OUT OF THE APARTMENT...

It has finally happened. We found a house - hallelujah! It seems like this always happens to us, but we originally were gonna have a little more than a week to move from our apartment into our house. Now we have till Monday. The apartment complex found someone to rent our apt, but they need to start moving in Monday. SO, now we are going to be rushed and pushed to have everything out of the apartment. Especially since we are going out of town Sunday to Monday. That means we have tonight and tomorrow. Yippee...luckily I have been packing up things slowly over the past few weeks, but that still won't mean an easy move. As long as we can get everything out of the apartment, we can get our things out of storage next weekend. We had lots of family coming into town next weekend to help. But plans change. We'll make do.

I'm just thrilled to finally get a house and for the kids to have a backyard to play in. We've been house hunting for quite some time and really had our eyes set on Forest Hills. We love the neighborhood. A few weeks ago our real estate agent called and said that one had come available in Forest Hills (for the longest, there was nothing in Forest Hills - or at least in our price range). We loved it and decided to take it. The Lord was taking care of us. He has been all this time. And of all things, we can actually walk to the Forest Hills Pool. The kids are so excited (me too). We'll have plenty of time to get settled in before Macy gets here (we hope). We plan to paint the kids rooms first and over time paint other rooms. It's not as big as what we wanted, but will have plenty of room for now. Marah will be sharing a room with Macy- she is very excited about that and Joshua will have his own room pack. The 2 of them have been in bunk beds in the apartment. What memories we've had...the 4 of us in that 2-bedroom apartment. Ha Ha!

You can pray for our move to go well and in good time before Sunday. Oh and for me to NOT overdo it with lifting boxes and things. I tend to forget that I need to be really careful since there is another person growing inside of me. Sometimes it just seems easier for me to pick it up, than to wait for someone else to get it.

Anyways...I've got to get back to packing while the kids are napping (and grab a quick snack too). Have a good weekend!

Beach Trip Coming Up....

Our annual beach trip with my mom and dad, Brooke (her family), Ben (his family), Aunt Carolyn, Amy, Cortney and our newbie this year -Trey (Cortney's soon-to-be husband) is now one month away. My family has been taking this trip to Orange Beach for as LONG as I can even remember. Along the way, we have picked up our husbands' and now bringing 8 kids under the age of 5.
Last year was Abbie, Bailey & Noah's first year. It was probably a little tough (maybe a lot) for Ben and Anna to pack up their whole house and bring the babies (11 months) last year. Hopefully for them, this year will be a little better. They are almost 2 years old and can stay in the sun for a little longer than 30 minutes (like last year). Oh how I remember those days when it would take up more time to put on suntan lotion and swimmies than almost the amount of time they could be out in the sun - I can't even begin to imagine getting 3 - 11 month olds ready to get out in the pool for a few pictures then to come back in and wash off. I guess I better get ready, because next year Rodney and I will be starting all over with our new baby girl - Macy. But that's okay...we just hope she loves the outdoors like Joshua & Marah. They live outside during the spring and summer.
I had to post some pictures from our trip last year and in June I will post some new ones. The kids have grown so much since last year, and we cannot wait for our trip. The kids can't either. The big boys (Camden, Carter & Joshua), as well as Caley and Marah will probably skip naps to stay out at the pool or beach all day. WE will probably sneak some nap time in somewhere.
We will stay in 2 - three bedroom condos to accommodate all of us and this year we are staying somewhere new - the Caribe. The countdown is on and we cannot wait.
ALL OF US LOVE THE BEACH!

I WAS TAGGED...

*Maybe I should...work on being more patient ( my husband does a wonderful job of this).

*I love the smell of ...freshly cut grass, newly washed sheets, the smell of chlorine in the elevator at the beach and Johnson's Baby Lotion on my kids.

*People would say that I...get into the Christmas Spirit way too early (I only start listening to Christmas music in July).

*I don't understand why...Bruster's closed down in Florence.

*When I wake up in the morning...Marah is up and ready to go and Joshua is still snoozing.

*I lost my will power to...workout at the gym. Instead I skip my workout and go straight to the indoor pool with my kids.

*Life is wonderful with...my family and hope of eternal life.

*My past made me...aware that everything I do affects someone else whether good or bad. It made me who I am today.

*I get annoyed when...we don't make it to church on time.

*Parties are not...what they used to be. It's kid parties from here on out.

*Dogs are...are so cute when they are puppies.

*Cats are...not in our future (Rodney hates them).

*Tomorrow I am going to...Huntsville to visit the preschool I taught at and where Joshua and Marah went to before we moved to Florence (and of course to visit some family).

*I have a low tolerance for... people that hurt children (I have no tolerance for that).

*I'm totally terrified of...the dentist.

*I wonder why I thought my life would be...just like I had planned - who does that happen to?

*Never in my life...have I wanted to be spray tanned by a professional more than I do now. When your pregnant, the backside of your body never sees the sun. The front of my legs are nice and brown, but the back of my legs are white as snow.

*High school was something that...I took for granted. Those basketball days were so much fun. Things were so easy back then.

*When I'm nervous...I usually have to go to the bathroom.

*Take my advice...enjoy every minute you have with your kids. They don't stay babies for long.

*Making my bed is...something that makes my room look much cleaner.

*I'm almost always...behind on laundry.

