11 Years....

11 years ago, I was going into labor with our second child, Avery! We were going through a very difficult time in our life and he came just at the right time bringing us so much love and joy!

When everyone meets Avery, they think he is this quiet, innocent little guy....well, he has everyone fooled! Ha!!! He is our "sneaky" child!! :o) He is so full of life and loves to laugh! He laughs at everything!!!! He even laughs when he is in trouble! :o)

It is so hard to believe that he is now 11 years old and not my "little" boy anymore! Where does the time go?

Avery wanted to go to the paintball field again this year, but this time Daddy was not allowed to play....Remember last years accident?! We were not taking any chances! Ha! Luckily, everyone had a great time and no one was injured!

I wanted to get some good shots of Avery in action, but in order for me to do that, I would have been in the line of fire with my camera and I was NOT taking any chances!!!! So all I got was this snapshot of Avery headed back into the woods after lunch!

We met my MIL & FIL for dinner Saturday night at Soul Shine Pizza to finish off the birthday celebration. I made Avery a "paint ball splatter" cake and took it up there with us. I think this is my favorite cake yet! I had so much fun doing it and Avery really liked it! Getting ready to blow out the candles.He racked up on money this year!!! What kid does NOT like money??? I have not met one yet! We went shopping after the birthday dinner and he bought him two pairs of shoes! :o) Happy Birthday AJ!!!!!

We love you SOOOO much!!! -

Mom & Dad

Blog award...

My friend Tracy gave me this award a bit ago. Thanks girl!!!

The rules are very easy. I will tell you seven things I like and then pass it to seven other bloggers for them to do the same.

Let the fun begin….

1. I love the beach. This is my all-time favorite place to be. Any beach will do, as long as there is sand, waves, sunshine, & my family!!!
2. I love note-cards!!! Sending and receiving them! It is such a good feeling to come home and get a sweet note in the mail from a friend just out of the blue.
3. I love text messages….I would SO rather text with you than talk to you…not being ugly...I do enjoy a good phone conversation every once in a while, but for quick chats… just text me!
4. I love my Sunday night “dates” with my man. I think alone time with your spouse is a must no matter what you are doing. Wade and I stay so busy with the kids during the week that we are not able to always go out on a real date…so we have a Sunday night grocery shopping date… (Almost) every Sunday….just the two of us….grocery shopping date!! We have fun!!!
5. I enjoy yard work. It is therapeutic to me!!! Stick in the IPOD and a mowing I will go! Great exercise too!!!
6. I love baseball!!! This is one sport that I can and will watch on TV, but I’d much rather be there in the action!!! Atlanta Braves are my FAVORITE!!!
7. I love photography. I recently got a new camera and I am having so much fun learning it. It is actually a little too advanced for me, but I’m getting there!!! It is just too bad that digital cameras were not really around when my three were little (if they were, I didn’t own one)…I could have had a field day back then!!!

I tag anyone that wants to join in and play…..

Stay tuned...There may be a giveaway in the near future...I have had a case of the "blogging" funk, so I am going to try and spice things back up around here!!!!

New Look and a tag

What do you think about my new look??? Sassy, huh?! I love it. I still have a little tweaking to do to it sometime this week, but overall….its a go!

Andrea at My Chihuahua Bites tagged all of her readers so here goes…

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Watching the boys play baseball this week
2. The weekends….all of them ;o)
3. Our beach vacation coming up!!!
4. Our 12th Wedding Anniversary in August.
5. Buying a house this year
6. Summer break for the kids
7. Going to a Braves baseball game
8. Seeing Annah Brooke back in competition cheer

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Showered
2. Decorated Avery’s birthday cake.
3. Shopped
4. Went to watch Avery and Andrew play paintball and took pictures
5. Went to the tanning bed
6. Took Avery out for his birthday dinner
7. Took Avery shopping so he could spend his birthday money
8. Talked to a friend that I have not talked to in forever

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Talk to my mother
2. Knit. I have taught myself to sew; knitting is the next thing…
3. Go on a cruise with Wade THIS week.
4. Meet a few of my friends in blog land….
5. Pay off all of our debt…getting close…
6. Run…maybe in my near future…I am building up by walking now.
7. Go to Cosmetology or nursing school. Can’t decide which one I’d like to do, but maybe one day I’ll figure it out and do it.…
8. A back-handspring like Annah Brooke

8 Shows I Watch: (this one is hard for me as I don’t watch too much TV)
1. The Young & the
2. Nancy Grace
3. My kids play ball
4. Laundry pile up
5. Dishes pile up
6. Law & Order SVU
7. Private Practice
8. More laundry pile up….

I tag anyone who wants to complete this! Please give me a head's up if you do so I can come and read your answers!

Happy Birthday My Love!!!!

My sweet man is celebrating his 32nd birthday today! We have really just made a weekend out of it though...I mean birthdays only come once a year, right?!

He works shift work so Saturday morning I let him sleep in...until 11:30!!! I used that time to finish up decorating his cake and preparing for the scavenger hunt that I was sending him on!!!

