pieces of me

shame on me!

so i decided that i would take a peek at the blog and realized that it has been one year since i last updated.  that is sooooo bad!  i will not say that i am recommitted because just a couple of post down i said i was going to try improve and recommit - well that didn't work so i guess i will just try my best to work toward being better.  isn't that what life is about? - always trying to be better.  

this last year has flown by - we have been busy with a major renovation of the house, trip to disney world, one child being baptized, enduring a whole summer of every 3 day call schedule, the death of one of my superheros (my uncle) just to name a few.  i will just have to do some different post to catch everyone up.

in the meantime i will leave you with a picture of the kids i took this weekend.

 

cutie pies, i know!! i love them dearly!
 
 
 
 
 

tradition

each year shortly after thanksgiving we decorate our tree and each year there are new ornaments.  when we got married candy began the annual tradition of giving each child a christmas ornament that was representative of the past year.  it might be related to an activity that they had a great time participating in or related to a book that had caught their attention.  today she sometimes regrets starting that tradition because it can sometimes be very hard to decide what is the best ornament to get or, even worse, decide what would be perfect then be unable to find it. 

but each year she comes through.  and each year i think the kids are more excited than the last to see what was chosen for them.  it is an exciting kick off for our christmas season celebrations. 

after each new ornament is opened we then place them on the tree first.  then it becomes a wonderful stroll down memory lane as we unpack and hang up each ornament for each child from the previous years.  our tree has few decorations that are not related to a childhood memory.  as christmas, at least the tree, presents and santa, is really for kids it is a deep pleasure to open ornaments from years past and talk about what was going on in each child's life at the time the gift was given.  if you asked any one of them what they got for christmas last year or any year for that matter they would be hard pressed to give you and answer.  but if you asked them what ornaments are their's and what is the meaning and memory behind that they can talk and laugh for hours. 

tradition.  it binds us together by reminding us that we have a shared past, shared memories, shared love.

this one is for you, peepie....

so i was talking with my very sweet niece today and she enlightened me on my lame blogging.  i know i have been sooooooooo bad but life has just been so crazy.  but wait, life was the reason that i started this blog.  i want to document what is happening in our lives so that family can stay in touch with us and watch the "itty bitties" grow up.  ("itty bitties" is the name the laura has so lovingly given to her three younger siblings.)  anyway, i just had to post today because i know carla will look tomorrow to see if i have posted.  surprise -- i did and it is just for you.  oh by the way, peepie is the name we so lovingly gave carla as a "itty bitty" baby so many years ago.  love you baby girl!!! 

i will end with a picture of will.  he is getting so big.  this picture was taken in late august.  we took the kids out for a photo shoot.  i promise to post more of the pictures later.  i guess i am recommitted now to keep up with this blog. 

it's july, it must be another birthday

july is birthday month.  yesterday was will today is mg tomorrow is... well we do get a little break before the next round of b'days.  mary grace, mg, mar-mar, mrs. taylor (that still sounds a little weird to me) she answers to them all.  as she has grown she has taken on many identities and roles but she will always be my baby girl.  i just don't want to get this look that she gave ben the other day.

too bad dad or candy always has a camera handy, huh?  anyway she is an accomplished young woman now, having gained tenure at her teaching job, about to finish her master's degree, and many other things.  but in this family she will always be mar-mar or mg, big sister and daughter.

we love you,
dads and candy
ps remember to smile when the camera is out

my baby

turned 3 today!  i can't believe he is already 3!  it just seems like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.  time is going by sooo very fast.  i really wish i could stop time and keep him a baby a little longer.  it really hurts my heart to see him grow up so fast.  will is so proud of becoming a "big boy".  he tells me everyday that he is a big boy now and is growing up as high as benny.  he will be on his tippy toes reaching up for the sky as he says, "as high as benny".  he is such a joy in our lives and really completes our family.  he is loved by everyone that knows him.  he is spoiled rotten and loves all the attention he gets. 

here are some of the things he is doing right now at 3:

1. can count to 5.
2. can sing his abc's.  which he only gets to c. 
3. he knows about a quarter of the alphabet and can name the letters.
4. he loves to play ball and can hit a baseball off of a tee.
5. he loves to go to the park with his big sister laura.  he loves to go in her car.
6. he is totally potty trained and trained within a week.
7. he can throw a ball with a lot of force.
8. he fights off "bad guys" with any stick he finds outside.
9. he loves to play cars.
10. he loves to aggravate his older sister especially emily.
11. he loves to watch the backyardigans.
12. he will point his laser at you and shoot.  (learned that from buzz lightyear who he loves)
13. he favorite blankies are blue dots and little blue which he still calls them mmmm, mmmms.
14. yum yums are candy and his favorites are skittles and mints.
15, favorite saying is "i don't really know".
16. asks why about 1000 times a day.
17. loves to eat: strawberries, corn on the cob, tomatoes, fruit snacks, cold hot dogs, peaches, oranges.
18. is saying "i love you too."

