Blog Day of Silence for Daddy Butch

Summer, we love you. Please try to take this day and remember the great times with your Daddy. I don't have words to take the hurt away, but just know that now he is watching over you in Heaven.

You'll never be Home Sweet Home to me...

We ventured up to the Tennessee Mountains this weekend, to Knoxville, for the Alabama game. We had some good friends, Lee and Alana along for the ride. I'm pretty sure they didn't know what they were getting into, but surprisingly, I think they are as crazy as we are. We stopped in Chattanooga at Bea's Cafe-which is famous, for what I am not sure. Unless it is mediocre, overpriced food. But, that was my opinion. No one else felt that way Since I've been on Weight Watchers, food has not been a big part of my life. I can take it or leave it, as far as eating. But I went on a trip this weekend with 3 people's who's lives revolve around food. 

We ate dinner at Ye Old Steakhouse... which was on Man Vs. Food. It was fantastic food and our waitress was the one who was on tv with him. We then went on the Riverboat Cruise that is put on by the Alabama Alumni Chapter in Knoxville. Lots of fun!! And the free beer didn't hurt either!

Big Al!!

MeMac and Poppy and Big Al

The cheerleaders and band were there! 

MeMac and Poppy

Neyland Stadium, from the water

We hung out at Buffalo Wild Wings, and if you follow me on Twitter, then you know that we waited over an hour for our food, only to have mine knocked to the ground as it got to our table.

 Direct quote from John, "You can church up the outside as much as you want, but your stadium still sucks."

View from our seats.. we would have been better off in the blimp.

 Now, we didn't run into any extremely ugly and rude fans like in the past, BUT, I did find a problem. A) Their intro video song is the same song Alabama has been using for about 4 years. AND B) They flew an eagle down and around the stadium. Just like Auburn. Now, Tennessee, you do some pretty cool things. Marching the T across the stadium and splitting the T are two that come to mind, but stop stealing other peoples cool stuff. We have awesome intro videos. Auburn has done the eagle thing for decades. Stick to your cool stuff.

Anyway, do we need to go over the fact that their upperdeck blows? The seats are too close together and  I felt like I could tumble down to the 50 yard line from my seat if I leaned over too far. I don't think we really need to cover the game either, 41-10 speaks for itself. Also, trying to get out of Knoxville after the game was nuts. The police direct traffic, but they really let the people walking have the right away instead of trying to get the cars out. That's just crazy. All you are doing is making more traffic!! Let's get those cars out first!



Anyway, We had a great time with great friends. The weather was amazing. And we beat the snot out of them. I also gained 2 lbs and was forced to eat 3 meals a day. Time to break out the running shoes!

Let's talk Furniture..

So.. once again. We are at a crossroads for furniture in our house. We desperately need a coffee table or ottoman of some sort in the living room and John wants a recliner. Which, is fine. I know he REALLY wants a red leather one, and as our living room is red, I have my concerns, but I think we are going to go with the red leather.

Now onto the ottoman. I originally thought, coffee table. BUT, with kiddos, I don't want it to get scratched and  I have a hard time making decisions. SO, I need you to help me out.

Here are the choices I have found.

I really like this one. The color swatch says heather grey. Which, I think would look pretty dang good in the living room. BUT, how easy would it to be cleaned one chocolate milk gets spilled on it?

Or, this is pretty practical. What what about little fingers getting smashed?

This again is pretty practical. Easy to clean. But kind of boring, I think.

This is my very favorite. Three Men and a Lady MADE it. Is that too big a task for me? What do you think? I am in love with her entire house. Makes me want to repaint and re do every room. 

Need a reminder on what our house looks like? Here is a picture of our living room.. which is open to the dining room.

Which would you pick?

Happy 4th Birthday Addison!

Dear Addison,

I haven't been ready for this day. I can remember so clearly the day that I found out that I was pregnant with you. Sitting on the couch waiting for your daddy to come home so I could tell him to news. I blurted out the news as soon as he walking in the door. 

I also remember everything about the day your were born. All of that excitement. Your Aunt Sa Sa had snuck into my room and decorated it the night before I was to be admitted for induction. It was complete with Princess crowns. 

I also remember the very first time I saw you. You were so alert and wide awake. All bundled up in that blanket. 

I have loved every second of watching you grow up into a little lady. You are so beautiful, inside and out. You ask me questions every day about God. You never forget to say the blessing when we sit down to dinner and you try so hard to be patient with your little sister- even though she refuses to talk. I sometimes catch you totally acting like the big sister you were born to be. You love her so much.

You are a Daddy's Girl, through and through. He loves you so much and you love him. You have a such a bond that at times, it has made me a little jealous. ;) 

You love bath time. You are a whiz at the iPad. You hate going to bed. You are sassy and a little bossy. 

When I look at you, I see the best qualities that I have and the best that your daddy has. You are a perfect combination of sweet and sassy. 

I love you so much, baby girl. Happy 4th Birthday.

Love,

Mommy

Is today Monday?

This morning, I was to meet Natalie, who is my partner in crime for the Disney Princess Half. We have started running two mornings a week together to prepare for our 13.1 mile journey in a few months. As I sat in the car, waiting on her to get there, I started thinking about last night when I was putting the finishing touches on my new photography blog. I was in the section about myself and I thought Who Am I? I am a photographer. A Mom. A Wife. And.... a runner. I love it. I get down on myself a lot about it. Maybe I'm not as fast as someone else, or have the motivation to get up before the sun to run-- which is when I actually have time to do it, and it really makes my day better. BUT... I do love it. I never thought that would be a part of me. Pushing myself to succeed in something, has never been my strong suit. If it doesn't come easily, I get discouraged and quit. But, running has taught me in the past year, to get better at anything, it takes WORK. Lots of it. A better wife. A better Mom. A better photographer. A better Christian. All of these things take DAILY work. So, it was in that moment, that I decided, I am not okay being mediocre. In anything. I want to be the best that I can be. I most likely, will never win a race, but just completely them is more than enough for me. So, I seriously slowed my pace today and was able to chit chat with Natalie during our run, but guess what? I ran two whole miles without stopping to walk, while carrying on a conversation with someone not in my head.

