Confessions of the Harkins Family

Tick Tock.. TIck Tock

2012-01-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

My sick little boy.

All the toys had to lay in the bed too. It made them feel better! :)

Okay, so I sit here thinking its already been the longest day ever and its only 11! This has been the longest few days for me. So, I had an absest tooth, and started my weekend early because I was off on Friday to go to Gadsden at 7:45 that morning to have a root canal! Fun Fun! I had never had one before but of course I didn't feel anything while it was going on and I come back home, picked up my younguns from Mom's and headed home. The rest of the night was spent at home. My mouth was pretty sore and I just felt yucky from all the pain medicine and antibiotics I was on.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling better and got things cleaned up and laundry done. Was trying to get things ready to go to the funeral home that night and then Joey got sick. Sick, sick, sick!!! The weekend just continued in this pattern.

Thankfully I did not get sick, but Jameson was quite the sick kid last night and I got no sleep. I decided to go in late to work this morning to try to catch up on some rest and the kids seemed to be still just as whiney, but not quite as sick. I called Mom to tell her we would be there in a little bit and lo and behold she is now sick!!!! So, I'm at home for the 4th day a row. I have all the blinds and window open to let in fresh air because everything been lysoled down and there's the 10,000 load in the washer as I type of things that needed to be cleaned but I need some real sunshine. I'm actually looking forward to Joey taking a nap so I can go outside and check the mail!!! I know I'm so sad!

But I am glad that they are not getting sick anymore and that I have not gotten sick, but I am ready to be out of this house!! And I am really ready to not be watching Caillou, Thomas, and/or the Wiggles!!! So here is to a happy and healthy Tuesday that I get to return to work! Hope you all had a much better weekend than me!

Why? Why? Why? Why? But Why?

2012-01-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

James and Joey Getting Ready To Watch The Bama Game

So, the word Why has quickly become pretty much all I hear... all the time... about everything!!! Jameson has reached the fabulous age of Why this? Why that? And of course it never ends at that it's always another but why, but why, but why! I found myself last night explaining to him for 30 minutes why you do Valentines presents!!! Yes!! It started out with a simple... "Jameson, what kind of Valentines do you want to send out this year?".... big mistake on my part! Oh well his 10,000 questions games are entertaining sometimes! Sunday night we didn't have church and I know we never go anywhere off. Like literally never go ANYWHERE, but I didn't realize how bad it was until Sunday night. We had went to Susan's cause she had cooked dinner after church and they all convinced James to go to Gunters Mountain that night for church. It was really good and I always enjoy going, but when we pulled up in the parking lot and started to get out Jameson said.."This isn't church." I tried to explain to him that it was Uncle Alton and Aunt Helen and Aunt Suzie's church and we were visiting it tonight instead of our church, and you could see the wheels rolling, but when we got inside he sat down and of course they don't have like real church benches anymore so Jameson is just taking it all in. We get settled and he starts the questions game..... "Why they have these chairs? (they got new ones) Why they got new ones? (cause they re-did their church) Why they redid their church? ........ as you can see this one went on for a while... Why are there two churches? Why do we go to two churches? We not come back? Why do they have a different church? (because they live close to here) Why do they here?..... and it went on and on. Sometime about half way into the church service I gave up and told him to play in the floor! :) Thankfully little Ms. Keely caught his attention, and then after a while of flirting I got.. "What her name?" "Her a gurl?"... and so on and so on.... So, since we never go anywhere, my son thinks that there are only two churches and he never wants to go to the other one again since he can't play under the bench! :) I think the child is going to have to get out some more, but then I dread the questions that come from him learning more! LOL! But I know it is good that he is learning. He is getting excited about starting Pre-school this fall, and I can not believe that he will be starting Pre-school this fall!!! It seems like we just had this little black haired baby that was so little and now he's entertaining me and singing at the top of his lungs every morning on the way to Granna's house! It's crazy!

Joey of course is just as mean as ever! No one believes me until they are really around him for a while because he is so quiet at church and stuff most of the time, but when you see him out and about and around other kids he is mean!!! He's so sneaky and if he thinks something is hurting you or you don't like it, he just runs right up and does it again while grinning at you! I got so used to Jameson as a baby when you said no, he stopped, when you said okay pick up your toys, he picked them up... Joey.. NO! Complete opposite! Jameson picks up the toys then he goes and dumps them again! You tell him no and he just looks at you and does it again, you spank him, and he just looks at you and does it again! I don't know what I'm going to do with him! But he's also the most loving. I can tell he's James child because he thinks being nice after being mean makes up for it! :) However, me and Jameson, the stubborn ones, are just processing how mean they've just been so we're not ready for the niceness yet! LOL! He is growing like crazy though and tries to do everything Jameson does. Jameson sits his drink down somewhere, Joey goes and finds his and moves it right next to Jameson's drink, if Jameson sits down on the couch, Joey has to sit beside him. He is just really his shadow at this point! He's amazed at everything. I love that stage where if he just sees like Cookie Monster on something it just excites him beyond! I don't think he understands having his own room either. He always wants to be in Jameson's and he's amazed at the gigantic life sized Spiderman on the wall. He's tried to bring it down a couple times... which also brings to the fact that he's a climber and a daredevil. He will climb and jump off of anything with no fear!!! And apparently even when it hurts me, it doesn't hurt him, and he wants to try to do it again! I'm afraid we may have several broken bones ahead in our future with little Jojo!

We are all really enjoying the house though and I am loving that they are both sleeping in their beds. They don't always stay all night. Usually between 3-5 a.m. I collect a couple of kids in my bed, but the fact that they sleep in there at all I love! And that they are going to bed at a decent hour, which means that i am is just really a little heaven on earth! The most exciting part and I know you all will think I'm the biggest dork ever, but you probably already think that anyways.. so I'm going to go ahead and say it... Having A Garage!!! Oh my goodness! No where we have lived has ever had one, carports yes, but the difference in a garage in the mornings when its raining or its cold and loading two kids up in the car or unloading groceries.. it's just indescribable just how wonderful it is!!! Especially leaving for church with everyone all dressed and they can just walk out and get in the car! I love it!!! So Hip Hip Hooray for having a garage!!! It rocks!

And yes.. I have to say it.. Roll Tide! They played one awesome game Monday night and I am very proud that they have won their 14th National Championship Game, but above all I am so glad that shut out stinking LSU and whiny Les Miles! :) So Go Bama! Roll Tide!!!! Plus my husband is one happy fellow so I am enjoying that also! He even helped clean the kitchen up last night. I hope I can ride this championship high out for at least the rest of the week!!!!

Well that was one very long blog post, but I think we're all caught up for 2012 on what's happening with the Harkins! I guess its time to get to work although I don't have anything to do so I guess maybe its time to Pintrest! Cause we all know I never get enough time to do that! ;)

Hello 2012!

2012-01-02T10:47:00.001-08:00

The boys on Christmas Morning.

Getting ready to put out the "Santa Key"

My Blackmail James picture! He picked up my GA cap by mistake and didn't realize it. I love it!

Cookies for Santa

The boy in their Christmas Eve PJ's

Happy New Years to everyone! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We had so much fun over the holidays. I've worked about four hours since the Thursday before Christmas and it has been such a good break. Me and the boys have had so much fun playing and just enjoying being at home togeteher in the new house. I'm excited about a new year! Of course I have my resolutions like everyone, but right now I'm just enjoying the boys playing in the living room and laughing while I sit here and type with Thomas and Friends in the background. The boys had a great Christmas. They got way too much per usual, but they are excited about all of their gifts!

On the Friday before Christmas we had to go to Jones Valley to Saint's and order Joey's pictures. Our appointment wasn't until ten, and I thought it would just be a nice morning to have plenty of time to get there, but then we woke up and got ready and everything was running good, but as I went to get in the car to leave we found that James had took our booster seat for Jameson and I had nothing for him to ride to Huntsville in! So we had a quick frantic trip to Walmart to buy a new seat, and thank goodness that we only live less than 5 miles from Walmart although I was still a nervous wreck the whole way there. But we got a new booster seat and headed to Huntsville and were only 2 minutes late for our appointment, so I didn't sweat it. We headed to Target afterwards to try to get my Christmas groceries, however Joey was not very cooperative so after checking out and getting a caramel apple cider from Starbucks for the road we headed on home. There was no attempt at any more shopping. We did stop for some Zaxby's though which seemed to make them happy!

Christmas Eve night we got in our Christmas Eve Pj's and baked cookies for Santa. After a family effort of eating quite a bit of the cookie dough we suprisingly had enough to bake and got them all ready for Santa on his special plate. Then we hung out "Santa Key" since we don't have a fireplace, we left Santa his special key on the front door so he could get in and bring us gifts. Our house is now full of Veggietales, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Superheroes and Thomas!

So now Joey desperately needs a nap, so its time to get off here and get him to sleep for a bit!

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T12:30:00.001-08:00

Yes, this is the Harkin's family Christmas tree, and you are correct in noticing that there is not one present that has been wrapped yet!!! It's been one of those seasons for me for sure! Whew! But I hope to get on the wrapping train tonight! Just wanted to wish all my fellow bloggers and blogger readers a Happy Christmas from all of us!!!

The... The.... The Grinch!!!!

2011-12-13T07:33:00.003-08:00

This was our set! That's Who-ville to the the left..
the Grinch cave in the back and Cindy Lou Who's house to the right!

Callie and Cassie Who!

The Grinch and Mom

Dad and Mom

The Three Directors!
Me, Lelu, and Carrie

Ms. Savannah Sims

Carleigh and Brenley

Max a.k.a Brady Ragon

Haley & Logan

Our Who Angel... Emily

Rachel Rae Who

Me, Cindy Lou Who and Lelu Who

Me, Natalie and Lelu

Me and Emily

The Who Girls!

Lou Lou Who, Cindy Lou Who, & Betty Lou Who
a.k.a. Cody Rice, Leah Ragon and Anna Grace Higdon

Some of our Whos!

Me and Hannah

Leah and Melissa

Jameson singing his "Batman Bells"

Attempting Christmas Pictures

2011-12-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I attempted at getting Christmas pictures of the boys to send out in cards. I thought that after the 500 that I had taken (actually about 300, but still.. ridiculous) that i would have a few to choose from, but no! I did not have ONE of them together where they are both looking at the camera and/or smiling!!! So, this is the closest I've got for pictures!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

The Super Harkins Grandbabies (minus Heidi her was sick! :( )

Jameson trying to play with Jolie

The boys attempt at a picture in front of Susan's tree

Clapping because he touched the nutcracker.

Poor Wittle Chasey.. He was all drugged up!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-12-12T14:32:00.001-08:00

More Beach Pictures

2011-12-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

Just a few more little cute ones that I wanted to share....

Jojo trying to get to the water and Jameson making sure his shark tooth is still on his necklace!

Such a cheeser!Playing on one of the mountains of sand at Lulu's

Lots of Pictures!!!

2011-12-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Okay.. fair warning! I'm downloading the pictures from my camera since yes... the BEACH in October!!! So, there are lots and lots of pictures to come! So sorry for the 10,000 picture posts that are about to fill your blog list from us!

Let's Play Catch - Up!

2011-12-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Me and The Grinch (a.k.a Mark Long)

So, blogging has become this fabulous thing I would love to get to do and think about doing, but never actually get the time to do.. go figure! However, there have been some pretty crazy things going on in the life of the Harkin's Family in the past couple months!

Of course it's the beginning of the holiday season and all the craziness that comes with that. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We watched the parade at home the morning. The boys loved it! Its so much fun to watch them get so excited over all the characters and balloons. We had fried turkey this year for the first time and it was pretty stinking awesome! I was very impressed! I hope all of ya'll had a great Turkey day too!

(Me getting ready for the play. I was worried my "Who Hair" wasn't going to look quite right, so me and LeAnne like dorks were taking pictures of ourselves and sending them to each other. And yes, we realize how ridiculous that we are, but it was fun!)

The whole next week was focused on the play! We got the sets done and everything set up with a lot of help and muscles! :) Thanks to all who lended a helping bicep! And after practice basically every night last week the play went off on Friday. Mark did awesome as our Grinch and the kids rocked being Who's! But I am just so thankful that it is all over!!!!!! And that Carri has one awesome family and sisters who stayed to help us get it all cleaned up! You guys rock!!!!!Jameson who was terrified at first, came around to realize it was just "Unca Mark"!

Joey Trying To Get Away From The Grinch

The rest of our weekend and the rest of the week has been spent moving in our new house! Of course there are boxes everywhere and everything is chaos, so you know how I can't stand it. I really wish I could just be Samantha and twitch my nose and it all be done. Unfortunately, I cannot, so I still have a lot of work ahead of me. However I do have my Christmas Trees up! So I figure that's all that's really important. I mean, who cares if we can't find our underwear in the 10,000 boxes.. there are Christmas Trees!!! Priorities people!!! :) The sad thing is that I didn't even put up my big tree, LeAnne did (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!) But it's up, and that's all that matters!Boys Tree

Chilling in the new crib!

The New House

So now between upcoming Christmas gatherings, unpacking boxes, Christmas buying, wrapping and Christmas' itself who knows if I'll blog again, but hopefully! I am going to try to catch up some photos on separate posts from my camera since you all get to see the ones from my phone right now, but this is the general catch up and highlights!

Another Gray Hair

2011-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Don't they look peaceful?? ... Don't let the picture fool ya!

Okay, so its been forever since I've blogged. Everything has been insane lately and there just hasn't been time. Unfortunately there's nothing of any value to share or blog about. So sorry! You can close the browser now! :)

Except the fact that I've going out of my mind crazy stressed and MY HAIR IS TURNING GRAY!!!!!!! This is not suppose to be happening. I am 25 years old!!! I'm terrified to pull it out because I don't want two more to come in its place, but since my hair is pretty much as dark as coal they are just like shining beacons in the night shining through! And they don't lay like the rest of your hair, their all crazy and look at me!! look at me!!!

