Memorial Day Parade

Every year since Rhyan was born (and probably before that but for some reason i dont really remember life before she was born?!) we've attended the Dacula Memorial Day Parade. Its the best :-) 

I mean, where else can you see horse drawn carriages....

AND pink elephants in the same parade?! lol

Let me just say, Rhyan looooooves this pink elephant. It might just be the highlight of her day... If you ask her about the parade and ask what she liked the most, she'll undoubtedly tell you "the pink elephant!"

My sweet baby boy enjoyed the parade for a good long while before he conked out. He still typically takes about an hour long morning nap from 10-11 but he's ok to miss it from time to time. And honestly, he's a pretty fantastic baby who will sleep pretty much anywhere as long as i hold him :-) My cuddle bug.

Had to grab a pic of the next car Jeff wants to get.... except he informed me that he wants a dune buggy, not this piece of patchwork. HA! My mistake...

fancy... take me back to the future, anyone?!

Check out the windshield wipers! how creative!

This is always the most emotional part of the parade. Volunteers carry these in memory of fallen soldiers. What a reminder that our freedom has been fought for and protected by others who are far more brave than I. Most of the ages of these men and women were in their 20's. A whole generation who has lost so many men. Potential husbands and fathers. This stuff changes our country in more ways than one.

Onto lighter stuff. My mom swears that Rhyan needs to be in a pageant. I always say no so her newest ploy is saying "But she could be IN the parade on this float!". Good try, mama.

My little man watching the parade. Good lorddy... him and that thumb :-/

Rhyan, wondering why she's not getting candy thrown to her :-)

I always LOVE this... They stand perfectly still through the whole thing.

But even with all the great things to look at in the parade, the kids favorite part was the TRAIN!

As always, we had a great time! Mama was able to accompany us which made the day seem a little more "normal". Mommie has been in the hospital (for the 9th time since December) and at the time at least was not doing well at all. I've spent Memorial day at Mommie and Daddy's house in their backyard grilling out for as long as I can remember. This year, Jeff and I tried to make the day seem normal by grilling out and inviting Mama and Jonathan over for dinner (and my good friend Carrie Anderson). The only one missing was Mommie. I was, however, super grateful that my aunts traded off staying at the hospital so that my mom could join us for the day. We usually celebrate her birthday (which is actually on the 29th) on memorial day so it was nice to be able to do that, as well.

Beautiful day. Beautiful family. Lots to be grateful for in the midst of trials!

Mack's 1st Haircut

The kids and I got our hair cut!!!  I'm sure I've said this before but my kids are probably the only kids who get their hair cut at Salon 124 :-) My stylist spoils me by taking care of my kiddos!

Rhyan: Before

 

     

 And after! When I told her we were going to get her hair trimmed, she said "i not want to get my hair cut! i will miss my crazy curls!" lol!!! 

I promised her that we wouldnt cut her crazy curls too much. She was happy with her trim...

 

 While Rhyan was getting her hair cut, Mack was snoozing away in the van. I do love a sleeping baby!

 

My mom came with us to help wrangle the kiddos. I was afraid that Mack may not do well. Rhyan's first haircut was kind of disastrous.... she cried the whole time! (till i gave her a sucker). Mack, on the other hand, was a little angel! The only problem we had was getting his THUMB out of his mouth! :-)

 

I love how Alex always smiles when she's cutting the kids hair! She obviously loves my kids her job!

He sat VERY still the WHOLE time!

This is by FAR my favorite. His little face is so cute :-)

 

 Ready to get down!

 

 

Lastly, i got my hair CHOPPED! I've been thinking of it for a while and finally went for it. These are the only pics I've taken so far and they're really not great b/c i hadnt fixed it myself nor had i colored it recently (so i have GRAY!!). But this is it, none the less.

 

Jeff prefers long hair. I think long hair is great, too. If you have great hair. Unfortunately, for me, my hair is fine and thin. So when its long it really does NOT look good. Only if i put LOTS of time into making it look ok does it even appear that I've tried at all :-( So, this is my new hair. At least I'm trying it out for a while. I'll probably stay shor for the summer and then let it grow some. I'm hoping that as all of my new baby hair thats growing in continues to grow that it'll thicken back up a little and look better if i let it grow. I lost a TON of hair after I had mack and so really, its his fault that its short :-) haha. But really, i like it. I prefer my hair short.

