Easter 2010

Aaron experienced his second egg hunt of the season on Easter Sunday at my Memaw's.  It was a most enjoyable small family gathering.  The egg hunting enthusiasts, including myself, didn't seem quite so enthusiastic this year.  The eggs were only hidden and hunted once.  Honestly, I pretty much stink at hunting eggs.  Put me into egg hunting battle with the average kid, and I will lose - every time.  So, with me as his only help, Aaron is pretty much doomed.  Fortunately, he had plenty of help Sunday and ended up with 14 eggs in his basket . . . which I figure is quite a haul for a 15 month old!  Here are a couple of pictures . . . one with Mommy, and one with Daddy.

Spring Break 2010

So, it's been two and a half weeks since my last update, but in my defense, I've been quite busy!

For the week following my last update I was swamped at work.  Afterall, I was taking some vacation time last week, and had to get my desk clear before being off.  Then of course, I took that time off, and really, you can't expect me to keep you all updated via dial-up . . . can you?

So, I quite enjoyed my Spring Break.  Really, it was Ron's Spring Break from school.  I just chose to take my vacation time so I could be off with him.  We worked on a few projects on our property, where we plan to build our dream home.  One of those projects was painting the shed.  We've yet to complete that project, but it's about 3/4 of the way done and looking quite nice . . . out with the gray and in with the green.

We also ran a little plumbing.  When our well was put down, a faucet was attached to the tank, but when we built the pump house around it, that left the faucet inside the pump house.  So, we removed the original faucet, added some plumbing, drilled a hole, and we now have a faucet outside the pump house.  It's the small things.  Aaron was doing helpful things like playing with cans of cleaning compound and plumbing cement (I promise those cans were closed very tightly!).

Of course we spent some time with family.  At our Friday night dinner with my parents, Aaron got to swing with his cousins, Linzey and McKayla.  He then played piano with Linzey and I (McKayla got in on this after we'd put the camera away).

And then on Saturday, we attended our first egg hunt of the season.  Aaron discovered a love of the trampoline and found his first egg.

Oh, and the fun continued later that evening as he discovered he could walk . . . Really!  Which you can view here, since I can't figure out how to upload video into this thing!

What a Busy Weekend!

This weekend went by in a whirlwind of busyness for me . . .

I woke at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, and by 8:30 I had a load of laundry washed and ready to go on the line, and I had my car washed!  Ron came home from work and waxed my car for me.  Before the day was over, I'd washed a total of 3 loads of laundry, hung them out to dry, and gotten two loads in.  Ron got the last load for me.  I mopped the floors.  I cleaned the bathroom.  I washed the dishes.  We briefly attended a birthday party next door.  Aaron and I attended the baby shower I was helping host at my mom's house.

In spite of what I felt was a lot of last minute planning, the shower turned out quite well.  Naomi made a cute horse cake, and the punch was both tasty and a pretty cloudy blue.

Sunday we went to church and then we stopped by our property afterward.  We began painting our pump house quite a while back, and we decided to try and finish it.  We first applied primer on the last of the bare spots, and then we broke out the paint.  We used a whole gallon of paint, and the pump house is now a nice country shade of green.  It looks quite nice.  We do still need to put a second coat on a small section, but since we'd finished off a gallon of paint and it was time to head home, we decided that last little bit of second coating will wait until we paint our shed (soon) the same lovely color of green.  And, while we were beautifying the outbuildings of our future home, Aaron was entertaining himself by using the stepladder as an assisted walking apparatus.  Hey . . . whatever makes him (safely) happy!

I Used to be So Organized

There was a time I was the master of organization.  I reconciled my bank accounts and credit cards weekly, if not more often.  I never ran out of anything.  I had my menus planned.  My house was clean and organized.  You get the picture.  I was a bit OCD.

S o o o o o, what happened?  Well my downhill slide began after Hurricane Katrina.  Nothing like losing your home to a hurricane and moving into a much smaller place (not to mention a touch of depression, I think) to knock you on your butt.  But, I gradually began regaining my sanity and organization.

Then . . .  I found out I was pregnant.  I still managed to hold it together until rather close to the end.  And then, my organization went down the tubes again.  I spent the first year of Aaron's life feeling rather overwhelmed by all that was required of me.  Aaron is 14+ months old now, and I finally feel like I'm starting to get it under control again.

