Scream??

This weekend The girls were outside and Ray was looking at the back door...The screen was knocked out alittle from where Avery had leaned up against it...So Ray got the screwdriver out and was pushing the screen back in and Brenly runs up to him and asked what he was doing? Ray said, "I am fixing the screen" Brenly replied, " I want to help you" (which is what she always says...she LOVES to help daddy fix things) So Ray asked her to hold the screen...after a few seconds she looked and him and said "Are you fixin to SCREAM real loud?!" WE both CRACKED up! He said, "No baby, I am fixing the SCREEN...NOT fixing to SCREAM! And so I ran to grab the camera...Such cute comments come from that little girl!

Happy Birthday U.S.A!!

a few days early...We decided to go to Bellvue's Star Spangled Celebration...I was alittle nervous because I wasn't sure how Avery was going to do! #1-we were going to be there WAY past her bedtime #2-there was going to be REALLY LOUD fireworks...however Brenly loves fireworks...so I decided to go ahead and take the girls to enjoy a WONDERFUL night! The weather was beautiful, the music was good and the fellowship was great! The girls had a blast...being outside, playing with other kids...It was tons of fun to watch them! And believe it or not...Avery did so good! She barely fussed at all...even when the fireworks started- she whimpered a few times but then became mesmerized by them! I am so glad we decided to go ahead and go!

A trip to the park...

makes for lots of fun memories and LOTS of pictures...Thursday night we decided to stay "in town" (I was REAL tired of driving for the week!) so after I picked them up from Niecy's we went to Gran's house and waited to KeKe to come play with us. Once she got there we left for the park! And we had lots of fun...after being there about an hour...Brenly looked at us and said, "Can I just play at the park instead of taking pictures?" But we got good ones and I thought that I would share a few of them!

Country Livin...

is the life for me! On Wednesday we had visitors come to the house-- (and visitors are few and far between when you live so far out in the country!) three friends from high school and all of their children (4 of us and 9 kids...I never said that this adventure would resemble peace and QUIET!!) I fixed everybody some lunch and then we were off to play! I had 3 little blow up pools and a sprinkler, along with the barbie jeep, the scooter(CJ's favorite), the bicycle, the t-ball set (Ethan's absolute favorite) ...it was an all day affair of being outside...and we had the best time! All of us adults got to sit underneath our big walnut tree, with a nice breeze blowing, talking, relaxing (as much as you could with all the racket!) enjoying each others company while the kids played amongst themselves and left us alone...for a few minutes at a time! We also had the roar of very large tractors and combines in our back field (plantin soybeans of course!!) It was a great day to live in the country! I am so glad that I have such wonderful friends that I can share my corner of the world with...Thanks girls for coming out and Brenly is already talking about when her friends can come play again! It must be soon! She gets lonely out here sometimes :)

The prayer life...

of my 4 year old! The other night I was laying with Brenly trying to get her to go to sleep and she said, "Ahem (with a little clearing of her throat) Don't you think you forgot something!" I looked at her and she said "you forgot to say your prayers" (we say them every night before bed, and I suppose that I didn't start them fast enough...but praise the Lord that she is so much in the habit that SHE reminded ME) so we start our prayers and we have always done the "Now I lay me, down to sleep..."prayer. And at the end we say, "God bless..." and believe me when I say WE BLESS EVERYBODY! If we have ever come in contact with you for ever a short period of time, she blesses you! Very recently I have started trying to teach her that we need to say prayers for other people...People that are sick, sad, hurting...people that are experiencing pain or loss...and people that are just in need of prayers in general! So after we blessed all of God' creation (literally) I told her that we needed to pray specifically for a few people (we are starting out small in hopes that she catches onto the idea! And good grief, by the times she gets the hang of that, we will have to get in bed by 7:00...to hopefully finish prayers by 10:00.)
So this was out very detailed conversation about praying for others..

