are several of these!

one of a few hydrangeas starting to bud. i can't wait for them to bloom! i also can't wait to wear white shorts and cute sandals. but that's for another post. :)

heart day + yard work

2011-02-15T18:17:00.000-06:00

william got a shovel and a rake for valentine's day and they were a big hit. mary martin got a few girly-girl valentines, but they were not as fun as the yard tools on such a beautiful day.

then uncle scott stopped by with cupcakes...also a big hit. (uncle scott AND the cupcakes)

we got lots of mail from grandparents and great-grandparents, and had sweet parties at school. it was a sweet, fun day with my 3 valentines.

merci "coo-coo"

2011-02-11T06:28:00.000-06:00

mr. talkative has really been cracking us up lately. his favorite word is still "no" but he's really starting to take a stab at words even if no one can understand. little did i know he'd been saying "thank you" for a while, i just didn't realize it...thinking back, when i give him his cup or a snack, he'd say "coo-coo"...bless his sweet heart. he also loves to help. yesterday he mopped almost the whole downstairs. (i tried to take the mop, but he cried, so i just followed him around with it) and if he spills something, he will put ev-er-y piece back in the bag. the cutest was at Christmas, he spilled some water on the floor (and himself) and my mom handed him a dish towel intending for him to dry his hands on it, instead, he knelt down and started cleaning the floor. awwww.

we're kind of boring.

2011-02-07T08:42:00.000-06:00

but we always are after Christmas it seems. i always have zero pictures from january and most of february. these are all from my phone. we're still loving our Christmas pj's from wal-mart that were originally $5.00 on sale for $2.50! they were being so quiet the other night and i came in to find them eating sprinkles on the sofa.

we've been stuck inside a lot... one weekend hollie came over and we decided we could re-upholster these 2 chairs. one was just stapling underneath, but the other involved some piping and sewing. which luckily she can do. these were never meant to be in my living room but they will be until i can find what i want. i thought a print would be fun, but scott steered me toward a velvety neutral. hollie laughed when i showed her the fabric i got because i had been saying i wanted a fun ikat or something. i think a modern type fabric on an old chair is so cute...then i opened the bag and it was not only solid, but almost beige. :)

it's nice to have a friend who can do anything.

a different kind of winter wonder

2011-01-22T20:48:00.000-06:00

we wanted to go to glendale SOOO bad, but for one reason or another it was going to end up costing us way more than we were willing to spend, especially with a new house. so we decided to just have friends over and make the best of it.

william and i are ready for the big duck hunt! george robert said he was going to wear his duck hunting clothes since we were playing the ducks...i thought that sounded pretty cute, but i forgot that included the holey green sweat pants.

we had a variety of duck at our "tailgate" (grilled, fried, kebab)

we had tons of food and cute auburn cupcakes along with brownie trifle.

george robert put on mm's head band to make her laugh and then auburn scored, so he wouldn't take it off! then our power went out with 10 seconds left on the clock due to the snow and ice. we were horrified! then we all ran outside and turned the car radios on and heard "the kick is up, and it is good! auburn wins the national championship!!!"

a few thoughts

2011-01-19T16:19:00.000-06:00

i heard this today and it impacted me so much that i went online and listened again and backed it up until i had written word for word the parts i wanted to keep forever. this is from a sermon by alistair begg on the role of women. this is from part b.
"there is no greater task, or responsibility, or privilege offered in the whole world than to make a home."

and here's my favorite: "there is no greater accolade than to be the one who lived your life with a discipleship group consisting of the youngsters in your home." what a neat way to think about the home and the daily routine.

"many a person who has set their mark on the world has been enabled to do so as a result of the homelife from which they emerged."

winter wonder

2011-01-16T19:45:00.000-06:00

this was the scene from our bedroom window for several days

we've finally de-iced and no one broke a limb on our front porch steps. although i came VERY close. and as i was "almost" falling the thing that ran through my mind was, "i hope my neighbor isn't sitting in her sunroom to see this"

Christmastime

2011-01-08T21:19:00.001-06:00

mary martin and i made cookies for santa. we had so much fun, she's really into helping these days. i had SOOO much help taking down all the decorations.

2011-01-08T21:10:00.002-06:00

click to enlarge. above is Christmas Eve fun with our families. william got a tractor from juju and papa

Christmas Day! william loves his train table and mm loves her dress up clothes

here we are playing in the "snow" on Christmas day.

william would stay on this thing all day every day if we'd let him. we hope every one had a merry Christmas and we wish you a happy and healthy new year!!

Christmas card photo shoot

2010-12-23T17:35:00.000-06:00

merry Christmas, look at our feet? come on kids, be cute!

mary martin, show some tooth! william, waaaaay too much tooth. dude, how many teeth do you have?

cut it out kids. not so silly.

i skipped the 20 or so pictures where NO ONE is smiling after i told them not to be silly. the whole operation was about to dissolve into a tear-filled mess, and we got this angelic little shot. awwww. happy Christmas to all our friends and families. thank you dear Jesus for making yourself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. (phil 2:7) so that you could one day take on the cross and pay the price for my sin. i am SO thankful that after the manger and the cross and the temporary grave that "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord- to the glory of God the Father. (phil 2:9-11) hey, speaking of cheering for the winning team (re: my previous post about auburn)...God's team is the only one i should be that excited about and cheer for. His team is the only truly important thing i will ever be involved in. i just wanted to exalt HIM for a minute because i love Him and after all it's HIS birthday :)

goin' to the chapel

2010-12-23T16:53:00.000-06:00

here's mary martin the ~~buckwild~~ flowergirl

i wish this picture was better! this bride and her bridesmaids were all GORGEOUS. i wish i could say the b behaved during the ceremony, but she did not. thanks to jessica, sister of the groom, for wrangling her the best she could. when mm saw that her daddy and i weren't smiling at her anymore, she blew us a kiss, the stinker. :)

here we are sunday after church..mary martin wore this ensemble to the rehearsal. this is another one of my dresses that my mom made and saved. it has Christmas trees embroidered in white on the collar. it now also has both of our names embroidered on it, and hopefully her little girl's name will be on it someday, too. william didn't attend any of the festivities, he's just eye candy. :) when i say i kiss him 10,000 times a day, i am not exaggerating. if she'd let me i'd kiss on her that much too. but she rations them nowadays.

