Playing Catch-Up

Alternately titled: A really long post with all the news and pictures I've been neglecting.

I really am going to revive my blog. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I'm here and I haven't forgotten about it.

Given my lack of posts since Thanksgiving, I should probably catch all 3 of you up on our business.

We survived another semester and *hopefully* have gotten to the bottom of Joe's behavior problems. Undiagnosed severe ADHD can lead a Mother to crazytown. WE are all MUCH better now though.

I made the President's list with my 4.0 for the fall semester. This one however, I'm hoping just to survive! 19 hours....geez!

We had a wonderful, amazing Christmas:

These are my favorite types of family photos!


Joe got a Terrance Cody jersey from Aunt Micki and he was SO happy! He is wearing it at school as we speak. He also slept in it last night!


We got him this big Cody photo which he freaked out over!


These are all the cousins/grandchildren on my Mama's side of the family. When we were taking the picture, they said "tall ones in the back." We just looked at each other and laughed!


This might be the only photo of all 3 of us from Christmas day.


All of us but my Dad who had to work. Mom, thanks for making me look pale! Tall, but pale.

Which is quite the opposite of my friends Rachel Red and Allie:

Who make me look rather tan, but short!

Now let me tell you what my dear, sweet husband has been up to:

Oh, not much, just killing the first deer of his life! 9 point buck, 178 lbs! We will be eating deer meat for at least a year and I couldn't be more excited!


Jason and Adam were in the shooting house together when he got it. He used Adam's gun because the scope is better. Adam has also killed a doe this year!

Jason has also been flooring our attic:

Callie tried to help!

Also, there was this little thing called ALABAMA GOING UNDEFEATED AND WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!! ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well folks, I promise to do better. If you're still reading this and still care about our lives, I'll keep it going. Maybe 2010 will be more interesting!

Jessica's Baby Shower

Well hello there! It's been a while! I started this blog for a few reasons, the most important being to keep our family and friends (who wish to be updated) updated on what we're up to. Then I dreamt up all these aspirations and goals for my writing. As it turns out, I just don't have time to be a good, witty writer. That being said, I do have time to do what I set out to do in the beginning, tell my family (who are all far away) just what the heck is going on here. So, what's up you ask? Well, this past weekend, Jason and I headed up to Huntsville for our friend Jessica's baby shower.


There were a lot of sweet girls there and Jessica got some great gifts for baby Hayden.


I learned that diaper cakes are in no way edible, they are however, adorable.

We played some fun games

like sniffing diapers




But I didn't forget that Alabama was playing on Saturday.

I at least wore crimson!

But then I changed and headed to watch the game with the boys.

I LOVE ALABAMA FOOTBALL!!


Jason and Chad coordinated outfits. Actually, about half of the state coordinated outfits most likely.


I promise not to neglect y'all anymore....just don't expect greatness!

Joe: Boy Wonder

We spent a wonderful, relaxing weekend with our friends in Huntsville, Chad and Jessica.

I won't chronicle the weekend hour by hour because....well...I like y'all, and I want you to keep reading my blog. Besides, 6 hours in the pool and 6 hours of "Catch Phrase" can tend to get a bit monotonous on paper. I will, however, show you some photos of the amazing things Joe did this weekend. "Vacation Joe" tends to be more adventurous and less ill-mannered than "Everyday Joe."

I'll start with the single most amazing photo I have ever taken.

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I mean, seriously, how amazing is this?

In the spirit of adventure, Joe ate sushi on his own accord.

The kid won't eat ketchup, but he will throw down on sushi.

He also ate a big chunk of tofu.

Okay, he ate 3 big chunks of tofu.

If you knew the stock that this child came from on one side, your jaw would hit the floor.


Joe also had great fun with the Sanders' dog.





We had a great weekend with our dear friends. What is it about people that don't have kids that makes them want to absolutely wear your kid into the ground? I'm not sure, but whatever it is, I like it. Because of Chad (and Jason), Joe was ready for bed at about 6:15.

Greek Food with a Greek Person?! My Head is Spinning!

Today was a paradoxical kind of day. Have you ever eaten Greek food with a Greek Person? One that can actually say Gyros without sounding like she has peanut butter in her mouth?

Well I have, and her name is Rachel!

We also met Lianne who, although not Greek, is pretty amazing! Today is her birthday and she is turning *coughmumble* years old! We ate at Nabeel's in Homewood with 4 kids. Yes, that's right, 4 kids and I didn't say a single swear!

I didn't take any pictures at lunch because, well, both hands were full of food at all times!

After we ate lunch, we decided it would be appropriate to take the kids to the park across the street so we could sweat out feta and onions they could play.

Joe found an awesome caterpillar.

He scaled it before the gate had even closed behind us.


He was on top of the world for a hot second.


He was nice enough to share the Caterpillar with Lianne's son and his new friend Luke.


He quickly moved on to the swings. Yes, he is swinging upside down with no hands. How do I tolerate these kinds of shenanigans? I'm not sure but they don't even phase me anymore!


This is Rachel's daughter Ali. She is precious and very serious so I'm going to train her to do eyebrow tricks like me.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of Lianne's daughter Emma (likely because my face and hair were melting off), but rest assured she was precious too. She had awesome hot pink glasses that made me totally jealous.

Lianne, Rachel, I'm SO glad I met both of y'all and I just love hanging out!


Until next time, I'll just twitter y'all 6000 times a day!

Who Knew You Could Have THIS Much Fun With Kids?

Due to.....extenuating circumstances....Joe is staying home the rest of the summer. Having never been a "stay at home Mother" I have given myself a challenge of coming up with fun things to do.

Fun things like staying up all night to write the papers I no longer have time to do during the day.

I kid. But seriously, Joe is the type of kid who needs constant stimulation. If he has something to do, he behaves. If not, well, that's for another day.

Friday, my best friend Tabatha and I took the kids to Helena where we played in a creek, played on a playground, and had lunch at a place called "The Depot."

We started on the playground.

Where Hartley posed like a supermodel.


Joe played on a tire swing.


Grayson barked orders at the rest of us.


And Tab and I took our first picture together after being friends for over a year!


They got good and sandy and Tabatha took pictures because "she loves butt!!"


We climbed trees and took pictures to document our bravery.


Or maybe to document our cute swimsuits.


Yea, that was probably it.


Grayson and Hartley showed us their tree poses.

After we got in the water...

Joe threw rocks, his favorite pastime.


I flexed my photography muscles.


Hartley took a faceplant in the water and WAS NOT happy. Check out that brotherly love in the corner! I love it!


I tried unsuccessfully to take a group photo of a 6, almost 3, and 1 year old.

It was a good day :)