Me: We need to pray for Abby because she is getting her tonsils out on Monday
Bren:Yes, Yes lets pray for her
Me: we are praying for her
Bren: (appalled)Mommy, you DID NOT say Dear Jesus...
Me: (trying to hold back the laughter-oblige to her request and start) Dear Jesus, please be with Abby as she gets her tonsils out on Monday. Make her brave. Be with the doctors that help her and make sure she gets better real soon. And be with her mommy and daddy that they survive (Don't worry Jill...I've been prayin for you like crazy too!)...and then I paused...
Me: and now we need to pray for Baylee (my niece who had a real bad sick weekend)
Bren: (interrupting me before I could get Baylee's name out...again appalled...You DID NOT say AMEN!
ME: I didn't say Amen because we weren't through praying...
Bren: But we were through praying for Abby
Me: okay, AMEN! and now we need to pray for Baylee that Jesus would make her better
Bren: Yes, Yes, let's pray for her too!
ME: we ARE praying for her
Bren: (flabbergasted that I can't get this prayer thing down right)"YOU DID NOT SAY DEAR JESUS!!!!"
Me: We do not have to say "Dear Jesus" every time...
Bren: Yes we do, he needs to know we are talking to him..
Me: okay, I am so sorry, "Dear Jesus, Please be with Baylee, make her better, let her mommy and daddy get sleep, etc...
Bren:"Ahem...you forgot"
Me: Sorry, AMEN! And now we need to pray for MiMi...she had a bad day and we need to pray that she has a better day tomorrow!
Bren:Just let me do it..."Dear Jesus, be with MiMi...she had a bad day...I think because she misses me! AMEN!"

So needless to say, I didn't get to bed until late...but Praise the Lord! I would much rather get NO sleep, knowing that my little girl has talked to Jesus...and He heard her, by golly...Because she said "Dear Jesus"

We're passing on the torch...

or the ear muffs at least!


Brenly has a friend in her Sunday School Class (well not anymore...Abby got promoted, while Brenly got held back...is it bad that my child failed Sunday school?...that's another post) Anyway Abby is getting her tonsils taken out next Monday and if you have read any of my post of the trauma that our tonsil experience caused...you understand that we are willing to help anybody through that nightmare! I have been talking to Brenly about Abby getting her tonsils out...to which Brenly quickly replied..."Mine are gone, Mommy, I'm not ever gettin that done again!" (AMEN SISTER!) I was telling her that we need to be praying for Abby so that hopefully she won't have to go through so much pain to get better...So we have been praying for her and Saturday night I told Brenly that if she saw Abby at church, that she needed to tell her that we have been praying for her and her tonsils...She thought for a moment and she looked at me and said, "Mommmy, where are my "muffs", I need to give them to Abby and maybe that will make her feel better" Is that not the sweetest thing! So I told her where her "muffs" were and she had them ready to take to church with us. We got there and we didn't see Abby, because again, she was promoted...but we did see Jill and Brenly handed them over! Very glad in the fact that we won't be needed those again...but prayerful that Abby will do great and won't have the need for them! Jill wrote me a note and said that Abby was very thankful for the "earmuscles" (How stinkin precious is that?...Funny how kids can have SO many names for the very same thing!) and she told her daddy that Brenly was even going to pray for her! Isn't it amazing that even at 4 years old, kids can be excited that others care for them enough to talk to Jesus on their behalf! That even being so young, they get the power of prayer, and how Jesus hears our prayers! Absolutely amazing! Abby, we promise to pray all week that next Monday will go very smoothly and that Jesus will take great care of you and that you will be feeling better in no time! And that if needed... that those "earmuscles" come in real handy!

Christians...

A friend of mine just sent this to me in an email (thanks Wendy) and I thought that it was good enough to share! Hope you enjoy it!

Christians
by Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
~When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Just when you get frustrated with life...

