About Me

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Welcome to my blog. I'm a Mississippi country girl transplanted to Grapevine, TX. I have been blessed with a great husband, and my kiddos, Aleck and Ella. When I'm not eating bon bons on the couch, I am my kid's room mom, PTA member, Sunday School teacher, taxi driver, amateur photographer and personal chef. When I'm not doing those things, I'm running a small jewelry business, 2nd Amendment Jewelry (www.2ndamendmentjewelry.com), that I started with my twin sister, Glenda. It's a crazy and busy life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life!

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Clay and Cinnamon's going away party





Our pastor, Clay, and his wife, Cinnamon, and their family are moving to Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada to start a new church. We had a going away party tonight for them. I am so sad to see them leave. Tom and I have been church members at Mid-Cities Community Church since we got married. Tom and I don't have any family in Texas and our church has been like our family. Cinnamon was so supportive when I had Aleck. We are going to miss you guys terribly!

I got a rare picture of Aleck and Mommy together. Yay!!!







Memorial Day Weekend in Alma, Michigan














Tom, AJ and I traveled to Alma, Michigan for Memorial Day. Tom plays the snare drum in the North Texas Caledonian Pipes and Drums, a local bagpipe and drum corp. The band competed and took first place in the Grade 5 competition for the North American title. Congrats guys!



















We stayed in a dorm room the first night we were in Alma. I am not sure what we were thinking when we thought that we could stay in a dorm with a 1 year-old. Of course, Aleck loved it. He thought the beds were a jungle gym and had a great time climbing under the furniture and running up and down the hall. Aleck was the center of attention, although some of the residents didn't think Aleck was so cute when he woke them at 7:00 a.m. after they were up late the night before.


I don't know how college kids do it! The bathroom was down the hall and giving Aleck a bath and passing him off to Tom to be dressed was a challenge. Thankfully, we found a hotel in town that had a vacancy the next night. It was so great not having to get dressed to go to the bathroom. The funny thing is that AJ slept through the entire night in the noisy dorm and when we were in a the hotel the next night he didn't sleep well at all. Go figure.























Aleck and I went to the Memorial Day parade. Aleck loved waving his flag until he realized he could hit Mommy in the head and I had to confiscate the flag. It was so great seeing the look on the WWII vets as they were recognized by the cheering crowd. Of course, there are no pictures of Aleck and Mommy because I am always behind the camera. I have got to do a better job of getting some pictures with me in them.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Aleck's first boat ride and fishing trip






Last week Aleck and I met my friends, Rufus and Doris, at Eagle Mountain Lake. Doris' brother-in-law, Jim, has a houseboat so we went for a boat ride and fished a little. Aleck had a blast. He loved looking over the bow of the boat at the water splashing. Of course, I had a death grip on him the entire time. Aleck kept running to the steering wheel. He wasn't sure what it did but I'm sure he thought if Jim played with it all the time it must be a pretty cool toy.
I did try to fish a little, but when I almost caught Aleck with a hook I thought "probably not a good idea".

Aleck was so well-behaved and only tried to jump in the water once when ducks swam up to the dock. I love seeing the world through the innocence of AJ's eyes. We are so blessed!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Aleck loves to climb




Aleck loves to climb on everything! He knows he isn't supposed to, but that certainly doesn't stop him. He gets in the fireplace and gets soot all over his hands and cloths. He climbs on the coffee table and proceeds to dance around and stomp his feet to call attention to the fact that he is standing on the table. He is especially bad about climbing when I am in the kitchen trying to cook supper and he wants me to come play with him. He knows the fastest way to get my attention is to climb. He gets this little grin on his face like the one in the picture with him crouching behind the barn toy. When he gets that grin, I know he is about to do something he is not supposed to do.


To discourage his climbing adventures, I restrain him in my lap and count to fifteen. He absolutely hates being restrained. It usually only takes 2 or 3 times of restraining and he decides climbing really isn't worth the consequences.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day


My second Mother’s Day was wonderful. Eryn, my stepdaughter, got me this beautiful card that said, “In the best of all possible worlds…everyone would have a mom like you. Happy Mother’s Day”. She signed the card “We love you, Mom! Love, Eryn & Aleck.” I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Tom got up with AJ today and I slept until 8:30. When I woke up, Tom was feeding AJ breakfast and trying to teach him how to say Momma. Aleck has been saying Dada for some time. Every time Tom said, “Say Momma”, Aleck would smile and say “Dada”. It was hilarious. I think he finally said something resembling Momma, but it was probably wishful thinking on my part.

Tom bought me this beautiful orchid corsage for Mother's Day. I also got a new laptop for Mother's Day/my birthday and I LOVE IT!!! I can sit at the kitchen table and edit my pictures while watching Aleck play in the living room. I am so behind on editing because the only time I could work on the computer was when Aleck was asleep and then I needed to be doing laundry and housework.

Have to go for now. The buzzer on the dryer is calling my name. Who knew that adding one baby to the family could increase laundry exponentially?

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Charli's Birthday




Last weekend we attended Charli's first birthday party at Mike and Sami's house. Charli was born 5 weeks after Aleck. Sami and I were good friends before Charli and Aleck were born, but sharing motherhood together has made our relationship even more special. We were both so clueless in the beginning of motherhood. In the beginning, our conversations would be like, "well, THE BOOK said to do ........". Of course, if you are a mom, you know that "THE BOOK" is whatever baby book you are reading at the time. Eventually, I realized that books are great and all, but there is nothing like a mother's intuition when raising your child.


Charli was so adorable eating her birthday cake. I just love the picture of her with whipped cream all over her face. Aleck was so excited when Sami started opening presents and he had to be right in the middle of everything.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Mayfest






Last Sunday we went to Mayfest, a festival geared towards kids. Aleck got to pet a cow for the first time. He tried to crawl through the fence to get in the enclosure with Elsie, but I stopped him just in time.

Dede and the girls, Presley and Brooke went with us. The kids had a blast. There was a sand pit and that was definitely Aleck's favorite part of the day. He would climb up the hill and then tumble back down. I tried to keep him from eating sand, but he got a few handfuls in his mouth. Oh well, it will just make his immune system stronger.


Aleck and Brooke kept climbing in a hole this older boy was digging. Needless to say, the boy really didn't want help from Aleck and Brooke, but they were so interested in what he was doing. In one picture, a girl had just dumped a bucket of sand upside down. By the picture, you can tell that she really didn't want Aleck messing with her sand pile. For a child with separation anxiety, Aleck has no problem interacting with total strangers.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Funny Quotes

As a mom, I find myself saying things to Aleck that make me chuckle, so I decided to start sharing some of these quotes.

"If it tastes that bad, you probably shouldn't put it in your mouth."

"Don't put bacon in Noah's Arc."

I will be sharing more quotes as they come along. Hope you enjoy.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Scarborough Renaissance Festival










Last weekend we went to Scarborough Fair, a renaissance festival just south of Fort Worth. The weather was perfect and Aleck had a great time running around. For a child that suffers from separation anxiety, he has no problem walking up to total strangers and trying to have a conversation. He walked up to one guy that was pulling his kids in a wagon and grabbed the handle and tried to help pull the wagon. I wonder if strangers think our kid is as cute as we do....probably not.
I love the picture of him talking to the men that are dressed up. He thought they were the coolest. As you can tell by the picture, he was a little scared of the women.
In the picture of Aleck on Tom's shoulders, Aleck is mesmerized by a bagpipe and drums band.