I'm Over It... Buy a diary

I am over it.  OVER it… do you hear me people?  I.  AM.  OVER.  IT!!!!  I HATE cold weather.  I can tolerate chilly, but this 20 something degree weather and the wind have just about done me in.  My sanity is slowly slipping away, and my kids have cabin fever too.  And if you were wondering, NO, my dishwasher still isn't fixed.  The part is supposed to be here tomorrow and I may kiss the postman when he comes.  He better come too.  My hands are cracking from washing so many dishes.  Hats off to all of you without a dishwasher…you’re my role model.  

 Why not dirty up a few more dishes!!!????

 John Brantley is still in potty training mode.  He “needs to go” too many times a day to count.  The dressing and undressing umpteen times a day gets a little bit old.  The other night he walked into the living room like this…

 I’m sure Ford was watching his show called Wild Kratts on PBS at this point.  He actually learns a lot of interesting stuff so I don’t mind that he watches it.

 This morning we were getting ready to go run some errands and Ford said he needed some of his Daddy’s deodorant!  He then told me how good he smelled!!!!

 My parents didn't believe me that John Brantley puts himself in “time-out”.  It is rather funny when I think about it, but he does it so many times a day that Ford and I are used to it.  On Tuesday the time-out got to be a bit much.  I bet he went 12+ times that day.  Finally, I started videoing him going to his chair and pitching one.  I proceeded to send each video to my parents as proof.  They loved it.  Today he was so ticked he went under the chair!  Trey wonders if this is normal!!!???!!!

 Tonight I cooked “Shepard’s Pie” for dinner.  I thought it was good, Bitty ate it, and Trey said it was a keeper.  Ford didn't have the same feelings.

 I have decided that Ford doesn't like his food mixed up, such as a casserole.  I love a casserole.   

 And he’s done.   

Representative Lamar made the Jackson paper this week.  He’s also making lots of Facebook posts about the teacher pay raise.  I encourage those of you who like to post or comment about other people or political issues to make sure you know the facts before you share your thoughts!  Or consider buying a diary….

Jack's big day

Yesterday, my nephew, Jack, turned 3.  My sister in-law, Ashley, planned a family only birthday party for Saturday morning.  We loaded up and headed north to Memphis.  Ford was beyond excited because his energy level goes up several notches when his cousins are involved, and Bitty was excited but he had no idea why!

 The first stop was the train museum.  It was a neat place with a Thomas the Train table, flashing lights, bells, whistles, toy replicas of little cities, etc.  I am pretty sure we wore out our welcome at the museum.  The men in the orange shirts (workers of the museum) probably applauded when we left!  BUT, the kids loved it.

 Birthday boy!!!!

 After we left our mark on the museum we headed outside to ride the trolley.  This was very exciting for my boys since we had never done anything like this before.  Under the circumstances, I think the 5 kids behaved very well while on our city tour.

 Gran and BoomPa

 After the ride we needed a group photo.  Someone always feels the need to goose the picture up somehow.  Ford thought “special faces” were acceptable in this one.

 And Jack wanted to show his midriff in the last one.  It was his birthday…anything goes!!!

 I met Representative Fancy Lamar on New Year’s Eve 2002 while I was in Memphis with my friends.  We met at Silky’s, but later ventured on to another location.  When we parked our car this morning by the train museum we saw this sign staring us in the face.  Ahhhh the memories from 11 years ago…. We definitely visited this spot too.

We need a picture for the momentous occasion.  

 Ford too…. You can’t forget Ford!

 The next stop was lunch.  We like to eat.  We headed to a pizza joint called “Trolley Market Stop".  I felt the need to take a picture of the menu since it said “Jillybilly’s” on it.  Trey just doesn’t understand all of my picture taking.  It’s for the blog!!!

Ashley and I came to the conclusion that we were NOT our waiter’s favorite table.  Other than John Brantley knocking my gigantic glass of water over I don’t think we were much of a problem.  He took a month of Sundays to bring us our pizzas so we had to entertain ourselves while we waited….

