Life is too short

It's weird the way life works out. My dad just retired after 36 years and couldn't wait to begin spending some time with his mom. We took her with us to the mountains two weeks ago. Braxton had tea parties with his G.G. We went and got ice cream. We took her shopping. And we took naps. The last morning we were there we couldn't get her awake and had to call the paramedics. So for the past week we've been at the hospital everyday praying and hoping that she'd wake up. After being told on Friday that she'd had a major stroke, we called my brother home and after he made it we all gathered around her bed and prayed for her to make the journey to a better place.

She went to Heaven Monday.

We took a picture of this lilly from our yard. We received it one Easter and it's never bloomed before. It reminded me of my Grandmother. Beautiful.

Can he really be 3?

Geez, where has the time gone? My little baby is 3 years old now! This birthday was tough. (Don't laugh, I know he's still little) I just think there is a huge difference between a 2 year old and a 3 year old and what really gets me is when I stop and think that next year he'll be 4!! Everyday is amazing with him. We took him to the doctor on Wednesday for his well visit and we had to do the 3 year questionaire to make sure he was doing ALL the things he should be. Some of things require you to ask him questions and write down his response or ask him to do things and write down what he does. We had some ladies in the waiting room rolling. He's just so funny. You never know what he's going to say. Which is another reason we all have learned to watch what we say around him!

Friday was his birthday party. I had it here and invited a few of his friends over. I prayed for no rain and God obliged and along with no rain gave us a little heat! Actually, it was a lot of heat. The kids had a ball complete with Giga Ball and a bounce house. We had a few of Braxton's favorites from Chick Fil A and partied into the night!

So Long, Farewell.....

.....After 36 years the best Nuclear Medicine Technician hung his coat up for the last time.....finally! My dad, finally, did I say finally, retired!! His last official working day was May 28 but Chris and Allyson and I (with much help from Ali, Brandon and Braxton) had a heck of a party on June 5. I just got the pictures and I'm so excited about them.

The theme was wonderful. We had pictures at every table that coordinated with a movie. The table names were movie titles that had some meaning to dad's life. It took 9 months but after a lot of planning,lots of thinking, and coordinating we pulled it off. Over 100 people came out for the event. Some as far away as California (Uncle Steve) and as far back in his life as kindergarten.

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!