Super Cool Give-A-Way.....Super Cool Blog

You absolutely must check out Cally Cruze's blog! She is the wife of Jeremy's high school buddy Conan and sister-in-law to my fabulous friend Katie. I have been a blog stalker of hers for some time now. She is so talented, and I love to visit her site for coolness inspiration. She makes being a stay-at-home mommy seem super fly! Check out her blog for this week's awesome give-a-way! Don't get too excited because I am gonna win!

Just the Girls

Some men play golf........some play cards...........some hunt/fish............some watch football. But, no matter their choice of release, they all seem to have one. (I am grateful that my hubby's not too obsessed with any of these and spends most, if not all, of his free time with his family----don't feel sorry for him, he does get out some :) But in most cases, it seems as if women are less involved with hobbies that allow them to get out of the house.

Thus, we began playing Bunko-------because every girl needs a night off every now and then...right? We play once a month and leave the daddies in charge of the kiddies. Sometimes, Jeremy will try to get in a little "guy time" by making a play date with Sam Haynie or Hunter Jordan, but most of the time he is on his own.

We have a great time together----mostly swapping stories about our kids and our hubbies. It is nice to have support from other women who are experiencing the same daily struggles of juggling babies, housework, hubby time, etc. We always joke that we should forgo the game and just chat, but for some reason, we keep on playing.

This is our group....minus me (who was obviously taking the picture). Top row: Melissa, Michelle, Autumn, Michelle, Becky, Kaley, Becky, Leslie

Bottom Row: Lori, Marcia, Lauren

Behind the Scenes: Me!

On this particular night, we were not only "bunking," as Jeremy calls it---we were also showering Leslie, who is pregnant with baby boy #2, with diapers.

Since I was hosting, I made her a diaper cake and used it as my centerpiece. This was my first attempt--and it was pretty easy. Watch out! If you turn up prego, I might have to make you one too!

Stay tuned for more Bunko pics next month---when we will be showering Autumn Hoover's baby-girl-to-be in our Halloween costumes. I'm sure it will be very picture worthy!

Good Ole Tennessee Fun!

So... it was HOT.........we lost.............but, we still had fun with the Kingsport Crew before kick-off. Seriously, it couldn't have been anymore miserable at the game, unless you were in full body paint (as some were) or pregnant (like my poor sister-in-law)!

My sweet hubby and I had planned to spend the night in Knoxville, but we kinda missed the kiddies and decided to forgo our sleepover and come on home much to my parents' pleasure I am sure--thanks anyway--there will be a next time!!

The Ladies of the Group:

Michelle McMurray (Jason's wife), Becky Mills (Todd's wife), Me, Karen (Bridwell's girlfriend), Chelsea Keith (Doug's girlfriend)

We're back.........

We just returned from a fun little family excursion to Myrtle Beach......

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths..."

Psalm 36:5-6

A Beautiful Night in Death Valley

With the help of G-Daddy, I boldly took Karson and Brady to watch the Rebels' first home game against Unico County. We beat the pants off of them. The twins loved watching the game...well...part of it anyway.

I wanted to pull out the monkey backpacks (a.k.a leashes--I'm all about safety--no judging!) but G-Daddy said no grandbaby of his was going to go into the game on a leash. So, Brady hitched a ride on his shoulders.

A game-day tradition!Karson did lots of clapping and cheering! Except, she thought Daddy was playing--mainly because she has endured countless hours of Jeremy watching his old football tapes on TV at home. So, she yelled, "Go Daddy!" over and over.
At half time, we went to visit Daddy who was in the press box on the visitor side doing the radio show.

Dave and Cara are having.........

A Boy!

Okay, my brother is beside himself----thrilled!

Cara is very happy but I predict another try for a girl in the future.

I know that Cara's son Noah is very excited about being a big brother!

Dave and Cara at one of their wedding showers Aug. 2007

I better go now and try to scrub all of the stains out of Noah's hand-me-downs that Brady has been wearing. Seriously, this baby may not be a girl, but he will be one well-dressed little dude!

Dave, I hope you like jon-jons and knee socks because that's what I'm passing down from Brady. Don't worry, you wore a lot of knee socks and you turned out okay!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Over Labor Day weekend, we spent a lot of time playing in Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Harold's pool.

Saturday night, we swam and ate pizza with my parents. Monday, both sets of grandparents and Uncle Tree (Chris) and his crew joined us for taco salad, fried chicken and brownie sundaes!

This was Saturday--moments before my precious child fell on the concrete and scrapped most of the skin off of her cute little nose :(

Thankfully, she is fearless, and it's a good thing!
Can anyone say engineer? Seriously, this kid is obsessed with figuring out how things work. Here he is trying to figure out Robi--the robotic pool cleaner. The boy loves to unscrew, screw-on, buckle, unlock, open, etc.
He is also the absolute sweetest snuggle puppy, cutie-pie in the entire world! He is swimming with his G-Daddy and wearing his sun glasses. While wearing them, he often says, "I cool Mommy." It looks like he is blowing me a kiss--actually, he is just trying to drink the pool water!

Here is Karson getting some attention from Uncle Tree and Daddy.

It's Football Time in Tennessee!

Brady and Karson got all dressed up for the season opener! Thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Cara!

Too bad the game did not have a desirable outcome :(

Just as Clean.........

"We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 15:11

Just like many mommies, I often go a day or so without a shower. When I do get a nice long, relaxing shower (without the kids in the pack-in-play in the bathroom screaming "Out!"), I am reminded how thankful I am that it doesn't matter how long I have gone without washing my hair--because when I'm done, it will be just as clean as if I had let it go just one day.

The other night, as I was mopping my floor, I had the same thought. You see, my kitchen floor gets horribly, horribly nasty! It is an early 90's yellow/beige and shows every little crumb, spill and drop--add two toddlers and one not-so-super-neat-freak hubby and well...you get the picture. (I laugh at those swiffer commercials that say their product can clean two rooms with one pad! Ha! I use my trusty pal Mr. Clean and a mop with a scrub brush and then go back and swiffer.) Anyway, after getting my floor spic-and-span, I noticed the horrible dirty water in my bucket. And, it reminded me of God's grace.

You know, it doesn't matter how dirty my mop water is--because in the end, my floor ends up just as clean as the person's floor that just needed a quick "swiffer." Isn't it amazing that no matter how much we have messed up in the past or how "dirty and gross" our heart is-----that through Jesus, our God is able to make us perfectly clean? No matter the extent of the mess, no one ends up a little bit dingy or needing a second cleaning! So, as Brady would say, "Yeah Jesus!" Thank you for being able to cleanse all hearts equally---no matter how much dirty mop water ends up in the bucket!

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18