An Easter Story

On this same day, many years back, it was a glorious Easter Sunday! I was living in a little garden home of my own and dating Penn. We got all dressed up and met at church. Penn and I usually went to the Baptist church across town where he was a member, but for this Easter my mom wanted to go to the neighborhood Methodist church. So we went there instead. I usually know one or two people at church and this year was no different. Except...one of the people I spoke with this day was a girl that I graduated with. We weren't really friends, just a girl that was in some of my classes.(I went to a pretty small private school so everybody knew everybody.)
Anyway, she was there with her husband and new baby! Really...I wanted a husband and new baby too! My happy Easter Sunday was turning into a sad day filled with hopelessness and envy.
We headed back to my little house to open Easter baskets before going out to lunch. While Penn was inside, I pulled my mom outside and started boo hooing about how I was NEVER gonna get married much less have any kids, blah, blah, blah. I was gonna be an old maid. I was having a regular pity party and had myself a good ole cry. I got it together and went back inside.Teddy and Penn opened their baskets and then we were off to the local steakhouse for some grub.
The topic of conversation around the lunch table was all about getting engaged.
You see it was many months earlier that Penn and I had gone to pick out a ring and I had decided on "the one". I was sure that I was getting it for that Valentine's day and I told EVERYONE that I was, but I didn't!(I'll save that story for another day!)
Anyway, over lunch I was telling Penn to just go over to the jewelry store tomorrow and go ahead and get the ring already! I had been waiting for 2 and 1/2 years and that was plenty long enough! He was heming and hawing and said that he couldn't get it until he got a refund on his taxes and saved a little more money. I tried to do a little more convincing, but eventually let it rest.
After lunch, we went over to my mom's house for the annual pocking eggs contest and the big egg hunt.
I even brought up the engagement thing to my mom again and was a little pouty thinking I would NEVER get married.
I had given Penn some softball gloves in his Easter basket, so he wanted to go outside and play catch. I have a REALLY vivid imagination and started thinking that maybe he did have a ring for me and that he was going to hide it in the glove and I would find it when we were playing catch. (I used to always make up all these scenarios in my head about how he would propose~it was real torture cause NONE of them EVER happened!
Of course we went out to play catch and there was no ring inside the glove....figures!
After a while it was time for the hunt, this year we did it inside. Sometimes we would do it outside, but this year we chose inside. My mom goes to the bank ahead of time and gets silver dollars to hide in the eggs along with candy. After she hid the eggs, we all(4 or 5 twenty somethings, we had no children in our family at this time)searched for the eggs around the house. Toward the end of the hunt, my mom announced that there was still 1 special "golden egg" left to find. I decided that I would find it because it probably had like 5 bucks in it! We all searched and searched and then I looked across the room and a shimmering, iridescent, purple egg on the bookshelf caught my eye from across the room. I ran as fast as I could to snatch up the "golden egg" from its hiding place. I victoriously held it up in the air and shook it. I did the victory dance chanting to all, "I'm the winner! I'm the winner!" and then Penn walked over a little closer and got down on one knee. What!!! I busted open the egg and there was a RING inside!!! I was in shock and I got down on my knee too. I don't really know what he said after that, but I said YES, YES, YES!!! It was the happiest day of my life. I was finally getting the man of my dreams and I had the ring to prove it. I called EVERYONE and told of the Good News(not that Jesus had risen but that I was FINALLY engaged!).
Can you believe my sneaky little fellow had, had the ring for over a month? And for my mom to know while I did all that squalling!
I was walking on cloud nine. I couldn't believe that the day had started out so full of sorrow and had turned into the most joyous day of all!
Fast forward to the present and look how far we've come. This Easter we went to the same little church and I was hoping to run into that girl (we didn't) cause now I was the wife of that great guy I was dating for sooo long and the proud mama of 2 special little girls!

~~~~~~~~~~~~Look at our Easter Baskets!~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~Brooke and Daddy Dying Eggs!~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bailey's 1st Easter~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so now you know one of the reasons that Easter is probably my favorite time of year! Easter symbolizes a new beginning for Christians and I love that Easter is the day that our family officially began!
"Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!" Psalm 27:14
"As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him." Psalm 18:30

Good N' Wild Friday

Every year on Good Friday, we always have a fun celebration. When in Louisiana, we would have a big crawfish boil and in Alabama, we would get together with friends for a cookout. Well this year, we decided to be totally different and do something really WILD!
I have been waiting for Spring to arrive and us be in Louisiana so that we could bring Brooke over to Global Wildlife. In short, it is one of those African Safari type places where you ride in an open wagon and the animals come right up and eat from your hand. Except for the zebras of course~they are mean and will bite your hand off! You still have to be careful with the friendly animals because sometimes they get a little carried away and try to steal your cup!
