Around Our House

Adelyn hangs out, with a HUGE smile, where ever I place her...

Hayden watches for squirrels and other wild life out our picture window...

...and has a BLAST with his Daddy in the building almost all evening long...check them out measuring and the newest fun time, drilling holes!

Much thanksgiving for a happy baby girl, an adventurous son and a very involved Daddy~loving husband.

"Cheese!"

Oh No...Hayden has developed his Daddy's love for pictures!



Just when I think I'll never get another good picture of him...a blessing...

...he turned on his sweet side and actually said "CHEESE!" for me!

Coos and Grins

Adelyn has a lot to say these days and Hayden likes to be right in the mix! (Silence the playlist music to hear her sweet 'words.')

Blessings and thanksgiving for my little ones.

Scooter Boy

Hayden and I found a bell for his scooter! In the video below, he's off to show his neighborhood friends. (Turn down my rockin' playlist at the bottom of the page to hear his bell.)

Update...he's had David take the bell off - maybe it's too showy!

Blessings and thanksgiving watching my little man growing up.

Keeping the Tradition

It's not a huge event but it's a way to get a 'taste' of culture in our rural area...Hayden and I kept to our tradition and introduced Adelyn to the annual Greek Festival in town.

Hayden ate an entire Greek pizza and also enjoyed most of the lamb meat from my gyro! While biting in to his pizza a reporter from the local paper snapped his picture; we were surprised to see the pictures posted on the newspaper's website and also as the front picture on the local section of the paper! He's a celebrity!!

After having lunch at the festival we enjoyed the low 70 degree temps at the big city park where Hayden chased, barefoot of course, squirrels and did all of the fun park stuff.

Adelyn loved being in the open air too.

Blessings abound in this day. I call to mention my thanksgiving for the autumn day, delicious food and the ability to get out with friends for a day of adventure!

Mean Mom

Mean Moms Poem

Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:

• I loved you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
• I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
• I loved you enough to make you go pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, "I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."
• I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
• I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
• I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
• But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it. Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.

And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.

I don't know the author of this poem but it sure is something I could have written myself for I had a 'mean Mom' and the words written speak volumes of truth!

My Mom always knew my friends' parents, knew where I was, read my diary (of which I'm still conflicted about but I'm sure I'll feel differently when my little ones are teens!!), monitored my friend circle...I just knew that whatever I was doing, my Mom could show her face at ANY moment! Just the mere thought kept me thinking all the time and had me steer away from the crowd on more than one occasion. Sure, it wasn't easy to do and some 'friends' made fun of me, but hey...where are they now?!

I'm so very thankful for my 'Mean Mom' and now, as the poem states, I pray to be a mean mom too!

Stubborn

It's no surprise that a child tests the waters, pushes the boundaries and knows just which buttons to push...but hey, what do you do when your child does such???!!!

It's an age old debate that can be very touchy and go in many different directions, but today I bring to you a simple statement one of my best mom friends shared...

"I've just decided that you (the parent) have to be more stubborn than they (your children) are!"

It's not a new idea but hearing it phrased this way has caused me to think about it a little more...maybe because stubborn isn't a new concept for me.

Every day and especially on trying ones, I give thanks for little nuggets of experience from my tried and true friends!

Evenings

As the sun sets in the west our household is sure to be venturing outdoors for fresh air and play time before baths and bedtime.


Hayden loves being out back with his Daddy casting his fishing line or working on a project.




Adelyn just settles in the air and typically snoozes a bit in her stroller.




David and I just enjoy the time being with our little ones, soaking in the time we have with them knowing that in the blink of an eye we will be running them here, there and yonder with so little time to 'just be' with them.


Thanksgiving is felt for our evenings together!

Humble Servant

A surprise party and a neck full of gold medals...that's what my Papaw received for his 80th birthday!

The medals around his neck were presented to him with a little speech from each guest expressing why they were so honored to be at the party and to have him in their life. All Papaw could say was that he was so humbled by the fanfare.

I pose for a shot with the guest of honor. ;)

A perfect custom cake, created of course by none other than the amazing cake sisters, Julie and Natalie of Custom Cake Creations (note my blog entry dedicated to their work a week or so ago).