That, my friends, was an accomplishment for me. I can't tell you the last time I ran through pain, and the thought to stop never crossed my mind.

Of course, I then came home to a daughter who had a MAJOR accident in her bed... to the point she peed through her pull up, which also had poop in it, and she smelled like a homeless person. It stunk up our entire house. I had to wash all her bedding and spray our house and light candles. I kid you not, people. She smelled like a homeless person. We had to hose her down in the shower, which she didn't care for. AT ALL.

The rest of the morning went smoothly, until, I decided to take out one more bag of trash and I picked up the trash bag and there was standing liquid in the bottom of the trash can. Awesome. Our trash can is now sitting outside after being hosed down. Gross.

I'm hoping that the rest of the day gets better. No one said that motherhood was a glamorous job.

Question of the Day: Those of you that have running partners, do you run with ipods and not talk, do you talk, or what do you do while you run with them?

It's me again Margaret....

Things are starting to get pretty stinkin' busy around here. Addison turns 4(!!!!!) next week and her party is Sunday. In case you didn't hear, Alabama lost on Saturday and it was pretty depressing around these parts. Unless you are an Auburn fan, they were most likely rollin' around in our loss, which brings me to the fact that I had to delete a few "friends" on FB for their snarky comments about the game. Here's how I look at it. Football is a BIG deal around here, especially the Alabama/Auburn rivalry. You're not a fan if you don't want the other team to lose. So, I decided that I could A) get in a fight with someone over it (Not cool) or B) Make it go away. Now, I realize that there is a cool little "hide" feature, but honestly, anyone that would be that ugly about my team, isn't really a friend that I want. So, they went Bye Bye. Well, not sure if they are semi-stalkers, but they knew within 12 hours that they had been deleted, and proceeded to talk about me on a mutual friends wall post. Which, the things they were saying were SUPER hurtful and I don't really get my feelings hurt that easily about stuff like that.

You see, most of my close friends are Auburn fans and graduates. I would never say something about their team that I wouldn't be okay with them saying. I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings at all. I am all for cheering on your team, but let's stay classy with it. Mkay, people? And if there are any Gamecock fans.. you should be ashamed of yourselves. Spitting on people? Pouring beer over Alabama fans heads? Getting in someone's face and yelling, "Alabama sucks!" is uncalled for. If we suck, then it wasn't a big win and you shouldn't have stormed your field. Have some class.

Anyway, I weighed for WW this morning and I am down to 142. I had gotten down to 141 on Saturday, but then decided to eat all of my Flex Points and gained a pound. If I could leave those stupid things alone, I think I would be alright! :) But I am trying to teach myself that it is okay to splurge because if you don't, then you will eventually go completely overboard.

Not sure if I will be around the rest of the week.. but I will definitely be posting pictures of the Princesses party! :)

A Week later....

So, last week wasn't too good to me. We went to Atlanta and I got to go shopping, true. But, I also had sick babies awaiting me when I got home. Poor things. And? They gave it to MeMac and Poppy. Not cool, girls. We must talk about you share your germs. 

You see.. this is why I love best friends. When you are having a REALLY bad week, they send you gifts in the mail in the form of chocolate covered strawberries. But, not just any strawberries, Sherris Berries. Which, put Godiva to shame. 

Also.. these next pictures are out of order due to the new blogger format of uploading pictures. 

Friday nights fashion. John suggested we go to Taco Casa to eat. I gave him the evil eye. We do not waste good fashion on the drive thru. 

I found love in the form of these shoes...

Of course this weekend entailed some tailgating. We got down there Friday to set up and low and behold, someone had already staked off our spot. Not cool. We got the tent set up, with help and went on our way. We get up bright and early Saturday morning to get everything set up. Aaanndd... the tent won't blow up. We gathered the help of the tailgate spot stealers (Who actually went to school with my sis in law, small world, seriously.) and.. we cannot get this thing up. One leg of it will not blow up. We gather the help of more men( remember that's its 5 grown men we are dealing with in this story.) After about an hour of it, John was ready to call it a day with it, and not mess with it. We found where one of the legs inside lining was completely ripping at the seams.. so, duct tape to the rescue. Still won't blow up. So... one of the guys finds where at the top of the tent where all four legs connect, the inside lining is completely separated. So, it's broken. Done. We were ready to move on. BUT, remember those 5 men? Well.. they don't want us to quit. So, one guy, gets all McGuyver on us, slits the leg of the tent open with a knife, and gets duct tape and it going to duct tape it shut. So, the tailgate spot stealer, decides to crawl up inside one of the legs to make sure it's duct taped. YES HE DID. But.. it still didn't work. Sad day. Terry the Tailgating Tent is no more. RIP Terry, RIP.

After the win over Florida

Beginning of the game

tailgating outfit

these peeps had a rough night, I am guessing. Totally passed out. 

Alisha, Me, and Alana.. great tailgating family. 

Anyway, even though we lost the most important member of our tailgating family this week... we still had a wonderful time. I really love our little tailgating family.