Happy Birthday, John!!!

 27 years ago today at 5:30AM Carl and I went to the hospital to have our third baby!  At 7:30AM John Austin joined our family.  He weighed 8'10" and was 20" long.  He is named after my brother, John, and his middle name is his great-grandmother's surname, Austin.

I wanted to call him Austin but when I arrived home from the hospital Carl, Andrew and Kaitlin were referring to the new baby as John????  What the What????  We called him John Austin til he was 4 and asked us to please just call him John.  Oh, Well.  Now I am so thankful we call him John because I have met some 'interesting' folks named Austin.

 John, you are a wonderful friend, boy daddy, brother, husband, son and girl daddy.

I am usually the one with the camera and I need to have someone take a picture of me and John!!!!!  Happy Happy Birthday!!!!  I am so glad the God gave you to our family!

Get your socks, shoes and snake.

I came across this picture today and had to write a post about it. This may look like a picture of my beautiful children as we were getting hair cuts one day but look closely.  Do you see John?  Do you see the snake around his neck?  That snake went every with us for several years!  Also, somewhere near John is a big plastic knife because sometimes he needed it to keep the snake in line.

John's favorite movie at this time in his life was Swiss Family Robinson.  He, with his snake and knife in hand would, start the movie.  He watched it poised on the edge of the sofa until....the part in the movie....his favorite part... when Fritz has to wrestle the big snake.  John would throw himself on the floor and he, forevermore, would fight, struggle, gasp for air and fight for his life against the snake.  He would watch the rest of the movie on the sofa because he was worn, slap out.  I was too!!

Once John got the urge to wrestle the snake while we were getting our hair cut.  You must get the picture of this in your mind.
 First, we were not the only ones in the salon.
 Hair was everywhere.
When John wrestled with the snake, it involved rolling and sound effects.
At times if often looked like the snake would win, but John always summoned super human strength and pulled off a victory.

A man in the salon waiting to get his hair cut told me that I had an all boy boy on my hands after he witnessed the snake slaying.  I completely agreed with him.

So now picture me as a young mother getting my children ready to go out the door asking if they have everything...your shoes, your socks, your bookbag, your colors, your snake...

John is 25

My mother loved her grandchildren!!  Here are some fun pictures I found as I am cleaning up the wreck room.  The emphasis today will be on John since today is his birthday.  These 25 years have flown by.

This was our Christmas picture one year.  It summed up our life that year.

This was at my mama's 60th birthday party.  Just after this picture John got the cherry off the ice cream.

My boys have always loved football.  Andrew is showing John how to set up the football.

 Our family trip to Williamsburg

this pirate showed up at our house one day, he was wounded and had to use his gun as a crutch

taken 25 years ago today

his senior picture

I love that toothy grin.  John loved his grandmother!

My three dolls.  I love all the hands and feet.

Where were you a year ago?

Hard to believe it has been a year?!?  Happy Anniversary John and Marisa!

Are you a grandfather?

 On November 9th John and Marisa found out that they are having a boy.  Atticus Thomas should join us in March.  We all knew, somewhat the the baby would be a boy.  In Carl's family he is one of six children, one daughter and five sons. Each son had a son first and Carl's sister had a daughter first.  Every family has only one daughter except one.  There are 15 grandchildren-10 grandsons and 5 granddaughters.  As the great-grands are appearing, the males are out numbered 3-2 now but Atticus will make it even, but each firstborn great grand has been a boy.

I was excited, Carl was Carl.

Marisa had a blue onesie in the bag for us to see.

I almost made my facebook status on Wednesday "Today I find out if I will be a grandmother or a grandfather"  but a few weeks ago when Andrew got on my account and ranked my children some folks thought that that was really me.  Really, Really?!?  So I refrained incase that would rock their world or they would try to explain it to me but any way... a grandfather it is  :-)

bye mom

John and Marisa have an apartment now. They have been blest with lots of furniture. John didn't have to work today so he has spent the day moving. He made several trips this morning and after class Robert joined him to help with the heavier furniture.
John used all his bags, backpacks and several suitcases to get all his clothes and things gathered together.
I know my job is to send all the birds out of the nest but it is still hard. John has been home full time since May and he is ready to spread his wings, but it is still hard. I am excited for this new phase of his life and even mine, as we readjust to 'new normal' around here.

