Cute

I saw this movie last night and it was SO cute! It's a sweet little romance movie that makes you smile.

You go girl!

Brilliant Choice! Oh how irritated Obama's campaign must be right now- she's beautiful, articulate, profamily, firmly prolife, has attacked corruption in her OWN party, comes from the true middle class, has actual experience being an executive, her husband's a union worker, her son is going to fight in Iraq, her baby has Downs syndrome, she hunts and fishes, and comes from the last American frontier in Alaska where she has had to govern a state surrounded by foreign countries. Oh- it's too perfect! What can you criticize? Experience? Obama can't really make that an issue since he himself has none. She's clearly not bought and paid for by big oil (she's fought them) or the republican party. That the old war dog McCain teamed with the beautiful "barracuda" as they call her is riveting. Even James Dobson, the staunch anti-McCain spokesman, has said he could pull the lever now that McCain has proven he is on the right side of life issues. I can't WAIT to watch the RNC in Minnesota!

"Seepy" Julia

Julia's favorite thing to do is say she is "seepy" and get under covers either on the couch or in mommy's bed. It is such a sweet time when they give you two-year-old talk. Her favorite all-time lullaby is "you are my sunshine". I have a large repertoire of songs b/c my mom and grandmother sang TONS of songs to me- but she ONLY wants "sunshine". Tonight I sang it 8 times as I rocked her. Every time I started a new song she'd say "one mo time...sunshine...again...pease". How can I resist? Then we pray (she knows the Lord's prayer) and then I have to get her entire crew of animals (three lambs, one "sweet froggy", and "titty tat") and her sippy cup. Then we turn on her wave sound machine and her bird projector thing. It's a big ordeal- but she sleeps like a log when she's got her perfect combo. I love you little baby girl and hope you are "seeping" very well tonight.
P.S. this pic was taken at the beach- she slept in a pack-n-play in our walk-in-closet (we kept the door open!)

Just some thoughts....

1. I love the movie Stardust. We rented it for the second time last night- and I still love it.

2. We started officially homeschooling today- and it was wonderful. Marc has told everyone tonight about his "homework" he did with mommy today. We did math, reading, handwriting, logic, and literature. I discovered he will do most anything for a sticker.

3. I think we are coming close to naming baby 3. We've got the first name- just gotta get that middle one sorted out.

4. Did anyone catch Peggy Noonan's article in the Wall Street Journal last week explaining why Obama's numbers are dropping? It's because Americans are starting to pay attention. She talked specifically about how important the debate at Rick Warren's church was. McCain was to-the-point and said life begins at conception. Obama seemed at best scattered and dodgy. Basically Noonan thinks Obama can't keep preaching "hope" without any REAL plan. If he doesn't lay out some sort of REAL specific action that he will take- he's going to lose some folks. And...since we didn't expect much from McCain in the first place- we are all happily surprised when he comes to ready to play- and almost seems like an old-time conservative. Read the awesome article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

We're back!!!

We are back from the beach! We went to St. George Island and had the best time. It was your cliche American vacation. We played in the sand and ocean all day, swam in the pool in the afternoons, found sea shells, and ate big yummy dinners. At night the grown ups watched movies, worked puzzles, played poker, played trivial pursuit, played the Wii (I'm not a video game fan- but playing sports on the Wii is fun stuff). Marky learned to boogie board and the water in the ocean was PERFECT. Here we are at a big steak dinner prepared by grandpa (to the right)- the other folks are my sister-in-law and her husband and son- her baby girl was already in bed. Here's Marc with his mom and sister. Aren't they a pretty family?
Julia loved her cousin Noah and tackled him any time he sat still. She's a tough cookie.
Marky would have stayed at the beach all day every day if we had let him. This pic was taken one night after dinner when we went out looking for crabs. He insisted on taking off his shirt and running in the water.
Grandpa also brought us metal detectors to find treasures- here is Marc using one while Julia uses her shovel to imitate daddy. She walked right beside him the whole time.

At the beach

In case you are wondering if I've abandoned my blog- just wanted you to know we are at the beach soaking in some rays! We got here Saturday and will leave on Saturday. This is the first time Marc set up his work lap top so I could get on here really quickly and say hi. Thanks for the comments on baby 3. Wish I had some pics to put up here. We're down here with Marc's parents and sister and her family. We are staying in a fancy house and Grandpa bought everyone a Wii. It is so addictive- we've bowled, played tennis and baseball at night- even the kids can play. Good times!

Beautiful BOY!

I saw my angel baby today. What a miracle! For some reason, I've been so worried that something would be wrong and when I saw his sweet little face and hands moving around- it moved me to tears. My mom is in town and went to the ultrasound with Marc and I. Afterwards, we went and got the kids and took them straight to church to pray prayers of thanksgiving at the altar for our precious gift. Marky is thrilled to have a brother- and I'm sure Julia is happy to remain the princess.

