Grandparent's Day

I feel like the lazy blogger..... no time for writing.... these days I'm just posting pictures. It's been so crazy around here lately, I haven't even been doing that very much either. Just like everyone else with kids, the week of Halloween is super busy.... parties, trick or treating, programs at school and this year the girls' elementary school decided to throw Grandparents Day in there, too. So Friday my mom came in town to visit the girls for Grandparents Day.

Here's mom and Madison

And here's Macy in her classroom before her party. That's her friend, Cally in the foreground. His dad is the new coach in Auburn and I have to say, that's one of the sweetest and most respectful children I've ever met. He told us he only ate one piece of his Halloween candy the night before because he was going to go give it to all the football players.

Here's Macy with Mic-Mic at her Grandparents Day lunch

Madison's also been pretty busy with softball lately.... here's a cute one of her team.
This is our last week of games and 4 nights a week of activities.
Hooorraahhhh!!

And then there's this.....
candy, candy, candy....
Causing alot of trouble, too....
Wrappers on the floor, in the couch cushions, under chairs.
My gosh, has anybody ever heard of a trashcan!
Now that I'm done stealing all of their chocolate, I think it's about time
to get rid of all the rest and put an end to all the candy wars. I know there are some
mama's out there that are right there with me on that one!

Oh, and I musn't (is that a word??) forget about Jonathan..... his favorite time of year is here. The deer corn is being planted, the tree stands are up, the guns are primed and ready...... it's almost that time for opening day. This weekend while he was up at the farm working, he came across this little coyote. The man will kill anything if it's legal! You just never know what he'll come home with..... dead and disgusting and too gross for me to look at...... and by the way, I wouldn't even take this picture.... he had to recruit Madison to do it. Yuck! I just hope he's not planning on stuffing it..... we're running out of room to display dead animals around here.

So everyone put your pets up safe and sound in your houses.... he's got the fever again.

I'm kidding, of course.

Trick or Treat

Macy and Jacob before they went trick-or-treating
(uhhh.... we did finally get some shoes on him later)

Macy and her friend, Stuart Scott

Little Sullivan as Raggedy Ann

Sarah Kate, Mally & Claire as a cute little cupcake

Some of the gang all dressed up

Jacob as Optimus Prime

Sweet baby Coleman as a giraffe

Daddy & Macy

Kimbell as Willie Wonka

A group shot

Jacob doesn't look too happy with the treat he got!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Madison..... she trick-or-treated with a friend last night and Mama was pretty sad not to see her or get some cute pictures.....

Hope it was a great night for everyone!

Another new puppy

Well, unfortunately we've had to take back our puppy this week because of some issues we were having with aggression. He was growling and snapping at us, and over the weekend he bit both Jacob and Madison. We've been very sad, but on Wednesday we took him back and came home with this little pup.

So here he is..... Charlie..... named by Maddie...... as sad as she was on the way home, we were all discussing names and had pretty much given up.
Then she said, "Mom, I've got it! Charlie! He looks like a Charlie."

Last night when we brought Charlie into the house for the first time.....
Boy, was he ever scared!

Jacob at his school this morning singing his pumpkin songs and songs
about Jesus at his pre-party show

Jacob and his buddies eating their treats

Mrs. Emmy and some of the kids loving on Charlie at Jacob's school

When we got home today, Jacob took a few snapshots with his new puppy.
Look at those cuties!

He even feels comfortable enough to pet him and play with him

Then we all got out in the yard and I took some more pictures.
Seeing them playing started to make me a little more confident of my decision, too.

Look how sweet. Jacob was loving it!

Happy Halloween everyone!
Be safe tonight Trick-or-Treating!

Ho Ho Ho!

It's been a crazy week, and although fun, I'm now glad two Halloween parties are done and were successful..... now it's time to move on to.... uhhhhh.... Christmas.

Not really, but I did receive an email from my Christmas card printer saying that if I'd order by October 25th, I could get almost 1/2 off. Being a sucker for a deal, I went Christmas clothes shopping, woke up early Sunday morning, did the dreaded drill of getting three kids shampooed, dried and styled, and then we were off..... this time with a puppy in tow.... to take Christmas pictures. 225 of them!! When you take that many, you're bound to get a few good ones.