I will miss sharing the little bits of life with John that happen with the day in and day out living together. I have two more months to share day to day life with Marisa before she joins John.

I don't think John realized the gravity of the situation as he left with his last load. I know he is excited but I had to quickly find a place to sit down. There goes my baby, now a grown man, but he will always be my baby.The days seem long but the years are so short, very short indeed.

Ring Ring...Hello?

When all my children turned 13, Carl and I gave them a ring. It was more than a purity ring it was a 'think and don't be stupid' ring. We wanted them to remember that they came from a family that loved them and when that became hazy in the future, look at the ring.

John wore his ring all the time. He took it off when he played sports and when he went camping. Usually I wore the ring and gave it back after the event but one weekend I put it in a 'safe place'. It was so safe that it stayed in it's safe place for YEARS! We thing it has been gone for maybe 7 years. I forgot where I put it. I cleaned out drawers, baskets, every nook and crany I could find. It was nowhere.

Marisa's sister Kaelyn has been staying with us and she was dusting some bookcases. Now when Kaelyn dusts, she takes everything off the shelf and forevermore cleans the shelf. SHE FOUND THE RING. It was on a book shelf, tucked in the corner.
John has enjoyed being reunited with his ring.

I am trying not to think what this says about my cleaning or maybe I should just hire Kaelyn to clean the house from top to bottom.

I wonder what else I have lost that I don't know about!?!

Six Months til our next wedding!

No, you are not losing your mind, the picture is blurry. Robert, Marisa's brother, has decided to 'take charge' of this wedding! He thinks he needs to be the wedding planner, the wedding photography and walk Marisa down the aisle. The below photo was him practicing, as we were moving, so he can see how he is going to walk Marisa down the aisle and capture the moment in pictures too.

Don't let Robert know, but he'll do well with his ONE job of walking Marisa down the aisle.

Things are arriving at our house all the time. We have Kaitlin's shoes, Bri has her shoes, a beautiful veil is here and now the hair clasp that will hold the veil in place. It arrived yesterday and is in the box below.
Marisa registered at a local store called The Full Moon. I love that store. Marisa registered for a bowl almost like the one below except hers has two birds. I think it is the cutest little bowl ever! Kaitlin and Marisa went right to the bowl because they realized that those are Marisa's wedding colors. How cool is that!
Marisa is a planner. She has her time line and is getting things done. I have to get my list of wedding addresses to her by July 18th. Her wedding invitations have been designed by Ross and they are amazing. Here is a picture of John and Marisa picking out their wedding bands. Wow! six months from today! I need to start on my to-do list too. I wonder if six months is long enough to clean up my house? Nah, I must remember that you are coming to visit and laugh! I can do that.

Engagements Photos

This week Kaitlin took some engagement photos of Marisa and John. I picked 5 of my favorites. They started at Cheeburger Cheeburger and ended up at KimT's house. It was a rainy day so the lighting was perfect.



We do have fun having a professional photographer in the house and it doesn't hurt that John and Marisa are both so handsome.

We are getting 'The Save the Date' cards ready. None of the above are the one Marisa picked for that.

here are my wild things

Here are some fun pictures that Kaitlin took today. Where the Wild Things are . My favorite one is where John and the wild thing are jumping.

I hope this makes you smile

A new daughter for me

Here are pictures!

I asked John and Marisa if I could tell they engagement story and they said "Yes!"

They have talked of marriage for some time and John knew what kind of ring she liked. He had been looking and checking out places to buy her ring and then he found the perfect ring in June.

I am impressed with John's thinking about when to give Marisa the ring. He thought that the one day she would not be expecting it was on his birthday. His birthday was Friday.

