Ups and Downs

Yesterday morning was a tough morning for our local princess. She totally embarassed me in several public places and was just having the worst morning, so much that I said to myself, "at least she's cute- we should keep her." :) I was totally worn out. Then we got home and she completely turned it around. She did two reading lessons and completely finished her reading program- she was so proud! Then she and Marky played in the driveway so sweetly for hours and hours. Last night Marc came home a little early and we all played basketball in the driveway on our NEW goal! And then we all went out to celebrate Julia's accomplishment and got everyone's favorite- spaghetti. Afterwards we went to Books A Million so she could pick out a book and sweet Marky said, "can I please buy it for her with my money? I'm so proud of her." So he did. So it went from being one of the worst days to the best. This happens I know- it's just emotionally and physically exhausting. Parenting is not for the faint of heart.

These are old pictures, but I just found the camera we used for the March for Life and want to get them on here so they aren't lost forever.

To see so many people come out in the freezing cold speaks volumes....

I hope we can always go and speak up for those who cannot speak.....

Tucker looked at this and said, "baby!" "it's a baby!". Yes, angel, it is a baby.

Dear Father, Hear and bless Thy beasts and singing birds; And guard with tenderness small things that have no words.

About the boy...

Did I mention we are taking the boy to Rome? Oh, yes, I know it's an anniversary trip, but I happen to think it's a perfect way of celebrating our first big accomplishment as a married couple- our oldest baby boy. We have gotten all our ancient Rome books out and Marky has read them all day every day and is beside himself. He will be our "fact giver" throughout the trip. Just the other day as I stirred muffin mix for breakfast he was sitting there saying "Mommy did you know the Colosseum could hold 50,000 people?"
It's a little odd to me how against this idea so many people have been. And they've told me out loud that we are crazy to take a child to Rome. And to them I say this:

1.) It's not just any child, it's Marky- our history buff, extremely well-behaved, tall, strong boy.
2.) He knows more about this stuff than I do. Seriously.
3.) He will not "slow us down"- I will be 5 1/2 months pregnant- I'm not running a marathon over there.
4.) He will not "be bored". You just don't know him if you say something like that. He will be enchanted. Per my #1- he is a history buff- it's his passion.
5.) He has so many responsibilites as the oldest brother that it's nice to be able to treat him.
6.) It will be much easier on my parents to keep two kids who nap, rather than three kids who will probably fight some.
7.) This is exactly why we homeschool- to give a living, rich education supplemented with experiences like this.
8.) I almost only remember the history I have "seen". In high school Scholar's Bowl most of the questions I got right were about places in Virginia I had visited or plays I had seen.
9.) There is a chance we will see Amber, Dennis, Noah and Landin there and that would be amazing for Noah and Marky to be in Rome together.

AND 10.) We just love this guy and are excited and thrilled to take him, and we BOTH felt led to take him. He is a special, precious boy and I guarantee you he will remember this trip forever.

St. Louis weekend

This weekend I flew BY MYSELF to St. Louis to visit my mom's side of the family for my cousin Jennah's baby shower. Those from college may remember that I went to St. Louis for many spring breaks in college thanks to Jennah's generosity to fly me up and take me around. I hadn't been up there in over 7 years. When I got there late Friday afternoon we saw Jennah and her husband's new CPA firm they founded-
And I was greeted with 7 inches of snow!

Friday night the family went to their country club for dinner- it was yummy- and I was hungry and tacky and ordered fried chicken. I might as well have worn a sign "I'm from Alabama". :)

Jennah, her friend Jody, and me. It was so different being in a house without children, at night everyone would talk loudly, slam doors, and I kept thinking "shhhhhhh!!!!". In our house we are QUIET after 8:00. :)

Saturday was the baby shower- see her pins- a boy and a girl- TWINS!

Everything is so cute for twins!

And you get twice the presents!

The guests...

The food- by a family friend who caters....

If you, like me, throw showers for people a lot- I got great ideas on food. These were DELICIOUS- it's gingerbread flower cookies with a layer of cream cheese- the fruit and then drizzle on a powdered sugar/water syrup. I'm telling you- DELICIOUS.

I had seen the pretzle/hershey kiss/M&M version of these- but let me tell you- doing the pretzle/ROLO/pecan version- divine!

