Long Time, I Know!

........................................................................I could have really posted some great pictures and happenings over the past 3 months.

I've just been really busy and too much has happened to go back and catch up.

I often talk with a friend of mine about blogging and we both agree that we enjoy it but it takes time. And who has extra of that?

What I will promise is that I will TRY to not ever be gone that long again. The most current happening has been Mother's Day. I've posted some pictures that my good friend Lisa took of my boys. Brandon had it done for me as a gift for Mother's Day. I can't decide which is my favorite. She did a great job and I will be calling her again in the future.

There is so much coming up for me to post about. Stay tuned....you're not going to want to miss it.

Who Doesn't Love a Party?

Another birthday here and gone. You all know how much I LOVE having a birthday on Valentine's Day (can you read my sarcasm?) so this year we celebrated Valentine's Day on Sunday and planned on doing my birthday on Wednesday.

I met the boys at home and then we met Dad, Allyson, and GG at a restaurant in Concord. We had a nice dinner. Brax had fun putting the coasters on Grandaddy's head but other than that he sat and ate and was very well behaved. Since it was a school night and I turn into a pumpkin by 10 we hurried back to Dad's house for cake and ice cream and presents. Like always Dad made me the most beautiful cake and it was delicious too. One of the gifts I received was a neat cookbook for kids. Dad thought it would be fun for Brax and I to work through it together.
The next night Brandon fixed dinner and he knew Brax wouldn't eat what we were having so he used one of the ideas in the new cookbook. He made a hot dog look like an octopus. We had no trouble getting him to the table. Getting him to eat it AND not play with it was another story.

I had made the mistake of telling him (awhile ago) about how an octopus has eight arms (legs whatever) and it'll use them to wrap around you and squeeze you, like a hug. It was from one of my favorite movies when I was kid but Braxton remembered me telling him so when he wasn't picking it up showing us the "octopus" he was telling me it was going to squeeze him! I think he ate 2 or 3 bites and when I would go to cut one of the "legs" off so he'd eat, he would scream.

Maybe there is a reason we were told not to play with our food!

WINTER STINKS

Old Man Winter needs to take a hike! We've had enough! Another blizzard blew in last night and caught us slightly off guard. As soon as I could leave work I headed to the big super center to grab the milk and bread and a few other necessities (never know how long you're going to be snowed in). When I was walking out, the snow was really coming down but as I pulled out of the parking lot the main road looked like a parking lot! Cars were bumper to bumper and as bad as it was snowing and wanted to get home I still had one more stop to make.

I met up with the boys about 6:30 and Brax was starvin' so we picked somewhere to grab a quick bite to eat. By the time we came out the roads were covered and remember southerners can't drive in this weather. A trip that normally takes less than 20 minutes to get home took about 40. I was pretty nervous the whole drive home.

This morning it was beautiful and we took Brax out. It's funny because as a kid I remember my parents not being excited about going out in it and that was me this morning. It takes so much effort to get dressed and then when you get out it's still cold!!

It got up to about 40 degrees today so the roads are clear and most of the snow is melted. Brax had a great time this morning. It was worth it!

I'm thinking that I need to put all my little snowmen away that I have out around the house. We haven't had this much snow in years.

Will You Be My Valentine?

Brax came home today talking up a storm about making Valentines. He made one for us this afternoon and was very proud of it. I told him that we would make his friend's Valentine's when we got home this evening. Don't think he didn't remind me the whole time we were gone.

As soon as he walked into the house he started asking for them. I pulled the boxes out and let him choose which ones he wanted to use. For every friend at daycare I named I let him pick the one he wanted to give, sign it, and hand me their "treats" to staple to them. He picked cards for each friend that suited them. I had to include not only Maw-Maw andPaw-Paw but Brax, of course! Couldn't leave him off the list!
Just look at how big he looks!

And it happened again!

I thought that after our almost snow storm in December that came close to cancelling our forever planned Morgan reunion that those worries were over. Jump to January. When it snows here we don't just get snow we get ice too and us Southerners CAN NOT drive on ice. Everything almost comes to a standstill.