He asked Kaitlin if she could be taking pictures of Marisa at KimT's house. He wanted to ask her to marry him in their backyard with cello music playing. It all came together perfectly.

Marisa didn't have a clue.

We talked about celebrating John's birthday at Bonefish on Friday night and dressing up for it. Kaitlin then asked Marisa if she could get some shots of her at KimT's house while she was all dressed up as we were on our way to Bonefish. John was going to meet us there for supper.

KimT was in on the plan from the beginning but Kaitlin so coolly asked KimT in front of Marisa if they could take pictures on Friday afternoon. KimT said that that was fine and if they weren't going to be home she would let us know.

On Friday, Sheryce and I met Kaitlin and Marisa for lunch at the mall. Sheryce is heading back to Covenant soon and she wanted to spend some time with my girls. John wanted to get dressed at home before heading to KimT's house so we knew we couldn't be at home all afternoon just in case we passed him on the road. So we shopped! I told Sheryce about the engagement so she would be in on the spending all afternoon at the mall and shopping. She threw herself into it with vigor! Every time we were together without Marisa, Sheryce would could down the time til Marisa was going to be engaged!

Sheryce had to leave us at 3:30 so she could head to work. We three headed to KimT to show her what all we bought plus take some pictures ;). Marisa wanted to show KimT the clothes first but we said that we needed to get dressed first. She went right along with us. After she was dressed I sent John a message that everyone was in place.

John had been home and dressed in a suit. He bought a dozen roses at Walmart and got lots of smiles and 'way to goes' as he walked through the store with the roses dressed in a suit. He met up with our friend, Eli and they both drove to KimT's. Eli set up his cello and was playing 'Be Thou My Vision' Marisa's favorite hymn. You can tell when Marisa heard the music in Kaitlin's pictures because the look on her face is 'huh'

KimT and I are inside her house during all of this looking out the window. John approached and Marisa started crying. Kaitlin was snapping pictures the whole time. He dropped to one knee and she really cried then.

BobT had champagne. He poured us all a glass.

KimT had her computer out and ready for Marisa to change her status on Facebook. Then the texts were sent and the phone calls made.

Kaitlin also change her Facebook status to Kaitlin is going to have a new sister. That led to to much hilarity. She got texts and messages asking if I was going to have a baby! HA! Double HA!

At 5 we met Carl, 2 of Marisa's cousins and 1 of her brothers for supper. We were a party of 10. We had a great supper and wished John 'Happy Birthday'.

We went back to KimT's after supper for a little more visiting. As we were leaving her house, she thanked us for including her in this big event.

It was a fun day! We will always remember the day John and Marisa got engaged.

Where did the years go?

There have been many times in my life as a parent when I realized that I was crossing a threshold into a new dimension with my children.

One of the scariest is when they are learning how to drive. Nothing puts you on your knees more than sending a child out in the car by themselves EXCEPT riding in the car with a child driving. Carl has nerves of steel and he did the initial on the road with each of ours after they had been around the church parking lot a million times with me.

All our children had the opportunity to attend some form of driving school. Andrew attended in Pine Bluff while Kaitlin and John attended in LR. Kaitlin and John attended Thompson's Driving School. I cannot praise the instruction they received high enough. I learned so much too as they would come home and share what they had learned. I didn't know that you should not drive with your cruise control on in the rain so that you don't hydroplane or that your visor should only be all the way up or out enough to block the sun because if not, in a wreck it can cause great damage to your head.

The threshold I crossed this week was on Wednesday evening. John, Marisa, Kaitlin and I went up to Fayetteville for the day. Kaitlin was taking senior pictures. As we were heading home with John driving, the weather grew angry- wind, rain and then there was the hail. I have never been in a car in a hail storm. LOUD does not describe it. John never lost his cool, he was never flustered, he was steady and calm as all Hell hail was breaking loose all around us. I never had the feeling to take over the driving because I realized that I had complete confidence in John. Wow. When did this baby grow up and where did this man come from? I was sitting in the back seat and I fell asleep because I knew John was capable of getting us home.