So, basically i figure between the upcoming Christmas Play in LESS THAN A MONTH (Someone please remind me why I was so excited about doing it this year??!!??), James root canals, a 3 year old, a 1 year old, bills and broken down cars, the upcoming holidays and craziness that is already coming with it, and all the crazy stress and work at work I really haven't been doing anything except aging! Getting older by the second. I literally can feel my skin wrinkling as I type this!!!!

At this rate I figure I won't be around much longer, so I might as well get in as much blogging as possible! And don't worry if the next time you see me you don't recognize me, I won't take it personally! I'll know that its because I appear to be in my 90's instead of in my 20's!

Of course I have pictures to share, because there's always time to take 10,000 pictures of random things the boys do that I have to share!Aren't they sweet? Holding hands and watching cartoons! Trust me, it didn't last long!
Just chillin' in the pj's.. apparently my children never get dressed!

Joey modeling Jolie's tutu for me while I was making it to make sure I was getting it fluffy enough!!! I know I know.. I've scarred him for life.. Oh well.. Doesn't he look tutu cute?

And on a completely different note... Congratulations to me I have now lost 20 pounds since September! I'm really excited about that! I mean, if I'm going to be old, maybe I won't be old and fat! Although I still have a long way to go! So happy hump day to all of you out there!

Tricks & Treats

2011-11-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

"UNLEASH THE POWER OF THOR... a.k.a. Jameson"

"The Great Pumpkin Joey"

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!! Jameson really got into it this year and it was much easier with Joey being able to walk and not carrying him around this time. Our Halloweening started on Friday at the big Bonfire Party and Shannon and LeAnne's this year. It was really cold and rainy and Jameson was terrified of some of the costumes (... thanks Andrew and Jacob for being really huge gorillas.... LOL!) so we didn't end up staying that long, but it was still fun! Thankfully Travis dressed up as Green Lantern and became Jameson's hero! Although he was Thor and I'm told the Marvel and DC comic heroes clash.. you wouldn't have known it with those two! :)"More Thor..."

"James and Joey the Pumpkin"

Saturday morning I fixed Halloween cinnamon rolls.. real hard you know, pop the can and put them on the sheet, but the boys loved the rolls with the orange icing. We watched kid friendly Halloween movies. It was a fun day. I got started on some Christmas presents, so that was a lot of fun and progress all at the same time!(Joey and the cinnamon rolls.. he ate 3!)(Pumpkin Balloon Playing)

Last night of course was Trick or Treating time! The boys had a blast and racked up on some candy and all kinds of other stuff. We come home with glowing balloons, coloring books, stickers, and juice boxes! It was a lot of fun. I'm attaching some pictures from my phone, but when I ever download my camera I'll have a lot more and a ton from the pumpkin patch last weekend. So now that Halloween is over I guess its time to put up a Christmas Tree!!! :)

On Days Like This

2011-10-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

What I love the most is my heated seats!!!! Thank you Lord!!! Going from 80 degrees and getting thrown right into winter this week my wardrobe was not prepared for it, but thankfully my car has been!!! So thank you Lord for that fabulous heater and those wonderful heated seats!!! In the words of Bro. Charles... "I just wanted to throw that in!" Heheheee!

And thank you for Allison who had coffee ready when I got to work this morning and my fabulous Peppermint Mocha creamer that was waiting on me to make my cup of jo just perfect!

I am loving the colder weather though! This is definitely my time of year!!! I'm way too fat for the hot summer months! It makes me want to put up a Christmas tree and we're not even done with Halloween yet! But come November 1st... its on!!!! :)
Plus I get to wear all my cute pantyhose again!!! Yes, I know being excited about pantyhose is sad, but I love them and their SOOOOO cute, and in the past years where I have been preggo and not able to wear them and had to wear knee highs all the time and feeling constantly like they were rolling down like Thelma Harper.. I'm excited to be able to wear all my hose and tights! Now if I can just get James to get all my winter clothes out of storage!!! I hope its on his To Do list tonight! :)The colder weather and holiday upon us has also put me in major crafting/sewing mode which is my complete happy place. I made some Christmas Tree Ribbon shirts for my nieces that I'm really excited about that I plan on taking them at Thanksgiving and some fabric flower rings because I had way too much scrap material strips around to not do something with them! :) Also, I made a pumpkin ribbon for me... trying to decide to put it on a shirt or purse.

So I know this wasn't even worth reading and completely random so sorry for wasting your time! But hope you all have a Terrific Thursday!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Halloween!

2011-10-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

So I've really got my husband all into all my different traditions through the years and things that I wanted to do with our kids to have traditions with them. I'm really excited that he cares about these things because I love doing things and projects with the kids or taking them to special places that mean something to us. He decided to come up with a really cool tradition that I am really excited about!

His birthday of course is always two weeks before Halloween, so he thought it would be cool if every year on his birthday we would decorate and/or carve our pumpkins and make it a tradition. I want to give him kudos on this one because I thought it was really sweet he wanted to spend his birthday this way every year. So, last night we had our first pumpkin decorating James birthday night.

The boys had picked out pumpkin decorating kits at Target at the beach so we used them this year. They were very fitting to their personalities right now. Joey had a cookie monster pumpkin, but he didn't understand that the cookies were not real and got mad when he couldn't eat them, and Jameson got iron man... need I say more! :) Of course I attached pictures!!

On a totally different note it looks like it is our last day of warm weather today. I am excited about the cooler weather and the onset of boots, turtlenecks, sweaters and corduroy! Yes.. of course my excitement revolves around fashion.... Duh!

And now to get to work! That is if I can stop pintresting long enough to do it!

Its just so addictive!!!!!

Happy Birthday James!!!!

2011-10-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

So, it's Monday..... all over again!

What is up with that??

But it is also James birthday!!!! 29th to be exact! So I have one more year before I am officially married to an old man! :) of course technically I already am married to an old man since all he ever wants to do is go fishing and his grey hairs have tripled in the past six months! Of course that could have something to do with living with my parents........ but we won't go there! :)
So Happy Happy Birthday James!!!!!

It was an insane week/weekend for us. After being sick most of the week I was running on fumes for the weekend. Thursday and Friday was Tim and Becky's birthdays so we all fixed and went and hung out over there on Friday night. The boys got to play with Heidi so you know they had a blast. Saturday was cleaning and laundry morning followed by Carson's birthday party, Wal-mart run, then barely get home in enough time to get ready for church! Bro. Shirley was there Saturday night and Bro. Jimmy Sunday and they both did so wonderful! Of course I'm sure that went without saying cause they always do well. But I really enjoyed them and they were very encouraging after having a rather discouraging time lately.

The highlight of the weekend had to be Carson's party! They had one of those big blow up slides rented and the boys LOVED it!!! Jameson was a little scaredy at first (of course.. he is my child) but once he got the hang of it we basically didn't see him again until it was time for cake! :) Joey had no fear and climbed up the steps and was sliding as much as we would let him! They were all so cute on it! And they took wonderful hour and a half long naps once we left... Thank you Kris!!! :)

So thank goodness its fall break and PJ is off hanging out with his kids,
so I can at least loaf a little bit here at work!
Especially since I've got play practice tonight so rest will have to come tomorrow!

Back to Reality

2011-10-04T09:20:00.001-07:00

Well its back to the grindstone today. Of course we have hit the ground running in the reality train for sure!!! We got back home about 9:30 last night and did as little unpacking as was necessary and getting things ready for Aunt Pam to watch the boys today and tomorrow since Mom and Dad are in Savannah on vacation. And what is up with this weather?? I come back to FALL!!! Not that I don't love it, but I had gotten quite use to my flip flops and sunshine at the beach and it's stinking freezing here! So, having to adjust to that!!! Jameson was so excited to be home because he kept telling me how much he missed his toys!!! :) Joey didn't really seem to care one way or the other except for to be getting out of the car!

I was beyond exhausted which is the understatement of the century, and James left for work this morning and his car has broke down about a mile from work! Not the call you want to get at 5 in the morning!!! Thankfully someone he worked with was behind him and he was able to leave his car at a church there and he took him onto work. So, tonight will be filled with car fixing I'm afraid!

However, things were not too insane at the office while I was gone which I am SO thankful for! I'm trying to wrap up some loose ends before the doing the ever dreaded and awful balance of the checkbook after vacation!!! I thought I better blog before this venture or I will have nothing positive to say and will be in a horrid mood for the rest of the week I'm sure! :)

The rest of our trip was really fabulous though. The boys had a great time. We got some sun, James got to fish, and I got to shop! I mean.. who could ask for more?? Plus in the midst of this vacation we were married 6 years! So congrats to us for putting up with each other that long!!! Which reminds me.. Happy Birthday Kay and Ken! I know you had to be 17 the day before our anniversary! :) And Happy Birthday Little Ms. Heidi who turned 3 the day after!

More beach pictures to come.. i know.. surprised right?? LOL! But what's a vacation or event without 10,000 pictures to document it! Hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday and apparently its Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

2011 Family Beach Trip - Day Two & Three

2011-09-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Okay Okay.. I know ya'll are tired of seeing my posts, but I know if I wait until I get back I will never remember what we did and when... so here we go..

Day Two:

It rained..... there was thunder.... there was lightning... there was a cleared up few moments in which we braved the pool, but then had to run back into the house when the thundering started back up. We ate some Sea N Suds and laughed at the people as they frantically ran in from the beach grabbing the umbrellas, sand toys and chairs before they all got blown away and felt sorry for the people whose actual things flew away. However Jameson thought that the sharks would save some of the belongings that people lost in the ocean. I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise! So it was pretty much our lazy day. We did some shopping, some napping, and some cartoon watching. It was pretty fun even if it was raining.

Day Three:

The boys woke up early ... of course... and after some fabulous toaster strudels and chocolate milk made by yours truly!! Yes.. I know your quite impressed with my culinary skills! We got ready for the beach and went down and played in the sand. The boys chased the waves and Joey chased the birds which he thought was quite hilarious. After me and Jameson started turning brown and Joey was starting to turn pink we come back for naps and macaroni! We headed back out and went for a dip in the cement pond. We headed to Lulu's this afternoon for supper! My fav for sure!!! I had fingers crossed and was hoping Jimmy was going to show for a set but sadly he did not.. oh well.. maybe tomorrow! ;) Of course the food they give you is enough for 10 people so I have some wonderful leftovers for tomorrow!!!

So... to be continued.....

Beach Pictures - Part One of 10,000

2011-09-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

The Sand Sea Turtle!

Ready to Go to the Beach!

Follow the Leader!

I found a sea shell!

Walking on the beach with Daddy

He thought he was getting sea shells by picking up big wads of sand!

2011 Family Beach Trip - Day One

2011-09-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

So we left out at 4:30 yesterday morning heading to the beach. The boys did 10,000 times better than I thought they would. We were SOOO thankful!!! We got here about lunch time. Unloaded the car and unpacked everything. (OCD me had to get everything done!) Then we heed out to grab us some grub and run to Target to get our beach needs! After all our errands were done and the fridge and pantry were stocked we headed to the beach!!

It was so much fun. Joey was hilarious the first time he put his feet in the sand! He loved it. They both love the waves, but don't want to really get in it. Me and Jameson built a sand turtle and a sand batman cave! :) I thought it was a castle but I was quickly informed otherwise! After our time in the sand we headed to the pool for a swim. It didn't last long because Joey was pretty wore out so we headed back to the house and just kind of chilled last night. We were all pretty tired!!

Of course PJ's beach house is even more awesome than I remember! It feels a little massive that were only occupying two of the bedrooms, but its really nice! Jameson and Joey claimed the kids room of course and Jameson is loving sleeping on the top bunk! Him and his Green Lantern pillow have loved it! :)

We got up this morning and went for a beach stroll. It was really beautiful. The clouds were starting to roll in though. Today is the only day for the next week that there is a chance of thunderstorms, so this may be our rainy day in.. but even rainy days aren't bad at the beach! At least since its going to be the only one that is! LOL!

So life is fab! I downloaded the pictures I've took so far so I'm going to upload those of course. Sorry in advance for all the posts, but we're so excited to be on vacation!!! And sorry Shelb! If you want you can ride down and hang out with us!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow... I Love Ya Tomorrow!!!!

2011-09-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

Cause your only a day away!!!! Yes.. I am belting this out loud because in like less than 20 hours I will be on my way to the beach!!!!!! Unless I decide just to head down tonight... hehehehee! :) I'm so excited! Got a ton of stuff to do here at work to get ready to be gone for a week, but just wanted to share a bit of my excitement with all my Blogger Friends!!!!!

Yay!!!

What We've Been Up To Lately.....

2011-09-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

Like Father Like Son!!!
The funniest part about this picture is that he got up on the couch and covered himself up with his Elmo quilt.. of course his favorite.. and even had his play remote (a.k.a. an old remote we took the batteries out of that looks like the real one so he won't have a little fit when we don't give him that one). I think there is no denying he is James child!!!

Jameson wanted me to make a pallet for him and Joey to sleep on! Obviously they weren't really sleeping, but they really do love a pallet!

You can't hide good fashion sense even at one!

My little girl! :) He loves shoes.. mine, James, Jameson's... whoever he can get a hold of. But him walking in high heels is hilarious! He actually does it quite well!

Joey sleeping.. yes I know I take so many pictures of my children sleeping, but its such rare occasions it's worth documenting! LOL! Oh, and Drea... already getting use of those clothes.. Thanks!!!!

Jameson fell asleep last night at the foot of our bed. Joey wanted to lay beside him and after I set my alarm and plugged up my cell phone to charge I looked back over and this was them both asleep! What a fabulous site! :)

So this is pretty much it! Not much going on. Getting ready for the beach.. starting on the Christmas play this week... and just all the normal stuff, but just wanted to share some pictures of my cutie patooties!

Don't Worry.. Be Happy!

2011-09-19T08:08:00.001-07:00

So today is just pretty horrible! It's a Monday first of all, I mean.. does it get much worse??, but its also been ten years today since I heard my brothers laugh. And yes I know, I know, a morbid and sad post is not anything that you want to read from me, and I'll do my totally depressing one and then delete to save you all the agony of listening to my whining, but it is just kind of surreal that it has been ten years. Although some times is seems much longer, other times is seems like it was just yesterday.

