Expressive

Grace is my child. This is never in question. We were playing "shop" this afternoon right before nap time (hence the crazy hair after a morning of play that I was not about to redo for a nap) and I decided to try and take a few pictures of all the faces she makes while she talks. My high school algebra teacher once told MA that if she wanted to know if she had explained something well all she had to do was look a a Milford girl (me or ma) and our expression would answer the question for her. She could easily tell if we were still confused or if we had gotten the idea! Ha! Grace has definitely inherited this trait from her momma. Take a look...

Grace Comments on My Gardening Abilities

"Hey, Mom! Look! This one didn't die! This flower is alive! Look! It just opened up! Oh, It's so beautiful! This one didn't die, Mom! I didn't die!"

Random Events From Today

It was a cold, rainy, wintery day here in Georgia. That didn't stop the little people (L to R Mary, Jason, Hinkle) from laying back and looking at the sky...

Grace, Jack and I then joined them in their search for animals in the clouds :)



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Then we made muffins for a snack after nap time! Notice that baby Joy has a pretend muffin as well :)




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Jonathan is doing an 8 week series on the book of James at church on Wednesday nights. Can I just say that it has been a pleasure to watch him develop as a speaker in the past two years. We are so fortunate to have a pastor who has given him opportunities to grow as an expositor! Combine that with all of the speaking and teaching he is doing weekly at the BCM and it is amazing at how much experience he has gained and most importantly how comfortable he seems in front of people (without his guitar).

Anyway, when I got the kids home from church tonight (Jon stays late to do college bible study) Grace rocked Jack and sang to him for about ten minutes while he was still in his car seat. I love that these kids seem to like each other so much :)






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Last but not least... We picked some great books at the library this week.

Grace was totally captivated by this one...






And we read this before bed tonight for the fifth time since Tuesday afternoon...





She thinks it is SO funny! She laughs and laughs and laughs through the entire book!

Come and Eat It Up

Aunt Angie gave Grace this book and CD for her birthday...

I can't help but sing the song every time I cook this...


Did you know that red beans and rice is traditionally eaten on Monday in Louisiana? This is because Monday was traditionally wash day. You could put your beans on the stove in the morning and let them cook down all day while you washed. Angie and Granny always eat red beans and rice on Mondays. We ate ours on Tuesday this week... But I did make them on Monday... While I washed and folded 8 (yes 8) loads of laundry. I think they are better after they have been in the fridge over night.

*Side note* Grace loves this meal. She usually won't touch meat, but she will eat every last piece of sausage out of my pot of beans!!!

Sitting Up

I think Jack is finally figuring out how to sit up by himself. It's almost like something clicked a couple of days ago, and he started sitting by himself for longer and longer periods of time.

What a sweetie pie big boy!

And can I add that I love love love the way that one eyebrow is always a bit higher than the other when he is making a face. Case in point...

Big Socks To Fill

Grace found a pair of Jonathan's socks and decided to try them on. Her comment on what she was doing:

"Hmmm... These are kinda big for me. They must be a 3T."

She then wore them around the house ALL evening until I made her take them off at bedtime :)


She also drew a picture of a parachute monkey, Paw Paw.





Also, tonight during prayers I asked her what and who she wanted to pray for. She said some of her usual things and then paused and said, "and Tracy". Tracy was the lady who checked us out at Walmart today. This is a sweet girl, y'all.

This weekend...

We've been unpacking...

Enjoying the spring blooms...


Don't you think dogwoods are just beautiful?


And catching up on our sleep...


Jonathan got home at about midnight last night and we stayed up late talking about his trip. Then it rained all night and all morning through church! I love cloudy, rainy spring days... Especially when my family is all home together on a lazy Sunday afternoon : )

Home

Well, the kids and I made it home. Whew. If you know me you know how I feel about driving. I do not find it enjoyable. And can I just add that screaming (and I do mean screaming, as in I have never heard my children make such horrific noises, screaming) does not make a trip any more pleasant. Especially when it involves driving through Atlanta and miles and miles of construction work.