I used to go on field trips there with my 4th graders back in the day. Once I even brought~well more like~dragged my mom along as a chaperone's.(not her thing) And I even took Penn on a date there once during our courting period. Penn and I came eye to eye with a humongous bison tongue. Oh my, do you know how long their tongues are? I thought it was loads of fun. I am sure this is one of the reasons that my hubby kept me. A girl that is not afraid to hang around wild animals(well in a controlled environment) has got to be pretty cool, huh.
I've been counting the years until my big girl would be old enough to appreciate it and I could hardly wait to see her face to face with all those WILD animals.
Soooo...we packed a picnic and headed about 40 miles south of Baton Rouge to a town named Robert. Ever been there? Doubt it!
We pulled in and purchased our tickets for the 3:00 tour. While we waited our turn, we shopped for the most perfect souvenir. Brooke finally decided on a pink t-shirt. She calls it her "sweet little deer shirt with sparkles"
After that, we had a picnic. The picnic had to be an inside one because if any trash or food gets loose it can harm the animals.
Right as we were finishing our picnic, a lady working for the wildlife place came up and asked if we would like to go on the 2 o'clock tour?? Sure!!! We were pumped. We got our cups of feed and settled into the wagon.
The animals were there by the thousands, but it seems as though it was nap time on the Savanna cause nobody was moving! Not a one~even wanted to get up and come to our wagon! This truck came along to try to nudge this huge camel and get him moving!
Yeah~I would pick the day that was the busiest of the year with sold out tours every hour on the hour.
The animals weren't moving or interested in the food cause they had been eating ALLL DAY LONG!
It was kinda funny, but eventually we did get a few animals to feed and Brooke probably appreciated the fact that the animals weren't all in our face. It was a nice family outing. And did I mention the the weather was gor-geous. The perfect day for an outing like this. On the way out one of the managers asked us if we had a good time and we told her about the animals not being that hungry and so she gave us free tickets to go back anytime we want! Woo hoo~I think we will try again in the fall...
We headed back to civilization and then went to meet Mimi. We went over to her shop to pick her up. Brooke found pleasure in playing with the cash register. She said she needed to get money for the carousel. Bailey also had a good time trying on glasses. Soon we left there because I was on a mission to get the girls pictures done with the Easter bunny. At one of the malls in B.R. they do them for free, soo we head there and the line was so long that they were not letting any one else come in. Aw man...thaaaaat stinks. I can't believe I didn't get Bailey's picture made with the bunny for her 1st Easter. Oh well.
After that we shopped a little and then went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. It is called Portabello's. The guy that owns it has in laws in Birmingham and I have been trying to talk him into opening one up here. He always said that the Copeland's on 280 would be a good location and now that it is closed I hope he can get moved in over there. I don't know...it probably wouldn't be the same and then I wouldn't have my favorite restaurant to look forward to go home to.
Anyway, I'm rambling!
Hope you had a good family day and were able to remember and reflect the day Jesus died for our sins.

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses." Acts 13:38-39

"G" is for Green~Happy St. Patty's Day

You know I'm a sucker for all holidays and I have to celebrate, so my girls HAD to wear green on St. Patty's Day. Besides, I'm part Irish! I would have worn green too, but the only shirt that fit was a neon green maternity shirt and it made me look extra fat and gave my teeth a green glow, so I opted out. Let's just say I wore green underwear, so I wouldn't get pinched. (That's what we used to say when we were kids! He he!;-)
Brooke noticed that everywhere we went, people were wearing lots of green. She kept saying, "Hey look Mommy, that man/lady/girl has on a green shirt JUST like me!"
Today's Monday, so we did our regular Monday things. We usually sleep in and then get something in the crock pot for dinner. In Louisiana, EVERYBODY has "Red Beans and Rice" on Monday, but you know that I do not cook beans. I leave that up to my hubby, so today I threw a deer roast in to cook. After it was in there for a while, the aroma started to fill the house. Brooke said, "Mama, what's that smell?" I told her it was a deer roast cooking and she said, "We don't eat "deeers" Mama, their our friends!" So I said it was just MEAT!
After getting dressed, we head over to North Shelby Library for Toddler Tales Story Time and then out to lunch with friends. We usually go to McDonald's, Chick-Fil-a, or Zaxby's or if we are feeling really special we go to Red Geranium. Today we went to Chick-Fil-A! (free and fun) After lunch we usually have dance class, but today it was canceled because of Spring Break.