...you open the Bible and God speaks! (Praise the Lord) The past couple of weeks have been pretty difficult. Nothing horrible, just things that come with growing up, and becoming an adult (I do suppose that I should already be there, but it seems that each season of life makes you "grow up" even more)...How come my parents never fully explained how hard this life could be, that decisions would have to be made, and not just ones that affect me but affect others as well? Probably because they didn't want to stress me out prematurely...they were fully aware that when the time came, I would do a very adequate job of stressing ALL BY MYSELF! Anyhow, the past few couple of weeks, my brother and I have had some long talks about decisions that need to be made...and my husband and I have had those same talks, but about other decisions! One of the most current decisions that Ray and I have talked about in the recent days is "Where are we suppose to live?" We have always known that we had to stay at least one year in Hardeman Co. and then at that time we could get transferred! And as we all know September is SLOWLY creeping up on us and there are some major decisions that need to be made, and its not just about where Ray is going to work...Its decisions about schools for the girls, jobs for me, churches for all of us! I mean, it can get overwhelming if you allow it to and well, yesterday that is what I did. My mind kept spinning around all these different options, different scenarios and I stressed myself out! (Parents know best!) So after a day of be stressed to the max, worrying like crazy, I decided to sit myself down and spend alittle time with God! We had gotten all of the duties around the house done, and both kids were asleep by 9:00(another reason to Praise the Lord)so I went to my room and sat down with my Bible and my Beth Moore study (the life of Paul...it is excellent!) and Ray said...what are you doing? I replied, I'm going to talk to God about where He wants us to live" So I open my study and it tells me to go to Acts 17:22-31 and read about Paul going into Athens to preach to these people about having all of these idols. So I read and think to myself..."Lord, what are you trying to teach me... I was really hoping for a word about where we should live" and I continue to read! I get to verse 26-27 and this is what I read (ARE YOU READY FOR THIS)

"From one man He made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth and He determines the times set for them and THE EXACT PLACES WHERE THEY SHOULD LIVE. God did this so men would seek Him and perhaps reach out to find him, though He is not far from each of us"

OH MY GOODNESS! Did you hear that (well read it!) Are you dying? I couldn't believe my eyes...I was so excited, I called Ray in there and told him what I had just read! How amazing that I opened my study, it told me to open to Acts (I can guarantee that I probably wouldn't have chosen Acts by myself) and right there at verse 26-27 God SPOKE to me and the situation that had taken my mind captive ALL DAY LONG! So I quit reading the rest of the study and just sat there and prayed, thanking God that He cares about every detail in my life...He did NOT create me and my family and send us out into this crazy world and make us figure all this out on our own! He cares for us and the every detail about us and that included "...THE EXACT PLACES WHERE we SHOULD LIVE" I was ecstatic after I read this. I continued to read what Beth had written about this verse and she write, "Every breath we take, every move we make, every place we live, and even the time in which we live has been ordained by God. IN His mercy, He set a stage in which "Men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us (v27) He is complete. Nothing in your life is beyond His jurisdiction. Reach out for Him, He is there!" (thanks Beth for that!) I know that God cares about me, but every once in a while, it is nice to come to a verse, that you know God has led you to...and read that God already knows...He knows my time here on earth, He knows where Ray will get transferred (or that we might stay put?) where the girls will go to school...and I am the one that takes it upon myself to WORRY about it, instead of totally trusting HIM and HIS perfect plan. Her certainly doesn't need me to come in and start messing things up! I decided after Thanking Him for His word, that I need to sit and listen for a while...and God kept saying "Be still and Know...
Know that I AM...
Know that I love you...
Know that I am not concerned...
Know that I will never abandon you...
Know that I have it ALL under control...
Know that I have your life in my hands...
Know that I care about every detail of you life...
Know that I don't need you to worry about a thing...
JUST BE STILL AND KNOW...

Thank you God for loving me and my family. For picking up the pieces when we seem to be broken and mending us back together and filling us with your Word and with your spirit! I pray that I have adequately put into words what you taught me last night and may others see and hear from you as well. You are an awesome and amazing God and I am so thankful for all you are in my life and all that you continue to do!

P.S. I did continue the finish the study and it was all wonderful...but nothing as wonderful as hearing from my Father!

The Toys...

