Jess' Reality

Mardi Gras Parade

2012-02-13T10:02:00.031-06:00

This was a super busy weekend for us. Friday night Joe was supposed to take Josie out on a date, but he didn't feel well, so we just had a pizza and movie night in.

After we laid Joel down we taught the girls to play Uno. They loved it and did really good. Jolie won twice and Josie once.

The next morning we got all bundled up and met Quint, Sheila, Ansleigh, and Caden at Cracker Barrell for some breakfast then went to Main Street, Millbrook for the Mardi Gras Parade.

We racked up at the parade with about 3 bags of beans and tons of moonpies. The kids had a blast!

After the parade we headed to the Village Park where they had vendors and things for the kids to do. We let the kids do the pony ride and Josie & Caden did the bungee jump:

After the park we ran home for baths and to get all dolled up to go take pictures at the church for our church directory. We ended up with two really good pictures, a family one and one of the three kids.

Because we had gone to the parade I missed getting with my women's group to make goodies to sell for the Relay for Life Valentines Sale, so after pictures Josie and I headed to the store to buy stuff to make goodies. When we got home Jolie and Joel were sound asleep. Josie and I stayed up until around 9 p.m. making homemade cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered marshmellows, and princess trail mix.

Sunday Joe and Joel stayed home all day. I took the girls to church and then we helped with the Relay for Life valentine goody sale.

Around 2 we took some goody trays to the nursing home and then to Ms. Gertrude from our church. After visiting with Ms. Gertrude we ran home for dinner and then we were off to Awana.

This coming weekend will be much more low key :)

Joel's First Bubble Bath

2012-02-10T08:47:00.007-06:00

Joel loves bath time, and to him it doesn't matter if he is in there with his sisters or by himself, he just loves to play in the water. Last night I decided to put some bubbles in there and see what he would do. They never phased him. He not once played with them or even acknowledged their presence.

I know it looks like I sat here and kept snapping the same picture, but I didn't. I would take a picture and wait and go to take another one and he would say "Cheese" and do the same adorable grin. He was definitely "hamming it up" last night :)

Josie's First Slumber Party

2012-02-07T09:04:00.025-06:00

We had a first in the Burdick household this weekend, and personally I look forward to many more of these- Josie had her first slumber party. Instead of a big party for her birthday we had a family dinner the Saturday before her birthday and then she invited three friends from church (and Jolie) to spend the night this past Friday night. One of the girls did not get to come so it turned out to be four little girls "partying" with Mr. Joe, Aunt Sheila, and me. We all had a blast and it turned out way better than I expected it to.

Friday afternoon I picked up the kids from school and dropped Joel off with Joe so we could go get their friends Jo (short for Josephine) and Catie. The girls were so excited to go pick up the girls. They had been telling everyone at MCDP they were going to get the girls. So we added two more car seats to the van and headed to Wetumpka to get Jo. After picking up Jo we headed back to Elmore to get Catie. By the time we got back to the house Aunt Sheila was there waiting to join in on the fun. The girls ran into the house to find goody bags made just for them. They each had their own bag that had bracelets, necklaces, leis, box of gummies, and butterfly straws. After playing for a few minutes we decided to make our pizzas. I though making our own bagel pizzas might be better than big pizzas. Jo told me she didn't like bagels so she made hers on bread. While the pizzas baked the girls changed into pajamas.
Josie with her pepperoni, olive, and mushroom bagel:

Jo made hers with pepperoni:

Catie also made a pepperoni bagel:

Jolie made a pepperoni, mushroom, and olive bagel:

Aunt Sheila made a pepperoni bagel and I made a pepperoni and mushroom bagel:

After eating dinner the girls fixed Aunt Sheila's and my hair while we let our sugar cookies bake. Jo and Josie worked on Aunt Sheila:

Catie and Jolie worked on my hair:

Catie and Jolie tried to work on Joe's hair too, but all they could do was brush it :)

Next it was time to decorate the sugar cookies:

Next on the agenda was getting their nails done. Each girl got their toenails and fingernails painted. Jo's are on the bottom left (silver glitter), then Jolie (green with polka dots), then Catie (purple glitter), and then Josie (pink with polka dots).

After getting their nails done they rolled out their sleeping bags and laid down to watch a movie with popcorn. Yes, they all did a lot of eating that night.

I was sitting on the couch above them and took an upside down picture of them all.
Jo:

Catie:

Josie:

Jolie:

It was around 10:00 p.m. when they finally started getting sleepy. Josie was actually the first one asleep, then Jo, and then Catie. Jolie had a hard time going to sleep and she actually ended up sleeping in her own bed instead of in the living room with all the other girls.

Aunt Sheila had to be at work at 6:00 a.m. the next morning so she got up and left early Saturday morning. The girls were all awake by about 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. We got up and I fixed them breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese grits, and fruit. Jo kept going on and on about how good the food was and I asked her if she wanted to come live with me. She said only on the days I don't have church-- sounded reasonable to me :) After breakfast we took "baby Joel" for a walk. They took turns pushing him in the stroller and we got to see two trains pass by.

Jo was the first to leave around 9:15 a.m. when her mom picked her up and Catie left around 9:45 a.m.

All in all I would say the slumber party was a huge success. Everyone was very well behaved and used their manners. I think and hope everyone had fun.

After everyone left, we just vegged and took naps. That afternoon we went to Pap-paw's house so that Joe could help him move some stuff. I took the kids for a ride on the golf cart while they worked.

The next morning we went to church and went home. The girls refused to take naps and were very ill so we ended up not going to Awana.

This coming up weekend will be a busy but fun one. It is a family tradition to go to the Millbrook Mardi Gras Parade with Quint & Sheila so we will do that, then I have to head to church to make chocolate treats with the SOS girls to sell for our Relay for Life Valentinues Sale, then that afternoon we have our church directory pictures.

In the meantime the season of Lent is fastly approaching so Joe and I will be in prayerful consideration about what we should give up in honor of Lent. Any suggestions would be appreciated, I would like to do something different this year.

Love to you all

Josie is 6 !

2012-02-02T11:02:00.034-06:00

I'm a little behind with keeping everyone up to date, but in reality there is not all that much to share. We have all had some kind of sicknesses over the past couple of weeks and I think for the most part we are all well at the moment. Josie has a cough, but nothing major.

The one super important thing that happened was that Josie turned 6!! I can't believe it. I remember holding her as a sweet little beautiful baby girl in my arms trying to imagine the days when she would go to school, ride her bike, have conversations with me, etc. and now all of that is here. She is doing great in school, she loves learning new things, she loves art and coloring, she loves playing outside, she loves singing, in fact I don't know that there isn't much that she doesn't like. I am so proud of the person she is becoming. Although she and Jolie may fight (as all siblings do) she genuinely loves and cares for Jolie and Joel. She definitely makes you feel loved and the center of her world when she is with you, reminding you several times that she loves you, wanting to sit close to you or in your lap, and giving hugs and kisses. I am a very blessed mommy with all three of my gifts from God. Some days I honestly think I can't do it, I am not sure why God thought I deserved these three incredible human beings, but then there are days when I feel like the luckiest person on the earth. As I look into Josie's future there is so much I look forward to, and all the while wishing she could stay my little girl forever. (She has already been trying to figure out which house in our neighborhood she can buy so when she gets old enough she and Jolie can move close to us, ha ha.)

We had a family get together for Josie on Saturday the 29th. Her theme was flamingos. It was a really good night with good food and a lot of laughter.

On her actual birthday which was Tuesday, her kindergarten class was celebrating 100 days of being at school. They had special snacks and other fesitivites all day. She had to take a collection of 100 things so I/we made a poster out 100 birthday candles. It reads, "Happy 100." She also had to dress like a 100 year old woman.

That night we took her to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner. Aunt Sheila, Uncle Quint, Caden, and Ansleigh also came as we also celebrated Sheila being offered a full time job at Hyundai. God is so good. It was a good day and night. Other Mama had even brought me the chocolates I craved when I was preganant with Josie earlier in the day. I can't tell you how much that meant to me.

Tomorrow night Josie has invited three friends her age from church (and Jolie) to spend the night for a slumber party. Joe and Joel are going to stay Quint's house and Sheila is going to come over and help me with the little girls. I am looking forward to it because this is something I often did for my birthday growing up. I invited my dad to come help, but he turned me down for some reason, ha ha. I often had a lot more than 3 friends spend the night, it was usually more like 5-6 girls that spent the night and he would walk out the next morning and not be able to see the living room floor for all the girls in their sleeping bags.

Thank you so much to every one who called Josie, send cards, emailed, facebooked, and sent presents. She loves talking to you all and it meant so much that so many people thought about her on her birthday.

The other important thing that has happened is that we have welcomed another little into the world. On Friday, January 20, 2012, I picked up balloons as soon as I got of work and headed straight to the hospital to meet Chris and Crystal's new son, Christopher Lucas Collins. They are going to call him Lucas. He is super adorable, and the girls just love him.

I'll end with two pictures of Joel since he seems to be left out of this blog for the most part. One is when I took him to the doctor because he was running a 102 fever, (all the tests came back negative but about two days later we realized he had a fever virus), the second one is him looking so pitiful in his stroller not feeling well, and the third picture is of him being a big boy on the day he came to work with me because he was still running fever.

Happy 30th Birthday Joe!!

2012-01-10T09:12:00.011-06:00

Birthdays are special to me. Life can be so hectic that we sometimes forget to be thankful for each other and how they affect our lives. How would our lives be different without this person or that person. Although we may live with or see on a regular basis certain people, on their birthdays I think it is nice to spoil them just a little because God gave us that person for a reason. 30 years ago today God blessed this world with one of the most remarkable people I know, my husband, Joe. I can honestly say that even at this young age I have known him and loved him for more than over half of his life. I have seen him grow and change and become the man he is today. Like all of us, he still has more growing to do, but I am so proud of the man that he is. The Bible tells us in Proverbs that a Godly man is kind, compassionate, hard-working, has a gentle tongue, is generous, and is forgiving. Joe embodies all of these qualities. It lists others that he is still working on, but like I said, we are all still working on becoming the people God has designed us to be. Joe is a very good father and is hands-on when it comes to all three of our children. He has been involved since the moment each one entered this world, and rightly so. God blessed both of us with these amazing blessings, not just Joe, and not just me, but Joe and I together. Joe is a family man and does his best to provide for us. He helps anyone he can however he can. He has changed tires for strangers on the side of the road, he has counseled younger men that he has worked with, he has been a Sunday School teacher, served three years as an elder at our church, and the accolades could go on and on. Joe is instilling in his children the want and need to have a relationship with Christ by not only talking the talk but by trying to walk the walk. He tells him he loves them, he kisses them and hugs them, he takes the girls on dates, and he takes the time to teach them all aspects of life from hunting, fishing, throwing the football, to painting your nails, sitting like a lady, and singing in church. I’ve seen a saying here recently that states, “Don’t marry a man unless you would not mind having a son just like him.” I’ve thought a lot about this saying here lately. Of course, it goes for all members of a family. My hope is that Joe and I do get it right and when all of our children are older they do look back and say I want to be the kind of dad my dad was, I want to be the kind of husband he was, I want to be the kind of mom my mom was, I want to be the kind of wife she was, and just as importantly I want to have the love that momma and daddy had for each other. I never want them to question how much we love each other, how much we love them, nor how much we love the Lord.
I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with Joe. I look forward to continuing to watch him grow into the man God designed him to be. I look forward to watch him embody the other Godly traits that he has not quite attained yet. I look forward to continuing to be his help-mate, lifting him up, respecting him, being his biggest cheerleader. I love him more than words can express.
1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."
Now, that I’ve said all that, I’ll post some pictures from the surprise birthday dinner we had for him at the restaurant inside Bass Pro Shop. He even had a cake with candles to blow out.

Heading to church the next morning. (Joel was already in his car seat and didn't get his picture taken.)

Christmas!!

2011-12-27T09:11:00.041-06:00

Christmas is over and now we prepare to celebrate the beginning of a new year. I sit here amazed at how fast time is passing by me. I can not believe Joe and I turn 30 this year and that we have three beautiful blessings, Josie almost 6, Jolie age 4, and Joel 1. We are blessed beyond measure. This year has not been near as crazy as last year was, thank you God, and all in all I would say 2011 was a good year. I pray for an even better year this 2012, and that we continue to become a closer family learning about and serving God. I pray that you all have had good and happy holiday celebrations and that the new year brings you blessings and good health. We are so blessed by all of you in so many different ways and are grateful to call you our family and friends.

I think we got to see almost all of our Alabama family at some point or another which as Josie would say, "was awesome." Aunt Mona had dropped off some presents for the kids one day while we were at work and school so we made a trip to her house to visit with her and Chase. The kids were being sooo goofy that night but we had a blast and laughed so hard at our silly monkeys.

Friday when we had Christmas at the Burdicks. Angie, Becca, Quint, Sheila, Caden, Ansleigh, Joe's grandmother (Gigi), MeMaw, Paw-Paw, Josie, Jolie, Joel, and I gathered for food, presents, and fellowship. Joe had to work and got there just as everyone was leaving.

The next morning we made our cookies for Santa and cupcakes for Jesus' birthday. We let them make their own colored icing and top them with sprinkles. We had a lot of fun. That afternoon Chris, Crystal, Elias, and Annaleigh came over for our Christmas together time. We ate dinner and all 9 of us headed to church for one of my favorite Christmas traditions, the candle light service. Josie and Elias did great holding their candles as we sang Silent Night.

After church we went to visit with MeMaw and Gigi before heading home to get ready for Santa. When we got home the girls' snow angels had brought them presents. All three kids had new pjs and slippers. There was also a book "God Gave us Christmas", and a speical key for us to put out for Santa since we don't have a fireplace. The kids put on their pjs since the girls' nightgowns came with matching nightgowns for their baby dolls we had to find the perfect baby doll for each girl to put the night gown on. After that we started getting everything ready for Santa. We put out the special key, we put the reindeer's food outside so that they could refill their energy while they waited on Santa, and lastly we put out Santa's milk and cookies. Then we all snuggled as we read "God Gave us Christmas." It was a great book that taught us that Jesus is much more important than Santa and that Santa can be hard to find but God is always everywhere and God gave us the best present of all.

We always invite the grandparents to our house each Christmas so that they can see the kids open their presents. I had told everyone 6:30 a.m. so I got up at 6 to start on breakfast for everyone. The kids were up at 6:10 so they hung out in the girls' bedroom until 6:30 a.m. Other Mama, Pap-Paw, MeMaw, Paw-Paw, and Gigi were there to see them open their presents.

This is Joel's area from Santa. Santa left everything unwrapped because he knew that Joel is not into opening presents. He got a coupe car, a horse punching bag thing, an outfit, some trucks, a push lawnmower, a Veggie Tales DVD, a trutle shape sorter, a book and dog that when you read the book the dog makes sounds, and a stocking full of goodies. From Joe and I he got a shark hooded towel, camo boots, a book, a toy dog that plays music, another outfit, a pop-up tent, and some more trucks.

This is Jolie's area on the couch from Santa. Her presents are wrapped in blue. Santa brought her a princess scooter, a Mobigo (a handheld gaming system like a Leapster), some games for her Mobigo, a shirt, a Lala Loopsy doll, some nuts, an electric toothbrush, a barbie car, a new lovie, a mini walkman, and a stocking full of goodies.

This is Josie's area on the couch from Santa. Her presents are wrapped in pink. Josie and Jolie got all the same presents except Josie got a notepad instead of a lovie. Santa knows that they would fight and be upset if someone got something the other didn't. Josie's scooter is different colors of pink, purple, and blue and does not have any characters on it.

