Halloween Rap!

Click on the image below

Bay Bales!!

Last Sunday my family loaded up and took Grayson to the Corn Maze! It was a gorgeous day and Grayson really enjoyed the tractors, farm animals and "bay bales" {also known as hay bales!}

(I realize this post and pictures look exactly like everyone else's last post, but I can't pass up an opportunity to post pics of our nephew!)

MULCH PILE!! Boys are so easily entertained!!

G with Sissy & Uncle Josh

The famously uncomfortable Cow Ride!

Gigi and Pappy

Playing with the farm animals

Sweet Boy :-) I just love kissing that face!

Grayson and Uncle J

at Sissy & Uncle Josh's house. I can't believe how big my little bean is getting!

15 WAYS TO CHARM HER

I came across this Southern Living post on another blog and just had to share. It's good to know that chivalry has infiltrated the modern world. I have always been a huge advocate of the things a man 'should do' to be a good southern man, but I'm admittedly pretty old-school. (The other day my sister sat at the head of the dinner table as her husband took the seat next to her. I looked at her in shock and said "WHAT are you doing? You can't sit there!") She just rolled her eyes and cut into her steak.

15 Ways to Charm Her
Southern Living, July 2009 By Amy Bickers

“Want to impress a Southern girl? Just think “What would my grandfather have done?”

Number one: We still expect you to give up your seat for a lady. On a bus, at a bar, on a train. . . we don’t care where you are. Unless you are at a restaurant and the only lady in sight is the one taking your order, stand up. Now.

On a recent Friday night at a bustling restaurant bar, two friends and I waited for our table to be called. The barstools were occupied so we stood patiently, sipping wine and chatting about the workweek. When a couple nearby stood up, another woman – who had been there less time than we had – swooped in, reaching across us to put her purse on the stool. This isn’t the worst part. It’s what happened next: Her male companion then slid onto the other barstool.

Hang on while I do a geography check. Are we not in the South? If ladies are waiting for a seat and you have a Y chromosome, do you sit down? No, sir. No, you do not.

We know modern life is confusing. The roles of men and women have evolved over the years. As Pink once sang, “Shorty got a job, Shorty got a car, Shorty can pay her own rent.”
But come on, let’s keep some things old-school. My late grandfather- he of the East Texas upbringing, U.S. Navy captain status, and Cary Grant good looks – would never have allowed a woman to stand while he sat. And if you want a Southern woman to love you, neither will you. So, men, here’s a short list of things Southern girls still expect from you.

We still expect you to…

1. Stand up for a lady. Actually, this doesn’t just involve chairs.
2. Know that the SEC has the best football TEAMS IN THE NATION. Big 12 fan? Hmm, perhaps you should keep walking.
3. Kill bugs. Delta Burke as Southern belle Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women said, “. . .Ya know, when men use Women’s Liberation as an excuse not to kill bugs for you. Oh, I just hate that! I don’t care what anybody says, I think the man should have to kill the bug!”
4. Hold doors open. This goes for elevator doors too.
5. Fix things or build stuff. I once watched in awe as my stepfather built a front porch on the house he shares with my mother. He knew just what to do, cutting every notch, hammering every nail. The project was complete by sunset.
6. Wear boots occasionally. Not the fancy, I-paid-$l,000-for-these kind. We’re talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots.
7. Take off your hat inside.
8. Grill stuff.
9. Call us. If you want to ask us out, don’t text and don’t e-mail. Pick up the phone and use your voice.
10. Stand when we come back to the dinner table. ”Just a little half-stand is enough to make me melt,” my friend Stephanie says.
11. Pull out chairs. Wait, that’s not all. Scoot them back in before we hit the floor.
12. Pay the tab on the first few dates. ”If you ask me out, you pay,” Stephanie says. “If I ask you out, you should still pay.” Listen, guys, it’s just simpler this way.
13. Don’t show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt. Care about your appearance but not too much. Don’t smell better than we do. Don’t use mousse or gel. You shouldn’t look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do.
14. Never get in bar fights. Patrick Swayze might look cool in Road House, but in reality, bar fights are stupid and embarrassing. You don’t look tough. You look like an idiot.
15. Know how to mix our favorite cocktail JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT. Fix your favorite too. Sit down on the porch (it’s okay if you didn’t build it), tell us how your day went, and we’ll tell you about ours.

