This is What Happens When Children Help...

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But hey, at least our bedroom smells super good right now!!

My Brown-Eyed Girl

Heather and I have been married for 8 years (officially May 19) and Heather will be 28 years old tomorrow. This has caused me to think about our relationship and what Heather means to me. Babe, thanks for standing by me for 8 years through thick and thin, through all of my inadequacies and shortcomings. Thank you for seeing in me something better than what I see in myself. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being the mother of my children. Thank you for being the wife and mother that God has called you be! This is for you:


My Lover


Eyes: Brown, loving, fiery and forgiving, reflecting the man I strive to be, hopefully sparkling and quietly wise.


Hair: Blonde/brown, straight, flowing, grown for my pleasure, brushing my cheek as we embrace, sweet smelling and lovely.


Face: Compassionate, beautiful, familiar yet alluring, inviting me to move close, expressing the soul without words.


Person: My Eve, created to be with me, help, enticing, witty, brave, inventive, original, everything I want and need in a woman.




OK, so I'm not much of a poet, but I know Heather will like it. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Love,
Bobby

A Few of My Favorite Things...

# 1 - Not only is Sammy using the potty at 15 months but he's happy about it. He's actually saying, "Cheese!"

#2 - Squinty Face. We finally captured a picture of it!! Normally he does "squinty face" and turns his head back and forth at the same time.

#3 - Hannah. But not just Hannah. Hannah in girly dresses and cowboy boots. Very stylish indeed.

#4 - The Foxglove that Hannah and I planted last spring. It sprouted but never bloomed. We planted in our flower garden anyway. When we got home from New Hampshire we were pleasantly surprised to find that it had bloomed.

And so had our Bachelor's Buttons!! I'm so glad that these flowers bloomed. Hannah took such tender loving care of them last year and she's overjoyed that they've turned into something so beautiful. We cut these and the foxglove and made a little arrangement for our dear friends the Steele's (they're also on my list of favorites ;-)

#5 - Bobby. We've been married 8 years today. Is it possible to love him even more today than I did then? He's smart, funny, handsome...the list is endless. The Lord has blessed us so much. We have a wonderful marriage and two gorgeous children. There's nothing better!!

Northern Exposure

Here are lots and lots of pictures from our trip...

MARYLAND

Friday evening we arrived in Maryland and went to Golden Corral for supper. I had to take a picture of Sammy eating LIMA BEANS! All I can say is good for him but gross!

Hannah loved Grandma Clark. Here they're playing with the teddy bears that she gave Hannah & Samuel.

Three generations of Danner's (Grandma Clark's maiden name is Danner)
Bobby & the kids with Aunt Nota. I loved talking to her and was so sad when it was time for us to leave.
Samuel in the back yard checking out Nota's gardens. That's my Cow Tongue Cactus on the table in the background.
Sammy really loved the swing.
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PENNSYLVANIA

I can't resist taking pictures of Hannah & Samuel sleeping. They have to be so uncomfortable!

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NEW HAMSTER

We arrived in New Hampshire on Mother's Day. We went to Friendly's for supper. They have delicious burgers but they're best known for their ice cream.

Wednesday we surprised Hannah by taking her to ...

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NEW YORK

On our way home Friday we stopped in White Plains and had supper with Sam & Christine at the Cheesecake Factory. It was so delicious!!

~Sorry some of the pictures from the Cheesecake Factory are a little blurry. The lighting wasn't that good in there!

TO BE CONTINUED.....

New Hamster

Well after much much driving we have arrived in New Hampshire - or New Hamster as Hannah calls it. We left Friday morning and made it all the way to Maryland! We thought we'd have to stop and get a hotel before then but the kids are excellent travelers and there wasn't a lot of traffic on the road. I am proud of myself...I drove from the end of North Carolina all the way to Maryland. When Bobby & I were first married I was terrified to drive on the interstate but now I don't mind at all. (I was more proud of myself when I drove to Atlanta with the kids to pick him up from the airport last year!)

Anyway Saturday we got ready and spent the morning and most of the afternoon with Bobby's grandmother - his dad's mom - as well as two of his aunts. She's 94 years old but if you didn't know better you would think she's younger. She's slightly stooped but other than that she moves around pretty good and she talks clearly. She loved Hannah & Samuel and Hannah loved her. Anytime Grandma Clark left the room Hannah was right behind her. His Grandmother lives with his Aunt Nota. Towards the end of our visit Aunt Nota took us out back to see all the flowers she's grown and let me just say that she definitely has a green thumb. Hannah and Samuel loved it out there! She even gave me a "Cow Tongue Cactus". It was sad to leave because I loved spending time with them and getting to know them. I had never meet them before and I wanted the kids to be able to spend more time with their great grandmother and great aunts. But we had to leave and head on toward New Hampshire.

After we left we just drove until we felt like stopping. We ended up in Pennsylvania. I was very devastated that we couldn't go by Hershey, Pennsylvania. Seriously how can go drive through PA and not go there!! Sunday we spent the rest of the day driving to NH. Now we're all settled in, Bobby has started his training and the kids and I have started working on our goals. My goal for Hannah is for her to be able to write the entire alphabet before we leave Friday. She can already write 8 or 10 letters so I'm pretty confident we'll be able to do it. My goal for Samuel is that he'll be 100% "potty trained" with no misses before we leave. I was very encouraged today - after the kids and I got back from swimming Samuel immediately went to the potty, lifted the lid and looked at me. So I put him on there and he pooped right away. Also, after we got back from swimming this evening I was about to put Sam on the potty when Hannah needed to go. She was on there for a little while but when she was done I put Sam on there and he peed right away! I'm letting him wear underpants during the day and he only peed in one pair today! I'm very excited!!

So, there'll be pictures and updates to come as well as a little post about the many things we learned during our travels.

To be continued...