Joe and I got the girls hooded towels, two shirts (one Alabama and something else on the other one), baby dolls, books, bath sets with their favorite characters, batons, vet set that included a stuffed kitty, and I can't remember what else.

This year they also got to buy presents for Joe, their siblings, and me, and got to wrap the gifts themselves. They both did a great job buying for their siblings, Joe, and me.

After all the gifts were open and we had some breakfast we got ready for church. We had been told that the children could come in their pjs and that church would be casual so we put some leggings on the girls and loaded up for church. After church we went to Nanny's house for presents and lunch with Other Mama, Pap-Paw, Kevin, Ami, Sydney, Shelby, Aunt Pam, Uncle Mike, and Nanny. We got there about 11:15 and stayed until a little after 2. I never pulled out my camera :( Between eating and Joel getting sleepy I never had a chance. The kids got some great presents and had fun playing with Sydney and Shelby. We got to see Uncle Ben, Aunt Tiffany, and Tanner for a few minutes before we left Nannys and headed to MeMaw and Paw-Paws. Uncle Lynn, Aunt Holly, and Gigi were there so we got to visit with them for about two hours before they left to head home and we left to head home. Joel tried to take a nap at MeMaw's but I guess he could hear too much commotion and was not having it. We got home about 5 that evening and Joel slept from 5 that evening until 6 something the next morning. The girls played with their toys, and laid down to watch a movie in their room. They passed out watching the movie.

Needless to say, we had a fabulous Christmas.

Yesterday Joe worked while the kids and I tried to clean up and put up all our new toys. I got some of the Christmas decorations down, but still have a log way to go. After Joe got home and after naps we ran to K-Mart to exchange Josie's Mobigo, the touch screend didn't work. After that we we ran to Dollar Tree. Jolie had gotten Josie some slime for Christmas, and Jolie really wanted some. After that we headed home for dinner, baths with all their fun new bath stuff, and bed. They only have preschool 3 days this week, today, tomorrow, and Thursday and are off again Friday and Monday. Josie goes back to school on Tuesday, January 3rd.

We hope everyone has a happy and blessed 2012!

The Second Weekend of Christmas...

2011-12-14T13:26:00.022-06:00

Christmas Weekend 2 down, 2 to go :)

Before I tell you what all we did this weekend, there is something else I want to share. This past Sunday during the sermon our preacher spoke about a couple that had just had a baby and how having newborn babies close to Christmas can intensify the feelings of Christmas for us. I can attest to that. Christmas of 2006 I was very pregnant with one Josie Madelynn. I remember a lot of Sunday mornings crying during the service as I looked up front to our beautiful hand crafted nativity scene that sits on the communion table in front of the pulpit. A lot of Sundays I put myself in Mary's shoes. Carrying a child that you were so excited to meet yet nervous about being a first time mother. Just thinking that the one who came to save me, the one who has loved me from my very first breath, came into the world in the exact same way Josie was about to. I also would become very sad for Mary knowing that she would have to give her son up, knowing that the child she carried was hers but not completely. I think as long as I live, I will remember how emotional that Christmas season was for me, and how that makes Christmas mean so much more now. Jesus is coming, prepare the way!!

Okay, now on to our weekend. Friday night we had MeMaw and Paw-Paw over for dinner. After dinner we all loaded up into our van and drove around looking at Christmas ligthts. It was a really nice evening and everyone enjoyed the lights.

Saturday morning we played around the house until it was time to head to Wetumpka. Christmas on the Coosa (The "Coosa" is a river that runs through Wetumpka) is a big deal in Wetumpka, and also a family tradition. My family always went as children, and we have always taken our kids. Tons of people come for all the festivities which include vendors, bouncy houses for the children, a race, car show, performers, petting zoo, a street parade and top the night off a boat parade and fireworks. We first walked across the bridge to downtown to look at all the vendors, and then we headed back to the church to get ready to be in the parade.
Here are the kids with balloons someone gave them:

Our church had a float in the parade and the theme was our 175 birthday. We had people walking beside the float and the kids rode on the float. Our walkers included people dressed in Scottish garb to represent our Scottish heritage, ladies dressed in antebellum dresses, and Joe, Joel and I dressed in regular clothes representing the modern family. We pushed Joel in a car that Pap-Paw got Josie for her first birthday. That thing has been the best. It has lasted through almost 6 six years and 3 kids. We all had a blast. Joe and I took turns pushing Joel and handing out silly bands and candy to kids who watched the parade. After our float finished the parade we walked back so that the kids could see the end of the parade.

Here the girls and Caden are waiting for Santa to come through the parade:

Ansleigh riding in Joel's car while the parade was finishing up:

After the parade, we decided we needed to eat. We had worked up quite an appetite with all the walking, so we went with Quint & Sheila to eat Mexican. After dinner we went and played at a nearby park until it was time for fireworks.

Sunday morning Josie sang in the Childrens Choir at church. She had a big fan base sitting in the pews watching her: Other Mama, Aunt Sheila, Uncle Quint, Caden, Ansleigh, MeMaw, Paw-Paw, and of course Jolie, Joe, and me. She did a great job and actually sang. We were all so proud of her. After church the kids and I played in the nursery while Joe had a short session meeting. Here is a picture Other Mama took while we waited:

After that we had lunch, took naps, and headed back to church to go caroling. We rode the float we made for the parade through the streets behind the church stopping at various houses and singing to the people who came out to listen to us. It was a lot of fun. After that we had a hotdog supper at church.

The kids have a lot going on at school this week with Christmas parties, field trips, and PJ days. In fact, the kids got to open their presents from Aunt Debbie, Grammy, and Gigi early so that they could wear their new pjs to school this week. They were so excited about all their gifts.

We found out yesterday that Joel has croup. He woke up about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning barking and had really raspy breathing. Joe took him to the doctor and the verdict was croup. Joe stayed home with again today so he could get some more rest but he already sounds so much better that he did yesterday. The rest of us are working on colds, but otherwise doing good.

We are not sure what all this weekend entails. The Town of Elmore has a special thing for the children Saturday night with Santa, sleigh rides, goody bags, and refreshments, so I think we are going to try to make that. We also have our shopping to do and hopefully going to the Zoo to see the lights. Joe works this weekend so that makes making plans a little more difficult.

Hope everyone is enjoying the season!

Callaway Gardens

2011-12-05T08:35:00.004-06:00

One Christmas weekend down, three more to go. It is hard to believe that the Christmas season is upon us and before we know it it will be gone and we will be writing 2012 on everything.

Friday after I got off work I picked up Joel and took him to Name Dropper. Two very dear and sweet ladies gave us a gift certificate to get him his first pair of walking shoes. I took him to get fitted and find the perfect pair. He was so cute. The woman put his right foot into the little contraption to see what size his right foot was and as she was trying to switch everything to check his left foot he was already trying to put it in like he knew just what to do. We picked out a shoe and while she went to the back to get it we found a pair of the cutest little Alabama squeaker shoes. For those of you who don't know, they have made shoes that squeak every time the child takes a step. The squeakers can be taken out, but they are fun for children first learning to walk. We found a pair and put them on him and he loved hearing himself squeak. He was so cute. Unfortunately they were a little snug and they didn't have the next size up so we found another pair that are just perfect. They can be worn to daycare and church.

After finding Joel his perfect pair of shoes, he and looked around for the perfect baby gifts for Crystal. She is expecting baby number three sometime in January. We settled on a swaddle sack and the pad for the car seat handle. I had received one at my baby shower for Joel and that pad was a life saver to my arm.

After leaving Name Dropper he and I went and got Josie and Jolie from school and headed to Wal-Mart. We needed a few more things before our trip to Georgia to see Fantasy in Lights.

Joe got to hunt Friday after he got off work and got home around 8:00 p.m. that night.

Saturday morning we cleaned out the van, packed up, and around 11:30 we headed to Other Mamas and Pap-Paws to pick them up so that we could head to Callaway Gardens. We were able to all fit in the van which made the ride even more fun. Saturday was Pap-Paw's birthday so it was really great to get to spend his birthday with him in such a special way. We first went to the hotel to get checked in and unpack a little. Then as is an Anderson tradition we ordered pizza to eat in the hotel room. Around 5 p.m. we headed over to Callaway Gardens. We got there just in time to load up on the trolley. THE KIDS LOVED IT. Even Joel was pointing and talking the entire time. The ride was about an hour long and the lights were just beautiful. It is amazing all the work that goes into it. After unloading from the trolley we sat in the grass and watched up a Christmas light enactment of the nativity story. It was really neat. At the appointed time each character would light up. It was just short enough to keep the girls' attention and still very meaningful. After that we looked around Christmas Village. Santa was there but the line was way too long. He was dressed as Father Christmas with the long beautiful robe instead of the usual red suit, and Josie looked at me and said "Santa is wearing a dress." It was so cute. After that we headed to take Pap-Paw for his birthday dinner. We ate and headed back to the hotel for baths and bed. The girls had eached called early that morning who they were sleeping with, Josie with Pap-Paw and Jolie with Other Mama. Joel slept in our room in his play pen. We had two rooms that adjoined so it worked out perfectly when we needed to lay Joel down for naps, we just went over to Other Mama and Pap-Paw's room. Sadly, I have no pictures. My camera's batteries were dead when I pulled out my camera to take pictures at Callaway.

The next morning we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel and took our time packing and lounging around. A little before 11 Georiga time we headed back home.

That afternoon Joel and I went to Crystal's baby shower, while Joe took the girls to our church to decorate and setup the float that we will use in the Christmas Parade this coming up weekend. From what I'm told the men did all the work while the children played. After the baby shower I went home to put Joel to bed and noticed that Joe hard started putting the Christmas lights up outside, so I finished them. The girls were so excited when they got home and saw the house all lit up.

Josie has a field trip today to the Wadsworth Christmas Tree Farm. This will be her first field trip of not having someone from the family go with her. I know she will be fine though and have lots of fun. This Saturday we are in the Christmas on the Coosa Parade with our church. This will be the kids' first year in the parade. Joe and I were in at Micky and Minnie Mouse one year when we were in high school. They are really excited about being in the parade. It starts at 3 I believe for anyone who wants to come and wave to them.

Sunday Josie will perform with the children's choir during church, our service starts at 11, but I am not sure what time they will sing. Last time they sang throughout the entire service. Sunday afternoone we will all go carrling with the church.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T10:39:00.032-06:00

Oh wow am I behind. I'm not sure how I let myself get this far behind, and now I'm racking my brain trying to remember everything. First, I know we have had a couple of big accomplishments in the Burdick household: (1) Joel is finally walking. At 14 months the boy is finally walking. Sometimes he still crawls because he can go faster that way, but he can walk all the way across the room when he wants. (2) Josie is reading. One night at bedtime she was looking at a book while I was drying her hair and when I turned the dryer off she started reading some of the words to me. I called Joe back to our room and she read us a whole page. A lot of words she sounds out and of course she is still learning, but we are so proud of her. My eyes just teared up as I listened to her. (3) Jolie was moved up to a new class today. She was out sick yesterday and went to work with me, so this morning when I took her in her teacher asked me if it was ok if they moved her up. She said that she already knew everything they would go over and she would do better to in the next class up. Needless to say Joe and I are very proud of all three of our beautiful blessings.

On Thursday, November 17th both girls had special Thanksgiving lunches at school. Joe went to Josie's school to eat with her and Sheila went to Jolie's school to eat with her. Josie was dressed up as an Indian when Joe got there and she had even picked out her own Indian name: Walking Skunk!!

Saturday, November 19th we had a special Thanksgiving with the Burdick side of the family. It was a great day of playing, eating, and spending time together. We also had Aunt Becca and Aunt Angie take pictures of the kids for us since Joel had not had professional pictures taken since he was a week old. I think they turned out great.

On November 20th we had our special Kirkin service at church. That is when we celebrate our Presbyterian Scotish heritage. We had bagpipes, special music, and recongnition of the different families. After church we had fellowship lunch. After fellowship lunch we gathered up lunches for some ladies who had not been able to make it to church and the girls and I went and took them lunch and visited for a few minutes. I thought this was a great teaching moment for the girls and they did really well and I really think they brightened up the little old ladies' day. That night at Awana the girls got a special treat-- a Christian magician. He did magic tricks and incorproated talking about God into his act. They loved it.

On November 22nd Aunt Sheila spent a special day with the girls and Caden. She picked them up from preschool (Josie's school was out all week for Thanksgiving), took them to Pump-It-Up, then out for lunch, and back to her house to make cookies. They had a blast!

On the 24th (Thanksgiving day) we had lunch at my grandmothers, aka Nanny. It was a really good day except for my migraine. The kids had fun playing with Tanner and being the center of attention at lunch. That night the elves came to decorate the house. The girls woke up in amazement. The elves had decorated the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, their room, and Joel's room. Their snow angles had also come from the North Pole to start really watching them. Every night they go back to report to Santa and come back to a different spot. The girls love trying to find where the Snow Angles have hid each morning.

On Friday the 25th after Joe got home from work we went and picked out our Christmas tree. We took it home and set it up and decorated while we watched Christmas movies.

Saturday while Joe was at work the girls and I took a birthday breakfast to Nanny. Poor Nanny though, Joel ate more of her biscuit than she did. After that we went to Wal-Mart to pick up some things for me to fix for the Iron Bowl game. As we were leaving we saw Santa at Wal-Mart. Josie looked at me and asked if this was the real Santa. I explained to her that Santa is so busy getting everything ready for Christmas and there are so many girls and boys that he sends out special elves dressed like him to talk to all the girls and boys. I told her that the older kids knew they were elves but the little kids didn't. She thought she was big stuff being let in on this secret. Jolie stuck with that this was the real Santa. After Wal-Mart I went home to fix spinach dip, chicken salad, fiesta ranch dip, puppy chow, and pickes wrapped in cream cheese and lunch meat for the game. As soon as Joe got home from work we Bama Burdicks headed over to the Chris & Crystal's to watch the game who just happen to be Auburn fans. Crystal had fixed chili, mac & cheese, and had tons of fruit. The food was good, the game even better- Roll Tide-- and the fellowship best of all. Everyone was civil during the game and the kids played well together. At halftime we took the kids outside to play and when the game was over we went outside and threw the football around. Josie did amazingly well catching and running after the ball. Joe and I were very impressed.

Sunday the kids and I went to church. It was beautiful. Christmas is my favorite time of year. The beautiful nativity scene out on the table, the Chrismon tree, the greenery, the poinsettias, it is hard not to feel festive in there. That evening we went to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa.

Yesterday Josie had a field trip to see the play at the Wetumpka Depot. Aunt Mona went with her and she said she really enjoyed it. Aunt Mona brought pencils and bookmarks for her to pass out to her classmates, so I know she thought she was big stuff yesterday. Jolie came to work with me because she was not feeling 100%. After work I picked up Joel and Josie and we went home to a home cooked meal Joe had cooked for us all. The kids were all so tired from not being on their normal routine for so long that Joel was asleep by 5:45 and slept until 6:30 a.m. and the girls were alseep by 6:45 p.m.

We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend, well Saturday, we are going to Callaway Gardens in Georgia with Other Mama and Pap-Paw. The girls love seeing Christmas lights so we just knew that they would absolutely love seeing all the lights. We are going to spend the night and come back Sunday morning. Sunday Joel and I will go to a baby shower for Crystal and Joe will take the girls to church to decorate the float for the Christmas on the Coosa parade the next weekend. The next weekend is the parade and Sunday the church is taking the float back out and going caroling throughout Wetumpka. The next weekend Joe works and we have Ansleigh's birthday party on the 18th. I can't believe she will be 2. Time is flying by. Of course the next weekend is Christmas. Sometime in there Josie will be performing with the children's choir at church, but I'm not sure when yet.

