Publix Tour

In early December our friend, Michelle Acton, arranged for our playgroup to tour one of the area Publix stores. I really wasn't too sure about taking a 2 year old to tour a grocery store, but it turned out pretty good. In the first picture we're in the bakery where all the kids got to sample some frosting.




















Later on in the tour all the kids got to touch one of the lobsters. David's reaction is great!

Merry Christmas

Christmas 07

We pray that everyone had a blessed Christmas. To view more pictures just click on the picture of David.

Preparing for Christmas

These last few weeks we have been busy preparing for Christmas and doing all the traditional things we like to do.
We cut down our own tree at a nearby farm & decorated it,













we have made & decorated cookies,










we have been to see the lights,













we have visited the Opryland Hotel,













and we had a birthday party for Jesus with some of our friends.










Christmas Day is quickly approaching and we're all excited. Let us remember why we're celebrating - our Savior has been born.

No, not yet.

That's David's answer to everything this morning:

Are you ready to change your stinky diaper? No, not yet.
Are you ready to put clothes on? No, not yet. (I've let him get away with that one, for now.)
Do you want juice? No, not yet. (Then proceeded to drink it all.)
Are you ready to get down (from the breakfast table)? No, not yet. (Then proceeded to whine when I didn't push his chair back because he was ready to get down.)

I was in the bathroom and he yells, "Mom, where are you?" So, I yell back that I was in the bathroom. He says, "No, not yet."

The last few days he's answered yes to just about everything; I guess we've moved on to "no, not yet."

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Geoff, David, and I spent a few days near Orlando visiting Geoff's grandmother. She loved seeing us, especially David. And I cooked my first turkey using Patty Anderson's recipe (mostly). It was delicious. We spent a couple of hours at the beach on Saturday. I wish we had gotten there sooner and could have stayed longer. I think I like the beach better than I thought I did. At first David wasn't sure about the big waves and the wet sand on his feet, but he loosened up after we took a little walk.

You might be a redneck if . . .

. . . you play on the front porch in just a diaper and tennis shoes.

Feel the Cool Crisp Air

Fall is here and it's beautiful! Normally I dread this time of year because I know that it means in just a few more months it could be bitterly cold and I HATE being cold. But for some reason this year I'm not dreading it quite as much as I used to. Maybe after enduring the dreadfully hot summer that we had I'm ready for the cool weather. Or maybe having David is giving me more to look forward to as I see things through his eyes. I wonder if he remembers how much enjoyed playing in the piles of leaves I would rack up for him last year.

Saturday afternoon/evening we took a lovely drive through part of the Natchez Trace. A lot of times when Geoff wants to take a drive I have a hard time relaxing and enjoying it. I don't think I've ever been good at taking drives just for the sake of driving. I want to reach the destination. Of course, this time, there was no destination. We had a picnic for dinner, soup and grilled cheese. Then David and I picked out some pretty leaves together.

David was getting quite antsy so since we were near the Bellevue Mall we decided to stop there to let him play for a while. He had the best time running, jumping, climbing, and sliding with all the other kids. Too bad that play area is so far from us.

Rooar

Happy Halloween! David really started to get the hang of trick or treating when he realized he was getting candy. He kept stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to try to open a piece, which he finally succeeded. He also kept trying to go into people's houses and helping himself to the candy. Thankfully everyone was really nice about it. Thanks Robin and John for letting us join you.

Songs for Teaching

I came across this web site, Songs for Teaching, and thought some of you might find it helpful. I haven't looked through it completely but what I have seen looks awesome.

A Question

How do you put the fear of momma into your child? You know, so that all you have to do is give your child THE look and they know they had better not do whatever it is they're about to do that will most certainly get them into trouble.

It's finally happened!

David has figured out how to open the bedroom doors! Yikes! We're actually kind of torn about this new development. On the one hand he can let himself out of his room in the mornings when we aren't ready to get up and, hopefully, he'll go play in the living room (and not bother us for a while). On the other hand he'll be able to get out of his room when he's supposed to be sleeping or into another room that we don't want him to go into. Oh, well! Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon and it won't be much of an issue.

Jumping

As I type this Geoff is sitting in the recliner with the footrest up. David is climbing onto the footrest and jumping off. Over and over and over again. This is something that his Nana would NOT like to see him doing. After he jumps he says, "I'm alright," then stands up and claps and cheers for himself - very cute. I tried to get the video camera out to capture this on film, but the darn battery is dead, which is a constant source of frustration to me.

I'm 2! (trying to hold up 2 fingers)

Yes, that's right! David is now 2! Hard to believe. He's a little boy!









