random

below are a few pictures from the last few weeks. this amazing, 80 degree, april weather has been awesome, and we've been outside for every last drop of it!

cool dude

future derek jeter

wes showing off his surfer outfit for the beach this summer

future tiger

chillin'

we wanted a stand up sandbox because we figured that william wouldn't drag as much sand in the house that way. we figured wrong...

me and my buddy, noah, at the park

william only thinks this is his tractor

if it's a cabinet, i'm getting in it

post-bath head

hanging out in william's bed

in other news, wes started wheezing, so i took him to see my new favorite best friend, amy. she said it was global and to take him to the doctor. so i took a deep breath and prepared for the agony of the waiting room. it really didn't take too long, and we were in the back getting a breathing treatment. if you've ever had to hold an 11 month old down for 10 minutes of a nebulizer, you need a big ol' pat on the back. the nurse brought it in, and said, "here you go." so, i proceeded to try to hold this mask over his face while holding a squirmy, screaming, sweating, highly perturbed kid on my lap. after about 30 seconds, he pulled the hose out of the mask. so, now i get to hold that together as well. then, he pulled the hose out of the machine. lovely. i just hope this doesn't get to be a recurring thing, or i may have to sedate my kid beforehand. anyway, we came home with 3 different meds and instructions to use the humidifier all the time. he acts totally fine except for the whole breathing thing, so hopefully these meds will cure the little guy. so, y'all please say a little prayer for him to knock this out.

and for the few people that have asked.....yes, the toilet is working fine. apparently, cell phones are quite flushable. i've heard that thomas the train toys aren't as lucky making it down the pipes, though. therefore, we have a new rule.....no toys while you tee tee. you must put everything in your hands and pockets on the counter before heading to the potty. so, if you come to my house and need to go, i'll probably frisk you before you can enter the bathroom. totally normal.

check me out!

she didn't ever win a spelling bee

william has told his teachers at school that his mama will not give him cherry pie or chocolate cake. this is the biggest fib ever because that kid eats way more chocolate than i care to let on. even so, whoever gets him out of my car or puts him in it during the carpool makes sure to let me know that i'm depriving him, and i need to feed him cherry pie and chocolate cake. yes, every adult at that school thinks i'm a crazy, pregnant person! thank you, william.

anyway, the cherry pie part is probably true because neither chase nor i care for it. so why would i bake a cherry pie? luckily, the other day we were out eating, and they had cherry pie for dessert. unfortunately, i didn't have my camera with me to get proof of william eating that stinkin' cherry pie. of course, i would have had to take a picture of that first bite because that is all he took. "cherry pie is yucky!" was his response. he made sure to tell everybody at his school that, so now they are on me about the chocolate cake.

i am in charge of snack tomorrow, so i decided to get a chocolate cake so that they could have visible proof that i'm not a terrible mom who won't let her kid eat chocolate cake. plus, i figured a room full of 2 year olds hyped up on chocolate cake was sweet justice for all the dogging i've received in the carpool line! i kid....but i still got the cake! :)

so, i went to kroger this morning and picked out a small chocolate cake from the bakery. since everything in william's pre-school room is labeled, i decided that labeling the chocolate cake with the words "chocolate cake" made perfect sense. so i handed it to the lady behind the counter and asked her to write "chocolate cake" on it for me. this is what she handed back to me...


i turned around to hand it back to her so i could get another one spelled correctly, but it was just too good not to keep. so, i put it in my race car shopping cart and headed home. the sad thing is that the top of the cake has a sticker with the word "chocolate" on it about 5cm from where she wrote the words.


i guess it's a good thing 2 year olds can't spell! i'm sure they'll enjoy their CHOCLATE cake anyway!

does phone insurance cover that?

my neighbor, shannon, and i were talking one afternoon a while ago while our little people were outside playing, and we decided that satan comes out in full force on sunday mornings. i know he's out in full force everyday, but it just really seems like he's on top of his game on sunday mornings. no sooner than 5 seconds after we get out of the bed...something goes wrong. somebody is grumpy, somebody gets knocked down and starts wailing, somebody is bleeding, blood is gushing, food is flying, and just go ahead and fill in the blank. something happens that tries to interfere with our worship and enjoyment of the lord's day. (please tell me this is not just on our cul-de-sac!)

anyway, yesterday morning was no different. chase had to work, so i got up and got dressed, fixed breakfast, and went to get the little people up. we all played for a minute or two, then william said he needed to go to the bathroom. so i changed wes' diaper while william was in the bathroom tee teeing, or so i thought. as i'm getting ready to put wes' new diaper on, i hear a splash and an "uh oh!"