Sooooo...Emily Caroline and Grant invited Brooke to be a part of their preschool. Today was "G" day, of course. Mrs. Sarah was the teacher of the day, so we went over to her house. We each had a great time learning about all things "G"!
Here are a few pics from our day:

~~Bailey sporting her big GREEN bow at the library!~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You can't pinch me!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~Brooke and E.C. "listening" at story time.~~~~~~~


~~~~~~Our story time friends dressed all in GREEN!~~~~~


~~~~~Come on everybody~do the Bean Bag Rock!~~~~~


~Mrs. Sarah telling the story of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff on her dining room floor.~


~Wow, We found 5 GIGANTIC GOLDFISH in the neighbor's pond!~


~Brooke and Bailey swinging above the GREEN GRASS(well it's not green today, but will be eventually)!~

We hope you had a GREAT & GREEN St. Patty's day too!

Lotta Huntin' Goin' On

Palm Sunday weekend~one of my favorite times of the year!
This Palm Sunday weekend was filled with hunting eggs. It was good practice for the most special hunt next week at Mimi's. Brooke has been calling her for weeks now saying, "Are's the eggs still hiding for me Mimi?"
So you know when we actually broke out the baskets and plastic eggs around here she almost had a fit!
On Friday, we had our 3rd annual playgroup Easter Egg hunt and party. It is always so much fun. The 1st year we had it at Stacey R's and this was the second year in a row that it was held at Linda's. She lives out in Vestavia and has the best yard for hunting and playing, although this year it did rain the night before and it was quite wet and chilly.
We didn't let it spoil the fun~ we still had a ball inside. We played with JP's toys, painted pictures, made edible crafts, did the chicken dance and bunny hop, and had an indoor picnic in the living room. We finally did hunt the eggs outside~it was just a little bit wet. After the big hunt, the kids loaded up on tons of sugar and then everybody headed home to take a nap, when all the sugar wore off of course! It was a nice time of fellowship for the mommies and all of the kids seemed to have a good time too. Thank you to Linda for graciously opening up her home to us!
Like I said before, Palm Sunday is a favorite time for me. As a kid, I have fond memories of lining up and waving the palms down the middle aisle of the church as a way of remembering how our King entered into Jerusalem before he died on the cross for us. I miss that tradition, but at our church here we have another nice Palm Sunday tradition. Each year we have a Resurrection Egg Hunt and Picnic on the church grounds. This year God was so good and gave us a most beautiful day! The kids all got lots of eggs (the church hid over 1500 eggs) and then the older kids each read a part of the Easter story from the Resurrection egg set. I love resurrection eggs and have had a set for many years. When I was teaching I would sneak it into lessons in public school and I would also make my adult family each read a part every year at Easter before we had any kids. We haven't used it lately, but I am looking forward to incorporating it as a regular part of our Easter traditions when Brooke gets a little older. Maybe next year she will be mature enough to get "IT"! After the hunt, each family found the most perfect spot on the grounds for a picnic and had a yummy lunch. Penn stocked up on plenty of the baked goodies provided by the church for Brooke and him. Bailey and I were good and didn't even splurge at all. (I've gotta lose this baby weight!) Brooke had a big time socializing and playing on the playground. We sat out there for a good while and soaked up some rays. We even all got a little bit pink!
It was a great Palm Sunday weekend with a lotta huntin'!
I'm looking forward to next weekend for the grand hunt at Mimi's and you KNOW Brookie is too!!!!
O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. Psalm 118:25-26

It's time to Ferberize!~5 months old

I don't think that our bassinet is made for babies over 3 months and Bailey is showing signs of cramping and is frankly about to bust out. I really need to put her in her crib upstairs, but am having a hard time thinking of her WAY up there away from me. Besides, she may be my last tiny baby and I don't want to give her up yet!:-(
With that said~I am trying to be a good momma and get my baby into some great sleeping habits, so I decided that this past week would be the week to Ferberize. Penn was in San Fran, so I thought that it would be a good opportunity. With him being gone I could let her CIO and it wouldn't disturb his sleep. Sooooo...I brushed up on a few Ferberization techniques and then I went to put her down in the crib. There was a problem! It seems a though a few of the other babies in the house had decided to take up residence in Bailey's crib, so that blew that!!!! Having the bed to yourself is overrated, so with Penn gone, we let the baby dolls stay in Bailey's room and us girls had an all out snuggle fest downstairs. We even let Teddy join in on the fun!

Today is Bailey's 5 month birthday and she is STILL sleeping in the bassinet next to me for most of the night! She usually goes down at 8 and wakes around 5 or 6 and I nurse her and snuggle for the rest of the morning.