As you can see in this pictures he's got quite a shiner on his cheek and forehead. The morning of his birthday was spent at the Becker's house where they were celebrating Justin's 4th birthday (Aug. 28). As we were leaving David took a tumble down the aggregate steps. That was not fun, but, thankfully, he's alright and has completely healed.









We celebrated David's birthday at home with an ice cream social with some of his friends. Everyone had a great time!

Time Flies

It's hard to believe that it's already July and we've been back from our trips for over a week. While Geoff was in Greece on a missions trip, David and I visited a couple of my girlfriends that I hadn't seen in 2-3 years. We had a great time but we're very glad to be back home with Poppa.

Teri and I went to college together. These are her two children, Christina and Andrew, with David.










This is David and Penny Pine Dove's daughter, Natalie. You can't tell it very well from this pictures, but Natalie is in a walker and David quickly learned how to stand on the back and hitch a ride.

Dying Easter Eggs

So, I know that Easter is long gone, but I don't think I ever posted pictures from Easter. I'm finally getting around to ordering some prints so thought this would be a good time to update the blog. David and I dyed Easter eggs in the bath tub. I got this idea out of one of the parenting magazines, but I can't remember which one. All and all I think the experience went real well. Although his feet were dark green by the time we finished, most of it had vanished by bed time. I would love to post all the pictures but I think that would be a bit much so here are a select few. We had a lot of fun!

Thanks for the pool, Nana

Nana (my mom) bought David this great pool with a slide. It was warm enough a few days ago that we tried it out. He loved it! He loved the slide too, that is, until he slid down once right into the water and went under the water. He hasn't used the slide since. We'll have to work back up to that.









Thanks, Nana!

Play Time With Poppa

One of David's favorite games to play with Poppa: he climbs onto the recliner when the foot rest is out and climb up Poppa then falls down onto Poppa with a big hug.










Love you, Poppa!

Just Singing in the Rain

The other day is was raining, but not lightning, so I decided to take David out in the rain rather than stayed cooped up inside all day. It was great!









He learned how much fun it can be to stomp in puddles. Now I know that most rainy days I won't want him to stomp in the puddles, but you have to do it every now and then. I'm glad I had dry towels waiting for us on the porch. I stripped him down to his diaper right on the front porch then took him in and put dry clothes on him. We had a lot of fun and I got some great pictures for a great scrapbook page.

In Loving Memory

My grandmother (Memaw), David's great-grandmother, Bessie Sutton, passed away this morning at 10:50. She had a variety of health issues for a good part of her life including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Most recently she had been having seizures, but they couldn't figure out why. About two weeks ago they put her in a medically induced coma to see if that would stop the seizure activity that was continuing in her brain. When they took her out of the medically induced coma she never woke up. They took her off the respirator this morning and I guess she just slipped away.

I'm doing fine right now, but would like prayers for traveling as we will be going to Paducah in the next couple of days. Please pray for my family. She leaves behind two daughters and two son-in-laws, 4 grandsons, 1 granddaughter (myself), and several great-grandchildren (6, I think). She also had a son, my dad, who passed away in 1984. Her husband passed away in 1995.

Since David was born I had gotten pretty good about taking pictures every time we went to see her. I'm so glad that I remembered most of the time; now we have several pictures of David with his great-grandmother.

I don't know anything about arrangements, yet, but will post those, in case anyone is interested, as soon as I do know.

Thank you for your prayers.

Did you know . . .

. . . that you could sign up to receive a FREE Kraft magazine with lots of really yummy recipes? Dyann Murphy gave me her copy to try. I put myself on their mailing list and can't wait to receive my own copy.
Thanks, Dyann.

FREE Samples

Get free samples from Wal-mart. They have new items every week or so.

FREE Pancakes

Tuesday, February 20 is National Pancake Day and to celebrate IHOP will be giving away free pancakes! Sounds yummy!

Scott Andrew Becker

Scott Andrew Becker was born on Tuesday, January 23 at 11:48 am, 8 lb 12 oz, 20.5" long, 14" head. This little baby, and the whole Becker family, need our prayers. Scott is having issues with fluid in his lungs. I don't know all the details and don't understand the few details that I do know. I know that he's in critical condition and needs our prayers. I don't know what else to say, except pray.

Some Helpful Tips

It's time to go through all your children's clothes and toys; the spring consignment sales begin next month. Here is a great web site that lists a lot of sales: http://www.midtnconsignmentsales.com/index.html.

The first Sunday of every new year this are 4 inserts of coupons in the paper. Don't forget to get your copy.

And last, but not least: Check out The House Fairy; she can help your children keep their room clean. This comes from Pamela I. Young who also does The Brat Factor. It may seem silly but who care if it works. Pamela is friends with FlyLady.