home sweet home

We had a great time on vacation in Niagara Falls Canada! Adam and I have been there 3 times but this time was extra special with Lacey and seeing everything through her little eyes for the first time!

Thank you everybody for the birthday gifts, text messages, voicemails and especially the serenades :) I think 3 people actually sang to me! You are so sweet.

I'll post a few pictures as soon as I get a chance. Stay tuned.........

thinking about men

At the young age of 3, Lacey has the great influence of several good men in her life already. They love, spoil, adore and spend time with her.

Daddy always comes 1st. He takes good care of her as a stay-at-home Dad. He is patient, loving and so sweet to her. He sits patiently at the tea parties and knows the Barbie's by name. He comforts and protects her like no other. She is Daddy's little girl!

Uncle Buckie. He shares yummy popsicles and watches Lacey and Justin play together. She likes to hang out at his house and is so happy he lives beside us now. She watches out the front windows and lets us know when he is home or riding his 4-wheeler. She hollers for him as soon as he opens that car door. He teaches her how to make funny faces and makes her laugh.

Papaw. She just loves her Papaw. He always takes the time to play cards, dinosaurs, shoot guns or whatever she desires. I think he adores her just the same. Papaw is like a special buddy to her that is always willing to play a game. He tells funny stories by using a great imagination and brings lots of smiles and giggles.

Grandpa. A little rough on the outside but she loves him anyways. He collects a stash of her favorite suckers just for her. And sometimes, he makes homemade candy for her. He comes over to visit, to a cook-out and birthday parties. Alot of people may think he's a gruff 'ole bear , but Lacey knows he is just a big 'ole soft teddy bear with a big heart.

Mikey. Her buddy. As soon as he hits the front door, Lacey is ready to play, and so is Mikey. I'm not sure how many people he would allow to use this nickname but she is special. He buys cool birthday and Christmas presents for a little girl. He reads her Bible storybook so sweetly while she sits quietly beside him. He's her first choice when she calls someone on her Mickey Mouse cell phone. He's always around, and that's just the way she likes it.

I could go on and on. Uncles, Pastor, friends, more grandpa's......she's so fortunate. I think these great men would do anything for this precious little girl.......and she knows it :)

starting early?

So, the other day I checked my mailbox at Lacey's school and it was full. I had alot of information about school photos this week and a cookie fundraiser. At first I thought it was a mistake and the papers were meant for the older kids in Pre-K. And then it hit me! The new school year just started and it was time for selling! So we debated about participating in school photos today. Finally decided to just wait until she actually enters school. What a thought huh? As far as the fundraiser..... we are giving in and helping out. I have to admit that I dread the bright school papers that are passed around for months from everyone's kids. Every child is in training to become a sales person one day. Someone is always selling something! And now, we are too I guess. At least the cookies are pre-portioned and ready to just take from the box and slap on the cookie sheet. No big tubs of a huge frozen pile of cookie dough. Yeah, we bought those too in the past. It actually sucked but at least we helped some school somewhere. And we have pretzels too for sell. Aunt Annies to be exact.

My daughter is 3 yrs old. Is this normal? So, be prepared. We may end up selling large quantities of popcorn, wrapping paper, cards, cookies, toys, candy bars, blah, blah, blah, for the next 14 years. If you would like some expensive cookie dough and pretzels, give me a buzz. Yeah, I'm not the best salesman! But, it's for a good cause to help the school. Again, is this normal??!!

freedom of speech

Life, Religion, Politics, whatever is on my little mind at the moment.
Let's talk about Palin! A strong, beautiful, intelligent woman that is shaking up politics. A pit bull with lipstick. Did you watch the conventions? An estimated 37 million people watched Palins' speech. I think she will make many positive changes as the next VP of the US. I heard Dr. Dobson call her a "deeply committed Christian." And, she is Pro-Life! Need I say more?? Did you see the homecoming to Alaska the other day? They were so proud of her. A "small town" governor is rocking the election right now. Obama is intimidated and lashing out against her. Everyone is watching and listening. McCain has won over all those Hillary votes. Men are suddenly glued to FOX News and CNN to catch a glimpse of the pretty politician. Bumper stickers read "Alaska- coldest state/hottest governor!" I saw an ad on tv about Palin action figure dolls. They weren't too flattering and I can't imagine who would buy them. And, people are flocking to their optometrists to get the Palin eye glasses. People are funny! It's good to be involved and informed about current events. Especially this election.

early birds

Did you know the majority of the world is wide awake at 7am? I voluntarily re-discovered this fact early this morning. I awoke to the annoying alarm clock that had weird numbers of 5:45. What was I thinking? Actually, I was thinking about extra overtime spending money for vacation in a couple weeks. That was my only motivator! Just me and Buddy, the hermit crab, were awake in the dark house. I laughed and watched as he put his whole body in the food bowl to eat breakfast. Who knew? Funny, but not worth getting out of bed to see again. I turned on CNN rambling as I stumbled to the shower. Surprisingly, I made it out the door at 7am, as I grabbed an oatmeal packet, baggie of walnuts and a bowl. Breakfast would come later I guess. I stepped off the front porch only to see a huge, green, nasty pile of doggie doo-doo! I was pretty certain that my sweet little 7 pound dogs did not make this mess. However, it was an awesome appetite suppressant. I silently cursed the obviously sick dog as I went about my way. Why not share the surprise gift with Adam? Then, I felt horrible as I spotted the dog lying motionless on the road as I passed by. I suddenly felt honored that he chose to visit my lawn before entering doggie heaven. So, I followed the parade of cars down our 2 lane country road to the interstate. I guess numerous people start work this early, obviously.

