My two Dads.....

Lem, Joseph and Presley after church on Father's Day

A rare picture with ME in it! Lem said one picture and one picture only, because he was hot and wanted to go inside and take his church clothes off. So this is as good as it gets with only one shot at a decent picture!! Daddy and his girls!! (I think he is hoarding the cake from us!!)

My Daddy..... We celebrated Father's Day at our house yesterday with the whole family. My sister and her family and mom and dad. Dad wore one of his favorite shirts as you can see in the picture. Actually anything with a Harley on it is his favorite. ;)

Hamburgers, hotdogs, cole slaw, beans and a coconut cake were enjoyed by all! We had a great time as always!

Special thank you to my daddy for being someone that i would want my son to emulate. His wisdom, knowledge (of everything!), honesty, and character are just a few of the things that describe my dad. My children just love him to pieces and my dad's face just lights up when he sees his grandchildren. Dad is the ultimate "PawPaw". I am so blessed to have him as my daddy. He can fix anything! In fact, Lee, my brother in law said yesterday...that the one thing he has learned from my dad throughout the years is.."anything can be fixed!" And boy, is that true with my dad! I haven't come across a thing that he cannot fix! He is the original Mr. fix it! Unfortunately, I married just the opposite. Lem has many great talents, but fixing things is NOT one of them. He would just assume call my dad or just get a new one. ;) That's my darlin!

Also, special thanks to Lem for being such a great Daddy to our children. I never dreamed when I married Lem that he would be the kind of man he is with his kids. I honestly never thought of what kind of dad he would make. I was so focused on every other cool thing about him, his parenting skills never crossed my mind. But as soon as Joseph was born, Lem took over with the parenting. He amazed me and my family with how natural it came to him. He took it all in stride, as I was crying my eyes out in a pillow wondering what to do next!! He made it look so easy. He has never complained about watching the kids if i want to go on a girls trip, or if I just need a day out to catch my breath! I never in a million years could have pictured a better father for my children than Lem. God really knew what I needed those 12 years ago when we met! God had it all aligned with his plan for my life, and how grateful I am for that.

Happy Father's Day!!!

My Birthday Boy

Presley is helping to make Daddy's birthday cake and cup cakes! We tried to recruit Joseph, but he graciously declined. :)

Last week was Lem's 33rd Birthday!! I just wanted to tell my sweetie how much I love you and what a great husband you are!! The years seem to be flying by, but I find my love for your growing day by day. You are the funniest person I know, and OFCOURSE the MOST HANDSOME man alive!! You truly hold my heart in your hand. Thank you for showing me unconditional love (almost) every day. =)

Five Random Things about me...

My friend Mary tagged me with this blog entry. So....with much anticipation and thought provoking inner- self research (not really) this is what i came up with.....



Five Random things about me....



Number one... I have a very strange and frustrating fear.......which is kind of embarrasing to share, but here goes....i cannot swallow pills of any kind. Well, let me interject, the very small round advil i can handle, but any bigger than that and I will crush them up in a pill crusher. You know those things that they sell in the geriatric isle at walgreens??..well, nevermind, you probably don't know. Such a silly thing, but I am scared they will get stuck in my little throat and i will die and that would be the end of me. Go ahead and have a big laugh on that one. You have my permission.



There has to be a name for this phobia, but i have yet to find it. I think i will call it jillsafreakphobia. =)



Number two.....every night before i go to bed i have to have the coffee ready to go, with the cup, creamer, spoon and napkin all neatly laid out beside the coffee maker. Also, my cereal bowl with the spoon on a napkin and ready to go, as well as the kids bowls on the counter with the spoons on a napkin. I am OCD about this one! I cannot rest my head until it is all done. My husband, on rare occassion , when he is feeling frisky...will do this for me, because he knows it has to be done.



Okay, I am starting to scare even myself with the craziness. Yikes.



Number three...I have recently become an Arbonne consultant! Kind of an undercover one at this point, because i do not have much free time to give it a good go, but i absolutely LOVE their products. Which, of course, is the reason i wanted to become a consultant. I needed the discount to be able to get all of the products that i wanted!! Their products are ALL botanically based, with all natural plant derived ingredients, which was a HUGE draw for me. After 3 months on the skincare line, my skin has never been better! Arbonne is all about beauty from the inside out, so they have a whole line of health care products as well, such as vitamins, protein shakes, weight control products, detoxification products, suncare, etc.... which of course are also all natural. The coolest product that I must have every night before i go to bed is for my feet. It is a body serum and body lotion which keeps my otherwise flaky and yucky feet smooth as a babies behind!! I have tried everything for these feet of mine, and this is the ONLY thing that has worked. No more sticking to the carpet when i walk!!! (Got Lem hooked too!)



Number four..... My new favorite vacation spot is Disney World!!! I feel 5 years old every time we visit, and each visit is better than the last! Just wish it wasn't so far and that is wasn't so expensive!!



Number five....I really wish that more of my friends and family members were bloggers!!! ;) It would make this a lot more fun!! The two or so people that read my blog and that have their own blogs, I am so grateful for!!



I am tagging Mandy on this one! Are you up for the challenge??!! :)

Orlando.... without the parks!

