memorial day weekend

pretty sad sitting here in tennessee while the rest of my family is at sebring for this lovely holiday weekend. lots of things kept us from being able to make it down there this weekend. i know things change and we can not always do what we want to do, but i'm still bummed. i have such relaxing, peaceful, fun, memories of being there. i hope that we will be able to make it down in september for labor day weekend. we will see. hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. did you get to travel or did you stay put?

sleeping beauty

raelyn has not been taking naps for a long time now, but the other day i could tell she was really tired. i put her in the bed with me while i tried to take an afternoon nap. when i woke up, this is what i saw laying next to me. the most beautiful, peaceful little face. i got the camera and tired practicing with lighting, exposure and depth of field with my focus. i have to say i have missed using the camera. i have just been so whipped out this time around, a lot of the things i love have taken a backseat to the indention my tired body has made in the sofa.

butter cups

a few weeks ago... ( have you noticed that most of my posts begin with "a few weeks ago"... oh well) the fields all around greeneville were full of yellow butter cups. i had to get the girls out and take a few photos. the pastures out at the camp were amazing! so full of bright flowers, however grandpa george had to mow the fields and cut them all down they day before we were going out to take pics. here we are in a friends field. not near as many flowers as the camp pastures.

30 weeks

this photo was taken at 30 weeks. it seems so misleading. i feel WAY larger than this. maybe it helps that you cant see my face :) at my 30 week doc appointment i had gained exactly 40 lbs. with 10 more weeks to go i am sure i will hit the 50 lbs mark this time. i have always come close but never actually hit it before. as i write this i am 32 weeks. i know it has only been 14 days, but man, 32 weeks sounds so much better to me than 30. i am ready to get this baby out of my belly and into my arms. the child moves constantly from about 7:30 at night til 7:30 in the morning! "he" gets hiccups all the time. today the kids got watch and feel my belly jump with each hiccup. they kept bringing things to place on my belly to watch jump around when the baby moved. it really is amazing! i feel so guilty for complaining about any part of it. god is giving us this child with great responsibility and i feel as though somedays, probably most days, i have just complained. how selfish am I!!! ............ thank you lord for this awesome miracle. help to stay focused on you to get me through this.

on to a funny story.... i eat most of the day. i am constantly hungry, so when the kids see me eating they always want a snack too. i have been telling them that the snack is for the baby, and that the baby was hungry. today i found brenna eating a pack of fruit snacks that she had gotten all by herself. i told her she was not allowed to eat snacks without asking me first. she told me "momma, my baby's hungry!" i had to laugh! i told her she didnt have a baby in her belly and her response was as she was lifting us her shirt "yes, i do.... see my belly button!" the kids have been fascinated by the shape of my belly button. it is completely stretched out and looks nothing like a normal belly button. it kind of grosses me out but the kids think it is great. the girls inspect it each day. so, that is life at the wid house these days.

dressing up...growing up

a few weeks ago i had the pleasure of helping my niece katie get ready for her senior prom. i have been helping katie get all dressed up for her special events ever since her 8th grade dance. it is hard to believe she is now graduating from high school! makes me feel really old.

then i also go to help sydney get ready for HER 8th grade dance. sydney is the youngest of my nieces so it is strange to think that she will be the last until i start helping my own girls get ready for their proms :) thank goodness i still have a few more years with sydney.

i just love these girls! i am so blessed to have them in my life an the lives of my kids.

silent blog

when the blog is silent.... life is not. hang in there. i will be back. the blog, and most everything else in my life has been neglected since i have gotten pregnant. only 8 more weeks to go, then hopefully i will feel good enough to get back into a routine with life. until then....

mothers day 2010

hard to believe i am going to be a mother of 4 in about 10 weeks! i never thought in a million years this would be where i am and what i am doing. God has blessed me beyond measure, and in the mean time i am clinging to the promise that he wont give me more than i can handle :) this pregnancy has been tough, physically, emotionally and mentally, but i know that children are a gift from the Lord and that he has gifted us 4 amazing times now. i am such a worrier. as i feel this baby kick the living stuff out of me i am still worrying that something might be wrong. i have to remind myself all the time that the Lord is in control and will be in control no matter what.

dave and the kids took me to Ryans this morning for their all you can eat breakfast buffet. SO GOOD, especially when you are pregnant! then we went to church, came home and took a nap, then went out to daves parents and had a delicious dinner prepared by the men. it was a really nice day. i am so thankful for dave, my biggest fan.

so here is the annual mothers day picture on the swing. hard to believe we have lived in this house for 3 years now!

our neighbor saw us taking pics and came over so dave could even get in one! yeah a family picture.
so here is the pose we try to recreate each year. mothers day 2010 above
2009 above
2008 above

Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing mothers in my life. i learn amazing things from you all each day. so blessed to have you in my life.

a baby shower

this past weekend a few friends of mine helped me put together a shower for our good friend marcie. she is due to have her baby on May 14th. they chose to be surprised about the sex of the baby but the names they have chosen for both start with the letter "E" so we had green and orange "E" party for her.

drawing from the beautiful colors of springtime; the palette consisted of oranges, greens, yellows and pinks. the party was outside in my backyard under the huge maple tree. the weather was perfect with just the right amount of breeze.

my friend, Kara has a closet full of wonderful fabrics so she helped by providing the fabrics we used as colorful table linens. napkin rings were created using fabric strips and paper towel rolls.

seats were designated by a little initial card tied to the stem of each water glass with a colorful ribbon made by Carrie.

The menu consisted of an Asian chicken salad, carrot souffle, and sesame seed baguette. Followed by red velvet cupcakes and cake balls all a team effort. The food was delicious and girly just like we like it :) Fresh flowers were placed around the tables in vases and combined in arrangements with lettuce, limes and tangerines. each spot had a yummy orange or key lime soda in a glass bottle.

it all looked pretty good if i do say so myself! watch out martha.... bonnie, kara and carrie can put together a pretty good party.

relay for life

on april 30th garrets school had a relay for life to raise money for the american cancer society in honor of one of their teachers Mrs. Lisa White who passed away after a 12 year battle with cancer. we knew mrs. lisa b/c she also went to our church and had been a part of long view for a few years as well. in addition to raising money in memory of mrs lisa, garret raised money in memory of 2 great grandmas and in honor of family and friends that at fighting their own battles with cancer right now. i was so proud of him. he raised $130. his schools goal was to raise $5000. they raised a total of $17,000!!!!!!grandma kay, the girls and i all met garret over at the track and walked with him for about 45 minutes. the girls were troopers, i was so proud of all of them.
garret and i made this sign for him. we pray every night for our friends that are battling cancer.
this is a picture of garret and his teacher. she is pregnant and having a hard time with really high blood pressure, so last friday was her last day at school. they doctor put her on bed rest. i was sad for both her and garret. they only have about 16 days left of school. she has been a great teacher. we are blessed to have her for garrets first grade teacher.