Blast from the Past

Another Blast from the Past Photo

I wish I could tell you what year this was, but this is my sister Crystal, my beloved cat, Buddy, and myself around Christmas time.  Oh my, the good ole days. :)

Happy Weekend! :)

Good Mom?

What does it take to be a good mom?  Does it mean that you get up in the mornings & fix a well balanced breakfast.. Or how about having a craft or activity planned every day that is secretly developed to teach language, mathematical, or some other studious lesson..  Or is it when you child unrolls the entire roll of toilet paper for the fourth time that day, and you still look at her & smile & say "that's okay, hunny, I'll get that".  Well if that's a good mom, I shouldn't make a place on my mantel for Mommy of the Year just yet, huh?!

Do I toss my child a pop tart, turn on a good Dora movie & cry as I roll the toilet paper back up for the fourth time that day?  Absolutely.  Am I still a good mom?  Absolutely.  Sometimes I can't help but think "do my kids really love me.. heck, do they even like me?"  But as soon as a nasty ole boo-boo comes along & my child comes waling like that scratch really does hurts & I'm the ONLY one who can make it feel better, that tells me they love me.  Or when Livi comes up & just put her arms around me & growls to signal a "bear hug," that shows me love.  And when Jameson.. well he's Jameson & we all know he loves being a momma's boy.  :)

I hope my kids grow up not caring about what we had for breakfast, or if the laundry was done, or if we could see the floor, or if we just scribbled on an old bill with a crayon because that's all we could find.  What I want them to know is that I love them and I'm always here for them.  Since they've entered this world, there is no more Tori & Brandon, there's only our family.. because everything we do is for them, not for us anymore.  They are our world & nothing in life can change that.

*****

Here's some pictures from this week.  Enjoy! :)

Early mornings laughs from Sissy

The Life of a Fairy

Trying to fly in the yard.

This looks like a good place to rest

Shew, being a fairy is hard work.  Time for a snack

Is this the well-balanced meal I mentioned previously?  Sure. :)

******

One morning, there's not a rain cloud in sight..

What does my child decide to play with........

 What?   Good parents don't let their kids play with umbrellas in their panties outside?  At least she wasn't out in the rain in her panties.. give credit where its due.

*****

Photoshoot time!  Objective:  2 small children, both look at camera. Ready, Set, GO!

uh, can we say SUCCESS (sorta).

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If only dangling frogs & rattles could make us all this happy..

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Four (well, really eight) years later.. Happy Anniversary, Babe!

Two-Thirds of my Heart..

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They really do love each other.

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Workout time with Dad.. a new fav for Olivia.

Blast from the Past

I've decided to start a new thing where I upload some old photos.. here's the first.

Enjoy!


I was about age 3 here.

 




20 years later - 2011

 I sure do love my family & am thankful every day for such wonderful parents & siblings to share this life with.  :)

Four Years Later...

Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 6:30pm, I walked down the aisle at Mt. Olive Church the last time as a single woman.  In front of 2 preachers, 8 witnesses, 200 guests, and 1 glorified God, Brandon & I exchanged vows that echo in our hearts four years later.

What an amazing, turbulent, whirlwind, adventurous, hard, enduring, & breath-takingly wonderful four years it has been.  Brandon & I have that comfort that comes with any good marriage, but with that excitement like its all still brand new.  Four years may be a small fraction in this great big life we live, but we've made some of our most life-changing decisions in those years.

Four years later, does he still leave the toilet seat up sometimes, leave his socks turned inside out, try on 15 shirts in the morning & leave them all off the rack there for me to hang back up?  The answer would be MOST DEFINITELY.  If marriage was based on these things, we would be doomed! But thankfully, its not.

Our marriage is based on the things I absolutely love about him, which would be the fact that he still calls me pet names like "beautiful & babe," he lives life to have a good time, how amazing of a father he is & he gets up no matter day or night to help regardless of how long he worked or what time he works in the morning, he listens to my rants and never says a word, and mostly how he spends every second of life with only one goal on his mind.. how to make myself & our children happy. 

Brandon is most definitely one-of-a-kind and I'm so glad I was the lucky one to marry him.

We also celebrate another occassion on this day.  It marks 32 years since my parents exchanged vows of their own.  What a remarkable example of what a loving & lasting marriage is all about.

So Happy Anniversary to my soulmate, Brandon.. here's to many more throughout our life together.

And Happy Anniversary to Mom & Dad.  We love you & can't wait to spend many more with you through the years.

A whole lot of nothing..