Reflecting on the many speeches and Papaw's reaction I am shown once again that a true person of grace, dignity and deserving of praise is one who really lives with the purpose of helping others and not thinking about them self. This is a lesson taught countless times in the Bible and not often enough lived out. A humble servant is greatly rewarded not only here on earth by those blessed to know such person but doubly in heaven!

May we all strive to live humbly and give thanksgiving for the ways we can serve others.

Thanksgiving is felt for having such an example of a humble servant in my life.

Words of Wisdom

I just read the daily scripture verse posted in my blog (at the bottom if you haven't scrolled all the way to the end)...

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

...These words really speak to me, especially in raising a toddler! Many basic things in our world have become confused and questioned due to modern schools of thought, but reading the Word really brings things back in to focus.

Oh how thankful I am for the ability to read the Bible in my home - something I know I often take for granted, as with many blessings.

The Journey

I have the following poem framed by my computer and just felt the desire to share it with all of you. As noted on the bottom, it was penned by a very inspirational woman in my life - Sue Rowe (the mother of my dear friend Suzi).

The Journey

I used to fear the journey
That I must take someday
A journey to I knew not where
Or how I’d find my way.

I feared the dark and lonely night
I feared what death would bring
I feared my leaving loved ones
I feared most everything.

Now something happened to me
That took my fear away
And replaced it with the love of God
That fills my thoughts each day.

Jesus saved my soul you see
And cast my sins aside
I need not look upon them
I need not try to hide.

There is no night in heaven
The dark will never be
The light will come from Jesus
And shine eternally.

I know where my journey takes me
And now I’ve found the way
Through and by the blood of Jesus
And His saving grace.

Before I start my journey
Dear Savior I do pray
Please save my precious loved ones
And cast their sins away.

Surround them with your safety net
Instill them with your love
So when their journey ends dear Lord
I’ll meet them up above.

Jesus and Carolyn Sue Rowe

Blessings and Thanksgiving: Sue was a woman of great strength and her matter of fact attitude provided great comfort to me. I have been forever changed by such an amazing woman of character.

Party Foul

Adelyn experienced her first all girl party, a bridal shower for a friend, and she really drank too much! A total 'party foul' took place that created an experience for both of us. Just as everyone began to disperse, Addy began to nurse. As she finished her milk I realized she had released it out the other end and it was ALL the way up her back and even leaking on to my pants. I striped her down, washed her up with wipes and she began to squall. I picked her up to console her and out came the milk, projectile style. I was COVERED in it as well as the floor and wall behind us. UGH! Note to self (and other mom's of little ones): pack the diaper bag with at least an extra shirt for yourself too!

I still found great thanksgiving in this event ~ the shower was over and the only people left to share in the experience were the hostesses and guest of honor.

Success

Well, try, try again worked for me this time!! As you can see, there is a running slide show of photos at the top of the blog page! Yippee! I hope you enjoy! I'll update the pics as I take more. Do note that in the below posting I've experimented and have decided to leave the link to the Photobucket web album simply because there are 3 videos of the kids on this site that I think you will enjoy - Hayden climbing a ladder, Hayden talking to Adelyn and Adelyn cooing.

Need I say, the photos you are viewing show you my blessings that make every day a day of thanksgiving.

Pictures and Videos

Photobucket Album

Grand Blessings

Not all are as blessed as I when it comes to grandparents and I am sorry for those without for I can't imagine my life without the unconditional, always giving, constant shaping love and support of my grandparents. Oh the pages I could write about how much they mean to me and the memories I hold dear but never could the words I find, the pages I fill or the time I spent documenting ever express just how blessed and thankful I am and what they mean to me. All I can say is that there is a special reward in heaven for grandparents as special as they!

I must mention as well that not only am I blessed to have had my blood relation grandparents in my life, I have also been abundantly blessed with in-law grandparents that are no exception to the norm I've been accustomed to.

Much, much, much love and complete appreciation for your love Mama (and Papa), Mimi, Papaw, MomMaw Rose (and Don) and Beulah (and Denver)!

I also give recognition for my little ones to the most amazing grandparents in their lives continuing the shaping, love and blessings only a grandparent can bring! Thank you Hayden and Adelyn's grandparents for your role in their life and being a blessing not only to them, but to David and I as well.

Blessings to you Grandparents for the blessing you are to me!

