My baby is GONE!!!!!

Matt and I got home last night from a week chaperoning camp. Matt's parents(Danny and Jimmie Kay) had driven down to stay with the girls while we were away, and they were packing up this morning for their trip back to Tennessee. While Meme and Pop were packing, Audrey marched in and said she was going with them. Expecting her to back out, I casually said "Ok, I'll miss you." (kiss, hug, kiss) As the grandparents continued to pack, Audrey continued saying that she was going too.

Hmmm...

My wheels of thought began turning. These poor children have never spent a single night at their grandparents by themselves. Julia is 4 and Audrey is 2 and they have NEVER spent the night at their grandparents!! How sad is that?? As the wheels kept turning, I realized that now was actually a pretty good time in the calendar for her to head off to Tennessee. My mom (Mammy) is traveling down here herself in just 4 days; Audrey could easily return with her. After checking the daily logistics of childcare with Danny and Jimmie Kay, we walked to her room.

I packed the suitcase with Audrey following behind me every step of the way. She helped pick out which clothes and pajamas to take. She grabbed a few of her most precious toys, and then she hugged us goodbye! WHAT??? NO!!!!! I kept looking at Matt thinking, "Surely, she is NOT going to actually leave me!"

But she did.

We walked her out to their van. Matt put her carseat back in, and we kissed and hugged her again. Instead of the tears and a wailing of "Mommy!", as they backed out she waved and grinned EAR to EAR!

Audrey was thrilled.

I am not.

I just got her back, and now she's gone again.

I'm, seriously, jumping up from typing this every few minutes hoping to see their van returning, but it hasn't and I don't think it will. I'm proud of her for being a brave and independant little girl, but I miss her. I miss her sweet and soft cheeks. I miss her gap-toothed grin. I miss her sticky hands, and her neverending chatter.

Enough, Val! The tears are flowing now, and I don't want to cry.

Lord, thank you for the quiet moments of cuddling that she and I had this morning. Thank you for the giggles we shared. I guess those will have to last me until Wednesday night when she's back in my arms again!

I'm still here

I haven't blogged in a week. I've thought about it a number of times, but the only thing that ever came to mind to type was "bleh, toiosarneioioklw & blabbity, blah, wokdaosudkn blah!"

Yeah - nothing was coming to mind but I wanted to type up a quick note tonight.

Matt and I are leaving tomorrow (5AM = leaving church) to chaperone youth camp for the week. His parents are in town to watch the girls so I know they'll have a good time playing! I didn't even feel all that emotional myself about leaving town until tonight. We got home around 8:40 and I just sat on the couch and snuggled with Julia as the tears started to come. Not too much later my phone rang (HI ELLEN !!!) and I was able to push the emotions back. No need to make the girlies sad!!!

I was a little disappointed not to be able to spend this last evening with the girls before our trip, but Matt and I had to head to church for a rehearsal. I was able to sing (with a few other people) for the first time in a while. It felt good. Sometimes you just don't realize you've been missing something...

I had a busy day yesterday. After a family breakfast, I drove up to church to spend time with my fellow preschool teachers. What??? I don't think I've mentioned this online, but I'm teaching preschool this fall. It's a little extra money, it's part-time, it's getting me out of the house, and the girls will be going up there too! This is really great blessing for me! Although, perhaps I'll feel differently once I'm in a class surrounded by 4 year olds! ;) We had 2 parties yesterday afternoon to attend, plus Matt's parents drove in - it was a fun day. Sometimes in my rather boring life it's nice to have lots of places to go!

Fun in the Sun!

Today, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we live South of I-10!

We had a few visitors when we pulled out our picnic. :)

Here are our oily souvenirs. :(

Nope, not us! No way.

It's wasn't my younger child who showed up with poop on her foot yesterday with no clear indication of how it got there. I certainly didn't walk the apartment fearfully searching for nasty panties, a smeared spot on the carpet, or something else equally disgusting. I'm NOT still a little worried that I'll find something to explain the random poop spot. Nope, that didn't happen here.

Nor did my older child find some scissors during rest time and decide to cut up old coupons (which were definitely NOT mine) consequently cutting a 5 inch hole in her parents bed sheet. It was also not my older child who decided to use those scissors to cut the strap of one of her purses. No, that was definitely not my child.

It was not my husband who when asked to clear the table for dinner removed mail and newspapers but left a table covered in chocolate cake remnants. It couldn't have been my husband who did that because I would never leave my kitchen table looking like that for more than 10 minutes. Never!

In fact, I am such a great housekeeper that I definitely do not still have a suitcase full of clothes still sitting in the living room from a trip we returned from 5 days ago.