I remember the first year that the 9-19 date rolled around. I was in Decatur with Pam and Chad, he was doing some kind of training out there and we had went to Cracker Barrell to eat. I didn't realize I was dealing so badly, but I guess it was showing and I was walking around the little store part of Cracker Barrell by myself when a guy come up to me and said "Smile! Things surely can't be that bad.." I remember putting whatever was in my hand down and turning back to look at him trying to smile and he was gone. It was really weird at the time, but I've always thought about that when this day rolls around. I mean of course things could be so much worse and since my brother was not one to be sad or anything of that sort I figure the best way to remember him is just to be happy! Thankfully although I'm missing him so bad my body is actually aching today I also have so many good and happy memories that I'm sure I can flood my brain with them and take away any sadness. So.. my memory lane...

That mischievous little half grin from one side of his mouth showing those adorable dimples when you knew he was up to no good!

That stupid rebel flag hat with the fish hook on the front!

Those bear hugs.. like the kind that made you want to hit him because he paralyzed your arms and dug his arms into your back bone all at the same time!

The bursting into song and dance at any time and any place! And I literally mean.. ANY PLACE!!! I still remember him spurting out Steve Miller Band on the subway in New York and then taking requests and one fabulous Yankee on his way to work on Monday morning and not quite so amused by Joey's jolliness that early in the morning (little did he know he just got on the today show and was on a high) requested that he "Shut Up!" :)

Being frost bit because my brother.. in February... decides to drive all the way to Murfreesboro to Aunt Pam's with the tee tops down on his camaro. Since the fabulous Matthew Lindeman made the trip with us, I was of course in the back seat freezing to death since all the wind was hitting me and not them. I showed up at Aunt Pam's with actual icicles in my hair!!!! Literally.. no exaggeration!!!! Purple face and icicles in my hair!!!

Getting the daily calls on his way home from work of what he wanted to eat so that I could get started on it! The little brat!

Meat lovers thin crust pizza from Pizza Hut... I know this is a really stupid one, but he loved them and its really crazy the things you think of when you think of someone! He always said it was fabulous because it was basically meat, cheese and sauce on a cracker!!!

Okay.. so since it is Monday I do need to get to work and not reminisce so much!
But here's to you Joey.. I miss you bunches and as Rae and Dar Dar would say.. I love you so big!

Has It Been Six Years Already??

2011-09-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

So today marks my six years at the fabulous B&B! It's very surreal to me that I'm old enough to have been employed anywhere for six years! But when I think of everything that has happened to me in the past six years, it seems like it should have really been a longer time than that!

Six years ago I was a very anxious and nervous girl starting a new job, changing my whole world two weeks before I was going to get married to get this dream job doing what I had always wanted to do. Granted when I was little I thought that I would be researching law and being a paralegal in downtown Atlanta with my loft apartment and could walk to Starbucks every morning and grab my caffeine fix before work, but Guntersville, Alabama is about the same, right? LOL! I can still remember the little black with green trim suit that I wore on my first day. So cute, size 4 so of course I might could get a leg in it if I was lucky and had some Crisco! So, I had one picture of me in the suit, although you can't see it that well, I had to post it. And yes, I know its short and my hairs chopped off although messy, but remember these are before the HG pictures! :)

But wow at everything that has happened since! Married, got the Holy Ghost, had Jameson, moved twice, had Joey, moved twice again!!! and so on and so on! Its been a crazy six years, but I'm so glad that I've been here at B&B and had a wonderful boss like PJ who's been so understanding through everything including two maternity leaves in less than two years! :) And who thinks the perfect reward for my six years is another week at his beach house! Which is my favorite kind of present indeed!
Have I mentioned I will be at the beach in 13 days now?!?! LOL! Yes, I am a bit excited! But since we had a Joey last year instead of a vacay, this one is long overdue!

So here's to another hopefully wonderful, busy, money making six years at Beard and Beard! Happy Anniversary to me!

Labor Day Zoo Pictures

2011-09-12T06:45:00.001-07:00

The Zoo pictures from my camera!!! Finally downloaded! This was the boys in front of the Kangaroo country fence. I loved it!

Duh... Elephant! ;)

Joey when he seen the elephants!

And more elephants!

Jameson the Lion

James and the Boys before leaving the zoo!

Jameson before going into the zoo!

Joey walking around with Daddy!

The Flamingos

The Giraffes

Kangaroos

Lioness (lion cubs were up there too, but I couldn't get a good picture of them)

The Marty's a.k.a. Zebras! :)

Sleeping Tiger

?? Don't know what these things are. Look like overgrown rats!

Joey's Birthday Pictures - Part Three & The Last!

2011-09-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I finally downloaded the pictures from my camera of his birthday. Here are some really cute ones I had to share!

The Yo Gabba Gabba Cake

The only picture of him with the birthday hat on!

Silly Travis trying to wear the birthday hat!

19 DAYS!!!!!

2011-09-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

(Little Jameson on his first beach trip)

Yes, its 19 days until we head out to the beautiful white sandy beach and gorgeous blue ocean!!! I can't wait. It's been a rough week at work and especially a rough day, so the "clicking in" that its only 19 days until our first vacation in two years is really helping me get through it! I'm so excited. I just have to upload some pictures of the last time we went to the beach (or anywhere) a couple years ago. How things have changed!!!!I know... way too close up!
How cute is he???And how cute is he?? (notice Val getting onto Chloe in the background! LOL)Obviously.. towards the end of the trip!Like father, like son!Our little family... then!One last shot with Daddy before leavingOne last shot with Momma before leaving!

Lions, Tigers, and Elephants....Oh My!

2011-09-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Jameson loving his new Zebra (Marty) toy from the Zoo!

Joey Eating.... Surprise.. Surprise!

I hope all of your had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We kick started ours off on Saturday with a fun filled day at the Birmingham Zoo! We got there around lunch time on Saturday and Jameson and Joey both loved it! Joey's face when he saw the elephants was priceless! They were so close though. We also got to see the new baby lion cubs that made their debut this weekend. They have a contest going to enter a name to be considered for one of the cubs. Jameson's entry name was Thor! You knew it would be a superhero name.. right?? Although I do think Thor might be a cute little name for a Lion. After a couple hours there and seeing all the alligators, kangaroos, birds, snakes, and monkeys we could handle we headed on over to the Summit to get in a late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory!!! I know there is no need to even say that this was fabulous because it's declared in the name its self, but it was... FABULOUS!! We did a little bit of shopping around the Summit and then headed on home.

Marty's Picture.. Jameson thought he should get one too!

The Georgia game was about all I expected it to be, but not all I hoped it will be. So, maybe we will have better luck next week against South Carolina.. and Roll Tide!
Congrats on the win over Kent State... I know it was such a shocker!

The weekend was bittersweet with the news of Sis. Vera Shirley passing away. She was a precious precious woman, and I know she will be greatly missed. I'm very thankful that she is not laying and suffering anymore. I hope the rain will clear up enough today for her family to be able to bury her.

The rain has however put us into an instant fall here in Guntersville. I even opted for some pantyhose and closed toe shoes today because the 50's temperature when I was leaving the house today was more than my bare legs and feet could stand! Although I am very much in the Fall Welcome mode... I am still excited that it is now only 21 DAYS until we leave for the beach!!! Whoo hoo!!!!

I'm going to try to upload the Zoo pictures from my camera tonight so I'm sure that will flood my blogger tomorrow!

Joey's Birthday Pictures - Part Two!!!

2011-08-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

Slip and Slides are Fun!!!!

Wait... aren't you suppose to slide down the slide???

Okay.. pictures of the party cake and presents will have
to come later when I clean off my camera!!!!

Joeys Birthday Pictures - Part One!

2011-08-31T12:24:00.001-07:00

Hey, I told you I took 10,000!!! These are the ones just off of my phone, so if I ever download the ones off of the camera there will be several more!

Joey's Personal 1 cake for his actual birthday at the church.

Getting ready for church on his birthday! Poor revival baby!

I promise I ironed that collar 10 times! It will not stay down!

Joey Mid-Birthday Cake Bite

Okay, my clothes are on, can I get back to playing now please??

Jameson after enjoying some birthday cake!

Blurry Joey... he was anxious for cake!

Ahhh..... wait.. I'm sharing this???

Go Dawgs!!!

2011-08-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so yet.. another post.... I am on a roll today!!!! But this one is important. As you all know this weekend starts the ever fabulous College Football Season!!! My fabulous Dawgs will be playing Boise State Saturday night and since the odds are that they will more than likely walk away the losers, I wanted to go ahead and do my big GO DAWGS post before the defeat got to me. Also, I wanted to share the boys cute new GA shirts I made them last weekend to wear Saturday!!! I'm making myself a cute one with some zebra print fabric I had too. Got to start the season out right!!!! So Go Dawgs... Roll Tide.... and Wa..... no, I can't even bring myself to type it, but Go Dawgs and Roll Tide!!!!!

Getting One More In

2011-08-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

(Flash Got To Him)

It's the last day of August!!! What happened to this month??? Well, what happened to this month for us was sickness, lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits, and more lawsuits. I am not complaining about being busy because being busy means making money, but I think I have filed more lawsuits this month than ever in my life! What a way to end the summer, huh? So, August is officially over at midnight tonight and I wanted to get one more August post in.
(Hollywood Joey)

We've got to go swimming a couple times this month which has been a blast. Jameson is officially not a big scaredy cat anymore in the water and is "swimming like a shark" (according to him) in his arm floaties around although he still likes to be a safe distance away from anyone who is wanting to jump in! :) No fear Joey of course has figured out how to climb out of the float and just tries to dive right in head first. I can tell I'm going to have my hands full with this one!
(Yes... this is his faces during hair cuts... had to share!)

Jameson and his daddy went fishing again last weekend at the "Long Lake" :) He come home so excited telling me that he just caught a little bitty fish, but it did this... (imagine Jameson getting in the floor and flopping like a fish... literally!!!!). It was adorable to me, but of course, I'm the Momma, so its all cute to me! Then he let me know that he got hot and The Joker (a.k.a. Trish) brought him some popcorn and he was better! I didn't know popcorn could cool you down, but you never know what your going to learn from Jameson!!

We are now on BEACH COUNTDOWN!!!!!! It is 28 days and counting til our fabulous family of four has our very first vacation since Joey has entered our lives... actually our very first vacation in two years!!! We are sooo excited! I plan to hit up some after Labor Day sales and get some good beach towels for the trip. I can't wait to feel the sand between my toes! What am I saying I can't wait to go anywhere!!! I would be happy with a nights stay in Birmingham at this point!!! But I'm glad we're going to the beach instead! You know there will be 10,000 pictures, so sorry in advance!!!!

So Labor Day weekend is upon us... 3 days.. no work... Whoo hoo!!!! Although I will be spending most of the weekend going through clothes the boys have outgrown, diaper bags I no longer am in need of (HALLELUJAH!!!!!), and other miss baby stuff (Yes, you are welcome Becca.. be prepared to get piled with a bunch of stuff before Monday!).

These is just really random blog posts and pictures I know, but its been a while and wanted to cover things! So hope all my blogger friends had a wonderful August.. and Happy September!

Hip Hip Hooray!

2011-08-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know its been forever since I blogged but things have been a little busy! So, in the past month a lot has happened. There was getting ready for revival and then the actual revival which was wonderful. We had Bro. Royce/Sis. Gloria and Bro. Pat/Sis. Tammy all week and we had 6 receive the Holy Ghost! It kicked off on Sunday night and was just great all week! I got to be off this year from work so I got to enjoy the week instead of running home in a frenzy from work trying to get changed and ready and out there before there are no seats left!

Of course on Friday of revival was a very sentimental time for us because our little Joey turned 1 year old, to be Momma's little baby no more! Not that he ever really was a baby since he's been walking and Mr. Attitude & Bully for months now, but it is official! There will be a separate post later on his 1st birthday and birthday party since there are 10,000!

Last week was recovering from the ever eventful revival and recovering at work from being off for a week and it marked my first week returning as a full time employee. Yes, it is very depressing, but I made it through the week okay partly because I had so much done up before I left and very much because my boss was out of the office all last week so it was pretty easy going for me.

This past weekend we just needed a family day out and James had to work Saturday morning, but after he got home and rested a while we got out and headed to Huntsville. He called Matt and they weren't doing anything so they met us to eat at Rosie's and then we headed to Bridgestreet. We have only went a couple of times and the last time was when Jameson was one, so it was nice to get out there and thanks to Heather who had a stroller that Heidi wasn't going to use we made it through with Joey! But the kids got balloon animals made and rode on the carousel. Well slightly rode on the carousel. Heidi who loved the carousel and rode her pony proudly, Joey who got on a panda and was laughing it up and poor Jameson who is going to be my child through and through was terrified sitting on one of the benches we me, clinging to my arms asking me over and over... "All done Momma?, Get off now?, All Done???" So, the second go around we hung out on the sidelines and watched Ms. Heidi go by acting just as excited that she seen us the first time and the last! Jameson enjoyed watching her ride the carousel much more!

So, it's Monday again, but I'm fully refreshed and ready to go a big part to the wonderful blessing that was so very much needed last night at Church and another big part to the fact that my 1 year old slept from 9:30 until 7:15 in his own bed! My child has finally slept through the night and I am sooo thankful! I'm thinking I don't even need my coffee this morning, wait what am I saying that Peppermint Mocha is calling my name, but one cup should do! Hope all my fellow bloggers have a wonderful week!

Running On Fumes!

2011-07-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well it was another wonderful, go by wayyy too fast weekend at our house! Other than a quick trip to Jones Valley Friday to look at the mom/son proofs from the week before and a quick run in Target, because you always have to go in Target for something the rest of weekend was spent finishing up that oh so wonderful revival cleaning! Now on Monday morning after crazy cleaning everything from the ceilings (literally) to the floors and everything in between and getting a good two hours at the most of sleep last night (Thank you Joseph Marshall Harkins for the wonderful concert of how long and loud can Joey cry last night!) I am seriously running on fumes. Not even fumes.. probably just ashes at this point. I've went through all the coffee and I believe some Red Bull is calling my name! Thankfully I had all my work done up and not much to do today or I would really be in trouble! So I'm hoping for very sleepy children when I get home who want to go to bed at 6 tonight at not wake up til 6 in the am! ;) Yeah right!! Wishful thinking.. I know!

