Crab Hunting

I intended to share more pictures with yall, but to be honest I'm just having too much fun to sit down in front of the computer. I did want to share pictures of us crab hunting the other night. I've never been crab hunting on the beach at night before and it was so much more fun than I expected!

We managed to catch 3 crabs with a whole lot of screaming from me and the boys. Joey was screaming because he was scared, Anthony was screaming because he was having so much fun, and I was screaming from a combination of the 2. I really was scared one of those crabs were gonna get me. They are fast!

We turned our crabs loose in the ocean. Russell & Trent turned their 2 loose in the sand for a crab race, but they weren't in a hurry to leave. They caught a huge crab.

Yes, that's my kid touching that crab like he doesn't have a lick of sense. Joey was standing on a chair crying because he was so scared of them. I didn't think it was nice to share that picture, but I can assure you I have a picture of it.

It really was some of the most fun I've had. It obviously wore the boys out. They've been getting up by 7am every morning, but the morning after crab hunting Anthony slept until 8:30 and I had to wake Joey up at 9:45. It's after 9am right now and they're still asleep. Hopefully they'll remember how to sleep late when we get home.

Saturday at the Beach

Hello from Orange Beach, Alabama! We're having a great time on our beach vacation. Joey has a heat rash on his legs and I'm burnt already, but I guess that's all just part of going to the beach. Last night we went to Tacky Jack's Tavern, which has a live band on the weekends. The boys had a good time dancing in front of the band and the other people who could see them had a great time watching them. The food was so delicious that we're considering stopping by again this week. Tonight we went to Sea N Suds in Gulf Shores, which was also pretty good. I'm worn out and ready for bed, so I'm gonna leave yall with a few pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Mike & Gina's wedding

As promised, here are a few pictures from Mike and Gina's wedding. First up we have the bride and groom.

Next we have the very handsome Joey, who really loves wearing his new shirt and tie.

Anthony is just as handsome, but he does not enjoy the shirt and tie as much. More proof that he is just like his daddy.

Finally, here I am with Jason. Another handsome man who didn't enjoy the suit and tie or the jacket he had to wear during the wedding.

We had a great time and enjoyed getting to spend the special day with Mike and Gina.

I love books!

Hey yall. It's been a busy weekend and I'm worn out. I wouldn't trade any bit of it though. Well, maybe all the driving. And forgetting my dress for the rehearsal dinner and having to give a toast in jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. But other than that, it was a great weekend. I'll share more details and pictures later. I just wanted to share a few great books I've read recently.

I'll start with Ted Dekker's Circle trilogy. This is a sci-fi thriller series, which normally doesn't appeal to me, but I have really enjoyed the first 2 books, Black & Red, and can hardly wait until White gets delivered sometime next week. Ted Dekker is a Christian author and while these books are fast paced and full of action, they also point to Christ by presenting a parallel figure in "Other Earth." I don't want to give anything away so I'm going to stop with the details here, but I strongly recommend this series to anyone looking for something new to read. I will warn that these books are hard to put down. I know I called it a trilogy, but there's actually been a 4th book released, Green, which completes the circle. Again, without giving too much away, from what I've read online the 4th book finishes up the series, but also leads into the 1st book. I know it sounds confusing, but once you read the first book or 2 you'll see what I mean.

This past weekend I read the newest Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family. Definitely the other end of the spectrum from Ted Dekker since Charlaine Harris is far from a Christian author, but I have enjoyed this series too. Now don't get me wrong--I'm not saying the author is not a Christian, I just know this series is not Christian fiction. Reading this most current book in the series, which just came out a week or two ago, really left me wanting to keep reading. I'm always in awe of how authors can take a story and go with it for so many books without it seeming overdone. Sookie has been a long way, but she still has a ways to go in her character and plot development. The stage has been set for at least one more book.

This weekend I also read Some Like It Hot-Buttered in Jeff Cohen's double feature series, which consists of 3 books. Jeff is quite the humorist, and also my facebook friend. He spins a good mystery while including lots of humor. I don't really know how to describe the type of funny he is, but it's definitely not your average comedy/mystery. I've got the other 2 books in this series, so I'm interested to see how his main character, Elliott Freed, develops. I'm pretty sure I've spelled the name wrong, but I can't remember if it's Eliot, Elliot, Eliott, or Elliott. In the first book, Mr. Freed buys an old movie house and turns it into a one of a kind all comedy theatre. They have one movie screen and each week they have a two for one special--an old comedy along with a new release. The movie theatre, called Comedy Tonight, sounds like a wonderful place.

Okay, it's back to reality now. Jason's home with the groceries and I need to finish getting ready before we go to the boys' AWANA awards presentation at church tonight. I hope to be back soon with some other book suggestions since I've got a pile of them ready to read. Have a good evening!

More Mother's Day Pictures

Hey yall. This week has been quite a whirlwind, so I haven't had much of a chance to blog. I wanted to share a few more pictures from Mother's Day weekend. First up is me with my mom. I think this is a very pretty picture of her.

Next we have me and Aunt Pat. She is my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I have to talk to her every day or we both go into withdrawals. We don't talk about anything in particular, but that doesn't matter.

