Looking back!

Look at my sweet family nearly 9 years ago!!! Hubs hasn't CHANGED ONE STINKIN' BIT (not fair) and my excuse is I just had a baby and I thought my big hair would camouflage my big, post-baby face. ;)

The boys have grown so very much. They were 4 and 3 when boy #3 entered the world. Now, they are 13 and almost 12. WOW!

Time marches on and I feel like it's flying by and I'm wanting to completely freeze time and I can't.

Have a good day with whoever you happen to be married to, mothering to, or doing life with.
Cherish them.

Love y'all!

Watch out MLB and NFL....here come two of 'em!!!

Here would be stud carrying the ball!

They knock him down on "the close yard line."

Dad and son working some strategy on the field!

Here comes my 8yr old MLB stud. Here is his pitching debut and let me tell you he struck out 7 batters! OH YES HE DID!!! We have moved up from coach pitch to kid pitch.

He is on 3rd ready to go!!!! Baby going home! :)

But before he got to 3rd he had to start on 1st!

Look at his form now!!!! S-T-R-I-K-E!

But, after we got done with all that ball, we must throw around a football!

These are two of the three boys. I can't capture the oldest playing football because, ya know, he's in middle school now and mom out on the field with a camera ain't so cool. I'll capture some pix of him just being cute and cool around the house. :)

This is where we are in life now. Hope all is well in your world.

Hugs and blessings~

Call me crazy!

Well, go ahead...

Call me crazy!

I did it. I finally did what I've always wanted to do. What might you ask would that be??? Well,
I was with some precious dear friends over the weekend and we decided it was time to do it!

I got a tattoo!

OH YES I DID!!!

And, for the record....there was only clear minded thinking involved. This wasn't a 2am run to the tattoo joint and a decision that I regretted the next morning.

Nope. I love this tattoo more and more each day.

Now, before you go and make judgements about this decision and all.....just know that this very cool tattoo is a symbol of my love for someone else. Yes, you read that right. Every time I see this tattoo I'm reminded of a deep, real love. Then I'm reminded of my love for someone else....my husband, Chip.

It's not backwards or mixed up.

This tattoo is right under my wedding ring. I think you'll understand my priorities once you take a peak at the picture below.

I'm beyond thrilled.

Have a great day!! Praying that Christ is first in all that you do doing your day!

Hugs and blessings~

I'm calling it "thank God for your friends day"

I'm entering a new season of life right now and over the last couple of weeks some precious people have been there for me and I'd like to personally thank them right here in pictures!

Sound fun?

Sure. So, let's gooooooooooo!!!!

This is me and Teri. Oh, how I love this girl. She's one of my northern friends! What a gift she and Becky Jo are to me. One day I'll get a picture of me and Becky Jo.

Holla!!! This is another BFF. Love you Robyn. I wish we lived next door to each other.

Nikki....you are the real fabulous deal! The girl is one heckuva encourager!!

Sweet, sweet Kim. What a gift and blessing you are to me. Simply thank God for you!

Oh Mary!!!! I cannot wait to spend time with you. Your wisdom and heart are simply contagious!


Jenny and I are sisters separated at birth. Love her and her family.

This picture makes me wanna cry. Nancy, who is in the middle, is having her 2nd son as I write this! And, Carolyn, well you know how I feel about you.

I love ya Lesley. You are always here for me. ((hugs))

These girls just hold a dear, dear place in my heart. Always grateful for them...no matter what the season is. Love you Patty, Steph, and G.

Abby, Abby, Abby....how I wished I lived in Nashville with you. Me, you and Nikki would be definite BFF's. Now, we have to do the distance thing and I'm ok with that. You both are worth it. ;)

There are so many others that I want to shout out to but I can't find a picture on my computer of them.....

Angie, Connie, Dedra, Tonya, Susan, Teresa, Jan, Jerri Sue, Carol....who am I forgetting??

You know how you have been there for me the last few weeks and I thank God for you today.

Take time to let your friends know how much you love 'em! Life is fragile and short.

Hugs and blessings!!

The smack down is near

Well, here I sit in my kitchen all alone in my house. Can you see me jumping up and down with joy because of all the freedom I'm experiencing?? Ok, maybe I'm not jumping and it sure does feel weird not having those rug rats on top of me because I really do miss them. (Sssshhhh, don't tell them.)