Well I think that has you caught up for now. I hope everyone enjoys the advent season and remembers why we really celebrating- the birth of a precious little baby who came and lived and died because he loved you so much that he wanted to spend eternity with you. Merry Christmas and God bless.

Decorating for Thanksgiving

2011-11-08T10:03:00.014-06:00

Last week was a quiet week for us.

Josie got sick twice with the stomach bug so she went to work with me on Monday and Friday.

Friday evening we had our dinner in and movie night which we had not had in a while. The girls actually sat through most of the movie.

Saturday Joe worked and the kids and I worked on crafts. I am trying to stress to them about being thanful for all the blessings that God has given us. One of the ways we are doing this is by making a thanful chain. Every day each one of us says what we are thankful for. I write it down and connect it to the chain.

We hung up a handmade manner reminding us to "Give Thanks"

We hung up scripture reminding us to give thanks:

Then we started making handprint crafts. First we did handprint boats to represent the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria that the pilgrims came over on:

Then we did handprint turkeys for grandparents and aunts & uncles:

(Josie's hand is blue, Joel's green, and Jolie's purple)

We also managed to get some housework done.

Sunday the kids and I went to church and went home for naps, and then we had Awana.

This week will be another quiet week, but I am really thankful for that :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful artwork God has provided for us. I love looking at all the differernt colored trees.

Happy Halloween and Happy Thankful Month

2011-10-31T14:55:00.031-05:00

Happy Halloween! I know I'm a day late, but that's ok, right? Now we enter into the month of Thanks.

As expected last week was very busy. Monday Joe had his called session meeting. Tuesday I had my SOS meeting. We always have fun at our October meeting and decorate pumpkins. Here is the pumpkin I decorated (that is spider webs at the bottom):

Wednesday Josie had her very first children's choir practice. They just started practicing Christmas music. Thursday, we actually did not do anything.

Friday the girls got to dress up in their costumes for school:

Joel went to work with me and then that evening we took the kids to Bass Pro Shops. They got to trick or treat, make necklaces, color a picture, be in a costume parade, and have their picture made.

After that we stopped by MeMaw and Paw-Paws so they could see the kids dressed up.

Saturday I had a migraine and almost the entire day was spent replacing our hot water heater.

Sunday we had church and then we had our church fall festival. We decorated our trunk for trunk or treat. We went with a shark theme this year. If you look at it is supposed to be a shark's mouth. We decorated the candy bucket like a chum bucket.

Joe was a turkey hunter and I was Medusa:

There was lots to do and the we all had a lot of fun.

We had debated long and hard about what to actually do last night, stay at home, go to a church festival, or go trick or treating. The kids have never really been trick or treating and we thought we may go to a few houses so that Josie and Jolie could still get in bed at a decent time for school this morning, but Josie answered the delima for us. She woke up sick yesterday morning and spent the day with me at work, soooo we stayed home and decorated our pumpkins:

So here we are at the first day of November. As I told the girls we are going to call this "Thankful Month." I want them to be reminded of all the things we are thankful for. I think we are going to make a thankful tree and maybe some other thanksgiving crafts. Until next time, know that us J Burdicks are so thankful to have you in our lives and all that you bring to it.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-24T08:45:00.037-05:00

Wow what a roller coaster these past few months have been. Joe and I have both said we will be so glad when things start to return to somewhat normal. Joe's Uncle Gary went into the hospital over a week ago for a hernia surgery so last Sunday night Joe went to the hospital to visit him. Monday afternoon we got news that Joe's Great Aunt Ann had to be rushed to the hospital for being unresponsive, so as soon as they could, Quint met Joe in Greenville and they drove to Andalusia to be with their Aunt Ann and the family. She went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday afternoon. Joe had gotten some kind of bug so he was not able to be there Tuesday and stayed home from work on Wednesday. Thursday was the funeral, and also the day my dad had knee replacement surgery. As soon as Joe got home from Andalusia I went to the hospital to see my dad. He was doing and is still doing great. I visited with my dad and Uncle Gary and came home. Friday after work and school we took the kids to the hospital to see my dad and Uncle Gary. We even got to spend a few minutes with MeMaw and Paw-Paw while there.

Josie also got her very first report card on Thursday. She did perfect. In kindergarten you either get a "P" for profficient or "I" for incomplete, then there is a list of like 20-30 skills that they need to master, ranging from knowing her name, our names, her date of birth, her address, academic questions, and social skills. She got a P in every category. She is doing great and loving school. She continues to learn to spell more and more words so I know it won't be too much longer before she is reading.

Saturday we decided we really needed some family time so we went to the Clanton Pumpkin Patch. We had a great afternoon. The pictures are posted below. We played games, the girls rode ponies, we feed animals at the petting zoo, we rode the "Twactor Twain," we watched a Native American dance, we learned some Native American sign language, tooks pictures in beautiful spots, and took the hay ride down to the pumpkin patch to find our perfect pumpkins. It was a great day. With how hectic everything has been these past few months and with Joe working or being at the church, it was so nice to spend this day as a family.

We left Clanton and headed straight for the hospital to visit my dad and Uncle Gary. While there we got an extra special treat and got to see Aunt Mona.

Sunday is always "church and nap day." We got to church in the morning, go home and eat lunch and take naps, and then get ready to go to Awana. Sunday was a special day for Josie. Our church has a children's choir. You have to be 5 to be in, but when Josie turned 5 we had to way to get her there because it is from 3:30-5:00 on Wednesdays. When I found out that yesterday was the day for the children's choir to perform throughout the entire service I was going to have her sit in the nursery so that her feelings would not be hurt that she was not involved. Jonathan, our pastor, told me she could practice with the girls (it is all girls just by chance) before church and could participate. So she did. We have a very very special woman who has offered to start picking her up on Wednesdays so that Josie can be a part of the choir, so we are going to try to work it out that she can be there.

My dad came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and will start physical therapy at home. Hopefully Uncle Gary will get to come home today.

We have a busy week ahead of us. Joe has a session meeting tonight, I have SOS tomorrow night, Wednesday hopefully will be Josie's first afternoon at children's choir, and then more Halloween festivities over the weekend. We will also be squeezing into this replacing our hot water heater as ours has started leaking.

Our children are growing so fast and every time I blink they have changed and grown even more. Sometimes I feel like we miss out on so much somtimes because we work or have other obligations, but I know that is life. I know we will never get these times back. These are the days when we form strong bonds with our children that will last a lifetime. These are the days when our children are sponges that soak up everything we want to teach them about life, God, and academically. I wish more people really understood how precious this time is. God has blessed us with these children and he picked us as their parents for a reason. I know I make several mistakes when it comes to parenting, but most days I do the best I can and I really hope one day when the kids look back the good will outweigh the bad.

I'll end with pictures from the pumpkin patch.

And this one of Joel and me from our church homecoming:

Family Update and Belk Fundraiser

2011-10-14T10:00:00.006-05:00

Last Friday Joel had his one year checkup. Again, I can't believe I now can say I have an almost 6 year old, 4 year old, and 1 year old. Moving on though, his appointment went great. He weighed 27.5 pounds and is 32.5 inches long. I asked the doctor if he was going to be big guy and she said it looks like it, you've got a linebacker on your hands. What is funny is that we have heard that since the moment he was born. The doctor held him immediately after birth and said "you've got a linebacker." So it will be interesting to see what his future holds for him. He got four shots: chicken pox, flu, hepatitis, and measles. Well he ended up having a horrible reaction to one or more of the shots and the band-aid they put on him to cover up where they gave him the shots. Later that evening when I pulled the band-aids off his legs were welted where the band-aids had been. The next morning he woke up with a fever and a rash from top to bottom. He still has remnants from the rash. Poor guy.

After his doctors appointment I met Joe and the girls at MeMaw and Paw-Paw's for Aunt Angie's birthday party.

The next morning the girls were up at 5:30 a.m. and so I took them to Wal-Mart to pick up some food for our church Homecoming and so they could pick out their Halloween costumes. As hard as it was, I let them pick out their own costumes. I am trying to teach them to make decisions for themsevles, and so they picked out what they wanted. Neither want is a costume per se, but more of an outfit. Jolie's is kind of like a spider witch. She has a fluffy dress and a hat with a spider on it. The dress is fiber optic, so hers will be pretty neat. Josie's is a ladybug outfit. There isn't much to it, and I told her if Halloween is cold this year, she will be cold and have to cover up, but that was what she wanted. Joel will be a bat. I have a costume Josie wore 2 years ago that fits him, so we'll have Joel the bat, Josie the ladybug girl, and Jolie the spider witch.

The rest of the weekend we spent at church for our Homecoming. It was an awesome weekend and it was so great to see people I haven't seen in years. I did end up leaving early with Joel Sunday because he was just too fussy and needed and a nap.

Monday I was off but the kids' daycares were still open so I took advantage of a free day. I cleaned and slept. I think I really needed it :)

This week we have had some behavior issues with Jolie at school. She has been hitting, biting, and back talking the teacher. I'm not sure what is going on with her but I reached my breaking point yesterday and told her she couldn't go on her campout Saturday night. She was supposed to have a campout, so now just Josie would go. I had just bought them new flashlights too. But yesterday was the third day of getting a bad report and I told her 3 strikes and you are out. She took it pretty hard, so hopefully we got through to her that she can not hit, bite, or back talk. We shall see.

Today Josie goes to the pumpkin patch at school. She was really excited about. I think we will try to go to ZooBoo tonight. Jolie got a family membership for her birthday and so I want to take advantage of it as often as we can! Tomorrow Joe works, but the kids and I will be at a family reunion. Josie then has her campout. I told Joe this punishes us just as much Josie, because we almost had a kid free night (we still would have had Joel) :)

Sometime in the near future we are going to take Joel's one year pictures. We have not had any made since he was born. Poor boy, at least I have taken regular snap shots throughout the year, probably more so than I did with Jolie.

I'm going to end with Josie's newest fundraiser. Tickets for special event at Belks. Since she started school it has been back to back to back fundraising. Thank you to those who have helped out so far, and please no one feel obligated to do any more than what you want to do.

Joe & Jolie at the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-06T11:06:00.007-05:00

Joe is on his first field trip with one of the kids. Jolie's preschool is at the Clanton Pumpkin Patch and Joe someone managed to get off to go with her. I think they are both having a great time:

Josie was also very excited about today because she got to wear her pajamas to school. Who knew something so small could make a person so happy.

We left earlier than we should have (I didn't time it right since I only had 2 kids) and so Josie and I played with Joel at Ms. Debbies for a little while before I took her to school. He took another step for me and we all clapped for him. He was such a happy boy this morning. Crawling around every where, smiling with that adorable dimple, and just being a rambunctious little boy.

Happy Birthday Joel!!

2011-10-04T10:45:00.042-05:00

I can't believe my sweet little boy is one. Where has the time gone? The older we all get the faster time passes me by. I try to remind myself to slow down and enjoy moments, but sometimes that is just really hard to do.

Joel has changed so much in the past year and I'm not just talking about his hair color. He is coming into his personality, and I feel so blessed that God has allowed me to be a part of his life. I have three amazing children and I am so grateful for the precious gifts God has given to Joe and me.

Wednesday and Thursday Joe and I worked on stuff for Joel's birthday party and Friday was the big day.

Joe got to pick out the theme (I thought it was only fair since Joel is a boy), and Joe picked dinosaurs. I ran with it, and I think I/we did pretty good for this being our first boy party.

We had dino-dogs on a stick (corn dogs), stuffed dino eggs (deviled eggs), herbivore treats (veggie tray), stegosaurs spikes (cheese puffs), dino teeth & spicy lava (chips & fiesta ranch dip), Rex (watermelon carved like a dino with watermelon & grapes inside his mouth), dirt cups (oreo pie with gummy worms) fossil cups (orange jello with a sweedish fish in it) and cupcakes.

Of course Joel had his little smash cake made by Joe:

We decorated with lots of green and plants:

And as you walked up to the front door this is what you saw:

As you walked in from the front door to the kitchen you passed the goody table~ Dino masks and dino ducks:

And when you got to the kitchen you found the birthday boy!!

He learned to say "cheese" that day. You can see him saying it here:

We had coloring sheets and balloons to keep everyone occupied until everyone was there:

Once everyone was there I explained the egg hunt game to them. Momma dinosaurs had come to help me decorate and left colored dino eggs on the front lawn for the kids to hunt. Here I am explaining that everyone is only to get one egg of each color:

Look how well everyone is sitting and listening:

Let the hunt begin:

Look at all the dinosaurs that came to Joel's first birthday:

Next it was dinner and dessert. I love watching the kids dig into their first birthday cake:

After a quick bath in the sink and wardrobe change it was time to open presents:

All in all I think the party was a great success even if almost every kid there had a meltdown at some point :) Thank you so much to everyone who helped pull the party off, thank you for the gifts, and thank you for your love and support of Joel in this past year.

After the party Joe took the kids home and put them to bed while I stayed and cleaned up.

Saturday morning we took it easy. It had been a long, long, long time since we had been able to do that and it was so nice. We did take a walk to take some boxes to recycling. We went out to lunch and headed up to Joe's grandmother for a visit with some relatives we have not seen in a while. The girls got to feed Uncle Lynn's horses and went fishing with Joe. The most exciting thing of the day was when Joel took his first steps. He has taken a few since then, but pretty soon he will be running right along side his big sisters. We had a good afternoon and we got home in time to watch most of the Alabama game.

Sunday we had church and then the girls went home with Other Mama. This was a much needed break and we can not thank Other Mama and Pap-paw enough. We had just been talking about how we had not had a date since May, and so we went to lunch and had a semi-date (we still had Joel.) After a very yummy lunch we went home and took naps. That was the best sleep I have gotten in a while. We got up just in time to meet Other Mama at New Home with the girls for Awana.

This week is an exciting week for the girls at school. Jolie has a field trip to the Clanton Pumpkin Patch and Josie gets to wear pjs to school one day.

This weekend is a huge weekend for our church. We are celebrating the church's
175th birthday. We have activities all weekend long. At lunch on Sunday Joe were talking about how neat it will be to be around for the 200th birthday celebration. By then hopefully we will have four generations at First Presbyterian: My parents, Joe & me, the kids, and at least some of our grandkids. It is was neat to us when we thought about it that way. We are all part of something larger and we are blessed for the life we have.

Jolie's Doggie

2011-09-23T08:20:00.004-05:00

In the past Jolie has been to young to do Brush Buddies Art at MCDP (her preschool), but now that she is 4 she is old enough. They had their first art session yesterday and this is what she brought home:

She did a great job. We are so proud of her. We will hang it on the wall with Josie's monkey and hippo that she painted at Brush Buddies when she went to MCDP.

Happy Birthday Cowgirl Lollie

2011-09-22T10:06:00.028-05:00

One birthday down, one to go. Jolie Hannah is officially 4 years old.

On Wednesday night Joe, Sheila, and I worked on Jolie's birthday cake and cupcakes for her party Friday night at the Mall. Joe really gets most of the credit. He cut out the cake and iced the light brown. Sheila baked the cakes, added the mane and tail, and I added the eye and the blanket with the #4. Sheila and I then decorated the board. I baked the cupcakes and Sheila iced them with the purple icing.