...are outta here! Okay, certainly not all of them, but a trash bag full! If any of you have known me for any period of time, you might know that I am not the best housekeeper...but then again, if you read the post before this one, you might get an idea why I am not so good- I AM NEVER AT HOME! Anyway, one night last week before Brenly went to bed, I asked her if she could please clean her room while I was at work (Ray was staying home with them)...She mentioned something about "trying" to do it, and I just left that comment alone. The next day Ray asked her if she needed to start cleaning her room and she said, "I need to get warmed up first" (WHAT?!?!?!) And then when I arrive at home, I asked if she had picked up her room...She looked at me when this puppy dog face and with her arm on her forehead and a long dramatic pause she says, "Mommy, I have just been way too tired!" Oh my word...She may be a tomboy, but she has a little bit of Drama Queen in her as well...(thanks NayNay) So I told her after dinner we were going to her room with a trash bag and whatever was on the floor, was going to give to little kids that don't have any toys...She was so confused and started crying thinking that I was going to throw ALL of her toys away...That was never my intention- I just feel that both of my girls have been spoiled rotten and they have so many toys that they can't keep them all picked up...And if they do get picked up, half of them remain on the floor for lack of storage space...So I saw a teachable moment and went with it! we went to her room and were both sitting on the floor and I continued to pick up toys and ask if we could give them to children who don't have any toys...At first everything I picked up, she immediately screamed no...that's my favorite toy...After about 15 "NO's" I finally talked to her again and told her there were alot of children who would love to have nice things, but their mommy and daddy's couldn't afford it! So she went to the floor and pick up these necklaces and said, " I think that they would like these" and puts them in the trash bag! NOW, before all of you start "AWWWW-ing" on me...we MUST remember that this is the biggest tomboy you will ever meet and for her to give up necklaces is NO skin of her back. She was quite thrilled to get them out of her room! So then I went to the bin that holds all of her cars, trucks, dinosaurs, frogs and snakes and asked what we could give away...Now this wasn't such an easy task for her, however after a moment to let it sink in, she slowly starting picking out a few of her favorites and put them in the trash bag. After spending about 45 minutes with her, we had a whole trash bag full of things...even some really nice things that some children are going to love! It was hard for her to part with some of the "material things", but I hope the lesson that was learned is one that she will hold onto forever!

Let's do the math...

Most of you know that at the end of Last year we sold our house and moved to, well, "The Sticks"...and most of you also know that we are trying to keep everything relatively the same until September (That is when Ray gets off probation and we could possibly get transferred again!) I don't want to change everything and then in Sept. Possibly have to change all over again...AND so, that means that we still have the same babysitter, the same church, my same job...which is all very far from where we live...This week has been esp. hard because I will have "come into town" 7 days...and that makes my brain hurt. This morning I was trying to figure out hours in the car, gallons of gas that I need, money that we spend etc...So I would like to break it down for you...(not that you truly care, but since I print all of this out and keep it in a journal, it will be interesting to look back and see how CRAZY my life was!)

Every Day: (4 work days, plus 1 church)
-drive 150 miles/day
-210 minutes = 3 hours and 40 minutes
every 3 days I must fill up my gas tank = 14.6 gallons at 3.89 = $56.80
that means that in one week
-I drive approx. 750 miles (but you should add in a few extra for other trips we might take, to Walmart, friends and family so we will round it up to 800 miles
-I spend approx. 18 hrs. and 20 min. (that is just for the 5 days) so lest add another 2 hours on just because
-I spend approx. $113.60 in gas, except that is just for 6 days, so we will round that up to $125.00
So for 1 month.the grand total becomes
-approx. 3000 miles!
-73 hrs. 20 min. (rounded up to 80 hours) in the stinkin car!
-$500.00 a month in gas!

OH MY GOODNESS...
(and nobody is allowed to go and check my math...I never claimed to be a mathematician...I just wanted to get an idea!)
And now you know how I spend some of my 3 hours a day in the car (thinking about all this mess) And it makes my stomach hurt!

So if there is ever a time that I have turned down an invitation to do something with you..it certainly isn't because I don't love you and don't want to spend time with you...
ITS BECAUSE I CANNOT BEAR TO BE IN THE CAR ANOTHER MINUTE!!!!!!

And the silver lining in all this is...At least I get to spend 80 hours a month, worshiping the Lord with K-LOVE...(we'll round down to about 70 hours...because my children listen to Veggie Tales, Disney, etc)

Just pray for all of us! Like I said this week has been especially hard..and it is really taking a toll on me...and my poor little car...and Avery esp. despises being in the car, so I think we are all over it! Just pray that God will make it obvious where we are to go in Sept. We love Hardeman Co. but we have prayed from the very beginning, that we will go wherever God needs us! And we want to truly be ready and willing when He calls!