I took the opportunity to take shots of each child individually, too, and I thought I'd share some of those. First a funny one.... Jacob put on the wig Jonathan was wearing to make them all laugh while I was taking their picture. Well, that's not ALL Jonathan was doing to make them laugh..... he must have been doing something to me, too, behind my back because every time I'd turn around, he would stop and act all innocent but mama ain't no dummy!

I was more than happy to be the butt of a joke if it made those kids laugh for pictures. Thanks, Jonathan!

Here's the wig shot.... don't ya love it?

Here's a picture of Miles.... already went from 3.1 lbs to 4.2 lbs in one week!

Here's a sweet one of Madison holding her puppy



Here's one I loved of the girls together

And one of my favorites of Jacob laughing

Finally he looks like himself in a photo!!

I'm missing my fellow bloggers blogging...... Come back girls!!

Oh, What a Night!

What a great party! Lots of people got together and had a Halloween party at Sky Bar here in downtown Auburn and it was a blast! Loved all the costumes.... really loved the music.... it was so much fun to watch everyone dance and cut up. We all need to cut loose every once in a while! Thanks everyone, and especially Jodi & Ronnie.... great job!

So, do you remember these guys????

Elizabeth's had this idea for years and we finally got around to doing it.....The Mystery, Inc. Gang..... Velma, Shaggy, Daphne & Fred...... where's Scooby??? Doesn't Elizabeth look great??

Joe, Elizabeth, Jonathan, me, Kevin & Heather before the party

I have no idea what we were doing but it
looks like we saw our first ghost!

Already having fun!

Here's a slideshow of the whole night.
If you want pictures, I'll try to upload them to Snapfish soon and you can order some.

Halloween Hoop-la!

Thanks to all of you who came to the Halloween party yesterday. It was loads of fun, and we had a great turn out.... maybe 140 or so. The weather was perfect for an outdoor party, too. Wow, we actually had a party and it didn't rain! The kids were psyched, or maybe just way loaded up on sugar, but I think they all had a blast.

Thanks goes out to everyone who let me borrow their tables, to Beth and Christie for bringing me so many volunteers, and of course, to all the other moms who let their older children help out. Much thanks to Dana and Kalyn for volunteering and for helping re-weave that ridiculous spider web! Also thanks to Heather for helping me set up and to Sutton who would have worked her fingers to the bone if I would have let her. You are a sweet girl, Sutton.

Here's a few pictures and then a slideshow..... a MUCH easier way than posting each individual picture. Lesley said she took 82 pictures, too, so if you don't see you or your children on these, she'll give me more later. I'll upload them all to Snapfish if anyone wants copies.

Getting the party started

Having fun making some crafts

Jacob's favorite game

Anna Grace, Emma, Anna Charlotte, Holland, Madison & the puppy, Miles

Hannah, Taylor, Thomas & Wells

A group shot taken toward the end of the party.
Quite a few of you are missing..... sorry we got to this so late in the party

Macy & Laura, together again!

Famous Last Words....

We're back..... with a brand new puppy!! So glad to be home, too. Yesterday was one of the LONGEST days of my life. Friday after school we loaded up the car and headed to Atlanta to spend the night. We shopped a bit, had a nice dinner out and then went back to the hotel. The kids always love to stay in hotels, so that in and of itself was fun for them. Then we woke up early Saturday to head to Cumming, GA for the Lakewood Antiques Show. The kids really enjoyed that, too. After loading up on some funnel cakes and a few souvenirs each, and with the kids pleading to go get the dog, we headed that way in a rainy, yucky mess of a day.

Now's a good time to go back and re-read my last post...... the day before we left to go to Atlanta for the weekend and to pick up the puppy I had had a pretty crazy week and wrote these famous last words in my post......

"Should be a nice break from the chaos."

Uhhh...... NOT.

Amazing how quickly life can throw you a curveball. Just when you think you're about to create one of the best memories of your childrens' lives, picking up their brand new puppy, not 10 minutes down the road, Jonathan looks over at a pumpkin patch on the side of the road, looks back and in 2 seconds flat, all the traffic in front of us on the highway was at a dead stop. With nowhere to go but straight into the car in front of us, well, we crashed. And just as we were realizing what had just happened, BAM! We got hit again from the back.