Bird Flying

Thinking of ways to beat the heat, David and I loaded up the kids and ventured to the mall where David wondered in to Radio Shack and came out with a bag full of goodies for he and Hayden! One of which is a remote controlled bird that is marketed as being so easy to fly that Mr. Hayden to be able to do it 'himself'.

I don't know which of the two were more excited about the bird, but I do know that once the bird was charged up David couldn't wait to try it out. He turned on the back yard flood lights for an after-dark first flight!

A successful night flight lead to fun time the next day. With the sun up, a charged battery and two guys totally excited, the bird took flight...

What a wonderful Daddy ~ a blessing for sure!

More Thoughts on Re-Carding

So I've been thinking more and feel compelled to expand on the idea to mark through and resign the card:

1. to send back and forth the same card between one or a few persons ie. my sister-in-law sends me an awesome birthday card and when her birthday comes around I send it back to her with my signature beside hers and through the years we put the year on it and enjoy seeing how many years the same card can be used.
2. mark through the sender signature and send it on to someone else entirely - it would be interesting to see how many people enjoyed the same card over time.

OK - so enough on the topic - do put your comment on the idea out for me and others to read!

Check out these CAKES

Oh My Sweet Goodness!

Last year I joined a few ladies in the family for Wilton Cake Courses at the local Michael's. We had a blast buying all the tool kits, extra tips and most of all evenings preparing icing and doing homework together. After the courses I realized it is truly an art to create a basic cake, much less anything fancy and I know any cake I may create will be a basic using a star tip - which will be special enough for my children. And the other thing I realized, a few ladies in the family REALLY have a knack for the art and two such ladies, Julie and Natalie not only have a knack for it, they are BEYOND fantastic! You won't believe their cakes!!! In fact, looking at their recent creations makes me think they need to be in NY or somewhere with the 'big dogs' of cake creating! You HAVE to check out their photos! Click here to take a look for yourself... www.myspace.com/customcakecreationsjn --- The site has lots of stuff on it, but for this purpose - just click on their photo album which you will find near the top left of the page (this MySpace stuff is a little confusing for those of us that aren't in the cyber world!).

Anyone in the area would be SUPER crazy to a cake from anywhere other than Custom Cake Creations for their special occasion!!! These ladies sure know how to turn a cake in to a serious conversation piece and the sky is the only limit for their creativity!

You Go Julie and Natalie!!! Your cakes are AMAZING!

Green Thoughts

The whole 'green' movement has me more aware of areas in my life that are wasteful.

Though I'm not ready to start harvesting my own foods; taking showers less frequently; sell my car or even switch out all the light bulbs in my home...I have begun turning the water off while brushing my teeth, returning plastic bags to Walmart for recycling and I at least ponder the idea that Jennifer Aniston only takes a 3 minute shower daily due to the wastefulness (this based on what a tabloid stated, which I don't think you can bank on anything they report...but still, an interesting thought).

So in thought of wasteful areas...I've noticed an area tied to Hallmark (and the like)...cards. Cards are printed by the bazillions on nice, thick, glossy paper (some are recycled materials and paper will decompose eventually, I realize) and customly given to one recipient and then *WHAT*?! There's the issue I'm wanting to address.

My ponder...could we begin a movement to re-card greeting cards?

The ways I've thought to make this happen include the following:

• Construct a new card using all/some of the elements of a given card (my Mimi actually did this, her church does it and resells them to make money in a Circle group, and I enjoyed receiving her creation)


• White-out sender signature


• Mark a line through sender signature


• Cut construction paper to fit and glue over sender signature

In all ideas - a need for unused, correct fit envelopes is an issue.

I don't want to seem ungrateful to any and all who have sent me a card, for that is the furthest from the point and bare in mind, the cards in question for re-use are such cards that have a simple salutation and signature. Could we re-use them to cheer others and make the planet a little more green in the process?

Ok - enough rambling about the recent ponder. Now I want to hear from you!

What do you think? How would you feel about your cards being passed on? How about receiving such card? And which version of re-use seems best/if any? Click on 'Comment' below!

Just Pa-ling Around

Among the many blessings in my life, my dad is truly an amazing one to mention.

It just so happened that the day Hayden was born, it was Dad's last day at Verizon and it couldn't have been planned any better!

Dad instantly became Pa, Dad chose to be called Pa in honor of his Grandfather, and he has never been the same since.

