Back by popular demand...Chore Charts!

They are not back by popularity as far as my children are concerned....but by me! Our summers are a lot easier with these charts - no nagging. It either gets done or there is a consequence. Takes a lot of pressure off of me. Here is where you can create one for your child: ChoreCharts. We have added a few things to each boys list. In addition to the normal stuff like making his bed and taking out the trash, David has to refill the fridge with drinks every night (not my wine of course!) :) and he's going to start doing his laundry once a week (we'll see how that goes). Jason now has to clean the bathroom every night and mop the floors once a week, in addition to the basics like brushing his teeth, picking up his toys, etc. These worked great last year and I am looking forward to putting them to use this week. The boys love checking things off their list and getting their reward for all their hard work at the end of the week. And I love that I am not nagging them to do things they should be thinking about doing every day.

My baby turns 9 today

Gosh, where did those years go? It's hard to believe that 9 years ago today I became a mom for the first time. What an awesome feeling holding my little boy after trying for so long to get pregnant. Truly there was a time I thought I would never become a mom. And now, I have a 9 year old and a almost 5 year old.

What a blessing David has been. He truly is the sweetest boy I know, and he makes me and his Dad proud every day. He loves to read and play his Nintendo, as well as hang out with his friends and play baseball. All he asked for his birthday was Lego's and that's what he got! He is truly the best son we could ask for, and the best brother Jason could have. What a great example to look up to.

He wanted to have his buddies after school to play ball at Davie Park for his birthday (sweet....and cheap!). They all had a great time eating pizza, playing kickball and whiffle ball and just hanging out. I am so proud of the boys David hangs out with. What a great group they are and their parents are awesome too!

Today, his actual birthday, was the last day of school (praise God!). What a great way to spend a birthday! He wanted to have lunch at Chuck E. Cheese and then come home and put his 1000 piece Lego set together. So that's what we are doing. We love you buddy! Happy 9th birthday! We couldn't be more proud to have you as a son!

Last day of WEE School

Today was Jason's last day of WEE school for the year. It was so sweet to see his teachers get emotional as they were handing out awards (yes, there were awards in preschool!) and saying goodbye to the children. This has been a wonderful year for Jase. He has had a few difficult times throughout the year, but I am so thankful he had teachers I felt comfortable talking things over with. They love him, and all the students, and I will forever be grateful for all they have done. God bless them for what they do! How fast that year went by! Off to TK!

40 is just a number...unless of course it's YOUR number!

I turn 40 today. I know, try to contain your shock. You thought I was only 29....(I can fantasize if I want to; it's MY birthday!) The number doesn't seem to bother me all that much; after all, it's just a number. But there is something about the passing of a decade of years you have lived that makes you look back on your life - and look ahead. I will never be in my 30's again.....ok, that moment of reflection has passed. Moving on. Looking back on my life I can honestly say I have few regrets. Sure, there are things I would have done differently. But if I went back to do some things over, and all the circumstances of that time still remained the same, I still would make the same choice. There are a few things I would like to go back and tell the girl of my youth though. To that 7 year old girl out in the front yard pretending to direct a "photo shoot" with all her friends doing action shots, I would whisper to always keep that imagination and love of life. Your bossy spirit will come in handy one day when you're trying to coax a 2 year old to go potty for the first time (the imagination part will help a lot too). To the insecure 12 year old whose heart is broken over girls she thought were her friends, I would tell to be strong. God has better friends in mind for you and is getting rid of these nasty girls for something much better. Friends that you will greatly need in the months to come that you can't foresee right now. To the 15 year old young lady who is complaining about her hair and her weight and her....wait, I still do that. I still would tell her to knock it off and enjoy the body God gave her.....like I am telling myself right now. It just gets worse as time goes by! To the 17 year old high school student who fell in love, I would tell her to not worry. The man you love who is going off to college is still going to be in love with you 23 years later. He still will be treating you like a princess and you still will be feeling you don't deserve him. And you will love him more in the future than you ever thought possible in high school. To the 26 year old who can't pull herself off the floor after the devastation of losing her dad, I would say to keep crying.....and that it really will be ok. God will show you He is still with you and your family. Through the tears and the grief and the anger at God, you will come to know Him in a way you never did before. God will bring joy back into your family. He hasn't left you, even though you feel so alone today. To the 30 year old who is ready to give up hope of ever being a mom I would say hang on! These boys are coming, and they are loud, and fun, and tiring and totally awesome. If I had to do these years over again I would have stressed less and prayed a lot more. I would worried less about what other people wanted me to do, and searched more of what God wanted me to do. I would have hugged my dad a lot. An awful lot. God has been so good to me. He has blessed me with a family I love and true friends I adore beyond words. I am reminded of the words the Lord spoke to me years ago. As I was putting together a scrapbook of my father to give to my son, the Lord whispered in my ear "Sherri, look at this wonderful life I gave your father. You have been focusing on his death; I want you to focus on his life". What beautiful words to change someones life. He did that for me that day. So today I am focusing on this great life God has given me so far. My prayer for this year is that I enjoy the life God has given me. May he challenge me in ways that make me depend only on Him. May he continue to bless our family and show his face to us each and every day. And may I continually strive to glorify him in all I do and think and all I say. Thank you Lord for 40 wonderful years. You are awesome and I love you. "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands." Psalm 138:8