Everything was really quiet for a few seconds and then Macy starting screaming. That scared me because I thought she had been hurt, but luckily, she was just really freaked out. I turned to make sure everyone else was OK, and luckily they were. Then we got out to inspect the damage and make sure all the other people were OK. The man in the passenger seat of the car behind us was holding his hand out with blood all over it saying he thought he broke his hand. They had a little six year old girl in the car with them who was obviously very shaken up. The parents were pretty scared, too, and there was smoke everywhere in their car and their air bags were deployed, so I took the little girl away and tried to distract her for a while. Amazing how asking a little girl what she's going to be for Halloween can bring a smile and a story out.

Needless to say, it was not quite the day we thought we were going to have. But, all in all, everyone was fine and that's all that really mattered. The rest of the day didn't get much better either.... we stood out in the rain for what seemed like FOREVAH dealing with the police and insurance and moving the cars out of the road. Then we had to find a rental car place which turned out to be 25 minutes away. We decided to drive our banged up car there...... not really sure if that was a good idea..... every few minutes something would fall off the car and go bouncing back behind us on the road. Then when we got to the car rental place, they had no SUV or van big enough for our whole family, our luggage and the dog crate, so we had to rent two cars. Then we got lost, because of bad directions (REALLY!) on the way to get the dog, and it felt like we must have turned around 10 times.

But I will say, that once we got there and saw Miles for the first time, I think we all forgot about the bad of that day and were so excited to meet him. He was every bit as cute as the pictures we had seen. After we played with him there, we talked to his breeder for a while, and then we got him in his crate to head home. He wasn't a very happy camper, he was carsick and definitely scared and homesick, but he made it home just fine. He spent the first few hours very afraid and trembling at times. But pretty soon, he started warming up, and seemed to find some comfort in me, so I tried to hold him and play with him for the next few hours. He did cry a few times last night, but all in all, he made it through his first night in his new home just fine.

And best of all, my husband, who had wanted a hunting dog that would live outside, and said NEVER EVER EVER would he have a poodle..... well, I think he fell for that little puppy just like the rest of us. Last night, after we had been home for a few hours and he had not been paying Miles a bit of attention, he finally sat down and played with him. The next thing I knew, he was saying, "I'm positive this is the cutest puppy I've ever seen." And then I found him all curled up with him on the chair in our den. Puppies can melt everyone's hearts, I guess.

Jacob having fun playing in the hotel room Friday night

Madison catching up on a few tips from Cesar Millan before she goes to bed

Sweet dreams, little boy

Jonathan dealing with our mess.... lovely huh? And he had just been asking me on the trip what kind of car I wanted next...... I told him I loved my car and didn't want another one.

And another view

Our lovely rental cars..... me in the truck with the dog and the girls, and Jonathan in the KIA with Jacob...... never seen him driving a compact car.... it was kind of funny

Guess I won't be driving my car for a while..... don't you love the duck tape job..... the state trooper fixed us up so we could get over to the next town to rent a car..... I don't think he would have done that had he known things would be falling out of my car the whole way there.

The kids meeting Miles for the first time at the breeder's house

What a cutie pie!!

They were so excited!

Taking Miles inside our house for the first time



Can you see why we'd all fall in love??



Macy cuddling with Miles



And even daddy got in on some cuddle-action

Thanks for the phone calls of concern..... we're all fine, thank goodness.
Come by sometime and see baby Miles!

The excitement builds....

Sheesh, it's been a rough couple of days. Softball, a big writing project for Madison, shopping for everything dog related that we need just to get through the first few days -- had NO IDEA what a money pit Petco was! -- getting ready to head out of town for the weekend, trying to start on some of the food for the party next week and finishing up some of the games, too..... I'm tired just thinking about it all.

And true to form, just when I'm at my busiest, my body stops working properly..... I stop sleeping through the night. I told Jonathan this morning that I feel like the mama of a newborn..... I've been waking at 3:00am or 4:00am every night and not getting back to sleep.... And last night it was 2:00. Why is it that when you are your most tired, you become an INSOMNIAC?? And of all things, I just realized the kids are out of school on Monday, the day before I'll have 150 people at my house..... can I ever plan the right timing of a party or what??? At least this time there is NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST.... yes, it truly is a miracle.... NO RAIN in Auburn, AL for at least a few days.

