I'm Thankful

I'm so thankful very lots of things. For my man working hard to plant my birthday present . . . a magnolia tree.


And my little man waiting so patiently . . .


so help push the dirt around my tree with his bulldozer.


"I'm vewy stwong you know", says this little man. And a good helper to my Daddy.

And . . . ta-da!! My tree, with the help of 2 very cute little boys, that I am very thankful for.

I'm thankful for Easter mornings, finding eggs . . .

and baskets . . .

and games.

I'm thankful for a nice picture of kids in Easter clothes and nice smiles, minus one. He fell asleep on the way to Grandma's house and we let him finish sleeping in the car.

I did manage to get him drivin' a car . . .

and full of smiles.

And Brady having fun at Grandma and Pop-Pop's. Showing off Grandma's old glasses.

Playing baseball.

And when this little mister isn't hanging around outside, driving cars, playing ball or sliding. He decides to put baseballs in Pop-Pop's exhaust pipe . . . fortunately it came right out. But, we were all a little nervous.

So, I'm thankful for all the business in my life. For all the time in the van and cleaning up messes. For all my laundry. For all the mischief Zach gets into (I think). God has blessed me with 4 sweet gifts, all from Him. And I'll gladly take all the business that comes with a family of 6. I'm thankful that God loves me enough to suffer for me. I'm thankful He died on that cross and rose again, for us, for me. Thank you Jesus!

New Baby Horses

Here's what we get to see every day in the field across from our house: sweet new baby horses. This is Dee-Dee with her baby (about 4 days old here). This is Sunny-D, her baby from last year! She is soo sweet! Another mare, Lucy, had her baby too. She is a beautiful black, just like her mama. And you can see who's in there with her, Lindsey of course. My horse lover.

And Lindsey riding LadyBug. Karen, the lady that owns the horses, lets Lindsey ride a lot. When she is working down at the barn she saddles up LadyBug and lets Lindsey ride around while she's down there (in a small space). Lindsey loves it.

So, you can guess what Lindsey is saving money for. . .a horse, of course. Or, a pony. Now, she just has to talk her Daddy into it!

Happy 6th Birthday Rachel

Our birthday celebrations continued for the week, beginning with lunch at . . .Chuck E Cheese's, Rachel's choice. And all the kids were excited about it. What kid isn't excited about this place? All Smiles! And even more smiles at her birthday party where Grandma Taylor made a beautiful unicorn cake (pink mane and tail per request) and cupcakes. (To those of you who know me, does this cake look familiar? I had one when I was little). The pinata was a big hit, literally. Even though they all tried . . . with even the mightiest of swings, it couldn't be broken. So, the adults took over and the kids had lots of treats!! The cruise ship. And some friends from Rachel's ballet class.

And afterwards, I was happy to see my little princess emerge all dressed up in the usual play clothes.

You are such a blessing to us Rachel and we hope you have a wonderful year of being 6. You are so beautiful and loving and give the best hugs my snuggle bug. We love you so much!

The Sandbox

It's finally finished! Bruce has been working hard on a new sandbox for the kids and ta da! We filled this 6 x 8 foot monster with lots and lots and lots of bags of sand. (2 trips to Lowes, because the truck couldn't carry it all in 1 trip). They like to walk around the edge too. Before Brady had his clothes on this morning he was begging to go play in the huge sandbox.

I think they are going to love it!

On another note, here's Lindsey's silly hat she made for Awanas. She came up with the design herself, pretty creative!

My little guy.

He's a camera ham!

And, let the birthday celebration week begin!!! Rachel received her first birthday present in the mail from Grandma Marsha.

Just what she wanted. Thanks Grandma!

...Sigh...The Haircut

I knew it would happen. One haircut can do that. My baby has needed a haircut for a while, but I kept putting it off....I knew it would change his look from baby to little boy. I was forced...I submitted...


and look at him now. (sniff, sniff). One little boy haircut please.

And now a little boy smiles at me from his high chair where a baby was this morning. (sniff, sniff)

But, he does look so handsome doesn't he? (sigh, sniff)

Flowers Flowers Everywhere

Ahhhh!!! Spring! I love seeing all the trees starting to bud and get leaves, the warmer days, children playing outside and flowers blooming. See look at all these beautiful flowers in my home. In the bedroom...
in the living room...

on the bar...

on the kitchen counter...

all from this sweetie.

He lovingly brings me a handful of flowers every time he comes in from outside. He's going to be a wanted man one of these days! Maybe this fall I'll plant more bulbs so I'll have some pretty flowers outside too. (smiling.....he's so sweet!)

Great times. . .no camera!

It was a great girls day out. . .to see the Disney princess on ice show is a big deal. . .especially for my little girls (one in particular) and a couple of their friends. We saw Jasmine, Snow White, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and of course Cinderella. They had a wonderful time! . . .But, do you see any pictures? No, Mommy forgot the camera . . . ugh!!! How could I forget it? Their faces were beaming and their eyes were glued to the rink. So precious to see their little faces!

Fast forward a couple of day. . .Bruce has the week off and we decide to take the kids to TN to the indoor water park. It was absolutely FABULOUS!!! We were there on Tuesday. . .No crowds (one of the many advantages to homeschooling) and the kids had a blast!!! They loved staying in the hotel there too. Then, Wednesday we took them out to the aquarium. Brady was a little nervous, he asked what was there. We told him all about the fish, sea turtles and sharks. (We thought he would really like that idea.) He sat quietly for a few moments then said, "Daddy? Are these sharks mean or nice?" (still a little nervous at the idea of seeing sharks) Bruce said "They're nice sharks." (more quiet moments) "Daddy? Do nice sharks have smooth teeth?" Ahhh! How can he be so precious?

So, that was fun and then we went back to the water park and let the kids swim some more before coming home. But, do you see any pictures? No. . .I forgot the camera again!! I do have some great pictures on my phone and am working on getting them to the computer . . . so be patient with me and hopefully I'll have some pictures of our fun times soon. (And sharks with not so smooth teeth). :)