Dreams Come True!!

I'm not a girl that wants new and big things... I just like charming things. Well, our back patio has been anything but charming for the past 2 years that we have lived in this house. Anyone who knows us knows that we LIVE outside. I have stared at that patio for 730 days now dreaming of it's white slab to turn into a beautiful stain with a faux technique. I have dreamed of an arbor with a lattice top with jasmine weaving around the posts and making a natural roof. I have dreamed of hanging pots and terra cotta pots full of flowers. WELL.....
DREAMS COME TRUE!!!!

Sam and Seth built a beautiful patio... Momma's heart is beaming with charm!!
We also created the fire pit area for Family Marshmallow Nights!
And... I found my dream table!! SOLID wood, two benches, seats 10 people... thank you craigslist.com!! The lady was desparately asking $250 for it... so, I emailed and asked her if she'd take $75. She replied, "Yes, just take it!!!" YIPPEE!!! I just look at it and envision 4 teenage boys shoveling food into their big bodies... I see them all doing their homework together, I see family game nights, I see scrapbooking galore... I see memories!!!

Bo's Day has Come!!

He's done it... for 3 years, Bo has been an amazing fan at ALL of Jackson and Colby's games. But Saturday... Jackson and Colby were the fans!! Bo was the athlete. It's soccer season, baby!!! It is soo exciting! He's on a team with some of his BEST buddies... Jack, Katey, James, Jace, Carmine! His coach's are dad's of his friends who he just adores... Coach Jamie, Coach Joel, and Coach Claudio! Our little was shining bright... these are actually pictures of his first practice... my camera died on Saturday... thank goodness for friends with their cameras...

Goal!!

The Fans!

"However you want to do it, buddy. Today's you're day!!

Boys, Boys, Boys, Boys....

I've always heard the phrase, "Boys will be Boys." Then, I was enlightened to the new phrase, "Boys will be Joys." It's so true. I am finding day in and day out that they just LOVE enjoying the simple joys of life and I LOVE living life like they do.

Jackson loves sports. Whatever season he is in... he pours his life into it. Right now is baseball... he's checking out baseball books from the library, studying players with his dad, and staying out til dark practicing his swing and catching!

Bo loves playing, just playing... nothing complicated; just let him run free. (see that laundry behind Bo... aye yi yi... atleast it's clean... keepin' it real!!)

Max loves his family... put a brother, mommy, or daddy in front of him and he is full of delight!

Colby loves adventure! Anything wild, dangerous, and adrenaline pumping brightens his heart.

WAIT ICE CREAM TRUCK!!!!!

I was about to say how the ice cream truck is a simple joy, but have you gotten an ice cream lately?? $2.50 for one Spongebob ice cream... yikes!

$5.00 later...

GRANDMOTHERS AND OVERPROTECTIVE MOMS BEWARE OF THE NEXT PICTURES...

climbing...

walking to get monster truck...

ready to get down...

remember what I said about his love for adventure... YIPEE!!!

BOYS WILL BE JOYS!!!!

Amazed and Amused...

This blog is sooo appropriately named! Yet again, another day to prove that I am daily amazed and amused by my children, my husband, and my God.

Just a quiet Monday, well... you know. I was working on the phone going over details for a fundraising lunch this weekend, Sam was playing basketball with Jackson, Max was playing on the floor beside me, and the middle two boys were playing quietly in the playroom; so, I thought! As the birds were chirping and the breeze was flowing through the house... CRASH... I hung up the phone, darted to the playroom, yelling Sam's name the entire way, unbelievably fearful of what I was about to see. Oh what my eyes saw next... water was filling our hallway, then I peeked around the corner to find Colby and Bo screaming, sitting in a flood of aquarium water that managed to fill our entire playroom floor in a matter of 3 seconds. Sam zooms in to scoop them up to make sure they are ok and I began to get towels to stop the flood from filling the house... WE ARE NOT HAVING THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!!! Everybody checked out ok, water was contained, and then Jackson steps into say, "Where's Tommy?" This aquarium houses our Turtle, Tommy. Jackson received this turtle when we lived in New Orleans 5 years ago... then the size of a quarter... now the size of my hand. Well Tommy is blessed for a turtle's sake. He has a huge aquarium half filled water and rocks and a fountain; The Ritz of turtle world. I gasped looking for Tommy. Well, we found him behind the door upside down with a look on his face saying, "What the..." Yes, turtles make expressions! :) All is cleaned up and all is well... I am amused!

