Let it Snow!

Gone are the Dog Days

Unfortunately our Thanksgiving day ended with tears. We had to put our little buddy, Clancy down. We still miss him.

Pitiful

So sad isn't it?

It's Been Awhile

Hello friends,

Yes, it has been almost two months since I have sat down to write. I should have been writing every day with everything going on but my energy level just would not allow it. I haven't even been checking your blogs. I didn't even have the energy to read nor the time. You see Shea-Shea has been sick and as all of us mothers know when your child is sick everything else is put on the back burner. And we worry. My worry leads to sleepless nights. My sweet girl is still sick but not as bad. You would never know it to look at her. That has been part of the problem. Even at her worst she was still smiling and laughing and getting in to everything. She was never lethargic nor fussy (except when she cut her first tooth!) There has only been a few weeks in the past 3 months that we have not visitied the doctor. You know you are at the doc's office too much when they don't even have to look you up in the system since they have already memorized your info. Anyway - she is getting better so hopefully life will get back to what we know as normal.

Love you all!

Trace-isms

So, my best friend just sent me a bunch of quotes from kids. You know the ones that you have to believe they said because even the most creative adult could not make this stuff up. So I started thinking about some of the things my 4-year-old has stunned me with. Here are three of my favorites.

1. When Shea was born Brad and I didn't want Trace to see me nursing at first. That didn't last long. The second day of Shea's life Trace walked in on me nursing. At first he didn't notice anything. He just thought I was cuddling with her. When he jumped up on the hospital bed with me and saw what was really going on he was terrified and said frantically, "Mom, she's eating you!" Therapy anyone?

2. Back in February Trace had a bit of a cold. You know the coughing cold that never seems to go away. We were having breakfast at Shoney's and Trace started coughing. We asked him if he was o.k. to which he replied, "Yeah, my beaver is just trying to get out of my belly." WHAT??? To this day we have no idea why our son ever thought he had a beaver in his belly.

3. This is a story I hesitate to share for reasons you will understand in a moment. For this reason names have been changed to protect the identity of those involved. M had to go to the bathroom - yes, that is where this story takes place. M closed the door in order to attempt some privacy. M forgot to lock the door. Trace decided to visit M in the Lou. Let me just say there is a reason that M wanted that door closed and it goes beyond privacy. We all have times in our life where our potty time becomes doo-doo duty. And as we all know doo-doo duty is not an pleasant aromatic event in our day. We all pretend that the candles in our bathrooms are for ambiance - who are we kidding??? Needless to say Trace walked into that bathroom and then quickly turned on his heels and said in his best southern accent... "That stink is rolling up my nose and it scares me!"

So dear friends...what has your child said???

Should I Be Worried???

O.k. here's my concern...2 situations for you to assess-

Situation 1: My son walks up to me on a perfectly normal morning and says in his best Joey Tribbiani voice, "Lookin' good, Mom." And yes, there was a curved lip and slight chin lift to go with his question. Of course I start laughing and asking where he heard that? He just gave me a little smirk and walked off. Then I called my sister to see if her firstborn son, Asher, has ever done this. And to ask if I should be worried. "Nah", she says, "he's just a funny kid." So I'm told.

Situation 2: I am waiting for Trace to come home from school. I'm running around the house but I have the TV tuned to CMT's Redneck Weddings. (This show fascinates me. Seriously, have you ever seen people get married in a mud bog??? Watch this show and you will!) Anyway - this is a show about weddings right? Perfectly harmless right? Yeah, right. T walks in and he's draggin' from not getting enough sleep at rest time. So I ask him, "Hey, buddy, do you want to watch a movie?" Normally at this time I would hear a "yeah, let me pick one out." However, this time I heard, "NOOO. I want to watch THIS!" I turned to see what he thought was so interesting on the TV...HOOTER GIRLS!!! Who has Hooter girls at their wedding??? Rednecks! So tell me should I be worried??? Or, should all of you with girls around his age be worried???? And - this is just proof that you don't go to Hooters just for the wings!

Bulldog Babes

Here's to Hubby - my tried and true Georgia Bulldog fan.

Lovin' my Lipgloss

I now have a new reason to support my lip gloss habit. You see I am the woman who goes through those little baskets at Target to see what new shades of shine are now on sale. I can hardly pass them up. I LOVE lip gloss (and shoes but that is for another day, another time.)

