About Me

My photo
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!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Swim Lessons

Aleck just finished swim lessons with the Hubenaks.  I am amazed at the progress he has made in the last two weeks.  He was barely swimming at the beginning of the summer, but now he can jump off the diving board and swim to the steps on the opposite end of the pool.  Now that Aleck can swim, we can spend a lot more time in the backyard without me worrying so much about him falling in the pool.  Ella has swim lessons in August.  She is fearless around the water so she should be swimming like a fish in no time.DSC_5252

DSC_5284DSC_5078DSC_5079

DSC_5128DSC_5156

I love how Aleck is smiling ear to ear when he comes out of the water with three rings. 

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Four Years, 3 Months

My Sweet Aleck,

Here are some special things about you right now.

  • You continue to love all things trains.  Dad bought you several electric trains and a geotrack, but you continue to prefer your wooden trains on your train table.  Some times, we make a huge train track on the living room floor and you play for hours.
  • You love to ride your bike.  Dad has a tough time keeping up with you when you get going.  Unfortunately, it is so hot right now that we are spending more time in the pool, but we will get back to the bike when it cools off a bit.
  • You frequently talk about Jesus.  The other day, out of nowhere you said, “he ascended and sits at the right hand of the throne.”  It blew me away.
  • You love to watch television, but we limit your time to an hour a day because you won’t move from the couch if the television in on.  Your favorite television show has changed from Imagination Movers back to Caillou. 
  • You continue to love to play dress up.  Your favorite costume right now is Superman.  You love to get Ella involved in your dress up skits.
  • You sleep from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.  I think you are trying to give up your nap, but I can get you to sleep if I lay down with you.  I usually get a nap out of the deal, which messes with my productivity but it is for a good cause.
  • You are all boy.  Every stick you pick up becomes a gun or a sword.  We are going to have to schedule some play dates this summer with some boys, because Brooke and Presley don’t want to play guns and you aren’t interested in playing dolls.
  • You have a vivid imagination and are really beginning to play well in your room by yourself.  You like to play trains with Ella, but some times you want to play by yourself.
  • You pretend to read your favorite books and you blend the story line of several books together.   The other day I found you reading The Hungry Caterpillar to Ella.  You have memorized most of the words.  Ella loves that book and was pointing at pictures while you read.  It was a beautiful moment.
  • You are taking swim lessons and you are doing awesome.  You can swim across our pool and roll over on your back.  This week you started jumping off the diving board and swimming to the steps of our pool.  With the swim instructor’s help, you dove off the diving board and retrieved a swim ring from the bottom of the pool.  You came up with the ring in your hand and you were so proud of yourself.
  • You went through a phase of being a picky eater, but now you will try most foods.  Your favorite foods are fruit, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, and eggs and toast.  You will eat almost any raw vegetable if I give you ranch dressing to dip it in.
  • Your best friends are Brooke and Presley and you love to go to there house for play dates. 
  • We are attending the movies every Wednesday morning and you LOVE it!  Ella and I usually walk around Southlake Town Square while you stay in the theater with Dede and the girls.
  • You are beginning to take a real interest in drawing and painting.  You take such pride in your creations and there is always an elaborate story to go with your picture. 
  • Your room is now decorated with the Toy Story theme.  We moved all your toys from the living room into your room.  I thought you would hate not being right under us, but you actually enjoy going to your room to play.  I love that the house is easier to pick up with the toys in a central location.
  • This week you looked at a picture of Poppo and said, “I miss Poppo.”  It brought tears to my eyes.
  • You saw Dr. Sakseena yesterday.  You weigh 37 lb., 4.8 oz. (53rd percentile), and are 42.5 inches (83rd percentile) tall.
  • Since you started your allergy and asthma medicine last November, you have only had one cold.  Before you started your meds, you were sick every 4 to 6 weeks.  I am so thankful for your good health.
  • You are the most outgoing little boy.  You love to meet new people.  I love your zest for life.

Aleck, your mommy and daddy absolutely adore you!

 

DSC_4734

First Haircut

Ella had her first haircut today.  It was overdue, but like Aleck’s first haircut, I put it off because I don’t want to admit my babies are growing up.

We went to Sweet and Sassy, a salon for kids in Southlake Town Square.  Initially, Ella was not happy and started crying when I tried to get her to sit in the salon chair.  I didn’t get any great pictures of the actual haircut because Ella sat in my lap for most of the haircut, but towards the end she let me put her in the salon chair and snap a few pictures.  I love the way Ella had a tight grip on her baby doll throughout the whole thing.

At the end of the haircut, Michelle surprised Ella with two purple glitter hearts on her cheek.  From the picture, you can see that initially Ella didn’t know what the heck was going on.  After she looked in the mirror and saw the glitter on her cheeks, she smiled and thought it was awesome.

