Mother's Day

I had a fantastic Mother's Day. We pretty much celebrated all weekend. Saturday night, we went to my sister's house for a pizza party to celebrate with my Mom. The pizza was delish and I made Kelly's Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake for dessert. Can I just say YUM! It was a hit. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Kelly! We had a great time visiting and playing with the kids. I hadn't seem my nephew and niece since Easter, so I was ready to see them!

This is THE cake. If you have never had it before, stop reading this and make it. You will not be sorry. My friend, Tonya, had just told me about making a similar version of this cake and then I ran across Kelly's recipe. Divine I tell you!

Us moms...my sister Millicent, my Mom, me, and my sister Melinda

My Mom and Dad. I love that they are friends even though they are divorced.

EG playing with my Dad aka "Pappy."

My nephew Stone got my camera and took some pictures. I had no idea they were there until I started looking through them for blogging. They just cracked me up...


Sunday, Derek's family came over for lunch. Derek said he didn't want me to have to cook on Mother's Day (oh, I love him), so we just got Corky's barbecue. It was so good! It was nice to get together with the Hortons. Derek's mom and dad gave me a very sweet card and a gift certificate to the Hallmark store. I love me some Hallmark store, so that was perfect!

Derek, Evan and Ella Grace were so sweet to me (as always) all weekend. My Mother's Day gift was the portraits I had made of Evan and EG. I was a little disappointed because I was supposed to get them Friday, but the framer wasn't finished with them, so I have to wait until Tuesday. I can't wait to see them and get them hung on the wall. They also gave me two very sweet cards, which I loved.

I hope you all had a great day. I thought about all you moms in waiting, and I pray you all aren't waiting much longer. I also thought about all my friends celebrating with their precious children. How blessed we are! I pray I never take one day for granted with Evan and Ella Grace.

I am...

I love being tagged! Meagan (one of my newest blog friends whom I have come to adore) tagged me to tell a little about what "I am..."

I am... a blessed mom to two great kids and a wife to a wonderful man.

I think... things through way too much sometimes!

I know... children grow up way too fast, so enjoy every minute.

I wish... there was a cure for autism.

I dislike... inconsiderate drivers, rudeness, dieting and being cold.

I miss... my Papaws.

I fear... illness in those I love.

I feel... extremely blessed and happy.

I hear... silence. The children are all tucked away in their beds.

I crave... hugs and kisses from my children and my husband.

I wonder... what my children will be like when they grow up.

I love... Jesus, my family, my friends, chocolate, swimming pools, photography, pizza, and the beach.

I ache... for three families I know that lost their loved ones in a helicopter crash in Iraq.

I care... about the environment.

I always... tell Derek, Evan and Ella Grace I love them every day.

I am not... a big risk taker or thrill seeker.

I sing... "Row Row Row Your Boat" with Ella Grace every single day.

I cry... a lot, especially if it is anything related to Evan.

I don't always... wear my seatbelt (bad, Leigh Ann).

I write... thank you notes.

I win... just by receiving unconditional love from my family.

I lose... my patience with inconsiderate people sometimes.

I never... eat seafood.

I listen... only to KLOVE on the radio.

I am scared of... Derek being called back for another tour in Iraq.

I need... to get more organized.

I hope... that one day soon there is a cure for autism and cancer.

I tag.... all my blog friends that would like to share more about themselves.

My Heart is Full

In recent weeks, Ella Grace has started to say, "I Love You." This is the good stuff of life!

Happy Kids Do a Heart Good

Evan LOVES his new trampoline. Derek had it all together except for the safety net by the time Evan got home from school. Evan couldn't wait though! He jumped while Derek finished it up. He was so happy! I think it's the best thing we have ever bought! This will definitely provide hours of summer fun!

Happy Boy

Happy Boy in Action

Today Derek was off work and we went to the mall to shop at Gymboree. They were having a good sale! While we were there, we took Ella Grace to Build a Bear for the first time to get a bear made for her. She loves babies and stuffed animals, so we knew this would be something she would really enjoy.

She wasted no time picking out a bear.

She watched intently as the Build a Bear worker stuffed her bear.

The sweetest thing was when she looked up at Derek and told him, "Thank you," (with no prompting) as she loved on her new friend. She is such a sweet girl.

The three of us along with a new bear in a jazzy summer outfit.

I just couldn't resist this as I was walking behind Derek and EG in the mall. How sweet!!!

It's been a great day!

"Hey, Ev!"

It has been so funny to me that in the last two weeks Ella Grace has, on her own, started calling Evan ("Edan" as she says it), "Ev." Anytime he walks into a room she is in, she exclaims, "Hey, Ev!" I guess she has been hearing Derek and me calling Evan "Ev," as we do a lot. Then, Megan and I were talking (well writing) with each other about our nicknames that our families had given us. When I was in second grade, I started signing all of my work with my initials...LAH. My teacher thought it was funny and told my mom about it. Well, it just kind of stuck, and even now my family and my friends often call me "LAH."