Then, I went to shut all the windows closing up this beautiful day we had just had. I was shutting the playroom window and it was getting hung up. I raised it a little, then shut it again... this time to find a lizard tail flopping around outside the window. Well, the girl in me cringed because that meant the rest of the lizard was in the window. I just decided to leave things be and let Sam handle it when he got home from his game. So, I went to lock the window and... OH MY GOSH... the lizards head was lodged right at the lock between the two window panes with its mouth WIDE open as if I closed that window during its last scream. I trotted out of the play room, shaking my hands, and uttering ooh, ooh, ooh! The boys ran to see what was up. I sat them down peacefully to let them know what mommy had done and they raced to the playroom to see it. Next thing you know, we are all on the floor laughing our heads off... each imitating the face of the poor ol' lizard.

Then, sweet bedtime rolled around. Max was already tucked away and it was time for the big guys. Got all three tucked in their beds and each one wanted their own book. I let them know that I couldn't read all three books, but they could read while I got their water. As I walked back from getting water and began to enter their room... I see Colby on the bottom bunk hugging white bear and reading, "5 Little Monkeys," Jackson on the top bunk reading, "All You Need to Know About Baseball," and Bo in his bed reading, "The Puppy Book." I just stood at the door to give them an extra minute forgetting that I was missing the first two dances on Dancing with the Stars. :) I went back in, put their books up, gave them their water, and gave them kisses. History Note: All the boys have been sung three songs every night during their first two years of life... it tapers off at that point or they pick new songs for us to sing. But those three songs are forever engrained in them because they have heard them 730 times each until they were 2. So, back to giving them kisses: Colby says, "Mom, will you sing I Love You So Much?" Bo says, "Yeah, sing me Jesus Loves Me!" Jackson sweetly with his big boy voice asks, "Will you sing me You Are My Sunshine?" So, I sang 3 precious songs to 3 even more precious children. And the travesty of the aquarium and the lizard seemed to just melt away as 4 little boys drifted off to sleep!

Bliss... Pure Bliss!!!

You know... life is never easy and none of us are promised perfect days, but... I must say things have been pretty blissful around our home. Let me tell you stories through pictures...

Cold days in Florida. Yep... I think we hit about 45 degrees... bundle up that baby Max!!

We learned how to catch fish in our pond! HOT DOGS... they work every time!
And they slap you in the face if you try to look at them too close!

Momma loves her boys... and boy do they love her right back! Colby said,"Mommy, you're 99% pretty." I said, "Why not 100%?" He said, "You need some shiny shoes!"
Max is growing so big and strong! He is getting rolls EVERYWHERE and his dimples are so precious. Rainy days don't keep us inside! Rain + Winter "dirt" yard = GOOD TIME!!
Colby and Bo discovered they have 49 Monster Trucks! They line our whole hallway!So, when Christmas rolls around again... you can guarantee what my answer WON'T be when you ask me what they need!
Max found his bellybutton! That's always a good day!

Daddy's Home!!!!! The day has finally come... our dream has come true!! We are 100% doing ministry! Sam and I are the Ministers to Families with Children and Students. Yee-haw! Sam is not gone 4 nights a week working a second job! I'm 50% stay at home mom and 50% professional... Sam is 50% stay at home dad and 50% professional. Our days are split into a morning shift and afternoon shift... one of us working for our church family and the other with our kiddos. It's soooo wonderful!!! God is good!!!

Happy...
Happy, Happy...
Happy, Happy, Happy...
Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy!!!!

My Toe Hurts a Little, Honey!!