Nope, that is not what's been going on at our house. NO WAY!

About me - again!

Since I enjoyed writing the original "About me" PLUS I got some good feedback on it, I'm typing up some more!

In my early 20's I got into watching reruns of "Roseanne" simply because I wasn't allowed to watch it in my teens. I tend to find reruns of a show and watch them continuously for a few months until I've seen every episode and then I never really want to watch the show again. Shows that I've done this with include the aforementioned "Roseanne", "Yes, Dear", "What I Like About You", "King of Queens", "Friends", and "George Lopez". My current obsession is "Everybody Loves Raymond". My blog/facebook friends are the closest friends I have - this can make for a sometimes lonely time. I used to think that churches came with alot of baggage, and while this is true it's also true that ministers and their families come with a fair share of baggage as well. My hesitancy to make friends in Robertsdale is proof enough of this. I wear flipflops at least 9 months out of the year. Perhaps, living near the coast can push that closer to year-round! My favorite day of the week is Thursday - it's Matt's day off PLUS I know that he only has 1 workday before he has another day off. I check the locks on the doors multiple times before I'm able to go to sleep although my obsession with this has lessened since we've moved to an apartment. I think I feel safer here b/c I know that if I scream there are people close enough to hear. Seriously.



I'm also scared of dogs. I like to say that I'm only scared of big dogs, but that's not true. I'm actually scared of all dogs - hello? they all have teeth don't they? I bruise incredibly easy. I don't know where half my bruises come from. I like to sing, but I rarely know all the lyrics of a song. I enjoy staying up late so that I can have time by myself without children around. I'm overly concerned with what people think about me. In fact, I'm worrying right now that people reading this are going to think less of me b/c of some of the stuff I'm admitting. I would love to have another child. I love the boy name, Cullen, but I don't think I'd use it because of the whole vampire connection. I've never read any of those vampire books and I don't intend to. I think my kids are at their absolute cutest when they're asleep. I feel really at peace when I'm at the beach and step in the sand for the first time. I've always wished I had curly hair. Although it happens very rarely, I love having someone else pluck my eyebrows - it's relaxing to me. If I drink coffee, I like it with french vanilla flavored cream, sugar and I don't drink it until it's close to tepid. My writing was recently likened to that of Andy Rooney. I had taken the comment as a compliment until I googled the guy and read the words "fussbudget" and "curmudgeon." EEK! :)


Happy Thursday everyone!

I have a few more pictures that I want to share from our TN trip.




Julia and Brodye had a good time running through the sprinkler. Audrey?? not so much - although I did capture a pretty smile from her!




What's with the odd look of the above pictures?? I was asking myself the same thing but have since realized that it must have been the humidity in the air.

After dinner that evening, we made Meme and Pop a countdown to their trip to AL. Good job to these 2 for working together on that project!



What a fabulous threesome...

...but we're excited that this group will be growing into a foursome come January. (Matt's sister and her hubs are expecting a baby.)

Ok, so this next photo has nothing to do with our afternoon at the Bowman's, but I'm a SUCKER for sleeping child photos! See here, here, here, here for just a months' worth of sleeptime photos.




Children tend to be so much more precious when they're asleep, don't you think??!! :) I love Julia's "all in her face" hairstyle. The child has inherited my hair - thick, just a touch of curl, and quick to frizz! As for Audrey, look at her little belly. The girl has muscles and a rather athletic build (this was NOT inherited from me) but she still has a little baby belly, and it's so cute poking over her seat straps!

Heading down 45

We're traveling today! Hopefully, after such an exhausting week of family time, the girls will be doing alot of this during our 8 hour trip...

Picnic in the Park

Poppa and I took the girls on a picnic in the park this week. This park was a little older than others in Jackson, BUT it was empty and SHADED. In 90+ degree weather, shaded playgrounds are valuable!



Woohoo! Both girls were able to climb up this fancified ladder thingamajig. Audrey is a little monkey! She was making us nervous with her climbing.


Julia's helping her sister!

Beauty Shop

Meme went shopping last week and got the girls lots of beauty supplies. She got sponge rollers, pretty hair clippies, fake pink/purple hair extensions, fake fingernails, sticker nail decorations, etc. We have had a good time trying all of this stuff out!



Even Little Bit got some extra volume in her hair thanks to the rollers.


We even had a non-female participant in the beauty shop fun.


I'm not sure that there's anything Pop won't do for his granddaughters!

Visiting with Great-Grands!

The 3 of us with my Grandmother and Granddaddy Ford


The girls and my Memaw Taylor.


Granddaddy Bowman, the girls, and Pop!