"william, what did you do?!"
"if i flush, i won't have a phone anymore."
"william, don't you....."

but, it was too late. i heard the whoosh of a flushing toilet along with the very odd sound of a cell phone beating against the pipes in my wall on it's way to rest in a sewage tank somewhere. william thought it was great until he realized that it is not coming back, and he will never, ever see that fun cell phone again. then, he cried all day because mama and daddy wouldn't get that phone back for him.

so far, everything is still in working order as far as the toilet goes. apparently, it can take weeks to stop up. stay tuned....

psalm 23

we missed a verse in there, but....he is only 2!

they're part crazy

william:
so, the other day i picked william up at school and was greeted at the car by several teachers. they all offered congratulations. i looked at them like they were crazy and asked, "what for?" and, the reply i got almost made me quit breathing, "well, william told us that he was getting a little sister!" after getting my breath back, i quickly corrected their thinking. however, i don't think that some of them believed me. of course, this is the same child that told them that wes was his little sister, his name was diego, and that his mama refuses to give him chocolate cake or cherry pie. there's no telling what those teachers think goes on at this house!

a week later i was in kroger and ran into one of the 3 year old teachers at his school. we had a short conversation, and then she said, "oh yeah, you're expecting another one aren't you?" thank you to my 2 year old for starting a rumor and having the whole town believe that i am a baby making machine.

chase:
as i was cleaning up after supper one night last week, i asked chase if he would vacuum the kitchen floor for me. he reluctantly agreed and got the stick broom out of the laundry room. as he began vacuuming under the high chair and william's chair, i went back to the dishes in the sink. i looked up to tell him something, and y'all....the boy is vacuuming the kitchen table. i am not even close to kidding. vacuuming the kitchen table. i must have looked at him like he had 8 heads because he said, "what? i'm just getting it clean." so, i'm not sure if he really just has no clue or if he was doing the man thing of doing the job in such a way so that i won't ever ask him to do it again. either way, i'm sure glad that med school worked out for him because i don't think there's anybody around that would hire him as a janitor. and, i know that all y'all want to come eat off of my kitchen table now, don't you?

baby leigh

this past week, we all took a trip to jackson to visit my new niece, leigh. she was born during our stomach virus crisis, so we were not able to be there for her entrance to this world. but, we got there as soon as we could, and we were able to spend a few days getting to know her. she is adorable, and i think that she looks like her mama. (of course, i'm terrible at being able to tell who kids look like.)

wes wasn't really into the loving on leigh thing that we had going on. he was more interested in pushing his aunt's barstools around her kitchen. but, william was more than happy to give her a little love.


he even complimented her, "leigh has little feets." yes, she does. and, besides the little feets, leigh is apparently going for the record of the best baby ever in the history of the world. seriously. she hardly ever fusses, and if she does...just pick her up. period. she's only 4 weeks old, and she has already thrown in several nights of getting up only once. hello?? my kids got some of those same genes...they must have been defective!

we tried to get a picture of all 4 little people, but this is the best one i had on my camera. and it's not saying much. good luck, honey and g, with getting 6 kids under age 3 to sit still for a christmas card picture this year.


anyway, we brought lots of presents with us including big sister presents for sara beth. here she is showing off what we got her.

is she not the cutest cook ever?? no, i'm not crazy. she has a kitchen and loves to cook. and loves to watch the food network. (come to my house anytime, sara beth.)

we also went to the park on thursday to hang out for a little bit. william and sara beth had a blast and neither wanted to leave. but, a bribe of grilled cheeses and breadsticks from newk's did the trick.

digging on the digger

showing off our swinging skills
"please don't make me slide down this thing"

gentleman william making sure sara beth doesn't fall
making it through the tunnelthat night we told god what we were thankful for from the day. right after "pants" and "trees" was "sara beth's park." so, i guess we'll have to be heading back to the big yellow slide the next time we get to jackson. and, hopefully, that won't be too far down the road.

same shirt, same book...different kid

william
wes

respectable sins

i know what y'all are thinking.....say what??

chase and i are reading a book (well, not at the same time. that would be a disaster...he reads some, i read some. we discuss. you get the picture) titled "respectable sins" by jerry bridges.

at this point, i know at least one of you is wondering, "is laura really reading a real book?" and yes. i am. true, i have not been a huge reader in my life. actually, i read every single one of the baby sitter's club books when i was in like 4th grade, but it's been downhill since then. i was the person that got books on tape for that stinking summer reading all throughout school and made my mom listen to it in the car on the way to tennis tournaments. of course, that was right up her alley. she usually had to wake me up 5 seconds into it. and although i considered myself a fairly good student, i absolutely could not read "as i lay dying" in the 11th grade. yes, i realize that i am putting down a major literary work here, but come on.....for real?? and, it's the one time that i took a test and did not study for it (which was impossible due to the lack of, ya know, reading). and i do remember getting a grade that reflected said lack of reading. still passing, but nowhere close to an A. oh well, i managed to graduate high school, college, and pharmacy school and do not consider myself any worse off for skipping that william faulkner masterpiece (term used loosely here).