Before we left, we took a picture in the pink princess chair.  A great memory with my Ella Bella.  I am so looking forward to girly things with you, sweetheart.DSC_4918DSC_4929DSC_4934DSC_4945DSC_4949_edited-1

Friday, June 24, 2011

Bedtime Books

When I went to check on Ella last night before I went to bed, this is what I found.DSC_4875

She had so many books in the bed with her that she couldn’t stretch out in the bed.  Sometimes at naptime, she will look at books in her bed before she falls asleep.  Her favorite books right now  are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,  The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Biscuit’s New Trick.  Biscuit is a stuffed animal that Aleck received as a gift from Aunt Cathy.  Biscuit has his own series of books.  Ella will point to Biscuit and then point to the book, as if to say, “Look, Aleck’s doggy has his own book.”  My sweet Ella is simply precious.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Bittersweet

How do you wish your husband Happy Father’s Day when you see the pain in his eyes and you know he is longing for one more Father’s Day with his own dad?  Today was a bittersweet day.  I am so thankful for the wonderful husband and father that Tom is, but something seemed wrong about celebrating.  The loss of Tom’s dad is too fresh, and the sadness Tom feels too deep. 

  DSC_4858

Thank you, Joni, for helping me make Tom’s Father’s Day gift.  Thank you, Dede, for inviting us over to swim and barbeque, and just loving on my family today.  When our family is so far away, I am thankful for friends that are like family.

DSC_4807DSC08230DSC_4820

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Pirates, Reindeers, Princesses, Superman

We were playing dress up this morning.  Aleck stuck with his favorite costume, Superman.  Ella wanted to shake it up a bit.  She started with the pirates hat, followed by the reindeer antlers which were left over from Aleck’s Christmas program at school.  She then added her princess dress and finished the ensemble off with a sleeve to a Superman costume.  They do say that variety is the spice of life!

My little Superman was so sweet to help Ella with her slippers.  DSC_4753 copyDSC_4756_edited-1DSC_4771

Superhero Art With Embellishments

Uncle Mike gave Aleck a coloring book for his birthday and he loves it.  He has spent hours this week coloring, and he usually doesn’t sit still too long for art.   I love it because it is the Color Wonder markers that only show up on the special paper, which means less mess for me.  Aleck was so proud of himself, saying, “Look Mom, I stayed inside the lines.”  He didn’t realize that with the Color Wonder markers, the color only shows up inside the lines.  Later, Aleck colored with regular markers and he did in fact stay inside the lines with green and red.  He finished his masterpiece with sticker embellishments of the lunchbox, heart, cellphone and cars.  It is so adorable that he put the heart in the right place and the cellphone clipped on the belt. 

Aleck’s analysis of his art:  “He has his lunchbox if he gets hungry and some cars to play with at school.”

I love it!

CCI06182011_00000

Monday, June 13, 2011

Tim Holtz number two

Early morning conversations in the Brooks’ household.

Me:  “I had a wonderful dream.  I dreamed Tim Holtz was a clothing designer and he had an outlet store and I got tons of stuff for cheap.”

Tom:  “I have an idea.  You could just by a t-shirt and glue that crap to it.”

Me:  “That’s a great idea.  I could buy a t-shirt and fabric paint and use some of his stamps to make my own t-shirt.”

Tom:  “Yeah.  Just call me the other Tim Holtz.  I’m awesome like that.”

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Birthday Cards

Two of my dear friends, Dede and Joni, introduced me to scrapbooking and card making.  They always make the best cards, and my birthday cards this year are no exception.  Thanks for the beautiful cards, girls.  I love them, and I treasure our friendships.

CCI06152011_00000CCI06152011_00000

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Scottish Festival

Another year, another wonderful weekend at the Scottish Festival.  The ice cream cones were a huge hit with the kids.DSC_4460aDSC_4479

DSC_4501I love how Ella has a grip on Tom’s hand in this picture.DSC_4506

DSC_4514DSC_4536DSC_4537DSC_4546Ella is already taking an interest in purses and shoes.  When we were leaving the house, she insisted that she had to carry this purse.  Most Sunday mornings, I spent some time hunting for a matching pair of shoes.DSC_4587DSC_4586Aleck had a great time playing with Bertie the Bus in the dirt.  He was filthy!  Nice Toy Story undies flashing from under the kilt, dude!DSC_4581DSC_4603DSC_4606The kids skipped their naps, but Ella finally crashed late in the afternoon.  Sweet little angel.  I love the way her bottom lip puckers out when she sleeps.

DSC_4613

Thanks, hot hubby, for a great weekend.  You rock that kilt!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I Had a Dream

Aleck, Ella and I were headed to Target this afternoon. 

Aleck:  “Mom, are you going to buy me a toy?”

Me:  “No honey, we aren’t buying any toys today.”

Aleck:  “But Mom, I had a dream.  In my dream, you bought me a toy and it was wonderful.”

Me:  “Well, honey, maybe you can play with your new toy in your dream tonight.”

Nice try, Aleck.

Eddie Coker

We had such a great time Sunday that we had to make another trip to Levitt Pavilion, this time to here Eddie Coker sing kid-friendly songs about life.  We had a seat right in front of the stage and the kids had a great time dancing and chasing Eddie through the crowd. 

I know.  I know.  Ella needs to get rid of the bottle.  Before our trip home last month, I had her pretty much weaned.  During our trip, we drove 2600 miles and spent 50 hours in the car over the course of two weeks.  When Ella got fussy during the car ride, I would hand her a bottle and it would pacify her.  Ella is definitely not weaned.  I’m not even going to worry about it right now because we have a vacation to Florida planned next month, and we are driving.  We will kick the bottle when we get back from our vacation.  Until then, viva la bottle!

DSC_4360

DSC_4411DSC_4394DSC_4374DSC_4405DSC_4439DSC_4448DSC_4435

DSC_4389