Yes, we are Rednecks...

And, proud of it!

This past weekend was full of all the down and dirty activites that makes living in the South so fun!

Friday night started with Monster Truck Jam. Whitt had the lingo down thanks to Grandaddy showing him video after video on the computer the weekend before. If you run into our little man, ask him how fast a monster truck goes? His response, "Tree hundid, mil n owr!" in his best Southern drawl/ twang. Translation: "Three Hundred miles an hour." Just for the record, Michael had as much fun if not more than Whitt, and we are now the proud owners of a monster truck t-shirt that is having to be washed over and over due to max capacity usage. Oh, and we are sleeping with the yellow ear protectors on every night.

Then, came a little overnight at a b&b/ farm in Hernando, MS. Yes, I said Hernando, MS, and it was a dang good time! The perfect combination of fishing (never actually caught anything but it was a good attempt), boating on the pond, goats, ducks, horses, of course dogs, lounging, light hiking down an old country road complete with a small dog rescue whose name was Hayes and who had a bulldog friend named Mabel, delicious fried catfish, fried pickles, and yes, fried hushpuppies. But, what made it over the top was good time with friends. Thanks for a great weekend, Moores!

PS-One of us literally turned into a redneck. It was sunshiney and perfect Saturday, but since it was Febuary, I didn't think about sunblocking our little Red. ***GaGa, Grandaddy, JJ, and especially Pops, please stop reading at this point*** Yes, I let the back of our baby's neck and ears get burned. I said it! I get the worst mother award.

Sike!

urban dictionary/ sike means, "the immediately preceding statement is false and was told to mislead."

ok, so this morning about 9:00 the doorbell rings. I see a delivery truck, and my immediate thought was what in the world has my man done-he must have really messed up. Trust me, Michael makes me feel loved every day including Valentine's day, but sending/ bringing home flowers just really isn't his thing.

Well, come to find out, he had not messed up. The flowers were for my neighbor across the street. She wasn't home, so they asked if I could keep the flowers for her until she got home.

Hey, at least, I got to enjoy them for a few hours.

PS-just so Michael doesn't feel like I am throwing him under the bus. yes, I did say one time that fresh flowers are a waste because they die in a week. I think it was when we were dating, and I was trying to appear extremely practical and level-headed. How IDIOTIC is that!!! What girl says that!

No Words...

Five years ago today, our baby girl arrived five and a half weeks early catching all of us by surprise. It was a period of emotional extremes. I was overwhelmed with feelings of love, joy, and blessing over our bug, but I also could not understand why she had to come early, why I was only able to hold her for a brief ten minutes before she was whisked to the NCCU, why she had to go through the pain of IVs and a feeding tube, why I had to leave the hospital without her. The brief thirty minutes I was able to spend with her at each of her feedings while she was in the hospital for eight days just wasn't enough after having her inside of me every second of every minute for the eight months prior. At the time, I could not see past my own guilt (I blamed myself for her early arrival) and the grief over my own expectations to trust in and see the providence of God's plan for Mae's start. Once again, I was trying to fit Him into my own little box of control-my own little world I was creating. Five years later, I now see so many reasons for Mae's early entrance, and I know there are many more that God will reveal to us in the years to come. She loves and protects her brothers something fierce, and true to her nature, she was doing it from day one. Because of her arrival, my doctors watched me closely and the boys made it to full-term. She loves hearing the story of how she was already taking care of them from her very first days. She helps me escape the suffocating limits of my expecations time and time again by just being who she is. She defies expectations in her own gentle yet strong approach to life. To try to put who she is into words would be robbing the true beauty of her spirit. A friend once said to me after she had spent some close time with our girl, "I am excited to see the woman Mae becomes. There is just something about her." I reeled off, "I know, she has such a quiet confidence to her." My friend repsonded, "Yes, but that's not it." I then reeled off, "I know, she just has a peace to her." Same reponse from my friend. We never could put our finger on it. Like I said, there just aren't words enough, but I am blessed beyond measure that I get to experience and watch that precious spirit grow firsthand. To know her, really is to love her!

Bug, thank you for making me a mommy on February 11th, 2006! You have brought and continue to bring me and your daddy unending joy. We delight in you! Happy 5th, baby girl!

All dogs do go to Heaven

Ernie went to go be with God and great-grandaddy (as the kids like to say) exactly seven months ago. I was a sobbing mess, but fortunately the kids handled it really well. Since then, I have often heard them say, "I miss Ernie" or heard them discussing what his healed body looks like in heaven (Mae decided it was pink with silver glittery polka dots one day) or how and what Ernie is playing with God and great-grandaddy. It has been comforting in a way watching their minds and hearts explore Heaven. Then today as we were on our way to pick-up Mae's carpool, Whitt says:

• w: "I miss Ernie."
• j: "I do to Buddy."
• w: "Ernie isn't sinning anymore because he is in Heaven. He is perfect now and must be so happy."
• j: shock and silence

yes, I know we are talking about a dog and dogs don't sin, but let's give the little guy some props for exploring and taking to heart such a beautiful aspect of our Hope.

I have had several people say to me, "Ernie was the greatest dog ever!" And, you know what I have to agree. It was all his little imperfections that blended together in just the right way to create absolute canine perfection with a wildly furry face, the longest tongue imaginable, and the worst breath this side of Heaven. This family all still loves him dearly. Miss you, E!

"It seems to me possible that certain animals may have immortality, not in themselves, but in the immortality of their masters."~C.S. Lewis

"God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in Heaven, and if it takes my little dog being there, I believe it will be there." ~Billy Graham

Breaking my Bad Habits...

I have confessed in a prior post that I am not really a morning person and really anyone who reads our little blog probably already knows that about me.

• So, first I was given the ultimate early bird, Miss Mae. I still think she wakes up at 5:30 every morning, then patiently waits until it is 6:30 when she has the green light to come downstairs.
• Then came the energy with Mr. Whitt. We are talking bouncing off the walls energy that begins the moment his feet hit the floor. He needs no "rev" up time.
• And, now we have the last missing link-the noise!

This is the scence at our house at 6:45 am

and, then at 7:00.

God sent the three cutest wake-up calls possible to help break my habit, and I will say if our home continues to be filled with moments like this, I might just become a morning person after all.

PS-B threw up all over the new car about forty-five minutes later in carpool. It absolutely amazes me how kids go from fine to sick in 0.3 seconds.