AUGUST ALREADY??

We've had a good end to July.  Hard to believe the summer is almost over.  Summer as in school is about to start, no end to the heat yet.  But, "Christmas in July" on 96.5 was so popular last weekend that they did it again this weekend!  I love it! 

I missed Maggie's last gymnastics lesson because I had a brain fart.  Was thinking Thursday, nope, it's Tuesday.  Instead, I was at MK's pre-garage sale getting lots of clothes for me and Mac.  Yay!

Trying to get everyone back on their sleep schedule for school.  Not doing well so far.

Including this for props to God, not myself.  I am a horrible reader.  So many friends read for pleasure.  I can probably name every book I've ever read.  Well, I was slacking with my bible reading.  When I would read, I would read the same sentence 5-6 times and still couldn't tell you what it said.  I started praying about it.  And guess what?  He answered it.  I've become addicted to it!  I'm comprehending and retaining!  That's definitely a God thing there.  I want to read every chance I get!  Another God thing.  Not always easy though.  There have been many occasions, I'm laying in my bed, reading, while Sprout is on and three kids are climbing on me.  I just tell God, "Okay, I'm trying but you're gonna have to help me out here."  Haha.  He doesn't make them fall into a deep sleep or anything but He has shown me that I do have the time.  Very grateful to God for answering that prayer.

We had a good business meeting Tuesday night.  So much to decide in the near future for our church.  Please pray that God shows us which way to go.  Wednesday, another super prayer meeting in the parking lot.  I'm so going to miss being out there but it can't last forever.  It will be time to "Fall back" and eventually will turn too cold.  It sure has been a blessing after April 27th.

Friday, Brett's a/c went out in his car again.  And, his door got stuck and wouldn't open.  He spent the morning at each account having to crawl in and out of the passenger side.  Gives a new perspective to "When God closes a door..."

Mac is even more obsessed with McQueen.  I asked him the other day, "Are you sleepy?"  His response: "No, I'm Wightning McQueen.  I'm a famous wacecar.  I wanna Piston Cup."  BTW, "Piston Cup" doesn't come from his mouth too clearly.  ;)



Try not getting tickled while looking at this little head during dinner.




She's not stuck, just taking a moment to watch t.v.




For years, Brett and I have argued over sides of the bed.  I change my mind every year or so.  Well, when pregnant, I want the side next to the bathroom.  Now, we argue over who has to sleep next to Mac.  I won this night.  I know, looks super sweet and cuddly.




But this is what happens.  Then you have to sleep with one eye open because he'll scoot off the bed.  More sleep adventures or lack there of, click here and here.




Lightning went MIA for a while.  Poor Macman was lost.  He walked around saying, "Anybody seen Lightning?"  All was well once he was located in the bottom of the toy box. 



Maggie wanted to throw a surprise party for her daddy because "he's such a good daddy to us."  She thought he needed a flag in his office.  AND, I made muffins.  Just mix milk and muffin mix.  Who knew?!  Maggie did correct me when I started stirring with a spoon.  She said I needed to use a whisk.




Grandpaw taught her how to blow up balloons a while back.  That skill was put to good use.  Also, I found that I could blow up balloons.  Something that I have never been able to do until now.




According to Mac, it was imperative that the "baby" balloon be next to the "daddy" balloon.




We ended up having to tie "baby and daddy" together.  Mag did a great job with the decorating.



Daddy was totally surprised.



Doing a little reading to her little sis.




(chorus of angels) Old jeans that haven't seen the light of day in years!  Only the glow of a fluorescent bulb.  Love some good ole Levi's.




Mary thought the tomatoes needed to be on the floor.



Sunday, we headed to B'ham for Robby and Veronica's birthday party.  When arriving it came a torrential downpour.  Most of us were still in regular clothes, mind you.  We were freezing, Mac was freaking because of the thunder.  Good times had by all.  Haha!  Poor kids had half their party rained out but still had a good time, I think.  They got to stay at the pool later to make up for it. 
Happy 9th b'day to Robby and 7th to Veronica!





We headed back to try to catch some of the carnival at church.  Hayneville Baptist set up ponies, bouncy things, and much more in our parking lot.  The folks that keep showing up and working, praying, providing outreach/entertainment/food is overwhelming.  Pastor said that this litte church only has about 130 attending Sunday School.  Over 100 made the trip to Tuscaloosa!





All the kids slept on the way back but we had to awake Mag to ride a horse.





Mary crawled up on the table to help herself to a little oatmeal after her nap.  I walked in and she said, "Mmmm, lunch!"



And he just falls asleep wherever he gets comfy. Pardon that big stain on the floor. It's siblings are scattered throughout the living room. I stand corrected. Brett Paul just read this and informed me that he's already scrubbed that stain. "What a man, what a man, what a mac, what a mighty good man." - Salt and Pepa

This little lady knows how to get what she wants.

