Happy Birthday Bre!!!

As you will soon see, Peyton's Birthday sets off what we call, (in our family) the busy season. Well, we don't actually call it that, but it is a busy time of year. Saturday was my sister's birthday. We had everyone over to celebrate. We ate Bry's yummy burgers and dogs and then had bday cake. We also had the annual banana split cake that Bre requests from me. No, not requests. Demands. She's a little spoiled. But we made her that way so we can't really complain too much.

Bre is the baby of our family. She was born 7 years after me. She likes to remind me of that. A lot. When my parents brought her home from the hospital my first impression was "Wow, she's huge!" Well, she was. She weighed almost 10 lbs! Soon after that though I fell in love with her. In fact, I liked to pretend she was my baby. I carried her around, changed her diaper, gave her bottles. Soon, she turned in the petite, squeaky voiced toddler. She was so adorable, you couldn't help but love her.

The next phase of her life was the tomboyish, annoying, give me all the attention, I love to aggravate my big sister, "I'm not touching you" (while she holds her finger an inch away from your face), phase of life. She and I were not the best of friends. I still loved her, but I was much too cool for her and she didn't much care for me either. I liked makeup and boys and she liked dirt and bugs.

Then, overnight she turned into this moody teenager who wore lip gloss and didn't play in the dirt quite as much. She also grew about 5 feet and started dressing like a girl. We started having more in common and I gave her a little more attention and figured out that I kind of liked her.

Now, I can't imagine my life without her. She is so important to me and my family. She's funny and smart and crazy. She doesn't take crap from anybody. She makes me laugh until I pee. She listens to me when I need to vent. She taught me that it's possible to burp like a man and still be cute. :)

Happy Birthday Doof! No more banana split cake for a year. Enjoy it!!

Another family photo, with Dad and Trish this time.

Bay in her Bama jersey. (It was game day. Bama won. Can I get a roll tide??)

Presley feeding Seth.

Jo and Bubs

Drama continued...

Bay had a terrible migraine on Sunday night and she was up all night (she gets really sick with her migraines), so she didn't go to school on Monday. Well, since Bry is out of town, I didn't get to run some errands that I really needed to run. She was feeling much better by mid-afternoon, so I got everyone ready and we headed out. It had been raining so I ran back inside and grabbed some raincoats just in case.
First stop- gas station. I was way past E! As I get out, the sky opens up. I had a raincoat on and was under a covered part of the gas station and was still getting soaked! I had just started to pump the gas when I hear a woman right behind my car shrieking about someone stealing something. I turn around and she is confronting a young guy who is in the process of trying to fit 3 kegs into the back of a very small car. There are 3 other guys in the car. The driver and 2 guys in the back. Apparently, he was trying to steal kegs from the store.
The argument was getting louder by the second and their language was getting worse. I was trying to decided if I wanted to go to another gas station when there was a huge clap of thunder, lightning struck and the power flashed out and then on again. I look over and I had only pumped $10. The machine informed me that I needed to go inside to pay.
I couldn't do that for several reasons. #1. I had my 3 kids in the car and I do not leave them in the car to go inside anywhere. #2. Even if I were the type who would leave my kids in the car, I was definitely not going to do it when there was a very bad scene unfolding right beside my car. #3. Noah had just floated by me on his boat. Did I mention that it was POURING!! So I sat there in the rain punching the "call for help" button on the machine so that they could come get my card or turn my pump back on or something.
Well, they were a little preoccupied at this point because the woman who worked there was now standing behind the car full of guys so they couldn't leave and calling the police. I got in my car, locked the doors and called Bry. I wanted to find out if he thought my first transaction had gone through b/c at this point I just wanted to leave. I did not however want to leave with stolen gas, especially when the police were already on their way. Bry said that it wouldn't have gone through until the end of the sale, so I shouldn't leave.
I got back out and pounded on the "help" button for a few more minutes (you know, buttons always work better when you pound on them, yeah right). This was when the thief removed his flip flops and took off running down the street. The cops showed up about 2 minutes later and took the other guys inside.
Long story a little less long, I waited until I felt everything was safe and I pulled up to the door and put my head inside and told the lady that I couldn't come in b/c I had my kids in the car. She was really happy to see me b/c she thought I had pulled off without paying for my gas. Anyway, she took my card from me and turned the pump back on and let me finish filling up. We ended up being at that gas station for close to 45 minutes. After I filled up and signed the receipt (at the door) we decided it would probably be a good idea just to go on back home.
What are the odds? Seriously? What are the odds that at the exact time that I start pumping gas that there is a downpour, a thief and a power outage all at the same time?? During a time of day when I would normally be home, but had to get out later due to Bay's illness and Bry being out of town and unable to help out??
Drama Magnet, I tell you!!!

