Happy Birthday, Lady Bug!

Lady Bug is 4 today! Can you believe that?! Of course, some of you are just being introduced to my feisty sweetness of a baby girl so maybe you can but for the rest of us it's hard to believe.

This child adores little fuzzy critters and so it was time to relent and bring a new member into our family. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you....Bert Wallace Gregg! But you can call him Wally for short; we do. He (we think it's a "he" but won't have that confirmed until later this week) is goo goo gorgeous! And oh! so! tiny!

Seeing my little woman with him this morning is a gift straight from heaven!

Just for Fun

has a "Just for Fun" category this week and since I'm pretty certain that they will never have a "Redneck" category or a "Someone Reeeallly Needs to visit the Dentist" category I thought I would submit this photo today...you know... just for fun!

I don't think it gets any better than this.

Because "this" is too good. Too good to be true. Hang in there, folks, this could be a long post because my heart is full to overflowing.

What a wonderful, glorious, near perfect weekend!! No stress. No agenda. No rushing around. No wasted time. What we had here was... Fun! Family! Friends! Food!

Friday night: Brian went out with a friend to a concert and nearly melted and was disappointed with the "entertainment" but.... he had fun with J. Magee, who he hasn't gotten to hang out with in quite awhile. The kids and I had spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner and decided at the last minute that we needed to go to Target to get a gift for a birthday party in the morning. Handling my children like the pro I am, I got them to Target and Ladybug chose 5 things from the $1 section at the front of the store (Note to Target CEO: put the $1 section in back if you want us to spend more money) and no one had any screaming tantrums or even whined about not getting anything for themselves. We headed to the grocery section to pick up some cereal for breakfast and ran into two sets of mutual friends. After we left them to go check out Cuddle Bug said, "That was a big party!" We were quite loud and obnoxious, I'm sure, in the cereal aisle. Got them all home and in bed by 9:30.

Saturday morning: Ladybug and I went to her "twin's" birthday party at the Build A Bear store at the mall and had a B-L-A-S-T! I got to spend 2 hours with nearly all my favorite people. She was super cute and had so much fun stuffing a bunny and making a mental note of everything in the store that she wants Grandma to buy her on "All About Anna Day" this coming Friday. It's quite a long list, I assure you!

Ladybug and her "twin".
They were born on the same day in the same hospital just 7 hours apart.

Saturday afternoon: Brian's parents and Lisa, who is stateside from London, came to our house for a few hours. We celebrated the June birthdays again and chilled out eating scrumptious steak sandwiches (prepared by my sweetheart) and popsicles afterward.


Saturday evening: Brian and I went to Willy's to pick up some steak quesadillas and queso and went to Chastain Amphitheatre to see .... *drum roll, please*... ANITA BAKER!!!!!!!! I am so head over heels for her! If I had three wishes, one of them would be to have a voice just like hers! She was so wonderful! We ate our dinner in our seats before the concert which was scheduled to start at 8:00. At 8:04 the clouds rolled in and dropped enough rain on us to fill the Georgia Aquarium! We were so glad I made Brian grab the umbrella out of the car! It rained for 40 minutes straight and Anita finally started the show at 8:30 even in the deluge. But I couldn't have been happier to sit there soggily and listen to my favorite songbird. Enough gushing, you say? Okay. I'm through. (It was fabulous, though.)



I'll tell you about Sunday tomorrow. I think I've made you read enough for today. Well, I didn't make you; you came here of your own accord. Right? ; )

I have nothing to add...

I wanted to do a post on Michael Jackson but I feel I have nothing more to say than what you haven't already heard in various blogs, from the "news" media or on the radio. All I have to say is that he was THE first pop star/musician I knew as a kid. He and Neil Diamond and Paul Anka (man, I loved the song "Put Your Head on my Shoulder"). In Detroit, nearly every kid around had a Thriller inspired jacket or jheri curl and the Thriller video was the first video I'd ever seen. My dad, very conservative at the time, bought the album. And I'll never forget sitting in a friend's upstairs bedroom listening devotedly to "We Are the World" over and over again. But since I can not adequately describe such a person I'll leave it with this short paragraph.

To take our minds off of the sadness of his life and death and moving on to an entirely different note,..here are some beautifimous flowers in my father-in-law's yard. Hope that's okay with ya'll.

Hard to believe, but I did no editing to the hydrangeas and only had to tweak the exposure on the other two. Just gorgeous!

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

Even the best laid plans don't always work out but it helps to have a plan in place. But when you don't have a plan it helps to be flexible.

