hold them tight

Word spread through Facebook today that a guy I went to high school with has a 3 year old son who tragically passed away yesterday.  I do not know the details yet, but it always puts things into perspective when you hear news like this.  He has 3 kids and his son who passed is his youngest.

It is so easy, especially if you are blessed to have healthy children, to totally take life for granted.  No matter how old I get or what life experiences I have been through, there is always a little bit of "that won't happen to me" that creeps in.  But the horrible and scary reality is no one is exempt.  There are no guarantees.  So it makes you appreciate what you have while you have it.  So tonight, I held my babies extra tight and gave them extra kisses.  And while The Mayor and I cuddled before bedtime and said our prayers, I made sure he knew just how much I loved him.  And since D put Love Bug down tonight, I will make sure to give her extra kisses and tell her just how much I love her when she wakes up.  I can't say it enough, they can't hear it enough and I want to live with no regrets.

So thank you Jesus for blessing me with my life.  I am not worthy but I will take it.  And I will do my best to remind myself of this daily and to appreciate it.

go dawgs

After today's awesome win, the Dawgs are now one conference game away from clinching the SEC East title...which is crazy to think considering the horrible start of their season.  What better way to cheer on today's game than to have Meega and Bennett come over.  J was in Athens watching the game live so he missed out on all the fun...ha!

The kids had a blast.  I love how close they are in age because they just play so well together.  They were absolutely adorable all bellied up to the bar eating snacks and then we pulled the train table into the family room and you would have thought we had hung the moon.  They were all squealing because they could be in the same room with us AND play with the trains.

D grilled out some hamburgers and hotdogs and I made some of our favorites appetizers.  It was a wonderfully low-key night with an awesome Georgia Bulldog win to boot.  My kind of Saturday.

Tomorrow we are heading to church and then after naps, we will be going to Mamie and PopPop's house to celebrate Mamie's birthday.  This week is the last week of school for The Mayor and the last week of work for D before we head out for Thanksgiving break.  Love this time of year!

snack time

I love how they are all drinking at the same time

Bennett watching The Mayor play his puzzle game

silly Bennett

daddy's girl

The Mayor was lying down playing his game and Bennett 

thought it would be fun to climb on him...love these boys

working hard on his puzzle game

Love Bug's "cheese" face...Go Dawgs!

Love Bug trying to give Bennett kisses

I want to remember this

Dear The Mayor and Love Bug,

I just want you to know I strive everyday to be a better mother to you both.  I am constantly a work in progress and will unfortunately disappoint you and let you down sometimes but promise to love you unconditionally.  You two are the loves of my life and I thank God every single night for blessing me with you both.  I love you both for everything that you are and everything you will strive to be, but mostly for the very simple things.  The way you smile or laugh or the way you look when sitting quietly.  I am so thankful I am able to stay home with you two.  I wouldn't want to miss this stage for the world.

I love you more than words could ever express,
Mom

Tonight was just a simple and sweet night.  After dinner, we all went upstairs to the playroom and I just sat in awe at my family.  Watching the way D watched The Mayor while they played with toys melted my heart, and hearing Love Bug's sweet voice as she fed each of us with the play food and then asked us if we wanted "more?".  We would say "yes please", she would go to the bin, pick a new food item and walk it over to us to feed us.  She would smile and say "more?", we would say "yes please" and the cycle would repeat.

My heart melted when The Mayor asked his sister if she would feed him and hearing her say "oh sure", watching her pick up the food, walk it over to The Mayor, feed him and hearing him say "awwww, thanks sweetie".

These are the moments that make all of the hard days melt away and become forgotten.  These are the moments that refresh my attitude and have me look forward to the new day I get to spend with my loves.  The simple things...this is what life is all about.  And I love it.  

the countdown begins

Um, in less than two weeks we will be in South Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving.  THANKSGIVING. When did Thanksgiving roll around again?  And the scarier part is Christmas will be just a few weeks after that...ugh.  Time...please slow down!

This week D and I started working on the kids Christmas lists.  I gotta have a plan for Black Friday.  After Thanksgiving, Christmas and my kids' birthdays, it is my favorite holiday.

