Playing with dad at the park

Here are some pics of Kevin and Stone playing at the park. The first ones are from last night and then there are some from the other day. Cousin M is also there.. we love hanging at the park with Cousin M, Aunt G and Uncle J too!

One Cool Dude!

Check S out in his shades! We were getting ready to go to the park to meet M and Aunt G and I had to try out his shades on him. He wore them for all of 30 seconds, but hey, it's a start!

My little cookie monster....

Yep, my little one loves cookies, or "cook-cooks" as he calls them! Here's some fun shots of him eating oreos.. actually, he's pretty clean in comparison to what he usually looks like when he eats them!

A Working Mom's Pet-Peeves

Since I have nothing of importance to blog about, I'll share about my pet-peeves as of late, just as a place to vent if nothing else. In no particular order.....

* no good radio stations to listen to on the way to work
* having to get up about 2 hours earlier to go to work
* stupid people who don't know how to drive who are also going to work
* not getting to take a daily nap when at work (I guess I could nap at work, but that wouldn't go over very well)
* having to repeat myself a hundred times while at work (why can't people just accept the fact that they have to complete a form to update their information???)
* Melinda Doolittle getting booted off American Idol last night... WHAT IS UP AMERICA??? She is the best one on there, without question.
* skinny people who say they are fat
* my husband's company making him work on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.. what's up with that one too?? I mean, is that really legal?? And we had a friend who was flying in from Memphis who had to change his flight.. this one really got on my nerves!
* people at church who look like they are dead during a worship service.. come on people, be happy and glad to worship Jesus!!
* having to do laundry about 10 times during the week.. (even though my sister-in-law helps with this, I'm still constantly having to do laundry and there's only 3 of us!!) AND doing dishes constantly too.. ugh.

And now that I have let off some steam, here are some things that I cherish during the week..

* all the time I can get with S and K.... how precious time is with both of them now, especially S (since I was used to not seeing K during the day and could at least talk to him on the phone)
* hugs and snuggles and sort-of-kisses from S.. there's not much better than that folks!
* hearing K's voice during the day and making plans with him for the evening (which usually includes dinner and then playing with S)
* getting to see my sister-in-law and M every day and being thankful for her
* hanging with my in-laws
* talking with my parents and getting the latest of how their new house is coming along
* reading my friend's blogs and laughing
* spending time with God (although I'm still trying to work on doing this more and getting adjusted to my new life schedule)

The fun of being a mom...

Gini, M, S, and I went to the park on Tuesday (I have that day off this month). We had a grand time and S had to try out everything. Swings, sand, tunnels, bouncy-riding thingys and of course, slides. Well, he wanted to go down this very steep slide, with a drop off at the end that was at least 2 feet off the ground. Well, as I assessed the situation, I decided that I couldn't let S go down it by himself with nobody at the bottom to catch him (G was with M on the other side of the park). He was determined to go down, so I decided to put him on my lap and go with him. Down we go and at the bottom, before I could get my legs down to catch us, we flew straight out and I landed flat on my bottom! I was so thankful that other parents/kids weren't there to see that sight at that moment! S loved it, of course, and was cushioned by me, so I'm the only one that was sore afterwards. Needless to say, I avoided that particular slide for the duration of our time there. I decided that K needs to be with us the next time so one of us can catch S while the other goes with him climging on the equipment. Oh, the fun of being a mom!

The big move...

Today, my parents moved out of their house and away from a church family they have called "home" for the past 25 years and 2 months. I called my parents in the midst of it and asked my mom if she was sad and she said she was too tired to be sad! However, if I know my mom, I wager she's just putting her emotions aside for the time being. Two weeks ago, I wrote about our trip "home" to WV to be a part of the retirement celebration for my dad. He's been in full-time ministry as a pastor for 36 years, 25 of which were at Oak Hill Baptist Church. We moved there when I was 7, so I consider it my home place, where I grew up. The house we lived in was the church parsonage, which most churches these days don't have those anymore. Wow, the memories!! Not only just living and growing up in that house, but from the people and activities at the church. We had 2 former youth ministers come back to speak and that really was a trip down memory lane. These 2 youth ministers were my youth ministers from the time I was in 5th grade through the first 2 years of college. They had a great impact on my life. But the neatest thing was hearing all the people (them included) talk about how my dad had impacted their lives. I guess growing up, I didn't really know how much my dad mentored and discipled people and how much he loved on folks. It was evident from the people who came from near and far and from the ones who spoke, how much my dad invested in them. I'm thankful to have parents like mine!

And now, to reminesce about living in that house for so long... here are just a very few memorable things that happened, going from recent to long times ago.. I'm sure I could come up with a longer list, but it would go on and on and on and on....

In this house is where Stone spent his very first Christmas, where Kevin asked my dad for my hand in marriage, where I held my nephew for the first time, where we hosted many, many, fun gatherings, including our annual family Christmas with my mom's side of the family, where we had many of my friend's birthday parties just hung out, where my parents threw a surprise 16th birthday party for me, where we got snowed in through at least 2 blizzards, where we played in the snow and sled down the back yard and came in to a warm house afterwards and had hot chocolate with marshmellows, where we had the fireplace cranked up during the winter months and roasted marshmellows for smores, where we hosted some youth activities and events, where we took NUMEROUS birthday, graduation, prom, Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's and Father's Day, and just candid pictures (usually they were always in the same spots!!), where I remember bringing home my puppy Taffy and chasing her through the house, where my friend Jennifer came as a safe haven after her church was set on fire, and the list goes on. It will be weird not going back to that place when we travel to WV to visit. It will be weird not seeing the people from that church as often as I have been able to do for the past 15 years. But, I am thankful my parents are able to retire on a good note. I look forward to what God has in store for them. Hopefully, they will be able to visit us more! And I know dad will want to help fill in as a guest preacher or interim whenever necessary in the churches in his area. Goodbye to this new chapter and hooray to a new one....

This is a family picture taken the Sunday of dad's retirement celebration (4/22/07).

Another fun commercial...

Here's another fun commercial to laugh at.... once you click HERE you will have to scroll down just a little and click on the one that says, "Arby's Chimps Dance the Irish Jig." I couldn't find this one on YouTube, but found it here... enjoy!

I'm It!

I was tagged by my friend Miriam for this "random meme."

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. Kevin and I started dating after ballroom dancing together.
2. I'm deathly afraid of spiders, and don't like bugs, even though I do enjoy being outside and going camping. Go figure!
3. I have wanted to adopt a little girl from China for years.
4. I used to go white-water rafting every summer when I lived in West Virginia. Fun times!
5. I love to go 4-wheeling on my friend's farm (she lives in MS, so I don't get to do that anymore!)
6. If I could have another career, I think it would be photography. Or maybe cake-decorating. Or maybe something in the medical field, although I don't like seeing lots of blood. Or something to do with running children's camps.
7. If I could have one wish come true, it would be to have the means to travel the world and help with mission projects.

I'm not sure who to tag, cause I don't read that many different blogs other than the ones listed on my friend Miriam's blog. However, I'll see if my friend Cindy from MS will play and if Caroline will play.....