Ok, Really...

I know that every mother looks at her children and thinks Oh my gosh, they are just beautiful!

And I definitely think that about my girls (as well as Gibson). But, as I was looking through their dance recital pictures, with them all made up and looking so beautiful, all I could do was think about the future when they are teenagers and older.

And all I could think was Oh my gosh. I am in so. much. trouble!

Just look:

I know that they are still little, but they just seem to grow by leaps and bounds every day. I just pray that they will make wise decisions as they grow and eventually find good, Christian spouses.

And along the way, I hope they give some poor boys a run for their money, because boys should have to work for my two! ;-)

Home Building: Pictures of Progress 2

I know I showed y'all a picture of the front door the other day, but I wanted to share some more pictures of the progress of the house. You can see previous pictures here and here. Remember, the house is sort of shaped like a backwards "L."

Front door (the corner of the "L"):

Looking from the front of the house at the kids' rooms:

Carport (something y'all haven't seen before!):

In the picture below, the carport is to the left. The door that you see goes into the laundry room, and those two windows are over the sink in the kitchen. The kids' rooms are to the right. This area is going to be a little courtyard with hopefully some sort of hardscape where the kids can play and we can have little get-togethers. The yard will be on the other side of the house.

Looking at the kids' rooms from the courtyard side:

I really need to get a different lens to take these pictures, because I can't get far back enough to get a nice, wide shot with mine. We are in a very wooded area, so it is hard to get the whole house in the picture! However, you can sort of piece together the idea.

The house is coming together so nicely, and I have got to get myself in gear with my plumbing and lighting. I have both of my orders practically finished, but I need to get them completed -- and I was supposed to do that last week. It is really hard to get everything checked off my list for the house when I am also completely insane with work and everything else, but such is life, I guess...

I'm just so ready for it to be finished!

Tweet, Tweet

For the past several mornings, there have been some birds right outside my window, singing and chirping and making a joyful noise to welcome each new day. Any other time of day, I would love their birdsong, but not in the morning 30 to 45 minutes before my alarm is set to go off. You just don't mess with Mama's sleep.

I want to shoot them.

But, alas, I don't have a gun.

I LOVE...

Ugh. Monday. How did you come around again so soon? Dislike...

Since it's Monday, a day we all love to hate, I thought I would think of some things that I love to love today...

:: I love the fact that my house is coming together nicely!! (More pictures in their very own post coming soon)

:: I love my Burberry London perfume. It makes me happy.

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:: I love the men in my life. Aren't they adorable?!?!?!

:: I love a lug full of blueberries, and I also love that my kids will just snack on handfuls of blueberries throughout the day.

:: I love my ballerinas, and I loved their dance recital this past weekend -- even if we had to do the same recital two nights in a row. They were adorable as always!

:: I love my white jeans!!! I finally found a pair that fits right -- the J.Crew Matchstick jean in white denim. Now I just have to figure out how to get out the door without Duke the dog jumping all over me...

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:: I love the smell of a field full of tomato plants. I don't have a picture of that one, but Hunter and I were walking earlier today, and we both said it at the exact same time -- "I love the way the tomato field smells!"

:: I love that school is out for summer as of Thursday for Sanders and Gibson and next Tuesday for Tyler! And with that, I love summer!!!

:: I love the Good Shepherd, Who chose me to be one of His sheep. (Did you know that yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday?).

Happy Monday, everyone!

Bubby's Turn

Finally, I have Gibson's pictures uploaded! (It only took me 5 days!!)

I have to say that I was really pleased with Gibson's pictures. I went into the shoot thinking that we weren't going to get much out of old Bubba, and I told as much to Gray beforehand. The last time we got pictures of the kids was over a year ago, and Gibson was definitely not cooperative (but, thankfully, we still ended up with a couple of good shots thanks to our great photographer).

This time, however, he was a little ham:

**All photos taken by Gray Benko Photography

Please Tell Me I'm Not the Only One...

Do you ever feel like this is the version of you in the mornings?

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And I'm not talking about before coffee.

I'm talking about on school mornings (or I guess it could really apply to any morning), trying to get kids out the door as they seem to walk around in a haze of sleepiness and grumpiness.

I hope I'm not the only one, but mornings seem to bring out the worst in me. The Cruella de Vil. Ninety percent of the time when we get in the car, I am in a horrible mood, and I have been fussing at at least one child. And I hate it. I hate waking up early. I hate the morning rush. I hate fussing at my kids in the mornings. I hate all of it.