I have friends who seem to just take off on trips alone with their kids at the drop of a hat and think nothing of it. I can assure you that no matter how much I want to be that person, I will never be that person. Traveling stresses me out.

I took one picture today...

I stopped to nurse the baby and found a parking spot in front of the car wash! It was Graces favorite 15 minutes of the day! If you know Grace then you know her love hate relationship with the car wash. Today she got to see all of the excitement without actually having to personally experience it :)

We actually made it home with no major problems. I put Grace at the table with a Popsicle and put Jack in his jumparoo and got the car unloaded. Then I got the kids down for a nap and got the mail and started laundry etc... We had pizza for dinner and all got clean. Then we watched Graces new Beatrix Potter DVD and read her new Clifford Dictionary book before bed. Now I'm going to turn in myself. I am so thankful to have had such a great spring break! But I am ready to have Jonathan home tomorrow and get back to our routine.

Good night, all!

Spring Break: Day 6

Paw Paw and Grace hit up the science center while Nana, Jack and I did some very swift but effective shopping in the morning. Good news is I am creeping slowly towards wearing pre pregnancy clothes and i am back in respectable single digit size pants. Bad news is I was smaller than I had had been in years when I got pregnant, so the pre pregnancy clothes aren't quite fitting this post baby body. Have any other moms noticed this phenomenon? You can weight the same after baby, but your body does NOT look the same and your clothes do NOT fit the same? Oh well! I think I have enough clothes now to survive the summer! And it is always nice to get a few new things :)

Back to the story... This boy...

Is a great shopper!

After nap time we all headed up to Lakeshore to watch MA coach her little boys basketball team. I thought I would take a few pictures so y'all could see where she works.

Lobby



Fieldhouse



Coaching in Fieldhouse



Better view...



Aquatics Center



View of Aquatics from inside the elevator (Grace thought this was pretty awesome).









Rock Wall



View from back deck... If you know anything about Birmingham, The Lakeshore Foundation is right on Lakeshore Drive in between Samford University and Southern Living Offices.



Through these doors is... MA's cubicle!


After basketball practice, the kids and parents threw MA and two other staff a surprise birthday party! We stayed for a bit!


MA and her Basketball team :)


They had Newks cater dinner for the party, but we came home and had one more fabulous Tommy meal! I surely am going to miss having all my meals cooked for me or having people to watch the kids while I cook! Shrimp, tomato, and basil pasta and sugar snap peas. Mmm... My daddy surely can cook!

Spring Break: Day 5

We asked Grace which park she wanted to visit again. She chose railroad park "because it has a see saw". Good choice, Grace, because guess who we ran into when we arrived? Susanna, Wheeler and Tommy Brown and Susanna's family! What a treat to get to catch up with our Louisville friends in Birmingham! I tried to get Wheeler and Grace to take a picture, but they weren't too into it... This is the norm nowadays for grace.

We also had a picnic and grace got to wade in the water.


With a hand from paw paw of course.


On the way home...


This afternoon we went back to the park near MAs house in Vestavia Hills. Other than the huge bumblebees, this is our favorite to visit.

Grace LOVED the tire swing!


Playing ice cream shop with nana.


Swinging!!!


This was Jacks favorite thing!


I think y'all need one more picture of that good lookin smile :)


Dad smoked a brisket in Arkansas and brought it here for Mary allison's birthday dinner. It was so good. I felt like I made a trip to Texas! Then we had cake (made and decorated by none other than the Grace girl).






This was jack's reaction to the 25 candles... And notice his red chair in the spare wheelchair... It has served as a great high chair while we've been here:)


Last but not least, paw paw and Grace have been watching old Donald Duck cartoons on his computer every night before bed. Grace just laughs and laughs and laughs. I think she would continue all night if we would let her!