Joseph and Royce taking a breather from the pool

Presley having some fun!
Here is a picture of the pool area
Joseph, Presley, Anna-Joy and Royce having some fun in the sun!!
The pool overlooked this beautiful lake

Well, we didn't think it could be done. But sure enough we did it!! We went to Orlando for a whole week without visiting ONE theme park! Since we had just visited Orlando in October and saw EVERYTHING, we decided to make this trip a little more relaxed and a little less expensive. My mom got a beautiful condo at The Marriot Cypress Harbour Club in Orlando. The place was extremely self-sufficient and there was really no need to go off the premises if you didn't feel the need. They had 2 HUGE pools and baby pools, waterfalls, a golfcourse, tennis courts, grocery store on premise, a starbucks, pizza hut, krispy kreme....and so on and so on. Ofcourse we stayed at the pool most of our visit.

Along with me and my children, my mom and sister and her two small children came along for the trip. It was such an enjoyable and even somewhat relaxing trip considering we had 4 children with us!!



My sister was so good with Presley in the pool. Presley had been scared to get in the water, even with her floaties on. However, my sister told me to go where Presley could not see me and she grabbed Presley and took her into the water. She kicked and screamed for about 2 minutes and then before I knew it she had let go of my sister and was swimming around by her lonesome! I was so proud of her, AND my sister! My sister is the best aunt in the whole world. I always tell her she is the fun aunt and I am the strict aunt. My sister loves to play fun games with the kids and she is constantly making them laugh. I love bathing them, cleaning up after them and completely babying them!! She and I make a great team! She is such a great mom and a wonderful role model for me. I don't know what I would do without her. I certainly would not laugh near as hard. She has the ability to make ANYTHING funny....and i do mean ANYTHING! I love her to pieces!!! Everyone loves my sister. Her phone rang off the hook the whole time we were there. She is a best friend to everyone. You can't meet her and not want to be with her 24/7. She really is the best!

Oil and water, drinking and driving, and grocery stores with small children...they just don't go together!!

As I sit at my little black desk with my afternoon hot tea, I ponder the absolute teeth gritting trials of being a mom. Being a mom has fulfilled me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I am not so sure that I even really truly existed before motherhood. Most of my memories are vague and just seem pretty petty from where i sit right now. What did i do everyday?? What in the world did i worry about?? My mind can barely recall because it seems such a dark and distant memory.

Anyway, back to reality. Sometimes I feel like a complete idiot when it comes to parenting. I mean, I know what I should do, and yet when situations arise that cause for me to utilize complete control and smarts, I somehow fail the test. =( I get flabbergasted and overwhelmed and before i know it, I am the child with the pouty lip and shrugged shoulders. Thank goodness this isn't a daily occurence, but when it does happen, i feel defeated and completely out witted by my children.

The reason for such a pouty and whiny blog is due to my trip to Kroger today. Oh yes, the wonderful world of groceries with 2 children. It started out very controlled and relaxed until Joseph decided he wanted to walk instead of ride in the little race car with his sister. Well, this made since because his ever growing legs just do not seat well in this little toddler car anymore. After trying to smush him back in, I agreed to let him walk with me. Well, Princess Presley in the toddler race car was not too keen on this idea. This left her alone at the wheel. After she screamed and hollered for Joseph to return to his seat, I kindly asked Joseph if he would try and sit back in the little seat next to her. He tried his best to squeeze back in. but this time to no avail. Presley then proceeds to scream a blood curdling scream for her brother to get in with her. Meanwhile I am trying to keep it together and act the well-kept, cool-as -a cucumber, not rattled kind of Mom. I gently chide her and tell her that she will not be getting a prize if this behavior continues. Not only did this not work, she bucked and kicked her way out of the car and pitched a certified, no holds barred tantrum in the middle of the bread isle. As my mind is spinning and my pulse quickens, I mentally kick myself for not bringing my wooden spoon inside. Not only am i beating myself up for feeling like a lousy mommy, I look around and see gawkers most assuredly feeling sorry for me with my no-makeup, gym clothes, greasy pontytail self. I casually and coyly smile as I pick Presley up into my arms and carry her out of the store. Meanwhile, Joseph starts asking if he can still have his prize since he was so good. Ugghhh...just get me out of here.

When I finally get to the car, she is still wailing at maximum volume. I go to the drive thru at Chic fil a to get lunch for Joseph and myself and she is STILL crying at the top of her lungs. My hands are shaking as I pull up to the window and hand her my money in exchange for food. I rolled down the window ever so slightly so that the noise would be somewhat muffled and so that I would not be humiliated again. The lady gave me a feel-sorry for me kind of smile and i sped away wanting to crawl under a rock and die.

Justice was served with the trusty wooden spoon when we returned home and for now all is well. Presley is now happy and smiling as if nothing ever happened.

I am laughing now as I write this and thinking to myself what fun motherhood is. How many stories about our children could we all share and roll on the floor laughing until our stomachs couldn't take anymore? Nothing bonds us more as women than the sheer throws of motherhood and all that comes with it. The laughter, the love, the pain, the sacrifice, the forgiveness, the heart bleeding worry, the wonderment, and the unspeakable JOY that comes from it.

What more could humble us and self-deprecate ourselves more than experiencing motherhood everyday? If it is true that trials and tribulations make us stronger and wiser than amen AND oh me!!

Orlando pics to come...my battery in my camera is dead. When it charges up I will post some pics from our vacation.