Friday night we had Jolie's birthday party at the Mall. The cowboys and cowgirls rode the carasouel, played ring the snake in the hat, and rode a few other rides. They had an absolute blast. I think they all smiled from ear to ear the entire time. We had pizza and cake which Josie says was delicious. Jolie then opened presents. She got some great gifts and we thank you all so much!!

Yesterday was her actually birthday. Joe and I decorated the house with streamers, banners, balloons and other things for when she woke up. Then Joe and I cooked icecream cone cupcakes for her class and made little goody bags for her friends at school. She was so surprised when she woke up to find the house decorated just for her. After school and work we met Aunt Sheila, Uncle Quint, Caden & Ansleigh at Mellow Mushroom because Jolie had requested pizza for her birthday dinner. Again she got some great presents that I had bought from money people had sent her and a gift from Caden & Ansleigh.

Next Friday (the 30th) is Joel's birthday. I can't believe he will be 1.

I'll end with a picture of my beautiful family. I am so blessed.

Lots of Prayers

2011-09-08T08:30:00.014-05:00

This past week has been a whirlwind and in all honestly a depressing one. We keep getting bad news about so many family and friends that are in need of prayers and healing that after a while it takes a toll on you.

Last Wednesday morning we got a call that Joe's father had had a mild heart attack in the middle of the night. They ended up doing 5 bypasses and he was in the ICU from last Thursday through yesterday when they moved him to a regular room. Hopefully he will be home soon and can start his recovery process. We have all rallied around his parents and did everything within our power to take care of them. Jolie has been having a hard time knowing that Paw-Paw is in the hospital. One night she told me that Paw-Paw missed her and he needed her with him. She then layed it on even thicker saying that her heart hurt like Paw-Paw's and I needed to take her to the hospital too.

We are also praying for my dad. He has not been feeling well, and they just can't quite figure out what is wrong with him. He also has knee replacement surgery in October so we are praying that everything goes well with that. We are praying for Babette Urban, my mom's former partner. She found out this past week that she needs a liver transplant. We are praying for my grandmother, Ruth Berdine. She is in the hospital and they are trying to figure out what is wrong with her. We are praying for my friend Megan Worden. She has a rare form of thyroid cancer. She starts treatment I think next week. Her cancer is stage 4. She has two young girls, one Josie's age, and one Joel's age. We are praying for our friend Robbie Broadway. She has double breast cancer. She has a PET scan today to see if it is in her bones. She also has two young girls. We are praying for a friend from church, Libby Fain. They just found brain cancer. Plus a few unspoken prayers.

Please join us in lifting up these people with us. We know that God hears our prayers.

There was a good thing that happened this week. Josie got to acolyte for the first time at church. She did great. We are so proud of her. I know I told you that I would give you a heads up, but this was a last minute thing. She was asked to do it 10 minutes before the service started and I almost told her no, but I didn't want to take the opportunity away from Josie. Joe was there. If he had not been, I definitely would have told Rose no.

Lastly, y'all, I am not a fundraising person. I just never have been, but Josie brought home her first fundraiser yesterday. Below is the book (sorry it is in black & white and not color. I don't have a color printer and my scanner was tearing up the book.) If anyone is interested please let me know. The checks need to be made out to "CES" (Coosada Elementary School), and all money has to be turned in September 21st. Thanks!

Philippians 4.7:And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.

McClellan's Critter Zoo

2011-08-29T16:40:00.036-05:00

Last week was Josie's first full week of school and she did really good. She is still learning the ropes and rules so a bad day is to be expected every once in a while, but I'm very proud of well she is doing and how excited she is staying about school. Her first project was due Friday. A paper plate look like me doll:

Friday we had family night in and cooked a yummy dinner of steak and hotdogs.

Saturday was a mini adventure. I had heard about this petting zoo place in Banks (close to Troy). An Australian man owns he. He originally opened it for mentally handicapped and disabled children to get a closer look at animals, more so that what you would get at the zoo. At one point he decided to open it to the public. It is an awesome place. We definitely got our money's worth. The owner himself gives tours and he took the time to talk about each animal as we stopped at their cage. What I was most impressed with was that he made it very educational. He made a point to tell the children at each cage that in no way do you go close to these animals in the wild. He had different kinds of monkeys, lemurs, lions, tigers, alligators, bears, camels, cows, goats, deer, snakes, a pig, ligers (a cross between a lion and tiger) and a cross between a donkey and zebra (I can't remember what he called it.) We had a great trip and even Sheila, Caden, Ansleigh, Aunt Mona, her nephew Brayden, and Joe's Uncle Gary came along. It was very hot, but we all stayed well hydrated.

After the zoo we went to Arbys for lunch and some much needed air conditioner:

Then we went to visit Joe's Uncle Terry's grave. We had not been there since the funeral four and a half years ago. This was the first time we have taken the girls to a cemetary, so the talk in the van on the way to the cemetary was very interesting to say the least.

All in all it was a great day.

Sunday we had church and Awana. The girls are doing great at learning their verses and they are both now the proud owners of Awana vests.

Jolie is getting super excited about her birthday and tells everyone that she can that she is going to "be this many" and holds up four fingers.

Next Tuesday Josie does not have school because it is a parent/teacher day. I have made an appointment with her teacher that afternoon and we will go over how she is doing and everything like that.

We have a lot of unspoken prayer requests for family members and friends right now, so if you don't mind mentioning those to God the next time you talk to him, he knows who all they are.

Full of Firsts

2011-08-22T10:19:00.004-05:00

Last week was an emotional week for me. It was full of firsts, and well, it was a lot for one week: The girls had their first Awana meetings at New Home, Jolie started her first day of K-4 with a new teacher, Josie started kindergarten, and Josie had her first acolyte training. I also worked on finalizing the details for Jolie's 4th birthday and Joel's first. I can not believe that in a little over a month my sweet precious baby boy will be a year old. The phrase I often use for my life is lather, rinse, repeat. So much of my life, just like everyone else's, you get up, do the same things, go to bed, and get up and do it all over again. I think my brain is just on automatic pilot sometimes and I'm not enjoying enough of our life and the little moments as I should. If I were I would not be as surprised that Josie has started kindergarten and Joel is turning one. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???
I know I am older, but I don't feel any older, therefore, my children should not be older :)

Now back to something above that I have not talked about before. In past blogs I have talked about Josie being a junior usher during the church services, but now she has attended acolyte training and will be acolyting in church. This is a HUGE deal in our church. Acolytes are the people that walk up front during the service and light the candles. At our church this job is left to the children. We had a fairly large group of children (all girls) that took the training Sunday and will now be even more active in the worship services. I remember what an honor this was when Ben and I grew up and now my daughter has learned to do this. We are supposed to be getting a calendar of when each child will acolyte so I will let everyone know in enough time in case you want to come watch Josie for her first time. I will probably be crying just like I did the first time she ushered. I am just so proud of her. She had a big week, starting kindergarten, learning her Bible verse for Awana, and learning to acolyte.

I am also super proud of Jolie for learning her Bible verse. I will admit I was a little nervous. She is not as disciplined when it comes to learning as Josie is. Yes, I do know that there is a 1.5 year age difference, but still even at Jolie's age Josie loved to learn things and practice her coloring and writing. Jolie, well, not so much. She is getting better and is learning new things, and she learned her verse fairly quickly. I was very proud of her.

We had a busy weekend that left us all a little tired this morning. Friday we picked up the kids and went to Buck Masters. After Buck Masters we stopped by my grandmother's house and visited with her. Saturday Joe had to work at the church while the girls and I cleaned up the house. We had invited Other Mama and Pap-paw over for dinner so we needed to do some tiddying before they came. We had a birthday party at Pump-It-Up that afternoon which is always fun. Joel loved it. Joe and I took turns taking him into the bouncy houses and took turns taking him down the big slide. He loved every second. If you put him down to crawl around he would crawl straight for the ramp to climb the steps to the top of the slide. After the party we headed home to cook the spaghetti and get ready for dinner. Sunday we had singing, Sunday School, church, then Josie had her acolyte training and Joe had a meeting. We were able to get an 1.5 hour nap in before eating dinner and heading to Awana.

The kids and I are getting adjusted to our new schedule. I still have a really hard time getting them to eat breakfast and Lollie never wants to get dressed, so needless to say there is a lot of fighting over that, but time wise we have done great each day. I have walked Josie in to her class each day and I'm not sure when I'll stop. She wants me just to drop her off like some of the other parents, but I don't know if I am ready for that :)

Josie's First Day

2011-08-17T08:12:00.004-05:00

If you ask Josie how her first day went, in Tony the Tiger fashion she says, "It was GREAT!!" She was so happy when I picked her up and she loved every second of it. She liked P.E. because they did jumping jacks, and they talked about the Gingerbread Man and the Gingerbread's mom made gingerbread cookies for them to eat. She sang that song all night long. Every day a sheet will be sent home showing either a happy face, a sad face, or a straight face letting us know how their day went, and Josie got a smiley face. Let's hope that continues.

When I picked them up I had a special surprise for the girls from Aunt Sheila: new back packs. I had not bought new back packs because they still had good ones, but yesterday her folder did not fit into the way it needed to so Aunt Sheila bought both girls new back packs. A Littlest Pet Shop monkey with peace signs for Josie and Hello Kitty for Jolie. They got so excited when they saw them and could not wait to take them to school.

Ms. Jackson sent home with her a super sweet goody bag fully of little goodies that had a meaning with it. Laffy Taffy because they are going to laugh and have fun together. A Hug (Hersey's kisses but with a nut inside it) because we all need hugs. Smarties because they are all smart. An eraser because we all make mistakes and IT IS OKAY. A sticker because they need to stick together. And a heart because Ms. Jackson loves them. I must admit I got a little choked up when I read the explanations to her last night.

Today she is spending the day with Aunt Sheila and then tomorrow she goes back for another day at school.

I want to thank everyone who called Josie or wrote me to ask about her day. It meant so much to Josie to be able to share her day with as many people as she could. I told her about all the people who asked about her and her face would just light up. For those who called after she was asleep last night, I will have her call you tonight.

This is such a huge milestone in Josie's life and I am so thankful to have so many people to share it with.

Josie's First Morning as a Kindergartener in Pictures

2011-08-16T08:29:00.021-05:00

(Disclaimer: I just realized that the date is worng)

Eating breakfast to make sure our brains are in good working order:

Getting ready to leave:

She arrives at school:

Sitting at HER desk:

Josie and her teacher, Ms. Jackson:

Josie and one proud Momma:

Josie's Last Hoorah

2011-08-15T08:55:00.010-05:00

Some of my favorite childhood memories are the spontaneous things (or at least they were spontaneous to my brother and me) we did. I decided I wanted to keep that "tradition" alive with my children and so this past weekend we had a Last Hoorah for Josie before she officially became a kindergartener. As always we are tight on money so I had to be creative, but before my surprise came Aunt Sheila's surprise. Thursday night Joe and I went went to Quint and Sheila's house to watch Caden and Ansleigh while Sheila and Quint went to Caden's open house. Around 7:15 Joe took our kids home to get them in bed while I stayed and put Ansleigh and Caden to bed. When Quint and Sheila got home Sheila came in with this huge smile on her face, and told me that she wanted to surprise Caden, Josie, and Jolie and take them to Chuck-E-Cheese the next day. I think she was as excited about surpirsing the kids and spending that time with them, as I know the kids were once they got to Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids had an absolute blast and came home with pictures, candy, and goodies. Sitting at work Friday morning knowing that my kids were having a great time with Sheila and her sister Stacey made me a little jealous that I couldn't do something fun with the kids. Joe worked this weekend so I knew we really could not do much. Then it hit me. I had my birthday money sitting on my dresser and I had not decided what I wanted to do with it, so I decided to get a hotel room in Greenville, Alabama. We could stay at one with a pool where the kids could swim and at night we could go to the golf course and ride. There is a park close to the golf course so I knew we could do that as well. So on my lunch I ran home and packed up a suitcase, snacks, drinks, swim gear, and anything else I could think of that we would need. As soon as I got off work I picked up Joel from Ms. Debbie, picked up the girls from Sheila, and we headed to Greenville for Josie's Last Hoorah. We had a blast. Joe especially loved it because he had a 5-10 minute drive to work. Hopefully this will be one of the things the girls look back fondly on it, and appreciate that although we didn't do something super exciting, we did have fun, and it was a great little get away.

Sunday we came home and dropped the kids off with MeMaw and Paw-Paw so that Joe and I could go to my boss' father's funeral. He died Friday night, and the funeral was Sunday. After the funeral Joe had session and I rushed back to get the kids ready for Awana at MeMaw and Paw-Paw's church. Jolie moved up to Cubbies and although was a little shy at first warmed up to her teacher and new friends. Josie moved up to Sparks and was fine. I am sure it helped that she had one of her best friends, Elias, there. Annaleigh is in Puggles and I think she enjoyed it as well. Crystal and I talked and caught up and then attended the evening service.

Today was Jolie moved up to a new class at Millbrook Child Development Class. She is in K-4 now with Ms. Amanda. Ms. Amanda is super sweet and I know Jolie will just flourish with her as a teacher. Josie's first day of kindergarten is tomorrow and then starts going every day on Thursday. She is excited and ready. She has been counting down the days.

I'll end with some pictures of the kids at Tanner's birthday party:

New Chapter

2011-08-09T10:08:00.005-05:00

We are about to enter into a new chapter in our lives, parents of a school aged child. We have open house tonight and we will take Josie to meet her teacher. We got the teacher we requested, Elizabeth Mercer Jackson. Joe and I went to school with her and I played softball with her. I am so happy we got Elizabeth. I took Josie last Monday night school supply shopping and we finished getting everything on her list. Thank you so much to those of you who helped buy school supplies. You do not know how much we appreciate it. We have also taken her to get new school clothes and she is ready. She has been ready. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I can not believe our oldest child is five and a half years old. I remember trying eight long months to have her, watching her due date come and go, being in labor over 27 hours, and then Joe and I instantly being wrapped around that little girl's finger. Josie is so smart, loving, and loves learning so I know she is going to do great at school. Her first day is Tuesday, August 16, and then she won't go again until Thursday, August 18, 2011, and then every day after that. My tears will be tears of sadness of how fast the time has flown and tears of joy that God has blessed us with such an amazing little girl to share our lives with.

I will probably be stressed to my limits that week. I will have to figure out a new morning routine that will include driving to three different places before going into work and figuring out time to do homework in the afternoons amongst dinner, baths, and taking care of Jolie and Joel and sometimes without Joe's help because of his work schedule. I know we will get it all worked out, but I will just have to get used to our new routines. We won't be able to do anything during the week at night because Josie will need to be in bed by 7:00-7:30 so that we can all be up and ready to leave by 6:50 a.m. Again, I know we will get used to it, it will just take some time. These past two weeks I have been getting the girls up earlier and earlier to slowly get them adjusted to our new wake up time.

This will be the first time Jolie will not be at the same facility as Josie. Jolie is quite independent, but I am a little worried how she will react. She likes to do everything Josie does and often will tell you that she is five like Josie. I can't believe in over a month she will be 4. In my mind she is still my baby girl. If you asked Jolie, she mainly goes to preschool for the entertainment, the friends, playing, and that type of stuff. She is not as into the "learning" as Josie is. However, she is doing much better at coloring inside the lines and is working and is improving on writing her name.

Lastly, Joel. I really really can't believe he is almost a year old. He is 10.5 months old and is as sweet as can be. He is on regular milk and only drinks from sippy cups now. He is pulling up on everything and sometimes can let go and stand for a few seconds before falling. It is hard to believe that within the next couple of months he will be walking. Part of me wants to stop them all from growing and part of me is so excited to see the people they will become and all their accomplishments.