Time Marches On

2011-07-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Well the weekend was even crazier than planned! Friday me, Jameson, Joey, Chelsea, and Hannah all loaded up and headed to Jones Valley at a very unreasonable hour of the morning, but hey, it was the only appointment I could get to have our mother/son pictures made. The boys did great! Jameson was a ham (who would have guessed??) and Joey tolerated them long enough to get through it! Of course the pictures of me with Joey look like I adopted a child, but that's okay! I think he's a cutie even if he does look exactly like his daddy!

Since they did so great we headed on over to "Target Wal-Mart" as Jameson calls it and got the boys a prize! We proceeded to Party City and Hobby Lobby trying to track down anything and everything Yo Gabba Gabba for Joey's 1st birthday part, but were very unsuccessful! I did find some really cute plates/napkins in the colors so I'm hoping I can find some YGG pieces online to fill it in and coordinate. After all this party hunting and picture taking we were of course famished so we headed on down to the Olive Garden for some fabulous soup, pasta and bread sticks! Yumo... no other words necessary! That evening my Uncle Bret and Aunt Teresa came and Mom, Dad, Me and the boys went to eat with them and hang out while James went fishing.
Saturday was moving day.. and no.. for the first time in forever, not for us! Andrea and Michael were moving into their new house which is so awesome so James lended some muscles and I lended some Wal-Mart running, food picking upper, organizational and unpacking skills. I was exhausted to say the very least. We went to go look at some more houses and then went home to crash. Sunday was finish everything up at the house day! I got up and fixed breakfast and nacho meat that I put in the crock pot, and finished cleaning. We had a couple more appointments to look at houses that afternoon so I got ready and went there. I fell in love with one of the houses and its actually the least expensive of all of the ones we've looked at and yes... that like NEVER happens! But I'm worried about my massive bedroom furniture fitting in the master, so we might go back sometime this week and try to measure some rooms. So we shall see!
That evening was Sis. Jean Cordell's visitation and after we went to that James went fishing with Chase and Jed so me and the boys headed on over to the Fortner Community Pool (hehehe) and took a dip in the cement pond. It was Joey's first time in a big pool and he loved it. I had to stay right with him because he kept trying to jump out of the float and thought it was so funny! Jameson was less scaredy this year and got out there in a float and was kicking all around as long as I was close by. We had a lot of fun, then it got too dark so we headed on back home. The boys slept great after that evening swimming and I guess I did too, because I woke up and it was about 12:30 in the morning and James was dragging in smelling like the lake! I rolled right back over and went back to sleep.
Sunday morning we woke up to hearing about another death in our church, Bro. Kenneth Fortner. I started making food for Sis. Jean's funeral (well Andrea's food, she doesn't have a stove yet! LOL!) and got it ready to go out to the kitchen before the funeral started. It was a very bittersweet weekend. Sis. Jean and Bro. Kenneth are both such losses for our church and will be greatly missed, but I am thankful that they are not suffering anymore. Its back to the fabulous B&B this morning although my bed was still calling my name as I was driving into work!

Finally Friday!

2011-06-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday for me at least! Thanks to these fabulous 4 day work weeks that I am really going to be missing come August! I am however looking forward to my four day weekend although it is going to be busy, busy, busy!!! But I hope that all of you have a wonderful 4th of July!!

Jameson Verses The Shark!

2011-06-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

If you know us at all you know that my husband is obsessed with fishing, and that the prior part of the sentence is the biggest understatement of the world!!! But it seems to have been passed down to him from his Uncle Greg and Granddaddy and now he is passing it on to our boys. Jameson loves to go fishing even if its just up the street at Bro. Bobby Long's pond which is where him and James went Monday night. Jameson got out there with his little Buzz Lightyear fishing pole and on the first cast the above picture is the fish he caught. Although he declares that it is a shark, not a fish, and that he seen two more while he was there! So those Longs better watch out the next time they take that paddle boat for a spin! Apparently there are some Jaws in there! :)

One Fabulous Weekend!

2011-06-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

So as you know from my prior post I have been having some fun times lately with my back. Thanks to some fabulous muscle relaxers, some physical therapy, and a husband who has took over the lifting the babies duties (Yes.. James have been toting the kids to and fro and even watched one at a time at church over the weekend all by himself! - Go James!!!, he has also received a new found respect for me - Go me! LOL!) I made it until Sunday night! I pushed myself to go back to church Sunday night. And by pushing, I mean literally! It was storming, I was hurting and it took all I had to get up off that couch and get the boys ready again to go back. But I am soo thankful that I did. Jared Lewis came to church and received the Holy Ghost! It was so wonderful. I just cried when he went to the altar. I was in a lot of pain, but I was not going to miss him getting the Holy Ghost. I went up there and prayed for him, and of course he wasn't a quick one! :) But I got to see him speak in tongues and the look on his face when he realized he was speaking in tongues was so wonderful! I was hurting so bad, and Jared was so happy and hugging everyone, and Bro. Rodney Ragon just come right through the crowd and laid hands on me and I had instant relief from that pain. I was so thankful to have some relief. Then after they sung the "If this ain't the Holy Ghost" song, Bro. Matt got the oil and anointed me. I just have such a thankful heart. I was still having some pains through all of this but nothing like it was and when I got home I noticed that I could bend a little better, and I could walk a little faster, and before I went to bed I had chased Jameson all around the house playing, got their pajamas on them, lifted them up, put Joey in his crib and then got in the bed and was able to rest. I am SOOOO thankful! I woke up this morning and I am having no problem. I'm bending, twisting, lifting, walking, going up and down the stairs with ease! I had a doctor's appointment this morning and I went and he is completely baffled. He says that discs do not just go back into place and he doesn't understand my relief of pain, but he's going to do some more scans and wants me to come back in Wednesday because he thinks after I try to work a couple full days in a row that I'll be in pain again. I'm actually looking forward to seeing his face when I go back on Wednesday and those disc are all back in place! I'm guessing it's going to be better than the one he made when I was able to reach down to my toes today! So thank you Lord for healing me once again in my life, and thank you Lord for giving the Holy Ghost again at Rocky Branch and especially to one of my dearest childhood friends. I'm so thankful how he worked his life out and made a way for him. I'm looking for many more this summer! Blessed be the name of the Lord!!!!

Don't That Beat All

2011-06-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

Well, not that I didn't have enough to do with revival just a few weeks away, a now 3 year old and a 10 month old, a full time job, and James (that should speak for itself!) lets add going to the chiropractor once a day for the next month or more to that list! Yes, apparently when I fell down the stairs a couple weeks ago here at work I have a disc in my lower back that is now slipped and possibly fractured.. more results to come from my x-rays via the doctor closer examining tomorrow and it is inflamed and now pressing down on my sciatic nerve! Fun fun fun! Of course, other than being sore for a couple days after falling I didn't think anything about it. But when I picked Joey up on Sunday and couldn't hold him because my leg was going out from under me and haven't hardly been able to move without the help of James muscle relaxers (oops, shouldn't have said that!) it has been a fun week thus far. Let me tell you!!!!! So, I get to go back to the fabulous Dr. Foote tomorrow and let him tell me what all he can do for me on top of the treatments as long as that little disc is not fractured. So any prayers that the disc will not be fractured that you can send up for me would be oh so greatly appreciated! And to Marty - yes, you are the only one it will let me comment on! I'm going to try the Mozilla thing when I get a chance, but for right now I'm still loving reading all your blogs! My comments will be coming in full force real soon hopefully!

Comment.. No Comment

2011-06-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry to all my blogger friends. I keep trying to comment on your posts and comment back on my comments on my post but for some reason my computer will not let me do it! So, if you get 20 comments from me I'm very sorry, but also if you get none, I'm sorry! But I'm still reading and loving every one's blogs!!!!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2011-06-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's took me a while to get this done since the week has been so crazy, but five years ago this past Wednesday, June 15, things changed quite dramatically in my life! I sat through a revival church service at Huntsville Holiness Church and could not tell you who talked, what they talked, what they sung or anything about it other than I knew that if I did get the Holy Ghost that night that I hope that I would just die because I could not keep on living the way that I had. They gave an alter call and I went down there and started praying like I always had, but I was determined that no matter what happened I was not getting up out of that alter without the Holy Ghost and if the Lord wouldn't give it to me and I did get up without it it would be because somebody made me get up. I prayed for almost two hours and had so many encouraging words and was really feeling the power but just couldn't get a hold of it. I went back to praying and I heard Bro. Shannon Barron who was down there praying for me say to somebody "She's about to make it!" And when I heard it I just got so excited and actually started laughing because i knew I was about to make it. Probably a split second later I started speaking in tongues! I just laid there laughing because I knew I had and I was so happy, but I wanted to make sure every one else knew I had and I knew if he let me speak in tongues once he would let me again. I started praising the Lord again and I immediately started speaking in tongues again. I didn't wait any longer. I popped right up and grabbed hold of the first person I seen which was Allison Stilwell and she had just gotten the Holy Ghost a couple nights before! I have been one happy girl since and am so thankful for all the ways that the Lord has blessed my life although this one incident was the best blessing ever. I'm so thankful for my salvation and that it's mine.

Cute, Cuter, and the Cutest!

2011-06-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

So, I know I haven't been blogging a ton lately, but instead of going through everything that we've been doing I thought that I would just show you! Enjoy!!!

Joey's Bubble Beard

Quick, He's Not Looking.. Take The Ride!

Is it time to go swimming yet?

Proud Birthday Boy!

Just too cute!

Thanks Joey for my Kung Fu Panda presents!

Batman Jameson

(P.S. I made this outfit)

Wish all the laundry was this easy!

More of the birthday morning!

I like the bag better than the presents!

Shake your Plex bootie! It's time to Dance!

When am I going to have one of these birthday things?

This is Jameson's Post-Walmart face!

Babies Aren't Just for Girls Daddy!

If he had a dip in, I would just think it was James! LOL!

Ha the Four Wheeler's mine now!

Jameson in his Bro. David duds!

Dancing Spiderman Jameson

Trying to Dance in the Chair

Momma please no more pictures! I'm trying to watch Yo Gabba Gabba!

Happy Birthday Jameson & Ghanna!!!!!

2011-06-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

(Jameson in his Spiderman Outfit I Made Him)

(My Sleeping 3 Year Old)

(The Coolest Batman Cake/Cupcakes Eva!)

Well yesterday was Jameson's 3rd birthday and Granna's (she would kill me) birthday!!!! I can't believe that he is already three! It's very depressing! But of course.. the party must go on, and although we did not do a party this year we still took our little man out to eat and had one awesome Batman birthday cake! (Thank you Albertville Home Bakery.. it was umm ummm good!) And Granna and Pops left for the Smokies last Thursday night to celebrate her birthday so they missed all the yummy cake and cupcakes because sadly it is now gone! Jameson had a wonderful time and every time someone would call to tell him Happy Birthday, he would proceed to tell them Happy Birthday back... because that's what you do, right? But it was really cute. So we're still watching Kung Fu Panda for the millionth time, still riding the new tri-cycle, and I must say he is quite the pro now, and apparently turning 3 does not magically give you an internal fabulous bedtime because tonight at 10:30 he is still running back and forth from one side of my bed to the other because he is the "Blue Robin"! But this is just a short post to say my little Jameson monster is 3! We made it past the terrible twos... oh wait.. no, Joey will be there in about a year and we can start all over again! I'm thinking I should start praying now!

Where Is Your Swimsuit???

2011-06-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I haven't posted for a few weeks and things have been crazy, but now our evenings are mostly being spent enjoying the fabulous $15 pool that I got at Wal-Mart! It's wonderful!!!! The boys love it! And it is helping with Joey's so fair fair fair complexion! However, Jameson is liking it a little too much. Last night he was going to go outside with James while James got something out of the car. Me and Joey were inside picking up toys (well, I was inside picking up toys while Joey would grin at me and pull them right back out!) and James comes to the door and says, Hey Jenn, can you come here a sec... so I go to the door thinking, "what now?" Well as I walk out onto the porch I see Jameson's shorts.......... then I look further down the steps of the porch and see Jameson's shirt....... and then in the yard there is underwear... I look in the pool and there is a Jameson in all his glory!!!! He grins at me and says... "I want to go swimming Momma!!!!!!" Of course... I cannot respond because my laughter has taken over! When I composed myself I said, "Jameson, are you naked?" And he responded that... "No, my flip flops!" So, as long as there are still flip flops on.. while in the pool it doesn't matter! So I went inside to get his swimming trunks and Joey a little swimmers and we spent the rest of the evening out by the pool because really what else are you going to do is 100 degree weather?

This is the tale of a 2 year old, a 1 year old, a 9 month old, and a Monday!

2011-05-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

Whew! Thank goodness it is Tuesday!!! Did not know if I would make it here yesterday. Work was insane and didn't get any breaks from 8-5, so by the time that I got in the car to go home I was exhausted and starving!!!

It was Carleigh's graduation from Kindergarten. And yes, I will take a moment to ponder on this because Carleigh is now a 1st grader and this statement is so painful! She's so growny and prissy now. Not that she hasn't always been growny and prissy, but now she really doesn't look like my little Carleigh anymore. Of course she's super smart, sweet (when she wants to be), and really fashionable.. so what more could a girl possibly need to be? :) It's hard to think about her being this old already since she was just a few months old when me and James got married she has definitely been our baby! So as reminiscing goes, of course I had to put a picture of our "Little Carleigh!" This picture was in the fall after Jameson was born, which takes me to another sad point that Jameson will be the same age that Carleigh was when he was born this year... ugh... tear! But anywho... Congrats to Carleigh for finishing Kindergarten and moving on in her educational career!

