Visitors from Germany

Here are some pictures of a recent visit we had with our friends Zach, Lisa and baby Olllie Odom.

Lisa and I grew up together and were always good friends. Lisa is such a sweet person and genuinely cares for her friends. I never knew Zach before we moved to Covington and unfortunately they moved to Germany soon after we moved into town. Zach is truly one of the funniest people I know. He just makes me laugh! He convinced the girls that they were his hat. They thought that was hilarious.

Lisa and Zach recently welcomed their first child, Ollie, into the world.

He is such a cutie--he looks like a little man!

They are all in town right now visiting their family and were nice enough to make time to come visit us. I tell you, if I only saw my family 2-3 times a year I would be holed up in my momma's house with my family. Not out visiting friends.

That should tell you all you need to know about our friends, the Odoms. They are just great people.

Playing with Friends

One day last week I let Ella skip school and we rode to Memphis to play at the mall with our friends Sarah, Lilly and Grace. We played on the little playground and then rode the carousel. Well, actually, we did not ALL ride the carousel. Sarah's poor children never get to ride the carousel because she gets motion sickness too easily. So, being the great friend that I am, I took all the kids for a ride (or two.)

---You know I'm just giving you a hard time, Sarah.....

Lucy on the pig at the playground

Lucy, Ella and Grace

Lilly rode, too!

Happy Valentine's Day

Erik and I have never done much to celebrate Valentine's Day. It's not that we don't think it's a good idea to celebrate our love for each other, but rather that we do a good job of that each day of the year. However...Erik did a great job of picking out some fun gifts for the girls. Ella had been begging for a two-wheel scooter for a while and Erik found a great pink one. She has been on it ever since! Lucy has always been fascinated by bubbles, so he picked her out a fun set. It's been so cool outside that Erik lets her play with them in the bath every night.

The girls are covering their eyes, anticipating their surprise.

ta-da!

Ella holds her new pink scooter

Lucy waiting.....

Lucy with her new bubble set

Swimming in February

My sister-in-law called early last week and said they were going to be in Memphis just for a day or so. There was an unfortunate, unexpected death in her husband's family so they came down from S. Carolina. The girls and I drove to Southaven, MS. to meet them at their hotel, which luckily had an indoor pool.

Lucy was a bit intimidated at first, but Ella just jumped into the water like it was the bathtub. The pools was designed with half indoors and half outdoors. You had to swim under this divider to go to the outdoors and she thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Ella and Lucy will be taking swimming lessons (indoor pool, of course)during the month of march. I wanted to get a head start on the summer----and I want those stinkin' floaties off of Lucy's arms. Ella never wore them, but when I would take the girls swimming last summer I just could not watch them both without being a nervous wreck. Ella is a natural when it comes to swimming and Lucy could just care less. It's just the differences between their personalities!

This is what Lucy did the whole time. She poured water from the hot tub into the heated pool.

Lucy and Annaleis

Ella jumping in!

Sweet Ella in the hot tub (or hot pool as she calls it.)

Ella and Abigail

Malachi 3:3

This was sent to me today from a well respected lady in my church. How did she know that today, of all days, I needed this? Obviously she did not know, but God did! I had a rather burdensome morning and I just can't seem to shake the blues. With a very heavy heart I opened my email after lunch and saw this. It is quite appropriate and just what I needed to be reminded of.

Malachi 3:3 says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.


Thanks, Mrs. Joyce. Your simple email has brought a smile to my face and peace to my heart.

Look What I Did!

Ok, so I have this Supper Club thing at my house this Saturday night. There is paint to touch up, baseboards to finish scrubbing, dusting and windexing to do and, of course, decorating. HOWEVER....this is what I chose to do today instead:



I made korker hairbows. Aren't they just too cute? Can't you all see Lucy in her pigtails sporting these babies? Don't worry. Ella got a one, too. Hers is just a tad bit larger.


