Morbid.. it's my middle name

OK, so on my birth certificate my middle name is Elizabeth. But still.. I am morbid. Not morbid to where I want to visit cemeteries in the middle of the night or talk about death and dying all the time. But I am very clear on the fact that death happens and sometimes, as uncomfortable as it may be, you have to talk about it. Kent doesn't believe we should talk about it quite so much, but at least if I die first he knows most of my final wishes. Anyway, I said that to say.. my morbid DNA was apparently passed on to my children. Now, I understand that with my momma passing away a lot of this has to do with that. But goodness, almost everyday I am answering another (or the same) question about death. Today's conversation went a little like this:

Jon Kent: Was Gramsie buried in the dirt?
Me: Yes.
Jon Kent: Was she in a box in the dirt or just in the dirt?
Me: In a box. That box is called a casket though.
Jon Kent: Oh. Yeah that box, I mean casket, it's like a really big violin box.
Me: Well, that's one way to look at it.

Progress

When I was in high school I wasn't in the "popular crowd". A lot of my friends were, but I wasn't. Part of that had to do with the fact that my daddy was a teacher at the high school, part of it had to do with the fact that I was happy with my group of friends and the other part has to do with the fact that I just didn't care to be drunk on the weekends. But I could be wrong. In high school I was always so worried about my looks. I was "blessed" with more hair on my arms than usual. Or so I thought. I have about the average amount of hair on my arms as any other woman I've met. But in high school every little "flaw" seems huge at the time.

I was driving home from grocery shopping and was stopped at a red light. I was picking at my nails when I noticed a new freckle on my finger. I thought, "Neat". Something else to make me different. And then I got to thinking about all the scars I have gotten over the years. And how some of them used to bother me so much. I have a chicken pox scar on my chin. Used to bother the fire out of me. No one probably ever noticed it. Now, I think it's neat. It tells part of my life story.

Granted, I am 27 now and not 17 so I know life isn't all about looks. It's about what you do with the life you are given. I am so hoping that I can teach Zoey that sooner rather than later. I hope that somehow, if only a little bit, I can teach her to be content just the way she is. How I wish that I felt the way about myself now as I did when I was 17. I probably would have ate lunch a lot more or not fussed over my eyebrows in a mirror quite so much.

Each freckle, scar, hair is special. God put it there or allowed it to be there. It tells our life story. Maybe over the next 10 years I will start excepting the fact that I have wrinkles.

What? The title is progress..

Beach Vacation

I love the beach. Like seriously.. L.O.V.E. the beach. This year was a bittersweet vacation. It was the first family vacation without my momma. And her love for the beach was well greater than my love for the beach. She had arranged for us to stay at a condo of one of her customers from the bank. They had their own place in Pensacola. About 5 days before we were set to leave, the oil from the spill started washing ashore there. So, we had to take a rain check and find another place. We ended up staying at a place we had stayed before. The hotel not the condo. Also ended up having to switch rooms because of double booking and not getting the room we asked for.. blah, blah, blah. That is neither here nor there anymore. The kids were bouncing off the walls to go play on the beach, to go play at Funland.. to just go play. Once we got settled and got groceries bought we took the kids to the beach.. it was night by that point but they didn't care. By the end of the night two flashlights had met their death and a little boy by the name of Nathan had to be scooped out of the water by his ankles (first thing I could grab). Most of the days were spent going to the beach for an hour or two, hitting up the pool for another hour and then going inside for lunch and then naps. During naps, Kent and I would sneak away to lay out on the beach and swim in the ocean together. Just us. Because when the kids were there, Nathan was hooked onto my hip. He didn't care a thing in the world about his float. So when we were alone it was nice to just be able to float, swim, talk.. Then after naps we all showered and then went out to eat and then to do something fun. Two nights we went to Funland (arcade type place that my family has gone to for as long as I can remember), another night we went to ride go karts and to let the kids ride kiddie rides, another night we went shopping and then out to eat at Margritaville and one night we took the kids back to the beach for some night time playing in the sand. Nathan and I got our first jellyfish stings together. He took it well. Jon Kent started swimming under the water (still with his back float on though). Zoey got a hair wrap put in her hair, I ran into a follower of my blog (that was pretty neat) and I just enjoyed the week. It went by all too quickly. Before I knew it, we were on our way (9 hours of driving) back home. Back to reality. It was good though. A lot of memories were made, a lot of memories were remembered.