 

I'm off to do some more laundry.  BTW, tomorrow is August 1st.  That means that it is time to start planning some birthday parties for our oldest two.    September babies mean August parties.  A little something called Alabama football is too difficult to work around.  Actually, I'm behind according to...well, myself.  And, being that tomorrow is August 1st, that means that Tuesday is our anniversary! 
Happy Early Anniversary to Us, Brett Paul!

Oh!  One more thing!  If you've seen the commercial for "It Takes the Cake" on WVUA news and saw a handsome devil and thought he looked familiar, well you were correct.  It's Brett!

PLAYING CATCH UP

Lots going on.  Sometimes I love the hecticness (not sure if that's a word) but sometimes I long for a little more down time. That's okay though because I'm completely caught up on laundry!! That makes everything better.  

My mom came over and helped me transform our laundry room into a laundry/office for Brett Paul.  Before this, it looked like a Sysco sales meeting had vomited all over our kitchen.  Poor guy would have all his work spread out then have to gather it all up at meal times.  He was literally speechless when he came home and saw his new "office."  It's really worked out perfectly!



Mag made the heart for her daddy and I had to arrange the thumb tacks to match.



She also wanted to make him a flower.

 



It looks beautiful in his pencil holder.

  


This is what Mac was doing.  Click here if you're interested in his other quirks. Gotta love that sweet little man.




Then he scooted off to watch "Cars"...again.

 With school being out, I have time to actually use my lunch break for eating instead of transporting my babies. Brett and I have enjoyed so many lunches together and Hocutt and I have a new routine. She and I meet and scoot across the river to Jalapeno's. Oh, how yummy that place is. Brett and I had a very strange occurrence there last week. I'll have to write about that later.  The weirdest stuff happens to us in public.

Thursday before last, Brett and I went to the hospital to see some friends that just had a baby. Oh my. Baby fever struck hard. But, funny thing is, it struck Brett harder than it did me. He had to pass her off pretty quickly because he started tearing up. Don't worry though, that feeling has passed. ;)

Friday, a week ago, we went to Mr. Caddell's birthday party.  I believe he turned 86.



Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Phyllis, and the birthday boy.



Brett pointed this shot out to me.  Phyllis and the other Mrs. Davis are in deep discussion, and poor Spurgeon reminds me of the song, "Waiting on a Woman."



The two RP's.



Mary Brooke enjoying her cake.



My excellent sitter trying to keep the babies corralled.



MB will straight up get up and walk with the stroller dragging behind her.  Here, she's reaching for a piece of ice.

Mary has learned to crouch in a football stance and plow through the baby gate.  She was wanting some more garlic croutons. 

 Mag came to me one morning with milk dripping off of her face. "Mary poured milk in my hair!" When I "fussed" at MB, Mag immediately started with, "Maybe she didn't mean to. Maybe she was trying to give me a drink." Sweet big sister.




I'm starting to teach Mag how to play the piano.  Of course, Mary wants to play too.  Mac appears to be playing.

 

He's really doing this.

I've gotten Maggie signed up for her 4th year of dance. Hard to believe that. Especially since she isn't even five yet. Who knew when taking her to her first day of class when 2 years old, she'd love it this much.






Poor fella was running a slight fever the other afternoon so Mag made him this sign.  The sign reads, "Mac, Radiator Springs.  I love you."  Sweet man.  Car in hand, thumb in mouth.



He got feeling better though.  Two of his favorite things.  McQueen and the wheels on the vacuum. 



Then, later fell back asleep like this.  Sweet little hand still holding that car.

  

My parents went to Oklahoma to visit some of our family so Emily, one of our youth that didn't go of the youth trip (sucks for her, great for us) kept our kiddos while I worked. She did a wonderful job. First time we have ever hired a babysitter.



Monday, I went to see our Sunday School kids off to Centri-kids. They had a great time and from what I heard in class, yesterday, learned and absorbed a ton.





Danny, David, and DeJuana were chaperons.  Here is Danny and Robby, who turned 9 while at camp.



Tuesdays are Maggie's gymnastics days and also Family night at Chick-Fil-A.  We've been meeting some gymnastics/dance friends there for dinner.  It's wild and crazy and to be quite honest, we're tired of it.  It's a great thing that Chick-Fil-A does but sheesh, some parents are clueless or just don't care.  The play room is not for 12 year olds.  It's not for sweaty little children to sit in the top and demand "tickets" from each child that wants to slide, and when my Mary Brooke climbs in there and some little rugrat tries to pick her up...said rugrat is gonna get popped.  By MB, not me.  I wouldn't pop someone else's child.  Have to fight that urge really hard.  Anyway, we enjoy hanging out with our friends and their kiddos but for a while, we'll find a new location and stick to getting Chick-Fil-A through the drive-thru.