As I have learned over the past few years, there is a massive cult-like following of all things Gymboree. You people are crazy! There are websites totally devoted to listing all the Gymbo lines and each piece ever created within that line. For those of you who don't know anything about Gymboree, then this does not mean anything to you. Sorry! Come back later for another equally riviting post about something that matters to no one but me everyone.

In addition to lisitng the Gymboree lines, women take color charts into the stores and pick out grosgrain ribbon to match each of these lines. Then they go home and make M2MG bows. In laymans terms that means "Made to Match Gymboree" hairbows. Most of them are really pretty, but cost a small fortune. Well, anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I am a hairbow fanatic. I will post a picture tomorrow of our hairbow wall. It's almost embarrasing. But I firmly believe that 2 little princesses could never have too many hairbows.

So, a hairbow makin' I commenced. I started by picking out the perfect Gymboree outfit. Luckily for me I had lots of Gymbucks left over from Christmas. The girls got this shirt with matching turquoise polka dot bermuda shorts.

Then I went to this website to find out which ribbons I would need. I chose these:

Then the fun really began. I bought wooden dowels from Home Depot and started wrapping ribbon until I had blisters on my hands....literally. (If you look closely at the last picture you will be able to see how dry my hands stay in the winter. They bleed all the time. It's really rather yuck.) Then I placed them in the oven and baked them for about 25 min. Really! I baked them in the oven!

This is what the ribbon looked like when I took it off the dowel. Perfect Korker ribbon!

And this, my friend, is my finished product.



Cute picture of my girls in their matching outfits with perfectly coordinating hairbow to follow. It is, after all, still winter.

Kelly's Wedding

My cousin Kelly married her sweetheart on, none-other-than......Valentine's Day. What a romantic way to spend Feb 14th! I snapped some shots of the big day while we were getting ready and I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. In case you were wondering why my girls are looking so beautiful, they were flower girls. I was really worried that Lucy would not walk down the aisle, but she did great. Both of them did. I was one proud momma!

My cousin Kelly

My brother with Ella and Lucy

Ella and Gracen watching Casey (Kelly's sister) put on her makeup. Isn't this such a sweet picture?

4 random pictures

Here are 4 random pictures I thought I'd share.

Ella and her American Girl doll in matching Snow White dresses. Thanks for Grandma for the doll dress.

Ella in her Mermaid costume. This is all we do....all day, every day.

I loved this picture of Lucy. That blanket will always have a special place in this household.

Lucy in the car swing at Nanny and Pop's house.

My Friend Sara

This is Sara..... We were born 10 days apart. We have been best friends ever since. "Best" is a funny word. When I was younger, your best friend was the person you liked the most that day, week or even month. As I've gotten older, I have realized that best means so much more. Sara is the friend that has been there for me through thick and thin. We can go for weeks without talking, but pick right back up where we left off. She will keep a secret for life (which is good) and always knows the right things to say. Sara is a wonderful Christian and loves the Lord more than anything. Her faith is like a rock.

A good example of that is evident in her babies. Sara and her husband suffered from infertility for many years before God allowed them to have twins. Sam Harris and Faith Elizabeth. Sara had to endure witnessing friend, after friend, after friend easily become pregnant and give birth to child 1 and then even child two. But Sara stayed strong. She held tight to her faith that God had a plan. He had a time and reason for everything.





One year ago this month, Sara gave birth to two of the prettiest babies ever. They are just precious. They are also a constant reminder that God is good and he does hear and answer our prayers.


Thank you Sodie (Sari) for being such a wonderful friend and an inspiration to many. I love you so much!

Here are some pictures from the twins' first birthday party. Sara quite appropriately chose a Noah's Ark theme. You know, two by two. Rather clever!

Kids playing on the bouncer. Lucy on her bike--go figure!


Lucy skating with Mrs. Amy

Funny picture of Lucy

She jumps......

and she lands!

Coco taking a turn on the bouncer, well sort-of.

After the party, all 6 of these kids collapsed.

Lilly, Lucy, Hyatt, Grace, Ella and Gracen