And don't forget with all the other stuff happening around here, we're throwing a puppy in the mix, too. Maybe I've taken a little too much on, but believe it or not, even though my body feels like a semi hit it, I'm really excited about the puppy and the party. The kids are getting all psyched up for both, and we're actually heading out today to spend the night in Atlanta.... have some fun there and then we're going to the Lakewood antique show tomorrow morning before going to pick up Miles. Should be a nice break from the chaos.

I took a few pictures of the kids last night when we got home from the plethora of stores we went to shopping for the dog. By the way, did you know that dogs need ear cleaning pads?? Me either.... but according to Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer himself, they're a must. Yikes.... this is getting more and more expensive and ridiculous at the same time..... a bag of organic doggie treats..... $9.99.... I don't spend that much on MY treats!! You can get a REALLY big waffle cone at Bruster's for around $4.00 and I'm pretty positive it would taste ALOT better. Oh well, I'm sure I'm being suckered into to buying all kinds of things this puppy doesn't need, but it's been pretty exciting for all us to get everything ready for the homecoming of our new baby. The kids were so pumped last night that they each took a turn in his new home (we'll be crate training).... you know, just to make sure it was pretty cool and comfy in there for him.

Jacob took a turn first..... we actually couldn't get him out of there..... he really liked it!

Then Macy took a turn.....

Madison went next, but I didn't get it on film.....
here they are so excited about their new family member.

Wish me luck..... it's been a LONG time since I've had a puppy! I sure hope I can do this.

By the way, if anyone reading this is coming to the party, I still need some tables..... tailgating kind or card tables, either one would help. And if you'd like to bring some rolls of toilet paper, that would really help, too. Thanks! Can't wait!

Catching Up

Four nights a week with activities, the kid's Halloween party we're hosting, researching for a new puppy, designing a new Halloween blog, projects around the house and the normal day to day cleaning, laundry and homework have made for a pretty busy schedule here lately. Result? Well, Mama's tired and more than a little slack as a blogger. I thought I'd cheat a little and play a game of catch up by posting some pictures from the last few weeks all in one blog post.....

Here the kids decided to break out the sidewalk chalk..... the whole family got involved....

this is Jonathan's chalk drawing of little Jake.... pretty good likeness I think

Macy's chalk Spongebob

And Jacob's rocket ship

Macy stayed at home from school last Thursday with a fever and this is what she made while she was bored with no one to play with...... a lego Spongebob......
it seems to be a theme with her........

And here's Jacob helping me cook........... uh, NOT!
If you've ever smelled his feet after taking off his tennis shoes,
you'd KNOW for sure that I was joking.

Holly & I have gotten "Mommy-Smart" this year and have decided to have a little playdate with the boys twice a week...... once at her house, once at mine. It's great..... the boys LOVE it and we get a break from ALL children one afternoon a week. Here they are on top of my kitchen table (you just never know what you'll find with these three!)
Baylor, Walton and Jacob...... there always seems to be a little dressing up, a little undressing and a few guns involved when they get together......

On a side note, Jonathan's started referring to Jacob as "Little Matthew McConaughey"......
look at this picture and you might see why........
no shirt -- ALWAYS, just like Mr. McConaughey,
and the curls..... well, it's a pretty good fit.....
sans the washboard abs and the beautiful Latino chick beside him, of course

Macy's latest project....... she copied the "Don't Wake Daddy" game with Legos...... and when I say all by herself, I mean ALL by herself. She hid away for a while and then came out with this little likeness...... if you look closely, you'll even see the bedside clock with the snooze button and all of his fingers, too.

Jonathan on a teal hunt in Texas with some friends

We spend 2 nights a week out at dance and cheerleading and the other two nights out at the ballpark watching Madison play softball. It's a lot of fun and great to see some friends, too.

Maddie running to third

JP and me watching Maddie hit 'em

Macy & Morgan hanging out after the game

Playing on the playground with Kate & Wheeler

Jacob especially loves the ballpark...... he begs during every game......
pleeeease can I go to the playground, Mom????