Drama Magnet

I swear, some times I think I am just a magnet for drama! A friend once made the comment that my life is like a soap opera. I just kind of laughed it off at the time b/c I thought every one's life was this way but I'm starting to wonder! Don't get me wrong. I am not feeling sorry for myself, I know how awesome my life is. There are just times when I feel like I am playing a part in a sitcom and my character is the one everyone loves to laugh at, like Lucille Ball on I love Lucy. Except she kind of got herself into trouble, but with me it's like...how do these things happen?
For instance, on the 2nd or 3rd day of our move, I went to the grocery store. I put it off as long as I could but we really needed some stuff. Anyway, I was gone maybe and hour and I walk in the house to find a screaming Luke in Bryan's lap. Apparently Luke didn't think we had enough going on in our lives at that moment so he decided it would be a good time to find out if he could fly. Off the back of the couch. Normally he's pretty tough and can shake things off but he just kept crying so we took him into the ER. Luckily it wasn't broken. Just sprained and swollen. He told the nurse "I'm Superman, but I can't fly". This probably isn't a great example because yeah, I know kids get hurt. And yeah, during a move things are all out of place so it's likely that this would be the time it would happen. But then 2 weeks later...
Bay's school has a "meet the teacher" day every year. It is an opportunity for the teacher to sit down with just the parents and give her testimony, explain the curriculum, etc. Well, of course it falls on a day when Bry is out of town and Mom has to work. Luckily I am now neighbors with Bubs and Jo and Jo is just crazy enough to enjoy having my kids over. So we made a plan that I would bring the kids to her house on the way to take Bay to school. I told her that I had to be there at 8:30. So, fast forward to the day of the meeting. I got up early and actually got out of the house relatively smoothly. We got to Jo's about 10 minutes early and Bay went to knock on the door. It had started to sprinkle so I wanted to wait until the last minute to run the babies up to the door. Bay kept knocking, but no Jo. After about 5 minutes of Bay and I knocking and figuring out that Jo was asleep I decided to go knock on her bedroom window. I ran around the back (in the rain, mud, etc.) and knocked on that window while Bay continued in the front. Long story short... Bay, trying to come find me, slipped on the concrete and split her knee open and , punctured her hand with a rock and bruised and scraped her hip really bad. By the time she got to me, there was blood going from her knee to her sock. I put her in the car, went home, cleaned her up (she bled all over her uniform and the car and some on Presley) and realized that the cut on her knee was about 1/4 inch across. The doc told me to take her to the ER. So basically, I had lived in Collierville for 2 weeks and had been to the ER for 2 of my kids already!!! Bay is fine now. Still a little banged up but she'll live. I ended up talking to Jo, who felt horrible. I assured her it was fine. She had gone upstairs to put a restless Ella back to bed and ended up falling asleep in her room. It happens. But as far as my morning went, what are the odds that the teachers meeting, Bry being out of town, RAIN, Jo oversleeping and Bay hurting herself that bad would happen all on the same day???
The whole reason I started thinking about all of this, actually happened this afternoon.
To be continued...

I've Been Tagged...

Liz is a friend that I met through my two sisters. (Bre and Jo) She is beautiful and an amazing photographer. She's one of the most real people that I know and she has the sweetest spirit. Her hubby, Zach, also happens to be a Bama fan so that just adds to her likability. :)
Anyway, she tagged me, and so now I have to write 6 random things about myself and then tag 6 other people.
So, enjoy the randomness that is me...

1. I was born in the Philippines. No, I am not Filipino, nor am I adopted. (common questions.)
2. I changed schools 9 times before I graduated high school. I ended up missing geography all together. I guess that's why I never know where I am.
3. I only dated Bryan for 2 weeks before he proposed. We were married 6 months later.
4. All of my shoes are in plastic containers with pictures on the outside to make them easier to find. Oh, I also organize the clothes in our closets by style, season and color.
5. I make this weird sound with my throat that sounds like a frog. I started out doing it when I had an ear infection one time. They were itching and for some reason making that sound helped and then it became a habit. I forget other people can hear it sometimes which can be really embarrassing.
6. I love to vacuum! I think it's an instant gratification thing. Either that or it's the fact that the noise from the vacuum drowns out all of the chaos going on inside my house.