A very special thank you goes to my daddy.. who very generously allowed us to take this vacation with him and my family on his "bill".

And now for the pictures. Enjoy!

I'm alive.. I promise.

Just really busy. We are keeping busy with summer fun things. And as I type this we are heading to the beach. Hopefully one with no oil on it. I am soaking up by babies before 2 of the head off to school in 2 months. And yes, that means Zoey did get into the preschool program. She is very excited. I hope to have beach pictures up whenever we get back. So until then...

Magic Shoes

Nathan has a severe instep. His left foot is actually shaped a lot like a "C". He was born with it that way, although it wasn't that apparent to us or his doctors. But the more he's walked with it, the more it's bowed out. Had it been spotted when he was younger they would have put two casts on his feet. But since he is walking and.. well running.. he had to get "special shoes". Magic shoes. He didn't like them at first. Once we got in the car he figured out how to take them off. But after having them on for a bit when out grocery shopping, he has taken to them more. Once we got home, they came right off. Which is normal for him. I was told to start out letting him wear the shoes an hour a day and slowly work our way up to wearing them all day and even during the night. I am not really sure how well that will go. But we'll see. We were told it could take up to a year to get his feet pointing in the right direction. And I am assuming that is with him wearing them often and properly. I hope he handles it all well.

Let's get it started!

We have been a bit more busy than usual over the last week or so. We have had family in town and then summer has started. So thankful for it all.

Kent's family came in last Thursday and stayed with us until Sunday. We had a good time. We got our pool put up and filled. I gave in and bought a bigger (deeper) pool this year. The smaller pool was fine, but having to pour it out and clean it out every other day was for the birds. So this bigger one comes with a small pump. It's a lot easier to maintain. Anyway, while Kent's family was here we stayed pretty busy. The kids had a baseball game, we did some shopping, the kids and the men went to Adventure Crossing (go karts, rides, games, etc.), we grilled out one night and just hung out. Also, while they were here Kent and I went and found a new car. Well, new to us. It's a Honda Pilot. It's a bit smaller than our Expedition, but I love it. So happy to be back in the Honda family again. After Kent's family left Sunday morning we took the kids to see the latest "Shrek" movie that afternoon. They loved it and they all acted pretty well.

Monday morning my daddy came in for a visit. It rained off and on most of Monday, but we did get the chance to grill out with my daddy. Tuesday my daddy and I took the kids shopping and then to the mall's play area. The kids also got to swim with my daddy that afternoon. Then Tuesday evening the kids had another ball game. Wednesday, we swam some more, went to the park and then my daddy had to head back home. When the kids woke up from naps, we went swimming again.

Today we had a playgroup at a near by park. It has a huge water fountain and the kids really enjoy running in and out of it. It also has two playground areas for the kids to play on. They had a good time and it was a good day to do it. Sun wasn't shining much, so we didn't have to work about it beating down on us all morning. Tonight is the last baseball game of the season. I am thrilled about it and so are the kids. I don't think baseball will be a sport they stick with. Nathan loves it, but the older two don't.

So, as you can see we have been pretty busy here in O'ville. We still have lots more to do! Free movies at the theater, things going on at the library, playgroup, beach vacation (if the oil spill doesn't mess it up, which it looks like it's going to). A lot going on for sure. Which is what I had planned. We are going to enjoy it all while we can. Jon Kent starts school in 2 months and 13 days. I am going to enjoy that little boy and this summer while I can!