Just this week I was running out my door trying to get the kids in their seats as fast as possible so that I could hit Hobby Lobby before meeting Hubby to vote. I started out my driveway but then stopped because the week before I left my house unlocked while out for hours. I just couldn't remember if I locked the door or not. I went to unlock my seat belt and noticed that I couldn't press down the release button. I finally got it loose but when I got back in the car - I actually did remember to lock the door - I had second thoughts about buckling up. The law won out and I decided to chance it. I called Hubby on the way and told him my dilemma. He laughed and said that it would be real funny trying to crawl out of my seat belt. Absolutely no sympathy or support! As we pulled into Hobby Lobby my mind started going in circles trying to figure out what I will do if my seat belt release won't work. The moment of truth came. I parked my car, turned of the ignition and reached for the release. My fear became my reality. My seat belt held me captive. I am proud to say that in this situation I didn't even think to curse but I did laugh. How many of us get trapped by our own cars? Have I offended my car? I have not been the best owner nor the most appreciative but I did not deserve this! I would not allow my car to hold me captive. I channeled my inner MacGyver and formed my plan. My tool of choice - my Shimmering Apricot tube of lip gloss. I jammed that sucker down into the release button until it gave way. Ha! I win. So for all of you who need a justification to buy another tube of shimmering, silky lip gloss - you just got it.

Rock Star

Every Mon and Wed Trace has school and now every Mon and Wed we pick up T's friend Alex. Alex is HILARIOUS!! The child cracks me up everytime I see him. This monday was no different. Once Alex was all saddled up in the seat he began to sing. Hmmmm...let me rephrase that. He was not just singing the child was belting it out. Now let me just say that last year I had the priviledge of teaching 8 children - 6 were girls. I had many High School Musical and Hannah Montana performances by my girls. Well, I didn't expect to have Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds" song performed by these two 4-year-old boys. Needless to say that provided me a good little chuckle. Once the song was over Alex told T that his favorite rock star was Hannah Montana. Then he asked Trace, "Trace, who is your favorite rock star?" Trace pondered this a moment and then replied..."My mommy!" I love my kid! And yes, we do rock out in my car!

Aggressive Eater???

You decide!

Eight is Great

Eight years already??? Crazy.
Here is some fun info for you...
How we met: I was dating his assistant
How much longer I dated his assistant after we met: 1 week
First thing that attracted me to B: the way he prayed
When did we decide to get married: our first unofficial date - Dec 19th
When did B actually propose: April 13th
What was my response: You can't do that now! ( I hadn't met his parents yet)
When did I finally meet his parents: May 18th
How did I know B was "the one": God told me! no joke! it was loud and clear.
Day we got married: Oct 7 - obviously! (Happy Anni to Crystal and Blaine!)
Other important happenings on that day: St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs and for those of you that don't know I was raised a Cardinal fan and married into a Braves fam. Also, Georgia beat the Tennessee Vols 21-10.
Wedding Bloopers: The flowers we ordered were too big to fit on the stands. People were afraid to tell me. I could have cared less. I was about to marry Brad - who cares about the flowers! My sweet niece - who was one of the 6 kids in the wedding - loved having a basket of rose petals. She kept counting them and you know 3-year-olds can't whisper. Also, I have never officially taken any vows. Just Brad!!! Don't you know this comes up in some arguments. My sweet Grandpa was one of the pastors officiating. Unfortunately he had Alzheimer's and after he did the vows with B he pronounced us man and wife. We were only halfway through the wedding! The other pastor handled the situation beautifully but I still have not taken my vows. I'm thinking that someday we will have to redo our vows.

Anyway this is just some memories I thought I would share.

I love you, B!!!! Happy Anniversary.

Beach Beauties

Hole in One

I just need to do some braggin' about my 4-year-old. This kid can golf! O.k. maybe it's not golf but he can sure Put-Put. I think that in our 4 night run of Put-Put games he had about 5 hole-in-ones! We also discovered that he is a switch golfer. He can hit either right or left with the same accuracy. Its crazy. Also he beat me 2 of the 4 nights. I only played 2 of the 4 nights. Although, I did have a handicap...

