Fun weekend!

This was a fun weekend. We started by tailgating at our local high school football game. We took some Zaxby's and sat out while the kids played on the practice field. We then enjoyed a great, though tense game. Our guys won, beating the #6 team in the state! Yeah! Mallory and I didn't make it through the whole game, but Aubrey and D. did.

Saturday was busy, but also lots of fun. We started it off watching College GameDay in the wonderful town of Gainesville, FL! Who wouldn't love that? Then the Higgins clan came over, had lunch and watched the first half of the GaTech game. We then went downtown for a special ceremony honoring D's dad. He was mayor for almost 30 years. The city named our plaza for him down by the railway depot. The ceremony was very nice, and it is really special that the plaza is named after him. Will be neat to take the kids and grandkids there in the future.

That night we had a great dinner and then watched the Gators play Miami. I won't lie, I was very nervous for much of the game. However, the good guys prevailed. The Jackets won too! All three of our teams this weekend, high school, GT and UF all won. How bout that?

Now I am eyeball deep in hangers and tags as I get our children's clothing ready for our local consignment sale this weekend. So I'm off to tag some more!

Go Sarah! Go Sarah!

Ok, I know I posted yesterday, but several of my friends did not watch Sarah Palin's acceptance speech last night. (I'm sure some of you are wondering how I could be friends with such people, but I still love them) Anyway, I told them I would help them by posting her speech on my blog. This isn't all of it, but just a part of it. I am so excited about her and the McCain campaign. She is an awesome woman who will be an awesome VP! So for all of my friends who didn't stay up as late as I did last night, here is a link to her speech.

Sarah

Movin on up!

This week we are movin on up!

Today is Aubrey's first day of K-4 pre-school. He went last year for 2 days a week and loved it, but this year he wasn't too keen on going. Last night we talked before he went to sleep and I told him that we would have a special treat after his first day of school. He said, "What special treat?" I told him we would go get an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. He said, "That's not a special enough treat." I said, "What would be a special enough treat?" He said, "I think going to Bompie and Grandma Bonnie's house and going down to the creek with Bompie would be a special treat." I said, "I think that sounds great, and I'm sure Bompie would love that too." So, after school today that is what we are going to do. I am so thankful that Aubrey loves his grandparents and has a relationship with all of them. That will be a special afternoon for him. I am also thankful that he is in a wonderful pre-k program at our church where he is taught the abc's and 123's, but also God's Word and important Christian ideas and lessons. It is such a blessing. There are no girls in his class this year so far, so please keep his teachers in your prayers!

We were also excited this week when Mallory started pulling up on everything. One day I looked over at her and she had pulled herself up to standing! She is crawling everywhere and into everything now. This weekend at the lake, she didn't even want to stay in her baby pool. She wanted to explore the dock. So we are now in full force baby proofing and pulling things out of her mouth. (No quarters yet, Leah)

Tonight we get going back into our Wednesday night programs at church. I am leading the first through third grade children's choir this year, so that should be fun.

I'm also in the midst of watching the Republican National Convention. How exciting! I actually watched C-Span last night for possibly the first time ever! Maybe one day I will get to be a delegate. For now I will have fun just watching. My sis in law Amy was actually laughing at me the other day because I told her I had to get my Republican elephant Jibbitz out to wear in my Crocs. Can you imagine?

Tomorrow! Imagine me singing (a lot!)

I can't even imagine how Noah's wife got through the flood on the ark surrounded with her kids and all those animals. I was inside all day yesterday with 2 children and a dog and I thought I was going to lose it! Seriously, I know there are people who have gone through much, much worse, and I'm sure I could, but it wouldn't be nice. We have been getting the remnants of Hurricane Fay and it literally rained all day and all night. I love it because we need it so bad, but our dog didn't know what to do with herself yesterday because she couldn't go outside. She found things to do like jumping up and eating Aubrey's scrambled eggs and tearing up feminine products. So, although it's going to be cloudy again today, you can imagine me singing, "Tomorrow, tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow! You're only a day away!"


The rain does seem to be bringing the wildlife out though. The night before last D. brought a turtle home for Aubrey. Aubrey absolutely loved it. The turtle has burrowed into the pine straw in front of our house and settled in. Also that night brought us a herd of deer. D. couldn't believe it, but there were 3 bucks in the herd. So, here's a pic of the only one I could catch before Aubrey's tapping on the window scared them off.