I wanted to take a Mother's Day picture with my 2 handsome little boys, but Anthony refused. Joey was more than happy to pose with me. He is the more affectionate of the 2, but I know Anthony loves his momma too.

I hope yall had a wonderful Mother's Day and are having a wonderful week. We're going to Memphis this weekend to Mike & Gina's wedding, then staying with Ashley & Keith on the way home, so it may be a few days before I'm back online. Don't miss me too much!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope everyone takes the time today to let those special ladies in your life know how much they mean to you. This means not only your mother, but other women who have shaped your life. Saturday I spent the day with my mother-in-law, Margaret. She's the best mother-in-law a girl could ever hope for.


I am very blessed to have someone like her. Friday night Joey and I worked on Mother's Day cards for Margaret and for my mom. Hopefully I'll get to see my mom today and get a picture with her. Here's the card I made for each of them with Joey in the background.

I used my Mother's Day cricut cartridge to design the outside. Joey used his newly learned cursive handwriting to design the inside. We're a great team. The boys showered me with gifts and hugs Saturday evening. Mother's Day is so much fun!

Meet Keith

Happy Saturday yall! The other day when I did the special Meet Ashley post, I mentioned that she was married to Keith. Today is a special Meet Keith post. I chose today to feature him because today's he's graduating from Ole Miss in engineering. Congrats Keith!

Aren't they just the cutest? I'm so excited that we get to stay with them after my brother Mike's wedding next Saturday. I hope yall are enjoying getting to meet some of my family. At some point this weekend I need to share with you the Mother's Day cards Joey and I made. Until then, yall have a great weekend!

Joke time with Joey

This evening will feature jokes from Joey.

What state did Noah live in?
ARK-ansas!

Why did the vampire miss the ballgame?
He couldn't find his BATS!

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Water.
Water who?
Water you doing in my house?

Joey is always full of jokes, but seems to have gone blank for the night. We'll share some more another time. Have a good evening!

It's a Wacky Wednesday!

I'm not sure why it's a wacky Wednesday, but since I don't have a subject matter in mind yet I figured I could at least start with a catcy title. This week is turning out to be a busy one at our house. It's the busiest week of the month at work for me, we have t-ball games Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and Anthony has a field trip to the zoo on Thursday. We're also debating on what we should do about our beach vacation planned for May 21-28. The condo we're planning on staying at contacted Jason and said due to the oil spill we could get a full refund if we wanted to cancel. I'm thinking if the condo is offering a full refund, the oil spill must be pretty bad. Anthony currently asks several times a day every day if we're going to the beach now. He's so ready to play in the sand. Maybe we can just take him to the beach at Caney Lake to get his sand castle fix. Last year we went to Disney World, so it's been a little while since we've been to the beach. This year the boys are old enough that I should be able to relax at the beach a little bit. I'm not sure what we'll do if the beach doesn't work out. We already have several other plans for May. My brother Mike and his fiance Gina are getting married in Memphis on May 15. Then Jason's cousin Hilary is getting married on May 28. We're planning on driving straight from the beach (if we go) to Jason's parents' house to get ready for the wedding. Have I bored you enough with the details of my life? Yeah, I figured so. By the way, I ordered a photo book from Snapfish this past Sunday. I just don't have the time to scrapbook here lately and I didn't want to get too far behind. I felt like I was cheating on my scrapbooking supplies by going digital, but I still have plenty of pictures printed out that I need to scrapbook. I did enjoy letting Joey help me. He designed a few of the pages all by himself--background, pictures, placement, title, everything! Maybe I'll let him make his own books someday. Those would be great for grandparents' gifts for Christmas. That's really about enough for this evening. I hope yall are having a wonderful week!

Meet Ashley, Part 2

Welcome back for another edition of Meet Ashley! I've got a few more pieces of her artwork to show yall. I really love this personalized one.

The one below was custom made for one of my favorite people--Aunt Pat! Her favorite color is yellow and I think Ashley asked her for her favorite Bible verse.

Isn't she just the best? I wish we lived closer so we could craft together. She and Keith live in Mississippi. She's in nursing school and Keith will graduate with his engineering degree in a few short days. That reminds me--Keith's parents' house was destroyed by a tornado this past Saturday, May 1. The tornado also damaged 3 of their vehicles. There were some family memebers in the house at the time, but thank God no one was hurt. Please keep them in your prayers. I can't imagine the trauma of being in my house when a tornado hit it, but even worse is the aftermath and trying to move on. One of the wonderful things about going to church is having a church family always willing to help. Have a great evening!

Meet Ashley

My sweet little cousin Ashley has been my biggest blog fan lately (and critic for not posting) so I thought I'd introduce her to yall. Ashley is the sweetest little country girl you will ever meet. Here she is with one of her latest catches.

Sorry guys, but she's taken. I love Keith almost as much as I love her. It seems that a love for crafting runs in the family. A few weeks ago, Ashley asked me what I thought about this.

Gorgeous! She definitely has talent. Her work started out wonderful but has just kept getting better with each project. Here's the second one she made.

I have no idea how she makes these, but plan on hearing all about it next time I get to see her. I've got a few more examples of her work that I will be sharing with yall tomorrow. Ashley has named her little crafty business "Signs from God" and already found somewhere to sell them. I'm so very proud of her. Feel free to leave some feedback--I'll pass it along to her.