And then me and my friend, Holly, went last Friday to Atlanta for a girl's day.....

First we went to Scott's Antique Market..... bought a dining room sideboard and a dresser
(neither of which did I take a picture of.... oops)

Then we raced through the fabric stores....

And at the end of the day..... the very best part..... unwinding at the Cheesecake Factory


Well, actually, this was the best part..... all 1500 calories of it!


And don't forget the yummy margarita..... definitely deserved by the end of that day!

Meanwhile, back at home, well, sometimes we get sooooo tired from all these late nights out with the girls playing softball and dancing, that we just plain crash in the middle of the floor in the middle of the day

And then other times...... well, we just act silly. Last night after Jacob's bath, I was trying to get his pj's on but he really didn't want to wear them....... he said he wanted my robe instead.

I said, "Jacob, why do you want to wear Mommy's robe, it's way too big."

He said, "Because it's really soft and pink and pink is my favorite color."

So I replied, "Why don't you go tell your Daddy that."

And he did.

And then he started putting Halloween stickers all over himself in very strategic spots.....

And then he danced...... and danced........... and danced some more..... really groovy-like..... kind of like a belly dancer.

And his Daddy did not like it at all......... not one little bit.

I, however, thought it was quite comical.

Wish I had a video.

Boo's and Cavapoo's

Long time, no blog. October is a busy month around here. Mama's getting a little obsessed with Halloween..... decorating the inside of the house.... pretty much ALL of it..... the ceilings, the stairs, every table and mantle and on and on.... and that's not all either..... the other day, I was caught hanging from the window sills upstairs to get some spider webs attached to the outside of the house. WHY???? Well.... I have no earthly idea other than to say that I LOVE Halloween. And I absolutely love the frenzy it seems to put all the kids in when I start decorating. They come ringing the door bell.... begging for candy from my kitchen countertop..... and talking 90 to nothing about all of their own creative ideas on how to decorate my house. I think little 4 year old Baylor made me feel the best yesterday...... we drove into my driveway and he said, "Wow, Ms. Amanda.... Your house rocks!"

That right there made all those hours on the ladder worth it. Soon I'll take some pictures and show you all..... you never know, you might just find yourself painting silk roses black and hanging ghosts from the ceiling, too.

Now to the other reason I've been so busy and not blogging..... My kids have been begging, and when I say begging, I guess I should say BEGGING to get a dog. We've substituted with goldfish and frogs..... not much of a substitute, I know, but a dog is not something I was ready for..... I am so, so busy every day..... I can't possibly fit everything in that I want to do each day, so I've never thought I could handle taking care of a dog, too. And as far as the kids go, I never felt that they were quite old enough to be responsible for it. It's not that I'm against dogs it's just that, one, I had a horrible experience with a Dalmation in college that warped me forever on the difficulty of raising some puppies and, two, Jonathan is highly allergic to cats and some dogs. So every time the kids begged, we said, "no..... not until you're older and more responsible." Well, guess what? I finally realized they ARE older and they ARE more responsible. No more using that as an excuse.

So there began the search for the perfect family pet...... a friend of mine has a labradoodle puppy, a mix of a lab and a poodle, and that's when I started looking into poodle mixes. They are supposed to be hypoallergenic and usually don't shed. But there are tons of different kinds of mixes...... so I did a lot of research and with most breeders in Illinois and Wisconsin and Virginia and, therefore, a plane flight away for a baby puppy, I finally got really lucky and ran into a local woman walking her dog that I thought was cute as could be. She was so helpful and said she got her dog, called a Cavapoo, a cross of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a poodle, from a breeder in Athens, GA. Driving distance!! So I got on the lady's website and then shared a few phone calls and finally decided, with the kids' help, on a little red-haired puppy that would look a lot like the dog I saw when he is grown. So here's the first picture we saw of him at 5 weeks.....

And this is the picture the breeder sent us of him at 6 weeks.....