Here's my best Hank Williams Jr. imitation (just imagine me singing again) "Are you ready for some football?" (I am pretty good at that song by the way) College football starts tomorrow night! Woo hoo! All the prognosticating (good word) and smack talking that has been going on (especially with the crazy Georgia fans) will soon be put to the test. To say I'm excited would probably be an understatement. I posted this pick to get you fired up too. I knew all of you would love to see a pic of Tim Tebow. Who wouldn't? Georgia Tech plays tomorrow night, but it's not on tv. Florida plays Hawaii on Saturday at 12:30 in the Swamp (with a brand new qb, poor guy!) Anyway, D. thinks I'm a little loony for getting so excited, but it's just my thing. I hope all of your teams win, unless you're a Georgia fan!

We're going to the lake this weekend for one last fling before Aubrey starts pre-school next week, but I'll post after we get back. Have a great, safe weekend and Go Jackets and Go Gators!

Whoooo is that man?

Those of you who know my dad know that he loves to laugh and have a good time. He also loves to play jokes on unsuspecting victims! He got this hat, glasses and teeth and uses them when he's with friends and family. He has fooled even his closest friends with this disguise. When he and my mom went on a cruise with my Uncle Jon and Aunt Karen he showed up at their cabin with it on and my Aunt Karen answered the door. When she saw him she almost fainted because it scared her so bad. That wasn't funny, but usually people really get a good laugh from his change in appearance. This is the kind of thing that I want to remember about my Dad forever. His love of laughter and jokes is such a big part of who he is and why we love him so much. So I made this layout to remember this guy, whoever he is! Love you Dad!

This won't last for long!

I had to get a picture of Aubrey vacuuming today because I know that he won't be asking me to do this for much longer. Callie split open a ball today that was filled with tiny plastic pellets. I got the broom and the vacuum out and Aubrey said, "Can I do it?" I am very rarely asked if I need help doing things like vacuuming so of course I said, "Sure!" He had a lot of fun and when it was all clean he went to vacuum the den. I may have to make every day vacuuming day! The vacuum lines aren't nice and straight like I like them, but I probably can get over that.

I also had to throw in this precious picture of Mallory from the park the other day. Just cause I thought you might like to see some of her preciousness. I'm sure this will last forever though!

The journals are ones that I altered to record the funny, amazing and sometimes profound things my children say. I made Aubrey's when he turned one and it is already filled with things I would have forgotten if not for the book. I finished Mallory's today, so I thought I would share it.

I have been at home for two days now and all I can say is "Ahhh." It is so nice to have home time. I have even cooked dinner two nights in a row! That by itself is amazing. I love being at home. It's such a blessing to have times like this, because they don't happen very often!

Patience is a virtue

Patience is a virtue, and one God is teaching me the hard way mostly. I am patient in some areas of my life like my children, but less patient in others like when I want to eat or small details like that. When we moved into our house 4 years ago, the yard looked terrible. The house hadn't been lived in for awhile, so the landscaping needed some work. The first year nothing much got done because I had a brand new baby, but slowly I tried to do a few things. Three years ago D. and I killed the grass in front of our house and planned to lay sod. Well, as the best of intentions go, the sod never got laid, but the grass did die. So, for the last few years we have had a wonderful lawn of weeds in front of our house. We kept them nice and neat, trimmed and trained, but it just made me crazy. We also had several bushes that I hated, but just dealt with. I mean, I know in the grand scheme of things landscaping is such a minor detail of life, but since the home is my domain, it really bugged me. Well, Sunday I told D. that I was going to trim up some bushes and just work out in our yard (if you could call it that) and he said, "I think I'll bring the track hoe and the skid steer and we'll take out the dirt and lay some sod." I just about fell over in the pew. (we were at church - the Lord was definitely moving) When we got home I got moving fast. And D. was true to his word. We worked all day Sunday and all day and got sod laid and new bushes and plants put in. I don't think I can explain how excited I have been. Some of you make look at our yard and not get what all the fuss is about, but I can tell you that it is tons better than it was. I absolutely love it! I have grass! Not the kind you smoke that makes some people happy, but the kind you water and cut! So, the Lord definitely reminded me that if we are patient, he will bring things to us in his time.

On another line of patience, Mallory has started crawling! She finally got the hang of moving forward instead of backward. It's so cute, and she is so proud of herself. I had forgotten how much that changes things, but I love it.

This picture of Aubrey was last night. He loves to read Bible stories before bed. Something that has touched my heart so much. He is soaking them up and learning the stories. He gets so excited about the ones coming next. Last night I went to check on him before I went to sleep and found him like this. He had fallen asleep reading his Bible ( I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not) and was still holding it and snoring. It was so sweet I had to get my camera.

Also, don't forget that the Olympics start tonight! I am so excited. I love the Olympics! The last summer Olympics were right after I had Aubrey, so when I was up late at night with him I got to watch lots of them. I hope to get to do the same this time around. Go USA!