Thankfully, it is now the weekend, and we don't have too many days left of school (where the heck did this year go?!?!?!), so hopefully my Cruella days are numbered for a while. The kids and I all need a break!

The Internet Is Nice...When It Works

I know I am late to the game, but Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies and mommies-to-be out there!

Something has happened to our satellite, and so we have no internet at our house. I haven't been home long enough to try to fix the problem, so it will just have to stay broken until I can get around to calling someone.

I feel like I have lost an appendage when I get home and can't check blogs or email. I had been trying to upload pictures of Gibson for several days before the satellite went kaput, and that post is just sitting on my desktop, waiting to be finished.

Anyway, I hope y'all all had a lovely Mother's Day. I always have a bit of a hard time with this holiday. Brad is always working, so I never see him, and it is usually like any other day at our house. Brad is also not very good at the whole gift-giving thing, so I have to send him a little reminder that he needs to do at least a little something for me -- I mean, I did birth his children, after all! I try to remind myself that it is a made-up holiday, but when other people are on Facebook or about town talking about what fun things their husbands did for them on Mother's Day, it always makes mine seem even more stinky, and I get a little pity-party going on.

However, this was the first year that the kids really knew that it was Mother's Day. They came in to my room when I woke up with all sorts of homemade cards and pictures, and they were so adorable and proud of themselves with their goodies for me. Tyler even made me a fan out of different colored cardstock. Evidently she had been working on it very hard with our babysitter the week before. It was really cute and sweet, and I might have gotten a little misty-eyed over their sweetness -- because, honestly, they have been little monsters a lot lately. But on Mother's Day, their behavior was top-notch, and that is a present in itself!

We went to my parents' house to eat lunch with my parents, my sister and her family, and my grandmother. We had a nice afternoon with family, and a great message and church that evening -- so all in all, it was a good Mother's Day!

(As a funny aside, Sanders asked me on the way to my mom's house how my Granddaddy LG, my mom's dad, died. I told her that he had cancer, and she said "Oh. So he died in the Civil War?" I just loved getting to tell my grandmother that Sanders thinks she is reaaaaaallllly old!)

Sassy Yet Sweet

Sanders' pictures were also great, although in a lot of them it looks like she is thinking Why are you taking my picture? Here are some of her shots:

**All photos taken by Gray Benko Photography

Supermodel

I have to say that Ty really rocked our family pictures. She loves the camera -- she would constantly ask Gray "When can I get in some more pictures by myself?" -- and the camera seems to love her. So, I am thinking that she could have a great career as a supermodel and support me in the manner in which I would like to become accustomed. She just has to keep all of her clothes on.

I just love these!!

**All photos taken by Gray Benko Photography

LOTS To Catch Up On!

:: First of all, and most importantly, we have been praying in our house for all of those who have been hit by all of the horrible storms going throughout our south. The pictures of the devastation are just heartbreaking, and I cannot imagine dealing with such loss -- of property or loved ones. It is so, so sad.

(via Blue Eyed Bride)

:: On a totally superfluous note, did y'all all watch the Royal wedding? We were glued to the tv Friday morning, and I mean glued. I could hardly get the girls to go to school. Even Gibson liked it, but his main interest was the "men with the guns and the funny hats." When Tyler found out that it was Prince William and soon-to-be-Princess Catherine getting married, she looked at Sanders and said "Oh, Sanders, you're a princess!" (Sanders' first name is Catherine.) It was so cute!

And, really, who doesn't want to be a princess?

I loved Kate's dress, Pippa's dress, Prince Harry, all the funny hats, basically everything about it. I have been checking my Us Weekly app constantly to find out everything I can about what went on. So fun!

(images via People)

:: I had a family wedding Saturday night, and I had to go solo. It is the beginning of wedding season and also the beginning of harvest season for all of our various fruits -- and that means that I always get to go to weddings solo. Don't you just hate going to weddings solo?

I think it should be appropriate for a married chick to take a date to a wedding so she doesn't have to be that girl. Don't you? (That's a joke, people.)

::While I was at the wedding, I picked up some family pictures that I had taken by my very talented cousin, Gray. So, for the next several posts, I am going to bore regale you with lots of pictures of my family. Because, if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I can't weed out any good pictures.

Here is a sneak peek:

They are awesome, really. But that is just my humble opinion.

:: When I woke up this morning, I learned that I went to bed too early for the big news story last night: Osama Bin Laden was killed by our Navy Seals. All I have to say about that is, Good Job Seals! God Bless America!!

Okay, I am off to pick up the little brats from school, and then we have ballet all afternoon and the kids end of the year musical. The fun just never stops.