b at the rehearsal dinner. it was a great wedding weekend full of friends and happiness. i hope to get more pictures to share. especially one of mm kissing jarod (the groom) on the cheek all decked out in his dress blues....love a man in uniform :) i hope they don't regret their flowergirl choice after they see the wedding video.

b's program

2010-12-23T16:14:00.001-06:00

they all said in unison "Jesus is the light of the world." st. john 8:12

her class sang 3 songs, and she leaned on the rail for most of them. foreshadowing of how she would behave at the wedding in which she was the flowergirl 3 days later. :)

Old McFun

2010-12-18T06:56:00.001-06:00

i have no trouble getting cute pictures of each child individually, but together...ugh.

at ballet, the parents got to come in and observe class as they danced to Christmas songs! even mary martin's favorite...jingle bells.

you know, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. old mcfun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh. :)

after the parade. they LOOOOOVED the parade.

william's Chrstmas party...screaming because i came in and didn't pick him up immediately.

mm's party...all smiles.

visiting santa! she told him exactly what she wanted: a barbie mariposa dress, a barbie "dancing ball" dress (ballroom dancer) and a flower bracelet. we had to mail him the addendum to the list: barbie mariposa shoes, rainbow beads and a purple unicorn pillow pet. she also told him that william wanted a train table.

we'll be home for Christmas

2010-12-18T06:42:00.001-06:00

i wish i'd taken this picture a week ago when my paper whites weren't droopy :) this the view into the family room, where we have our artificial tree and our stockings.

our live tree in the front room, and our "live" garland made by my brother!

he also made this boxwood garland...it is gorgeous in person. it has these navy blue berries in it...i love it! we are so thankful to finally be in our permanent home! no more boxes. in plenty of time for Christmas!

winning is fun

2010-12-13T14:59:00.002-06:00

i don't really like to do "wordy" blog posts very often. i like to stick with pictures because i figure no one really cares what i have to say. but as any alabama fan can tell you, it's fun when your team wins! we've had a ball watching each game this season and cheering for our team. my husband and i both attended auburn and we love it. not just the football team, either. we.love.auburn. end of story. we love the university, the town, the atmosphere, everything about it. but with winning, comes all "this other stuff" and i'm not here to talk about the alleged controversy. actually i'm not sure if it's winning that brought out all the ugliness or its always been there? i'm talking about how many comments on facebook that people actually type "i hate auburn," or something similar- or say it out loud. why do they hate auburn? have they ever been there? did they attend the university? i can understand not liking a particular coach (ole miss had a reason to have a beef with tubby a few years back) even a player or two, but to just come out and say i hate auburn, or auburn is ___(whatever negative word)... that hurts my feelings and i take it personally. because i went there. i spent 4 of the best years of my life there, and our football team wasn't that great when i was there, but i love 'em when we win and i love 'em when we lose. that is what being a real fan means. you don't just cheer loud when you're winning- any redneck can do that. you cheer your heart out when you're losing, you don't dare leave the stadium, and you stand there and shake that shaker after the time has run out and the scoreboard does not read in your favor. you yell "it's great to be an auburn tiger" because you want your boys to hear it. and because you mean it.

here i am with one of my dearest friends in the world at samford hall. we lived closeby and went on daily walks up to college street past toomer's corner and samford hall. it's so pretty.

here i am with my daddy at the auburn sign on the day i graduated.

and here i am with some of my sorority sisters at the first game of the season my junior year. they all look so pretty, and i look gross, but i love the picture anyway. so when someone says i hate auburn, i take it to heart. because i AM auburn, along with every other person who bleeds orange and blue...."i believe in auburn and love it" war eagle, friends.

she loves him.

2010-12-06T06:39:00.001-06:00

they love to watch veggie tales on my laptop (yay for netflix!). he's more excited that she allowed him to get on her bed with her!

juju got them these precious scarecrow outfits. notice william is eating one of hollie's pumpkin cookies. he LOVES hollie's cookies!

thanksgiving for 2 turkeys

2010-12-03T07:14:00.000-06:00

good green fun

2010-12-03T07:09:00.001-06:00

blog trouble

2010-12-03T07:06:00.001-06:00

i've had trouble uploading photos lately. i've tried 4 or 5 times to post about our recent fun and adventures. when i cllick upload it says server rejected. any ideas? i have tractor pictures, thanksgiving, and new house photos to post! update, i did try to go around blogger, thru picasa with their "blog this" button, and it seems to be working but you can only post 4 pics or a collage. so i still need some help if anyone knows what to do!

heigh-ho

2010-11-03T08:12:00.001-05:00

heigh-ho, it's off to trick-or-treat we go

mary martin and anna cate had BIG fun on the hayride that took us around the neighborhood. i did too!

it didn't take william long to figure out trick-or-treating.

and our dwarf was happy unless he had his beard and hat..which he DID NOT like. he also learned to say trick-or treat!

happy birthday dear lammy

2010-10-23T19:51:00.003-05:00

lammy is mary martin's most favorite lovey. she got him from uncle scott when she was just hours old. he goes everywhere with her and sleeps with her every night. he even sat on top of her isolette when she was in the NICU. mm loves to play "lammy's birthday," i joke that lammy must be 214 years old since he has a birthday several times a week. so when edgar's forgot to make this cake that my mom ordered for my birthday, and realized it 2 months later :) dede said that it could be lammy's birthday cake. mm was so excited!

here is a small pictoral history of lammy- his fleece used to be white as snow. now it's a nice gray. lammy even "followed her to school one day" for show-and-tell. happy birthday lammy!

