Breaking Point

When you live with four males, it's inevitable that things get damaged & broken.
Here's some of my children's handiwork this week . . .

Plant Pot. Courtesy of Timothy & Taylor playing ball.

Glasses. Courtesy of Tanner going through my bathroom drawers & messing with things.

"Mother" Plaque normally sits on this little black stand. Shattered during a ballgame. My grandfather is trying to fix it for me.

Cell Phone Charger. My boys aren't actually responsible for this one, but it was the last thing (I hope!) to break this week. Just adds insult to injury.

Guess who is NOW at a BREAKING POINT . . . .

Birthday x 2!!

Two people in our family celebrated birthdays this week!!
My youngest sis - one of my bestest friends in the whole world :) & one of the most amazing aunts ever -turned 27 on Tuesday.

My mom - who is second to none when it comes to being a mother (& mother-in-law) & definitely takes top prize in spoiling grandchildren (my boys would pack their bags & move to her house in a heartbeat!) - turned 54 on Thursday.

It's funny that these two have b'days so close together; actually, I guess it makes sense since they LOOK & ACT so much alike . . .

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you both & hope you had an incredibly happy birthday.
We wish you many, many, many, many more!!!

Funny Little Blessings . . .

I tell people all the time that we don't need TVs in our house; our children provide us with PLENTY of entertainment!! Tim & I look at each other all the time & just shake our heads & smile; & many times there is no way to hold back some deep belly laughs! There's no way I could ever document EVERY funny episode or saying, but I just have to share a few from this week . . .

*Thursday night, the 5 of us gathered around the table for dinner. Now, Tanner loves to sit in his spot, hold hands, bow his head for the blessing (so sweet!), & say a cute little "Amen." This particular night, though, he wanted to watch Elmo instead, so he was practically falling out crying & his daddy just had to pick him up & stick him in his seat. As we said grace & started eating, Tanner continued to wail. Five minutes later, he finally calmed down & surveyed the table. He held out his hands & looked at us. So we stopped eating, held hands, bowed our heads, & Tim said this prayer - "God, thank you for giving Tanner a better attitude." To which Tanner happily replied "AMEN!!" & started eating.

*Friday morning, the 5 of us were getting our things & bustling out the door to head to school & work. Tim had Tanner in one arm & his travel bag in the other (they were heading to East Carolina later in the day), so he told Timothy to grab a cereal bar for him. Timothy didn't hear him & didn't get it. When we left the house, Tim called & asked Timbo if he had gotten it, he said no & Tim replied that he would just eat some grass when he got to work. I told him I had $5 & I could give it to him at a stoplight so he could stop & grab something. He said "No, that's okay." Taylor then piped in - "Daddy, you should really take Mommy up on her offer. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know. Why spoil it on grass???"

*The boys have a bedtime of 8:30. Recently, our oldest son requested a change in his bedtime.  He thought it would be a little more fair if his time was later than his brother's, since he is ALMOST 3 YEARS OLDER! His father & I agreed & moved it to 8:45, which he was THRILLED about! Now, he's turned into the bedtime warden. He makes sure Taylor gets to that bed at 8:30 sharp (he starts with the reminders around 8:25), then he fully enjoys those extra 15 minutes, minus his brother, upstairs with his parents.

*Saturday, Taylor showed me a page of original lyrics entitled "Sealed In My Mind." He also performed it several times (in falsetto). He said he's really going to work on writing a lot of songs and practicing his singing because he really wants to be famous some day . . .

Our boys OFTEN make us cry with laughter, SOMETIMES sigh in frustration, every NOW & AGAIN rethink a decision. . . & ALWAYS thank God for the incredible blessing they are to our lives.

The Tulane Game

Saturday started out full of excitement - our first home game of the season!
We headed to the stadium to enjoy an afternoon of Blazer football & had quite an eventful day . . .

There's Mama D with the boys.

She & Papa joined us for the game!

"Where are those football players???"

Oh, here they come!

Time for the Blazer Walk!!

Tailgate Time!

The boys w/ the UAB chaplain & FCA director - Jhun Cook.

(But we know him as Pas, our wonderful pastor & friend!!)

Pas & Mama D

Pas & his beautiful fiance, Sonya

(I think she might actually turn into a football fan soon . . .)

A new addition this year -

Train Rides!

Don't you love the jerseys???

They were a present this past Christmas to all the boys 

from Coach Callaway & Mrs. Karen!!

The football game before the real football game . . .

Someone sure enjoyed the band & dancers

during the little pre-game show

"Dude, come back! You're not in the band!!"

Hi Blaze!

Game Time

Not only was this our first home game, it was our first conference game. We have high expectations for our team this year & expected to play a tough game, but come away with a win. Things didn't go quite as we expected, but we still have high hopes for the rest of the season & know we can bounce back!!

"Dude, were you expecting this?"

"No! I thought we'd have this one in the bag."

"Well, what do you think we should do now?"

"Let's just eat our popcorn.

It tastes really good when you eat if off the bench!"

At the end of the game, there was at least one happy Blazer!

Sometimes we have to go through the bad before we can get to the good. Midnight always comes just before the break of day.  How else can we really appreciate the good times???

Keep your head up, Blazers! We'll get 'em next time!!