Today Was Hard

Today was hard. Today we said goodbye to a man that was our candy toting friend, our fire pit companion, our church family member, a lover of his country, a lover of our kiddos and oh so much more. But best of all, he was a lover of Jesus! I am so thankful to not have just known such a special person, but for him to have been a huge part of my life... My family's life.  Long after the tears have faded, his precious grin will stay etched on my heart.  

Greg, I'm thankful that God lined things up just right so that I could hold your hand, pray over you and be with you Saturday. While my prayers were not His plan, I have no doubt where you are and who you are with. You are ungrounded now. 

Margaret, we love you. We adore you. You are the woman I hope to be. Send the kids home when you get tired of them!

She Was An Amarican Girl

(When you read the title of this post, do so in the singing fashion of Tom Petty.  Please and thank you)
Hailey is almost nine years old and acquired her first American Girl from Santa (please note my lack of experience as an AG mom).  Her name is Julie Albright and she and Hailey have become fast friends.  Hailey was also given an AG gift card and money for Christmas.  I thought, since I was off work, New Years Day would be a great time to let Hailey do a little shopping.  Remember when I mentioned that I am new to this whole AG stuff?  Yeah, well, January 1st is not a good day to go.  Did you know they have a girl of the year?  Did you know that she is kinda a big deal? Did you know that girls (and some moms) are a little lot crazy about AG?  People!  I am just a newbie!  All Hailey wanted was a few of Julie's accessories and outfits and a pet. 
We waited in line to get into the store for 1 1/2 hours.  You read that right 1 1/2 hours. 

But I guess this face was worth it.

And then there was this face.  The face of a sweet boy that waited patiently out in the mall with his dad while his sister was living the dream.

 

 We did get to meet Grace Thomas while we were there.

 Bless him.... it was a long day.

Simple Economics

Waiting in line at the local McDonald's and they were having an exceptionally difficult time keeping the lanes moving....

Jackson:  They need a better investment in human capital. 

Mom Fact #23

It's a law of nature that when you want to enjoy a cup of coffee on a rainy Saturday morning, by the light of the Christmas tree, the more you ask your children to be quiet the more noise they will Make.

Music Is Good For The Soul... And Car Rides

It's important to expose children to good music.  Music that has shaped current artists and what we hear today.  Music from when artists knew how to write songs.  Songs that tell stories.  Original versions, not covers.  Some of Jackson and Hailey's favorite artists are John Denver, The Beatles, Third Day, ABBA (OK, we may have failed on this one), The Milk Carton Kids, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson and Pearl Jam.  It goes on and on and it's a wide variety.
It's important to expose children to good music.... mostly because we have to listen to it too.

They both have a fondness for Neil Young....

I thought it was really funny that we have video, five years apart, of each kiddo singing the same song.  Jackson's version is here and Hailey's is here.

Pinterest Fail

While the guys were out on their soggy backpacking trip, the kiddos and I crashed the Spivey home.  Marcia had this great idea to try these brownie bowls that she had seen on Pinterest. 

Have you seen this super cute idea where you bake brownies in a muffin tin and when you remove them from the oven you press down on them with another muffin tin to form bowls to serve ice cream out of it?  Well, like most things I've tried on Pinterest, it just never turns out quite the same.  But they were yummy!  And brownies, ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped topping are always a little sweeter and more special when shared with great friends!

Welcome!

We have two new additions to our family.  After talking about getting A kitten for a while and finding out that a friend had five (a girl and four boys) that she needed to find homes for we went to meet them.  Hailey was adamant that we would only get a girl, because "I don't like boys, I don't like penises".  Ummmm, OK.  TWO sweet little (boy) kitties came home with us that night. 

Names didn't come easily, I'll have you know.  I wanted to name them Maxwell & Bungalow Bill, but Hailey nixed those.  Jay suggested Simon & Garfunkel, again, nixed. Finally it was decided that they would be called Ringo & Cole for the rest of their lives.

After being with us for a mere 36 hours Ringo had to make a visit to the vet for a fever and just feeling yucky.  Then on day four, Jay discovered a wolf worm in Ringo's neck.  I have NO words for that experience!!  Not to feel left out it was discovered that Cole had tapeworms.  GROSS.  We purchased three little pills for a whopping $25 and a can of cat food to remove the tapeworms.  Quickly after finishing their medicated treat Hailey scooped up the kittens in her arms and proceeded to march off.  Jay asked her where she was taking them and she said "to their litter box, I want to watch the worms come out their butts". 

I'm sure that there will be lots of kitty stories to share in the near future!