Daddy! I'm ready for my date!!!

I remember the anticipation of going on a date with my dad. The most memorable for me was a trip that we took downtown to an ice skating rink. It wasn't so much what we DID, but more that it was MY night with dad ... MY time.

I always thought that if I ever had a daughter I hoped that my husband would make her feel special the way my dad made me feel special. I used to tell my friends that my dad would take me on dates and they would look at me with a mixed expression of ... 'that's weird' and 'i'm jealous'. I am sure that the one on one time that dad and I spent together growing up is one of the reasons for our close relationship now.

Last night, Annie had her first date with Tommy. I will tell you that my husband is an incredible father. He spends a LOT of time with our kiddos - and they would probably tell you that they prefer him over me most of the time. Annie was so excited last night as she was getting ready for her 'prince' to take her out. Her suggestion was to go to Zaxby's ... but, Tommy asked her if he could do the planning.

Tommy suited up in a coat and tie and headed to a favorite place for BOTH of them .... the mall! They stopped in Macy's and picked out a perfume of her choice to wear .... after that, the little 3 year old with a ponytail and a big white satin ribbon marched her patton leather black shoes down to the food court for her favorite meal ... Chick-Fil-A. She and dad 'shared a diet coke'. After that ... the sweet girl got to do something that mom always says, "not today" ... ride the carousel. The night ended with a stoll through the American Girl store ... I like to imagine people seeing them walking down the mall - a girl in her satin dress and patton leathers ... and her dad in a coat and tie - too cute for words.

What a night.

I know that Annie will remember her dates with her daddy like I do. By the way, Tuck and I had a mighty fine night at Target ... getting slurpies and strolling the toy aisle. Then, we had some running races in the parking lot before we stopped by Chick Fil A for an ice dream on the way home.

Our kids are wonderful. I get sad thinking about the time ahead when they could prefer to not be around us as much .....

Happy Birthday Poppi!

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that it wasn't Christmas until my Poppi (and Nanny) came to Atlanta..... today would have been Poppi's 91st birthday.

We lost sweet Poppi at the end of October this year after a long fight with various illnesses.

This was a man with a heart bigger than most.

This was a man with a smile to light up a room.

This was a man who would fight for his country - and almost lose his life.

This was a man who worked hard for the Sears company his entire life.

This was a man who taught my mom her love for golf on Sunday afternoons on TV.

This was a man who loved women and knew how to treat them with respect and shower them with love.

This man was the father of my mother ... and if nothing else, I am thankful for him for that alone.

I cannot imagine life without one of my parents ... and this Christmas, my mom spends her Christmas without any parents at all. Thankfully, the Lord made it that we are all around to love on her and be her family ... past, present, and future.

Happy Birthday sweet Poppi. We think about you all the time ... and we hope that you are playing with Libby today.

Christmas Holidays

Don't you remember getting out of school for Christmas holidays? I do.

Today is the last day of school for Annie Lou and Tuck officially started his 'vacation' today. As I woke up at 7:50 this morning, I thought .. THIS IS SO NICE! Tucker just woke up and normally he would have been starting school right now! I love it that he is still in his jammies just watching "Annie's shows" with her while she waits for her preschool to start.

A few nights ago, we had dinner at our dear friends house ... the Prossers. We have been friends with them for many years ... watched their kids grow from 'kids' to adults. One of thier daughters, Melissa, is a phenominal photographer. She does this as her business. Check out her website if you have a chance. http://www.melissaprosser.com/

I thought I'd share some of her pictures of the kiddos.

It's a busy time around here ... but, just wanted to post some of these beautiful Christmas pictures.

Happy Wednesday!

Birthdays

I am really bad about remembering people's birthday. Usually, I notice the birthday on my calendar a few days beforehand and make a mental note to call that person on their birthday. The day goes on and on and before you know it ... I have let the day go by and NOT called that important person on her birthday.


If you have been victim to my forgetfulness, I apologize.


My sweet niece has a birthday the day after Christmas and my wonderful father in law shares the birthday with Jesus.


I love birthdays for my sweet children. I wish that I could make all of their birthday dreams come true on August 1st and March 17th. I always have good plans for Tommy's special day ... but most of the time I fall short of my plans and my intentions.


Well, today I am 33. It's sort of 'non monumental' .... but, nonetheless, it's fun to think back about the birthdays past. I can't believe that just 3 years ago I crossed the threshold into the 30's and was surprised with a trip to NYC. (as well as a surprise party!)