The girls start back to Awana this Sunday. This year they will be going to Awana at New Home, their MeMaw and Paw-Paw's church. Mt. Hebron (Quint and Sheila's church) is doing it on Wednesday nights again, and I just knew it would be too much on Josie not getting into bed before 8:30 or 9:00 on a school night. The girls are excited and both of them move up this year.

I'll end with pictures of Josie and her big girl hair cut for school. This is taken right after it was cut so it is not the best picture. She is so excited about it and kept asking me if I loved it, which I do.

Happy Birthday Last Week of July People

2011-07-25T08:52:00.014-05:00

My girls have been so excited because Grammy got in Friday. She stayed with Ben Friday night and Saturday night so the girls and I had talked about it several times before she got here because I did not want them to get upset that she would not be with us every day, and they were both very big girls. If you asked Josie (or for some people who didn't ask Josie, ha ha) Grammy was staying with her uncle until Sunday and then she would be at our house. I was so very proud that she handled it well and never got upset that Grammy had to split her time between us and Uncle Ben, Aunt Tiffany, and Tanner. I dread the day when my children get older and possibly move away from us and we have to figure out who we will spend what holiday day with and having to split our time among them and the grandchildren, but luckily I still have a long long time and can enjoy us all being under one roof, chaos, fights, and all.

Friday Joe had planned a very fabulous birthday party for me. This is the first time he has ever planned a party for me. He is not a stickler for details, but the party was great and we had a great time. I am so proud of him and I love love love him for doing it for me. Thank you all so much for those of you who came or helped in some way. It really means a lot to me and I feel so loved.

Saturday Joe worked and the kids and I hung around the house. That night we did our movie night. Sunday the kids and I went to church and then Grammy, Uncle Ben, Aunt Tiffany, Tanner, R & C came over and brought pizza with them. The kids played for several hours and I think all of us adults had a blast just watching them play. And poor Aunt Tiffany, she can never visit our house without getting her hair "done." The girls love to brush her hair and they have even been known to give her the full treatment by trying to washing it.

Speaking of Tiffany, this weekend I bought a super cute wipes case from her:

She has a lot of stuff on sale, if any of you are interested. She has made several things for my kids that I have posted.
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/ThePolkaDotGiraffe09

My Aunt Lisa has also created a website if you are in the market for a cute keychain.
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/GoodLucyBadLucy/107947489303216

And lastly with my advertisements, my in-laws are active in the Millbrook Players and are in the play South Pacific showing this week, if anyone would like to go see a play. Tell them Jessica sent you. It wouldn't get you anything, but it will make me look like a good daughter-in-law. Just joking they are reading this, so I just blew my cover.

This week Grammy will spend quality time with the kids. This is the second time she has seen Joel so today and Thursday she will just have him and then Tuesday and Wednesday she will have him and one of the girls. In the evening she will visit with us and with Ben and his family, and then on Friday she leaves to go back to Pennsylvania.

This week is birthday week for Joe and my family so:
Happy Birthday Uncle Quint!!
Happy Birthday Kevin!!
Happy Birthday Mr. Randy/Paw-Paw!!
Happy Birthday Gigi Berdine!!
Happy Birthday to Me!!
Happy Birthday Gigi Green!!

We love all of you so very much and are blessed to have you in our lives.

I'll end with some pictures that Aunt Becca and Aunt Angie took at Easter:

Getting Ready for School

2011-07-19T11:41:00.004-05:00

The past couple weekends have been fairly quiet for us so there hasn't been that much to post.

The weekend of Julyl 8-9 was a good one. We spent the afternoon at MeMaw and Paw-Paw visiting with family. Grandma was down from Maplesville and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Bobbie were up from Florida. We had a good visit and the food was great too. That evening we went to Quint and Sheilas and played cards until after 1:00 a.m. (Don't worry we had bathed and put all 5 kids to bed around 8:30 p.m.) Sheila and I were exhuasted at that point and went to sleep while Joe and Quint stayed up until I think 4:00 a.m. playing video games. It had been forever since we had done that and it felt good to do something "young" again. However... the next morning I woke up with a migraine. I spent all day either sleeping or throwing up. Joe took the girls to church and Joel and I stayed home and slept. That was also the day Joe lowered Joel's bed because our little acrobat fell out when he was supposed to be tring to go to sleep.

Monday, July 11, 2011, we had Joel's appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. When we first walked into the waiting room there was a fairly large family waiting for someone who was meeting with the doctor. The mom, before even asking why we were there, said she would pray for Joel. That put me in a really good place before we saw the doctor because both Joe and I were super nervous. They did an EKG on Joel's little heart, we met with the doctor, and then the doctor did the ultrasound of his heart. The ultraound felt like it lasted forever. I think we were in there for 15-20 minutes. He said Joel's heart murmur is an innocent one. It does not affect his quality of life and we do not have to go back. Praise the Lord. Joel had so many people praying for him and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Josie got to go on our third field trip of the summer. They went to the Rave (a movie theater) to see Narnia. She loved it, and the field trips make her feel like such a big girl.

That night Jolie got to go on a date with her dad. They went to Pet Smart to see all the animals and ate dinner at McDonalds. The night before the date Joe told her that they were going to go on one. She asked what they were doing and Joe said it was suprise (he had no clue what they were doing at that poing) and she asked him if they were going ice-skating. He said "No, Daddy doesn't ice-skate." To which she replied, "That's ok, you can just watch me." The girl cracks me up.

Friday at our house has turned into movie night. We rent movies from Redbox, eat popcorn and usually a very unhealthy dinner, and have a good family night. This week I borrowed movies from the library. The girls' movie was Dumbo. I don't think I have seen that since I was a child.

We were supposed to go to the Lake on Saturday, but with us not knowing if storms were coming, we opted not to. So we did some free fun things instead. We went to Bass Pro Shop and "rode" the four-wheelers, "drove" the boats, walked through the tents, and saw the fish. After that we went to Pet Smart to look at the animals. After that we went to the Mall. I'm working on planning both Jolie and Joel's birthday parties. Jolie's is a cowgirl theme and Joel's is a dinosaur theme. We decided to have Jolie's at the Mall at the carousel so that the kids could ride the horses. We needed to get more information so the girls got to ride the carousel and watch the ice skaters and we found out what we needed to plan Jolie's birthday party. That night we had my early birthday dinner with Other Mama and Pap-Paw. The girls spent the night and Joe and I went home.

On Sunday mornings we have singing at 9:15 and Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m. We have to leave our house at 9:00 to make it to the 9:15 singing. I also never set the alarm for Sunday mornings, because I have three kids who are usually up no later than 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning I woke up and looked at the clock it was 9:00 a.m. Even Joel had slept until 9:00 a.m. Needless to say we rushed to get ready and somehow only managed to be a minute or two late for Sunday School.

This week is dedicated to cleaning our house. My mom comes this Friday and will stay until Friday the 29th. I know some of you are wondering why it will take all week, but we have three kids. Whatever we do is instantly undone, and not only that but we can't officially start cleaning until all 3 are in bed, which is usually sometime between 7 and 8, depending on moods.

Josie's time as a preschooler is quickly coming to an end. School starts on August 15, 2011, but I am not sure when her first day will be. They stagger the kindergarteners for the first three days and then everyone goes on Thursday. We have an open house on August 9th for us to meet Josie's teacher and get her acclimated with her new school. She is super super excited about starting school. I am a little worried about Lollie will react. For as long as she can remember they have been together or in the same building. So I'm sure it will take some getting used to her not having Josie there. Because her birthday falls after the cutoff date it will be two more years before she starts kindergarten.

I have had some people ask if they can help with school supplies. YES!!!! I had no idea it would be so expensive to start school. Here is the school's list for anyone who would like to get something for Josie:
Steno Book- 3
#2 Pencil- 12 natural and no paint, pre-sharpened if possible
Set of washable Crayola Markers- Wide tip- 1
8ct small Crayola Crayons- 1 pack
24 ct Crayola Crayons- 4 packs
4 oz. Elmer's School Glue- 3
9 X 12 50 Ct. Asst. Construction Paper- 1
Xerographic Paper Ream- 3
Color paper ream- 1
Colored Plastic Pocket & Brad Folders- 2
Blunt 5" Fiskar Scissors- 1
4 ct. color Expo dry erase markers- 2
Glue sticks- 4 large, 4 small
Crayola Watercolor paints
PARENT TO SUPPLY: Nap Towel, No Wheels Book Bag, Plastic Supply Box, a 3 pack of Youth Large (14/16) white T-Shirts, and one of each of the following: Germ-X, paper towels, Lysol wipes, Kleenex, headphones, baby wipes

I have also been told that there will probably be more than her individual teacher will require, but we won't know who her teacher is for two more weeks.

We also have Tanner's birthday coming up soon. I can't believe how fast all of these little ones are growing. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T08:17:00.020-05:00

Last week was an interesting week for us.

Tuesday Joel starting running fever and we had to take him to the doctor. He had strep. The doctor said he could go back to school on Friday so I kept him with me at work Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was rough. He whined almost all day and mainly just wanted to be held. Thursday was a little better. Friday he went to school but he had his ninth month check up that afternoon. When I got off work I went and picked him up and took him to his appointment. For the most part everything went well. He weighed a little over 24 pounds and is in the 90-95 percentile for his height, in the 95-100 percentile for his weight and 50 percentile for his head circumfrance. He is on target with all of his learning and physical capabilities. Then they started checking him out. There was a person training so she checked him out first and then the doctor went behind her and checked him again. His belly button went down to normal size from his umbilical hernia so I asked that she check that his hernia had healed. She checked him out and went to his chart and started flipping through it. She didn't say anything she just kept looking through his file. I asked her how his hernia looked and she said, "Oh, I didn't check that." She then looked at me and asked me if anyone had ever told me he had a heart murmur. I said no. I must have turned as white as a ghost because the training nurse kept looking at me concerned. She said that he does have one and that we will have to go see a cardiologist. She said every time they find a heart murmur they have it checked out. She said most of the time they are innocent murmurs and do affect a person's quality of life, but in some cases surgery is required. She told me it is better to have one "pop up" then to be born with it. She kept trying to calm me down, but I looked at her and said you have kids, don't tell me to calm down. I do know a ton of people that have heart murmurs including several in our family, but until we know what kind Joel's is, I am going to worry and be scared. So please everyone pray that Joel's is the innocent murmur.

Friday night we went to Hobby Lobby to get some scrapbook paper. I do scrapbooks as my children's baby books, and Jolie's only had four or five pages done. I told Joe that I could not in good conscience start Joel's until I had finished Jolie's. Yes, she is almost four, but hey it is getting done and that is what is important. When we moved all of my scrapbook stuff was put in the outside storage building because we did not have room in our house, so Joe was kind enough to get it out and so far I have done probably 15 pages.

Saturday Joe worked and the kids and I hung around the house all day. We did take two walks, but other than that it was a lazy day. Sunday the kids and I went to Sunday School, went and visited my grandmother for an hour, and then met my friend from high school and her three children at the Millbrook park. The kids played on the playground and in the creek and then we went home and passed out. Well everyone except Josie. I don't know how she was not tired. After naps I took the girls to Other Mama and Pap-Paws to spend the night. Monday morning I got up and cooked and then we went up to the lake as is our family tradition. We had a great day. We swam for hours and ate a lot of good food. On the way home we picked up some fireworks. The girls had watermelon for dinner and were ready to do fireworks. The girls got to do their sparklers and then we watched our little firework show that Joe put on for us. After that it was bath and bed. No one wanted to get up this morning so tonight will be a very early night for us.

I have picked up the school supply list for Josie to start kindergarten. Good grief, they need a lot of stuff. I guess I will do the shopping slowly. I do not think we required near the stuff they do today. Josie continues to be super excited about school. Although she can not read yet, she is learning to spell more and more words.

Jolie is learning to write her name. Write now if you ask her to write her name she writes "Joe." So all she is missing is 2 letters. She is also getting much better at coloring and is doing better at staying in the lines. I can not believe she will be 4 in just 2.5 months.

I have taught Joel to say "bye-bye." Of course he doesn't always say it when I ask him to, but sometimes he does. Like most kids he says it once he is in his carseat in the van. Sometimes he waves his hand up and down (instead of side to side) when he says bye-bye and sometimes he just says it. The second hardest part of his appointment was making his next appointment--his one year appointment. Where is the time going??

Well I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

I'll end with some pictures from swimming with Aunt Sheila, Caden, and Ansleigh the weekend before:

Quality Time

2011-06-22T08:48:00.022-05:00

I will try to type this post with a lot less grammatical errors, but I am not making any promises :)

Last week we enjoyed Family Bible School at our church. We all had a blast and it warms my heart to hear the girls singing songs they learned at VBS.

The girls and I were so excited about this weekend. It was the first one we had gotten to spend the whole weekend with Joe in about a month and we won't have another one until 3 weeks from now, so we spent almost every second together the entire weekend. Saturday morning we got up and cleaned. We made a deal with the girls that if they keep their room clean until Grammy gets here the last week of July we will do something special. So far they are doing great, and hopefully by then it will become such a habit to keep it clean that will become less of a struggle to keep it straightened up. I am really proud of how well they are doing. They have asked everyone who has come over to see their room because it is clean. I am glad to know they take pride in it.

After cleaning we did a Fathers Day photo shoot outside. I told Joe that we were only doing it for Pap-Paw and Paw-Paw, but I did one for him too. When I had the pictures made I put "We Love Our Daddy/Pap-Paw/Paw-Paw at the top of the tree. Before I left to have them made Joe showed me which one was his favorite so this is the one he got:

Then this is the one Pap-Paw and Paw-Paw got:

And here are two more where I just kept snapping trying to get the perfect picture:

Saturday evening Pap-Paw, Uncle Ben, Aunt Tiffany, Tanner, R & C came over for a fathers day dinner with my dad. (It is our tradition to do something with our parents on another day to celebrate Mothers day and Fathers day so that we can spend quality time with our children on Mothers day and Fathers day.) We had a great time and the kids were pretty well behaved that night.

Sunday morning I got up early, as did Lollie, and she and I made Joe a special breakfast of pigs in a blanket, cinnamon rolls (his favorite), eggs, and coffee. We then set up his tray with his breakfast and his special picture, and took him his breakfast in bed. Jolie was so excited about it that she wanted to eat with him too, so I fixed her a tray (she tried very hard to convince me that her tray also needed a picture), and Josie a plate and the girls ate with Joe and watched a fishing program in bed. The girls also gave Joe the poster cards they had made for him. We made two, one from the girls, and one from Joel. I put a special poem on both of them, pictures of Joe and the kids, and then the kids colored and decorated them.
This is the poem that was in Joel's card:
My Baby Boy and Me
It's three AM, they're all asleep,
and no-one's here to see.
As we rock slowly back and forth,
My baby boy and me.
His little hand is feather light
Tucked up against my chin.
I hold his tiny hand in mine,
and stroke his baby skin.
The house about us creaks and groans,
The clock hands creep around.
He snuggles closer to me still,
And makes his baby sounds.
I love these quiet hours so much,
And cherish every one.
Store memories up inside my heart
For lonely nights to come.
All too soon he'll be grown up,
His need for Daddy gone.
But until then I still have time
For kisses and for song.
Time for quiet hours like this
With him cuddled in my arms,
Where I wish he'd always stay
Protected, safe and warm.
And yet I know the day will come
When his tiny little hand,
will be bigger than my own.
He'll grow to be a man.
But until then he's mine to love
With no one here to see.
As we rock slowly back and forth,
My baby boy and me.
...Author Unknown

And this is the poem that was in the girls' card:

A Daddy and His Daughters
A daddy and his daughters,
Walking hand in hand;
Though he isn't always with them,
They say they understand.
When he's away at work or play,
The memory of him lingers;
The two girls smile because they know,
He's wrapped around their fingers.
A slight tilt of their sweet heads,
A smile, a lowered glance;
A hug and kiss and, "Daddy please?"
He doesn't stand a chance!
In later years he will recall,
With tenderness and love;
Two charming girls, with hands in his,
Two blessings from above.
~unknown

I cried when I read them both and knew they were perfect.