From day one Dad has come by at least once a week to see Hayden and from the time he could hold his head up, Pa has taken Hayden on exploratory adventures all around the house, yard and woods. They have busted firewood, dug in a huge sand pit, called in woodpeckers, looked in a birdnest, fed dogs, blown deer grunt calls, shot bow and arrows, ate tomatoes out of the garden, hunted for multitudes of bugs, fed fish, hauled things in wheelbarrows, done sit-ups...oh the list is endless and these are just a few of the things they have shared with me, I'm sure they have secret Pa and Hayden things too!

Thanksgiving is felt in full abundance for the impact Pa has already had on Hayden's life.

Intentions

A very dear friend recently commented to the fact that she never wanted to not follow through on things she intended to do, you know like taking someone a pie when in mourning or taking dinner to someone just home from the hospital. She is often loaded down with mulitple things to do and in the midst of it all, she is running around town dropping off thoughtful plates and much love completely following through on her intentions.

Talking with her about this really made me have an Ah-ha moment about how many times I say, "I've really been thinking about you and intended to call you; I've been meaning to stop by; I've meant to call..." It really is pathetic how many times these lines come from my mouth and truly I've decided the word 'intention' is just as bad as the filthiest curse word.

The first step towards change is recognition followed by regular acknowledgement and prayer as well as deciding to 'just do it!' Get up and move on whatever it is you are 'meaning/intending' to do! ... Well...I'm following the steps and know that a positive change is occuring!

I am so blessed and very thankful for my girlfriends who are a constant source of conversation and ah-ha moments. It is so nice to go through every single stage of life with you gals!

Daddy Time

Hayden has really become Daddy's big buddy! He wants to be with "BA" (as he says, well, yells...meaning Da which means Dad) most all of the time, the exception is sleep time (for he needs Momma's hair). They really are quite a pair and to be honest, I think Daddy David enjoys the time together just as much, if not more, than little Hayden and I know that Momma Me loves their time. Watching little Hayden look up to David with wide eyes of excitement and full of eagerness to learn and always be involved and seeing David full of love and joy...it's definitely something to be thankful for!

Exciting Bathroom Times

Who named the room we go to 'to do our business' a restroom?? At least with a toddler and a newborn, that room is anything but a room of rest! In fact, I happened to snap off a picture or two of our recent exciting times in such room...

Yepp...Mr. Hayden took care of some of his business on the BIG BOY potty!! ...It's not something we're really pushing but at the right moment he performed and of course we turned on the circus act of applause and phone calls of praise! It is truly another right of passage in life that you just take for granted.

And this shot reflects Hayden's nightly bath. Poor fellow can't take one with complete peace since it's Sister's fussy time. We've found a good place for her to fuss while he gets clean and plays for a bit. ... By the way, we have found a WONDERFUL solution to his not wanting to get out of the bath...I set a digital timer for however long I want to devote to bath time as I'm running his water (and if he isn't wanting to get in the bath, we do the same trick as he is running about the house to get him in the tub). I let him check out the time and let him know that when the buzzer sounds, it's time to drain his water, gather his toys and get out of the tub. Though it may not last forever, as soon as the timer sounds he perks up and follows suit! (Again, not something I came up with - it's actually an old trick of the trade my Mimi shared to get children to share, but the method works in other creative ways.) Moms - let me know if this works for you and if you have other little 'tricks' up your sleeve...do share!!!!

Showing Off and Licking Beaters

Addy has completely recovered from the ear piercing immediate shock and is ready to show off her bling bling. Of course my camera just happened to be close at hand to capture her Daddy's first glimpse.

Big Brother Hayden hasn't had his attention drawn to the new sparkles for I'm sure he would be all about taking care of them for me. He doesn't care for he, as you can see, is taking care of his 'Davis-Childers' sweet tooth!!!

Bling Bling

Less than 30 seconds of crying and our little sugar has some bling bling to show off!

I hadn't dreamed of piercing her little ears until much later in her life, like I thought we'd use it as a treat for good behavior or some other bribe as some would call it...but in a random conversation David expressed his feeling differently about the idea. Hence not two days following the chat, David and Hayden doing boy stuff, a phone call from a best gal pal anxious for an outing...Addy and I headed to the Piercing Pagoda and you see the outcome. Though the picture shows her immediate response, she didn't mind and now it's over with pretty little sparkles beaming from her perfect God given ears.