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!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Blessings

 

Christmas Eve service

I grew up in church, but I didn’t grow up going to the Christmas Eve service at church.  When I was a child, Christmas Eve was when we gathered with my mother’s side of the family.  With 6 aunts/uncles and 14 cousins, the gatherings were huge and hold wonderful memories. 

When I became an adult, I spent a large part of my 20’s and early 30’s in the world, and not much time in my Father’s house.  I am so blessed that even though I didn’t always follow the path that the Lord intended for me, that he was gracious enough to put such a wonderful Christian man aside to be my husband.  My dear husband played a large role in guiding me back to the loving arms of my Father.

In our married life, we were normally on the road during the holidays visiting family and never made a Christmas Eve Service a priority.

This year, for the first time in our marriage, we spent Christmas in Texas.  Although I missed visiting with our families, we were able to attend our church on Christmas Eve.  As I sat on that pew, I was overwhelmed with emotions.  I thought about how we get so busy during the holiday season and get caught up with finding that “perfect present” for our loved ones.  We get so busy that we forget the true reason for this joyous celebration.  As I sat on that pew and cried, I promised myself that no matter where we are or what we are doing, on Christmas Eve we will find a church and take our children.  As wonderful as it is to watch the smile on my children’s faces on Christmas morning, nothing will compare to knowing they have a place reserved in Heaven.

Thank you, Lord, for your son, Jesus Christ.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Buzz Lightyear to Rex the dinosaur: "You gonna eat me?"
Rex to Buzz: " No, I just going for walk. You want go with us?"

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Grapevine North Pole Express

This was our second year to ride the Grapevine North Pole Express.  The kids wore their cozy flannel pajamas.  We sang Christmas carols before boarding the train.  Aleck was so excited when the conductor punched his tickets, but not as excited as he was when he saw Santa walking up the aisle.  Aleck asked Santa for a Jesse doll from Toy Story 3.  When Santa came back down the aisle a second time, Aleck wanted his Jessie doll and Tom had to explain that he had to wait until Christmas.   He is collecting the cast of the movie.  He has Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head.  He wants Jessie and Slinky Dog.  Ella wasn’t so crazy about Santa, but she thought the hot chocolate rocked!

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Grapevine North Pole Express 2010

Grapevine North Pole Express 2010

Grapevine North Pole Express 2010

Grapevine North Pole Express 2010

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Monday, December 6, 2010

17 Months

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My sweet Ella Bella,

You are such a sweet little girl.  Mrs. Cari and Mrs. Alex at Mother’s Day Out say you “love to hug” all the other kids in your class.  Occasionally, you take Aleck to the ground giving him one of your bear hugs.

You have had one or two temper tantrums when things don’t go your way, but the vast majority of the time you are laid back and just go with the flow.

Every time we enter a public restroom, you raise your voice and start yelling, just to hear your voice echo.  With all the traveling and doctor visits, that is a lot of echoing.  It cracks me up every single time you do it.

Your little right leg is in a cast.  Daddy slipped on Aunt Glenda’s stairs while he was bringing you down from a nap.  We had x-rays done in Starkville, then again when we got home from our Thanksgiving trip.  The x-rays were negative, but a week after the fall you continued to walk with a limp.  Dr. Quattro thinks you may have a hairline tibia fracture so she casted you.  It doesn’t slow you down at all, but you hate to get that sucker wet at bath time.  You hold your leg in the air until you can’t hold it up any longer, then it falls in the water and you whine.

We are in the process of weaning you off your pacifier.  You can nap and sleep at night without it now, but there are still times during the day that you are fussy and whining and I know you would be all better with your pacifier.  Sometimes I give in, some times I don’t.  We will start weaning the bottle soon, but that will prove to be more difficult because you really love your bottle.  The other day we were in Wal-mart and you were fussy and you looked at me and gave me the sign for milk.

You had an ear infection last month that took two rounds of antibiotics to clear up.  We have an appointment with the pediatric ENT this week.

You love books!  When the house is quiet and I look for you, I can find you sitting on the floor, or in your rocking chair looking at a book. 