Since EG has decided to now call her brother Ev. I started thinking about what other names she could pick up on. We have lots of nicknames for both Evan and Ella Grace. They include:

Evan aka...
Ev
Mister
Beauty Boy
Monkey Man
Handsome
Slick
Tyrone (from Derek...I have no idea)
Booch
Tex (also from Derek...still no idea)
Biggin'
Wild Child
Slim
Tico

Ella Grace aka...
Presh (short for precious)
Miss Grace
Little Girls (said in baby talk...Gurls)
EG
Girlfriend

Ella's list is a little shorter, but I'm sure as she grows and makes her personality known, there will be many more that follow! I often call Derek, Der Bear, or BF (for boyfriend). Hee hee! Isn't it funny how you come up with pet names for the ones you love? They can be so silly but mean so much! What are your favorite nicknames for your loved ones?

I Met a Blog Friend!

Can I just say I LOVE blogging! When Kelly first told me about her blog, I got hooked instantly. I checked in on her every day and loved reading what she and Scott were up to. Then, I thought I would start my own. I hadn't been able to keep up with scrapbooking (I'm about five years behind). So, this was perfect for me to document our day-to-day lives without having to spend hours cutting, cropping, and taping.

My favorite thing about blogging is that it does motivate me to get my camera out and take tons of pictures. I know in the future I'll be so happy I have pictures of Evan and Ella Grace doing just everyday activities. However, blogging, for me, has become more than just my family's little scrapbook. What I didn't expect from blogging was the outlet it would provide me as well as the sweet friends I would make via blogland. I received so much encouragement from people I have never met when I shared Evan's story about his autism recently. I was so touched.

I don't know if you've noticed, but blogland seems to be a very small world. Most of the people I have reconnected with have come from Kelly's blog roll, as well as new friends I have made. I was always amazed by stories Kelly would tell about running into people that she knew from blogging. Well, it has happened to me twice now. I was reading my friend, Jill's, blog and just happened to randomly click on her friend, Cortney's, blog. I didn't know her at all, just scanned through and saw pictures of her kids and read a few stories. Then, a few days later, I saw them at Chik-fil-a in the mall. I immediately recognized not her, but her son. At first, I couldn't remember where I saw him, but then I remembered it was from the pictures I saw on her blog. I asked her if she knew Jill by chance, and she did! She was with her children's grandmother, and they both said they had seen my blog, too. Isn't that funny...I don't even know them, yet we knew something about one another.

Then, Saturday night I met Jamie!!! Jamie is a childhood friend of Kelly's. I had been reading Jamie's blog for sometime from Kelly's blog, and just recently left a comment to Jamie that I was going to stop lurking and tell her I enjoy reading her blog. Afterall, her blog had become an every day stop for me. I love seeing her crafty ideas and reading stories about her adorable children. I was absolutely so thrilled that I got to meet her in person. She was coming out of the restaurant with her super cute baby girl, and I recognized her immediately! I told Derek, "That is one of my blog friends." He couldn't believe it either. Jamie is just as sweet in person as I had thought she would be from reading her blog, and I'm so glad I got to meet her! She also has an adorable little boy, who kept Ella Grace entertained during the entire meal. Thank you, Rhett! She watched him the whole time!

Can you believe that was the one time I didn't have my camera?! Sigh!

I Heart Fridays!

I LOVE Fridays! I look forward to them all week. Derek is off work every Friday, and he ususally takes Ella Grace and me out for lunch and for some shopping. Today was a little different because he had to go to jury duty this afternoon. So, Derek took us to Mimi's (I thought about you Kelly!) for breakfast. I love their blueberry muffins, and so does Ella Grace.

Then, we went to get Evan a trampoline that was on sale this week. Evan is a jumping maniac! He loves to jump and seeks out the opportunity most anywhere including beds, couches, benches at the airport...anywhere! I have always been terrified of trampolines because I watched an episode on Dateline where they featured horrible accidents that had happened while children were jumping on trampolines. I can't remember the specific statistic, but there were more entries to the ER that year for trampoline accidents than anything else! Some were really scary! Well, the one that was on sale is not a huge trampoline. It is only 8 feet and includes the safety net. It's also closer to the ground than a big trampoline, so I feel like it is a little safer. Plus, it is only for one person at a time, so we don't have to worry about several kids in there bumping into each other. He is going to LOVE it!

After picking up the trampoline, it really started to rain. We made a quick trip to Kroger and headed home. There is something about stormy weather that I like. It is so snuggly when you are inside and it is dark and rainy outside. EG really didn't know what to think about the thunder. She would just look at me like, "That scares me but I'm not going to cry because it's ok, right?" So sweet.

So this is what we have been up to this rainy Friday...

Watching it rain

Loving on Momma

Playing with Daddy

Riding Daddy's back

Wearing pajamas on our head like a hat. This girl LOVES accessories!

We have a busy weekend. Derek has drill (whaa!!!) and we have church, gymnastics, and a birthday party. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Oh, and how cute is this swimsuit??? It's all my favorite colors together...chocolate brown, green, pink and blue! $10 at Target thank you very much! Gotta love a bargain! :)