"Melted"

DISCLOSURE...If you have a weak stomach please skip this post...I have given you fair warning!!

and if you are a parent, you know that with parenting small children, there are always stories that involve "poop"

Again, I have given you enough time to stop reading...

and so the story begins...Avery has been teething and so most of you may know, that with teething comes a few other glorious attributes...lots of fussin, fever, sometimes vomiting (she did that this weekend) and diarrhea... Well, last night we had just changed Avery's diaper and minutes later we "sense" that her diaper was full again...She starts fussin and whinin so I go over to pick her up to change her again and when I did, well, lets just say that it went EVERYWHERE...it was down her legs, on my shirt, on my arms, on her hands...I mean, EVERYWHERE...so I start freakin out (keep in mind that we has JUST finished dinner) and throw her on the floor (okay, lightly placed her at a very fast pace) and Brenly immediately comes over to check out the scene...I immediately start taking off Avery's diaper and Brenly says, "Oh my goodness mommy, IT melted" She was referring to Avery's poop that was no longer in a solid form...Ray and I start cracking up in the midst of poop being everywhere and Brenly looks at me and says, "Mommy, how did Avery get her poop to melt!" So just know that next time you have a bout the 'rhea...Its just the you have melted poop!!! Too funny!

It's the "smaller" things in life....

that make a 4 year old really happy! We went to the new Walmart in Oakland yesterday to get a few things before making the last leg of our journey home (it breaks up the monotony of the LONG drive home) and we had just made our way into the store and Brenly announces to EVERYBODY that she needs to go potty...since we were heading that direction, I figured I would go ahead and make a stop as well. I had already strapped Avery in the cart (and she didn't have shoes on) so I just went ahead and rolled her into the bathroom as well. We went to the larger stall, because we ALL had to make our way in there and a worker said, "Do you know that we have a family restroom around the corner?" So she shows me the way, and it is one large bathroom that has one outside door that you can lock (so none of my rugrats will escape) and in this room there is an adult potty and right beside it, there is a smaller child's potty (just Brenly's size)So I proceed to do my business and Brenly hops on and does hers. We had finished washing and drying our hands and Brenly screams out (loud enough for the customer service worker could hear her) "Mommy, this is AWESOME! Next time we come here we are going to have to use this bathroom...I can't believe they had a potty just for me...THIS IS AWESOME!" We continue out the door and the customer service lady is cracking up! So from now on, we will be going to the Oakland Walmart, skipping the toy dept. and heading straight for the family restroom!!!

The results are in...

and she wore THE DRESS!!! and smiled as well!! YEA!
And Uncle Jay and Aunt Jenna are married and lounging in Jamaica right now(I am very jealous)



We had a weekend FULL of lots of activities...cookout, visitors, rehearsal dinner, and finally the wedding and we are now EXHAUSTED! I feel like we have gone non-stop since last Wednesday, but we've had a large time! Friday night we had rehearsal dinner and I was in charge of decorations (by myself, YIKES)


The rest of the family was in the wedding so I told mom-in-law that I would be happy to leave early and get the decorations on the table while they were all at the actual rehearsal part...Everything looked good and dinner was great! We had a corner of the country club inundated with kids stuff... toys, cheerios, apple juice, etc...I had both of my girls, my niece Baylee, and another "cousin" of ours and really wanted to keep them as occupied as possible. And all of them did great!

We used the rest of the evening to take several pictures of the fam...thought I would let you see a few of them...








We didn't get home until pretty late that night and had to get up the next morning to go with MiMi to get her hair done...After helping Bro.in-law get packed for his honeymoon (yes, he did wait until noon the day of his wedding to get all of his things together...he gives me a large headache, but we shared lots of "Wonderful" memories and I love him a ton!)


we had to start getting ready for the big wedding. Which means that I had to get Avery, Brenly and myself ready! I had been in countdown mode with Brenly all day (IN 4 hours we WILL be putting in your dress for Uncle Jay's wedding, in 2 hours we will be brushing your hair and putting a barrette in it, in 30 minutes we are going to look like a "princess", you get the picture...this truly was an all day affair) Finally the moment arrived and a princess she became...and although she would never admit it, (it would demolish her "tomboy" image that she has worked so hard to achieve) I think that she kinda liked it! She looked beautiful and was ready for her duty as flower girl.


After hours of trying to get Avery to take a nap (it failed..the one day that she HAD to take a nap, she refuses...its just my luck)


we had to leave to get to the church by 4:45 for pictures. I was very lucky that there was a nursery nearby in the church, however I missed most of the wedding because my child was screaming (again, just my luck) Everyone looked beautiful and the ceremony turned out great!