I wish jeff did, too!

Thats all folks!

Mothers Day 2012: Part 2 (Sunday)

You know, I could write a peppy (aka: artificial) post about Mothers day this year or a realistic one. There are a lot of things I skip over in my blog from time to time to keep it upbeat but honestly, i want to remember this day as it was. A sweet and difficult blessing.

We started the day off with our usual breakfast made by Jeff. He's so great to take care of breakfast on the weekends! I love it! He and the kids had gotten me a card (this is the FIRST year that he has given me a card from the kids. he refused to give me one prior to this year b/c he believes it should be picked out by the kid and Rhyan couldnt/wouldnt before now. lame! but i'll admit, it did make my card more special since i knew she picked it!). We proceeded to enjoy church and came home for a relaxing afternoon.

Rhyan and I left as soon as she woke from nap to get our toes done! I loved this as a mothers day gift :-) Jeff had simply given me money for mothers day and said he knew there were several things I was wanting and to just get what i wanted. I wanted my toes done with part of the money, at least! ha! And i love sharing that time with my baby girl. Unfortunately, they were SUPER busy. So we both ended up just getting a color change. Oh well. We had fun. It was pouring rain and rhyan kept talking about how sad she was that we forgot her umbrella at home! She LOVES that thing!

Because of them being so busy, we ended up running "late" for our call ahead seating at Longhorn. I had told Mommie earlier in the week that I'd love nothing more than to take her to dinner like i did last year for Mothers Day (we took BOTH my moms :-) ). She was skeptical that she'd feel up for it but as the day grew closer, she kept talking about going so we went with it!

Mommie and Rhyan at Longhorn as we waited. None of these are great because Mommie kept telling Rhyan to look at the camera but then Mommie wasnt looking at the camera! HA! But I couldnt bring myself to not post them bc they make me laugh.

Mommie was actually rubbing Rhyans hair out of her face but Rhyan (again) wasnt looking at the camera!

Rhyan and her Grammy (my Mama!)

Lord, have mercy. Mack and I both look like FATTIES! For Mack, thats acceptable. For me- not so much!

At dinner, Mommie ate pretty decently (which is still like a BIRD) and we chatted a good bit. Mack found fun in making a game out of dropping his toys on the floor for his daddy to pick up :-) And Rhyan was slightly annoying her happy little self who had a hard time staying in her seat. She was so interested in everything there and kept wanting to eat the lemons/try everyones drinks/eat everyones food/cut her own oranges but then drop them on the floor. Geesh! I'm tired just thinking of the life of a 3 year old! HA!

My Mama is such a HUGE help with Rhyan, though (well, with both kids but Rhyan sat between Mommie and Mama) so it was all good :-)

As we went out, I remember asking Jeff to please be happy about it and to take some pics for us. I'm so grateful that he did! We got a couple of good ones! (except i have no clue why i'm stooping down which makes me, again, look like i'm huge)

When we got home, I told Mommie just how grateful I was for her and that I was so glad she got to come to eat. To which she replied something to the effect of, yeah, we need to do things like this as much as we can and spend as much time as we can together because I wont be here much longer.

Wow. Way to end the day.

And I got in the car and cried. Because truthfully, this could be my last mothers day with Mommie. And that reality is just hard.

But then, it could be that we get to share 2 or 3 or 10 more! All i know is that the Lord's plans are good and I have to choose to trust him with each day and not focus too much on the "years from now" phase right now. Day by day.

And on this Mothers Day, I was (and continue to be) SO grateful for the time I got to spend with my Moms. I have been blessed to have my Mama and Mommie in my life and they have each meant so much to me in different ways. I am who I am because of them (and my Daddy).

So, thank you Lord for this sweet day and time with Mommie (specifically). She had a good day and any good day for her is a GREAT one for me