But since little Elijah does not do well in small confined spaces (LOL!) I opted out of the celebration to let Leli (as said by Jameson) to come play with us so LeAnne and Shannon could actually see, hear, and enjoy watching Carleigh graduate. So after a rough Monday at work I went home and had three little boys! It was a lot of fun though! And since I had Jameson and was just a few months away from having Joey when Eli was born I haven't got to spend a lot of time with him, so I've really enjoyed the Eli time that I've gotten lately. He's the sweetest baby ever, really happy, and he is sooo good! It's amazing to me that you tell a kid not to do something and they actually quit doing it. I tell Joey no no and he just looks at me, grins, and keeps on doing it! Jameson and Eli play great together and poor little Joey was just trying to keep up with them because he thought he was as big as them! There were lots of diapers, macaroni, and saying "no no" before the night was over to say the least! But it was a blast! Of course my exhaustion this morning is really sinking in and confirming my contentment in my decision to not have a third child! LOL!

Old Enough To Know Better, Still Too Young To Care!

2011-05-23T06:24:00.001-07:00

Hello all! I realize it has been a few days since I blogged, and my fall off the blog wagon has not been intentional! It has been a little crazier than normal! Things have been insane at work, which is always a good thing because busy means making money and days not dragging by slowly, so who can complain about that? At home things are starting to calm down a bit. I know it will be a short lived thing, but I am enjoying it none the less!

Thursday was my 25th birthday! Yes.. 25.. half-way to 50, almost thirty, no longer in my early 20's, blah blah blah.. I've heard it all so no need to rub it in further! :) But it actually was not that bad. Honestly, it's probably the best birthday I have had in years. For the first time in our married life my husband not only remembered my birthday, but actually purchased me a gift! I was so excited. I got a beautiful strand of turquoisey blue pearls and the bracelet to match, and I actually got a card!!! Which is sad that it excited me more than anything else! LOL! But after 5 birthdays, 3 Mother's Days and even some anniversary's of no presents and not even a card, it was an exciting thing! I also had so many friends do so many special things for me I was really overwhelmed and then my adorable little niece, Heidi, and the best sister in law ever, Heather, came and surprised me on my birthday at work and brought me a little yummy prize and an "Awesome Aunt" card and sticker that I wore proudly!

Friday night James took me out to eat for my birthday at Outback. Of course it was super yummy and I stuffed myself on blooming onion! Then we headed to the mall which I hadn't been to a mall in at least a couple years and I discovered a "new to me" store since I've been told I've been living under a rock (thank you Jennifer Baker!!! LOL!), but Charming Charlies is my new favorite store EVA!!! We got home about 10, which is so late for me and I was wore out! Saturday I got up early and was going to mow the yard before it got too hot and while the boys and James were still in bed. Of course I got the front yard almost completely done and I ran out of gas! So, James went to get some more gas in the lawnmower. It took him forever since he got him something to eat, dip, gas in the vehicles too and just basically took him precious time and I ended up finishing mowing the yard in the heat of the day. It wasn't too horrible and I got some fabulous sun, so it all worked out good.

My Uncle Bob had come up from Fairhope on Thursday and had been staying with Mom and Dad. We got to hang out with him Thursday night and also Saturday evening, and a lot of the rest of the family were up too. It was a fun night to hang out since it had been well over a year since I had seen him. He left to go back home to the beach on Sunday and who could blame him! I was tempted to back up and head back to his guest cottage for a few weeks! But that pretty much sums it up and it's long and boring, but I hope everyone else had a great weekend and is enjoying their Manic Monday's!

Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally!

2011-05-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so late yesterday evening we finally got our cable, internet and phone back!!! After almost three weeks without even watching the news, I was about to loose my mind! (not that it would take much for me.. but still!!!) Me and Jameson had watched Tangled (thank you Carleigh for letting me steal), Robin Hood, and Harry Potter until I could take no more! So thank you Charter crew and all the out of towners that helped with the process of getting us some sanity back in our homes. Of course I had too much going on last night to watch anything, but I am looking forward to catching up on some Office and Grey's Anatomy tonight! I have never been so excited to get to watch shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and even those Backyardigans, well... ever!!! And I'm very sorry Jameson, but I do believe that Robin Hood is going to have to go into "hiding" for a little while! So the snivellin', grovellin', measly, weasely, blabberin', jabberin', gibberin', jabberin', blunderin', plunderin', wheelin', dealin', Prince John, that phony king of England is going to finally get some rest!

Monday Already!

2011-05-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well we had a pretty eventful, yet enjoyable weekend. It will be boring to everyone else, but I got to see a lot of friends and family I haven't got to be with in a long time. Friday since Shannon had been transferred to Huntsville Hospital, and still wasn't going to get to come home, I got to keep Eli. We had a blast! I had never got to keep him before and was really worried because I'm not around him any except at church and didn't know if he would really stay with me! It was so much fun though. Him, Jameson and Joey played with every toy they have and ran around laughing all day except for the couple hours where Eli and Joey actually took naps at the same time! (Yes. two hour naps for the 14 month old and the 9 month old at the same time... I still can't believe it either!) It was fabulous! When his Marmie got off he got to go spend the evening with her and me and the boys got ready and when James got home from work we went to go see little Baby Jolie. She is a Forshee baby if I've ever seen one. Beautiful with dark skin and a ton of black hair and super tiny! Joey wasn't interested in her at all, but was very interested in her baby swing and the Pooh bear toy in her play pen! Jameson on the other hand decided that he would name her Pocahontas! Which might actually be a good thing since Joey and Jolie are pronounced the same in "Jameson Talk".

Saturday morning my cousin, Christopher, called and said he was on his way to bring us breakfast and visit. I was so excited. I haven't seen him in 3 1/2 years, and he's never seen my children. It was so good to see him. His job in Florida sent him to Birmingham working after the storms and he's been working nonstop for weeks now, but they finished at their location there and were moving to Jasper, Alabama, so he got the day off. We hung out for a few hours and he played with the boys who loved him since he was up for wrestling. After he left my marathon of errands started and ended with having the house cleaned, barely making it to church on time and some yummy nacho meat in the crock pot smelling up the kitchen! Bro. Arthur McAllister was there and he did wonderful (which is needless to say, right?). Some of our old friends were there and we got to eat with them after church. It was so nice to see Brian & Amanda and their kiddos and Darrin and Tasha and their girls! We never get to do anything with them, so I really enjoyed it. Sunday we don't have church due to decoration, but it was a nice lazy day for me. We just hung out and I got some sewing done. Nicole and Adam came by for a little while and Jameson and Ava played. I gave her some Little Debbie cakes and Candy and sent her home hyped up on sugar! (You're welcome Nicole!)

So here we are on Monday morning and I'm not awake fully so all of this may not make sense, but I'm already counting hours down til my next weekend and I hope all of you have a great week! And I took a lot of pics of the boys on Friday while we were home so they are just randomly scattered throughout the blog! Sorry for the randomness, but I thought they were too cute to not share!

NO MORE PENCILS, NO MORE BOOKS, NO MORE TEACHER'S DIRTY LOOKS!

2011-05-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, all the essay's have been submitted, assignments have been completed, exams are all done, and all I can say is Hallelujah!!! I'm sooooo ready for a break. With everything else that has been going on with us lately to get one thing off of our checklist is fabulous to me! Now starts the marathon of birthdays, spring/ summer activities, and revivals! Just thinking about it is making my head spin, but this 80 degree day is putting me very much in the mood for a nice dip in the cement pond! :) Hope all my blogger friends have a wonderful week!

Day Thirty!

2011-05-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Day thirty is a picture of someone you miss! I don't have a bunch of pictures of all the people I miss. I miss my brother, my Granny Grunt, my Pawpaw Sealey, my Aunt Connie, Sis. Vera Case, Bro. David Jones, Bro. Carl Rice, Sis. Joyce and Sis. Mae Troglen, I can't even begin to think of all the people I miss through life, but also so many friends that I used to be around a lot that are still here I miss bunches too! So, here's a shout out to any of you that I haven't seen in a while.. I miss you!

Watermelons, Wagons, and Tupperware!

2011-05-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a non-tornado, non-tragedy all around and just a general happy post.. because I need some happiness! LOL! We have had quite a few eventful days, and they have been spent with a lot of playing outside and reading, although most of the days are that way for us anyways with Jameson. Susan came one day to take a hot shower and hauled the kids around in the wagon. I took a picture of them when Elijah, Carleigh and Jameson were all piled up in there together! Of course all pics were took with my phone, so their a little fuzzy! I've read "If your happy and you know it" so many times, that even our neighbors that were hanging out all know the book by heart also! Jameson also had his first watermelon, and he is a big fan! And yesterday while sitting outside with some friends and playing with Joey, he busted out laughing and I seen that he has two new teeth in the top! I was so excited! We are now up to six teeth. The boys are also loving it at Granna's and Joey has been exploring all over! I caught him in the kitchen drawers last night and dumping Tupperware all over the kitchen floor! Of course Granna's response was... oh, he can't hurt nothing in there! If I had done that as a child, I'm thinking that would have not been the repercussion! But I guess that's why they are "grand" children!

Day 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29!

2011-05-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Because the least important thing going on in my life right now is the 30 day photo challenge, but I wanted to get caught up if nothing else just to get my mind off of everything else! So here we go!

Day 23: A picture of your favorite book. This is actually a picture for the latest movie, but Pride and Prejudice is my all time favorite. It's a true classic and I just love Mr. Darcy!

Day 24: A picture of something you wish you could change. Since I'm a big believer in not looking back and accepting that what you've went through got you to here there's not really anything I would change... Except for the reading on the scales these days! LOL!
Day 25: A picture of my day! This was Friday, and my day was spent at the laundromat! We were behind anyways, so clean towels and sheets were a must! So thankful we still had a bed to put the clean sheets on!

Day 26: A picture of something that means a lot to me. Well that would be my little family! Me and my three boys! :) They mean the world to me!

Day 27: A picture of you and a family member. Well, this is me and 3 family members! Me, my cutie patootie niece, Heidi Harkins, my fabulous sister-in-law, Heather Harkins, and my adorable little boy, Jameson Harkins.

Day 28: Something you are afraid of... Well I've always been scared, but now I am terrified! Especially having been in three now, and seen another two that were at a safe distance, but that's enough for me for sure!!!

Day 29: A picture that can always make you smile! This definitely does. When my boss, P.J. and his whole family came down with the Swine flu, but he insisted on coming in to work to review some stuff, we made him a little "Sick Room". We quarantined it, and put on our masks courtesy of Dr. Boggus! My other boss, Randy, thought it was so hilarious, he had to take a picture of all of us! It was one of those really fun days down at the B&B! :)

Toto, I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore!

2011-05-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well one week, total devastation, and havoc later... It's time to Blog! Of course everyone knows about the horrible storms that come through last Wednesday morning. It started at 5 a.m. in Guntersville that morning with the first of the tornadoes to come through. I, one terrified of storms girl since I had already been through two tornadoes, was up watching Brad Travis and that radar. James was getting ready to leave for work and things were calm in our neck of the woods. Cullman was getting hit hard with a bad storm and confirmed tornado on the ground. James left for work and I continued to watch the damage. It started getting a little rainy outside a little after 6 and they said that storm cell was moving towards Guntersville. I was getting anxious and a little worried so I had everything ready to take cover when the power went out. I scrambled to my phone going to call James to see if he could tell me what was going on. There was no service. I couldn't dial out, I tried to text my friend from work, Allison, and my text's wouldn't go through. So, I pulled up my facebook. Hoping something had been posted by somebody before I lost service, and my facebook was working!!! It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I got a message from Gina McBride ( I will love you forever girl!!!), and she told me there was a tornado on the ground in Guntersville, and they said to take cover. I got the boys, woke Mom up (who yes...was sleeping through the whole thing!!!) and went took cover. We heard it coming and the house was shaking, but it passed really quickly, and we seemed to be in good shape. Of course after it had passed, I went looking outside to make sure things were okay, and there were several trees down in the driveway and the rocking chairs had been blown off the front porch, and appeared that one of them was broken, some siding was hanging down, but the back porch everything was in tact didn't even look blown out of place and everything looked good.

I looked over at Darlene's and her and her girls were out on the front porch. Talked to them and made sure they were okay, and other than some siding off of their house, Jeff's canoe somewhere in the woods, and being completely terrified... they were all okay. The phones started buzzing! Apparently pretty much every house around us had damage, Chad's car had been crushed by his huge Pecan Tree in his front yard and had barely missed the house, getting part of the porch on the way down, the Long's had got hit hard, their farm was a mess, they were missing deer, and their houses had been damaged. We didn't really know how bad it was. We couldn't get out and it just seemed like a mess. Then the phones started messing up again, but we were able to get in touch with James and Dad and they were on their way home, no one had power, and things were a mess. There was another round of storms headed for us that afternoon, and they were trying to get people home before then. We made it good. It was a little chilly, but sunny and pretty outside, the boys were playing and we're not sissy girls, so we could handle no power. LeAnne didn't have damage other than some shingles and patio furniture blown around so she was going to go get some food and some stuff from Wal-mart. She called to see if we needed anything and I was low on formula, so I told her to pick me up some. Well, she started down Pleasant Grove Road and seen that going anywhere was not going to happen!

We thought it was all so devastating... but it was apparently just the beginning. So as the day rocked on thanks to Will Harkins ( I will love you forever too!!!) who was in Mobile tracking everything for us and calling to warn us we were able to get some heads up before the storms were getting close. We kept getting calls of damages, my dear friend Kayla lost her home but so thankfully her and little Casen were okay, numerous more friends lost their homes, and then getting calls of lost lives. That's when it really become devastating. The days rocked on, we found out more people who had been killed and were just being found, and I hate to say I think is still the case, seen some wonderful generosity by everyone around, and am so thankful for wonderful friends like Kristina Whitehead who walked from her house to the Higdon Cemetery at night to let me know that my brother's rock and headstone weren't damaged by the fallen trees just because she didn't want me to worry about it! That meant SOOOO much! You will never know!