but, i'm getting so much better at the reading thing lately. and i'm actually enjoying it. i think i've finished more books since christmas than i have in my lifetime (not counting the baby sitter's club).

ok.....back to the topic at hand. this book is about the "subtle" sins of believers. it basically talks about how we have become so preoccupied with the "major" sins of society that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own "little" sins. wow. eyes opened and knocked on butt. seriously. every time i read a little bit more, i'm more and more convicted. it's like i'm shorty walking toward the sun and seeing more and more how dirty i am (shorter catechism reference there!).

there are chapters dealing with specific "respectable" sins....ungodliness, frustration, anxiety, discontentment, pride, anger, impatience, etc. things that i never even thought of before as being a sin (probably should have, but didn't) are making me see each day and situation in a totally new way.

this makes me think of a conversation that my mom and i had quite a few times when i was little. i never could see how stealing a bag of M&Ms from wal-mart could be as bad as killing somebody. (i never did steal a bag of M&Ms from wal-mart...just to make that clear. although, william tried to get out of kroger with a baby ruth one day. note to self...when william learns to read, he will read this book). she told me over and over that a sin is a sin. there are not degrees of sin. god doesn't like sin. no matter what kind it is. (see....i do listen, mama...most of the time.)

anyway, i just wanted to put the title of this book in your head in case you were looking for some good reading. it has a workbook that goes along with it that chase and i are working through right now, too. i promise, it's an eye-opener.

let me end this with a few sentences from chapter 8:
"...whatever in our lives in not like jesus is sin. granted, we will never achieve complete freedom from anxiety or frustration [or other "respectable" sins] in this life. but we should never accept them as just part of our temperament any more than we would accept adultery as part of our temperament. keep in mind that even though anxiety and frustration [or others] may not be as serious as adultery, they are still sins. and all sin is serious in the eyes of a holy god.

there is good news, though...
all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. isaiah 53:6

now go read!

delta visit

at the end of last week, william, wes and i packed up and headed to the delta for a few jam-packed days. on thursday, my mom took william to delta state to see the hungry, hungry caterpillar. the bologna performing arts center had some group come in and do the hungry, hungry caterpillar, the confused chamelion, and something about a cloud....i don't know that particular eric carle book. it was all done in black light, and he was apparently mesmerized. he came home telling me everything that the caterpillar ate and that it was "berry, berry dark."

that afternoon, lamb's squeezed me in to get wes' second round of pictures. the kid would not smile. i take that back, he smiled twice. we had 3 adults acting like complete idiots, and he let us know that that is exactly what he thought of us. however, i think we did get some cute pictures of him sucking his thumb and holding onto puppy. we'll have to see what i think when i get the proofs back.

on friday, william went to down to CDA to play on the playground with some of the kids. he had a blast.

the big "lellow" slide
the super big slide

monkeying on the low part of the monkey bars
pushing the ladiesthat afternoon, my BFF (i know some of you are thinking this is humorous because i am not a texter and do not know the lingo in the slightest bit) from high school, kathryn, came to hang out. it was awesome because i haven't seen her in forever. she got me up to date with everything going on in greenwood. and she let me know all about our class reunion this summer that she somehow got roped into planning. you go, kathryn. AND....(great news here)....she taught me (somewhat) how to do that progressive texting. (candace, i know you're proud.) now i might be able to reply to a text without calling somebody back or it taking me 4 hours to type a sentence. pumped! william asked her to come to his house and play, so she must be on the good list!

that night, half of the town came over to eat supper and hang out. definitely chaotic, but lots of fun!

william hoarding golf clubs
wes being a bully to grace

on saturday, i went to a wedding of a high school friend in greenwood. we got anna and andy all hitched up (despite her monstrous case of nerves), and then we went out to money, ms for the reception at her grandmother's house. it looked awesome, the weather was perfect, the food was great, and the band was kickin'! i was kinda sad that william wasn't there to bust a move...maybe next time. but, it was really good to see some old friends and catch up on what's been going on.

me and the bride (not nervous anymore)

me and maid of honor, mary austin

other than that, william and wes hung out and...

let poppa show me how to hit golf balls in the bayou behind the house

hit golf balls all by myself
did some serious digging for toys

figured out that i can stand up all by myself

watched the dryer in amazement
now, i think it's time for a nap....