Lean In

Coming out of the dark...

Remember that song by Gloris Estefan? lol..kindof dramatic , but man, this is the FIRST morning in about a week and half I have felt GOOD! Thank you, Lord...

Now, I need to get to work on Bailey's birthday party..it's next Saturday..so, we're going out today to find a "party outfit" and order her cake..cause, um, it's supposed to SNOW here 2-4" tomorrow..OH, I SO hope it does!!! I'll be able to get some "once in a blue moon" snow pics! 

Back later with a layout..just need to photograph it...

Rewind...

Let's rewind back to Feb. 10th, shall we? Remember we had a special Valentine-ish Life Group and I was going to share about it? Well, it's gotten put on the backburner, but I didn't want to fail to share because it was such a meaningful little night with our group and our spouses...

Joann and Ben hosted at their house, made a super delicious, festive candlelit dinner and had cooked up and schemed some ideas for the girls to do and the guys to do...They are such thoughtful people..and fun!

I *heart* their dining room table...

Anways, after a really nice dinner, we gathered in the living room and Ben shared a few thoughts on love from the Bible...

and then, the girls and the guys had been told we were going to put our spouses up on a pedestal (well, it ended up being a bar stool, but same idea..lol), the girls were asked to say something special about their spouses or compare them to someone in the Bible ( I didn't get those directions, so I just wrote out a like three page synopsis of why Brad is so special..lol)...and the guys were to find a verse in the Bible that reminded them of their spouse...

So, we started with Susan..so funny..her husband, Steve, travels for work a lot, so they got him on speaker phone and they shared over the phone..and they are just a trip anyways, so it was pretty funny..

and then Brad and I went...first I shared my three page synopsis..I do better if I have an outline to follow..if not, then I go all off track and I had some important things I wanted to say...I would share it, but it's kindof long...

and then Brad shared the most beautiful verse from Song of Soloman that he thought fit me...

Song of Soloman 4: 1, 9

You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful beyond words. You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride.

How beautiful was that? I love him...sigh...

and then Joann and Ben..

and then Jill and Rob, who have a baby boy on the way...

and lastly, Jenn and Eric, who aren't real lovey-dovey and gave each other five when they were done..so funny..

and then the love fest continued with the guys serenading us with "Love Me Tender"! It was so good!

We had such a good time and we love this group of friends...I'm glad the Acostas gave us the little push to do something like this..

This and that...

First off, I'm giving in and going to the doctor today..I've been getting about 3-4 hours of sleep at  night because I cough ALL NIGHT LONG..that's with a dose of Nyquil...and it's starting to wear on me..not sure what's going to happen with me working tomorrow..getting up at 5am with hardly any sleep and I'm super congested in the morning..not sure work is going to happen tomorrow, plus my boss gets mad if we come to work sick..I cough all day too..the Tussin DM is not working very well..starting to think I have TB or something..lol...

Ok, on to happier things..like a few layouts..

Remember the bowling collage I posted awhile back? Printed it out and scrapped it...

and then this layout is some old pics of when Chaz played soccer for one whole season..he was so good at it..wish he would have liked to keep playing..this is a sketch from that Donna Downey book that I love...I cut the stars with my Cuttlebug...

Ok, gotta go muster up some energy and get a few things done..really, I just want to lay down and take a nap, but life goes on...

Catch Up...

Where did I leave off from last week? I think it was our trip to Savannah and then baking for Brad's birthday on Thursday...

Bailey and I made Brad his cake..yum..and then I cooked him something he likes for dinner and we had a little celebration at home...

She really did help a lot...

Yes, that would be a whole container of sprinkles on the top..lol...

and in the picture below,  Bailey had fallen asleep on the couch right after dinner and right before we were doing the cake and all..nice...so, she was a little grumpy, but would have been more grumpy if we had eaten cake and ice cream WITHOUT her....

and then Friday, I woke up sick as a dog...I called my parents that morning and they came and got the kids for the day, thank goodness..and I slept actually in the bed for most of the day and never even put make up on or anything..you KNOW I'm sick if I skip that part of my day..I know I caught this from a nurse I worked with on Monday who was hacking, coughing, blowing her nose, etc..I always have to figure out where I get the crud from when I'm sick for some reason..and I blame her...