My main area of weakness now is in planning events (which I love to do).  Remember how OCD I am?  I like the events I plan to go perfectly and smoothly.  I, along with my sister and two cousins, am planning a baby shower.  This event is happening tomorrow.  I feel like I'm skating in just under the wire.  I just purchased the game gifts, the punch supplies, the chip and dip, and a gift for the baby.  So, I've got it all together . . . right?  Nope, I just realized, upon a phone call from my sister, that I forgot to send invitations to two people who should have gotten invited!  YIKES!  I feel awful.

I'm really going to get this thing called life back in order.  I am.  And the next time I plan an event, I'm going to do much better . . .

On the other hand, here's the punch recipe I'm using for tomorrow.  It sounds good and looks cute (though ours will be without the rubber duckies).

Ouch Report #1

Aaron received his first Ouch Report yesterday, less than an hour after I dropped him off.  He is trying to get the hang of walking, and yesterday he fell, striking his head on the edge of the little tykes picnic table in the one year old room.  This apparently left a red mark next to his right eye.  It was treated with "ice, hugs, and kisses", and there was no evident sign of injury by the time I picked him up last night.  I have the distinct feeling this is only the beginning . . .

Aaron's nemesis of the day . . .

. . . and the Parent's of the Year are . . .

not us!  We aren't bad parents . . . really, we aren't, but this past Friday and Saturday definitely did not highlight our strong points!

Friday, I put Aaron into a pair of pants that were already inhabited by a giant bumble bee!  Of course, I didn't know there was a bee in there.  Who would think?  This pair of pants had been sitting in my clean laundry basket for a week.  How did a bee go unnoticed with a cat in the house???  And all of Aaron's reactions to a bee in his pants were so easily explained due to his normal reactions to getting dressed or having gas, etc.  When I finally realized something was going on and stripped off his pants, I was stunned to see a bumble bee tumble onto the floor.  He'd been stung twice on his leg, but he was happy as a lark once the bee was gone.  I, on the other hand, took the opportunity to beat myself up (even though I realize now I really couldn't have known) and cry . . .

Saturday, Ron put Aaron into his car seat while I was putting some things in the trunk of the car.  Ron never buckles Aaron (unless I'm not there), and didn't this time.  When I stepped around from the trunk of the car to buckle him in, the car seat was empty.  My heart dropped.  I leaned over his seat, and there in the floorboard lay a little boy with a "How do I get out of this?" look on his face!  Of course it's quite funny now, but we're going to have to be more vigilant in the future.  If he'd climbed out the other side of his seat, he would have fallen out of the car (as the door was also left open), and the outcome would have been significantly less comical!

This thing looks so much more harmless here than it did in Aaron's pants!

Good-Bye for a Little While

We said our last earthly good-byes Saturday to my dear friend, Mrs. Betty.  The moment you entered the chapel, where there was only standing room, it became apparent just how many lives she has touched.  Her eulogy was touchingly beautiful . . . not because it was eloquently spoken, but because every word of it was true.  As her husband spoke of "my sweet Betty" the tears couldn't be stayed.  And, as we all gathered at her earthly home after the service, it was obvious what a fine collection of family and friends she had gathered.  There is no doubt that the world just feels emptier without Mrs. Betty, but she is now in a more wonderful place, and I look forward to the day I shall see her again.

The following obituary is copied from www.sunherald.com

Betty Alice Brooks
Betty Alice Brooks, 64, of Vancleave went to sleep in Christ Tuesday, February 16, 2010, in Ocean Springs. Born to the late Robert and Birdie Stewart of Hancock County, Mrs. Brooks was in banking for 46 years, and spent the last 22 years with Merchants and Marine Bank in Pascagoula, where she was Assistant Vice President in Loan Production. She was a member of the Berean Bible Study Group in Mobile, Alabama. She is survived by her soul mate and best friend of 37 years, Albert Brooks of Vancleave; her sister Linda Craft; her brother Doug Stewart of Hancock County; and a number of nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends In addition to her parents, Mrs. Brooks was preceded in death by her sister Peggy Odom, also of Hancock County. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Northern Nevada Children's Cancer Foundation, 980 Sandhill Road, Suite 200, Reno, NV 89521 (nvchildrenscancer.org). Visitation will be held Saturday, February 27, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., with a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. at the Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home, 911 Porter, Ocean Springs. The service will be followed by a Celebration lunch at the home of Al Brooks. The family would be honored if those who knew her would join in celebrating our time with her together. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com.