After breakfast we got ready and headed to church. After church we headed home for one of Joe's favorite meals: beef tips and rice and green bean casserole. We ate our yummy home cooked lunch and took naps. After naps we played outside:

Today Josie is on a field trip. They are going on a riverboat cruise and to the splash pad at Riverwalk. She was so excited about it. Jolie isn't old enough to go so as a trade-off Joe will have to do something special with her either Friday night or Saturday after he gets done working at the church. Tonight we have our Fathers Day dinner with Paw-Paw at Quint and Sheilas. Joe is the only one with plans this weekend. He has a work day at church for Saturday and a session retreat from 2-7 on Sunday, so the kids and I will have to find something to do.

Until next time....

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-16T10:20:00.003-05:00

The past two weekends have been quiet for us. Joe was gone for both, but the kids and I just chilled the weekend of the 4th and 5th and last Saturday we went up to Lake Martin wtih Other Mama, Pap-Paw, Pam, Peggy and Bill. We got to swim an hour or two before the storms hit, but we did have a good afternoon.

We have had VBS this week so that has us all tired this week. Our church does VBS at night so that the whole family can enjoy it. We eat dinner together, sing, have lessons, and do crafts. Even Joel is doing crafts! I love it no matter who tiring it is :)

A lot has been going on with Joel lately. The first week of June he developed a horrible cough. I took him to the doctor and it was croup. He is feeling much better. The same day I took him to the doctor, his 3rd tooth broke through. His 4th tooth is very close to breaking through. After he finally started feeling better from the croup it was like he finally came into a personality. He is babbling all the time now and just seems different. Stilly my happy little boy, but just with more personality. The biggest new accomplishment for Joel is that he is now officially a crawler. I dropped him off at Ms. Debbies on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, and while she and I were talking I looked down and there he was crawling for a toy. We then moved another toy to another spot and and he crawled over to it again. I almost cried. He has also added pulling up to his resume, ha ha. His newest trick, and I still can't believe all of this has happened in a 2 week period, is taking steps while standing up and holding on to your fingers. Up until last night every time you would stand him up with him holding onto your hands/fingers, he would just stand there, you could try to make him move or walk and he would not, he would just stand there. Well last night while we were waiting for the girls to get finished in their classes, I had him standing up holding onto my fingers and he started taking steps towards his Daddy. I guess just everything clicked for him. He is starting to eat more solid foods and is loving it. My baby won't be a baby for very much longer. He goes for his 9 month check up on July 1st. When I took him to the doctor for croup he was a little over 24 pounds, but as much as he has been moving around he might have actually lost some by then. We shall see.

Josie gets more and more excited about start kindergarten every day. If only I shared her enthusiasm. One day we were sitting in church and Joe looked at Josie's shoe and said since when does she wear a size 12. I looked at him and said, that's what hits you. Not the fact that she is 5 1/2 or about to start kindgergarten, but that she wears a size 12 shoe.

Jolie, my sweet funny Jolie. She keeps us laughing. You never know what is going to come out of that girls mouth. She has been practicing writing her letters and wrote a perfect "e" for us the other night. I was very proud of her. She isn't as into school as Josie is so to see her practicing her letters was a good thing. For right now we have not gone to the urologist, and we are holding off. She stopped having accidents, so we are going to wait to see if she starts again. As soon as she does, I'll get her in, but for now since she isn't have the problems, I'm going to wait.

This weekend is Fathers Day. I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful "Fathers" in my life. I love each of them so dearly and can't imagine having not known any of them.

1. Joe is an amazing father. As soon as he walks in the door all three kids just light up. He has helped do everything with the children since they were born. He gone up all 3 in the middle of the nigt, he changed diapers, took them to doctors appointments. He now takes the girls on dates and plays with them. He is a great role model by being an active member of church, teaching Sunday School, and an elder. When he isn't at work he is with his family with some exceptions for fishing and hunting. He loves to snuggle with all 3 and always gives lots of hugs and kisses. I could not have asked for a better father for our 3 beautiful children.

2. My Dad. My dad was also and still is an amazing father. He and I had a great realitionship as I grew up and we still to this day have a great relationship. I always knew I could go and talk to him about anything. He was always willing to show us how to do anything and if he couldn't he found someone who could. He introduced us to all types of new experiences and always let us make our own choices. He also was very involved in church, taught Sunday School, and was an elder. He loves my children as if they were his own and would do antyhing for them. He was a God send during my pregnancy with Joel. I had more problems with swelling and was a little more tired with him and Daddy would just let me put my feet up while he helped with the girls. If it weren't for Joe and Daddy Jolie's 3rd birthday party probably wouldn't have happened. He gets down and plays with the kids and helps with all 3 in any way he can. I could not ask for a better dad or grandfather to my children.

3. My Father-in-Law. Joe and I have been together for over 17 years now so I have been a part of the Burdick family for quite some time. I have always felt welcomed into the family and felt like one of theirs. I know that if I ever need anything I can always call on them. He also loves our children as his own and I know would do anything for them. My kids love spending time with him and he gets down and plays with them. He is a blessing to our family.

4. My brother. My brother is another great dad. Not only does he take care of his own son, but he and Tiffany are foster parents. They have had several children come and go through their house, but I think they have all fallen in love with Ben. It is so sweet to watch Ben with Tanner and his foster children and it warms my heart to know that God has blessed him with a beautiful family. My girls love their Uncle Ben and know that they will always have a good time when he is around. Ben is a great role mode by being active in church and being a family man. I am so thankful I have him as a brother and an uncle to my children.

5. My brother-in-law. Quint is another wonderul dad. He has two beautiful children that love and adore him. Quint is also a family man and spends the majority of his time that he isn't working with his family. He is active in his church and his teaching his son how to be a great dad too one day. My kids also love their Uncle Quint and think the world of him. I know I keep repeating myself, but again, I am so blessed to have Quint as a brother and an uncle to my children.

6. My grandfathers. I have limited memories of my Pap-Pap Anderson because he died when I was in the third grade, but his legacy lives on in the family he left behind. He loved his family and was my grandmother's one true love. He loved to work with wood and with his hands. We all have things that he made for us and I always hold those things dear to me. My grandfather was in the military and served our country as did my father. Although I don't remember too much about him, I know that he was a great man.

I also have limited memories of my Pap-pap Berdine because I didn't get to spend that much time with him. He died when I was a Senior in High School but lived in Pennsylvania and south Florida so our visits were few and far between. What memories I do have of him are good ones. He was a stern man that loved his family and did whatever he had to take care of them. He also served his country and I admire him greatly for that.

7. Joe's Grandpa Green. Joe's Grandpa Green died the February before we married in May 2002. He also was a great man that loved his family. I loved going to visit him. There were often times when Joe and his grandmother would go fishing and I would stay with Grandpa and we would just sit on the porch and talk. I loved listening to his stories. He also accepted me as part of the family.

8. I have numerous uncles, cousins, friends, and men from church that are also great fathers and role models. I love each of them and am blessed to know and have known them. I am so thankful that my children are growing up with such a wonderful "village" to help raise them.

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there. Thank you for all you do!!

Our Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T14:20:00.017-05:00

We had a fun and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend. Joe worked all weekend since Memorial Day weekend is Greenville's big tournament of the year. The kids actually went from Wednesday night till Saturday evening before they saw him.

Friday I picked up the kids and we went home and ate dinner then had a movie night. The girls love popcorn so this was a special treat for them. We watched Tangled and then we went to bed.

Saturday we had a family get together. The food was good and the family time was even better.

Sunday the kids and I did nothing all day. Going on my 4th day of having the kids by myself, I didn't have the energy to go out in public with them. They had been having some behavioral issues and I just didn't want to go to church just to be a mean old mama, so we stayed home. That evening when Joe got home Jolie and I finally got to go on a picnic that she had given me for Mother's Day. Her teacher had prepared a bag for each kid to do with their mother. It included a coloring sheet and crayons to color a picture together, crackers, juices, and some coupons for a bear hug. She was so excited to finally get to do it and it was really nice one-on-one time.

Yesterday the kids and I headed down to Greenville to see Joe at work. I just didn't want to be by myself on Memorial Day. Once there we decided that since we were halfway to his sister's house that we would go visit her. So, we drove down to Aunt Becca's house and had a great afternoon with her Angie.

Joel's top tooth has finally broke through, but this morning he woke up with a horrible cough. He sounded so pitiful and he broke my heart. I think his teeth bothering him aggrevated his ears which drained down, or he could just have a cold. Either way, he sounds and looks pitiful.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Awana Ceremony

2011-05-26T11:16:00.006-05:00

Last night was award night for Awana. All the kids got up and sang songs, said three different pledges, and then each group were reconginzed for their attendance and accomplishments.

Jolie's group went first and they sang a little song and did the hand motions to it. Her group is known as the Puggles and they were so cute. In August she will move up to the Cubbies (I think). She got her certificate and pack of skittles.

Josie's group went second. Different children said Bible verses that they had learned. Josies' Bible verse was "Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39." She did great. I thought she would be too embarassed to say it into the microphone, but she did and I was so proud of her. After the different children said their Bible verses they handed out the children's certificates and "candy award." Josie was given a ring pop because "she is such a gem." Josie will move up to the group this August.

After the ceremony all the kids got snow cones. Again, we are so proud of both girls at how well they have done learning their Bible verses. They have loved going to church on Wednesday nights and are already looking forward to next year.

Graduations, Puppies, and Swimming, Oh My

2011-05-23T10:37:00.046-05:00

We had a pretty quiet week, but our weekend turned out to be much more fun filled than I anticipated.

Monday after school the kids came home and we played outside for a few minutes before heading in to eat dinner:

Wednesday night the girls had Awana. This Wednesday night will be their last night until August. I know they are going to miss it. They love going to church on Wednesday nights.

Friday Josie graduated from K-5 and Jolie was recongnized for moving up from K-3 to K-4. MeMaw, Paw-Paw, Joe, Sheila, and I were there to see the program. The kids sange some cute songs. I know once or twice both Sheila and my eyes were watering.

Almost immediately after the ceremony Joe took the girls to the doctor so that the our pediatrician could check Jolie for another UTI/bladder infection. The past two times she had gone to Pri-Med and before she could be referred to the urologist she wanted to see her. She did not have an infection and wants to see the Pri-Med records before she officially "refers" us, so more waiting. In the meantime, we are trying to make sure Jolie drinks more water than anything else and just trying to stay on her about going potty.

That evening we went to Annaleigh's birthday party at Build-A-Bear. Josie made upsitting puppy dog; Jolie made a wiener dog; and we made a frog for Joel. Josie named her dog...... Josie; Jolie named her dog........ Josie, and Joe and I named Joel's frog Riblet. I have meant to take a picture of the the three of them with their new "pets," but just haven't yet. Jolie got a leash with her dog and she has been walking that dog ever since. She drug it all around the ballfield and actually had people coming up to her asking if they could pet it. Here they are playing games:

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the ballfield to watch Caden's last t-ball game and see him get his trophey. The game lasted nearly 2 hours and was a great game.

After the ballgame we headed home and then walked a block or two to the Elmore Fire Department's Tractor Pull. This is an awesome fundraiser for the fire department and best of all, all the kids activities are free.
Ready to go:

There was a petting zoo with goats, bunnies, snakes, chickens, albino peacock, miniature horse, cow, and a tiny baby pig:

After doing all the kids activities, we got shaved ice and sat down to watch the tractors:

After the tractor show we went home and took naps. That evening we went to MeMaw and Paw-Paws to play and eat dinner. Sunday Joe worked while I took the kids to church. After church we were supposed to go to Chris and Crystals for lunch and afternoon play time. I had brought the kids swimsuits thinking they would just be running through the sprinkler and and hose, boy was I wrong. When we got there Chris was not there. When he did get there, what did he show up with... a pontoon boat. So after Joe got there and ate lunch we loaded up and went to the lake. We had a blast and the lake water was not to cold to swim in. We wore the kids slap out.

I'll end with a cute conversation the girls and I had one day this week
Josie: Mommy, do you have a drivers license?
Jessica: Yes. And in 10 years you can start to learn how to drive. And then when you are 16 you can drive without Mommy and Daddy in the car. And then years later you will get married like Mommy and Daddy and have babies.
Jolie: Noo, I'm just going to take Joel.

Joel's Transformation in Pictures

2011-05-11T09:27:00.010-05:00

Joel's transformation in pictures:

First born (September), long dark hair:

December: Still long and dark:

February: Getting lighter:

April: Getting lighter but still long on top:

May: Blonde and short (He got a big boy haircut):

Sporting his Mickey Mouse onesie as a tribute to our 9 year anniversary. You will see more about this in the next post:

Happy 9th Anniversary

2011-05-10T11:50:00.026-05:00

Nine years ago today I married my best friend. Joe and I have always considered ourselves very lucky because we have always had each other. We never had to do the dating scene or get our hearts broken by dozens of people. Somehow in a class of only 70 something he and I never met until 7th grade, even though he had been there since kindergarten and I since 3rd grade. We both instantly knew that we had a connection. Since the beginning we have been each other’s biggest cheerleaders going to football games, baseball games, softball games, graduations, work events, church leadership, and the list goes on. We have been there for each other through ups and downs, and know that we can truly depend on the other. We can make each other laugh and tell the other our darkest secrets. I, in no way, am saying that these past nine years (well actually 17) have been easy because they haven’t. We are human and we fight and disagree and do not always see eye to eye, but somehow through it all we have chosen each other and hold fast to the vows we made nine years ago. “Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her/him, forsaking all others and holding only unto her/him.”
Since May 11, 2002, we have added three beautiful children to our family. We were both there as each one entered our lives. We held each other and cried together as we gazed in awe and wonder at the beautiful blessings that God had given us. We have become a team as we parent our children trying to instill in them good Christian values. We have made sacrifices for our family and because of it all we are stronger. Our goal has always been to be the other’s rock. Sometimes we have succeeded, but at least in the times when we both couldn’t be strong, we had each other. We love to get lost together and never fear because we know we will always find the right way. We love to play and have fun with each other and the children. We respect each other and love each other with a deep rooted love. We were good friends before we were anything more and because of that we stand on a firm foundation. On the days when we don’t feel “in love,” we at least can see some glimmer of the love we share. We have experienced so much together and have already shared so much of our lives together. Beside childhood memories almost all of my memories include Joe. Our school days, summers playing on the lake, church camps, school dances and proms, our senior cruise, our graduation, what little college we both took, our wedding day and honeymoon, mini vacations, our first house, our second house, our children, weekend excursions, and the list could go on and on.
In our fast paced world we sometimes do not take the time to express to the people we love how much we love them. There are so many things I love about Joe. He is a hard worker and fast learner; he is an amazing father and loves all children, not just his own; he is kind and has a heart of gold; he helps anyone he can; he has shared his passion for hunting and fishing with the girls; he has become a leader in our church and a Sunday School teacher; he makes me laugh and smile; he loves my family as his own; and again the list could go on and on. All that to say, I thank God for allowing us to meet and fall in love. I thank God for being with us nine years ago as we vowed and promised to love each other and to stick with each other no matter the storm we may face. I thank God for each day that Joe and I are allowed to spend together. I thank God for the man that Joe is and continues to be. I pray that God will continue to be a part of our marriage and that he will continue to bless it and our family.
I look forward to growing old with Joe, raising our children, watching them graduate, marry and have children of their own. I look forward to the day when we have grandchildren and can enjoy our family as it grows and grows.