We were also able to visit with Matt's maternal grandparents, but no pictures were made. Sorry about that!

I'll be posting more pics from our trip soon! I finally found the cord to hook my camera to the computer. Shock, shock, shock (said with much sarcasm) that I couldn't find it for the last few days. I'm always losing something!

This & That Thursday

* We're in Jackson this week visiting family. We've been having LOTS of family time. We've seen all the girls' grandparents, and 5 of the 6 living great-grands. The 6th will be seen before the weeklong visit here is over!

* The girls and I are sharing a room at my moms. I'd been half hoping they'd sleep in my brother's room, but no. The first night there was a lot of giggling going on. Nights 2 and 3, though, were full of whining and crying. BLAH! Maybe tonight will be better!

* We've been showing family the girls' VBS video (Vacation Bible School). They seem to be proud to show off their performances.

* Last week I mentioned that I was excited to have bought a smaller pair of pants, but this week I've probably put some weight on. We've been eating more elaborate meals (that include dessert...mmmmm...) plus I haven't been able to get in my daily time in the pool.

* I think it's really sweet to see the girls sitting next to their great-grandparents. Sometimes they warm up to them during our 2 or 3 visits a year, sometimes they don't.

* I'm missing my Matthew. I sure do hope he's missing me too!

Fireworks!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!


We'll be heading up to church around 6 for a big cookout. The church is only providing drinks & watermelon. We're supposed to bring meat to throw on the grill and some sides for our family. As we were getting into the jeep after church this morning, one of the families we've gotten to know here suggested we just eat some of their meat. Apparently, they had a freezer full of ribs, chicken, boston butts, etc. that they're looking to share! All that sure does sound better than the hamburgers we'd been planning on! I've made up some cookies and brownies already and I'll think of some sides to bring too! Should be some yummy food there!

Then, after dark we'll have an easy view of the city fireworks. Julia's been excited about these for a few days. She's really hoping some of the fireworks are pink.

What all do you have planned for today??? Click on the 'comments' button and share how you're celebrating!

About ME

I write alot about my kids, but I'm in the mood right now to write about myself. I think I need to do that alot more often...

I hate using measuring cups and spoons b/c it slows me down - therefore eating food of mine can be risky. I like having a clean house, but I absolutely hate to clean. I get frustrated easily. I hate dealing with my hair so I've jumped on the "it's not good to wash your hair more than twice a week" bandwagon and then put it all in a ponytail. I'd love a cute, short haircut, but I'm just not brave enough to do it. I've never had a pedicure. I reflexively start hitting people who touch my feet. I've always been sensitive about my weight. I was thrilled last weekend to be able to buy a size smaller than my usual. I tend to remember embarrassing moments from years (and now decades) ago that still make me blush. I like staying home with my kids, but I'm starting to need something more. I get along really well with my in-laws. My favorite way to start the day is with a big family breakfast. I write in a journal every year on mine and Matt's anniversary - noone (including Matt) has ever read it. I worry alot. I have no sense of style, be it in fashion or home decor. I wish I was really great at something. I like to wear perfume, but rarely do. When I'm wearing a t-shirt and a ponytail I always also wear dangly earrings in order to feel 'girly'. I'm afraid of the dark. If I "hear a noise" while home by myself I punch 911 into my cell and put my thumb ready and waiting on SEND. I don't sleep well if Matt's not at home. If I have to go outside after dark, I usually have Matt watch me from a window. I used to love Law and Order S.V.U. but it got to where I'd sleep on the couch with all the lights on if I watched it. You could say I'm paranoid, especially since this list of fears could go on and on and on...

I love to read, and I go to the library weekly. Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, James Patterson, and Karen Kingsbury are some of my fave authors. I cannot remember the last nonfiction book I checked out of the library. I'm always losing my keys, my phone, etc. I wouldn't consider myself to be shy, but I've been described as such recently. After years of rarely/never going swimming, at age 23 I had to relearn how to go underwater without holding my nose. I'm still scared to dive. I prefer any and all meat well done. I hate paying retail price for anything. I wish I'd traveled more before I had kids. I hate having to repeat myself. I love back massages. I bite my nails. I rarely wear makeup. I don't know how to put on eye liner (not that I even own any). I like to watch romantic comedies and psychological thrillers. I'm not interested in going to my 10 year high school reunion this year. I still feel way too intimidated by the people and memories of that time. I've had a rough time adjusting to our recent move, but I'm doing alot better! I love to take family snapshots, but I wish I could actually be in more of them.

Whew - I rather enjoyed the last few minutes of just typing whatever came into my head. Perhaps I'll do that again! :)