So I have been on a kick lately of changing up things around the house.  And of course my imagination far exceeds my budget.  So I make small changes where and when I can.  This week's change were the cornice boards in the kitchen.  D and I made the cornice boards in our kitchen, oh, maybe 7 years ago?  I love them but wanted to change the fabric.  So Meega and I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday with the kids and picked a fabric that I LOVE.  It has just enough green in it to match the kitchen walls and lots of colors that tie the family room in with the kitchen.  And this fabric also comes in the same pattern but with chocolate brown, blues and greens and I am dying to get some panels made in that fabric for our Master.  But that will be another day...

Meega helped me remove the old fabric and attach the new.  It went pretty quickly...the hardest part was matching the same repeat of the pattern on the 2nd cornice board, but once we figured it out, the fabric was attached in less than 10 minutes.

I removed the antique plates I had hanging over the french doors.  Those lemon plates have been hanging since we moved in...they are in memory of my mom.  Lemons make me think of my mom...she painted them and seemed to always have something with a lemon hanging in her own kitchen.  Sadly, they don't match the new cornice boards so I will have to find another use for them.

Not sure what the next project will be...but until then, we will focus on the countdown to Thanksgiving.  Less than two weeks and I will need to pack enough for me and my monkeys for a week.  Can't wait!

the old cornice boards

the new fabric!

the new cornice boards with the plates removed

how gorgeous is this fabric?!

my loves

12 years

12 years ago today, D and I got married.  D, without a doubt, is the love of my life.  I could not be happier with the life we have built and I am proud of where we are in life.  It hasn't always been easy and I love that we are so committed to making a happy life for ourselves and our children.

Saturday morning, we took the kids to a train museum.  It was a reward for The Mayor having such a great day on Friday (long story...different blog post).  He was beyond excited.  He literally ran into the museum and yelled "this is amazing!!!".  D and I laughed...we didn't even know he knew that word nor the context of it.  Love Bug absolutely loved seeing his brother so excited which in turn made her excited.

After the museum and lunch, we headed home for naps.  D and I did some odds and ends around the house before the babysitter arrived.  We were thrilled about date night.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine, some to-die-for steaks and split the yummy tiramisu pictured above.  It was nice being together without the kids and reminiscing about the last 12 years.

This morning we took the kids out for breakfast and enjoyed a nice day at home.  The weather was beautiful, so D took them outside to play while I clipped about 3 weeks worth of coupons.  The remaining highlights of the day were skyping with MeMe and Big Daddy and me going grocery shopping with Meega after the kids were asleep.

In two weeks we will be loading up and heading south for Thanksgiving...where has this year gone??

The absolute best part of this anniversary is knowing we will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary in Panama City Beach because D got into the 2012 IronMan Panama City!  It is really a huge deal.  Registration opened today at 1:00 and 20 minutes later, it was completely sold out.  He is thrilled.  And I am a little shocked that a race which requires you to compete over 140.6 miles sold out in 20 minutes.  But I will be there cheering my man on!  Can't wait!

on one of the trains 

(sadly, I forgot my camera and had to use the camera on my phone)

The Mayor being The Mayor

nobody said it would be easy

I am pretty sure I was born to be The Mayor and Love Bug's mom.  Ever since I can remember, the one and only job I wanted was to be a mom.  Being a mother, a parent, is so stressful.  Nobody tells you how much you are going to worry about your children.  And if someone does attempt to tell you, you absolutely can not fathom the kind of worry you will have.  You can't fathom it because you just don't know what love truly is until you become a mom.  So until you know the love that comes with being a mother, you can not understand the stress and worry that comes with loving someone as much as your children.

I can literally cry when I think of my kids.  My heart swells with pride when I look in their adorable faces.  I love my children.

And the worrying...it only gets worse.  When they are newborn, you worry you are going to drop them, or fall down the stairs while holding them, or whether you will know if they are crying because they are hungry or wet or tired...and as they get older, you worry will they make friends, will they be kind, will they enjoy school...and I am totally dreading the worry that will occur once my sweets are teens.  Pretty sure I will develop an ulcer.

But the beauty of the worry is I have yet to meet anyone who wouldn't do it all over again.  I wanted my children.  I needed my children.  And I will gladly take the ulcers that come with loving and worrying for my children.

Being a parent isn't easy...nobody said it would be...but you better believe it is absolutely worth it.

he can write

So proud of The Mayor!!!  Tonight, he wrote his name for the first time.  And after he wrote his name, we found out he can write just about every single letter of the alphabet!!  I am so proud of my 4 year old!