My famous last words! My big toe had been hurting for a few days and I knew it must be an ingrown toenail. This is the same beautiful toe that caught a fungus of sorts when I got a pedicure one time. Since I've been pregnant or nursing since I caught it, I haven't been able to do anything about it. So, needless to say it is one pitiful toe. Tuesday afternoon, I decided that I better get this sucker checked out because it is hurting worse as the days go by and now it has a red ring around the entire nail. As I had dinner with my Tuesday night dinner friend, she looked at it and said, "You can't wait til tomorrow, here's $20 toward the Urgent Care copay!" Yeah... it was that bad. Well, I waited til the next day. At my 9:00am appointment in which I had Colby, Bo, and hungry Max, Iwas told that they would need to do a 20 minute procedure removing half of my toenail and start me on antibiotics. For a toe!!! Well, I had to leave with nothing done and come back that afternoon without my crew in tow... appropriate wording. Ha!

So, I got Jackson from school at 2:00 and he said he wanted to go with me. Maybe he should've thought this one through... you'll see in a minute! We arrived at the doctor and the SURGERY began... two shots of numbing agent... didn't do it... had to get third shot right in the pain zone. ooh!! All was numb so time to dig in! Uhh! Jackson said he wanted to watch and I advised him not to. He still chose to watch and 2 minutes later... my stoic 8 year old was on his back, with his legs propped up in a chair, and a barf bowl at his side. Big man was going down!! Once the nurses got him all cool... they finished me up. All was good until we started to drive home... the numbing agent wore off and I WAS IN PAIN!!!!! Now listen... I have had 4 C-sections... those recoveries don't come close to the pain I was in over this toe!!! No lie!!! I got home, popped a pain pill... and all was good.

So, now, my toe looks very sad with half a toenail gone. Not really excited that cold weather is going away and flip-flops will be the adornment soon. Yes, she will be exposed... in all her beauty for all to see. I would send a picture, but I don't want you on your back on the floor with a barf bowl by your side!!!

I Had 4 Dates Tonight!!!

While every couple in America is schmoozing it up tonight... I am not! My sweet hubby is working so that the other two shift managers at the Cafe can have a sweet night together. Totally fine with me... we'll be having a 10:00pm rendezvous tonight to watch the recorded Survivor... can you feel the romance! My night was not sad by any means. I am blessed to have 4 more "little men" in my home waiting in line to take this momma out. And that we did!! We picked Jackson up from school and came home with a "date night" mission. Get clean, get dressed, and hit the town! So, once the three big guys were decked out in jeans and button downs, baby Max was fed and GQ'ed out himself, and momma got as pretty as she could caring for four little guys without a daddy's help... we were off for our date!!! We all decided that Chili's was the spot to hit for dinner. The boys wanted ribs (such a manly dish) and corn on the cob. They were so wonderful... they opened the door for me! Jackson, my little prince, took Colby and Bo to the bathroom at separate times; pausing from his ribs to do so. Now that's a good man! Colby, kept saying that his momma is beautiful. Bo repeatedly laid his head in my lap and said, "I wuv you, mommy!" Max just kept smiling that smile and beaming those dimples to me. Telling me that he loved me without saying a word. As I type this story out, I feel as if the presence of their daddy, my precious man, was with me the whole time. I saw selflessness, I felt my self-esteem rise, I felt love, and I melted with serenity. My boys each gave me a quality that their daddy would eminate on any given day.
In honor of their dad and to keep his presence with us... we walked over to Cold Stone Creamery. I'm not a big ice cream fan, but my boys, just like their dad, EAT IT UP!! I did venture to get their Coffee somethin' somethin'... that'll make me turn into an ice cream lover. Coffee ice cream, heath bar, almonds, and caramel. Ooh whee!!! We then walked on this beautiful ,crisp, star-filled sky night back to the car and headed home.
Looking at them all in my rear view mirror lead me to think... these 4 guys are going to grow up with the qualities that their daddy has and they are going to make 4 very special ladies unbelievably happy one day like my sweet hubby has made me!