*I'm addicted to...Frosted Flakes right now (next week it will be something new).

*I want someone...to know I'm trying to live the best life that I can with the Lord in control of my life and at the center of my marriage and my family.


I TAG Brooke, Anna, and Amy (only if you have a minute)...Enjoy, it can be fun just thinking of all the different ways you can answer.

A TRIP TO THE ZOO!!

Well a trip to the zoo was how we spent our Tuesday! Rodney took off a few weeks ago so we could go during the week and we had a wonderful time. It was a beautiful day to be there and the kids were so excited.
The kids informed us last night at bed time that we forgot to go back and see the butterflies. But I think we saw everything else. Marah loved the monkeys and Joshua 's favorite part was the snakes. The big pythons reminded us of the scene from Harry Potter.
Rodney and I enjoyed watching the kids and we had just as much fun! It's a good thing we went now instead of a few months from now. I really would have been tired from all the walking. But we made it. Of course at the end, we let the kids play in the splash pad area. They were so worn out by that time. Marah didn't last very long - she was so pooped, then came Joshua. So we headed home and all went to Rodney's softball game.
In taking time out from our normal days to spend time together as a family, it really makes you appreciate what the Lord has given us. We feel so blessed to have each other and we love spending time with daddy during the weekdays!

Is the Fountain Working?

Well, the fountain that we have been waiting for was finally working. But as we were heading down to let the kids play, a man from Parks & Recreation told me they were only testing and to not let the kids in to play. As he was saying this, Joshua and Marah were watching all the other kids that had stripped down and made it to the fountain before Parks guy could get to them. So needless to say, the water works began out of my kids eyes. They were so disappointed. But all turned out well. Joshua, Marah and Whitt had a good time watching and letting the mist blow on them for standing next to it. They were good sports about it. Sitting so calmlike on their towels watching the fountains. Oh well, the fountain will be ready to go May 10, so we'll wait till then I suppose.

Things we miss about Huntsville...

Well, we are still adjusting to life in Florence. Rodney and I met in Florence and of course my parents, aunt and cousin were here to make our move a little easier. It's hard to believe we've been here since October 2007. We are house hunting each day and hope to find one really soon. A 2-bedroom apartment is about to drive us all crazy. The kids and I get try to find plenty of things to do outside of the apartment - like swimming at the Y, reading and playing on the Thomas table at Books-a-Million (while I catch up on all the celebrity gossip -Ha), going to all the parks in our area, feeding fish and ducks, oh and visiting the Pet Store. We cannot wait for the new water pad to open up by the Marriott - on pretty days, you'll probably catch us there (till we have a backyard of our own).


We love to eat mom's hamburgers and homemade fries (did that last night) - Thanks mom! Eating at mom and dad's is a probably a favorite of ours. We miss so many of the good food places in Huntsville. Little Rosie's (Joshua and Marah's favorite) before Wednesday night church-yummo! McAlister's - a huge favorite of mine and Jason's Deli (where you can get free icecream with your meal). Florence could use one of those places. Then there is Red Robin & Cheeburger Cheeburger. We love those too. It wasn't too long ago Joshua asked if Florence had a Cheeseburger Cheeseburger and I said, "no." He said," what about a French Fry, French Fry!"


Then of course, what we miss most about Huntsville - the people!

I am still learning about all this posting stuff and have not mastered inserting pictures with the names under them, so please forgive me for all the pictures in different places. I will try to let you know who is in each picture from the top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

At the very top was our Huddle Group (9th graders) from Mayfair.

Then we have our class from Mayfair - the Homebuilder guys! My sister Brooke and her family is next - Thomas, Camden, Carter & Caley. Beside their family picture is Joshua with his "best buds" - Camden & Carter.

My brother Ben and his beautiful and famous family - Anna and the "Morrow Triplets" - Abbie, Bailey & Noah.

On the right, is the all the Homebuilder Girls

Marah's best friend -Caley (they are only 3 months apart)

Rodney's brother Ryan and his wife Kellie, and their dog 'Jake'

Well, I went to preview all this and the pictures moved around AGAIN. Sorry for all of that...maybe you can figure out who everyone is - I'm tired! Anyways....All of this to say...

Florence is a good place for us right now - it's where the Lord wants us to be! We just want all these special people to know that we miss them and love them very much.

Baseball & Gymnastics...

Well, it's time to play baseball and Joshua is so excited - this is is favorite sport. He wears a St.Louis Cardinals baseball shirt and white baseball pants almost every day of the week. We thought he would be playing t-ball, but actually he gets 3 balls on a pitching machine first, and if he does not hit one of those, they put a tee on the plate. So, he says he is playing "actual baseball, not t-ball." He got his uniform yesterday at practice and couldn't wait to get home and try it on. He can't wait to get his uniform dirty Saturday. The sad thing about Saturday and his first ever baseball game is that mommy will be in Birmingham. My cousin Cortney's lingerie shower was planned a while ago, so I will miss his first game - awwww!! I'm sure he will be so excited about playing that he will not remember anyways (I hope).

And Marah has started Gymnastics at the YMCA. It's free and not a big deal at all, but at least she is able to be a part of something. She can't wait for t-ball next year and soccer. One of her gymnastic coaches looks like Jessa (a friend from college). They are doing frontward and backward rolling flips and starting to show them how to do handstands and back handsprings. She loves it.