I thought these were cute and easy too-

Here's my sweet Aunt Judy- BB's only sister.

And after a Sunday afternoon flight home and missing my babies so much- I was so suprised to see this waiting for me at the end of the hallway. They TOTALLY surprised me and Tuck Tuck was saying "mama, mama!"

A great weekend, but now I'm back and have a case of strep throat, Tucker has an ear infection, and we are all worried about my sweet nephew. But as I always tell Amber, we know God loves Noah more than we do and we can trust Him and rest in His peace.

Keep Praying!

Noah, Amber, Dennis and Landin need your prayers now more than ever. The short of it is- he had an MRI and the cancer had grown and spread. We need a miracle! See her post here for details....

Mommy's days start early

This morning I awoke to:
6-year-old boy whispering: "mommy, mommy....mommy...wake up...."
Sleepy mommy: "huh, what is it?"
Boy: "Did the Spirit of St. Louis fly over the Atlantic or the Pacific ocean?

(and yes, I knew the answer in my sleeping stupor) :)

B'ball, Inauguration, Rome....

Look at our newest sport- basketball! We love it!
Before we started we didn't even own a basketball- and we still don't have a goal yet. But Marky caught on quickly.

"Swoosh!!" (Or "Whoosh"- Marc and I have a disagreement to the proper cheering word- at good old Mobile Christian School it was definitely Swoosh.)

Driving it down the court with fire in his eyes. :)

The fan club- Mr. eat-a-lot-of-goldfish-to-sit-still....
And Miss I-only-want-to-sit-in-Daddy's-lap....

On Monday, we took the kids to Montgomery to see the Inauguration. We try to always go. There is a parade and then the swearing in and speeches with an orchestra, a fighter plane flyover and a 21 canon salute. Afterwards we went to the office receptions for all the Constitutional officers and gave them congratulations cards. It's so much fun to go back there- we lived there for three years when we were first married and always see people we knew.

Here are the kids inspecting the National Guard canons. Needless to say, Tucker lost it when they went off! :)

And in giant, big, special news.......

We ordered plane tickets to ROME yesterday!!!! We are going in March for our 10-year anniversary. It's well known by my close friends that our honeymoon to Cancun was a comedy of errors, which included me getting very sick in a Mexican clinic. While still in Cancun we promised ourselves that we would go to Rome on our 10-year anniversary and thanks be to God- it's going to happen!!! To say I'm beside myself is the biggest understatement......

Father, I'm coming home! (haha)

We have no plans to do anything but stay in Rome all week and go to mass everyday in a different church and enjoy the incredible, amazing, awesome history of our faith.

"Tu es Petras, et super hanc petram edificabo ecclesiam".

"I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

March for Life

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the Birmingham March for Life at 10:45 in Brother Bryan Park- 22nd Street South at 10th Avenue. It's a silent, prayerful walk reminding the world that we have not forgotten the innocent babies whose lives are in jeopardy every day.

"Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me." Matthew 25:40

Pre-dinner gametime

Tonight, as I stirred the scalloped potatos on the stove, a boy in a helmet ran in- dropped this note- and ran off.
Apparently there was an "NFL game- Florida Sat vs. D. Cowboys rite now!" I hear whispers in the den (We can't start until we have an audience)(No, Mommy is the audience)(That means the person watching us)(Will you just wait one minute!) Enter the "audience" and then game on!

Go Seminoles-

I'm telling you- I love being home with these children.

Snow and such...

It snowed in Alabamy. How exciting was it yesterday?! Snowballs all over the place.

My girl- always happy. She kept saying "we have a fun day!"

Angel boy won't wear gloves, but kept holding and eating the snow saying "hands cold...ice...yummy".

Of course, it's nice to get a bear sweater on and just be cozy inside....

Julia's trying to learn to curtsy...

And here is proof that baby boy cannot feed himself well- this is what happened when I walked away from him and some yogurt...

In other news, we received the honor of being Godparents to two precious blonde boys who were baptized last Sunday. Their mommy and daddy converted to Catholic from Baptist in the spring- their journey began when the husband tried to read up on Catholicism to save us as we were going in and then became convinced himself. :) And just in case you are wondering, being a Godparent does not mean that we will raise the children if the parents die. (Some people have asked me.) It is simply a spiritual guardianship where we promise to pray for and encourage the children in their faith their entire lives.