Thank you!

Thank you for being such a wonderful husband! You make me laugh, spoil me, gave me beautiful girls, and always give me compliments and little surprises. You make every day a special one and I love you for that! Here is to our best year ever! I love you!

Bill has the best sense of humor, but he looks mean as hell is this picture! :) He was just relaxing after a long hard day(and 2 dirty martinis w/ blue cheeses olives, of course)!

Great idea!

Bill brought these home for the girls yesterday, and they are just the coolest idea ever! They are vinyl covered fabric place mats and when you flip them over they are a chalk board with a removable pouch for the chalk! They really work too! How cute is that!? Great for when we go out to dinner because the bread only holds Madi and Mallory's attention for a good 3 min. and then all you hear from Mallory is,"down,down,down", and Madi is already down and running over to the next table to introduce herself!

Good job Daddy!

What a night!

WOW! What a relaxing night! Bill took me to The Gaylord Palms Resort for a little getaway!We enjoyed a few drinks, a wonderful fillet cooked to perfection,and these lovely desserts that the restaurant brought to us as a surprise. The name of the restaurant was Old Hickory Steakhouse. One dessert was from the restaurant and when we walked over to the sailboat bar to have a few after dinner drinks, they brought us another anniversary dessert. It really was worth every penny! We will definitely go back!

This beautiful resort had a sailboat inside, live alligators and a rain forest that was to die for! All right inside of the lobby! Great shopping too!

Bill also surprised me with a beautiful pearl and sterling silver necklace. After dinner we walked by one of the jewelry stores located in the hotel and he bought me this beautiful turquoise bracelet. He truly is a wonderful man! Because he is a huge Cowboys fan, I bought him these great Dallas Cowboys cuff links! He wears cuff links Mon-Fri to work, so he can't have enough! I know he has over 25 pairs easy!




How nice to just getaway! I did not have to referee squabbling sisters, or even wake up for a night time feeding! It was wonderful, and I even found a part-time nanny out of the deal! Bill got one of his friends 22 yr old daughter to babysit, and she was great! The girls had met her at church and loved her, so when she showed up they were so excited! So was Mommy! Her parents own a realty company here in FL, and she lives 5 min away from us! Just down the street! I am so excited to have her!

Now after all the great food and drinks, and looking at myself in those pictures, I am going to get on my treadmill! Back to reality! Oh yes, I knew I was home when I walked in and Mallory fell off the couch and Bill had to take her to the Dr because she knocked her elbow out of the socket(she is fine, they just popped it right back in place and she was smiling as usual)and Georgia our Yorkie had a seizure! A little grape jelly and she was running around barking again! Yorkies have a thing with low blood sugar! Madi didn't make it to the potty and wet her pj's and Ashlyn is mad because I won't give her $20 to spend at the school book fair! I gave her $10, that is plenty! Welcome home!
Bow curtosy of Ashlyn! It lasted all of 10 seconds!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our wedding anniversary! Bill called and told me that my first set of directions were to make a list of what all the girls need at night and that he would call me back later with my next set of directions! Holy crap, what is he planning? What will I wear? I have all of this baby weight,(I still love you little Allie) and nothing fits! I mean nothing! I can wear my cute strapless sundress from Motherhood Maternity! Oh yeah, I am not pregnant anymore, I just look like it! Last year he bought me this beautiful David Yurman ring, that I absolutely love and that he picked out all on his own, so I just assumed having 22,000 kids that I would get more jewelry! I know we can't ever go anywhere without the little ones, so who is watching my kids?What are we doing? What the hell am I going to wear? That means I need to go wash my hair and clean my house! I will let you know what he does! Off to clean my body and the house!

I will try to find pictures from our wedding and post them this weekend! It was such a beautiful day! This is us at Atlantis Paradise Island resort in Nassau Bahamas. Horrible picture, but I am short on time right now, and it is all I could find!

Bow or no bow?

OK ladies, I need your honest opinion! Bow or no bow? Am I so desperate to put a bow on Allie Grace's head that I don't even see how ridiculous this looks, or is it cute? I have never been one to use the "bow bands", but I tried it on her anyway! Don't worry mother, I did not go anywhere, this was just for pictures and opinions! My mom does not like the infant bows at all! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I kinda like it...I don't know! Allie Grace did not cry at all about the bow, nor did she try to take it off, but she didn't smile either!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Girls and shoes...

We went to Target tonight for carpet cleaner and ended up leaving with 5 new pairs of shoes! Madi just had to have these, which she wore out of the store!

Ashlyn had to have these because they were "heels"! Every girls must have at least one pair of heels at age 8, right!! Sorry Ashlyn, 8 1/2!

Mallory was thrilled with her white sandals, but I think she was even more excited that her daddy got her some chocolate milk in a big girl cup!

Madi also got the cutest pair of white sandals, and Ashlyn got some pink sequin tennis shoes! By the way, Mallory is 18 months old and just now in a size 4! She has the tiniest feet just like her sister Madi who just now moved up to a size 7 at 3 1/2 yrs old! Too cute!

Bring the rain

Those of you that read Angie Smith's blog, about her little girl Audrey Caroline, you must read today's post! Her writing is so beautiful and her faith is so strong! If you have not read it, you must! I started one night from the very beginning of her blog and read it all the way through! Angie tells an unbelievable story, and her husband is Todd Smith from the contemporary christian group, "Selah". Anyway, today's post was probably one of the best things I have ever read! Go here to read!