Did you know that people have yard sales at 7am?? And.....they had many customers doing some early morning shopping. What the heck?!?! I thought it was a crime scene, a funeral or something. I rolled my eyes, laughed and continued on the adventure. I decided an egg and cheese biscuit sounded better than my oatmeal so I attempted to stop at BK. Yeah, the appetite suppressant wasn't so effective after all. Where in the world do all these people come from? Cars everywhere, people scrambling to get their breakfast and cup of joe to go. I patiently waited in line and was finally greeted by a young female that was especially chipper on this Thursday morning. And it was especially annoying on this Thursday morning. Bless her heart. Again, I followed the parade of cars to my workplace and watched in amazement. People bustling everywhere, beginning their day. Even the bomb dogs were bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for action, or no action, fortunately. I arrived at my desk at 8am sharp and made a conclusion for future reference.

Best wishes and have fun, you early birds......I will see you mid-morning!


I hope this blog made you smile as we remember the victims, heroes and survivors of Sept 11th. We will never forget.

live to give

There are some people in the world that are sincerely unselfish. They meet the needs of others, without regard to their own personal well-being. They live a life to serve and help people. They make numerous sacrifices and give unselfishly without expecting anything in return. These type of people really don't care if others notice their good deeds or if they receive any acknowledgement for their giving of time or money. I'm glad I know some people that Live to Give. Boy, I really would like to live up to that motto! It always feels good to serve people and meet needs of others when you have the opportunity. The gift may be big or small. It may involve money or maybe just your tme, which is valuable of course too. If you keep your eyes open, there is always a chance to help someone and meet their need. God has a way of arranging these coincidences :) It may seem small to you, but it may make a huge difference to that person. Gratitude or acknowledgement shouldn't matter, only a honest, sincere heart to do what is right and good.

Honestly though, sometimes everything can seem overwhelming and you just want to give up on everyone and everything. Sometimes you just want to be selfish and take care of yourself instead of doing a million other things. But I'm always reminded that the Bible teaches we should "never grow weary of doing good." Help someone out, meet that need. I think the rewards one day will be beyond our imagination!

On the flip side, I do know people that sadly live their life only for themselves. I think it would be miserable and sad to be that self absorbed. And deep down, you know they are miserable. They don't care about anyone or anything except what they want at that moment. Have you seen the kid and teenager t-shirt that says "It's all about Me!"? It's cute and funny for a toddler or as a joke but not when you really live that way.

I believe we should bless others, just as God has blessed us. I think we may never know the importance of our actions or deeds until we reach heaven. But it really doesn't matter, we should do good things with the right heart and motives anyways. And that.....is my soap box for the day :)

LIVE TO GIVE!!!

a little of both

Lacey was playing with her etch-a-sketch tonight and decided to read me the letter she "wrote". It went something like this:

"pledge allegiance, daddy come home safely, mamaw and papaw feel better, united states america, sugar and spice not get sick on mommy's bed, lacey sleep all night in her bed, to the public, one nation under God, go to church tomorrow to see God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all, grandpa feel better."

a prayer? a pledge of allegiance? a little of both, I guess.

Priceless!

the shoe princess

So much to blog about.....where do I begin? Politics (Palin!!), preschool concerns.... But I have wanted to post this picture all week but haven't had the time so we will talk about our little shoe princess. Lacey loves shoes! Like alot of little girls, she has always pranced around the house in mommy's shoes. She will sit in the dirty Walmart floor for an hour, if I have the patience, to try on numerous pairs of shoes! She doesn't really care if we buy them, she just enjoys putting them on and going for a quick walk to look in the mirror. She throws them somewhere and I clean up the mess as she happily tries on the next pair! This picture was taken last weekend at Payless when we were actually shoe shopping. She is the proud owner of new Dora tennis shoes and little brown fall shoes. Her sandals ended up in the box and she proudly wore her new brown shoes out of the store. She could hardly wait! The size doesn't matter when she is on a mission, only if she thinks they are cute or pretty. So, these big ole boots were a size 13 and it was too funny to watch! She spent like 10 minutes putting them on and then stumbled around the store for a few minutes. Of course, I snap a picture because it was too cute and then look at Adam and he is taking a picture on his cell. She sadly put the boots back in the box as I promised that we would try on boots again when the snow started flying in a couple months. By then, she may be able to wear the size 13! If you don't have kids... their feet grow like super fast, it's unreal. I just bought her some new skechers awhile back and now I'm describing the new Dora shoes. Her teachers will be pleasantly surprised to see the velcro, they won't need to tie her shoes a million times a day. So now you know the rest of the story....... I like purses and Lacey loves shoes! And Adam thinks we are both crazy :)