and we love you, will!
happy birthday, mommy and daddy.

mia or a lame blogger

not sure which one it is.......missing in action or just a lame blogger.  i promise i do have many reasons/excuses to my absence, but i will not go into that part of my catch up post until later.  i need to backtrack a little and do a post on my very special 9 year old.  i was telling pat the other day that i needed to post because i had not even posted for hannah's birthday.  well she overheard the conversation and was very unhappy.  she said "it is already the end of june and my birthday was in april."  (well, as i thought about it i guess it is better she learned now that i had dropped the ball on her post instead of years to come when she is reading back through this blog)  just remember hannah ~ i do love you!  :)  mommy is just running in too many directions sometimes. 

april 13th,  our baby girl hannah turned 9!

hannah is such a great daughter, sister and friend.  she is well liked by all of the kids at school.  everyone loves to be around her and is always telling her how great a friend she is.  she is a super big sister to her two younger siblings. she loves horses and has been taking horseback riding lessons for a year.  she loves to draw and paint.  she likes to write stories.  she likes to read and has begun to read harry potter!  she loves to discuss lots of things and is always asking questions.  we are so proud of the young lady she is growing up to be.  hannah we love you very much.  mommy and daddy

before i end this post i must tell you about the holiday that you might not be aware of that today is.......today is benny is great day!  you see a few years back the big kids were babysitting for us one night (early june)  and ben decided to write on a day on the calender that did not have anything written on it.  well what he wrote was benny is great day on june 23rd.  so when june 23rd came around we took a cookie cake to his work celebrating benny is great.  since that time we have continued to celebrate benny is great day.  we love it....gosh, everyone should have a great day.  truth is that we really do think benny is the greatest and this is a great way to show him.  love ya, benny. 

Happy Mother's Day

The kids and I have jumped on the blog again while Mom does other things (thank goodness for the downstairs computer).  We just wanted to post a GREAT BIG HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to our mommy (and wife).  The mommy who does it all for us and every one else.  She takes care of us at home and where ever we go.  She volunteers to help at school and around town for many worthy causes but always comes back to us because she loves us best!

Happy Mother's Day to all.  We also wanted to say a GREAT BIG HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to Grandma and Mimi.  We LOVE YOU!!!

The kids (and Dad)

grateful

i must say that i have started to post about a dozen times in the last month and it just has not happened.  actually, i am not sure where the last month has gone.  here are some highlights of the month:
-went to ikea in atlanta.  loved it.  must go back real soon.
-taxiing kids around to horseback, dance, writing class, and piano.
-celebrating benny's bday.
-attending a band concert.
-several weeks of nightly meetings to include school board, fto(school), committee for jsl planning and church.
-planned and hosted a baby shower for lois gregory (hannah's 2nd grade teacher)
-watched mg become a tenured teacher for the city of maryville. 
-planned a bday party for emily and made invites.
-planned a bday party for hannah.
-planning the major fund raiser for junior service league.  yes, you guess it i am in charge of the whole event. 
and all of this was done in the first few weeks of march.  after this was spring break.  i was so excited for spring break to come because we could relax without a schedule (somewhat).  so pat leaves for the sec tournament in atlanta on friday, march 14 (first day of spring break).  this was going to be one of my catchup days ~ he calls after he arrives in atlanta to inform me that he had left his tickets at home.   so i offered to meet him in chattanooga so he didn't have to drive all the way back.  the kids and i loaded up in the van and off we went.  needless to say, this was not a catchup day for me.  that pretty much set the tone for spring break.  of course pat being in the georgia dome at the time the tornado hit and then having to drive home on saturday after the games were moved to georgia tech was not exactly how he had planned his tournament weekend away.  so i guess we all have to be flexible.  wrapping up the end of the spring break week, emily got sick on friday with a nasty stomach bug. she was still sick on monday so i took her in to the doctor.  dr. gilley said she had a nasty virus and would hopefully be better in a few days.  i did keep her home from school on tuesday because she had not eaten anything for several days so i was afraid she would get sick at school.  pat gets up tuesday morning and says he is not feeling well but off to work he goes. he comes home very sick about an hour later.   i nursed him as much as possible on tuesday.  that evening hannah had her writing exhibit at school.   i took all the kids and we went to her exhibit after we got home and i got the kids in bed i started to not feel so well.  about 11pm i got the bug emily and pat had.  oh my was i sick ~ i don't think i have ever been that sick.  luckily (if you call it luck) pat was ahead of me in the sickness by about 14 or so hours.  so he was somewhat able to help me late into the night tuesday and early wednesday.  pat had canceled his patients for wednesday and while recouping from his illness he was able to be home to take care of me and the kids.  we were a pair i promise!   pat had to call mg on wedneday afternoon and ask her to go by the grocery store for bread and soup.  we did not have anything in the house to feed the little ones for supper.  (have not had time to fit grocery shopping into the schedule).  he told mg to drop the food and run ~ sure did not want her to get the bug.  of course, she was sweet enough to help us.  thanks, mg!  well.......what does all of this have to do with my post title of grateful????  on thursday night when we were saying our family prayer emily was praying.  in her prayer she says "we are so grateful that we have so many siblings that can help us when we are sick or faced with fears".  it is these times that i don't want to forget.  emily has such a sincere spirit and often humbles me.  i love that she understands the love that her siblings have for her and that she is grateful for it.  it is these times as a mother that you get the glimpse of the eternal perspective of this life.  i am grateful for my family and the love we share. :)

