LIFE Lately

We have been here and staying busy. And by busy, I just mean moment to moment activies, like pouring milk 37 times a day, washing dishes and multiple sippy cups, reading books, disciplining, strapping and unstrapping the carseat, trying to get little ones to fall asleep, trying to get them in the bathtub, and then trying to get them out w/out pitching fits, building stairs w/blocks, eating tons of snacks b/c we have a snack monster living at our house, crying, a little napping, and of course changing lots of diapers! It's our every day life and as tiring as it is some days, it's a sweet life. We are fortunate. We all live here together and we wake up and go to bed together at night. We eat together and play together and hang out together. I know now that lots of families are in such great need. Serious need, like do not have homes to live in or food or clothes for their children. I have no idea how that would feel and do not ever want to know. I am sad for all the families in this situation, but thankful that God is working through all the volunteers to meet people's needs in various ways. Who knows why things like terrible storms happen? It's not for us to know or even ask why? All we know is that the Lord is in control of everything, He is sovereign and He loves us way more than we can imagine. I read an awesome post on Gatherings about where God was during the storm. Read it if you have a chance.


Now, here is your personal public service announcement. When we lost power last Wed. morning our generator did not kick on like it should have. Thanks to our good friend, Colt, someone came to fix it and voila we had some power! Thank you Colt! Well about 2 in the afternoon we were all 4 taking NAPS (Nathan's bank was closed so he was home too) and I woke up somehow right at 2 to feed Watson. Then I heard a beeping and we figured out in was the carbon monoxide detectors. Hmmm, a little scary but probably just broken. Nathan got it off the wall and it said, "move to fresh air." We grabbed 2 little ones up from their naps and called 911 and waited outside, trying to keep an active 2 year old from running wild and falling into the huge hole from a tree that uprooted in the backyard. Then our firefighter friend Ryan F. came on the big red fire truck to check it out. And yes we had CARBON MONOXIDE blowing up into the crawlspace into our house. The generator was turned off and they aired our house out until it was all gone. Do you know how thankful I was that we had spent the $30 or 40 at Lowe's to get those detectors?!! And at the time I'm sure we were thinking, should we really spend the money to get those? Let me tell you, they SAVED OUR LIVES! If you have any natural gas in your home, please go get some detectors asap. We could have easily not been here today. And just to follow up, we did get the generator working properly in a way that did not blow fumes into the crawlspace, (THANK YOU AGAIN to COLT!!!) so we did have power until our real power came back on Saturday night. Again, it's ridiculous what all we take for granted everyday like power, hot water, etc.




I cannot remember where I heard this, but it's a great thing to keep in mind in your daily prayers-What if you only had today what you praised God for yesterday? That's a little scary. Am I really completely 100% thankful for each moment and blessing as I should be? I try to keep my prayers with Hayes very basic, like thanking God for every little thing we can think of like our home, car, meals, snacks, toys, cousins, grandparents, friends and teachers, school, church, and of course these are things that I normally take for granted, but I want her to know that God cares about every aspect of our lives. I don't want her to take these things for granted. I just want to live a thankful life, even if we did not have what we have today and our house had been wiped away, I still hope I would be just as thankful. As long as we are all together that is all that matters. Things can be replaced but people cannot. So from now on I will be thanking God everyday for every little thing I can think of! Amazing what your kids can teach you when you are trying to teach them something. Praise Him, praise Him all you little children, God is love, God is love.


So after the storms we had some company at our house. Lindsey and Baker came to stay w/us. Brent was out of town and joined us on Friday. We had a full and bustling house all week! Hayes was beside herself to wake up to a COUSIN in her house. And if you cannot tell from past posts, COUSINS are the absolute best things in the world to her!! They had a lot of good playtime together all week, inside, a little bit outside, McWane Center, and Chucky Cheese. We do love some company at our house. Thanks Lindsey for spending your "after the storm" days w/us!! We ended the week w/the Kennedy Family Reunion and then my Dad's 60th birthday lunch in Montgomery on Sunday. It was an eventful week to say the least, as I'm sure everyone's was.


I love this picture! Someone commented that Jimmy (aka Grandaddy) looked like a Santa w/no suit! hahah! I love it b/c he really does!! and by the way, this Grandaddy loves his grandbabies to the moon and back. I have never seen a PROUDER Grandaddy than him. It's soooooo sweet how much he loves them.









Happy B'day Pop Pop! We love you!





Our aunt Ann, Grandmama's youngest sister, holding Watson. She is a good reminder of our sweet Grandmama. She would have loved to have been at the b'day party!!




Sunday fun w/couins! Everyone was looking a little straggly from the bouncy house at the party. Lots of fun and good way to burn some energy. Wish we had one at home!




Thanks for hanging in there if you are still reading. This was way longer than I intended it to be, which is usually the way my posts turn out. And how in the world did I have time to do this LONG post? my two are napping at the same time right now, which is something that does not happen every day. And yes I'm thankful for that little window of free time and not taking it for granted!