We'll leave the long list to the girl who falls in love with you. Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jul 2009

I'm proud that my husband knows how to rock his cowboy boots, always gives me his seat, opens doors and irons his shirts. But I can kill my own bugs, thank you :-)

The Will...

I have always LOVED quotes, OK maybe I'm a little obsessed as you can see by the right hand side of my blog. I am always on the lookout for a great quote. I take pictures of signs in stores, I type them into the note pad in my phone, I keep them everywhere. Quotes are comforting to me, they speak to me, encourage me, and today this one spoke to me...

The Will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.

OMG...what is WRONG with this GIRL?

Warning! You might want to have small children leave the room so they aren't scarred for life...

Heidi Montag has lost her MIND! I heard her say on an interview that her 2 new additions were "between an E and an F." Well I wanna know what the F she is thinking? Does she really think those things look good, or is it just to get the media's attention?

Historic Mistake

So I'm a little late posting about health care reform, but I HAD to say something, of course :-)

I stole some of the post below from a friend on FB, but she said it so perfectly...

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We just passed a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it...and who [allegedly] showed up drunk on the Senate floor to debate health care reform.

Passed by a Congress that exempts themselves from it...

Signed by a President who smokes...

With funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes...

All to be overseen by an overweight Surgeon General...

And financed by a country that's broke.

Sundays

Sunday nights can sometimes be a little defeating. Before we know it - we've blown through the weekend, gotten to stay up, sleep in, and eat out. On Sunday night, we all try not to countdown the hours - as we creep closer to the inevitable - Muuunday.

When my sister moved out to go to college and life got busy, my parents started Sunday Family Dinners to make sure we stayed close and connected to each other. The older I get, the more I cherish these Sundays...my parents house is so beautiful and relaxing...there are no cars driving by, no sirens, no dogs barking. Just silence, and it is music to my ears and eyes...

We eat good food, read the paper, sit on the deck and watch the deer play, have coffee with dessert, play on the swingset, play Wii, and for some reason at their house - the couch wraps its arms around you can easily nod off into dream land. (Oh and a bonus is hanging out with this little guy!)

Every Sunday we find ourselves heading to my parents a little earlier than the week before. Josh and I really look forward to keeping the Sunday Night Dinner tradition when our kids get older. And we are really looking forward to Sunday...

WTF Wednesday

Some Things We Never Outgrow

Today would have been my Papa's birthday. He was such a great Christian man and an amazing grandpa that went to every softball and basketball game I ever played. He was funny, charming and believed in doing the right thing. Papa was truly thankful for every day he had on this earth.

There are so many things I remember vividly about him...one of my favorite things was his smile - he would always get a big goofy grin on his face when he was trying to make us laugh. His favorite color was red and he quite often sported a red blazer to church. He made a mean peanut brittle. He loved to watch wresting. He always smelled a bit like Vapo Rub, and he loved his grandchildren.

I miss him a little bit every day - we were very close and losing him had a huge impact on my life. It's strange that the biggest life lesson he taught me was during his last days. I was in Junior High and I remember being at my grandparents house visiting Papa when he was in his Hospice bed. After we talked with Meme and Papa for a while, I told my mom we needed to get going because I was in a hurry to get to some unimportant teenage event. Little did I know that was the last time I'd see him. The last time I'd smell that VapoRub and the last time I'd feel his frail arms around my neck.

I always feel sad about that day - being so rushed - but Papa taught me so many great things in life, I know he wouldn't want me to dwell in regret. And at least I was THERE that day, with him, not anywhere else. I got to see him that one last time. More than anything, I wish he could have met Josh and played baseball with Grayson. They would have LOVED him!

They say grandgathers are someone we never outgrow our need for, and that is so incredibly true, but I know my Papa is always watching over me - and smiling that big silly grin as he watches us grow.