hannah all smiles at her writing exhibit and her watercolor illustration on her story cube.

happy birthday gramma

happy birthday gramma!  my number one fan of this blog.  i asked the kids why they love gramma and these were the responses i got.......
she is nice
she gives the best hugs
she is special and the only gramma like she is
she is someone i can look up to when something is the matter
because she is gramma
we love you gramma and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!! :)

catching up

as i sat down to write this post to catch up on the happenings of the holidays i started looking for pictures for the post. just going thur our pictures for the month of december overwhelmed me so much.  gosh....we were so busy.  i hope i can summarize our holiday season for you.  to start the holidays each year i have a tradition i started with the children when pat and i first got married.  each year on the day we put up our christmas tree they get to open a new ornament that represents what they have done/into that year.  when they eventually leave home they can take their ornaments with them to help their own collection for their tree.  hopefully the ornaments will bring back great memories for them.  i am getting a little sad thinking about this because this was my year to "give up" patrick's box and let him take them.  i love this tradition but it also brings home the reality that when they get their box they are grown and no longer in our home. :(  guess i should just enjoy the time i have now and worry about that later - pat would laugh at that because i can't just let it go and worry later i have to worry now!

love that they just love this!!!

in early december i was in target with will and we walked by the christmas section and he started yelling "hoUSe...hoUSe.... make hoUSe" when i turned to him he was pointing at a gingerbread house......so you know i had to get it and boy did they have a blast decorating it.  it was heaven for will because what more could a little boy ask for than to play with sugar icing and yum-yums.

next we had hannah and emmy's school parties.  will was able to go with me and loved every minute of the parties.  not only did he get his very own plate of food but he was also given the gifts that the teachers had for the students.  talk about spoiled.  it is unbelievable.

laura attended the black and white affair for the high school.  it is a fund raising dance for the prom. she had such fun.  the funny thing was when her "date" came over to take some pics with her, will was not a happy camper.  he kept going up to waura and making her hold him.  so cute.....guess i won't have to worry about many boys getting to close to her as long as her little brother is near.  maybe we should have her take him on her dates....hummmm that's an idea!


then the preparations for santa began with the making of sugar cookies and reindeer food. you know rudolph can't find the house without the magic reindeer food sprinkled on the ground.




the magic food worked because rudolph did find the house.  the kids were up bright and early dragging mom and dad out of the bed so they could open all of their gifts.  everyone was very happy except mom and dad whose fingers were very sore from all of the twist ties! :)  we chilled for most of the day and had a lovely dinner with all of the kids.                      then it happened.............everyone got sick with the exception of dad and laura.  we decided to travel anyway and boy was it miserable.  we made it to gramma's house very late wednesday night  ~ just in time for hannah to throwup her dinner.   we were so scared we would get gramma sick, but she was such a great sport.  she said if she got sick she would just be sick for a few days and then it would be over.  no big deal.  well after that mishap noone else came down with it so we were fine.  we then made our rounds to montgomery and back home in time for my birthday.   

i think i have successfully summed up our holiday happenings.  you are a trooper if you made it through this post.  :)