Happy Birthday Jagger!

You've made the last four years of our lives, the best four!

Uniforms...Check

The boys' birthday party is tomorrow, and there's lots to be done.

For now though, at least their uniforms are ready.

Front

Back

Another day at the beach

We got back from Gulf Shores last Saturday, and the vacation didn't disappoint. I've been wanting to post about it since we've been home, but I've been dealing with a pile of laundry that is as tall as I am, restocking our completely empty kitchen, and sitting on the bathroom floor and clapping my hands more than I had planned (see post below). So finally, here are a few pics from the trip.

This is the whole crew. Us, Grant's brother, Justin, and his wife, Erin, and Grant's parents. We all roomed together in a large condo that had the beach in the front and pool in the back. It was a good set up for us.

The guys took one day to go deep sea fishing. They each came back with their limit of Red Snapper. They made for a pretty tasty dinner.

Jagger chillin' in the shade.

Grandma kept stealing snuggles from Cash.

Papa loved feeding the birdies.

It's a jellyfish, not a breast implant. That would be weird to catch one of those.

Jagger went crabbing every night.

That happy fam, our the last night on the beach.

King of the Throne

Big things are going on in our bathroom.

These things have been going on for two days in a row now.

We're all very thrilled!

Has anyone seen Grant?

Because I certainly haven't lately.

About a week ago, we got ourselves into a little bit of debt when we bought some acreage. In a few years, hopefully we will have a nice little place out there that we can call our home, but for now, there is a little work to be done. And that is why I haven't seen Grant lately.

Since it all became official, Grant has been out there every extra minute that he has had. Doing what? Ripping up the 4 abandoned trailers that occupy the land. I don't know what the hurry is; it'll be years before anything happens out there. He is just so dang excited though. He and Dan have been cleaning them out and deconstructing them. It's quite disgusting to me, and I prefer to have nothing to do with it. Good thing I have little boys that I have to take care of.

On one occasion out there, while Grant was ripping the roof off of one the trailers, he sort of fell through it. He was left with this pretty sweet bruise as evidence.

(In case it's not clear, that's his thigh.)

Official Documentation

I wanted to use this as an outlet to officially document a few things that I must always remember about Cash at this point in time.

He is at the phase now where he loves feeling running water and loves washing his hands. At the slightest sight of a mess, he looks up at me with hands in the air and says, "Wash your hands?"

Anytime I am having a conversation in the car, with Jagger, Grant, or the phone, Cash loves to interrupt me and get my attention. He will repeat, "Mommy... Mommy... Mommy", increasingly louder, until I say "What, Cash?" His constant reply is, "Uh, monsters and pirates." Always. Without fail. This happens probably about 10 times per car ride.

And if you haven't seen Cash in awhile, than you don't know that his current obsession is Rock Monster, a character from the VeggiesTales movies, The Pirates that Don't Do Anything. Obsessed might not fully convey how much he loves Rock Monster. He has named his pillow Rock Monster. He demands to watch his Rock Monster video upon waking up, and pretty much through the rest of the day. He has a Rock Monster dance. Any rock we see outside is Rock Monster. And Rock Monster makes it into most of our conversations. It's weird.

Cash is learning how to take revenge on his big brother. Jagger does his share of picking on Cash, so I feel this revenge often well deserved. Cash is sneaky about it though. He gets Jagger while he is just laying there, resting, or watching TV. And then BAM, Jagger gets in in the head with a plastic mallet. At first it was funny, but eventually, for Jagger's safety, I had to confiscate a lot of the weapons.

Cash is a little guy for his age and I LOVE it. At almost 2 years old, he can still wear quite a few shirts that are size 6-9mo (they are actually big for that size, I think, but still, it sounds funny) Anyhow, it's like God is letting me keep my baby for a little extra time. Cash is little, but his development is fine. It's adorable to see him running around and climbing, when just by looks, you wouldn't expect him to be doing so. Same goes for how much he talks.... (even though he just talks about pirates and monsters.)