kitty-cat fair

2010-10-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

this year william got to enjoy the "kitty cat fair!" last year he was only 3 months old and he never made it out of the stroller.

he even wanted to go down the giant slide...he is not afraid of anything!

mary martin is beginning to realize that willam is going to be fun after all

william waved to "sissy" (sounds like c.c. when he says it) every time she circled past...the seatbelts were too loose for him to be able to ride this one.

my 2 candy corn babies. william would have been happy just to get a balloon and go home. he LOVES 'boo' [that's william for balloons]

grandpals

2010-10-15T21:58:00.000-05:00

both of mary martin's grandmothers drove up to be with her for grandparents' day at her school. she was sooo proud to have them there. she was just beaming.

and even though william's "class" didn't participate in grandparents' day, he still got his fair share of the love.

a birdy birthday

2010-09-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

emily made our PRECIOUS invitation. (29:11.blogspot.com)

our party favors: a birdy whistle, gummy worms and a snack for the birdies

our gorgeous cake by pastry arts, and our almost too-cute-to-eat cookies by hollie

the candy table...i made the birdy garland and the canvas

for a 'craft' we decorated milk carton bird houses

william had more fun than anyone...he had no trouble making uncle scott walk around with him :)

mary martin wanted a "birdy" party. she had wanted cinderella for the longest time..then in early august i told her she had to tell me for sure because it was time to start ordering and planning..and she said, no i don't want cinderella, i want a "hummingbird" party. i was thrilled with this change because birds are everywhere right now (she has no idea that they're trendy, she just likes actual birds) we all had a great time and she LOVED her birdy party.

mm goes to the plains

2010-09-16T17:00:00.002-05:00

we had to take a picture in front of samford hall AND mary martin hall

in front of jordan hare

standing between number 48's parents, the paramores. they had a great spot at tiger walk and let her squeeze in since it was her 1st game. he stopped to give his mom and dad a hug. they were SO proud of him at his 1st tiger walk, and he was SO excited to see them among the sea of thousands of screaming fans that it literally made me cry.

cheering at the game with mrs. konie :) this family is precious to all of us. in other exciting bryant news, jarod and elena have asked mary martin to be their flower girl in december! we could not be more excited.

we made it to halftime then we left. but it was a great day.

she loves the statue

2010-09-03T08:46:00.000-05:00

mary martin has been fascinated with "bulkin" (vulcan for you non-alabamians) since we moved. she loves to talk about it every day when she sees it. what is he holding? what's his story? why is he wearing sandals? she hasn't noticed yet that his "skirt" doesn't cover his hiney... we took the elevator to the top (i was the only scared one) and took a quick picture then came down. then we toured through the little museum and got a mini bulkin to bring home.

a lesson

2010-08-21T23:16:00.001-05:00

so...you know when babies reach that stage and people say, "they're into everything?" and they say it like it's funny. it may be funny after you've gotten some distance on it, but in the midst of having a baby who is into everything it can be trying at times. especially when you pick up the SAME toys 15 times. and you pick up the SAME garbage 15 times because your kid keeps pulling it out of the trash can. i am constantly spinning my wheels, i can't get new tasks done because i keep repeating the same old ones. {i will interject here that now that i stay at home i feel like a failure if i don't keep a clean house. no one puts this pressure on me but myself, but i feel like it's my job and i'm a loser if i don't do it,,,and i never do!}
this brings me to the lesson...
today i was just thinking about how i keep having to go back to square one time and time again in the same day. and the Lord spoke to me as clear as i've ever heard him. he said, you know how you keep picking up those toys, that garbage, etc...and every time he pulls it out you just pick it up and keep on going. you never think about NOT picking it up or not loving william anymore do you? me: of course not, i'll just keep picking up after him and love the little stinker anyway. God: that's what i do for you every day too. you keep sinning (in my attitude, the way i handle things, speak to my family, fail to extend grace- pulling out the same old garbage!) and i keep picking up after you, forgiving you...tidying up the sin-strewn living room floor of your heart. and i'll just keep on doing it until you get it right. whoa. it stopped me in my tracks! i marvel at the way God, infinitely wise, can use the thorn in my side to parallel His love for me. now it doesn't seem like a thorn at all. now as i pick up after that sweet baby i'll be reminded that i'm forgiven and my slate is wiped clean. that He is refining me like silver so that somewhere, sometime He'll be able to see a glimpse of his reflection in me.

busy b (and budders)

2010-08-18T19:56:00.000-05:00

budders found a new place to hide things. he's such a little squirrel.

we strolled to the ice cream shop after nap on monday

we went to the beautiful wedding of dear friends..

and b started ballet!

but tap was her favorite

preschool time!

2010-08-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

1st day photo- take 1. uh-oh too sunny...

take 2 on the back porch. oh wait mary martin you're not smiling...one more.

good smile mm, william...where ya goin' buddy?...oh well, i tried. they both seemed to have a great 1st day. they are both going m-w-f, 9-1...i think it will be great for all 3 of us. i'm thinking of attending a bible study on wed. mornings and i'm going to a pure barre class tomorrow...other than that i'll be using that time to go places that i can't go with mary martin and ~~the tazmanian devil~~ william. :)

the last 601 and a little 205

2010-08-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

here is our little family photo right before driving away...aw...

mary martin and i like to find a good song on youtube and dance

she asked to make pictures of me dancing, too, but bet your bottom dollar those will not grace the interweb :)

it's official! he will hate that i posted this, but we are all SO proud of him.

he's been very busy but still makes time for this. she's very persuasive. dads, and i know tons of you dads will be reading this, this is what it's all about with raising a girl- quality time and telling her she's beautiful every day!

mary martin and anna cate...i've mentioned before, her mom alison and i grew up together and they live 5 doors down. these 2 are bff. they are learning to share and play constructively and work out their little differences. (giving in to let your friend be snow white when you wanted to be snow white is a BIG deal when you're 3!)

