Your Presence Is Heaven To Me

At Church we sing a song is titled "Your Presence Is Heaven To Me"

Here is a link if you would like to hear the song.

While I know the song is about something totally different, I was thinking about who in my earth feels like actual heaven to be with.    It didn't take long to realize the answer to that question falls very close to my heart.  They are of course the children in my life.  Being with them feels like Heaven to me! I present to you my Nephews, Nieces and Child in no particular order!  I can't wait to meet any more that happen to come along!

 Donovan

Kaleigh

Rylee and Bryce

Henry

Charlie

 Shelby

inspired

It is hard to pinpoint what has been going on here lately.  We have been busy, and not the kind of busy where people just say they are busy but aren't.  We have more of the when-are-we-gonna-catch-a-break kind of busy.  It has been the kind of busy where you feel like you aren't doing anything well because you are simply juggling too much!  I had a huge work project lifted this weekend when my school's Fall Festival took place.  This was my first year to be in charge.  It was a great event, with only a few minor snags.   I already have some plans to make it better next year.  Mr. D. is opening up a new hotel in a matter of weeks and he has been super busy with that.   Things for me are slowing down, things for Mr. D. will slow down sometime after the holidays.   There is light at the end of the tunnel folks! 

This weekend I got a renewed sense of inspiration.  We received this little gift into our home and I am completely in love with it. 

   

This desk belonged to Mr. D.'s recently departed Grandma Ruthie.  Somehow we were lucky enough to end up with it.  I had recently been commenting...(OK, complaining) that there is no where in this house for my things.  Ask and it shall be given to you???  This beauty arrived on Saturday, but I didn't have time to sit and enjoy her until today.   I felt like I wanted to start writing again, though I have to admit the computer felt strange on this piece of furniture.  It felt as though I should have been writing with a calligraphy pen on fancy paper instead of typing. 

Wanna know about my favorite part of working at the desk this afternoon????  

 Shelby!! 

She invented this little game with a button.  She would let them slide off of the slope saying "wheeeeeee" and then pick it up and start over again.  Later she crawled under the desk with Brady and they both sat at my feet playing.  It was such a peaceful moment.

I am going to have to do a little work on the desk.  I am looking forward to the challenge of restoration.   I already have a friend helping me find some of the replacement hardware I need.   I want to find a really cool chair to go with it.  We are just so thrilled and honored to have this piece of furniture in our home!


OK Shelby fans.... here are a few pics from the Fall Festival Weekend.  Papi and Gran came to visit!!!

 Shelby's Mama worked out an amazing deal and Shelby got to take her horse home! 

It was a wonderful Fall weekend!!! 

Fall

We are still here and having a wonderful family Fall.  I hope you all are too! 

I used to hate people like me

I used to hate people like me.  You probably do to.  You know, people who hook you with their super fun blog and then their is a lull...............a .............long..................lull!  Yep, hated them! And sadly, now I am one of them.

We have had an amazing summer and we are now back in school.  Shelby had a great 2nd birthday party.  She is SO grown up!  At her 2 year old well visit she measured at 35 1/4 inches (90th %) and 28 lbs (70th %).   She is a happy and sweet girl.

We are back in school now and I am having one of the most challenging classes of my teaching career.  I am hopeful that this class gets "normalized" eventually, but as for right I get to practice extreme patience all day long. I keep reminding myself they are getting a little older each and every day.  Oh MY goodness if they aren't all absolutely precious! Seriously, they would make you love them all the second you met them.   I have some great personalities in this group! On the plus side, I have made a new grown up friend at school this year as well.  I also have a fabulous room mom! She is amazing.

I have also taken on a role of the planner of the school social events.  This past week we had the school wide potluck.  I thought it went very well.  Shelby had a fabulous time and had to have a bath from all of the fun she had.  I did think she was funny because the kids had taken off their shoes to get in the sandbox and Shelby kept bringing me different shoes she had found (err.. stolen) and wanting me to put them on her.  She also kept snagging cookies and cupcakes from the buffet! I love how comfortable she is at CMS.

