Ordinary Life

Happy Birthday Grammy! We are blessed to have you as "Momma" & "Grammy" Without you, we wouldn't sing " I see the moon" or a dozen other songs.  It is unlikely that we would sing at all.  You love so many of us, so thoroughly, so well.  You spend your time on us, you spend your prayers.  Thank you for fun childhoods.  For teaching the joy of children and the value of remaining one at heart. Thank you for the love of music. And color.  And art.   To the moon and back for sure,  We love you a million miles and more.   ~*~

Happy 36th Anniversary to my parents.  Your marriage is a shining example.  Thank You. Central Wesleyan College Days

She said "I NEED A PARTY HAT!"  We sometimes call our anniversary a "Family Birthday". Especially during seasons where sitters are scarce and we will be celebrating with the entire family. This was one of those celebrations. We have been very busy with baseball & the business and our family's 'birthday' fell during a particularly Extra Busy Weekend. On Wednesday night, as everyone was busy with Duck Dynasty (I tuned in from my dish washing station in the kitchen) I secretly concocted one of Clay's preferred treats: Jello Cake. (He's forever in the debt of his mother in law for the passing down of this recipe :)  One thing about Jell-O cake is that it calls for Whipped topping- an element that always makes for a decorating challenge... a blank, white, slippery canvas to be improved upon.  I began to rifle through Riley's small plastic toys for something quirky when I came to these two finger puppets. I was quickly inspired to dress them up...

Grammy gave "Lovey" to Riley when she was born. This large, loveable pink pooch has been through various moves and times of storage; as well as plenty of playtime with Rye. Because of all the living and loving evident in Lovey's fur, we recently took him to the local laundromat for a quick, sudsy spin and a fluffy air dry... Riley cheered Lovey on the whole way, Fisher cheered Rye on. Riley and Fisher have similar dispositions towards their stuffed friends-simply put, stuffed animals are real... and the cuter the stuffy, the more in tune with its feelings they seem to be... situations like being put in the washing machine are matters of survival, not just hygiene. It's cute ~until something tragic happens, like a severed limb    (or ear!)    or a spill over of stuffing or something... you would think we'd lost a family member in the trauma unit should something like that occur. (There was a light stuffing leakage on this day and ALL of my kids thought we'd los...

  Grammy made & mailed Valentines filled with candy (plus, LOVE obviously) The candy is almost gone, the paper hearts have been preserved, the LOVE keeps multiplying on infinitely.  Thank You Grammy! And thank you for the camel too!  (and the Gamecock clogs) 

SUNNY SNAPSHOT This weekend, Grammy & PaPa came to visit. The Big Kids were excited for days before in anticipation- Chandler sent Google maps to help them arrive at the right place. They worked as a team making up the bed with fresh sheets, creating a pallet on the floor for Logan(she had insisted G&P take her bed instead of going to a hotel). The children were asleep when they arrived (it was after 1 AM) but only a few hours later, we filled the weekend with fun. On Saturday, we all got up early, ran hard and retired weary. We started with Logan's cheer :    PaPa was allowed to push Rye for 3 whole seconds before she protested... she took her own sweet time warming up to  "Grummy & Grandpa"  I'm smiling because I know they have FREE COFFEE inside :)  LoLo & Lilly Logan Aleece Taking a break from the demanding world of cheerleading... We stopped long enough to get cash from an ATM & tea from Zaxbys (sorry, Uncle Ben!) before heading over to ...