our new town

2010-08-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

well first here's one last pic from our old town. we went to dinner with dear friends before we all moved away.

william loves to play with the swiffer, so i've decided to take advantage of this and keep a cloth on there at all times. notice our ginormous tv...it scarcely fits on the cabinet, but boy do we love seeing everything larger than life. (quite literally). oh and yes, new house, new state, same toy-strewn living area. despite having a playroom...

we went to a birthday party where mm had her face painted by cinderella

and mary martin has been playing with her friend anna cate

and william tuckered out from our "adbenture" and fell asleep on the way home. these are all pictures from my phone, as i lost my camera cord in the move..

we are adjusting to a new home...moving is hard. even when you have some friends and family in town, it's still like starting over in many ways. plus being in a rental makes it feel very 'temporary' and we still refer to our old house as "home." the children will start their new preschool next week and we are excited about that, and george robert started work on monday and it is going well. after 13 years of higher learning i guess we are all glad he is enjoying it!

what i'll miss...

2010-07-18T19:30:00.001-05:00

i will miss "mississippi"-mary martin loves to play on this storm drain. she asked me one day when she was 2ish, what those words said, and i told her "mississippi" so from then on, our house was mississippi.

i will miss good ole blackthorne...i will NOT miss having to spell you EVERY time i place an order or give directions. "one word, with an e on the end..."

i will miss my confederate jasmine which was my brother's idea..but i drew the design and g.r. did the nails and wire. then i planted only 3 little jasmines (at $5 each!) and in a year, it was all filled in. from march-late june it flowers and smells dee-vine {fun fact: jasmine flowers, then grows. i.e. no need to trim while it's flowering, then when it's done flowering it grows, and grows! but i enjoy fiddlin' with it, so i don't mind. g.r. does too kinda.

i will miss my little hummingbird who comes by for a petunia aperitif every day around 4:30. he's on the far side, i never could get a pic with his tiny little self on my side

here are my 2 little b's, making sure all their little belongings are safely packed on the uhaul. george robert said packing it would be like playing tetris. good for him i rock at tetris. {who am i kidding, he could beat me at tetris blind-folded} i will update soon from our new, and temporary (but precious) home. still waiting for a sale here. but we have a GREAT rental in the meantime, and it's 5 houses down from one of my all time bff's from monroeville.

4th of july fun

2010-07-07T07:29:00.000-05:00

guess who is not one bit scared of the pool? guess who doesn't want to be held in the pool? guess who wants you to just let him go so he can paddle around all by his precious chubby self?

guess who is scared of the pool? guess who won't get of of her hilarious donkey float? ~~guess who wasted $200 on swimming lessons :)~~

we had a fun 4th of july at the farm in orrville. juju and papa have a pool at their farm so we have plenty of fun there during summer! we had YUMMY ribs and a birthday cake for jo-mama, homemade peach ice cream- none of which i made, but enjoyed all of it.

what a difference a year makes. life is defintely more fun with 2, and especially now that budders is one. i love one, its the best. actually from about 7 months to 19 months is the sweetest and most fun. because they're old enough to enjoy things but not old enough to argue! ha! 3 is fun don't get me wrong, there's just something about those wee ones learning and seeing everything for the 1st time...so precious.

happy father's day

2010-06-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

my dad playing strawberry shortcake with me circa 1980. he was always such a sport about playing tea party, or whatever game i made up and asked him to play..
william and his daddy at his birthday party 5.29.10
mary martin and her daddy "suggling" 9.22.09
the first time george robert held mary martin when she was one month old in the NICU 10.19.06
introducing william to his family when he is just minutes old 5.26.09. we love you george robert and we're thankful for everything you do for us. you work hard but always have time for us. xoxo

portrait time

2010-06-12T20:56:00.005-05:00

::all photographs by David Hagood ::
here is william at "the gate" and a flashback of mary martin at the gate when she was his age. i also had my wedding portraits made there.

does the phrase "that's as easy as wrestlin' a cat" mean anything to you? that is what it's like trying to get a picture of my children together.
william looks completely p.o.'d in this one :) um..now no one looks normal...
seriously. like nailing jello to a wall.. we did get one cute one, i'll post it to fb later. i think these are hilarious...they so accurately portray our life right now. i do so love them though.

happy birthday juju!

2010-06-07T07:25:00.001-05:00

the dog party

2010-06-01T09:08:00.002-05:00

my friend emily at 29:11 creations made this precious invitation

william's puppy outfit was smocked 27 years ago and was in a jumper that i wore. we took it out and put it in a jon-jon for budders

the blue candy buffet :)

(click to enlarge) a few highlights: my friend hollie, pictured with me, made the cookies, and i believe she ships if you are not in bham. a friend from high school, sarah, made the cakes-precious. my brother helped me set up, how did he dodge all the pictures?! he also had just come from a southern living shoot and brought the big arragement of hydrangeas. and i made most of the decorations. my favorites were the paper chandeliers which you can barely see. the menu included: hot dogs, chips and dip, marinated black bean salsa, dog-gone good baked beans, the pupcake, puppy chow (the peanut butter/chocolate kind, not real ;) and the blue candy buffet! it was a lovely party and we all had fun!

turn around and you're 1

2010-06-01T08:35:00.001-05:00

happy birthday william! i can't believe you're already one. on one hand it seems like just yesterday, but on the other it seems like you've been with us forever. you are so sweet and precious and we love you so very much. pure joy, that's what you are.

put me in the zoo

2010-05-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

we couldn't resist bringing this monkey home. *

thank you juju for a great day at the zoo!