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

Trails,trails and more trails

This is Ashlyn on one of the many trails that run through our neighborhood! We take the girls about 4 times a week on a bike ride and we always end up downtown getting ice cream at Kilwins! That darn trails runs us right into Starbucks and the ice cream parlor! I still have not figured out why I am not losing any of this baby weight! You think it might have to do with the 3 mile walk topped off with 1 large scoop of coffee ice cream? Maybe!

This is the back of one of my favorite houses in our neighborhood! This lake is also where Lucy lives! Our neighborhood alligator, and yes we saw her today ! Freaks me out every time!

We also see plenty of these on our walks. The girls just love these big birds. I think they are called cranes! You know you are in Florida when you see cranes and alligators on your nightly walks! Also, when you get home and your clothes are soaking wet because it is so freakin hot outside! Welcome to Florida summers! UGGG!

Memorial Day weekend

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!!
Thank you Lord for the men and women that protect us.

What a tragedy!

I have always loved the music of Stephen Curtis Chapman, and I think he is one of the most Godly men. When I first started my Christian walk, he is who I remember listening to the most! He has such a beautiful family, and the 3 youngest girls were adopted from China.

His youngest daughter was killed last night. One of his teenage sons accidentally ran over her in their driveway. My heart breaks for them. I'm sad for the loss of their daughter and I'm especially sad for their son - he will struggle with this for the rest of his life.

Here is his wife's blog if you want to leave a comment or a prayer for the family. What a tragedy!

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/marybeth/

What an AWESOME ending! I just love him!!!!!

Mom and Daddy

What a great family filled weekend! I can't wait to see you guys soon! I love you both, and I miss you terribly!

4 Generations

Me,Mamma Doris,Mom holding Allie Grace,Brandi (my niece) and my beautiful sister Andrea

A Family weekend to remember!

Allie Grace and her Great Grandmother, Mamma Doris. We had so much fun this weekend with the family! I miss them so much and it was great to get to spend time with everybody!

Andrea and I went to eat dinner at the neatest little restaurant in downtown Liberty! I mean where else can you get a steak,shrimp,hush puppies, mashed potatoes,salad and an awesome sweet tea, for $13.00!!!!!! It was so good, and after dinner we sat with a few of her friends from the baseball team and had a few drinks! These guys were hilarious! We had such a good time!! Saturday after Ben's baseball game, we had a cookout at my sisters, and my aunts,uncles,cousins,godmother,mom,grandmother,step dad,well everyone was there! It was so much fun! Andrea grilled out hamburgers, and they were so good! Before I knew it is was Sunday morning and I was getting on the plane to come home... I sure do miss my family!

Thank you Andrea and Mike for a great weekend! I love you guys very much!

Counting down...

I am so excited! One more day until I hop on a plane to go have some much needed family time! I am so excited about seeing my sister and my mom that I just cant stand it! After this past week, I need a little quite time! Madi has stopped going to "school", so needless to say, my days have been pretty crazy! Madi, Mallory and Allie Grace 24/7 is enough to drive me nuts!! Bill and the girls will be going to Tampa to spend the weekend with his brother and the cousins, so I know he will have tons of help! I am taking Ashlyn and Allie Grace so the family that did not get to make the trip in March can meet her! Let's just pray that she sleeps on the plane!!!! Just one more day!

Brandi and Ben, I can not wait to see you guys! You too Uncle Mike!!

My Mommy!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!!! To my Mommy, I love you so much. I love all the motherly things you have done for us. I am so thankful for all you gave up in order for us to have. You are my best friend and I am so proud to be your daughter! I hope one day my daughters will love me as much as I love you!

Back together again!

My little sister Lauren and her husband Michael holding my beautiful niece Kaiden! Welcome Home! This was in the local paper! Don't they look great!? Michael left a few days after she was born, and she is now 4 months old. I know they are so happy to be together again! Enjoy each other and we will see you soon! Krew is 16 months, and I am sure he is standing right at his Daddy's feet, he just didn't make the shot but we didn't forget about you sweetie! We love you too KrewMann!!

Say Cheese!!!

When my Mother was here in March she taught Mallory to make this hilarious face every time she took out the camera and said,"cheese"! Now I can not take a normal picture of Mallory w/out her making this face!! What a ham!

I'm ready Mommy!

When it was time to stroll the babies, Madi was ready to go! Notice the backpack and Cinderella high heels! Oh to be little again! This is why God gave me girls! So much fun!!

Let's go to the beach!

Ashlyn and her cousin Ben just loved the new beach chairs Aunt Becky bought them! I don't think those chairs were put away the entire week! That was such a relaxing time and I can't wait to do it again! It was just us girls, and Ben of course! We left the husbands at home and enjoyed Oak Island for an entire week! We ate great seafood and also snuck in a few Mojitos! Aunt Becky was the bartender and she took much pride in her job for the week! Andrea, do you remember mom playing that word game? What was the name of that? Anyway, it was hilarious! All of your answers to the questions had to start with a letter T, so mom decided she would just put the word "THE" in front of her answers! Needless to say, she lost!

Gotta love Libby Lu!!!

Ashlyn was having WAY TOO much fun with her Libby Lu fairy dust and Mommy's red lipstick!

Addiction!!

This is in my closet, and what you don't see is that it goes all the way to the floor! This is why God did not give me boys! What would I do with a boy?!

These are sets of bows, you know, for pigtails!!

Ok, I think I have an addiction to Bows! What do you think? I guess 4 girls will do that to ya!

Daddy's girl

Just too sweet not to post! Bill and Allie Grace at 5 weeks old!

Our Hero is finally home!!

My brother in law is finally home where he belongs! Michael now gets to enjoy his beautiful wife (my little sister), and his gorgeous kids! I am so proud of him, and proud of what he does for this country! We love you Michael, and WELCOME HOME!!!