Shea-Shea and I were partners. While she was awake I could golf with both hands but when she fell asleep I was the one-handed Put-Putter.

Freaky Fro Friday

Do babies have bad hair days?

Yes, they do!

Future of the Braves

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This was T's first "official" baseball game. He has played Lollipop for the past two years but now he gets to play real ball. He is loving every minute of it. This is his first at bat. I was so nervous for him. He did great.

Doesn't he look the part. My son is so passionate about this game. Don't you know his daddy is SO thrilled. His team ended up playing - of all teams - the Braves. They crushed them! Stay tuned for more baseball highlights...

Fun Friday

Friday's are becoming our Fun-Day. On this Friday Trace got to choose where we ate lunch. He decided on Taco Bell. I have no idea why since normally he would opt for Micky-D's. He said that he wanted chips-n-cheese. Yummy in the Tummy. Now, I need to mention that lately I have really been trying to lose the baby weight from Shea...and Trace...and the 15 lbs I put on just because I moved to the South. Seriously, you Southerners fry everything. And its good! Anyway, back to my original thought...I decided to be good at Taco Bell so I ordered a taco salad. What I got was glorified bean dip. See for yourself. Normally I don't take pics of my food but today I had to. Do you see what Taco Bell has for utensils? Oh, yes, my friends. What you see is a SPORK!!! I have never in my life had to eat a salad with a spork. Seriously Taco Bell, get some real utensils.
Shea wanted some lunch too. To her satisfaction she had a wonderful bottle of Similacs best. Lip lickin' good.

Fun Friday Cont...

After lunch it was on to Dippin' Dots with some of our friends. This is Shea's boy buddy, Aidan. He is just a few weeks older than her. Yes, she is the older one. Trace and Gavin decided to do some painting before ice cream.
These two are best buds. They have been since Trace was 6 months old. Gavin's mommy is my B.F., Rachel.

"S" for Sweet

Thumbs Up

I know its here somewhere... I'm getting closer...
Almost...
Got it!
It looks like I might have a thumb sucker on my hands. I never wanted to give Trace a binky because I didn't want to have to break that habit. I am now trying to force Shea to take the binky. I can eventually take the binky away. A thumb is permanently attached. Its our first mother-daughter fight.

Shea's B.F.F.

Yes, I know my sweet Shea-Shea is only a few months old but she already has a best friend. Introducing Karisma Shallini Cuffman...

Karisma's mommy is one of my precious friends. I just adore her and I hope that Karisma and Shea will have a similar friendship. Also, I should mention that Karisma was born on Shea's Daddy's birthday. You gotta love July babies.

Play Time

I just love watching my kids play together.

First Day of Preschool

To say that my child was excited about his first day of preschool would be an understatement. He kept asking if it was time to go. This was pretty annoying since he gets up at 6am and we don't leave for school until 8:45. I thought T would be a little disappointed that I would not be at school with him this year but he got over it REAL quick.

He adores his teacher Mrs. Anne Marie. She is Wonderful!

I think the saddest and best part of his first day of preschool was that he went right into class without saying goodbye to me. I missed the goodbye hugs but was so thankful that my child is comfortable and excited to be at school. Once I left the school it was off to a day of errands with Shea. I got so much done! But...I really did miss my sweet boy.

Bubbles...

Here is my sweet Shea when she was 2 months old. I just thought this was so cute.

Open House

This evening as I was waiting for my hubby to get home, cooking dinner, entertaining Trace and trying to feed Shea Shea there was a knock at the door. I open the door to find our 5 year old neighbor, Bryant waiting on my door step. He wants Trace to play. I want my evening calm and quiet and don't want to go outside to watch my kid. I give him the excuse that Trace is going to eat soon so he can't play. Oh, the conviction. You see Brad and I decided long ago that our house should be a place where kids can come play and feel like one of the family. A kind of open house policy. Our parents were this way with our friends. So I quickly told Bryant that he could come in and play with Trace. All in all it ended up being a good night. Bryant stayed for dinner, the boys played and I actually got more done than normal. I love it.

In the Beginning...

O.k. all you bloggers - here I go. Rubies & Pearls is now in action even if it is a work in progress. I've been wanting to get this going for so long but to be honest so much of it frustrates me. Please be patient with my lack of blogging knowledge.