I heard that Brenly made funny faces the whole time and even once looked at MiMi and Grandfather while they were whispering something and said, "SHHHHH" out loud! But you know what...She stood up there in a dress and didn't make a sound, so I don't care what faces she made! After lots of pictures of everyone we were off to the reception...



It was outdoors and it was hot, but it was beautiful...and I am sooooo mad at myself because I left my camera and took ZERO pictures at the reception....(so I am hoping that if you are reading this...Uncle Jerry, Nana, Uncle Scott, Aunt Donna, Edwards Family - Ronni has already sent me the ones she took- Please forward them on to me!) But it was LOTS of fun! food, friends, fellowship, fun, frolicking (ok dancing, but dancing didn't fit in with those words) Avery (keep in mind that she REFUSED to take a nap so by 8:30ish, she was NONE to happy to be celebrating this occasion..so PawPaw and Grandma graciously took Avery home and put her to bed so that Ray and I could stay and enjoy the evening...A huge thank you to PawPaw and Grandma Wright...we can't thank you enough for helping us out!


Ray, being the best man gave a great toast to the bride and groom...(which was no small miracle, the fact that he got up in front of ALL of those people was amazing...) He did and great job and it was rather funny...I was proud of him! Brenly had lots of fun and even made up a few new dance moves (keep in mind that this is the child with ZERO rhythm)


and at one point late in the night...decided to get on top of one of the table and take the table cloth and use it as a blanket and lay down for a few minutes.
The bride and groom left at around 11:15ish and then we headed home...After everything settled down, we all probably didn't get to bed before 1:30-2:00 and Avery was wide eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30...UUUGGGGHHHH! So we are still miserable! But everything turned out great and I am glad to have been a part of it all! Thanks to all of you who prayed a quick prayer for us! It all went wonderfully!

Beware...

of my baby sister! So we are here at MiMi and Grandfather's house and we have had all different kinds of visitors. Morgan Marie, a 5 year old "cousin" (because everybody is a cousin to Bren) was here and Bren and her were walking around when Avery walked up to them both. Brenly said, "Be careful Morgan Marie" (I thought that was sweet, she was trying to take care of her baby sister, making sure that Morgan Marie was going to be careful around her) and then she follows that statement with, "she bites" WE all cracked up laughing! So if you are ever around, beware of the biting sister!!!

1000...

and counting..I have just realized that my counter has reached 1000...It's amazing that so many have stopped by to check on us and the interesting life that we live. I pray that if nothing else, that you have realized how good God is, giving us many blessings that are undeserved. I pray that you understand that we are not perfect (ex. Brenly and the Hannah Montana candy) but we know a God who is, one that loves us in spite of our imperfections and is willing to continue to mold us into the people that He has created us to be. It has been neat to see how many have viewed our page and even more interesting to see where everybody lives...So I am going to ask a favor, for all of you who follow our blog... I am going to ask that you leave a comment, allowing us to see who you are and where you are from, so that there might be somewhat of a connection made. I pray that as you read about us you will come to know that although our we have ups and downs in this life, there is always one constant and that is the relationship that we continue to strive for with God. I pray that He continues to bless you just as He continues to bless us! And as always thanks for stopping by...please continue to do so, I promise that the saga is never ending :) and we would have it no other way!

Why put off tomorrow...

what you could do today?! Sounds like a great statement...one that would eliminate alot of stress...AND normally I am real good at getting things done, not waiting until the last minute...however I feel like I have procrastinated long enough. I have known that my brother in law was getting married since before Christmas...so you would think that I would have PLENTY of time to get everything done, that I would be completely prepared for the upcoming event! NOT necessarily the case...I have waited until the last possible minute to get all of the little things that you totally forget about...the barrette for Brenly's hair, Avery's dress and the fact that it needed to be monogrammed, shoes for both Brenly and Avery, a shirt for Ray, Brenly's dress ironed at the cleaners, and not to mention the fact that I have to remember to pack all of these items... I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get organized, driving around the city and the surrounding area, searching for everything that I have waited to get...and spent the rest of the day trying to pack all of it! I feel that I have left so much back home, but if I don't have it by now...I'm just going to have to buy it! But alas, we have arrived and preparing our hearts and minds for all that is about to take place. I pray that we enjoy each moment, for this is the last wedding in our family. And now we are off to go shopping, for I have just realized that Avery has no pj's. It is probably the first of many shopping trips :)