I am still mostly nursing Bailey, but I am trying to introduce some formula. I am probably going to have to wean her at 6 months, so I am trying to build up a taste for the formula. If I give it to her straight she gags and spits it out and refuses, but if I sneak some in a bottle of breast milk she doesn't seem to mind. It is also a good time for daddy to bond with her. He usually gives her, a bottle each night. She is really starting to like him a lot more. ;-)
Bailey is continuing to grow, I haven't weighed her lately, but from the bare bottom picture above you can she she is quite healthy! She is so curious and grabs at everything. I have been feeding her apples, bananas, and rice cereal with a spoon and she LOVES it! Here she is with her spoon! She tries to feed herself. It is so cute. And those sweet smiles of hers will melt your heart!
Brooke is a great big sis, but is kinda OVER IT. She still helps, but not as eagerly as before. Bailey loves her bath and it is a great opportunity for Brooke to participate. She loves to gather all the supplies and help wash and rinse her. Bailey just loves it when her big sissy gives her ANY attention.
The exersaucer continues to be a favorite and can entertain her for quite a bit. I am looking forward to her sitting up soon. I think that will be lots of fun. Other than that, I wouldn't mind if she stayed a tiny baby forever. She can ride around on my hip from now until kingdom come.
As far as the time to ferberize...there's always next month!
We went out to celebrate Bailey's 5 month b-day at Olive Garden. She made lots of noises and played with the spoons and napkins. The food was OK, but I have to say that our local OG did NOT impress me. Our waiter totally stunk. (not literally, but skills wise...He claimed to be having a bad day, so I I tried to not give him a hard time.) It is always nice to go out with the fam, but we will probably wait a while before returning there!
BTW, I just got Bailey's 4 1/2 month pics(They were supposed to be 4 month pictures, but I kept having to wait until her drool rash cleared up!)back from the JCP studio. I had the same pose done of Brooke when she was 4 months. Brooke is on the top and Bailey on the bottom...I better start labeling their pictures cause later on I will definitely have trouble telling them apart!

Do you speak three year old?

My big girl continues to amaze me on a daily basis. She is so adventurous and outgoing. She loves to try new things and doesn't meet a stranger. The other day we let her take a bath in the "big tub" and she has been talking about it ever since. She'll say, "remember that time you let me take a bath after dinner?" like it was so long ago~when it was really just the other day. I love how her concept of time is so off.
She has recently takin' a likin' to REALLY learning her ABC's. She can recognize almost all letters and tell you a word that starts with each. Her favorite is "B" of course. I think Mrs. April has done a great job teaching her and thanks to Christy for recommending this website. Brooke loves it and it is really helping her with her letter recognition, phonics, and computer mouse usage.
She can still count to 20 and is really good with 1 to 1 correspondence. The only problem is she ALWAYS forget 16!
Brooke is so funny and always talkin' up a blue streak. Here are some of the little bits of conversations that I can remember over the last week or so...

Lately when I drop her off at school she says, "Don't worry Mommy, I'll be a good girl! I won't punch anybody today!" Great!

Brooke measured me with the tape measure and said, "Mommy, you are 20 past nine." Wow that is tall!

She has asked me about the pictures around the house of me in the white dress. I told her that was when Daddy and I got married. So now when she sees one she will point and say, "Is this a picture of you and daddy pickin' up Mary?" She thinks when we "got Mary" we went to PICK UP baby Jesus' mommy Mary...(Yes that would be a good reason to get all dressed up!)

Since Brooke talks sooo much, I tend to tune her out when I am busy cooking or whatever and she'll say, "HELLO...I'm talking to YOU!"

We were taking a shower and Brooke said "Hey momma" and I said Hay is for Horses(I used to hate it when grown ups would say that to me)
and she said, "Yes and P is for pig!"

Looking in the mirror with a towel over her head she says to herself in a deep scary voice, "Go unto the Lord and don't come back!"

She loves playing with this little blue calculator (I used to have a class set for my 4th graders). If you ask her a question she will say, "Let me go and check my "field journal" or "my GBS"!(instead of GPS)

One day when Penn arrived home from work, Brooke was working on her pink lap top and said, "Look DADDY...I'm smarter on the pooter!(computer)"

She loves to sing, but gets the words a little messed up. Two songs I can remember off the top of my head are "Patty Cake Patty Cake Baker's Man" and "Lou, Lou Skip to my Lou."
She says, "Patty cake, patty cake, bake your hands! Throw'em in the oven as fast as you can!" and "Blues Clues, skip to my Lou. Blues Clues, skip to my Lou my darlin'"

What are you doing Brooke? "Oh I'm just nursin' Beff(Beth is her Bitty baby that never has clothes on)~OK time to switch sides!"