And although we're grieving over all of the lives lost.. I just want to say a little something about Wonderful, Hilarious & Crazy Mott! (a.k.a. Sis. Martha Michaels). This is truly a great loss to us. As tragic as it is loosing her and Bro. Buddy, I know the Lord knew that she wouldn't want him to go without her. But I was thinking of some funny times with her and just how much fun she was. I remember one time, riding up Gunter's Mountain and being a kid and always getting car sick, I started to get sick, and Pam couldn't pull over, she was panicking (imagine that...) and Mott just threw her purse in my lap right before I got sick all in it! I was so upset that she had done that, and she said.. "Aww... I needed a new one anyways, and there wasn't nothing good in it no way!" So, she will always be the only woman I know that was willing to let someone throw up in her purse without blinking an eye! I love you and I will miss you bunches!

I'm so thankful for so many things... One, I'm so thankful that it was not worse than it was in our area and that me and my family were safe and still have a home! Two, I'm so thankful for friends who think of you and warn you to take cover, keep you updated when they know you have no way to know what's headed your way, and go out of their way to ease your mind about something that is so unimportant in the scheme of things going on around. Three, I'm so thankful to have power back now! I know they thought we wouldn't before Friday, so to get it back this early, I am truly thankful to everyone all over the State that is working like crazy to help get things back as quickly as possible. Four, I'm so thankful for all of our great neighbors and friends who made it an easier time. Jeff & Darlene Rice.. for sharing your generator running freezer with us so all the meat I had just purchased two days before wouldn't ruin!!!! Rachael & Emily Rice & Chelsea and Hannah Long for hanging out, making us laugh, and entertaining my boys!!! Travis and Jacklyn Hopkins for all the help lately with everything and the wonderful conversations and laughs (although most as Travis' expense...) and for just being true friends. Mark & Trish Long for cooking all the food in your freezer and inviting us over to pig out!!! It has definitely been an experience that we won't forget. Driving around today and seeing the damage is depressing, but behind every cloud, there is a silver lining. Our silver lining is getting two new baby girls in the midst of these storms.. a baby Jolie who came last Friday, and a baby Hadlee who came yesterday! Although I haven't got to see either other than pictures, I can't wait to get my arms around and squeeze these precious little babies! And for all the rest of the madness, in the fabulous words of Ms. Scarlett O'Hara... "I just can't think about that today. I'll think about that tomorrow.... cause after all... Tomorrow is another day!"

Sweet Home Alabama

2011-04-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well I heard some fabulous Lynyrd Skynyrd on the way to work this morning, and normally I have to change it because sometimes I just can't handle the Sweet Home Alabama anthem, but this morning it was bittersweet to me. I had flashbacks of Joey singing it on numerous occasions, and was thinking how ironic that Alabama is our sweet homes now. I had this pic on my computer thanks to some of his classmates on FB. This was at their Senior Break Day after being dunked in the dunking booth several times, he decided to put his shirt back on soaking wet (notice the discoloration from the waist down) and was singing Crazy Train soaking wet in the midst of all those wires and power cords... idiot... why yes, yes he was! But we love him anyways.

Also, thinking about how nice it is to be in Sweet Home Alabama. Last night enjoying playing with my boys, riding them around in their wagon, Jameson riding his four-wheeler, and them swinging on Bullseye (a.k.a. the rubber tire horse swing, and since its a horse of course its referenced to as Bullseye!), then swinging on the wicker swing on the porch with my boys I was thinking how peaceful it is up here. Of course I took pics last night with my camera so I had to add them too, and if you can see past Jameson cheesin'.. yes I did realize the irony that my baby Joey also has on his Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt that I bought him. I know his Uncle Joey would be so proud! So Sweet Home Alabama, where the skies are so blue, Lord I'm coming home to you!

Day Twenty Two!

2011-04-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Day Twenty Two is a picture of something you wish you were better at! Oh Lord! This could be 10,000 pictures! LOL! But I guess one thing I really wish I was better at would be praying. Not that I don't pray and I do pray in my mind a lot, but I wish I was better at actually getting down and praying more often than just going through the motions at night and at church and stuff. I remember a wonderful woman, Sis. Joyce Troglen, and she prayed all the time and would really get over in the hands of the Lord. She was such a precious and inspirational person to me, and I wish that I could put half the effort she put into really praying. I'm sure that it would make me a happier and more humble person!

Day Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty One!

2011-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know... I warned I wouldn't get to blog all weekend, so this is making up for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today for the photo challenge!

Day Eighteen: A picture of your biggest insecurity! That would be my horse teeth!!! Their horrid! They take up about 90% of my face!

Day Nineteen: A picture of me when I was little. Well, this is me and Kayla when I was little.. oh wait you meant a kid.. sorry I thought you meant when I used to be skinny! LOL! No pics of me as a kid scanned in, so this is what you get!

Day Twenty: A place I would love to travel. I think I've already blogged about going to Venice before I die, so a place that I would love to travel right now would be a beach somewhere.. anywhere, so here's a pic of the last time I seen those sandy shores!

Day Twenty One: Something you wish you could forget. Unfortunately it would not be very nice of me to put a picture of a person and/or whole situation with someone I would like to forget, so we'll be good and just skip it all together! :)

Easter Bunny Roundup!

2011-04-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well, contrary to the feelings i had on Saturday night walking around Walmart trying to find some last minute Easter Bunny basket items for the kids and with all the crazies that were doing their last minute shopping too, we actually made it through Easter! Thank goodness I had bought Easter outfits months ago, and shoes and socks and all that good stuff or I really would have been a crazy person too! But we moved all day Friday and Saturday and still have some more stuff to take to storage and get ready for the community yard sales this coming weekend, but I don't even want to think about that. Sunday we decided to take a break from all the moving chaos and just chill! We did manage to get ready that morning with a big thank you to my Dad and LeAnne! I had everything ready, but we could not find in any boxes undershirts for James, Jameson or Joey, so thank you to Dad for James undershirt...Carleigh for Jameson's undershirt and Elijah for Joey's undershirt! Of course they all had to be wearing white and it was a necessity! :) Also, since I couldn't find my camera, there are not many photos that I took with my phone, but I do have some, and am going to have some more of the kids hunting eggs later once sweet sweet April (a.k.a my designated camera girl) uploads hers to Walgreens and send me a link to it! So, thanks to lots of friends and family we did make it through! The boys were hilarious, especially Jameson this year. Mom got him one of those colored bubble guns, and it was the hit of the day to say the least! We got some much needed rest last night and am hoping for a smooth and nice week! Hope everyone else had a very Hoppy Easter too!

Good Friday... Wait.. Thursday!

2011-04-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know that it is not Good Friday yet, or officially the Easter weekend, but since we will be moving all day tomorrow, unpacking Saturday, and then of course the crazy Easter Sunday I doubt that I will get a chance to blog about any of it. I just wanted to wish all of our friends a very Happy Easter weekend where the kids don't ruin their outfits before pictures, dinner is super yummy, and everyone finds a peanut butter egg in their Easter baskets! :) So Happy Happy Easter from the Harkins Family! Can't wait to see all the wonderful family and easter egg hunting pictures next week!

Day Seventeen!!!

2011-04-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Day Seventeen is a picture of something that has made a big impact on your life! That would be James. He has definitely made a big impact on my life. He has made me happy, makes me laugh on a daily basis, gave me two beautiful boys, lots of adventures, lots of stress, and if it wasn't for him praying and encouraging I would have probably never received the Holy Ghost. So, James made my #17! And I wanted to post this pic, because I just love it. James was dirty and had just come from work and met me and Jameson down at the park for Jameson to play a couple months before Joey was born because I couldn't lift him and put him on the swing! I just think it was so sweet.

Missing That King Size Bed!

2011-04-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

So, this is just a really funny thing that James said last night that i just wanted to share! Of course we are having to stay at Mom's since our house is inhabitable.. no new news there, but all of our furniture is still at our house, so we are sleeping in Mom's guest bedroom which has a queen size sleigh bed. The same size bed we have had our whole married life until about a year ago when I upgraded to a king before we had Joey. Well, last night James gets in bed, and we're trying to arrange pillows and he is like, "Ugh, this bed is so little we should have moved our bed first!!!!" I just bust out laughing.. and then he does too when he realizes what he has said! He said, "Well I just don't see how me, you and Jameson all slept in this bed every night. It seems so little now." Of course there is a big difference in the bed to me too, but its so strange how you get used to something and it's hard to go back!

Day Sixteen!!!

2011-04-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

Day sixteen is a picture of someone who inspires you! There are several people that inspire me, but one who really does is my Aunt Linda.... a.k.a. Aunt Bimi! Since her oldest grandson (Chase) is just 5 years younger than me, he started calling her Bimi, and that's pretty much all I remember is her being my Aunt Bimi. She is so inspiring because she always seems to look on the brighter side. She has had so many good testimonies through the years and has had to endure so much. I just love her to pieces. This was a picture from a couple years ago at Easter with all her grandkids that were there.

One Room at a Time

2011-04-19T06:30:00.001-07:00

Well, this week will be the longest week of our lives I am afraid, but oh at the progress we have made. The boys rooms had now been painted a beautiful robin eggs blue (just in time for Easter), and all their furniture and clothes have been moved and in place. Jameson ran in last night and gave me a whole run down of every toy, piece of furniture, and even picture in his room. Needless to say, he's a little excited! :) The only thing left to do is to hang some curtains and pictures on the walls. It was just too late last night to attempt the hammering! But for a Monday, after working all day, I would say we were very productive!!! So tonight I hoping to get all the bathroom stuff and toys moved... just trying to take it one room at a time!

Day Fifteen!

2011-04-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

Wow... half-way there! Day fifteen is a picture of something you want to do before you die! That would be go to Venice. It's a place that I will probably never be able to afford to go, but it's a dream to get to go there! :)

Just Not Meant To Be

2011-04-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

So, I am a firm believer that some things are just not meant to be! Obviously, I mean look at my life lately! But I would just like to say that sometimes no matter how hard you try it just doesn't happen. Sunday morning I got up much against my bodies request to stay in bed, and my mind's request to get a lot done that needed to be done, and since it was our regular meeting time and got everything ready and everyone dressed and ready for church and then headed out to the "Branch". Well, being as it was regular meeting it was about 5 til when we pulled up (which is actually good for us) and got Joey out of the vehicle and realized that he had used the bathroom not only all over himself (easy fix.. I'm a mother, of course I had an extra outfit or two for him, but also all down my beautiful white skirt! ...... Yes.... Seriously!!! Due to my utter disappointment, I just got right back into the vehicle and drove right back home! I think I should have went with my gut feeling to just stay in bed that morning! So after hours of work wasted, I ended up right where I was anyways! I was very disappointed that I missed Bro. Jack since I heard he did awesome, and all my other friends that were there I would have loved to have seen.. so if you were there and were like.. Where are the Harkins??? .... That's where we were!

Day Twelve.. Thirteen and Fourteen!

2011-04-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so crazy weekend means I have some catching up to do!!! So Day Twelve is a picture of something that I love! Obviously... my boys!!! I mean.. who wouldn't?? ;)

Day Thirteen is a picture of your favorite band and/or artist.... Aerosmith... need I say more??? (I wanted to put New Harmony or Long Family on here just for the fun of it, but decided I would be good and serious- heheheeee).

Day Fourteen is a picutre of something you could not imagine your life without. Well that would be the Lord. I guess I can imagine my life without him, but I don't want to.

I don't know how my crazy blogger is going to upload these, but I think you can figure them out!

Day Eleven

2011-04-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Day eleven is a picture of something you hate! And that would be laundry!!!!!!!! Any and all types of laundry!!!!!

Day Ten

2011-04-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

A picture of the person you do the most messed up stuff with. This would be Val! Because it's hard to not get into silly and crazy stuff with this girl! And this is one horrible picture of me dressed up as Hermoine from HP a couple months after I had Joey, but I couldn't find our cute ones from the beach... so oh well!

Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?

2011-04-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well, after some long dragged out drama with an untrustworthy landlord who has made no efforts at fixing numerous problems wrong with the house has now decided to steal money from me and James this week. We are faced with a sad reality that our happy home here is going to have to be no more. The fabulous part of this is that because we get to be the honest people who refuse to pay for another month and give this man any more money ... we are going to be out by the end of this month. That gives me a couple of weeks to get everything packed, ready to go, and moved out with two children! LOL! Thank you Lord that he decided to steal from us at the middle of the month instead of the end giving me even less time to get things together and get out! But everything happens for a reason, so I can only hope that the Lord blesses this man's life and bank accounts so that he does not have to do this from anyone else in the future. So I can only hope for the wonderful things that will come from this new adventure. Of course as wonderful as I am, I am not good enough to find a new place to live, pack, transfer everything, and move in less than two weeks so let me say also thank you Lord for parents who say..."Well you just come stay here until you can find a place, and we'll make it work!" Of course Jameson is beyond excited to be going to live with Granna and Papa and have his bed there, although he's informed us he will be sleeping in Papa's big bed while Papa snores! It's a very bittersweet end to our little piece of life here and I am not looking forward to the actual moving part, but maybe we can squeeze in a yard sale so we don't have to pack quite as much! So if anyone has any boxes they would like to donate to the Harkins Household.. bring em on! Now, I have lots and lots to do, so it's time to get off the Blog and get some things done! Time to make my moving checklist!!!!!

Day Nine

2011-04-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

A picture of a person who has got you through the most! This would have an honor bestowed by two people! My parents. They have been encouraging, supportive and great examples who I'm so thankful raised me the way they did!