*george robert's parents have a new puppy who sleeps in this kennel and william loves to play in it.

and it may be wrong for me to say this, but , i have some cute kids. :)

i heart my babies

2010-05-12T20:11:00.001-05:00

[first i feel i need to explain why there's a beach towel hanging over william's window. that's because the evening sun beams through his window and since he goes to bed at 7, it is still bright. so i throw the towel over his cornice board every day for nap and night time. AND since i thought we were moving sooner, i sold his panels in the big garage sale!]
i love mother's day. and mine was filled with sweet cards and handmade crafts...my favorite. i love being a mommy. it challenges me and humbles me daily. i pray that i will raise these 2 little ones to "prove themselves doers of the word not only hearers" (james 1:22 nasb) that they will "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their God" (micah 6:8 niv) and and that they "might have the power...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know His love that surpasses knowledge..." (eph 3:18 &19)

i'm an inchworm

2010-05-10T20:22:00.002-05:00

before the show...

i'm an inchworm

just an inchworm

only one inch long...

this was the cutest thing i've ever seen. i was so proud of her. not to mention the butterflies before it started! now i know why our mothers used to joke and say they needed valium before cheerleader tryouts. {they were joking, right?}

a quick update

2010-05-08T06:44:00.000-05:00

remember the people who bought our house on april 1st? well, their financing fell through and it's not looking good that they will be able to buy a house at all. and since we were hemmed up with them all through april, we didn't show our house and now the 1st time home-buyer credit has expired, so it looks pretty bad all the way around. i don't know what that will mean for us and our house in birmingham. our contract is contingent on the sale of this house and the house we bought had been listed for over a year, so i feel like it will still be there. like i said before, it needs a little "lipstick and rouge" and not just everyone can see past all that. but i have gotten really excited about the house and i am nervous that someone else may come in and see the potential, too. i know this is all wood, hay, and stubble and has no eternal significance. i have an acquaintance from college who is a young mom, and she is battling cancer, so i feel silly even blogging about this house nonsense. but yesterday i saw several friends and it was hard to stay cheerful after a few "how's it going?" "when are y'all moving?" so in case any of those friends read this, that's why i may have seemed a little gloomy. i am just praying that God's perfect will for us be done. "now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine through his power that is at work within us, to HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever." ephesians 3:20 {this is the most recent scripture that ive memorized, and i love it, it's an awesome one to meditate on}

11 months

2010-04-28T06:41:00.000-05:00

he is so proud of his mickey sippy cup. he had a hundred, but he wanted a big boy one like his sister's abby cadabby one he loved to steal all the time. william's new word is "hey" while waving. it is precious. yesterday at the store he spoke to everyone in line at every register.

"sammy wayne desoto, what is this in my fridgidaire?" that's what annelle said to her husband in steel magnolias. but i like to say it when ww gets in there. i like to quote SM whenever possible actually.

baby woo. mary martin used to say "woo-yum" so of course being the nickname lover that i am, i added baby woo to the list- budders, baby woo, boo boo, buddy...he actually does answer to william. mary martin had a long list, too but now she is mostly b and beeber. i love how nicknames for people and pets evolve over time. gus has quite a few, too: gu-gu, gu-gu-boy, gu-gu-la (mm made up those 2, a chip off the old block ;) pupster, pupchuck, gusser

mary martin's new favorite lunch- peanut butter right out of the jar. i promise if i have you over for lunch, i won't offer you peanut butter :) i've tried sandwiches, bagels...she just licks the peanut butter off. gus did not mind this arrangement at all.

counting down

2010-04-14T11:04:00.002-05:00

well, the countdown is on for our big move. we have sold our house here and bought a house in birmingham. we have known about this move for a long time and have been excited for many reasons- closer to family, done with residency...but now that it's here i can't really explain it, i'm nervous and sad but still excited...it's just bittersweet. so we are just trying to enjoy our last few weeks in our first little home. i can't really even think about the friends that i'll miss and the ones i wish i had gotten to know sooner and better. they know who they are :) you know, it's like the day i go get a haircut. for weeks leading up to it, my hair has looked bad. then the day of the haircut, my hair looks like a pantene commercial and i think i should leave it alone. well, it's kind of like that...we were ready to move move move and it couldn't get here soon enough and now i just want to freeze time for a little while. but one excting thing is that our house needs some updating and that will give my ~~many~~ three blog readers some good before and after posts!

2010-04-12T19:13:00.000-05:00

Easter

2010-04-05T19:58:00.000-05:00

this was a very special easter for several reasons. it was william's 1st easter, and we had visits from juju, dede and shug, so we had a great weekend. this will be our last easter here in mississippi. we LOVE our church here, and sunday's service did not disappoint. they brought down huge banners with various names of Jesus- Messiah, Rose of Sharon, Lion of Judah, Bread of Life, Morning Star, The True Vine, Root of David, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. woo, i get chills just typing it. :)

easter's on its way!

2010-04-01T17:52:00.000-05:00

hippity hoppity

2010-03-27T15:30:00.003-05:00

where is mary martin you ask? she is standing beside me trying to make william smile. she told me no less than 93 times that she didn't want to have her picture made with the easter bunny. so we just let mr. handsome boy do it all by himself. have i mentioned lately how much i adore this little boy? he is...well words escape me. i really was worried that i could never love another baby as much as i love the b, but i SO do. can you even stand these fat wittle wegs?

the best story i ever heard

2010-03-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

by mary martin booker
"there once was a princess and her name was my mama. and she had a little girl named me."
...sounds like a fairy tale to me. :)

mermaidin'

2010-03-06T19:32:00.003-06:00

mary martin woke up from her nap a couple of tuesdays ago and said, mommy i need mermaid cwose so i can go mermaidin' ...as in play mermaid, everything is a verb. for example if she dresses like a princess, she is princessing, or makes a tent she is camp outing. and when she saw a man in a cowboy hat at the store, she asked me why that man was cowboyin' at walmart. :)

she was so proud of her mermaid cwose. she is pulling my old trick, standing in front of the oven to see herself. then she started saying she wanted to go to the ocean. i told her we didn't have one. so she said, the sea would do, or a river.

from glee to despair in 3 minutes flat. this is her face upon learning that we would not be getting in an actual body of water. and she has not been mermaidin' since. meanwhile on this target trip mm, ever the benevolent one, said that william needed a toy. so he got a dale junior matchbox car on the clearance shelf for $2.17, and they both have played with it every day....go figure.

