Soooo Close Yet Soooo Far.....

Happy Monday blog friends!
I hope all is well with you and yours.

I'm on auto-pilot here.
=)

Have you ever wanted something with all of your heart and loved with every fiber of your being? Have you ever been soooo close to something, yet soooo far away at the same time? Happy, yet sad? Grateful for what you have but question why there can't be more? That's EXACTLY the way I feel right now. A million thoughts swirling through my head.

There should be an appointment pertaining to my situation soon. Hopefully, good news will spring forth and this storm will start losing its strength. I'll certainly keep you posted best I can. I'm certain none of this makes sense to you and I'm sorry. I'll share as soon as I can, I promise.

Since Auburn played in Athens, Georgia, I was able to spend the weekend at home. It was a beautiful weekend in Alabama.

We had our College and Career Sunday School class over to watch the game Saturday night. I love those kids. I say kids, but they are college graduates, lol. We had a wonderful time of eating (my personal favorite) and visiting, even though Auburn lost....AGAIN!
=(

We looked so good at the beginning of the game. I really thought there was hope of pulling out a win, but NOOOO!!!!

Auburn is off this weekend and then we have THE game, you know the one I've told you about. Auburn vs Alabama. The ONLY game of the season that really counts.

Traditionally, it doesn't matter how either team has played all year coming in to this game. I'll just go ahead and say, I love Auburn but I think we need to have emergency personnel standing close by, like really close by. Alabama is going to hurt us BAD.

Kylee's friend, Addison, spent the night with her Saturday night. They walked the cul-de-sac, talked girl talk and text constantly in typical 13 year old fashion.
Here they are, Kylee on the left and Addison on the right.

A couple of boys from our neighborhood came over to play with Hayden.The oldest, Dylan, was attempting to teach the younger ones how to play football. It was the cutest thing.

It was so fun watching them laugh and play and just be little boys without a single care in the whole world.
You know, the way life should be when you're 3.

=)

It's a BIG WEEK!!!

This adorable curly headed boy will be turning 4 on Friday!
That means P-A-R-T-Y!
=)


Have a great week Friends.

Much Love!


=],

Happy Birthday, Daddy.....

Friday night we took Hayden to see Disney on Ice. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Mickey Mouse, so to say he had an amazing time would be such an understatement.

It was their 100th Anniversary Show, so all the characters were there. It was so much fun to watch through his eyes.


After the Disney show we drove to Auburn and spent the night so we wouldn't have to get up so early Saturday morning.


Yesterday was Homecoming on the Plains.
Auburn hosted the Furman University Paladins from
Greenville, South Carolina.

We won 63-31



It wasn't much of a game at all.

Sorry, Paladins.

What is a Paladin? Sooooooo glad you asked!

And for those of you who didn't ask, we'll pretend you did, since it's my Blog
=)=)

Websters defines a Paladin as: 1 : a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince) 2 : a leading champion of a cause

Well, now I know.

My Cousin, Lesha attended her first Auburn game yesterday with her Husband, Mike. He's a Bama fan but was sweet enough to surprise her with Auburn tickets. It was fun spending time with them and showing them around.

Me and Lesha

Tiger Walk
This is an Auburn tradition which began in the early 1960s when Auburn players would walk from Sewell Hall to the football stadium and fans would line Donahue Drive to wish them well. Over the years the Tiger Walk has grown into a major part of game day at Auburn, so much so that it is listed on the players' game weekend itinerary. The largest Tiger Walk is believed to have taken place prior to the 1989 Alabama game when more than 20,000 well wishers lined the street. Every Tiger Walk prior to home games draws thousands and over the last couple of years the Tiger Walk has become a standard as Auburn football players enter stadiums on the road. Tiger Walk is two hours before kickoff for every game.

We go to Tiger Walk to see Aubie, the Policemen, the Band, oh yeah, and the football players =) =)

HERE COMES AUBIE!!!!!

We did get High 5's from the players as well.

We're all in Orange and Blue except for the eldest, Haley, who has deflected and become a Bama fan. =(
I love her BUNCHES even in Crimson and White =)

For all you REALLY observant readers.....
Yes, all the Auburn pics were taken the same day and yes, I do have on 2 different shirts.
It was a beautiful HOT sunny day in Auburn Saturday, with extra emphasis on HOT.


I started out with the orange fleece, but got hot really fast so I went to the Haley Center Bookstore and bought a really cute navy blue t-shirt.

Today is my Daddy's birthday so we traveled back to Birmingham after Church for lunch.
It was nice spending time with all of them.

My Daddy has 3 Daughters and 3 Granddaughters.
I (cough)(cough) am the oldest.
You can only imagine the grief he has endured from us =)


FINALLY, he got a boy when my Middle Sister, Ashley and her Husband, Brent welcomed Jackson Cole, October 9th.


Ashley, 25, is a stay at home Mom. They also have a little girl, Olivia, who just turned 2. She loves being Jackson's BIG Sister.


My baby Sister, Alyson, lives in Columbus, Georgia. She's 24, single and is an Executive Chef.


It was great being with them today. All of us are not in the same place very often. My Daddy really enjoyed it, too. I love my Sisters =)


Whew, It's been a busy weekend for Gracie.

Oh yeah, I bought me 10 pair of really, really cute socks at Target today. That made me happy. I can't wait to wear them. =)

Have a great week, Friends.

Love you all!


=],

S'Mores 'n More.....

Hope you all had a great weekend.
I had a fun weekend with the kids.