When I am out of sight, he runs up and down hall, saying "Mommy, where are you?" It happens to sound a lot like "Mommy, I love you!" So even though I know what he is intending to say, I still feel flattered by his "declaration" of love for me.

A memoir of our summer pastime: Lake Gatliff

If it's May through September, and we have nothing else going on, you can usually find us about an hour and a half away from home, at Barb and Dan's lake house.


It's set on Lake Gatliff, a 60 acre, quiet, private late. Big boats aren't allowed, but that's okay. There's a paddle boat, and a few fishing boats to choose from if you need to get out. The cabin has beds for 10, and is often the place to reunite with Dan's side of the family, who are also frequent visitors.

Early, early in the morning, the men will go and check the jug lines that they set out the night before. Some days they find that their efforts were in vain, but on others, they come back with a 45 pound catfish, which has happened a couple of times, to my knowledge. Later in the morning, Dan is likely to make a delish breakfast of biscuit and gravy. We sit in the sunroom off the back of the house, and enjoy the meal and the view. The rest of the day, we are inside or outside, lazy or active. What time is it? Who cares?



The boys aren't allowed to leave the house unless they have their life jacket on. They look goofy playing with sticks in the front yard with it strapped on, but they run around so much it just makes sense. They have a little pool they splash in, which is what Cash prefers. And Jagger is always begging to fish off the dock. He also always begs to go to "Treasure Island," which is a spillway at one end of the lake. He and Grandma, or Grant, or I will paddle out there, and "search for treasures." Jagger also loves to jump in the lake, but he only can with an adult, other than me. I am not cut out for swimming in ponds or small lakes. I used to, but I grew outta that. I prefer a lawn chair, a magazine, and some sun on my legs. Grant is usually running around doing something productive. Burning stuff or killing snakes and the like. Often, a game of croquet is set up, which we all have fun cheating at.

When the men are in the mood for some hard core fishing, they drive about a mile down the road and take the big boat out on Truman Lake. The same things goes for when we feel like a long boat ride, or water sports. Grant prefers wakeboarding, and he is pretty good. I am good at nothing, and have given up trying. I just like the boat rides and the sun.

Last week just Grant, Jagger and I went down there and met some old friends for the weekend. We knew we would be out in the sun quite a bit, and that Cash wouldn't be able to handle it, so he got to stay home with Grandma and Papa C. Jagger had such a great time being the center of our attention again.

At the end of this last trip there , Jagger told me, and this is verbatim "Mom, when I die and go to heaven, I am going to tell God I had the best day today at the cabin." It melted my heart.

A couple of things I learned

So I just discovered this blog, A Thrifty Home, and have been all over it today! I am excited to report I have learned a couple of things.

FYI, this is probably very boring to read unless you have a deep relationship with my kitchen.

1st, I found out what that nasty stain is on my refrigerator water tray. It has been stained since we bought the house, with some sort of yellow scum that was impossible to remove. I tried everything I could think of.... mainly scrubbing it and running it through the dishwasher. Then I gave up for two years because I am a quitter. Well, with the help of the above mentioned blog, I learned that this was a hard water stain and to soak the sucker in vinegar for 20 minutes.... and tada, with a little scrub-scrub, it's clean, for the first time in two years.

(The above are not my pictures..... I can't be bothered by taking befores and afters of things like this.)

2nd, I learned that I can get Tip-Out trays for my kitchen. What are these, you ask... This is what they are.

They save you from having to keep a sponge and other such necessities on your counter, which is a total pet peeve of mine, by the way. I have seen this feature before, but I thought they were only for fancy new kitchens. And I have never had a fancy new kitchen. Anyway, it turns out there is a kit you can get, if you have those fake panel drawers under your sink, which I do. So guess what I am getting for my birthday! Lame, I know. But it's that kind of stuff that makes me happy.

Anyhow, just thought I would share all that with you.

P.S. If you knew all this already, and think I am an idiot for just learning and being so excited about it.... well just don't tell me to my face so I can still be happy.