Happy Birthday JimBo!

I love you and just wanted to wish you a very Happy Birthday!

Everyone please stop by Jim's site and wish him a Happy Birthday & just so you know he is 33 today.

Our Mini Vacation....

Friday we headed to Dallas to spend the day at Hurricane Harbor

I rode some rides and the kids rode as many and Jim and his dad did. They had a blast. We rode this new ride they have there called the tornado. I though this doesn't look like a big deal so I guess I'll ride it. It was alot scarier than I though. Well I don't guess scary just a little more thrill than I was expecting. Its a four person tube that drops you down a steep hill and I mean steep well at least steep for me I grabbed my nose like I was fixing to go under water. Now know that you get splashed a little bit but you never go under water. After it drops you down the hill you go into a funnel and you go high onto the walls of the funnel, back and forth. After the first initial up the wall and losing your stomach it was not to bad after that. I enjoyed riding it but will I ride it again? Still thinking on that one!

This is not the one in Arlington but it looks exactly like this! Trust me its alot bigger than it looks in these pictures and its alot higher!

After that daring ride we let the kids play in kiddie land for a little bit.

After kiddie land we were off to the hotel to get all settled in, and change to go eat. Don't they look exhausted.

We went to Jim's favorite place to eat in Arlington and that is the Steak N' Shake. If you haven't tried it you really should. It really is a great place to eat and the cost is just like any normal fast food place. But this is 10 times better than fast food!

Once we left there we went back to the hotel for some swimming, yes I said swimming. Like they didn't get enough of the water all day long at Hurricane Harbor. We let them swim for about an hour then we headed back up to the room for some sleep...ZzzZzzzZzz! By the way I didn't sleep well at all. The beds were very nice, but the pillow was way to thick and firm for me. I like a thin pillow that my head will sink into, other wise I always wake up with a stiff neck. Also the dang hotel let some people stay out on the terrace playing their guitars and singing until well after midnight. By the way the terrace was right outside our room. That was probably the only complaint I had about the hotel. The next morning we woke up and headed out. Jim wanted to go to Dick's Sporting Goods, which is also attached to a mall there in Arlington and there was a carousel in it so Alex and Colby wanted to ride. PayBo thought he was to old for that stuff but they talked him into riding.

All in all we had a great time! And the kids said it was the best day of their lives and isn't that what we want to hear as parents.

God's Light Always Shines Through....

This past week was long and at times stressful. Every night this past week after work the family headed to the ballpark to work due to a state tournament Athens was hosting. We did not get into bed any this past week before 1am.

At the end of last week I had employee problems. When I realized I had a problem with this employee I went to my car and grabbed my bible because I was stuck on the decision I needed to make. When I opened my bible I came to 2 Kings 2:20-22 "20 Bring me a NEW bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' " 22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken." This scripture spoke to me, and I listened unfortunately it was not the decision I wanted to make but...yep you guessed it...I had to fire someone. If you know me, you know that I hate I mean hate doing that. I get so sick to my stomach and butterflies like crazy.

Then as I was traveling back from Linden after a birthday party I received a little gift myself....A lovely speeding ticket. I can not even remember the last time I got a ticket of any kind. The cop who pulled me over was sooooo RUDE. I had to literally bite my tongue. He also wrote me up for expired insurance card which I then showed him the correct one and he said to me well I have already wrote up the ticket, I am not going to change it so just send it to the judge. My dad being a police officer said well could he not use a pen and scratch it off?

Then on Sunday as I was doing some laundry I noticed the wind had picked up. There were things blowing everywhere. So I walked outside and looked up and I thought to myself man there is fixing to be some kind of storm. Then my picture taking self took over and I went to get my camera because I saw a great photo op. And a photo I did get!

When you see a scene like this you can't help but know that God is here with us. When you think the dark side is creeping up and the devil is getting his way in your life, God always has his light shining through. Sometimes we just forget to look for it! What a perfect picture that shows God's presence!

Random Pictures from July....

Colby's District Tournament...They won second place

Fun at Mimi's

My neice Allie's Birthday Party

Our Alphabet Wedding Shower....