Anyway, I had a wonderful day today with the early morning wake up call by our kids crawling into our bed. I got some great gifts that were VERY thoughtful and meant a lot to me. Tommy and I play mixed doubles in the Winter ALTA league and I got a new outfit to play in the cold weather. I also got some gorgeous saphire earrings.



The kids decided which gifts they would 'give'. Tucker picked out a sweet statue of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus which now proudly sits in the table that welcomes you into our home. He knows how much I love these scenes. Tuck helped me put all of my nativities up this year .... only to have Annie come and rearrange them all to her liking.


Annie decided that she would give me the cookbook of my 'friend' Paula Deen. I also got some salad dressing (Blackberry Walnut) for some yummy salads coming up. Annie knows that my 2 'friends' on TV are Paula and Oprah. Both of my kiddos let me know when either of these friends are on TV.

It was a great birthday ... and I'm so blessed to be able to spend it with my wonderful family.

Here's to another year in my 'early' 30's.


Love to all!

A few things I love about Christmas

I love Christmas. I love it because I love the anticipation. I remember as a child thinking that Christmas had 'arrived' when my Nanny and Poppy arrived from Bradenton, Florida. I can still see the trunk opening and all the wrapped presents in there ... and there was a smell that comes with that memory. I'm not sure if it is denture cream or Oil of Olay - but, nonetheless, it makes me think that Christmas is here. Unfortunately, both Nanny and Poppy are no longer on this earth ... but, the same feelings of Christmas come when I start to see the lights and wreaths in my neighborhood.

I'm not the best at following through on my ideas. I have a lot of ideas in my head ... but, do I really ever DO them? Not most of them. For some reason at Christmas, I try and really DO the ideas that I have. This year, so far, I can think of 3 that I have thought to do that I have actually DONE. We did all of them this week.

#1: I promised Annie that we would find her preschool teacher's house and go look at her lights (she lives in the next subdivision over).

#2: I wanted to decorate wrapping paper with hand and footprints this year. I am going to wrap my presents with rafia as the bow. I did this 2 nights ago and the kids had a ball doing it!

#3: I bought some gingerbread houses at Publix a few weeks ago. They have been staring me in the face in the pantry and I decided that TONIGHT WAS THE NIGHT!

Something about the Christmas season that makes me want to make memories. There's just something about the finding the perfect gift for someone that makes me anticipate Christmas day so much more. There is something about this time of year that makes me so thankful that I have a husband and 2 beautiful children at home. It is this time of year that I think 'what are my children going to remember about THEIR Christmas'?

Some of my most vivid memories (in addition to the arrival of my gparents!) is my dad getting frustrated with the lighting of the tree ... and sneaking downstairs with a flashlight to report to Gretchen what I think Santa brought us .... and PROMISING that I heard jingles on the roof the night before .... I remember getting dressed up and going to church on Christmas Eve .... I remember helping make breakfast with my mom and then going back to bed before our Christmas Day guests arrived.

I love Christmas time. It is a time for memories .... make one today.

Mary .....

Mary is a fascinating character. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus in my tummy. I mean, I had a horrible time of morning sickness when I was pregnant with both of my precious children. But, I can't imagine all of a sudden being pregnant - the shame that came with it ... and the uncomfortableness of being pregnant ... and the lack of comforts that we all enjoy now. She must have been an incredible woman.

Our 3 year old daughter, Annie, seems to be completely enthralled with Mary. I'm not sure if it is because she gets to hold a baby ... or because she is portrayed as 'pretty' in most cases. But, either way, Annie loves Mary. You can imagine her joy when she was chosen to be Mary in her preschool play. Anyone who would listen to her would learn that she was going to be Mary .... and we have watched the video of her performance yesterday probably 13 times this morning. I just watch her while she watches it and she has the biggest smile on her face.

I pray that she will be as wise and obedient to the Lord as Mary was ....

Here is a picture for you of my sweet little girl.

Blogging

For the past few months I have been lurking around reading blogs of friends. Most of the time I think to myself #1 I don't really have time to do this because I already spend too much time on the computer. And, #2 ... would anyone really care what I had to say?

So, I decided that I don't really care if anyone reads this or not, this will be more therapy for me to journal life. As mundane as it may be ... maybe it will entertain someone. Or, maybe my kids will one day read this and be reminded of some fun memories of childhood. As for the issue of time ... I probably don't have time to do this. But, I'll try and do this a few times a week - just things that come to mind that I want to share with you ... my friends.

So, here's to my blog experience!!!!