"This is going to be the best night EVER!"

I am currently in the middle of having my Big Ass Garage Sale. I really needed to purge some of the "junk" we have accumulated over the years and what better way than to have a garage sale.

In order to make my life a little easier during my Big Ass Garage Sale, my mom came up and took the girls home with her so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping an eye on them. I have such a wonderful mom! Thank you, Mom! Let me tell you that it is so different having just TWO kids. Way different! Much slower paced. However, every now and then, I did look over my shoulder for the girls, and Chi-Chi asked a couple times where "The Law" and
Q-T were.........and for a brief moment I would become panic stricken......then Chi-Chi would say, with his fat little tongue, "Oh yeah, Mom, they went home with Oma. Rememba?"

So for a few hours, we were just a family of four.

Here is the part that just melted my heart. Last night was the "last night" of Bible School for the boys. There was a big finale with a program and carnival. (It was wonderful but will post more about that later. ) After it was all over, the boys and I piled into the car. As the doors the slammed shut, Chi-Chi turned to Dew and said, with his fat little tongue, "You are the best brother I have ever had." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Was the sky falling?
Dew turned to Chi-Chi and replied, "You're the best brother, too, Chi-Chi." They had this wonderful conversation all the way home, and I sat happily behind the wheel with the biggest grin plastered to my face thinking, "It doesn't get any better than this!"

To top it off, they wanted to have a slumber party with Mommy and Daddy in our room. So they made a pallet out of blankets, and Dew read a chapter to us out of his Magic Tree House book. Yes, they were thrilled about the fact that it was just them for one night. Yes, their prayers had been answered when we said they could sleep in our room. But the highlight of the evening was sleeping with their little lanterns they made in Bible School which consisted of a jar covered in tissue paper and then a glow stick was the candle. (As simple as those lanterns were, they were pretty cool and still glowing brightly this morning when I got up.) Dew and Chi-Chi carefully placed their lanterns on the floor just above their pillows. And as they were drifting off to sleep, Chi-Chi turned to Dew, and I heard him whisper (with his fat little tongue), "Dew, this has been the BEST night EVER!"

Dew answered, "Yes, Chi-Chi, it was!"

Once again, I ran to the window to see if the sky was falling, but it wasn't. For a few hours, they were brothers. Brothers that loved each other. And two little boys who were thrilled to get all of our attention.

And as I drifted off to sleep I took a moment to thank God for giving me that moment and for giving me those two wonderful little boys!

S

Lazy, Hazy Rainy Days

It is no secret that I am NOT a morning person. Never have been and probably never will be. Back in the day, I could sleep in with the best of them. Now I consider "sleeping in"until 7 am as a real treat, instead of the 11 or 12 o'clock hour that it once was. And if I only had to get up twice in the night or wake up in my own bed....you better break out the champagne....because that is a celebration in itself!

That is what I loved about today. It was damp, dreary, cloudy and rainy when I woke this morning, and as I rolled over and looked out my bedroom window I immediately exclaimed, "Yes!" because a rainy day gives me full reign to be as lazy as I want.

I stumbled down the stairs, got the coffee pot a brewin', and started to make the kids' breakfasts. Which, buy the way, consisted of cold pizza for the boys and assorted lunch meat for "The Law". Q-T had her usual....blander than bland rice cereal. Blech!

This morning also presented the perfect opportunity to take some photos of the kids. I snapped them all except Dew.....Lilo and Stitch was on the Disney Channel and Dew's day is just messed up if he can't see the "experiment of the day".

Q-T is starting to love having her picture taken. The camera comes out and she is all smiles!


Look at her chunky self......such a big chunk-a, chunk of love!

Bright light! Bright light! She wasn't too sure of the flash. Have you ever seen a more adorable double chin?

Back to normal.

Hamming it up once again. Can you see how much this girl loves her mama?

"What you lookin' at?"



Chi-Chi had to jump in and have his mug in the picture. Now he really loves to pose for the camera. Sometimes he's serious.....

Sometimes he's macho.....

Then there's this little slice of heaven! She is my little ray of sunshine.....even on a rainy day.

S

Goodbye 2741 Scott Avenue.....Thanks for the memories!

For the past several years, it has been my brother's dream to move back to our hometown. Well, as of this past weekend, he's back. He and his family are now living the country life and will love every second of it. I, on the other hand, will miss them terribly. I even asked....more like begged them every time I saw them.....begged them to stay in the big city with me, but they wouldn't even entertain the idea.

This is where they have called home for the last 8 years. So much has happened at this house. So many family celebrations....holidays, birthdays, cookouts, and was the central meeting place for our family get togethers for years.

My nephew had just started crawling when they moved in. It was here where he took his first steps and said his first words. Seems just like it was yesterday....where does the time go? Now he is constantly in motion, and it is hard to get him stop long enough to give me a hug and a kiss.

When my niece was born, she came home to 2741 Scott Avenue. This has been the only home she has ever known in her four little years. She, like Schmax, has experienced so many firsts here.....too many to mention. If only those walls could talk!

Guess I am a little sentimental!

It was here that Dew got whacked in the head with a golf club. Man, did he ever have a gash...one that required stitches. Chi-Chi was "golfing" in the back yard, and Dew was pretending that he was blind and therefore walking around the yard with his eyes closed. I am sure you can figure out the rest.......yep......Dew in his "blindness" walked smack dab into the golf club just as Chi-Chi was hammering it down. An event that has been permanently imprinted in their minds.

It makes me sad that Q-T will not have any memories of this house and all the good times that took place here.

Sometimes I am a little too sentimental.

Goodbye house! Thanks for the memories!

Goodbye Uncle Benny and Aunt Aubree! We will miss you!

I am making it sound like we will never see them again....but we will....this house is the new hangout only they don't know it yet.

This is their new home.


The site of many new family experiences and memories.

Hello house! We look forward to getting to know you!

S