Please Remove The Kick Me Sign From My Back

2011-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

So this is my negative, non-upbeat, and unhappy post for the year! After a few hard weeks with one thing after another I had one more day today! No sense in going into all the crazy details and boring you guys with my troubles, but I have decided that there must be a sign on my back that says.. Hey, I'm Down... so Kick Me.. Hard!!! If you happen to walk by and see this, please remove it because my back is really hurting at this point! But I'm going to take some pointers from two very wise men..... The first... Bro. Royce Cornelious... who thankfully come a few months back and this has really stuck with me. Probably because I am really bad at doing this, but in his words.. "be joyful in tribulation! It's easy to get up and praise the Lord when everything is going well, but harder when things are not" So, things are not going well, but I am so thankful for everything that is! I'm thankful for a roof over our heads, clothes to wear (even if most are snug.. hehehehe!), food to eat, happy healthy children and their joyous laughter in our home, James who I love so much it even amazes me sometimes, and most of all peace in my home and my soul. I know there was a time in my life where there was not that peaceful feeling when I laid down to sleep and I don't want to forget that. The second... Bro. Matt Long... who if he is anything, is a great encourager for me... and as he reminds us often.. Let everything that hath breathe, praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord!!!! Not only am I thankful for all the good things in my life, but I know I would not have any of it without the Lord! ( Oh, and Ken... if you read this, you don't have to tell him I called him wise or anything! LOL!) So goodnight to all my blogger friends, I will try to be my more upbeat, silly, and giggly (yes - Drear... I am still a giggler... I wonder if I'll ever grow out of that) self tomorrow because I know that this too shall pass!

Day Eight

2011-04-12T21:49:00.001-07:00

Day Eight is a picture that makes you laugh.... I think it will speak for itself! Of course the memory of Jameson laughing and saying.."Momma, Daddy's a gurl!! Daddy's a gurl!!" does help!

Day Seven

2011-04-11T12:34:00.001-07:00

Day seven is your most treasured item. I know this will be corny, but my most treasured item is my bible. I know all the answers that I need will be in it, and if nothing else it is just an encouraging symbol of my faith.

The Weekend is Over Already

2011-04-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cannot believe that we are here! Sunday is over, the weekend is officially over, and it's time to go back to work again in the morning. We have had a marvelous weekend and some great church services today. Also got to spend some time with my long lost friend, Val, tonight. It's been forever since we've even had a conversation and it was nice to catch up, even if it was over dinner at Cracker Barrel with some horrible service!! Still a lot of fun! Now it's time to go to bed and wake up to the dreaded Monday!

Day Six

2011-04-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Day Six is a photo of a person you would love to trade places with for a day. This is really a hard one. There are several people that I would love to be to live their life and their experiences for one day, but I think that I have settled on my one person, and it is....... Dum Dum Da Dummm... My mother!!! LOL I know what your thinking?? Why would you want to be your mother? You're going to be her one day anyways... , but I would love to be my mother because I would love to get paid to stay home with my kids all day! I think it would be a wonderful life that she lives. She gets to come to my house, play with the boys all day long, plus she gets all the little extras like whatever yummy dinner we had the night before equals leftovers for lunch! Of course she also gets the dirty diapers, formula and baby food covered clothes, and not getting to eat any of those meals while they are still hot or not feeding bites to piggy Joey in the process, but I still think it would be grand! This picture of her, dad and Andrew was from Bailey's 2nd Birthday Party. I love it!

Lazy Days!

2011-04-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well today has been one of those fabulous lazy days where you don't get out of your pajamas all day!!! It started out a little rough with a yucky headache, but I was able to get it to ease up pretty quickly and then had quite the productive day. Of course getting the house clean was a main priority and making a dent against my nemesis better known as laundry, but I also managed to get all of our closets cleaned out and winter/summer clothes all switched out with some fabulous help from Mr. James Harkins.. (who yes, actually did not go fishing today.. Miracle... I know!!!). And the most important part of the day... playing with my boys! All in all it was a nice relaxing day and now going to bed with everything done is the best feeling!!! Speaking of... YAWN... time to go to bed! Goodnight all!

Day Five

2011-04-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

A Picture of Your Favorite Memory.... This is a hard one. I have so many favorites, especially down through my short years, but I guess my favorite would be the night that I received the Holy Ghost. It was of course the most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life. I don't actually have a picture of that night, but I have a picture of my baptising that is super fuzzy and hard to see, but I didn't really know what else to put on here! It's me right before Bro. James and Bro. Matt "dunked" me and of course, Bro. John Mahatney who got baptised the same day as me.

Day Four

2011-04-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Day Four is a picture of your night!!! Well, my day has been crazy, but my night is now consisting of watching the end of the Wedding Planner (one of my all time favs) and hopefully soon drifting off to sweet dreams of Matthew McConaughey! So... to make all your nights also... here's a picture of my man! Sweet dreams!!!! ...... oh yeah, I know your smiling!!! The picture's probably the only reason you read the post.......LOL!

Smile For The Camera

2011-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

Mr. Joey Harkins had his pictures done today at the fabulous Saints Photography Studio in Jones Valley. It was his six months pictures (although, he is presently eight months old... but hey, it's been a rough few months!!!) but he did so good! I was so proud. He wore a cute little colorful Zackali outfit for a little more casual look so that we can coordinate with the one year panel of his older brother. Especially since the two will be hanging beside each other pretty soon! I posted a pic of post-pictures at the house in his outfit, so it's pretty wrinkled at this point, but I still thought it was super cute! We grabbed some early supper at Baumhower's Wings and then a quick trip to Target for Jameson and Joey a little prize! Jameson was looking for a Robin (Batman and Robin) toy, but we were unsuccessful. He settled for a pair of Batman Sunglasses which he has been sporting the rest of the evening! Joey ended up with a little Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt, because I just couldn't resist!!!! After a quick little playtime with Little Ms. Heidi Harkins, we are now back home and about to sign off for the night. Tomorrow will be sleeping in, cleaning and laundry day! Cannot wait!

Ichiban Thursday's!

2011-04-07T11:58:00.001-07:00

This is just a little thank you to my sweet, fun, hilarious friends that I work with! I know, they don't actually follow my blog, but I am just so thankful that we have our weekly lunch trip to Ichiban's! A time where not only do I get to eat food that is actually still warm and half of it not end up on my clothes, but I also get to vent about whatever and be myself and they love me anyways!!! So thank you Allison Rice, Kelsy Soloman, Allison Lacey, Tammie Stone and Ichiban's for making Thursday's worth getting out of bed for! Love you girls!!!

Day Three

2011-04-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

Day Three is a picture of your favorite television show. I have four shows that I watch and love Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, The Office, and my absolute favorite True Blood!!! It's based on my favorite books and I am totally addicted. I'm so glad that it has a different playing schedule than my other shows so in the Fall to Spring i watch the first three, but from June to September my Sunday nights at 9:00 are booked! So if you need something, don't call me!!!

Day Two!

2011-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Day Two is a picture of Me and the person you have been close with for the longest. That would have to be LeAnne. Which is kind of ironic considering that our childhood we hated each other, but then came along Shannon (and a little maturity on both our parts) and she is now my best friend. I know I could tell her anything good or bad. and if I was being an idiot she would tell me or if I needed help she would be there. We don't talk that much because we both have such crazy lives, but she is truly the closest thing that I have ever had to a sister. This is a really old pictures, but this is one of my favorite ones of us.

Skinny Jenny

2011-04-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, this will not be exciting to anyone else except for me, but I am super pumped. I have finally got motivated to loose not only my "Joey Weight" but also the rest of my "Jameson Weight" and I've really been working hard for the past 3 weeks. Well I weighed Monday and I had lost 11 pounds. I was so excited but couldn't really tell a difference in myself since it's kind of like losing a chair off the deck of the Titanic... but this morning I was so tired of wearing the same ole' same ole' clothes so I decided I would go upstairs and see if there was any of my summer clothes that I had overlooked and might could squeeze into. I had tried most of them on about a month ago and had just left the ones that weren't even feasible up there, but I decided to brave it again! I went upstairs and found a really cute top that I loved that I had bought the summer after I had Jameson before I got preggo with Joey that fall (Yes, that even sounds insane to me.. but this was not a.. hummm how can I mess my body up and make myself crazy and tired all the time plan) But I tried it on, and ....... IT FITS!!!! It did not fit last month, but today it fits, and I am wearing it proudly!!! So this is a little go me this morning. If I could take a picture of myself and post it I soooo would! So my first plateau to going back to Skinny Jenny has been conquered! Yay me!!!!

The Start of the 30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-04-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we are attempting the 30 day photo challenge. Day one is a picture of yourself and fifteen facts about yourself. This is really a fun one. It is hard to come up with fifteen facts right on the spot though.

1. My name is Jenny Leah Smith Harkins (yes, all four names... I couldn't let go of the maiden name, and hated to drop the middle name although it is technically pronounced Lee not Le-Ah as it would appear... who knows what my mother was thinking?? ) I did finally change my notary to just Jenny S. Harkins though so I don't need two lines to just sign my name anymore!

2. I am married to James Harkins, the dorkiest and most hilarious person ever. He can be completely useless, a big smart aleck, and would rather be fishing than breathing, but I still love him! I don't know why exactly... so don't ask! :)

3. I am Momma to the two cutest boys in the whole wide world ... and NO! That is not a bias opinion.. it is a true fact! They are a handful, but a blast! Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. However two boys in two years IS enough for anyone and anyone who disagrees I'm so glad your not in charge of me! LOL!

4. The most special and most important part of me is the me that happened on June 15, 2006. Almost 5 years ago I received the Holy Ghost late (very late) after almost two hours of praying on one Thursday night during revival at Huntsville Holiness Church the Lord sent me the faith that I needed. I had been laying there praying my heart out and was starting to get discouraged, but I knew I couldn't go on the way that I had and I heard Bro. Shannon Barron (who I didn't know at the time, but had stuck with me and prayed with me all week) say "You can make it". The four most simple words that I had heard 10,000 times before but I thought.. I can make it.. I can make it... and about 60 seconds later... I did! :) And I still believe I can make it today.

5. I suffer from a severe case of OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder doesn't even begin to explain the severity of my condition. James finds this amusing and uses it against me like moving the throw pillows a quarter inch out of whack so that every time I walk through the room I have to re-arrange them or hiding spit bottles all over the house so that I can find them in the refrigerator, flower arrangements, and even pillow cases to name a few. This is one of those things that I do not find funny or endearing, but apparently... he does!

6. I love GREEN!! And not like in a Go Green save the planet kind of way (although I am all for going green). I just love the color green. It is in every room in some form or another in my house. It's a very odd fact I know, but I just happened to look up and see my green pillow and I thought.. .hmm... how else am I going to fill fifteen spots??

7. I am totally, completely and utterly in love with Alexander Skarsgard a.k.a Eric Northman a.k.a. my future husband!!! LOL! It started with a love of the Sookie Stackhouse Series books where I immediately fell in love with Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5 in Shreveport, Louisianna, and then it fluttered into the creation of the show based on the books where I no doubt fell in love with Mr. Skarsgard playing my Mr. Northman. I can not wait for the 11th book to come out next month or the Season 4 of the show to premiere this June. I am literally counting down days to both events!

8. I am going to be 25 this year. Although it sounds like such a simple number and not really a big deal it is pretty tragic to me because I am realizing that in 5 years I have went from being a newly wed to being married over 5 years with two children under the age of 2. I don't know if I'm quite prepared to see what's going to happen in the next 5 years.

9. I am a Paralegal at Beard and Beard Attorneys in Guntersville, Alabama. I work for Attorney P.J. Harris. He is the most mild mannered person I have ever met and is so understanding. I thoroughly enjoy working there. Never one time in my 5 1/2 years working for him has he ever raised his voice or said anything mean to me. I am so thankful to have a boss like him.

10. I love love love to read!!! I'm such a nerd. Besides my Sookie Stackhouses I am also a crazy Harry Potter fan and very un-proud to be a Muggle! :) Of course this would only scratch the surface to my reading frenzy but I'm sure there is a limit on how many words can be posted in one blog!

11. I love to sleep!!! Not that I ever get to, but I love it. One of the greatest joys of being pregnant with Jameson was that wonderful exhausting sleep in the first trimester! Of course, I didn't get to enjoy that with my first trimester with Joey since I had a one year old!

12. My I feel bad go to food is Reese's and Coke. I don't know what it is, but it always makes things better! :)

13. My most wonderful stress reliever in the world is Call of Duty on X-box Live. Any version of it will do although Black Ops is quickly becoming a new favorite. There is just something about getting a headshot and hearing that ding!!! :)

14. I love Georgia Bulldogs Football! Of course this is no surprise since I grew up in the Fabulous Hotlanta!, but the Dawgs are the best!!! Even when they are not technically the best. My goal in life is to teach my boys to wear that beautiful red and black proud (especially when they play against their Daddy's favorite Roll Tide! - heheheheheheee!)

15. I LOVE LOVE LOVE living by the lake. It would be fabulous to be right on the lake, but a lake view and just a very short walk down the sidewalk to it is also very fabulous to me! I enjoy being "downtown" (as downtown as the town of Guntersville gets) and so close to the park and everything else. Plus I am only 30 minutes away from Jones Valley and less than 20 minutes away from my fabulous sister in law, Mrs. Heather Harkins, and the coolest niece in the whole wide world, Little Ms. Heidi Bug! Which is so nice to be so close and be able to get together and let the kids play!

So Whew!!! That is sooo harder than it looks, but now that you know a little more about me, hope you are not terrified! LOL! Now..... it is finally time to do my English homework! Blah!!!

Procrastination... procrastination!

2011-04-05T17:13:00.001-07:00

So, I am not a procrastinator. Anyone of you who really knows me knows that I can't stand for things to not be done or to just sit around and wait on anything.. I am the girl who just gets in there and does it cause its faster than asking anyone else to do it. So why, oh why am I procrastinating so much on my English Essay. It is due tonight!! Tonight at midnight... Literally just a few hours away and I have done everything but finalize it!!!! I mean, I've facebooked until I can facebook no more. My little Jameson munchkin went to stay with his Granna because he wanted to see Papa and get a "Hatte Meel" a.k.a Happy Meal and Joey is sound asleep after his big dinner. So I have a quiet house, I'm not changing diapers and/or taking toddlers to potty, getting cookies, juice, picking up toys, or doing laundry and yet I'm am still here.... now blogging... my new procrastination!!! Of course since I've started this I do realize that there is a ton of laundry that needs to be done, so I think I might just go and procrastinate some more. Doing laundry instead of writing an essay... you know I'm desperate to avoid this essay!!! So, if any of you have any ideas on what better ways that I can procrastinate before finishing this essay up... please.... let me know! :) I'm open to suggestions! Maybe I'll start the 30 day photo challenge! That would take some time.... Yes, yes I think I will!