Plan A: Bowling ... Nope. Got to the bowling alley and only on Thursday does it NOT open at 10:00 a.m. but at 2:00 p.m..

Plan B: Putt-putt golf ... Nope. Doesn't open until 12:00.

Plan C: Just Fired pottery painting. ... Nope. According to message on phone opens at 10:00 a.m. but when we arrived at 10:26 there was still a CLOSED sign hanging in the window and no one around.

Plan D: Kangaroo Bob's across the street. .... Nope. Out of Business.

By now it was really getting too late to go any where else. Parker had swim lessons at 12:15 and we were going to have to get him home first to change into his bathing suit.

Plan E: Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins. ... Hooray! Everyone is happy!

We made sure to tell them how proud we were that they handled their disappointment so well. Only Cuddle Bug/Eeyore cried and, even then, it wasn't for long. Especially considering the source. We did get to go bowling though. We just would have to wait until Daddy got off of work. They had a great time! ... But next time... We'll call BEFORE we leave the house.

Tuesdays Unwrapped

You wanna know what I'm thankful for today?

THE "OFF" BUTTON on the T.V.!!!!! And THIS is why!!!!



Oh. My. Word! Could anything be any more annoying???!!!
No offense to poor little Madison featured in the video. My beef is with the voice of the red-haired pig thing puppet.
Having the ability to turn the "boob tube" off is a great gift indeed.

And, while we're on the subject, I just thought I would share that it is my humble opinion that there are entirely WAY too many job opportunities for kids' "entertainers." It would freak me out to know just how many people claim this as their "profession." (And, yes, all the quotation marks and extra punctuation are absolutely necessary in this post.)

8!

Already?!

Labor started Wednesday night, June 20th, 2001 during the 3rd of our 4 weekly scheduled Lamaze classes. Thursday I spent most of the day with a friend shopping for her husband's surprise birthday party where she would give him the exciting news that they were expecting their second child. I drove us from store to store and breathed through each increasingly intense contraction while clenching the steering wheel white-knuckled.

Brian assembled some more baby equipment that evening and walked with me up and down the driveway in the dark. I timed and recorded the length of each contraction. At 5:00 a.m. we headed an hour north to the wonderful Kennestone Hospital in Marietta to avoid downtown rush-hour traffic. The nurses and doula pampered and coached me for 11 hours. Dr. Karl Steinechen broke my water at 4:00 p.m. and threatened to do a C-section. Can you say, "Spike in blood-pressure?" An hour of intense pain going from 4 cm. dilated to 10 and it was time to push. Two excrutiating hours later and eight (very short) years ago, at precisely 7:07 p.m. the first of our four children was introduced into our family. My mom, Brian's parents, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, my brothers and one girlfriend, my cousin, her husband and his daughter all anxiously awaited to hear the announcement... Boy or girl?!


It's a boy!!! Seven pounds, 14 ounces, 19 inches, black eyes and dark hair covering nearly every inch (hence the heartburn- I very much believe that old-wives' tale).

And now he is a precious eight-year old going into the 3rd grade! He loves computer games, soccer, baseball, correcting every word his brothers and sister utter, Hershey's bars and corn. He looks and acts a whole lot like his mama!

Happy Birthday, June Bug!
I can't imagine my life without you in it.

Daddy's Day

Happy Father's Day, Brian! You are the single most amazing man I know. Four children are very blessed to be able to call you "Daddy."

Must Read!

Please, please read this! BeeMusing . One of these days, I'm gonna have to meet this wonderful woman. I wish I was related to her.

Lazy Days

What a glorious week it's been! "Relax. Breathe. Play.", I've been telling myself. "Go outside and blow bubbles with the kids. Don't mind if they spill it all over themselves; it's only soap after all. Don't forget to take pictures. Before you know it, they will be "too cool" or "too mature" for such things."

So Totally Random Today

- We survived VBS week! Hooray! We had some friends over for dinner Friday night and I am absolutely kicking myself for not having them over at least 50 times in the last 6 years that we've known them. Now they're going to be moving to the southside of ATL to be OM missionaries. Sherry says we'll have to meet in the middle at Ikea from now on. I think this is a fabulous idea! We had a very relaxing weekend and are hoping to keep up this trend the rest of this week.

- I made an "electronics schedule" of sorts for the boys and I to share the computer and to limit how much time each of us is in front of one screen or another. I might have to tweak it a little bit but I think it's going to be good for all of us. I also scheduled when I want to be cleaning certain rooms and doing laundry and hopefully that will keep me on top of what needs to get done around here. I should probably schedule in time to be outside too since that is what Lady Bug and Baby Bug like to do best.