Ok, the six people I tag are Joanna, Joey, Bryan, Gabby, Holly, Bre, and Mom.

Here are the rules.
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules to your blog
3. Write 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Happy (Late) Birthday Pey Pey

I am a little late posting this but my life is just too crazy right now! Besides the fact that I am still working on getting us settled into our new home, trying to get in the "back to school" state of mind, and dealing with the craziness of my everyday life...I have also been to the emergency room with my kids twice in the last 2 weeks. But that is a blog for another day.

Today's blog is about my brother-in-law Peyton. We celebrated his birthday at our house last Saturday. Bre had to work the night before so we decided to just order pizza and swim. It turned out to be a really fun night. I think the hi-light of the whole "party" was when Peyton slipped on a stepping stone and tripped for what seemed like several minutes before he finally hit the ground and flopped like a fish. It looked like he was having a seizure! We probably should have asked him if he was o.k. but that was kind of impossible because everyone there was laughing too hard to speak. Good ol' Pey Pey. Always good for a laugh.

I usually try to say a few nice things about the birthday girl or boy that I am writing about. I have to tell you though, I am having a hard time with this one. Not that there isn't anything nice to say about him. It's just that we have this bro/sis kind of relationship and it actually pains me to say something nice about him, especially if he is going to hear about it. I guess I will make the sacrifice just this once.

When I met Peyton he reminded me of Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver. Whenever there was a "grownup" around he turned into this charming, polite guy. As soon as they turned there backs though it was a whole different story. He is rude, crude and yes socially unacceptable. He has no problem passing gas in front of a room full of people. He is has one of the loudest voices I've ever heard. And he has taught my children some really bad habits. Examples? Making fart sounds with their armpits and a straw and mooning people.

A lot of people see Pey Pey as this big goofball and well, he is. The biggest goofball I have ever met. But he is also one of the best Dad's I have ever seen. He spends so much time with his kids just playing and being silly. He is always the one at family gatherings that ends up outside playing with the kids. He is such a great uncle. My kids adore him!

One of my favorite things about him is that he never fails to make me laugh. Not just laugh, but the laugh until you can't breathe kind of laugh. He has taught me not to take life so seriously. He has taken much abuse and aggravation from me and I've made many jokes at his expense but he takes it all in stride.

He is very protective of his family. He rarely ever loses his temper. And he will eat anything you put in front of him. Really. We've done experiments. It's disgusting.

O.k. that's about all the niceness for Pey-Pey that my stomach can stand.

Happy Birthday D-bag.

Oh yeah, enjoy a few photos from his bday party...

I'm still here...

Yes, I'm still here. Well, not the here that I used to be but a new here. Confused? Me too.

While we were in Florida we got an offer on our house. Part of the offer was that we would have to be out in 2 weeks. Of course we took the offer b/c let's face it, it's not easy to sell your house these days. To keep it short, after much drama including a buyer who lost his job and failed to mention it to his mortgage lenders or his WIFE!! we finally signed the papers. We didn't know for sure that we were moving until the day of the move. It was insane and very stressful to say the least. I won't even go into the problems we had with the movers and how many days it took us to get all of our stuff from one house to the other! It did all work out though and we are now living comfortably, if not completely unpacked, in our new home.

We LOVE it!! The neighborhood is awesome. The kids can actually go out and play without rolling down a mountain or being eaten by bird sized mosquitoes. We have a pool! We are close to my brother and there is only one street between my neighborhood and my sister's neighborhood. O.k. so it's a LONG street but still.

Presley finally has her own room and she is so proud of it. We never realized how much she wanted her own space. She goes in her room and shuts the door. She locks it too but I make her open it. She actually told me to get out the other day. She is so sassy!

Bay has a big room upstairs. It is awesome. I'm actually jealous of it. :) Bry has a big man cave up there next to Bay's room. One half is his office and the other has a couch and TV with his video games and stuff. We just love it!

Anyway, life has been busy lately with the move, Bay starting back to school (she's a 3rd grader!!), getting used to the new puppy and all of the everyday stuff that we normally have going on. I feel like things are starting to fall into place though. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks. Enjoy!!