Wednesday night is my favorite night of the week.  We are still having prayer meeting in our parking lot at church.  You never know who might show up and from what part of the country they may travel from.  The prayer time is amazing and what is more awesome, it has never rained.  Seriously, storms galore up until 6:45 then, nothing but overcast and nice temperatures.  We usually take our youngins too.  Brett ends up strolling them around the parking lot half the time but I think it's good for them just to be there.  I know Mag likes being at "her church."  Wednesday is also my day to sometimes feed the volunteers lunch.  This week, my boss picked up the tab.  Very grateful for that.

Thursday was girls night.  Lisa's birthday!  Eight of us gathered at Olive Garden.  Good salad but the rest was so so.  Great time anyway.  I love how we are all so different and all bring something different to the table.  Quiet is not a word to describe us though.  Neither is modest or sensible for that matter.  Between the eight of us, we have 26 kids so that's probably why.



Friday, I started potty training Mac. He may just stay in diapers until he's 7. Really though, this is gonna be hard. I waited longer with him because he's just so different than Maggie. She's eager to do everything. Mac couldn't are less. He'd much rather do this.  He looks too cute in big boy undies though.  Plus, we have some extra help. Mary Brooke climbed in the tub and was trying to throw shampoo bottles in the toilet, Mac was just interested in running McQueen around the rim, and Maggie was the ultimate cheerleader, holding his car-free hand then trying to hold something else. I told her that may be a tad too helpful. 





One of my helpers.






Saturday, I found a car in the washing machine.  When I asked how it got in there, Mag said, "I don't know!  Did it shrink?!"  Haha!  We went to Mac's friend, John Emory's birthday party.  It was a pool party and the theme was "Cars."  Macman was in hog heaven.  Mag, MB, Brett, and I enjoyed swimming while Mac laid on the edge of the pool playing with the cars.

Yesterday, Brett and I headed to Prattville after church.    Our friend, Mr. Sanders is in the hospital.  He had to move to Prattville after the tornado hit his house he built with his daddy about 60 years ago.  He had a really rough weekend but was bright-eyed and in rare form yesterday.  We had a great visit with him and hopefully, he'll go home Tuesday.  Great drive btw.  It rained on and off and 96.5 was playing Christmas music for Christmas in July!  I was giddy.

And that brings me to last night.  Mac would not go to sleep, kept sitting on Maggie's head then took off down the hall at 11 pm running with his cars and woke up Mary Brooke.  Brett wanted to choke him.  Then, I went to change him and being that tired, dropped two balls of poo on the floor and they bounced around the room.  You get the giggles when crawling on the floor near midnight looking for poo.

Probably way more in this post than anyone but me cares about but one day, I may be curious as to what I was doing at 2:35 on July 23, 2011.  ;)

THE INCREDIBLE REAPPEARING VINCAS!



They did come back!!




This was from about a month or so ago. 



And now.  I love those resilient things!



She wanted to model.





It's rather dark out because this was right before that gigantic storm we had the other night.  Oh my, at the fingerprints on the glass door.

 


Brett's planters from a month ago.





Now.  No clue what either of those plants are.



Beautiful storm clouds.



I always cut the front yard.  I consider that my exercise.  The back is too big and too daunting.  I love how Brett can make such a clean edge with the weed eater.  "Hey, neighbors across the street!  Good yard maintenance requires more than just cutting the grass when you can't see your front door anymore!"  We've often wondered what they'd say if they came home and found us edging and weed eating in their yard.  It's horrible!




We've been wanting chairs for the back patio for some time now.  Didn't want to pay full price though.  We checked Target and liked these.  Marked down to $18 a piece.  Still didn't want to pay that and were told they may be marked down further the next week.  We back and no, they weren't.  Then, a guy with a price gun rounded the corner and told us that everything in that section must go and asked what we wanted.  So, with an extra 30%, we got the 4 chairs for $45.  The table was already free because Brett got that last year at one of his CVS stores.  It was put in the damaged because it was missing the screws to put the legs on.  :)






Don't know what those are either but they have thorns.



MB getting a little ride in before the bottom fell out.



Then, she headed in to remove Maggie's artwork.

Remember "Beavis and Butthead?"  It was a horrible show that I wasn't allowed to watch but sneaked a few episodes back in the day.  Mag has never heard of them but for years, seriously like 7 or so, I've done the shirt bit when putting on my pj's at night.  Brett always laughs at me because I say it wrong.  Anyway, Mag did her shirt the other night and said, "Me...Antonio!"  I like her version better.

And Macman finally let go of McQueen.