time flies

2010-02-23T20:07:00.003-06:00

you know the saying time flies when you're having fun? well time also flies when you are sleep-deprived and trying to care for an infant. i wouldn't call those first few months "fun" per se, but certainly precious. william is 9 months old. before you turn around we'll be posting about his 1st birthday. he is such a handsome, sweet, curious and brave litte buddy. he says ma-ma and da-da, and i am almost positive he knows what he is saying. he's been crawling and pulling up/cruising for a few months and has the bruises and scrapes to prove it. he is developing more personality every day. here is a little collage of things he loves. of course he loves his daddy, sister and gus, but these are his "top picks" ...daddy and sister will have their day i'm sure. :)

starting from top left: little giraffe snuggly, banana cream pie pudding, bottles, learn & groove activity table {a hand-me-down from sissy}, elmo knows your name phone {also sister's but elmo didn't know double names, so now he says "hello william!"}sisters cookie puzzle, d.j. lance rock and the yo-gabba-gabba gang, and last but not least his mommy. he is just crazy about his mommy. i should probably be more humble about saying that, but at this stage in his life that's how it's supposed to be. that's not to say he doesn't love his grandparents and nursery workers, but if i'm in the room he is following me with his eyes and when i come close he'll reach out and say, "ma-ma"...talk about melting your heart.

here we are doing what we do most, playing in the floor. i must give credit to the photographer...mary martin! i think she deserves a post dedicated to her superior photography. :) we'll see.

heart day

2010-02-12T21:14:00.003-06:00

my sweet valentines in their coordinating plaid church clothes

b's party at school. every time a new parent walked in she would say, "welcome to my party!"

saying the blessing

right when they walked in i heard her say, "oh nook mrs. hedder (heather) it's beautiful!"

.......then after a long day of partying and staying for lunch bunch and hip-hop jazz, she came home, got in some comfy clothes so she could sit in the floor and open her valentines. these are the same comfy clothes she insisted on wearing in the snow last time.

happy valentine's day to all our friends and family!

s-n-o-w

2010-02-12T20:53:00.004-06:00

we were playing a super-fun game of "let's hit the stop sign with snow balls" it really was fun, george robert even got in on it. :)

our snow angel

our snow man. (a little better than the one we made a few weeks ago!)

now...perfect.

here is mm making "paws" in the snow. (that would be tracks)

william wanted to get down SO bad! he liked playing outside, he didn't care if it was freezing

real life

2010-02-06T19:57:00.004-06:00

first of all here's hot mess in her "ballerina suit"

now here's budders after he found a giant sugar cookie shaped like a flower with red and yellow icing that his sister left on the coffee table.

below you will see a video of what life is really like at our house. i usually record the good, and show pictures of us when we're all at our cutest. but this is life. let me set the scene for you: i am in the kitchen and i hear them both crying to beat the band. (what does that phrase even mean, anyway?) i go in there and she is crying because he is apparently within a few inches of her. [shocker] and i think that, bless his heart, he just wants to be near her...but at the very last second, you will see him leaning in...he was after her mashed potatoes and chicken! poor things.....but not to worry, everyone got his and her fair share of potatoes. funny sidenote: george robert is sitting right there, you can see his legs, he said he was "letting them fight it out."

Does Cinderella know Jesus?

2010-02-04T06:30:00.003-06:00

after watching and or listening to cinderella eleventy-billion times in the car and at home i started to think.... every time i watch, i never cease to be outraged at the unfairness and injustice heaped on that poor girl. even the cat (named lucifer which is kind of creepy i think) seems out to get her! and one time i thought, cinderella MUST know my JESUS. that is the only way she could possibly endure this. so i started thinking of scriptures to support this theory. first, Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, "you will know them by the fruit they bear." and Galations 5:13 says "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." she shows all of those things in dealing with her wicked step-family and the animals. and when i start thinking about what she could do for revenge, i am reminded of Romans 12:14 "bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse." and 12:17 "never pay back evil for evil to anyone" so there you go, revenge is out. romans 12 goes on to say "vengeance is mine declares the Lord." He promises that He is watching out for His children and even when bad things happen, He is NOT unaware and He is just waiting for the perfect time to swoop down like a mommy eagle and catch His baby eaglet who is too weak to fly. in cinderelly's case it was bringing her prince charming. and a father in law who happened to be a king, who i assume doted on her and his subsequent royal grandchildren. :) then i think (it's a long way to m'ville from jackson) if the wicked step-mother had just been NICE, cinderella would have probably moved her, and the sisters, into the castle and cared for them royally all the days of their lives! which brings to mind another gem from Romans 12, verse 20 "if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." also known as "killing them with kindness" everything i can infer about this orphan turned princess tells me that even though they treated her despicably, cinderella never forgot them. and if they were ever in need she would have provided for them. i know it seems i've given this a lot of thought...but in the words sung by the little mice, "cinderelly, cinderelly, night and day it's cinderelly." hehe

things we love.

2010-01-24T16:06:00.002-06:00

our new ballet slippers...i almost can't stand it they are so darn cute.

ballet

banana pudding.

and exploring..he doesn't look too happy here because he has incarcerated himself betwixt table and chair legs, but normally he is content to roam all over our house. but like a good puppy, he comes back when you call him. :)

a few pictures

2010-01-19T06:25:00.002-06:00

mary martin and anna cate brown modeling their cowgirl boots. they are going to be big buddies when we move to birmingham

mm and ww modeling their monkey pajamas.