Shelby is having a fabulous school year.  She is so cute walking into her classroom each morning.  She is the first to arrive and so she gets to help prepare the class snack.  She is happy.  I love being able to see her through out the day.   She was getting in trouble at school for not keeping her shoes on.  We solved that problem though! Whew!! She a about to start potty training.  We have bought some special big girl panties and wet clothes bags.   I am pretty sure I have bought my last pull ups...optimistic aren't I?

Mr. D. is as busy as ever. He has some HUGE stuff going on at work which is requiring LOTS of late nights, and working from home.  He works very hard to provide for our family and we are SO appreciative.

I have been in a food co-op all summer.  It is winding down now.  We get produce through October 6th.  I have loved being in the co-op.  I have created new recipes, tried new recipes and learned a great deal about food storage for the winter.  I has been SO fun!

Brady boy tore his ACL ...again... on the other leg.  This time it is not as bad as last time.  We are hoping to avoid surgery.  Dr. Lee has been very thrilled with Brady's use of his leg and has been keeping a close eye on him.

We recently went to Nashville to see the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS opening game.  That was a fun get-a-way.

OK, that is all for now.  I would say I will try to get better, but for right now... I am doing what I can.  Love y'all.  Thanks for checking in on this blog!

how to sit in a chair

Shelby got a new chair for her birthday from her Nonnie.  We went shopping for it yesterday and this the one Shelby chose.  Here is a pictorial of her first few minutes with the chair.  Enjoy! 

 and my personal favorite......

a huge announcement

Surprise!!!!

I have started a 365 photo project on my favorite subject-- Shelby.  You can find a link to it at the top of this blog titled Shelby 365.    This is in an effort to help me with my photography skills.  I plan to spend two minutes a day trying to take a somewhat decent picture.... as opposed from my current strategy of clicking and praying for something decent.  Enjoy!! 

What can I say??

This little girl is a connoisseur of all things cake!

 

Hipppp Hipppp Hoooooooray!!!!

Mr. D...being fabulous as usual...took the big journey into the Best Buy on tax free weekend and bought me a new laptop! I imagine it was like going into battle at 4am on black Friday.  Never the less, I am ever so thankful for his efforts.

That said--- a blog post! Sorry, not one with photos because I do not have photos on this computer.
We are having a fabulous summer-- and it is winding down at a rapid pace.  We only have a week and a half before school starts again.  And, in the mist of that week and a half- we have a not-as-big-as-last-year second birthday party! This weekend we will be swarming with grandparents, aunts, uncles, family, friends and more! I can hardly believe how fast this two years has passed!

I am also now in full "getting ready for school" mode-- again thank heavens for a working computer.  This will be a big year for me.  In addition to my teaching, and room parent duties for Shelby's class.  I am also in charge of ALL of the school's social events.  Whew! I am looking forward to the year ahead, but can say with all honesty that the summer off has been great for me!

I have worked all summer on organizing our home.  Thanks to a fellow blogger friend of mine I have implemented a toy rotation system that has literally changed our lives.  We were swimming in toys and now we have 12 toys each week in the main living area.  It has made everyone happier and within the span of a month Shelby will get the opportunity to spend time playing with every one of her toys.  She is busier, the house is cleaner and we are all less cluttered in every way!

Shelby has also spent the summer learning her letters, letter sounds and numbers 0-9.  She is a whiz.  I plan to make a video of it soon.  She is impressive for 23 months.

We are enjoying our food co-op that has been organized through our church.  Each week we get a food basket of local fresh fruits and vegetables.  We have had a summer of wonderful meals....and even some things put up for the winter.  I have also experimented with some new recipes, but nothing blog worthy.

I have spent the summer reading! I love to read but it has fallen on the back burner over the last few years.  I am calling this my summer of the trendy trilogies.  My Kindle has really gotten a work out!

OK- more later.  I have a bunch of people coming in less than a week and there are certainly things around here that need to be done!

More later-  thanks for sticking around!!!

a post--- of sorts

Whew!! We have been VERY busy this summer.   I know this blog is perpetually behind.  There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that my computer is coming to it's last days and to start it up is an effort I am not willing to put forth most days.  I can't blog/upload pics from the ipad, so I guess the motto of snack time at my school applies here.  "you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit"... you know because we live in the south where the words get and fit rhyme.  Bwahaaaahaaaaaa.