We are currently into day 4 of the "transition that will cause me to lose my mind" that most parents normally refer to as school has started back.

God is not answering my precious prayers of begging and pleading for patience and I'm just not sure why. Hmmmmm.....You see we are having all sorts of issues that are obviously school related because they have not been around until now.

Ugh. Let me pull my hair out.

Here are the problems:

1. 2 middle schoolers this year.....so much to say here, but I won't.

2. Some serious attitudes out of one of the above mentioned children. Thou shall not kill.

3. Some lying right in my face and we all know it's a big fat lie. SCREAM LOUDLY!

4. Crisis over uniforms and shorts and pants and socks that just don't "feel right." Whatever.

5. Going to Walmart or Target every day for the last 265 days (ok, maybe not) to get one more thing we forgot. SCREAM AGAIN!

6. Throwing money around like it grows on trees for all the above things needed from Walmart or Target.

7. Getting up sostinkinearly is hard on Mom too.

You get the idea. Praying for all the things that I'm lacking and needing as a mom right now. "Come on God. You can do it. I need some help here."

What's the hardest part for you during all this???

Hugs and blessings! Have a great day. And, pray yourself up!

Must change

The other night the whole family was riding in the car to go somewhere. Probably to eat dinner somewhere. All of this summer fun is about to come to a screeching halt. School is starting. Boo hoo. I'm not happy about this transition at all. Can we not just switch the calendar around and make summer a teeny bit longer because this one flew by!

Anyhoo....we were pulling out of the neighborhood and I'm in the passenger seat of my hubs car and I found myself looking at this big box thingy that keeps all of his spare change. I am always amazed at the amount of change he has in his car. A mom with 3 kids in the car would never have that kind of spare change lying around. I'm lucky to have a dollar. We go through some serious cash when it's around. It's really a shame, but I have a feeling I'm not alone on this one.

So, as I'm looking at this change I notice these brown pills all mixed up with the change. Ok. Hmmmmmm....let's see. I ask hubs what the pills are....and I secretly hope it's something good because I've been a tiny bit stressed this past week with end of summer beginning of school and all....but, he tells me it's Advil. Boo.

ADVIL??? I caught myself saying something to him in the next sentence that I really must stop doing. I replayed it back in my head and thought..."SHUT UP WOMAN. YOU SAY THIS MESS ALL THE TIME!" This is what I said to him.....

"Why didn't you just put the Advil here, in this little thing, so it's not all mixed up with the money?

No big deal right???

Yeah, except I say things like that all the time to him.

I might say,"Why don't you make the grilled cheese with Pam so it doesn't stick." I might say, "Why don't you just put all your shirts here so they don't get messed up." I might say, "Why don't you get something to put all these papers in so I don't have to sit on them every time I get in the car."

Blah, blah, blah.

You get the idea.

Don't you think he's screaming in his head, "SHUT UP WOMAN! YOU SAY THIS MESS ALL THE TIME!!!"

And, I think he throws in a "I'M 40 YEARS OLD AND CAN HANDLE LIFE JUST FINE WITHOUT YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

I'm making a conscious effort to innocently stop this. I'm getting on my own nerves.

What do you need to work on with your spouse?? Let's be a better spouse and do the right thing.
They are sooooo worth it.

Have a fabulous day!
Hugs and blessings~

Baseball and the beach!

Dad coaching son on 1st base. Always fun to see them "do their thing" together.

Last day on the beach. Boo hoo. I wanna move there. Come on. Please.

We bury the coach in sand when it's all said and done.

Crazy son decided that he and a friend would do that crazy swing thing. I almost died. They LOVED it.

How about the cool sunburn lines??? Pathetic huh? Had a ball hanging out at the "Hangout!"

Super stud surveying the scene.

This would be some serious talking about the game. Or not. Maybe I staged this whole thing.

Crazy kid.

Good lookin' swing. He fouled it off. You can see the ball behind him. ;)

Brothers playing during the game. They hardly "watch" it. They make up stuff and do their own thing

At the end of the world series. Our team came in 6th out of 24 teams. We were happy. We had a blast!!

Summer is winding down for us. Gag. School starts next Monday the 10th. Gag again. So, it will be time to fire the blog back up and see if she still works. It's been a wonderful summer. Routine is a good thing right? Yeah, sure. ;)

Hugs and blessings~

Fran