 Happy Happy Birthday to our sweet nephew and cousin, John Cooper “Jack” Anthony!!!!

New blog below….

I am spoiled...I said it!!!

God knows what he is doing and doesn't make a mistake.  He knew exactly what time I should be put on this Earth.  He put me here at a time when technology and modern day equipment is advanced.  I am spoiled!!!  I am.  I said it.  I am currently without a dishwasher and its UPSETTING!!!!!  I had someone look at it on Friday, and we had to order a part and it might not be in until the 7^th.  That’s over a WEEK without my dishwasher that I run religiously.   I just finished hand washing a load of dishes and my hands are so rough and dry now.  With that being said, neither one of my grandmothers’ had a dishwasher, and I applaud them for being real women!  I am just not!

Delta loves Ford because he is gentle with her.  John Brantley… not so much!

 Some serious potty training is going down at the Lamar Inn and Suites!!!  I refuse to let Bitty be 3 years old and still in a diaper like Ford was.  He has shown a lot of interest in using the potty and for that I am grateful.  The only downside is that he thinks he must be 100% naked to get on the toilet.  That’s a lot of dressing and undressing throughout the day, but that’s part of my job.

 Bath time is a favorite activity around here.  95% of the time I bathe both of them at the same time to save time, water, and my energy level.  I like to feed the boys supper between 5:00-5:30 every night, followed by a bath, playtime, some reading, family fun day (what Ford calls playing in my bed), and usually in bed by 6:45.  I hope Ford NEVER learns to tell time because he won’t think 6:45 is an appropriate bedtime!!!  But, to my defense, my boys need about 12 hours of sleep and unless I put them down real early they won’t get it and I will pay for it the next day.

 No matter what I do, Bitty is right on my tail waiting to help out with whatever task I am doing.  And of course he has on "the boots".

 We love outside and fortunately, we have been able to get outside the last two days.   

 Puddin and Pops gave the boys matching toboggans for Christmas.  John Brantley thinks it’s a staple to his outfits every day.      

 This little guy cracks me up.  As you all know, he talks every waking minute of the day.  I never have to wonder what Ford is thinking because it automatically comes straight out of his mouth.  These are some things I hear EVERY DAY….

“Momma, I have some BADDDDD news.”  He then proceeds to tell me something like Delta ate John Brantley’s breakfast… John Brantley is in my China cabinet….The Lego bag has a hole in it…..John Brantley squirted lotion all over the floor.  Etc…..

“HURRY….it’s an emergency!!!!”  It’s really not, but Ford thinks something needs to be done pronto!

“How much gas do we have?”  The child is OCD/paranoid that we are going to run out of gas.  After he asks how much I have he wants to know how far that will get us.         

 You've heard me say that Ford is VERY interested in God, Heaven, Jesus dying on the cross, and much more.  Well, he is constantly asking all kinds of questions.  Today as we were driving in the car he starts in with his questions.  I told Trey it was HIS turn to answer some of them.

Ford:  “Daddy, where is Calvary?”
Trey:  “In the Middle East.”
Ford:  “The Middle OF East?  What happens if it was at the END of East?” 

If you've been following my blog for a while you will remember that at the first of 2013 I stated that I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, but I decided to give something up each month.  I gave up chocolate, cinnamon rolls, fast food, carbonated beverages etc.  That all ended in July when we went on vacation.  There was just too much to choose from.  Well, since my mom has been sick I have been giving a lot of thought as to what I put into my body and my family’s as well.  I have made some small changes and plan to continue implementing more.  I am also back on my “giving stuff up” routine and plan to stick with it.  In January I did not eat fast food, drink a carbonate beverage, or cook cinnamon rolls.  I plan to keep those three going in February and add to the list.  This month I am not going to add additional salt to any of my food and give up dinner rolls.  

When time allows I’ll go into more detail about some of the changes I have made around here.