What a cutie-pie! So I'm reading lots of books and visiting Petco a little more than ususal. This time I want to make sure I do this right. The kids are beyond excited...... ESTATIC! And best of all, they say they don't even want Christmas presents this year......... we'll see how long that lasts. We've named the puppy Miles, after finding out that Miles Standish (captain of the Mayflower) is my 9th great grandfather and the kids' 10th great grandfather. Fitting I thought because the dog has red hair just like Miles Standish did. We'll go pick him up -- the whole family -- on October 17th..... he'll be almost 8 weeks old. I really do feel like we are adopting a child or something...... a new member of the family...... I guess I'm a little excited, too.

Here's a picture of the dog I saw walking that Miles will resemble when he's older. He'll be 17-18 lbs or so with the softest coat and great disposition...... or so we hope. If anyone has any puppy advice, please help -- I'm sure I'll be needing it!

If you believe, she will come.....

My kids are getting older. That's great in a lot of ways, but it does make me sad when they start getting a little too smart and putting two and two together about all the "make-believe" stories we parents tell them. The stories we all grow up with, the ones that make childhood that much more special..... the ones of Santa, and the Easter bunny and let's not forget that sweet little Tooth Fairy..... the one that's cost me an arm and a leg here lately.

My 8 year old seems to be losing a lot of teeth these days. And like I said before, she's getting smarter and smarter, too. So for months now, she's been proclaiming.... LOUDLY.... in front of her 4 year old little brother..... "There really isn't a Tooth Fairy, you know. It's really just your parents who sneak into your room at night." She wanted to so badly to get to the bottom of this age-old mystery, that a few weeks ago when she lost her last tooth, she even told me that she almost tried to trick me. She had decided that she wasn't going to tell me she lost the tooth, and then she was going to stay up (while pretending that she was asleep) and catch me in the act! That sneaky little..... Luckily, though, she told me about her little plan and said she just couldn't do it. Whew, got out of that one.

However, the other day, that curiosity must have gotten the best of her because at 11:00 pm, my 10 year old daughter comes in my room to wake me up. I had been up since 4:00am that day, Jonathan was out of town, and I was exhausted and not so happy to be woken up. She says, "Mom! You've got to help me. Macy lost a tooth today, and she's waiting up to see if the tooth fairy is going to come." She went on to explain that she had been waiting for her little sister to fall asleep so that she could step in and "keep the dream alive." I think I thought that was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard. They usually fight like cats and dogs, but here she was, on a school night, after a long, hard softball practice and lots of homework, trying her best to stay up to step in for that little fairy.

But tired as I was, I gave her a big hug, told her how wonderful she was, and then promptly sent her to bed so I could get some sleep. I told her I'd get up early and do it, but secretly, as tired as I was, I was thinking to myself..... "Well, third grade isn't so bad to find out..... if she finds out she just finds out."

The next thing I knew, a little voice is once again waking me up.... "Mom, Mom! You've got to help. I'm trying to sign this note from the Tooth Fairy and I can't make it look like different handwriting."

You see, my smart little 8 year old decided she would set another trap for that little flying fairy and get her to SIGN the note. She's been convinced for a while now that the tags on the gifts from Santa are her daddy's handwriting, and I always tell her (truthfully, I might add) that it isn't her daddy signing those tags. It worried Madison so much that her little sister had requested a signature that she got up early and had been sitting at my desk, practicing her best "Tooth Fairy" handwriting on little scraps of paper. She had even written wonderful words of encouragement like "keep brushing" and "take care of those teeth." Now this time I KNEW she was the sweetest child in the world. So I helped her, but not before looking at the clock..... it was 5:15am! She had set her alarm early to MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE I wasn't going to mess this up..... she was taking over. (Imagine that). So I scratched out my best Tooth Fairy scrawl..... in the dark with sleep caked in my eyes and then sent her back up the stairs to sneak the note under her little sister's pillow.

So here's the note......

I think I had a permanent smile on my face all day. And it was the cutest thing when Macy came down the stairs that morning, proudly holding her $5 bill (I told you that Tooth Fairy was about to do me in!). She slyly told me about her plan and how...... well, how she must have been wrong about the Tooth Fairy. "It really is real, Mom!"

Maddie, I couldn't be more proud of you........ you DO love your sister! Thanks, big girl.