She loves to dance and shake her maracas. She will say, "Come on Momma shake your rockas!"

And her absolute favorite thing to do right now is go on adventures outside with daddy. They look for animal prints. She says, "Come on daddy I'll get my Knockarows (binoculars) and we can look for baby animals in trouble!"

Getting ready for bed she says , "Mama, I want to wear my princess night ground(gown)you know the twirly one"

OK... I could go on for days, but that's enough for now!

I love you sweet angel girl!

1st trip to the ZOO!

This is what it looked like outside the Bullock Residence back window this morning! A bit chilly for enjoying any outdoor activities, but last Saturday was a different story.
It was downright beautiful outside! With it being so pretty, our family decided to head over to the B-ham zoo. We have had passes since Christmas, but Bailey has not been to see the animals yet, so we thought we better not deprive her any longer! ;-).
It was really just a great day for going to the zoo and we had a fun, fun time.
Upon arrival, we headed over to the farm and petted a snake and turtle. In the Alabama wilds area, we enjoyed the beaver and otters too.
It was Frog Day at the zoo, so we stopped off at the education building for some froggy fun.
We then visited the cheetah and the spider monkeys, but the elephants and the rhino were under construction. Brooke was a little disappointed, but I think it is great that they are remodeling and trying to make the zoo better and better.(for the animals and their visitors.)
As Brooke was pouting about the elephants, we found a great discovery...

CAMELS~Can you believe it? Our zoo now has camels! You can even ride on them!


Later, I nursed Bitty Bullock (If you are ever in need, there is a pretty nice nursing room off the primate building~complete with wood rockers~each with a private partition and all) while Penn and Brooke visited the gorilla. They said she was acting very strange as usual!
To end our trip, we passed by the alligators, the sea lion, and the birds. I thought it would be fun to feed the lorikeets, but they had stopped selling the nectar for the day. Brooke and I went in anyway and wouldn't you know one of those stinkin' birds bit me! Ouch did it hurt and so we left. Boy was I was thankful it didn't get one of my sweet girls' tender little fingers.
On a happy note, as we were making our way to the car, I found out that we are getting a new Outback area in the zoo. It will be complete with kangaroos and all! Isn't that exciting?
We had our fill of the zoo for the day, but weren't ready to go home.
So...we went out to 280 for some shopping and some yummy Jim and Nick's for dinner.
Penn usually gets the brisket plate, but this time he decided to get the J&N Club. Let me just tell you that, that sandwich was totally good. I usually get a baker or a pig in the garden, but I may have to get that sandwich next time!



Once again, it was a nice family day for us. I am so very thankful for each and every day I get to spend with my girls and the hubs!

And the winner is...

Thank you to all who participated in the giveaway. All of your comments were great. I was very happy to see some comments from a few new posters! Please continue to read my blog. I love sharing with you.

I am so glad that I decided it would be random ahead of time 'cause with all of the humor, kissing up, and pitiful plea's, it would have been so HARD to pick a winner.

Penn is over my shoulder saying come on let me pick, so I am going to let him put the numbers into the RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR.

So without further adue~

*************DRUM ROLL PLEASE***********************

The winner is # 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that would be...

Oh my gosh it can't be...

Why yes it is...

It's the year of Jubilee girl...Incomplete Thoughts

Congratulations!!!!

But wait there's more...

Because I am still feeling the generosity, Penn and I have decided to pick a winner based on the comments.
And because poor Reformed Grits always enters the contests first and then her good friend Caroline rubs her rabbit's foot and messes up her game...
You have been picked to win a bracelet too!!!!
Congrats to you, Kim!

Winners please let me know your specifications ASAP, so I can get busy on those bracelets.

Sorry losers...thanks for playing! Maybe I will feel generous again someday!

Contest Extended...

SO sorry to those of you that have been patiently waiting, but I have decided to extent the contest one day because I know of a few more people that hadn't had a chance to enter yet. Besides my husband decided to dissect the computer, so I am not able to get to where I saved the random number generator. :-(

Sooo...if you haven't entered yet, go ahead time is running out!

And for those of you that do not have a Google account, follow these steps:
1.) Type your comment in the "Leave a comment" box and make sure to include your name.
2.) Under choose an identity, click on the anonymous button.
3.) And then click "Publish your comment".
Here is a shortcut to the post.

The comments will be closed at eight on Thursday night and the winner will be posted by 9:00.
"GOOD LUCK" ;-)