Saturday  Brad and Chaz went to the Motorcross downtown at the Georgia Dome that afternoon/night with some friends..I sent Brad with specific pictures to get (seriously...lol), but they didn't turn out that great, so all I really have is before they left..gotta love Keith's "we're going to the Motorcross" hand sign..lol..these boys didn't get home until 1 am...geeez....

and by that evening I felt a little better, so Bailey and I went to my Grandmother's 80th birthday party...and yes, she wore the birthday hat..lol...I haven't seen this side of the family in ages (my Dad's side of the family), so it was nice to catch up..we had a good time...I can't believe she is 80! (and don't ask about the writing on the cake? not sure who was responsible for that, but it really doesn't make sense?)

and then Sunday, I still felt like crapola..so I laid around most of the day and was a complete "joy" to be around..Brad, being the wonderful man he is, kept the kids busy..and then they went to his parents for his birthday dinner..hate it, but I stayed home..just couldn't get the energy to get up and get dressed..and in reality, they probably were glad to leave me at home..Bailey kept saying "Mommy, WHEN are you going to be better?"..kindof funny...

Which brings us to today..I'm feeling a little better today..it's the nights/mornings when I feel the worst..Chaz went back to school today after his "mid winter break"..and now Bailey is sick..nice...but I'm about to go do a little cleaning after I post this because my house is filthy..and that makes me grumpy too, so maybe I'll feel better once things are a little clean...can't wait until it warms up here so this dog can go back outside..his hair being everywhere is driving me crazy...NO more dogs in the house after this one..and I mean that...

Oh, and I have been TOTALLY inspired/obsessed with this...love this idea for getting those pictures off the computer...I've already started Bailey's folder...love that you don't have to upload the pictures to create the book...

Have a good Monday!

Back soon...

I am currently battling a cold that's been hanging around for about three days..that's about my limit ..all I can take..so, hoping for a better day tomorrow and a return to normal (so are Brad and the kids..I have been a WITCH today..)...

Look what I found ...

...the first little sign of early Spring popping up in our yard...

Happy Birthday...

to my most awesome man!!

Love you like crazy!!

Bailey and I are baking him "the biggest cake ever" according to her this afternoon...she is WAY into helping with everything these days..she really is a good mixer..lol...and she hangs out on the chair next to the counter just waiting for something "to help" with..in fact, it's so much a part of her right now, that I did a layout about it the other day...

I dropped Chaz at Mimi and Papa's after dropping Bailey at school for "Chaz Day" at their house..they like to get each kid seperately sometimes so they can dote on them all day..he should come home this afternoon pretty happy..lol...

OK, off to the grocery store!

Savannah in one day...

We decided to go on a little "adventure" with the kids yesterday. They've been wanting to fly on an airplance and since Brad works for the airlines, we thought, why not just fly down to Savannah for the day and come back that evening? So, off we went...Not a ton for kids to do there, but Brad found an animal preserve we could go to, plus we walked around, ate of course, and got to meet up with one of our friends who lives down there now..it was a busy day and we were really tired when we got home, but the kids did great, there was very little complaining, and we had some good family time...I can't believe I've lived in Georgia ALL OF MY LIFE and NEVER been to Savannah?..weird..

Here are some pictures...

 

The awesome oak trees with the moss..Savannah trademark...

Lots of cool places to take pictures..lots of old brick walls, old doorways, neat stairs, etc...

Not a ton of the big animals were seen due to the whole "natural habitat" thing..you know how that is..they go to sleep off in the farthest away place with their backs to you..bummer...

and we got to visit with Phil for a little while..they moved down there almost a year ago...

Album added over to the side ----------------->

We plan to go back sometime in April with another couple and no kids, and I can't wait to hit all the cool places and take tons of pictures...

A day late...

Hope everyone had a good one! I spent 13 hours working at the hospital myself..and then when I got home, I was exhausted and went to bed at like 9:45...yippeee! But I did get a super sweet card from my man and we're going out to eat tonight... and then I have to work again tomorrow...yippeee...HA, but thankful to be able to get those hours in...

Oh, and in case you were hanging on the edge of your seat, Bailey chose the Disney Princesses for her birthday party theme..surprise, surprise..the thing is, she really only likes Snow White and Snow White gets dissed on most of the Princess stuff for some reason ..I don't understand because she is clearly the prettiest and sweetest, but we did find some plates and stuff with her in them...the boys she is inviting are going to be thrilled to be at a princess party, I'm sure...Ha...

Valentine's Party Round 2...

Today was Chaz's turn...

He worked long and hard on his Valentines...he decided to spread it over two days since he had to do 21...

and he stuffed his bags on his own...

and off he went to school today stressing over how he was going to "carry all this"...

(he needs a haircut BADLY, but we just haven't made it there yet)

and then after today, he's out of school for a whole week AGAIN for mid winter break? I've never heard of such..but anyways, we have a little family adventure planned for next week..I'll share more about it later...

And Bailey has been eating candy and suckers like there will be no more tomorrows since her party yesterday..and she has been counting and sorting her valentines constantly..lol...

Her birthday is in a few weeks, so we're off to the party store to pick out what her "theme" will be for her party and grab a few invitations..she's going to invite a few friends this time..we usually just do family, but not this year...

I'm supposed to work tomorrow..we shall see...

Happy Friday..