Over the last few weeks, you have asked to sit on the potty when I put you in the bath.  Today, you wanted to sit on Aleck’s potty and you actually peed in his potty.  I was so excited and you were so proud of yourself.  It is crazy that the thought of you being potty trained made me a little sad to know that my baby is growing up so fast.

You can now open the refrigerator and point at what you want to eat.  For some reason, you like to put the bottle of mustard in your mouth.

You adore Aleck, but there are times that you aggravate him just to get a reaction.  Usually, it is when he is playing with his trains.  You will walk up and knock the line of trains off the track and then smirk.  Sometimes you immediately run to me for protection.  It drives Aleck crazy and you love the reaction.  Thankfully, the vast majority of the time you guys play really well together.

You continue to love your pink and brown blanket and your miniature baby doll.  After I started weaning your pacifier, I found you sucking your doll’s hand one night.

We have a blow-up Santa in the yard and every time we are outside you say, “ho, ho, ho”.  Absolutely adorable!

You are such a Daddy’s girl and your sweet face lights up when Daddy walks in the room.

You love anything to do with going or being outside.

You love to jump on the bed.

You are such a good sleeper.  We put you in the bed wide awake and you go right to sleep, snuggled with your doll and blanket.

Your Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Ella’s First Haircut

I was walking by Ella’s highchair today and saw this clump of what appeared to be Ella’s hair.  At first, I was a bit puzzled, but didn’t really think much about it.  I then remembered that Ella had been sitting in her highchair earlier drawing, while Aleck was cutting construction paper with his scissors.  I asked Aleck, “did you cut Ella’s hair earlier?”  He almost proudly replied, “yes”.  Both Tom and I looked at each other and fought back a laugh as we informed Aleck that he does not cut Ella’s hair any more.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Runaway Train

Aleck is a big fan of Toy Story 3.  We bought him a Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head while we were traveling last week.  Aleck was playing with his trains and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.  I overheard him reenacting the train robbery scene from the movie right down to Mr. Potato Head’s sinister laugh.  It was absolutely priceless.  This is how I found the scene of the crime.DSC_4860

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

We traveled to Starkville for Thanksgiving week.  Mom had her knee replaced November 16th, so I spent the week with her.  Tom was so awesome.  He took care of the kids at Glenda’s house while I spent most of the day with my mom.    Tom took the kids to Oxford to see Nana and Poppo the day before Thanksgiving, but I stayed behind to help my Mom with therapy and my Dad with Thanksgiving dinner.  Tom spent most of Thanksgiving Day in Oxford and then headed back to Starkville in the late afternoon.  They were only gone a little more that 24 hours, but I missed them so much!  I also missed seeing Tom’s family so much!

I got to see Gary, my brother that lives on the coast, Donny and John, my brothers that live in Arkansas.  Of course I saw my Brian and Glenda, my brother and sister that live in Starkville.  The only sibling that I missed was Darryl.

This was my first Thanksgiving in Starkville since I moved to Dallas in 2004.  We usually don’t travel for Thanksgiving because we always go home for Christmas.  Since Aleck is getting older and Eryn and Mason are here, we want to start our own family Christmas traditions this year so we are planning on staying in Texas. 

We are so thankful for all the blessings and our wonderful family and friends. 

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Dad

tranums barber truck

Glenda, Patrick, Jessica and Tyler

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Brian, Heather, Preston

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Gary and Dad

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Brian, Dad, Donny

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Jessica and Tyler

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Donny and Dad

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Jessica and Ella

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Aleck and Mammaw

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Aleck riding down the hill

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The closest I got to anybody holding both Ella and Aleck at the same time!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bye Bye Kisses for Aunt Glenda

My sister was headed out to work, but not without bye bye kisses from Ella Bella.  I can’t think of a better way to start the day!

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Corn on the Cob

Ella had her first experience with corn on the cob at Glenda’s house and she thought it rocked.  She ate three ears, and then went after Aleck’s corn.  Lucky for her, he felt like sharing. 

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Monday, November 22, 2010

Morning walk with Jessica

Ella loves being outside, especially when we visit Aunt Glenda.  Glenda lives in the country.  They have dogs and a few chicken.  Every morning that the weather was good, Jessica would take Ella on a trip around the yard to explore.  Thank you, Sica, for being such an awesome cousin!

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