Psalm 139:13-14: For You formed my inward parts;You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

Field Trip

Today we went on a little field trip with some homeschoolers to the Alabama Power Watercourse. It was so much fun! It's in Clanton- and you can go anytime Tues-Friday 9-4. Locals should definitely try it out!
This pic is from the website- but it's a game where they ask questions about water and if you win your face goes on the tv screen and the lights flash. Marky thought this was awesome and with help from mommy he got some answers right. They had a helicopter simulator that took you to Mobile and a golf cart thing that gave you a simulated tour of the Mitchell dam and explained hydroelectricity. They also had computer games and a movie about water. All in all- a great day! P.S. Alabama has more navigable water ways than any other state!

Yard Sale Day

So today we had a little yard sale with some of our friends. Above is our old kitchen island and purple slide and some toys. We sold all the big stuff- Marc sold his 6-disk car c.d. player thingy for like $30- less than the tax he paid when he bought it originally. I guess that's how yard sales go though- you have to sell things at bottom prices. I think when all was said and done we got around $60- and then spent $20 on pizza. We had a really fun day hanging out with friends and I'm glad people can use the stuff that was in our garage.
Marky spent the day with his buddy M.H. and they stayed so busy we almost never saw them- they played outside all morning "old school", i.e. without toys. They dug in the dirt for mud pies, filled cups with water, stacked firewood and "built" things with hammers.
Julia spent her time terrorizing chasing a neighboorhood cat and generally wandering around. Here she is chasing him into some bushes- come back "tit-tat".

No she didn't....

Today has been weird. You know our house is for sale, and today the people whose house we want to buy came and looked at our's. Their realtor completely nit picked the entire house- a house we have spent months, really years, fixing up. "There were a couple loose bricks on the landing at the top of the back stairs", "a few windows were dirty", etc. It REALLY got under my skin. First, the house we are thinking of buying is in no way ready to live in- we would have to paint inside and out, redo carpet, redo countertops, etc. I didn't go in there and tear it apart- I looked at the house and determined whether it was what I wanted- knowing I could change it in the future to fit our taste. Second, I cleaned all the back windows inside and out and the front windows on the inside- I can't reach the front windows on the outside without an extension ladder and that is ridiculous- it's 100 degrees and I'm pregnant. Third, I realize that my home is an extension of me- and while I am by no means a decorator, I have put thought and work into making it a cozy, happy place for my family and for someone to come in and say "loose bricks" are a deal breaker makes me feel like I myself have "loose bricks" and am a mess. Buying and selling homes is a personal business- there's no getting around it. I remember some Dobson book we read before we got married, he talked about how women's identities are closely tied to their homes. And now that I've had someone come and "disrespect" my home, and by extension myself, I almost want to take it off the market and stay here- at least I appreciate this place. Marc says this "violent" response is my hormones being all over the place. Maybe so- but I still say "oh no she didn't".

Quote of the Day....

Today we had an extra fun day. When we got home, I said, "Marky, what a special day full of treats we've had. We went to Children's Holy Hour to see Jesus at church, we went to the library and played on the computers, we went to the toy store and you got finger paint and Julia got a bouncy ball, we went to lunch with Aunt Shana and then she took you to the ice cream store and bought you and Julia a special ice cream treat with M&Ms! What a special day!"

And he said, "yes, it was a special day, but the best treat of all of that is Jesus."

The dog days of summer.....

... are a perfect time to share a snowcone with a girlfriend.

this is Ayda and Julia sharing a treat- you will see Julia's snowcone is actually sitting on the table, but she decided that Ayda probably wouldn't finish her's so she's "helping" her.

My camera's back!!!

Yay! My camera arrived in the mail Friday- so here are pictures from the weekend- like it or not! We have had two good couple friends of ours move to town this summer and we are so excited. The first couple had a 30th b'day party cookout to break in their new house and we went over. I was amazed how Marky stayed in the sandbox FOREVER- even though we have a sandbox- a different sandbox was cooler.

And even though we have a wagon and ball- their wagon and ball was MUCH more special to Juliabug.

The second couple moved in this weekend and we kept their kids Sunday afternoon so they could get some shopping and arranging done. We had so much fun in the backyard as you can see!

Their youngest baby girl is one and made me realize that Julia, being 2, really isn't a baby. I think she is- but she can talk and knows so much- it kind of breaks my heart- her babyhood just FLEW by!
Oh- and I can't leave without giving major props to the wacky sprinkler Aunt Shana gave the kids for their birthday= it was a BIG hit!