oh, william, you handsome devil....what am i going to do with you? he had been "sniper crawling" since he was about 6 months old, and real crawling since 7 months. and he has been pulling up to standing since way before Christmas also. (2nd child, bad mom, i can't remember exactly when) needless to say, he gets lots of bumps and bruises. he has taught himself how to get down which has helped. his favorite thing is to hold on to the coffee table and "walk" around. the other night i walked in and he was standing at mm's plate eating handfuls of her rice. i wish i had taken a picture. (rice, dog food, he isn't a picky eater.) he is also on the verge of his first tooth. and it's in the right place. mary martin's first tooth was her top right incisor...she looked like a little hillbilly for about 2 months, but she turned out ok. :) william will be 8 months old on the 26th, so maybe by then we will have a tooth to report! or maybe walking...

happy birthday dede

2010-01-14T20:19:00.003-06:00

a barbie bike and a pink ba-tar

2009-12-30T07:15:00.006-06:00

when we look back at this Christmas, that will be the phrase we remember first. mary martin decided early in the fall those were the things she wanted from santa and she was committed. she never waivered on her list, so santa did manage to find both a barbie bike AND a pink ba-tar. santa's mom found the tiny bike at the brentwood, tn toys-r-us and his aunt picked it up. sometimes santa needs a little help from his fam :) santa also utilized 'google images' to find mm the perfect tiny pink ba-tar. this Christmas was also the 1st one mary martin realized who Christmas is really for. she knew that we were celebrating Jesus and that makes my heart so happy. this was also our 1st Christmas with sweet baby william! he was just a complete joy and had so much fun meeting relatives and giving sugar to everyone.

here we are at my sweet granny's house with the 1st cousins who were there. there are 5 cousins missing! i always love seeing them. and you can imagine how happy granny is to have everyone under one roof.

here's a collage of Christmas morning. mm and ww must have been really good this year.

a few shots before Christmas...cookies we made for mm's party, and enjoying the party. then william with shug. w loves to hold your face and give you big kisses. i hope he never stops.

checking out the stocking...

she loves her barbie bike and pink ba-tar

william and juju

3 generations of bookers.

somehow this is the only picture we got with my parents and brother. we were already tired from our whirlwind Christmas i guess. we realized it was much harder to take pictures with 2 children because we were both helping them open gifts, and that left no one to take pictures. we had a great time with both families and love all of our gifts and surprises :)

city of lights

2009-12-13T20:20:00.002-06:00

we went to canton a.k.a. the city of lights to walk around the square and look at all of the decorations. they had horse and buggy rides, a carousel and this cute little antique car ride that mm just loved. the square reminds me a lot of monroeville except it is not "one way traffic" ...which really threw me for a loop when cars were coming both ways. we had lots of fun and all my kids were sweet and had fun.

ho ho ho

2009-12-11T09:57:00.001-06:00

winter wonderland

2009-12-06T16:24:00.006-06:00

mary martin woke up to snow saturday morning! she didn't really like it...it was very cold out. but we did make a little 6 inch tall snowman and we also found our elves, cookie and fletcher playing outside in the snow!

then on sunday we went to ballet mississippi's nutcraker and pre-show tea party where we met clara and some of her friends. she was mesmerized by the ballerinas and we had such a sweet little day.

the most wonderful time of the year

2009-12-01T20:10:00.002-06:00

william: look daddy! i'm helping!

daddy: mmm...not so much. i have to keep climbing down off the ladder to move you. :)

these are my 2 most precious and priceless Christmas ornaments. mary martin's was done when she was 7 weeks old. she was SO tiny and weighed right at 4 pounds that day. she had been home for a few days and i went to sweet dreams to get her some more pretty preemie clothes and the lady who does the prints happened to be there. and william's was done when he was 11 days old and a jolly old 8.5 pounds :)

these are my stockings that my mom started making and had her friend finish...i saw some similar but they were $120 EACH, so we made our own. i had all 4 of our monograms put on and i love the way they turned out. now, scott, i know you are wincing at my faux garland full of glittery goodness, but don't fret, you are in charge of my Christmas decorating next year! ;)

yes, the booker-grizwolds have 4 trees this year. the dog tree is now in budders' room as it goes with his puppy decor, and b has a pink princess tree with the madame alexander ornaments and other princessy trinkets, and the kitchen is back to the auburn tree. i was going to tone down my decorating this year because we have long since outgrown our house and there just doesn't seem to be room for anything extra, but b is SOOOO wide-eyed and awestruck with all things Christmas that i just couldn't skimp. and she loves every last little thing, so it was worth it.

happy thanksgiving

2009-11-28T19:36:00.004-06:00

...a picture of what i'm most thankful for. and yes, this picture is so staged.
now that budders is mobile, he gets himself into some conundrums

sweet face

hey dede, i want some! he did get some butter beans :)

mary martin was SO excited when she walked in and saw the table set with the turkey and candles...she said, "look mommy! it's thanksgiving!" and she gets excited about every Christmas light, wreath and santa she sees...i think this Christmas is going to be our most fun yet.

sweet feast

2009-11-19T20:26:00.002-06:00

yummy oreo turkeys that mary martin and i made.

a sampling of the fun. click to enlarge

this little indian loves a party

this is mm's teacher, mrs. heather. she is so sweet and so good with these little ones.

2009-11-18T16:48:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

...the fun begins

2009-11-14T16:44:00.002-06:00

i hear so many friends and fellow bloggers talk about how sweet the big brother or sister is to the new baby. that is not so much the case here. i was hoping to get a sweet picture of them playing but she was being such a ~~monster~~ drama queen that i had to get it on video.

happy birthday honey

2009-11-10T06:38:00.003-06:00

george robert doesn't like cake so we made him some chocolate and peanut butter pretzels. mm wondered why we didn't sing to him, so we put a candle on there and sang to him. :)

mary martin made this for her daddy yesterday since he leaves for work before she wakes up. we think it really made his birthday happy. (as happy as it can be at 6:09 a.m.) she is dressed up like "abbastasia" (cinderella's step-sister anastasia; don't ask me why she wouldn't want to be cinderella) anyway...we wish our husband and daddy a very happy birthday, health, happiness and every good thing there is. he is good man...doing the right thing always comes easy for him, i really couldn't say enough about him. we love you to the moon and back!

halloween

2009-11-07T19:22:00.005-06:00

here are a few of mm at her halloween party at school

here is little bo peep's sheep

little sheep tuckered out

all about me!