Let's see, what all has happened.   Well, in May we went to my Brother-in-law Boomer's graduation.  You can read about it HERE thanks to my (much better of a blogger) sister-in-law.  I have pretty much known Boomer his whole life.  I think he was about 4 or 6 month's old when I met him.    He is a really awesome guy! 

After that I had all of the end of the school year stuff.  Now I am off for my first non-working summer since 1992- yes, in 20 years!!  I joined a food co-op through my church and have been enjoying the best produce Alabama has to offer each and every week.  We have really enjoyed it! I have even learned the finer southern art of "putting stuff up" for use in the winter.  I have tried lots of new recipes.  I think my family has really enjoyed me being home and having extra time in the kitchen.

Mr. D.'s grandmother Ruthie passed away.   She was a fabulous lady.  She was classy, always dressed to the nines and never without a fabulous purse.  She was so dear.  I always liked her and especially enjoyed our last visit together watching her play with Shelby. Here is the link to that visit.  They were peas in a pod.   Meredith shared some lovely words about her here.  We have so many wonderful memories of Ruthie!

Mr. D.'s other Grandmother is not doing well either.  We are certainly hopeful for her recovery.

We have been on the move this summer.  Shelby started ballet.  She takes it on Tuesdays.  It is a beginner class to help us gauge her interest.  We have successfully gauged that we will try again when she is three or four.  She really isn't fond of this class right now.   I thought it would grow on here like Gymboree did, but alas we have 3 classes left and she is just not jazzed about it.  She does however look fabulous in her ballet gear! 

I think I mentioned before that we quit Gymboree.   We have been very active at the YMCA.  We have had such a fun summer there.  I have been meeting my friends and working out and then we take the kids swimming.  Shelby is a fish in the water and fearless.  We are going to take more swim lessons.  She loves it and does amazingly well for a child who isn't even two yet.    I have been taking Aqua Zumba on Thursday nights and while I am in class, Mr. D. has been taking Shelby for a night swim.  She loves being in the water.

We have visited with both of Mr. D.'s families this summer in Georgia and in South Carolina. You can see Meredith's recap of the SC trip here.   We have also spent some time with my family.   Shelby and I went there for almost a week while Mr. D. was out of town and my living room, kitchen and dining room were being painted.   I have been working on my photography skills and I have taken some really good photos of Shelby this summer.  We have also been working on decluttering around the house...which is a project in itself.  


I have been reading books, researching projects and relaxing this summer as well.   It has been fabulous! I am so glad for the opportunity to take the summer off.  

Let's see, Donovan, Kaleigh, Rylee and Henry have all had birthdays recently.  Everyone is getting older and cuter.   Shelby will be two in just a couple of weeks.  Her party is coming together......but it will not be as big of a party as last year..........(or will it??).  I am most excited about her favors that are coming from a fabulous baker in NY.  http://www.kreatedbykristan.com/

Mr. D. and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary.  We didn't take a trip this year but have planned a family trip for the three of us at the beach in the fall.  We did have a nice dinner out which was fabulous.  Mr. D. has big things going on at work so I was glad to be able to snag him away for some one on one time.  I can't imagine how tired he must be from working so much lately.

What else??....My friend Cookie (Courtney, or Ki and Avi's Momma) had a new baby girl this summer.  They named her Mila.  Oh, and I got a new car-- a Nissan Murano.  I love it.  My cousin Kim (or Rylee's Momma) is having a baby boy in the next few weeks too.   I am hoping Bryce is born on my birthday, but Kim has assured me that she is not wanting to wait that long!  It's hot, I don't blame her!

Shelby is teething right now and a hot mess.  I think these last four molars have been worse than all of the other teeth combined.  I am so glad to have been able to be home with her during this time.

Thought are already turning to fall...........back to school, Gamecock Football, crock pot cooking, Patriots, Halloween, and of course planning what Shelby and Henry might wear at Thanksgiving and if we decided to attempt Christmas pajama pics EVER again.   I know this will be a different Fall than usual with all that Mr. D. has going on at work, but I am definitely looking forward to cooler air and will be thankful for any family time we get.   

in case there was any doubt...

...Shelby loves a ring pop!!