You all know we headed to Auburn Saturday morning to watch Auburn vs Ole Miss. My Tigers won which was really, really grrrreat considering we have lost the last 3 games.

I have some pictures to share with you. I'm sure you're all not very surprised. =)

Auburn hosted "Navy Nightmare" for the game against Ole Miss.

They asked all the fans to wear blue and of course blue hair is a must =)

When the popcorn bucket band hat is on, the band has taken the field and is playing

FINALLY....A Win!

Our King of Pop on Halloween.
Even The King of Pop LOVES Auburn and wears Orange and Blue =)

He kept saying, "Aunnie say, I can't believe Michael Jackson is in my car". Funny =)

His first experience with S'mores =)

Needless to say, it was an experience, lol

I love this smile,


And this laugh,

It literally melts my heart.

My new Sunday dress =)



Have a great week Blog Friends!
=),

That Doesn't Fly Here, Just Sayin'.....

Hey Friends! I have been so totally absent from the blog world. I have missed y'all so much. It seems the only time I stop these days is when we are on our 2 hour drive to Auburn to watch our Tigers play.

Well, guess what? We are on our 2 hour drive to watch our Tigers kick off against Ole Miss at 11:21am so I've been catching up with all of you.

My storm is at a standstill. It is still there but nothing is happening, though we know it is a matter of time before the winds kick back up. There is still that sense of peace and calm. I am definitely out of the sad, hopeless state and now in the let's fight, bring it on mode. That's a good thing, I think, lol.

Everybody knows I'm an Orange and Blue Kinda Girl (even though we've lost 3 games in a row) and there is no bigger football rival than Alabama and Auburn.

I mean immediately if you move to Alabama you have to pick a team. There can be no fence riding. No, "Oh, I support them both, because they are both State schools." No, that doesn't fly here.

Well, at Love and Care we have a coworker who has cancer and we did a food drive for her. Well, to up the stakes, we made it an Alabama vs Auburn competition and picked two of the biggest Alabama and Auburn fans at Love and Care and decided whichever team lost that person would have to wear the opposing team colors. Now let me just tell you, that may not sound like a big deal or be a big deal in your neck of the woods, but here it could signal the end of the world, LOL!!!!

Well, guess which Auburn fan they picked? Yep, Yours truly! My good friend, SSS, is a HUGE Bama fan. He bleeds Crimson and White.

Well, we didn't tell anybody but we decided at the start of the competition no matter which team won we would wear the enemy colors in support of our friend.

The food drive was a HUGE success, but for the record AUBURN won, just sayin, WAR EAGLE =)
Say a prayer for our friend as she begins a strong regimen of chemo.

Yesterday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. We had THE best time.The eldest daughter, Haley, was so embarrassed by my jeans tucked in my boots. I told her you reach a point where you just don't care. I've reached it, she hasn't, lol. Teenagers =)
We played in the corn =)
Our pumpkin with his pumpkin. He named it Kitty Cat, hehe. You can't make this stuff up. Where that came from we have no idea but it cracked us up.
We decided he better not try to make a living off art when he grows up, lol. =)
Haley and Hayden on the Cow Train. Fun Times. It was a great, great day.

I'm sorry this has been so long. There was much to catch up. Still not finished but we are almost to Auburn =)

Wish my Tigers luck. I love 'em, but we definitely need it.

Have a great weekend friends.

Be safe as you Trick or Treat.

Love ya!

=],

Peace, Life and Firetrucks.....

I looked at my blog and couldn't believe it has been 2 weeks since I have been here. It has been busy, but I suppose it's been busier than I thought. =)


Things are still up in the air in our situation but a peace has settled around us. He tells us there is a peace that passes all understanding and in the last few weeks we have found out just how true that is.

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 The Message
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.


We have been enjoying L-I-F-E!


We have been traveling to Auburn for all our home games. We love Auburn football and honestly, there is nothing like watching them play with 80,000 other people. We've had mostly night games and it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive home so that combination along with an early Sunday School class to teach makes for very tired Sunday mornings. It's definitely worth it but it makes those away games a little sweeter when they come around. Yes, we have had some terrible losses, but I have always been and will always be an Orange and Blue kind of girl! WAR EAGLE!!!! =)


I went with Hayden last Wednesday on a Field Trip to our local Fire Department. We had the best time! Our Rainbow City Firemen were excellent hosts. Thanks for having us, Guys!

I love this boy!


This Fireman has my Heart!


He is so little.


I know, I know, he is too cute!


We have a trip to the Pumpkin Patch in a couple weeks. I can not wait!!!!

Have a great week Friends!

=],

Do It Afraid.....

First off, let me tell you I am doing sooooo much better. The storm is still raging and I'm at the point where I personally could share with you, but I can't for other reasons.

Bear with me. I'm sure that makes absolutely no sense, but, I promise, it will.

When Kylee started having seizures and I was trying to decide what to do about work, I heard the phrase, "DO IT AFRAID".

I knew that was God's confirmation to me that taking a leave of absence was the right thing to do.

I heard those words again this week.

I know it was not by chance I heard them.

Sometimes, there are things God has for us to do or go through that we wonder how in the world we're going to do it or we're literally scared to death to do it.

Do It Afraid.

How much time do we spend telling God all the reasons we can't do it?

Do It Afraid.

No matter where God leads.

No matter what God says.

Do It Afraid.

We should never let fear cause us to back off or run away from what God has for us to do.

Do It Afraid.

=],