2009-10-19T16:25:00.005-05:00

hi friends, it's william. first of all, i helped mary martin and mommy make these adorable scarecrow cupcakes for mm's school last week. i thought someone would offer me a little piece of candy or icing, but no luck.

my mom is always calling me "poor william" and saying how i am so neglected on blog time. so i'm just here to set the record straight. she does love me, and she does take up lots of time with me (especially while screamin' mimi is at school). my daddy does, too. everyone actually is quite fond of me. and just because i'm not ridin' rides and bakin' cookies or being hospitalized, doesn't mean i don't get attention. frankly i'm just biding my time....you know, bein' low maintenance, and sweet for now, so when i'm about 2 i can hit 'em with the big stuff...you know, have them saying things like, "he is ALL boy" and calling me things like "buster" and "bull in the china shop." i plan to make that lipstick stunt up there look like a cakewalk. so here are a few pictures of me..my mom says i am so cute now. NOW? i'll have to ask her about that... but i'm definitely a sweetie...everyone also agrees on that.

more fair fun

2009-10-14T07:40:00.002-05:00

here we are after making it through the house of mirrors....

someone wanted to go down the purple swide.

doink. someone did walk right into a mirror... in her defense, it was kinda tricky. luckily we had a 7 year old boy to follow. :)

riding the hot air 'baboons' with daddy

b riding the bee boat with mommy

after all this riding we got a funnel cake and made it out before the rain got too bad. we did dip into her college fund slightly...just kidding, but i didn't realize how expensive the fair is! luckily it's only once a year. here is budders enjoying the fair. he is so sweet and doesn't care where he is as long as he is with his mommy. he did wonder why no one offered him a bite of funnel cake though! ...just wait budders, next year you can ride and eat all you want!

happy fall

2009-10-13T11:55:00.005-05:00

we went with ju-ju to market day and the kitty cat fair in selma. mary martin had SO much fun. she rode cookie the pony first, and then several rides at the fair. she is usually such a scaredy-cat and she was terrified at first on the rides but ended up loving them. she calls it the kitty cat fair because last monday we saw a truck carrying one of the rides to the fair grounds. and i said, "look mary martin that's a kiddie ride going to the fair!" and later that day she said, "daddy! we saw a cadda-pidda on a tuck and it was goin' to the kitty cat fair!" so we are going to the mississippi state kitty cat fair if the weather will hold off. and i hope it does because it's all she can talk about!

shake your fox tail

2009-10-12T11:50:00.003-05:00

mary martin takes "hip-hop jazz" at preschool and apparently one of their moves is "shake your fox tail"

mm's ordeal

2009-10-04T08:16:00.007-05:00

abcess in lymph node...noticed it on saturday, golf ball sized knot on her neck and running fever. tried to treat with antibiotics, didn't work, wednesday the ENT admitted us to batson for surgery. she was so pitiful...just crying and we could tell she felt terrible.

thursday morning after surgery playing in the hospital playroom with her daddy...feeling much better. she would only have to be hooked up to the IV pump twice a day for medicine. she also got some medicine for pain that day, bless her little heart...

headed home friday! we were all SOO happy!

we bought sugar cookie ingredients the week before, but she never felt like making them and i kept promising her when she felt better we would make them! she held me to it about 3 hours after she got home! i wish i had a pic of her cookies...that post would be titled "what happens when you give a 3 year old a giant variety pack of sprinkles" thank you for all the prayers! we sure felt them. i can't tell you what all the calls, emails and fb messages meant to me. i guess the best way to describe it is that it felt like a cozy blanket when you're cold....the comfort of knowing all those people were talking to the Father on our behalf... we thank you all and each day mm and i are saying, "thank you Jesus for making me well!" ***and a very special thanks to both of mm's grandmothers for dropping everything and driving 4 hours to be with us. and missy for keeping (or should i say spoiling?) william ALL day wednesday. we love all 3 of you! (as well as the sweet friends who offered to keep william...does that offer still stand? haha)

william's baby dedication

2009-09-28T07:06:00.003-05:00

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

happy birthday mary martin!

2009-09-22T11:53:00.004-05:00

we made ice cream cone cupcakes to take to school

i think i'll have a little taste...mimi (missy walters) made my princess cake. and it was definitely fit for a queen.

mmmm...and it's yummy, too!

mm loved her princess party.

click on the collage to view it bigger...just a random sampling of our fun day.

sweet william

2009-08-27T16:19:00.002-05:00

look who's 3 months old! our sweet little chunky william is 3 months old and doing great. he is "officially" sleeping through the night (not like what the book considers through the night: 12-5) from 8 or 9 pm to 7 or 8 am. it is wonderful and i feel like i'm back to my old self again. he is such a sweetheart. very low-maintenance...i guess he realizes at this point he has no other choice given his princess-ballerina-opera singing-big sister. we sure do love you wittle buddy!

more fun...

2009-08-27T15:42:00.008-05:00

a jimmy choo in the hand is worth 2 on the foot... quite literally in this case

mm at eliza kate kosko's wizard of oz party...she was glenda the good witch.

first day to stay for lunch bunch...she LOVES her lunch box. she held on to it all the way there and all the way home.

first day! she wasn't scared at all. she went right in and started playing.

the classic "leaving for the 1st day shot" ...doesn't everyone have a few of these?

time for school!

2009-08-19T16:31:00.004-05:00

Mary Martin will start pre-school on Friday. She will go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today she had a meet the teacher tea party and she loved it!
here is mary martin's backpack and her lunch box that she will take when she stays for lunch bunch.

I tried my best to get her to smile while she pointed to her fish, but she was more concerned with trying to pull the net off the wall.

The giant monkey welcoming us..

saying the blessing (with a mouth full of cheese) before the tea party.

having fun exploring her new classroom. we'll post more on friday after the first day!