Puzzle-mania!

My four year old has gotten the "puzzle bug". It's all consuming and time consuming. It all started when his grandma bought him a glow-in-the-dark puzzle from the dollar bin at Target. He put it together in no time flat and was hooked. In the last week, we have had to buy him no less than 3 more puzzles (not including the free one from Wendy's). He is starting now to take them apart and put them back together again! And of course, we can't put them away. We are running out of table space!

I'm glad he loves puzzles. It's so much better for him than Nintendo (again, an addicting game!). He's pretty proud of himself when he is done and ready to move on to the next one. I always remember our preschool director saying she can tell the kids who worked on puzzles as a child.......I hope Jason is one of them!

Food, beautiful food

I love food. I'll admit it. I love it more than my children some days. Food doesn't talk back, always makes me happy, and doesn't make a mess (if you order take out!). Of course, this also explains my weight, but that's another issue for another day. Today, we're focused on food.

We had the great privilege to eat at The Lady and Son's in Savannah and it was delicious. First, before you eat, they bring out these delicious cheese biscuits on top of a Ho cake. The Ho cake is basically cornbread in the shape of a pancake and tastes great with syrup. Yummy! I could have eaten these all day long.

We decided to order the buffet for lunch, which consisted of 2 types of chicken, pork, and a ton of veggies including her famous mac and cheese.

This is what my plate looked like when I got back to the table. What was hysterical to me was that there was a salad bar. Really?! A salad bar at Paula Deen's? Who the heck would eat that? Not me - what a waste of stomach space.

Gosh just looking at that picture makes me hungry. I love the Cracker Barrel, but now it has lessened in my mind after this lovely food!

Next was dessert. My friends surprised me and had a waiter sing Happy Birthday to me while bringing out the Ooey, Gooey Butter cake! That was fun (and embarrassing!) I also got another dessert that came with my meal in banana pudding. Gosh it was all delightful and we needed naps after it. But it was a great place to stuff yourself after a great morning of running. I love that place. I truly do!

Ok, so here it is, the highlight of the weekend for me!

As his mamma, Paula Deen would say, "Aint he purty y'all?" Oh, my word Jamie Deen is so cute! That's him with me right before the race (thank God it was before because he wouldn't have come within 10 feet of my stinkin' body after). And yes, he has his hand on my shoulder. Could I look any happier? I mean really! No wonder I was struggling the whole race - my heart started racing before the gun went off - I mean, wouldn't yours? Here's how it went down. I spotted Michael, Paula's husband, right beside the stage before the race. Now I wouldn't have known it was him, except that Paula was doing the opening ceremony and being perceptive as I am (as my friend Dawn tells me) I put two and two together. Then I saw Jamie and Bobby Deen next to him. Well, if I had been by myself there would be no picture, as I am a big enough chicken to be fried at KFC. However, because Nancy was with me (and things always get done when Nancy is around), she piped up and said "Let's ask him for a picture!" 'Nuff said! Now unfortunately for the picture of our group with Michael, it was somehow not taken as a picture, but as a movie. We asked some old lady (who shall remain nameless because I don't know her name, but if you look at the picture, right next to Jamie's hand on my shoulder - she is the culprit). She obviously had never seen a camera before and pressed the wrong button. Nevertheless, thanks to my sweet friends, I have the picture of a lifetime. He was gracious and kind to all of us, as was Paula's husband Michael. Honestly, I could have sat down right there and waited for my friends to finish the race because my day had been made!

More pictures to come tomorrow of The Lady and Sons restaurant, which thanks to my new friend August, we were fortunate enough to get into. You won't believe the pictures - they will have you drooling!