Ephesians 5: 28-33: In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

Mark 10:9: Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Pictures of us through the years. (Some of these were taken from an old scrapbook so that is why they are in shapes.
Highschool:

One year in High School Joe and I were Micky and Minnie in the Christmas on the Coosa Parade:

Jr. Prom:

Sr. Prom:

Senior Cruise:

Wedding:

Vacations:

Birthdays:

Other Pics:

I love you Joe and our beautiful family!!!!

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-09T09:05:00.013-05:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the women out there. Even if you have never birthed a child you have influenced someone's life in some way or another.

We have had a crazy couple of weeks, but this should be a fairly slow one. Saturday, May 7th Sheila and I took our kids to the Wetumpka Airport for the Airport's fun day. If they had been 8 years old they could have rode in an airplane for free, but they we found other fun things for them to do. They got to ride a pony; they inspected a ton of airplanes; they got to watch the airplanes take off and land; they got to climb inside the basket of a hot air balloon; they got their pictures taken with the princesses, Woody from "Toy Story", Tinkerbell, and some Star Wars guy; they got to sit inside a State Trooper helicopter; and they got to eat popsicles from an ice-cream truck.
Inside the basket of a hot air balloon:

That evening we went to the kids favorite place: Bass Pro Shop!!

Sunday the kids and I went to church and then went to Other Mama and Pap-Paws for the day.

Wednesday I ended up taking Jolie back to the doctor because as soon as she went off her UTI/bladder infection medicine she started having accidents again. They put her on a very expensive medicine that is supposed to be stronger and said if this doesn't clear it up she will have to go see a urologist to see what is going on. She has been doing good since taking the medicine, however she is still have accidents at nap time which she wasn't doing before she got her UTI, so I'm not sure what that means.

Thursday we went over to MeMaw and Paw-Paws and celebrated mothers day with MeMaw.

Friday morning when I dropped off the girls I got my present that Jolie had made at school. It was a picture frame and inside was a picture of she and me:

I got my presents from Josie that she had made Friday afternoon when they got home. I got another frame with a picture of Josie and a handmade card. The week before at brush buddies she had decorated a potholder that had a butterfly on it with "Mom" written on it.

Joel's check up from his double ear infection was also Friday afternoon. His ears looked good and the boy weighed 22 and 1/2 pounds.

Saturday the kids and I went to Caden's game and then ran to Target. After Target we went home from naps. Joe got home a little after nap time and we put on our bathing suits and went outside to wash the car. Then we decided that the dogs needed a bath as well. That was fun. Browning (our weimaraner) is a big dog and it was not easy holding him down. That evening Ben and Joe worked on my van to see if they could fix some problems it has been having. It runs a tad better, but something is still wrong with it.

Sunday morning the kids gave me cards and this beatiful necklace (It has each of their names on it and then each of their birthstones)

I got breakfast in bed and then we got ready for church. After church they took me to the chinese buffet for lunch and we went home for naps. We lounged around the rest of the day. It was a great weekend enjoying our family.

It was a great Mothers Day and I treasured every second with all three of my kids. I feel so blessed that God chose me to be their mother. They enrich my life more than I will ever be able to tell them. They make me laugh and remind me to stop and appreciate the small things. All three are so loving, always telling us they love us and always giving hugs and kisses. We are so blessed. My cup runneth over.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T09:26:00.011-05:00

Last week was a busy one. Thank goodness this one won't be quite as bad. Monday the kids and I went to Caden's game, and it was 8:00 p.m. before Joe got home from work. Tuesday Joe decided to just spend the night in Greenville intstead of coming home. That was also the day I ended up taking Jolie to the doctor. She had been having a lot of accidents at school, and I started to think that something may be wrong. So I dropped off Josie and Joel with Quint and Sheila and I took Jolie to Pri-Med. Turns out she had a bladder infection. Here she is being silly waiting to see the doctor:

Wednesday Joe came home because we had a special service at Quint and Sheila's church we had planned to go to. It was a Seder Plate Service. It was really neat, and I was so thankful that he came home to go with me. The kids stayed with MeMaw and Paw-Paw so that we could fully enjoy the meaning of the service. Thursday Joe again spent the night in Greenville and I ended up with a migraine. I had us all in bed by a little after 7:00 p.m. and we all got a little over 11 hours of sleep that night. Usually it is hard for me to sleep when Joe isn't there, but my migraines about knock me out and I felt so much better in the morning. We missed our Maundy Thursday service at our church, but there would have been no way that I could do that with all three kids and a migraine. Friday Joel had his 6 month appointment even though he turned 7 months last Thursday. He weighed 21, almost 22 pounds; he is 28 inches long; and had a double ear infection. He goes back in 2 weeks for a recheck of his ears. Here he is waiting to see the doctor:

I ended up staying in town to pick up his prescription and Joe and the girls met us at church for our Good Friday service. After church we ate dinner and went and put the kids to bed. After that I headed to Sheila's house so that she and I could shop for the Easter dinner we were doing for the family on Saturday. We also made up as much of the food as we could so that we could spend our time with the family instead of cooking all day. I got to her house around 9:00 p.m. and I left her house to go home around 1:30 a.m. Caden had a game the next morning at 9:00 and the kids were up bright and early at 6:00 a.m. Becca and Angie came up for the day and were there to see Caden's game. He hit the ball off the machine for the first time. He had a whole section of bleachers screaming wildly for him. We were so proud. After the game we went back to Quint and Sheila's house and played for a little while. Then we went to lunch and went to see the Easter Bunny at Bass Pro Shop. We got there at exatly the right time for the kids to do the Easter egg hunt before taking pictures with the Easter Bunny.

After Bass Pro Shop we went back to Quint and Sheila's house to dye Easter eggs and "quiet time." Quint took the kids outside while Angie, Becca, Joe, Sheila and I got the "stations" set up for the kids to dye the Easter eggs. Of course, being good parents, aunts, and uncles we had to test things out to make sure that the dyes really worked. The kids kept sticking their heads in asking if it was time to dye eggs and we kept telling them not quite. Finally, we gave in and let them come in and dye eggs. Josie, Caden, and Jolie each got to dye 21 eggs. They did a great job and no one made a mess. They made some pretty eggs. After all the eggs were dry, the kids had to lay down for quiet time while Angie, Quint, Becca, and Joe hid the eggs outside. Sheila and I made deviled eggs and finished up the bananna pudding. After quiet time the kids went outside and hunted eggs and blew 3D bubbles that I got them. I think, once again, us adults had more fun with the 3D glasses than the kids did. After that it was time to eat. Our spread: Paula Deen Ham, Paula Deen's recipe for broccoli casserole, grean been casserole, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatos, squash and zucchini, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, rolls, bananna pudding, and apple cobbler. Everything was homemade except the ham, rolls & cranberry sauce. We visited for a little while after eating, helped Sheila clean up and wash dishes and we all headed home. This is the only picture I took of the afternoon. As soon as Sheila or Becca send me theirs I'll post them.

Sunday morning the girls got up to see what the Easter Bunny had brought them. This was the first Easter morning Joe had gotten to spend with us in a long time so it was really special to me. The gils were so excited about everything and I love watching them. We got ready for church and headed to town. We put our flowers into the cross as a family, and enjoyed a beautiful service.

After church we went to Other Mamas and Pap-Paws for the day. We had a ymmy lunch and spent the day playing.

The girls were nasty by that evening after playing so hard outside and in the creek. We bathed them before we left Other Mama and Pap-Paws, took Nanny home, and went home to clean.

The beginnig of this week is busy, but after Wednesday we have no plans. Tonight some great high school friends are coming to visit. I can't wait to spend time with them. It has been awhile since we have all been together. Tomorrow night we have Josie's kindergarten orientation. The kids will go stay with Quint and Sheila while Joe and I go. Wednesday the girls have Awana.

This was the best Easter I have had in a really long time. We spent the entire weekend with family and it really meant a lot to me. It just makes me appreciate all the more the sacrifices that Jesus made for me.

I want to thank all of you who got the kids Easter Baskets/goodies or sent cards or called. They loved it!!! You know who you are, and we can't thank you enough. It really makes them feel so special.

Jesus knows me, this I love!!!!!!!

Crazy Weather

2011-04-18T11:02:00.015-05:00

I am not sure that the old adages concerning the weather apply anymore. March-Come in like a lion and out like a lamb. April-April's showers bring May flowers. I'm not sure if it is global warming or what, but the weather has beeb crazy this year. Hot then cold, rough storms, we even had some snow here in Alabama during the winter. This past Friday we had some horrible storms that swept through Alabama. A tornado hit the golf course where Joe works. This was his weekend off and his boss was generous enough to tell him he didn't have to come in, but now he and are trying to decide if he should spend the week in Greenville to help clean up.

For those of you who have ever been to Cambrian Ridge, it is beautiful as are all the RTJ sites, and it is difficult to look at these pictures. This could not have come at a more horrible time, we have something planned every day this week by Tuesday (Monday: Caden's game; Wednesday: Church at Mt. Hebron; Thursday: Maudny Thursday service at our church; Friday: Good Friday service at our church, Joel's Dr. app; Saturday: Easter with the Burdicks and Caden's game; and Sunday: Easter and Easter with the Andersons). That is a lot to do with three kids by myself, but if they don't get the golf course cleaned up that is a lot of revenue lost, and no revenue means hits to the employees. RTJ has already been a raise freeze and retirement contributing freeze for 3 years now.

Now on to happier things. We got the cap and gown pictures that the school took of Josie. Well, maybe that isn't a happy thing. Well, okay, bittersweet.

Friday the girls had a field trip to Disney on Ice. I knew ahead enough that I was actually able to take off and go with them. Caden and Sheila got to go with us also. This was the girls' first field trip and I felt so lucky to be able to go. The show was amazing. I loved it. Josie and Caden sat transfixed the entire time. Jolie, well it took her awhile to be ok with the dark and loud noises. She alternated between Sheila's and my lap.

During the show is when we got the news of bad weather heading our way. Thank goodness it held off until the evening when we were safe at home. Joel was supposed to have his 6 month appointment Friday, but the pediatrician's office closed early because of the weather. His appointment will now be this Friday. (He will be seven months old this Thursday.) Needless to say we spent a quiet evening at home watching the weather station.

Friday morning we had planned to go to Riverfest but for some reason we just never got motiviated to go. It worked out perfectly though because we got to keep our niece, Ansleigh. Sheila had to leave for Birmingham to take care of something and Quint had to work, so we picked her up from Sheila around 11:30 Saturday morning and she spent the night with us and went to church with us the next morning. Friday afternoon the Town of Elmore (where we live) had an Easter Egg Hunt. We got there at 4:02 p.m. and the kids got to hunt easter eggs. After hunting, the town had goody bags, sunglasses, cookies and capri suns for the kids.

The next morning Joe had to leave at 6:30 to help get the church setup for the church picnic. He got home just in time to help me finish getting all 4 kids ready for church and out the door. Sunday was Palm Sunday so the kids go to walk in with the Palm Branches. They all did a great job and were so cute!!

Sunday afternoon we played outside with some friends and went to bed early. We were worn out from the weekend.

Again we have a lot going on this week and are excited about the Easter Bunny coming this weekend. Happy Easter everyone!!

Josie is Officially Registered for Kindergarten

2011-04-07T08:24:00.003-05:00

This has been an experience. As most of you know Josie is our first child and is of age to be registered for kindergarten. We are completely new to all of this.

Like I've said in my previous blogs, Millbrook has 19 kindergarten teachers, and you can only request teachers during the month of April. Yesterday was the first day of registration and they held it until 6 p.m. Every other day you have to go inbetween 9-1. So Joe took off early to go register her. (We both figured this was best because I probably would have been an emotional wreck.) To make a request you have to list your top 4 choices. If you do not list four teachers, they will not even honor any of your requests. So I asked Sheila, Josie's teacher Ms. Jessie, Ms. Debbie (the woman who keeps Joel, all 5 of her kids have gone to Millbrook) and I myself looked at the list. You can click on each teacher's name and read a bio written by the teacher about themselves. When I was looking at the list I actually found a girl I went to school with, played softball with, and see her parents almost every Wendesday night, so I put her as my first choice because (1) I love her dearly and (2) it would make me feel so much better for Josie to have a teacher that I know. I then picked from the lists that Sheila, Debbie, and Jessie gave me and I came up with my list of four teachers.

Before Joe and I actually decided who would be taking Josie, we had been trying to figure out how one of us was going to have the time to go do it. One day I made a comment to Ms. Debbie and she asked me how would that work, Josie needs to go. I had no clue the kids themselves have to go as well. They have to do a "placement test." Some of you may have already known that, but we didn't. It never even crossed our minds and it is in none of the paperwork they pass out telling you about this procedure.

So Joe took her yesterday afternoon. Joe filled out tons of paperwork while Josie went back with the principal to the placement test. A few people asked me how it went and I really didn't know how to respond. Joe filled out paperwork and Josie met with the principal, but we had no clue how it went with the principal. So this morning when I dropped her off, Ms. Jessie asked me how she did. I said I don't know, Joe wasn't allowed with her. And then she asked if they had told Joe that there was anything we needed to work on with Josie, and I said no. She said then she did super great. I was like, wheew, now I know what to tell people when they ask. Ms. Jessie has been working very hard to prep "her kids" for the placement test, and she said so far all of hers have passed. I think that says a lot about her as a teacher.

Joe said there were tons of parents there without their kids because they didn't know the kids had to be there either. He also said one little boy came out from his placement test and the guy told the mom, he couldn't tell me his name, his age, etc. The mom said he knows all of that and she asked him and the boy started giving her all the right answers. These kids are 5, how in the world do these teachers know when they really don't know the stuff or when they are just too shy to say anything?

Josie was excited because she got her first kindergarten pencil. We won't know until the end of July or first few days of August who her teacher is. Right now she is just super excited about it all.

In other Burdicks news, Jolie has begun teaching Joel. We have had to separate the girls in the van because they fight too much. So now on the row behind the drivers seat is Joel and one of the girl's car seats, and then a car seat on the last row. The girls alternate who gets to sit by Joel. The other night coming home from Caden's ballgame, it was Jolie's turn to sit by Joel, and she was trying to teach him the word Spaghetti-rows. She kept repeating Spa-get-ti-rows. She was so cute we didn't have the heart to correct her. This morning's lesson was body parts. He started chewing on one of her babydolls and she thought that would be a great opportunity to tell him and show him the baby's head, foot, legs, hands, nose, and ears. Ohhh how she loves that little boy. She is going to be a great mommy and maybe teacher one day.