I had a pretty rough week and thought that it would be nice to end it at the circus. I bought tickets back at the beginning of January and really was looking forward to it after everything else that had happened. On my way to pick Brax up Friday afternoon it began snowing. Not just little flurries but huge flurries. I called Brandon and mentioned that we might consider spending the night at my dad's just in case the weather did anything I was sure that the main roads would be better to travel and we would be 20 minutes closer to the circus.

When we woke up yesterday, yes the ground was covered (not by feet but with an inch or three), but the street was a solid sheet of ice. I knew our hopes of making the circus were through. I went on-line and the show wasn't cancelled. They would honor Saturday's tickets on Sunday but it was first-come, first-serve.

The pressure was on.

After much discussion we decided to try it. We weren't getting a refund and we figured we could get out and if we felt it was too dangerous we could head home. We all piled into the car buckled up and said a little prayer before we pulled out. We had planned on stopping at Chick-Fil-A for dinner since it is Brax's favorite and go from there. Chick-Fil-A was closed. Along with everything else (Brax was NOT happy).

We made it safely and saw that a few other people had decided to brave the "blizzard" for the circus. We had a blast. Braxton danced and bobbed his head like never before. We were the only ones in our row. He munched on some pop-corn and was introduced to cotton candy. It was an exciting show. And a nice way to end a bad week.

A Different Bunch

If I think back to my life 12 years ago I am back as a junior in high school. I was 5 weeks away from taking a trip of a lifetime to Italy. School was just about to resume from Christmas break.

And on this very night my family was at the hospital going through the

worst night of our lives. Tonight marks the 12th anniversary of losing my mom. It's so hard to believe. 12 years ago. I get so sad when I think about this moment in time. The pain my heart felt, the emptiness, and the unexpectedness of it all. The days that followed were like a blur. We had just had Christmas. We had just had her. And now she was gone. Forever.

When I go back to 12 years ago I really do get sad. So I fast forward to where we are today and I think of all the things she's missed. My wonderful trip to Italy. Helping me get to ready for both of my proms. My high school graduation. Meeting my future husband. My wedding. My college graduation. The excitement when I got my first "real" job. The birth of my baby. Watching my baby grow. She's missed everything significant about my adult life and those of my siblings. But here we are. A different bunch as we say. We're all so different from when she knew us. A good different. We've grown in many ways, matured, and multiplied!

Every January 2nd, for the past 12 years, my family comes together again. The Christmas tree is sometimes still up and the pictures are not yet developed from the previous week and we remember our Treva. We gather and discuss who she was as a wife, a mother, a friend, and talk about who she would have been as a grandmother. This year because it was so cold outside we all met up at our house. Braxton had a ball.

I watched as he played with his Grandaddy and realized that he had no clue the significance of January 2 or of the purpose for our gathering tonight. But I also realized by watching him that his smile is the legacy that Treva has left on this earth!

Open Up and Say AH!

On Tuesday I took Brax to the dentist for the first time. He did incredible. Several days before hand I started talking to him about what they would do. Angie, our dental hygenist, told me when I was there last what they would so I could prepare him. I knew he would like the part about riding up and down in the chair! The morning before we left, I got out all my "going to the dentist books" (only a teacher) and let him flip through them. He brought them in the car and looked at them all the way to the office and could hardly wait to get out when we pulled up.

He walked into the waiting room and sat down in a chair all by himself just beaming from ear to ear. Angie came and got us not too long after and he walked back to the room and crawled (that was adorable) into the big chair. Angie let him ride up and down, up and down, up and down a few times and then she asked him to open up. I looked down thinking "This is where I'm going to lose him" but when I didn't hear anything I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes! He was letting her count his teeth with a mirror and THEN he let her "tickle" them. He stayed in his seat the whole time and she went and got the dentist and he came in. Brax sat and let him look at his teeth too!!

It's official. My baby is growing up!