And he did.

fun pictures

Here are some more pictures from Andrew and Taylor's visit

Kaitlin posted them on her blog.

One of the many differences between boys and girls

I asked Kaitlin, John and Marisa to help me with some cookies a few weeks ago. I put the cookies in the oven and when the timer went off, they were to get the cookies out of the oven and decorate them. Marisa went first, then Kaitlin. When it was John's time he was back in half the time as the girls. Can you guess which cookie John decorated?

Sarah Palin almost cost John his life

We were watching TV on Friday. We being, John, Kaitlin , Marisa and me. Sarah was getting lots of press. One lady interviewed said that she would vote for Sarah Palin because she was a mother of 5 and all that that entailed. I thought that that was a wonderful comment. Carl has often said that when our children are all grown and gone, he plans to let the army use me for logistics. Every mama knows what it takes to get everyone where they need to be and with what they should have and all the planning that that takes.

When John heard that comment he scoffed! "What do mothers do?" I heard him say.

Now picture this is slow motion as, bad back and all, I leapt in the air with my nails and teeth bared ready to set the record straight with this poor misguided child of mine. As I was halfway in the air between where I was and John, Marisa realized I was about to bring home the point of how great mamas are in a very real way to John. She leaped in between us and urged John to repent and that a time of reckoning was soon to be upon him. John then looked up and saw me in my best karate kid pose, ready to strike. He realized that danger was imminent. He came to his senses and said "Mother, you are the greatest!" "Mothers can do anything"

Whew! I didn't have to take him down after all.

But I would have and he knows it too!!!!!

John is Golden today

Today my baby is 21. 21! He is getting old.

Today is the 21st. His golden birthday- that is when you are the same age as your birthdate. I remember when he was born, thinking, wow, it will be A Long time until his golden birthday.

Happy Birthday John! It has been a fun 21 years. I am so glad God gave you to us and not some other family :)

Some times growing up is hard on the Mamas

We are just home from moving John into his apartment for the fall semester of classes. I am worn out. Not from the moving but from letting him go....again.

We had a wonderful summer.
Our vacation was a blast.
John was here for me when my friend, Lynda, lost her 20 year old, to a stroke. I cried for two days and John was very gentle with me.
He was very helpful around the house, thanks in part to Marisa.
He was content to hand his paycheck over to me to help pay for his tuition this fall.
We shared lots of laughs.

When all my children are not home there is an emptiness even if we have a house full.

I know they need to leave so they can grow up and be what God has designed for them to be.

But it still hurts.

I realize that my friend, Lynda, will not have all her children with her until she gets to heaven and we plan -Lord willing to all be together for the AUBURN/ms state game.

but I am sad tonight but it is a good sad. I am thankful that we have such a good time together that I wish we all still at home.

Mamas, hug those babies. They grow up too fast. And Babies, let them.

Good Night John, Sleep Sweet

Invention and his mother Necessity

John has been carving some things out of some wood he found in the garage. He wanted to carve out the center of a cup he was making. He needed to make it stationary so he could drill out the center. He looked around the garage and found the perfect solution. The Christmas tree stand!

Three Goofballs

Here are some pictures I took as Andrew was getting ready to leave last week. I took several pictures and they were very patience with me as I strove to get just the right one. I moved them around some but liked this line up the best. After I took these pictures I said" Could y'all get in age order?" Simple question I thought... They were dumbfounded. Their united reply " Mother, we are in age order" OH, I knew that. I gave birth to these goofballs in this order from left to right.

Bathroom update

Today they put up something called backer board and moved the shower up. For those who have taken a shower here before you know that a very short person chose the height of the shower. I am to go and pick out the medicine cabinet tomorrow. I am also going to call and find out why the fixtures I have ordered are not in. If they have not been ordered like I asked I plan to pick out some from Home Depot.

Dust is everywhere in my house.

Yesterdays picture is upside down, sorry