The Big Picture

Yesterday started a little earlier than usual. Alarm..... 5:00am..... buzzzzz.... I stumbled to my feet.... yawning, bleary-eyed and full of mixed emotions about the day ahead. I tried to shower and get dressed before I woke the kids.... life's MUCH easier that way, you know. I rushed to get everything in order for my trip.... car packed, some water, snacks, directions, babysitter notes written, and oh yeah, an extra change of shoes.... very important since I was going be in heels all day. Jonathan had just left a few hours before to catch a flight to Texas.... ever the hunter that man is. I knew the morning would be crazy trying to get all the kids ready and off to their different schools and me on the road not long after without his help.

There were the typical frustrations life brings to all of us with children.... "Mom, you didn't sign this.... where's my shoe?..... I can't stand these shorts, where are my khaki ones?" The normal fights between siblings, the dirty clothes on the floor that no one bothered to pick up..... me saying "Hurry, hurry.... eat, eat.... brush.... we've got to go!" By the time I got all of them off -- and I must say -- ON TIME.... my nerves were admittedly a little shot. Like I said.... typical family stuff that makes us all a little frazzled.... especially in the mornings.

And the 2 1/2 hour drive to Birmingham didn't do much to calm my nerves either. There was traffic, I was in a time-crunch, there were tiny towns with speed traps and lots of police cars lurking in the bushes. But I couldn't be late..... not to a funeral.... rush, rush, rush..... sometimes that's just the way life feels.... rush, rush, rush. But I arrived, finally found a place to park, albeit 3 blocks over and up 8 levels in a parking deck. I ran in my 4 inch heels through the streets of downtown Birmingham until I saw it.... that beautiful, old Episcopalian Church of the Advent. I opened the massive dark, carved oak doors with those same mixed emotions I'd been feeling all morning.... excited to see my dear, old friend and yet, nervous that I wouldn't find the right words to comfort her. I finally found her in that sea of black and even with the first hug, I could literally feel her pain. Lucy's dad, a man she adored, had died at only 66 years old from lung disease. She was devastated.

Funny how life works..... even in the midst of someone's greatest tragedy, someone else can gain such perspective. And that's exactly what yesterday did for me. Have you ever yelled at your child for spilling Cheez-its all over the floor, yet knowing that on a different day, a better day, you probably would have just simply said, "Be more careful next time"..... and then helped them clean it up? Or have you been a little crabby with your husband for not helping bathe the kids or clean the kitchen, but you know deep down it's not really THAT..... it's the tiny, trivial things that have a way of becoming a mountain of, well..... resentment. But again, on a different day, maybe one where he sent you flowers or took the kids to the park to give you some time to yourself, you think he hung the moon! Perspective. Sometimes we all need a little shift in perspective.

As hard as it must have been for Lucy and her brother, Will, they both stood up at the funeral and spoke about their father. It was beyond moving to all of us in the church, and I must say it had a pretty strong effect on me. Their words were full of praise and admiration for the father they loved so much, full of stories of his innate goodness and his love for Jesus. Stories of how he missed his son's first flag football game to help a family with a flat tire...... and how later when Will was upset that his dad wasn't there, his parents explained the whole story. The family they were helping had been poor, they had 4 tread-worn tires on their car, so Lucy's dad decided to load them up in his car and take them to Sam's to buy them a whole other set of tires. Wow. That's a good man.

Lucy and me before our reunion last year

And that kind of man makes for a very good father. One who is attentive and conscientious with the lessons he teaches his children. He instills character in them, not only in the words he says but by the deeds they see him do. He has integrity and authenticity. And believe me, he was loved. Respected. Greatly appreciated.

It's strange to say, but it was truly the best funeral I've ever attended. I think it did for me exactly what a funeral should do..... it celebrated a man's life, spoke of his accomplishments,
reminded us of Jesus' great sacrifice for all of us, and ultimately, it gave us all something to aspire to. The little things truly don't matter. It's the big stuff that counts.

Lucy and her dad a couple of Christmas' ago

I don't think Lucy's dad would have ever thought that he would still be teaching those lessons even after his death, but he certainly taught me. So I go forward, into this next week with a shift in perspective...... a different view of the "bigger picture." Thank you, Mr. Lassiter, for reminding me of the truly important things in life. You will be dearly missed.