Back To The Grindstone

2011-04-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, Monday morning again. We had a great weekend! Friday started off a bit rocky with Joey, but since he was just cutting teeth it turned out good. Saturday was grocery/couponing day. I waited til Saturday so Mom could go with me because a 2 year old, 8 month old, and 100 coupons just goes smoother with a Granna around! But I got some fabulous fabulous deals and my groceries and staples for the next two weeks! With the exception of some milk that will probably need to be bought next week.. but what can I say? I've got a guzzler! Saturday night was the fabulous Birthday Bash for Bro. James and Sis. Linda. It went so well and it was our turn to work in the kitchen and would just like to say a big ole THANK YOU to everyone that is on our day!!! You are all fabulous workers and make it where we can get in there and get out! It makes it so much easier when you have good people that help share the load... especially with a kitchen as big as ours! :) So Sunday needless to say I was exhausted and overslept, but we pushed (and ran around like crazy people) and made it to church anyways, and I'm so thankful that we did since we got two new members! It was a great weekend and I hate that its over, but I hope this coming one will be just as good, just a little less hectic please! Ha! Like that will ever happen!!! And tonight will be major laundry night since none of it got done this weekend. I hope Michael doesn't have a heart attack when he tries to spray for my pest this morning and encounters the "laundry piles of doom"!!!

All I Want For April Is My Two Front Teeth

2011-04-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

Joey has had one rough week, runny nose, fevers, coughing. I figured it was just crazy allergies from this crazy weather going back and forth, but this morning he woke up so sick. He was getting sick everywhere and wouldn't eat. So unlike our little porker! After some Tylenol and a good passie I was able to investigate and we have two top front teeth breaking through. No wonders he is so sick. It's a lot of work becoming a big boy! So our little Jojo has started the month off with four teeth now... oh at the food he's going to be able to eat now! I'm so glad he is feeling better this afternoon since it is opening day of baseball and James is not to be disturbed nor is the tv allowed to be on Yo Gabba Gabba or Backyardigans while the Red Sox are playing! But in the spirit of the season ahead..... Go Red Soxs!!!!!!.... (but Go Braves more! hehehehehee!)

My "Potty" Boy

2011-03-31T13:54:00.001-07:00

How oh how could I post and not mention our greatest achievement of the past two weeks?? We have made the fabulous transaction from that expensive, make your bootee look bigger, and make funny noises when you walk diapers to Big Boy UNDERWEAR!!!! Jameson is FINALLY potty trained. After several attempts, and being potty trained then deciding it wasn't for him (yes, this it he PG version of what went down!) we have now decided that big boys use the potty, and he is a big boy! So ring the bells and bang the drums cause we're celebrating saving that $20+ week!!!! Ooohh... wait... that could mean mama could get a pedicure a week now....... Oh wait, that would mean she would have to have an hour to spend on herself once a week! Huh!!!

Hello Spring... Wait!!! Where Did You Go???

2011-03-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well a couple weeks ago we were enjoying this beautiful sunny weather. Broke out the short sleeves and the flip flops and packed up the boots and coats, now I'm wishing I had it all unpacked because I am currently FREEZING!!!! Why oh why is Spring teasing me this year?? So since we were sickly and the weather was sickly this past weekend we took the time to get some major laundry done (Yay me!!!) and got some lovely family movie time in! We started the weekend on the Megamind venture... and may I say... It was a lovely one! We LOVE this movie! Jameson is now going through the house saying "Mega Mega Megamind!" It was adorable and hilarious. Definitely an animated film that I can sit through the 10,000 times that he will watch it! Of course we moved onto grown-up movies, and since I haven't got to watch a chick flick in a good 8 months, we went with two chick-flicks! First up to bat was The Switch! It is now an instant favorite. The little child is sooooo my husband (a.k.a Hypochondriac and a little Neurotic) but it was sooo funny! The second up was Eat, Pray, Love. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't just good. It had it's moments, but it was very lengthy, and just couldn't compete with the Switch, but was still a decent movie. We are on the mend and almost done with the week and ready for another weekend now. Hoping this one is a little less germaphobic and little less wet! Other than that we are finally getting everything settled in the new house and loving it! It's so nice to have room where the boys can run and/or crawl around and get some energy out!! And having room for all the toys.. or should I say rooms since their current inventory has gotten way out of hand! Which reminds me, I need to be getting ready for a yard sale!!!!! Anybody need any baby boy stuff cause we are cleaning out??!!!???!!!

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

We made it through Thanksgiving!!!! Still an amazement to me, but Georgia beat Tech... and we won't mention the iron bowl (or at least not around James..... please!!!!), but the holiday is over! It was great fun. We gathered at Mom's house for the turkey and all the trimmings on Elijah and Joey's first Thanksgiving. Of course Joey enjoyed his Enfamil supper, but Elijah stuffed up on all the good stuff! The little porker!

Jameson has decided that he is spiderman and is now even shooting webs in his sleep... I kid you not! I woke up the other night to feed Joey and he was laying there in MY bed (of course because his is just for decoration purposes apparently) and was shooting webs and grinning in his sleep... thinking we should have named him Peter Parker!

Joey is growing like a weed and getting chunky all over! He is four months old today and I believe is getting his first tooth! He now enjoys playing in his exersaucer and laying on a pallet staring at the big ol' christmas tree!

Now all the Christmas shopping is done and the Halls of the house are Decked!!! We are ready for Santa at the Harkins' house! Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday too!

Okay, so since 2010 is almost over....

2010-09-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought it might be a good idea to write something on my blog since I have not been on here all year!!! Things have been crazy, needless to say, but try to catch up.....

After a long and tiring start to the year growing and growing with every week, our new little arrival, Joseph Marshall Harkins, arrive on July 29, 2010. It's crazy how quickly you forget how little they really are when they are first born. We now have a little boy who took his daddy's beautiful blue eyes this time! And our brown eyed Jameson is the proud big brother, who actually doesn't pay the little brother that much attention yet, Thank Goodness, but loved all the "Big Brother Gifts" that he received! I on the other hand am going to have to do some serious cleaning out of the toy closets because he received a little more than he should have!

The days have been hetic and went by quickly with a 2 year old potty training and a 2 month old who eats every five minutes at home now, but we're finally getting a schedule down and not pulling our hair out quite as much. I am getting ready to go back to work in a few weeks and life will change drastically then!

But for now everyone is doing well and both boys are growing like weeds! Me and James are having our 5 year anniversary tomorrow! 5 years already!!! It has really flown by but it has been great. Of course things are too crazy to celebrate now, but I'm thinking a good long Smokies trip after the Holiday's is in store!

On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me.....

2009-12-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we are definetly getting ready for the holiday season!!! Just 11 more days until the big day!!! The halls are decked and the stockings are hung! Little did we know that we would be getting a suprise present a few weeks before!!! Yes, Jameson is going to be a big brother next summer!!! He is so excited! I asked him if he wanted a little brother or a little sister, and he said sister. So, I asked him if he wanted a little sister like Bailey (my cousin Chad's little girl that my mom keeps a couple days a week with him). He then looked at me and shook his head and he said BROTHER!!!!! :) So we shall see!!!! If I do not post again before Christmas I hope everyone has a very very Merry Christmas!!!!!!

A'hoy Me Matey's

2009-11-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is the middle of November, and yes I am just now blogging about Halloween! But anyways..... We had a great time. Jameson trick or treated himself out!!! He also has learned how to say Candy... and now not only says it, but screams it until he gets some sometimes! Not cute by the way! :) He was however the cutest little pirate whose Arrggghh, was perfection! He still has the sword and all his pirate costume stuff to play with everyday!

Wow, It's Been A While....

2009-11-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been so long since I have blogged. October was a very eventful month. October 1st, was James and mines 4th Anniversary together. 4 years! Crazy. It has really flown by. The following weekend we ventured off to Orange Beach, Alabama to stay at the beach for a week. It was Jameson's first beach vacation and he loved it. The sand and the pool were his favorites. We had such a good time and the house was awesome (Thank you PJ and Winn!). The weekend after we came back we went to the Pumpkin Patch at Tate Farms where it was very cold and windy, but Jameson had a blast playing in the corn cribs and tackling the pumpkins!!! It was also James birthday so we all went to eat at Red Lobster after for a Birthday Dinner! Yummy!

First Sunrise Over The Lake

2009-09-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been a while...been a little busy. So first things first, we have moved to a Townhouse down by the Lake (Lake Guntersville). We are so excited and have a spectacular view of the lake from the dining room, kitchen, living room, and master bedroom! We moved all the furniture and ten thousand boxes Friday night with the help of a lot of friends, and spent our first night on a bed with a fitted sheet I found in some boxes and a quilt that was used in between my bed and highboy to keep from scratching it during the move! Although we were uncomfortable, couldn't find anything because we had nothing unpacked it was so worth it when I woke up bright and early Saturday morning and seen the sunrising over the lake. It was the most beautiful sight! I have taken pictures, but have not had a chance to download. I will post when I get a chance. We spent the weekend unpacking and getting settled in. Jameson spent the weekend exploring all the nooks and crannies and dancing all in the new living room that he has so much spare space to show off in! This week will be a lot of unpacking boxes and packing suitcases for the beach since we leave in 4 days, 14 hours, and some odd minutes! (in case you can't tell, the countdown is on!)

2009-09-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

OH WHERE OH WHERE HAVE THE SQUEAKY SHOES GONE....

We had such a great weekend. Friday night after working a full day (ugh!) we hung out at the house and watched 17 again with Zac Efron! Too cute!!! Jameson konked out early and so did I. We rested in Saturday morning to about 7:30 per Jameson's request to get up and wanting a dink (a.k.a chocolate milk). We made a trip to Huntsville to find Jameson some shoes. He has grown out of all of his and didn't have any to make it through the weekend. We started our excursion out and couldn't find any shoes to fit him that were under $50. It was ridiculous! I finally found a pair of Alabama Squeaksters at the mall and he decked out in his Alabama attire this weekend! Which was fitting since they had their victory Saturday night. Sunday we of course were at church all day. It was really good. Great testimonies. Labor day James dissappeared next door with a bunch of men and boys shooting at a target in the front yard with their shotguns and rifles. I finally rounded him up and we drove back to Huntsville to his Aunt's house for a "get-together". Of course we stopped at Olive Garden on the way and tore up some Never Ending Pasta Bowls!!! :) It was a great Labor Day weekend. Glad for my 3 1/2 day week this week!

Sharks, Turtles, and Fish... Oh My!!!!

2009-09-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know that Jameson is now 14 1/2 months old, but we just took our first family vacation this past weekend on a whim! I get off at noon on Fridays and had been home playing with Jameson and James got in a little after 2, per usual, and I casually suggested going to the Mountains and we just started packing and went. We had a blast. There was some really bad weather on the way up there, but we made it. It was late so we got some grub and went to the hotel and crashed the first night.

Saturday we spend the morning at Pancake Pantry running into Rockybranchers all over the place! :) Of course! Then we walked around in Gatlinburg and went to the Aquarium. Jameson loved it!!! It was so much fun. We went to Cades Cove and then went to play some Old MacDonald Putt Putt and ate at the Chop House for supper. Then James decided that Jameson (yeah right!!!) would want to go back to the Aquarium, so we headed back over there. It was nice because it was so un-crowded. Jameson loved it even more because it wasn't a little scary to him anymore. He had a blast.

Sunday we went to the Apple Barn (yummy apple fritters) and hit the Christmas Store! Such a tradition for us. We got our annual Christmas ornament. This year it is three little people in a bed with Santa hats. We figured it was very fitting since we're always sharing the bed with little J for at least some portion of the night. Then we went back in to Gatlinburg and walked around. We ran into Travis and Jacklyn, the honeymooners, and then we hit up some Hard Rock!!!! Yum, my mouth is watering just thinkin' about it. While at Hard Rock, James decided that we needed to go back to the Aquarium. he just couldn't tell it goodbye yet!!! :) After we crashed the aquarium for the third time we started back out home. We had a good trip back and got home about sevenish. Crashed and now back to our normal lifes at work!!!! :)

PROOF OF THE INCIDENT

2009-08-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

WARNING!!!! The horrid crooked little girl bangs that you see are not the product of want, just very bad circumstances! :) However, since it has been almost a week since the "incident" it is already looking quite different. Thankfully he has healthy hair that grows very quickly!

Pictures, Again

2009-08-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Trying to get through the first year, so we're getting closer to the end now. Then we can upload all along so its not so overwhelming!

FIRST HAIRCUT GONE WRONG

2009-08-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

So, it was a beautiful Saturday morning. Cool fall breeze in the air. Jameson was playing and in the best mood to go and get his one year pictures (yes I know, very late on this) done at Saints. He arrived and looked adorable in his white monogrammed dressy outfit, barefoot playing on the fake stairs in the studio. He played with the bubbles and tickle monster games with Ms. Cherri while Mr. Bob took pictures that I'm sure will not be the least bit dissappointing per usual. But then the day took a turn for the worst. His horrible mother had scheduled him an appointment at the Spoiled Rockin Kiz Salon to get his first haircut so that he could watch a little movie and sit in a little train pedal car. When we arrived, the brillant owner decided to give us a girl that it was her first day who was also 6 -7 months pregnant to cut my child's hair for the first time. This of course was a deadly mistake. Its a little too gruesome to go through the details of the occurrence, but its safe to say that with a little time his hair will recover from the trauma! If we can bear the reminders we will try to post some pictures later this week, since we're hoping that it will look a little less like Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber by then! So if you think about it, we ask that you try to say a prayer for little Jameson's hair! :)

More Just Pictures

2009-08-12T06:23:00.001-07:00

The page still doesn't seem to have enough Jameson! (not that there could ever be enough Jameson!)