Yep...a scavenger hunt....Sort of corny, but we like corny...that is just how we roll! Once he was up, the kids and I called him into the kitchen where we handed him a birthday card..

The first clue:

To start your day

we are going to play

a fun little game

now be on your way....

We come in a tub and weight 2 pounds,

you use me every morning and sometimes spill me on the ground....Searching the bathtub and shower, thinking, thinking, searching, thinking some more...OH coffee....Clue #2:

We are colorful and bright and come in a box,

when you give us a shake, we sound like a bunch of rocks....

This one wasn't hard for him...he immediately said.."Mike & Ike's, now I just have to find them..."(his favorite candy)
Clue #3:

Shimmy & Shake, I want to bake...

a cake for you, because you are turning 32!!!

Searching for a cake....not in the oven, not in the microwave, not in the fridge, he said "do I have to bake the cake?" ha!!!!....Oh a box of cake mix....Clue #4:

Mirror Mirror hanging tall, lead me to my next hint...

once and for all...

He looked at every mirror in the house and then realized there were mirrors outside in the vehicles....Yep, he found the next clue hanging tall in his truck on the mirror...Clue #5:

I am long and brown and sometimes full;

tucked away snug in a pocket for you to pull...

This one was actually the toughest one for him....he thought and thought on this one until I finally said "YOUR pocket"...Oh my wallet... ha!!Clue #6:

I'm smokin' hot and you'll use me a lot.

I can make things sizzle; You CAN guess it..fo shizzle!!!!! Ha!!!

It took him a second to realize that he was getting a new grill for his birthday! He has been wanting one for some time now.

Annah Brooke made her mommy feel really good...She said "oh its a grill??...I thought that last clue meant you Mom because it said 'I'm smokin' hot"....ha!!!!

See when I originally thought of doing this scavenger hunt over a week ago...I was going to literally have him hunt at different stores for clues....that got to be too stressful and I was a little worried that it would take us the entire day....and then when I went to look for grills, I got a little overwhelmed and didn't know which one to pick so that is when I decided to give him a gift card and he could pick it out himself....So we headed to Wal-mart and bought him a "big Daddy" grill!! Ha!!! The one he picked was actually the one that I was eyeing for him so I guess great minds think alike! :o) We had a few friends over for a grill out and he used his new grill (after they got it put together, ha)! I made him an Ole Miss cake with THIRTY TWO candles! I never said that I was a great cake decorator!!! My borders are jacked up, but it sure did taste good and he liked it so that is what is important!!!!!!!!

He blew out all 32 in one breath....I was impressed!!! :o)

Today we got up and went to church and came home and did yard work...Cleaning out flower beds, pulling weeds and planting some flowers!!! Now he is napping and I am going to run and pick up some steamed shrimp for him for dinner. It has been an awesome weekend!!!!

Wade:

I hope you have had an awesome 32nd birthday! You are my everything!!! I love you!!!!!

Mel

I am getting off of here now...We have an extremely busy week ahead of us!!!!!!

Have a happy Monday!!!

Happy Easter

I hope you all have had a great Easter weekend. We sure did! We started out the day with pictures, church, and then home to a wonderful lunch and an afternoon nap...P.E.R.F.E.C.T. It couldn't get much better than that!

My bunny cake...her mouth is a little jacked up, but we thought she was pretty cute :o)

We were the "yellow" family today...We all had on some sort of yellow. I am weird like that. I like for all of us to match. I know...crazy...just glad that Wade and the boys go along with it ;o)

I have a busy week ahead and need to get to bed so I am cutting it short! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from today! Have a wonderful week! (more evidence that my teenager is taller than me)

Take me out to the ballgame....

Baseball has officially started. We kicked off this season in freezing style.....It was bitter cold out!!!! The sun was shinning bright, but the chill in the air was unbearable! Wade brought along one of his coats for me to bundle up in and it sure came in handy!!! Each of the boys had their first games tonight back to back so we were out in this chilly weather from 5:30 till about 9:45. We were frozen by the time we got home!!!!

Both teams won their first game so they were pumped and Coach Wade was pretty darn proud!!! The boys did awesome even fighting against the cold!

Andrew played at 6:00. He played 3rd and right and he had 3 base hits and 2 RBIs. He actually got caught up in a run-down trying to steal home, but after a few seconds of the catcher and 3rd baseman running him down, he made home and scored!!!! I was so proud!!! It was very exciting!!!

Avery's game started around 7:45. He actually broke his finger about 2 weeks ago. Well, I say "broke"...Wade and I actually decided to "play doctor" and we diagnosed him ourselves. Wade bought him a finger splint and doctored it up and he has been fine. The swelling and pain have eased and he is doing much better! He has been practicing batting, but he is still unable to get his hand into his glove. So tonight, he only batted for the team....which really means he was walked (because he has never been up against a pitcher that could throw him strikes) and then stole bases!!! He is the best little stealer!!! I love watching him run bases! He is quick!!!!!Congratulations boys!!!! Looking forward to a great season watching you do what you love!!!!