Today we hosted a small bridal shower for one of my sales ladies in the office. We had a theme called an Alphabet Shower. We assigned each person a letter on their invitation and the gift they bought had to fit with the letter they received. So my letters were A & X. We bought one nice gift and then one funny gift. For my A I bought a wedding album filled with pictures of me (Andi). For my X i bought a small box and labeled it X-Rated. Well I think you can guess where I am going with this. I think by the time we were about half done it had turned into a Naughty but Nice party.We were being very secretive about everything. So Brandee kept thinking we were planning a dancer (everyone knows the kind I am talking about). Come on like I would do something like that. Welllllll since she kept on about it I decided to get a little show together for her.

He calls his self CoCo the PG 13 dancer.....AKA Jayson

We laughed so hard we almost wet our pants. If anyone ever needs a good laugh he's your man! We had a blast and now she is off to Florida for her wedding on the beach. Congrats Brandee!

Calling Out My Lovely Husband....

Soooo pretty much on a daily basis my hubby tells me I am not blog worthy. That if I am gonna have a blog I need to update it a whole lot more than I currently do. I think he is so addicted to reading blogs that he might as well do his own. So here's a friendly little challenge to my lovely husband.



"If my blogging is not satisfactory to you then lets just see how well you can do it. I have set up a blog for you and now it's your time to begin the challenge, so without further ado here it is http://www.jimthebrickman.blogspot.com get goin' on it!" Love you and can't wait to read your first blog!

Now everyone please go to his site and make sure he is blogging sufficiently! And if he is not meeting the blogger requirements let him know!

My Weekend Project....

This weekend I got a wild hair to re-do the bathroom floors. Don't ask me where I come up with these crazy ideas. I was so tired of looking at all the scratches, dents, skuffs on the floors that were given to us when we bought this house. So after living here 3 years I finally decided to give the bathrooms a small face life, and boy did it make a different. Now of course they are not perfect, seeing that I have never done anything like this before. But I think I did a pretty darn good job! Take a look for yourself!

Notice the spots on the floor. I spilled hair color. Shhhhh don't tell anyone I actually color my hair.

Our Bathroom Before

Our Bathroom After

I did'nt get a picture of the boy's bathroom before I started, but here it is finished!

Proudest Moment As A Parent....

A few weeks ago our church hosted VBS. Thanks to Flo our boys were able to make it everyday. This VBS was a life changing experience for PayBo. On the fourth day of VBS he came home and was telling me he had talked to Mrs. Kathy about being saved and being baptised. He said they talked for awhile and decided he was not quite ready. After asking me and his dad tons of questions on Thursday night he said I know I'm ready now mom. He said I am going to talk to Mrs. Kathy again tomorrow and get saved and so he did. Two Sundays later PayBo went to the front of the church to talk to Bro. Nathan and told him he knew Jesus and wanted to be bapt-t-tized (that's how he says it). The following Sunday he was baptized!

How amazing!

This will be a time he will never forget!

This will be a time Jim and I will never forget!

A Baby Shower....

We put on a small baby shower for a co-workers daughter. At the last minute my friend Rhonda and I were asked to help decorate and help serve so of course it's hard for me to say no to something like that since I love decorating things. Here is just a few pictures from that event.

I threw this little arangement together at the last minute for a centerpiece

Teresa (Her Mom), Ashley (Mommy-To-Be) & her mother-in-law

Cake from Cherry Laurel

Musical Chairs...it was to funny

Like Sons, Like Father....

I know I have the saying a little backwards, but you'll understand when you are finished reading this blog.

Monday nigth I was asked ever so nicely to cut my kiddos hair. There is just something about cutting little boys hair. It seems to fly every where and before I know it I'm covered in hair. But since I am certified (not prefessional though so don't get any ideas) I guess it's easier and cheaper to just do it myself.

So I started off with Colby and he got up on the stool and said "Bushhog me momma" so at his request I did so. But first he wanted to look like his grandaddy so we did. Take a look

After I was finishewd with Colby it was PayBo's turn to get in the hot seat. So I asked him what do you want, he replied "short on the sides and a little on top. Then his daddy had to make a remark, "come on PayBo you get a bur and so will I". PayBo thought about it, and said to his daddy no he didn't want to. Well I started cutting PayBo's hair and talking to him saying come on PayBo don't you wanna see your daddy with no hair. So he gave in and said ok you can bushhog me to. So I guess you know where I am going with this.

YES JIM GOT A BUR TO...CHECK IT OUT

Aren't they to cute! Now Jim and Colby really look alike don't they?