- A week ago, or maybe it was two weeks ago (it's not important), Lady Bug went to a birthday party for one of her little friends and had a BLAST! They painted buckets and planted flowers in their buckets and got to take home a pinwheel inside each one. She was so stinkin' adorable with her pinwheel! She asked me to roll her window down (yes, she's sitting in the front seat - don't freak out! The airbag turns off when they don't weigh enough) so she could stick her pinwheel out and watch it twirl. She laughed hysterically the whole time and I'm so glad I caught her happiness with the camera. I think it's in my Top Ten Favorite Memories list right now.

And here is where I would totally post that picture of her except that it is on the other computer that Brian had to give to a notsoentirelyreliablecomputerfixitkindaguy to "clean it" up so it would work properly. Maybe you'll get to see the picture tomorrow for Tuesdays Unwrapped. It might take all manner of threats to get the 'puter back though.

How Much Longer?

Thank goodness for Tuesdays Unwrapped or I might not have bothered looking for "not what will be or what is to come, but what is real and true this day: the messy, the lovely and the unexpected".

It has definitely felt like we made a 180 degree turn here in the month of June from what Manic May looked like. That is,.... IF (big if) I survive VBS week - cue foreboding music: *dun dun dun!!* Lovingly surrounded by 25 three-year olds for 4 hours is delightful. *ahem* ..... It's been a couple of crazy days. We're out the door by 8:15 each morning and aren't leaving the church until 12:45. I was feeling a tad frazzled when we left this afternoon and I knew I didn't have it in me to make lunch for everyone once we got home so we went to Chick-fil-Allelujah. There must have been a dozen cars in line but it took approximately 30 seconds per vehicle and we were on our way home. I L-O-V-E that place! Their motto should be, "Speed, Smiles and Grace served here." Having that enormous Coke and waffle fries in the seat next to me softened the blow to come. - I forgot that the bridge on Highway 5 is closed and I had to turn around and go the long way home and got stuck in traffic on Sixes because of the detour and it took us 30 minutes to get home. *sigh* We actually managed to make it to our destination with all the childrens' eyes open! Again, credit is due to Chick-fil-A.

Now after a two-hour nap my skull feels like it is stuffed with wet, fuzzy cottonballs and I have laundry to do, I have to decide what to do about dinner even though we're a week past due for grocery shopping and I still have to plan tomorrow's schedule for herding 25 three-year olds to the Preschool theater, inflatables, music, snack time, make a craft and show each of them how much Jesus loves them.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

So, did you catch that? My gift today was from that Shining Beacon of Light -
Chick-fil-A.
Thank you from the bottom of my pea-pickin' little heart, Truette Cathy; another jewel was added to your heavenly crown today.

The Winds of Change blew in alot of paint!

I told you a few days ago about all the furniture moving and painting and rearranging going on here so I thought I'd do an update.

Here is the big bugs' "new" dresser After sanding and Before painting.

And here is the dresser all painted and with knobs added. So much better!
($22.98 - dresser + $2.53 - pack of 12 knobs{!!} = $25.51)

I also painted their beds black per June Bug's request and they turned out fabulous!
They were so boring before.

Now the next challenge will be making Baby Bug's room presentable. This is a picture of it the other day when I was trying to move everything around and discovered about a gazillion toys hiding underneath all the furniture. I promise it doesn't still look like this. In fact, now the pictures and window "mistreatments" are down and the glider will make its new home in Baby Ebin's (my soon to be born nephew) room along with the crib and changing table which was the catalyst for these changes. It's a pretty big room but I can't get it to look the way I want it to. I think I might need a professional's help in arranging the furniture in this room.

Mostly because of this "piece". It is my nemesis!! I can hardly wait for the day that my nephew will inherit this monstrosity!
Since I was making so many changes to all the boys' rooms Anna wanted me to paint something in her room. I was happy to oblige. I bought this pillow and a lamp shade to match at Ikea a couple years ago and used this as my "inspiration." Not too bad.

Now I have some stripes I'm going to paint on the walls in the big boys' room but it might take two weeks to get it done since I chose dark colors and each one will need like a dozen coats to end up looking right. Oh well, it will be worth it.... I hope.

Orange "Baby Crackers" quilt

I finished another quilt! I love this one! The orange with the teal makes my heart soar! Well,... maybe that's a little dramatic but I adore this combination none-the-less. Alicia Paulson referred back to a quilt post of hers the other day and it really spoke to me.