Still Doing Good

2011-04-05T11:12:00.006-05:00

All is still good in the Burdick household. We are still having allergy problems, but nothing horrible. We had another good quiet weekend. Friday evening we hung at home and watched a movie. Saturday Joe had to do some yardwork at church so the kids and I hung out at the house until he got home. He was gone from about 8:45 a.m. until about 1:00 p.m. I did manage to do some dishes, get the kitchen floor swept and mopped, and put out some Easter decorations while he was gone. It is always a huge accomplishment when I can get any housework done when it is just me and the kids. After Joe got home we loaded up and headed to Wetumpka to walk the "River Walk." River Walk is a sidewalk the City has built that runs beside the river. It was a beautiful afternoon and the walk was great. We fed some ducks and even saw a groundhog. We interrupted our walk for dinner and icecream at DQ and made the trek back to the van in downtown. We then decided to head over to see Pap-Paw and Other Mama. Sunday we went to church and afterwards Josie went home with Other Mama while we spent some quality time with Jolie and Joel. We had to pick up some things from Target like Joel an Easter basket and then we went to Bass Pro Shop. We told her she could pick out candy and she was so sweet because when she picked up her bag of cotton candy she picked up two so Josie could have a bag. That evening after Josie got home we went for another walk. Last night we went to Caden's first real game of the season. He is doing a great job and we are so proud of him. The girls keep up with him the whole game and are now asking when they can play. Although Josie goes back and forth between playing ball and being a cheerleader. It broke my heart to tell her she couldn't play until we could manage Joe's schedule a little better. There is no way I could get them to all their practices and games by myself. Plus a lot of these teams have practices at 4:30 or 5:00. What do working parents do???

Tomorrow night the girls have Awana and Joe is taking Josie to register for kindergarten. It is probably for the best that Joe is the one taking her because I am not sure that I could handle it emotionally. At least I have 2 more years before Jolie starts and another 5 before Joel starts, but I know these years will probably fly by even faster than these past five years.

Caden has two more games this week on Friday and one Saturday that we will try to make. Joe works this weekend so we will have to see how everyone's moods are before we head out for the Saturday morning game. Next Friday (the 15th) the girls have their first real field trip and I am getting to go with them. We are going to Disney on Ice. We got ring side seats. I think I am probably as excited as I am. Also on the 15th Joel has his 6 month appointment. I can't believe my sweet angel is already 6 months old. Last night I was rocking him to sleep and I looked at Joe and said I can't believe I gave birth to something so calm and peaceful. I'm a little high strung and worry about things and can get quite emotional, and the girls are the same way. So to look at him just laying there on me snuggling with me, it is so refreshing. I don't remember the girls still doing that at six months old. They were wiggling wanting to move. Joel still lays there or sits there and is relatively still in your lap. He loves to be rocked to sleep and as long as he will let me, I'm going to do it. I don't care what the books or doctors say. He is my baby and I know this won't last long.

I'll end with some pictures.

We finally have a picture of Joel's teeth. Granted you have to take our word that it is our son because you can't see his face, but that was the only way we could get a picture of his teeth:

Joel and Pap-Paw:

Josie is Graduating

2011-03-31T09:49:00.006-05:00

I can't believe my fingers are having to type these words, but Josie is graduating-from K-5 that is. She will start kindergarten this fall and if I want to try to pick a teacher I have to register her in April.

The ceremony will be at her school on Friday, May 20, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. She will wear a cap and gown and will "walk." Hopefully this will be the first of many graduation ceremonies for our sweet, smart, precious baby girl. I think we will be able to invite people, but we will not know for sure until next week. At that time I will find out how many people I can invite. If you are interested in coming go ahead and let me know, so that I can let the school know as soon as possible. She actually takes her cap and gown pictures tomorrow at school. All of this is surreal for me. It is hard to believe how fast she is growing up.

As promised yesterday here is a picture of her Hippo she painted at Brush Buddies:

And these are pictures of her at school celebrating her teacher's birthday:

Yeah Caden!!!

2011-03-30T11:04:00.012-05:00

We have made it another week with no major sicknesses. All three children are having allergy problems, but I can handle that :)

We had a pretty quiet weekend. Friday night we went to Bass Pro Shops. It is so cute because the girls get excited as we get close to it. They know it from the interstate, and as we approach it, they love the winding road.

This was Joe's weekend to work so the kids and I got up early Saturday morning to watch Caden play his first t-ball game of the season. It was a practice game but he and his team did great. We were so proud of him and the girls did really well sitting there watching him play.

Joel and Ansleigh "watching" him play:

That afternoon we hung out at the house while some pretty nasty storms passed through. That evening we went to MeMaw and Paw-Paw's house to celebrate MeMaw's birthday.

Sunday morning the kids and I went to church and after church we ran home to get Joe (he had just gotten home from work), and then went to Chris & Crystals to spend the day.

All in all it was a good weekend.

Yesterday was a particularly good day for Josie. It was her teacher's birthday and it was Brush Buddies. She got to eat cupcakes at school and painted a hippo. It is so cute because everytime she talks about painting a hippo she starts to sing the hippo Christmas song. I forgot to take a picture of it, so I'll post it another time. However, yesterday was not a good day for Jolie. Obviously she was so disobedient that her teacher threatened to call Joe to the school. She has been giving us problems at home as well. Please pray for us as we get through the "3"s, but also please pray that Joe finds a job closer to home. I know that that is part of the problem. He isn't around that much and as summer gets here he will be around even less. It is hard for me to give all three children the individual attention they need and so we are all stressed and need him to be home more. Josie has started saying "our family needs to be together." I have no clue what where she has heard that from and I try to explain to her that Daddy has no control over his work schedule, but it is hard for a 5 year old to understand why Daddy isn't home when Mommy is. So please just pray for us and if anyone hears of a job that you think Joe could do, please let me know.

Another big accomplishment for Josie is that she can now spell "apple." She came home from school one day and said Mom do you know how to spell apple,and she spelled it out for me. Sunday I told her since you can spell it out loud, I want you to write it, and she did. Now she writes it all the time. It won't be long until our baby girl is reading. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Joel is growing so fast. His bottom teeth are just about all the way in. I need to take a picture of them as well. He says "Mama" all the time, but of course he doesn't associate it with me. He is starting to get adjusted to a sippy cup and eats jar food three times a day. He can scoot with his head, so I'm sure within the next month or so he will be crawling. His hand-eye coordination is really good and he loves pulling the girls' hair. He loves his sisters and his face just lights up as he watches them or when the interact with him. He is still a happy baby with the cutest little dimple and smile.

I'll end with some pictures:

Josie wanted me to take this one of her and Joel this morning:

As did Jolie:

This one is from last week. Joe put Joel in bed with me when he left for work and then Lol came and got in the bed with me when she heard Joe leave and they are snuggled together asleep. So sweet:

Family Weekend

2011-03-21T08:25:00.013-05:00

We finally got it-- the family weekend that we so desparately needed. We did stuff all weekend, but to me it was the most relaxing because I got to spend it with all my Js. We had been going on almost 3 months of not having a family weekend because of Joe working or someone in our house being sick.

Friday after I got off from work I picked up the girls (Joel had been with me at work) and we drove to Greenville to Joe's work. We rode around the golf course and the kids loved it. They get so excited looking for animals. We saw tons of squirrels, some geese, some ducks, a turtle the size of a quarter, and Joe caught a bigger turtle from a stream. He put it back after the girls had inspected it. Joel is just like his Daddy and loves to be outside. He just sat there and looked at everything and never made a peep the whole time we rode. After about an hour to hour and a half we went and got something to eat and went back to ride in the dark. The moon was so bright and beautiful that we didn't even have to turn the light on the golf cart. It had the potential of being very romantic if you didn't have three kids with you :) It was after 10 when we got home that night. Saturday morning we got up and headed to Pump It Up for Elias' birthday party. What kid doesn't like Pump It Up so of course the girls had a blast.

That evening we had dinner with Other Mama and Pap-Paw. Pap-Paw grilled out steaks and chicken and we had mashed potatoes and roasted corn on the cob. It was so good. The girls always have fun playing at Other Mama and Pap-Paw's house, but I think their favorite thing is taking a bath in their big tub.

Sunday we went to church where Josie "did the plates" again. She gets better and better each time she does it. I'm just so proud of her. After church we headed to Montevallo which is about an hour drive from our house. We stopped halfway in Clanton and ate lunch at Peach Park. We got back on the road and stopped at a rest area to change into our "play clothes." About 20-25 minutes later we arrived at Orr Park. It was beautiful and obviously a great asset to Montevallo because their were tons of people there. There were people swimming in the creek, there was a group of guys playing flag football, there were two "birth" parties (that is what Jolie kept calling it), people walking around the park, and kids playinng on the playground. What is special about Orr park is that a gentlemen named Tim Tinglewood has taken time to go through the park and carve things into the dead trees so that they once again serve a purpose. I copied pictures people had posted online and made a scavenger hunt out of the pictures. I thought the girls could look at the pictures I had printed and find the trees. They LOVED it! Josie was so excited and Jolie was too once she started finding the trees. This man has put a lot of love, time, and creativity into his art, and it was a really great afternoon. I'm posting a few pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. These are pictures other people have posted.

The girls with what looks like a character from Harry Potter

The two most handsome guys in the world:

We left Orr Park a little after 5 and Joe wanted to test his navigational skills and see if he could get to his grandmother's which was about 20-30 minutes away. It was pretty easy saying that there were tons of signs saying Maplesville this way, but I'll still hand it to him that he found his way. So we visited with Gigi, Unlce Lynn, Aunt Holly, and Matthew for an hour or two before heading home last night.

It was a great weekend. We didn't rest all weekend. The only naps the girls got were in the car going from this place to the next, but we sooo needed the family time together.

Spoke to Soon

2011-03-14T13:39:00.008-05:00

Well I spoke too soon. The stomach bug hit our house and hit it hard. All five of us had it to some degree at the same time. Joel threw up Thursday night and we just thought he had ate too much, then Joe had the brunt of it Friday. I was nice and let him sleep and kept the kids away until almost 9:00 p.m. Friday night. After I picked them up from school the girls got hair cuts, we went to Target to pick up a few things, picked up some dinner, and then we got some movies. Since last week was Dr. Seuss week, I rented a Cat in the Hat cartoon for them. On the way home I told the girls that Daddy was sick and that we had to be very quiet and we could not go into his room. Josie then said, "Well Mommy we need to pray for him if he is sick." Aww, that little girls knows how to pull at your heart strings. So we got home and got into our pjs, got our pillows and blankets and watched Cat in the Hat cartoons until all three fell asleep. The next morning it hit us girls. I had often wondered why we all got sick at different times, God reminded me this weekend. If we are all sick at the same time, there is no one to take care of everyone else. Our house was pitiful looking Saturday. We made it through Saturday and lounged around on Sunday. Not exactly the family weekend I had had in mind. Finally feeling a tiny bit better Sunday evening, we decided to go outside for a little sunshine. The girls rode their bikes and Joel rode in the car. Pap-Paw got Josie this car for her first birthday and that car has been the best thing. It has lasted through all three kids and they have all loved it. Jolie even still loves it. She was a little conflicted with Joel riding in it yesterday, whether to be jealous or not, but she was ok with pushing him.

When Josie first started school at MCDP there was a group called "Brush Buddies" that came to the school and helped the kids with an art project once or twice a month. They took a break during the holidays, and just started back up. Here is her project from this past week:

Well hopefully this week will go better with no illnesses and we will actually get to spend a real family weekend together.

Ash Wednesday and Prayers

2011-03-10T09:21:00.011-06:00

Last night we had our Ash Wednesday service at church. It was a good service and the girls were excited about getting their crosses. Jolie was upset though that Joel didn't get one. It is our tradition to eat Mexcian with good friends after this service. They couldn't make it, so we went without them. Here we are sporting our crosses. (The girls' crosses are either gone or rubbed into their forehead where they kept touching them):

On another note, my cousin Amy had her baby via c-section this morning. At the moment, he is in the NICU. His name is Nathaniel. Please pray for both of them.

I'll end with two more pictures. This is Joel at his first "Men's Breakfast" at church. Our good friend Tim is holding him:

Here is Joe and the girls during early morning singing at church:

Lent

2011-03-09T09:10:00.007-06:00

For the moment everyone in our house is well. PRAISE THE LORD. Joel had another follow-up appointment yesterday. MeMaw was kind enough to take him again. The doctor said everything looked good. We have to continue with some breathing treatments, but only a couple more days. Our boy had gained another pound in a week. As of yesterday he was 19 pounds 4 ounces. Both teeth have broken through and I just can't wait to see those little pearly whites.

Friday night the girls spent the night with MeMaw and Paw-Paw. Joe and I enjoyed a quiet Mexican dinner and rented a movie to watch at home. Joe was up bright and early the next morning for work and I slept in until it was time to get the girls. That was so nice after going about a month and a half without eight hours of consecutive sleep. That evening Other Mama and Pap-Paw came over for dinner. Sunday we had church. Josie "did the plates" again. She gets better and better at it each Sunday. So all in all it was a quiet weekend.

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday and we had pancake supper at church. That morning I was telling Josie that we had the pancake supper for Fat Tuesday and of course her question to me was, what is Fat Tuesday. So I explained to her Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday and Lent and what Jesus did. I then told her it was our tradition to give up something for forty days and started listing off things people give up. Without me asking her, she said she was going to give up Yohoos/Chocolate milk. This is a big thing because the girls know they only get Yohoos in their lunch boxes for school. For those of you who have not bought Yohoos in a while, they are expensive, so we always have capri suns/Kool Aid Jammers that they can grab out of the fridge at any time, but they know the Yohoos are only for school and special occasions. So for her this is a big thing. I told her since she was doing that I would give up my cokes and she said and Daddy can give up his sweet tea. I told him we had to check with him first so we called him and he said yes. Joe and I already discussed something else we were giving up so we are giving up our favorite drinks also. I was very impressed with Josie that she grasped the concept and was so willing to participate.

Tonight we have our Ash Wednesday service. I have been telling the girls about the service and how the palm branches that they brought in last year for Palm Sunday were burned and were used to make the ashes that Mr. Jonathan will put on our foreheads. Josie is really doing well with all of this and is excited about tonight.

Sometimes I think I enjoy Lent more than Christmas time. We have so many special services that really make you stop and think about God and what all he has done for us. The faster my children grow the more I am trying to remind myself to stop and enjoy the moments. Enjoy the hugs, enjoy it when they climb in my lap, enjoy the smiles and laughter, and trying to even learn to tolerate the messes. As the song says, I have a crazy beautiful life. God loved me so much that he sent his son to die for me. He gave me free will so that I could choose him. He gave me a wonderful husband that I love so very much. Even more so he gave him to me early in my life and I am so thankful for that. He has blessed us with three beautiful children that make my heart swell with pride, joy, and love. He has blessed us with jobs, a home, and a loving, supportive, always there for you family and church family. We don't deserve any of this, and yet God graciously bestows all of this on us. Someone put as their facebook status the other day, what if God only gave you what you thanked him for each day. That really hit me. So much of our lives we take for granted. Remember to thank God for your blessings. Remember the love he has for you.

Friday night we have Jesse's birthday party and this weekend will be the first weekend in over a month and a half where we will get to spend the whole weekend together as a family. I am so excited. Everyday life can drag you down sometimes, so it is always important to have fun together as a family.

I'll end with some pictures. Some of these Ms. Debbie (the woman who keeps Joel) took. I love this first one. Monday I kept looking at it all day and it would just brighten my day. The other two were taken at MeMaw and Paw-Paws Saturday.

Cat in the Hat & Cindy Lou Who

2011-03-04T08:28:00.005-06:00

I have been told that this is Dr. Seuss week, so the girls' school asked everyone to dress up as a character from any Dr. Seuss book. Without further ado let me introduce you to Cat in the Hat (Josie) and Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch (Jolie):

They were so excited and everyone at school made a big deal about how cute they were.

Pictures from Saturday

2011-03-02T10:20:00.014-06:00

Here are some pictures Sheila took Saturday. Joel and I hate we missed all the fun.