What CRAZY weather we've been having... one minute its record-breaking heat, the next it's a monsoon outside.  In order to deal with the heat, we broke out the water table a few times this week to cool off.

Something new we've tried this week is the *Chore Chart*.  Now granted, Olivia is only 2, but its not like "brushing you teeth" is really that much of a chore.  But it is teaching her that she has responsibilities around the house, too, and she loves it when she gets to check something off.  Brandon comes home in the evenings & she reads off everything she's done that day.  Its really worked out so far, let's hope the chore chart keeps up through the teenage years.  Riiiiight!

This is her picture she drew for Brandon on this day.  Who knows what its remotely suppose to be, but she walked around half the day with it in her hand telling both myself & Jameson "this is for daddy, this is for daddy."  I think even Jameson got the point that her picture was for Daddy. haha!
(and yes, it does have some C's on it, we've been going over letters & that day it was C.)


Not much has been going on with Jameson.  It seems he is back to his normal "spit-up everything imaginable," despite the medicine.  This leads to the vicious cycle of "he's hungry.. he spits-up... he's hungry again.. he spits-up....".  We go back to the specialist Wednesday so we're going to be looking for more answers then.  May be increasing his calorie intake through various ways (which does no good if he's going to spit-it all back up).  Well, I really don't know what she'll do, I guess we'll have to wait & see.  Regardless of the never ending laundry & the constant smell of regurgitated milk, he's still the absolute best baby.. never really fussy, sleeps great.  He's been holding his head great and can almost roll over when he wants to.. I expect it to be any day now.  Why do our babies have to grow so fast?!!

I know I put this on my facebook, but it was too cute not to put in my blog as well.
Livi gets a sticker for going potty & this is where I find it. She runs up & says "Bubby's a pirate.". This is for all you people who said Olivia was a great big sister.. riiight! Haha! :)  Poor fella!

I would consider this week to have been quite calm in comparison to past.  Not that many doctor appointments, not a lot of places to go, I think we stayed home more this week than we have in months & it has felt amazing!  The babies & I have spent a lot of time playing & reading and it reminded me just how much I love being a stay-at-home mommy.  My children are my world & I'm so thankful for this time I get to spend with them.  God has definitely sent us two of his greatest blessings, that's for sure.

Until next time... :)

Our life by the numbers...

Just in the last 3 months, we have...

traveled over 4,000 miles in the car

spent 18 nights away from home

taken 10 car trips (over an hour, to & from = 1 trip)

went to 28 doctor appointments

had 4 hospital stays

celebrated 4 birthdays

completed 4 nights of VBS

took 4 trips to Dollywood

received 1 speeding ticket

and finally….

created 1 tired momma.

its about time for a nap. :)









Olivia - 1 month

 


Jameson - 2 months



God Bless the USA

Happy 235th Birthday, America!!



July 4th - The one day of the year that sums up what summer is all about.. sunshine, good food, & fun times.

We arrived home from the camper around 1pm that day, just long enough to unload the car, get ready & head back out.  We were going to Brandon's Aunt & Uncle's house for a cookout.  Ironically enough right before we went outside to get in the car on the way, it came the biggest torrential downpour I've seen in a long time.  The cookout was turned into a cook-in since the rain forced it to move inside.  Nevertheless, it was still good food & fun times.

at our house before we left for the Brandon's family cook-out (I'm mostly impressed with this picture since it was taken with a clicker & no one making noises to get the babies to look).

Olivia LOVES Jameson.. Jameson loving Olivia, I'm just not sure. haha!

After the cookout, we came home & the babies & I snuck a quick nap in.  My dear hubby spent the time putting away our luggage, putting sheets on the bed, cleaning house, etc.  What a keeper he is! :)

We then proceeded to downtown Norton for the festivities.



As we were walking, she stopped in front of this wall & said "take my picture mommy".  What a cutie!



breaking it down with the music

Bubby hanging out while Sissy dances

We ran into John, Amy, Tyler & Lauren.. Olivia just loves Tyler & Lauren.  They were great & helped her do that inflatables slide & bouncy house.  We watched the fireworks with them.

Lauren & Tyler helping Olivia down the inflatable slide

Best Buds! :)

Watching fireworks

Mommy & her girl :)

Throughout the day I couldn't help but think about this great country we live in.  Thanks to our military, I can choose what I want to wear, how to raise my children, how and when to praise God, along with the many, many other daily freedoms we tend to take for granted.  I read on someone's facebook to remember "freedom isn't free."  Wow!  How true that statement is.  To all of our past & present troops - THANK YOU.  Your sacrafices and efforts are what makes the USA the best place on Earth.