Holiday Weekend?

I think not. We are not doing anything special on this day that so many are celebrating. I wish we were, because that would mean that Jon is not at school and he is not studying. But I am afraid that those two things are going on and he has been missing for a while now. (Not really missing, but I am pretty sure Addison convinced he is...) So to celebrate today we are going to be PACKING! I just need to stop dreading it and just get it done! I keep putting off packing because well, I just dont want too....I am getting really good at making good excuses, like what if I pack up something we need??? I will be so glad to be moved and get settled.. I love going new places...but the moving part really wears a girl down. Except one girl, this girl loves packing. She gets to go through stuff and unpack freshly packed boxes all day. She loves it. She is a little treasure seeker....here is one treasure she has found so far. She brings them to everyone to put on her. The pic is bright, it was a quick picture, hope you enjoy!

Before and After

I woke up this morning and told myself that I would NOT play with pictures today....but then I wanted to do one last thing. So here is a little of Lil Bit. Before and after. I am trying to learn photoshop and my camera at the same time.....lots to remember!

Photo Fun

Andrea and I have started a new project. We want to learn about all of our camera's functions...this could take us a while.

So today we learned about shutter speed. I know for many of my camera friends this is elementary. But we have to start somewhere!

I went out and took a few pictures of Millie and LilBit. When Addison wakes up we are going out too! So keep looking, Memaw, there are going to be a few of the important girl...

The Princess and The Frog

Our little girl loves outside things and even outside creatures....and everyone who reads this MUST know she gets this from her Daddy. Because her Momma could stay in away from the buggies and creepies all day unless she is out at the beach...

So Addison's favorite Movie right now is the Princess and the Frog. She watches it so much that we almost know all of the words....in fact Jon and I both even have favorite parts. My favorite part is when Ray sings his song about Evangaline. And Jon's is the boat scene where Ray says, "A bugs gotta do what a bugs gotta do." So be worried about all three of us..


So tonight when we got home from church there was a froggy waiting on this princess. Lucky for him she did not go get a book to smash him with...I am telling you need to watch this movie! This post will be so much clearer! And even luckier for her Momma she did not want to kiss him!



Ok I better get off, Jon is teaching our Addison where her Radius is...where is your radius...

Who are you going to call???

Addison loves pretending to talk on the phone. She has been doing it for a while now and we love watching her. Jon tells me that I should not let her have my phone but how can I resist?? When no one is on the phone she does a good deal of talking, however if someone is on the other end she prefers to listen. A good quality I think....

Now if she could just figure out how to make it dial!

Bling Bling

Here is Addison and her bling from Aunt Andrea. She was so excited about having so many pretty rings!

Lily Grace, what else can we say!

Dothan Fun

We are in Dothan and Addison if having a blast. Here are just a few things that she has gotten into!

Addison asked Aunt Andrea for a ride in the little car. So Aunt Andrea pushed her all around!

Thank you Aunt Andrea!

Checking out the hay, dont worry Daddy. She has not had a problem yet. We will see how the rest of the week goes.....

And anyone who knows Addison knows whats going on in this photo!

This photo is cute. Addison follows Mollie around doing what she does! Check out that pony tail!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day. We had great day. We did miss Daddy though.....keep working Daddy we love you!

Beverly

This lady has a special place in my heart. Ever since I was old enough to know what I needed in a husband I prayed for a mother in law like her.



Mom Matlock aka Nana

I remember being in the truck with Jon on our way to Birmingham to meet his parents. I was SO nervous, mostly about meeting his mom. I am not sure why, maybe it was because I knew how much he thought of her and her opinion. What if she did not like me? Maybe he would not like me anymore? Oh dear......But I remember meeting her, and I could tell that day why Jon loved her. I look back and I giggle that I worried so much about her and what she would think about me. And I realize that she became one of my best friends.

I think about our relationship and I know I am blessed. This woman has so much class and style and goodness about her that anyone in her life is blessed to be there. Just being around her makes you a better person, of this I am sure. She has made me a better wife by her example and her gentle love. She has made Jon a better man by being a good mother and good example. I knew I would need a good mother in law, that is why I prayed for one. But when I got Beverly as a mother in law I was blessed.

She told me that she would be embarrassed if I said too much. So I guess if you are going to know more about this fantastic lady you should go out for a cup of tea. She makes a great friend and the best mother in law..... we love you mom!

Donna

As you can tell from the picture this lady has her hands full.

Today I am going to tell about the Lady who had the most influence on who I am today.

Mom Syfrett also known as Mom, and Nanny

One thing that my parents taught us, is that family is it at top priority (underneath our relationship to God). In today's age we tend to want to do our own thing and go our own places, but my mom and dad wanted us all to be close to all be together. And even though Jon and I have lived away most of our married life we still have a closeness to them because of how I was raised. As a child we were lucky to not really know what my parents went through. But we still saw the struggles and how they always wanted us to know that what they were going through was nothing in the grand scheme of things. They wanted us to know that what was important was the people at home, the family. I have a great deal of respect for my mother because she did things for her family that some mothers could not do at all. She is truly a strong woman in many ways, in her faith, in her love and in all of our lives.

It might be sad that I did not really have a grasp on really knowing and understanding her until I became a mom. Being a mom really wakes you up to realize how much you need your mom. You need that person you can call at 4 am because you cant get your little one to sleep and you don't know what to do. Or the person you call before you call the doctor to make sure that is the right thing to do. When I became a mother I realized that I needed my mom more than I ever have. I needed her to teach me one more thing, I needed her to teach me what she had been doing all along and that was being a mother.

We love you Mom

Happy Mother's Day

Pensie

Remember I said the next two would be different.....lots of memories with these gals.

Granny Pensie

One of my favorite memories with Granny involve the flower garden. She seemed to always have time to teach us and show us about flowers. We would go out to many gardens as children but my favorite was the flower garden with Granny Pensie. She taught us all the different types of flowers and even the different types of bugs. Another one of my favorite memories is watching her cut out home made dumplings. She made the yummiest dumplings. As she cooked she would let me stand at the end of the bar and ask her questions and she would even let me help. Which came to be work later on.... Another favorite memory is everyone getting together for the holidays. I miss those times so much. It has been hard on us to make it there every year and I do miss it!

There are so many good things about this lady that it is hard to think of them all. But one thing that has always impressed me about her is her hard work. It was not that she was able to work hard but the fact that she did it with out complaint. As a child we would go out pick the peas, shell the peas and put the peas "up" and the whole time she did it with out one word of complaint. Another thing that I admire about this lady is she raised five children and they are some of the best people I have ever met. I love them all. It seems that today we are lucky if we can get two children to turn out right but somehow she mananged to raise 5. Another thing that I must mention about Granny is her creative side. She made the most beautful quilts one could ever find. She has a real eye for seeing how things go together. She also made those from hand. She used to say that she would not use the machine to make them because she could not see to thread it through. (That was our job when we spent time in the summer with her.) So most every stitch she sewed was done with her lovely hands.

I know this one is different and filled with the memories I have of her. I cant wait to visit and make a couple more. She is a special lady with many specail things about her, I love her dearly and she has a special place in my heart.

Sara

I am not going to lie, I am a little excited to post about the next two ladies. I have memories from them when I was a small child that I keep close to my heart, maybe even a few silly ones.

Granny Sara

I think one of the funniest memories I have of granny was one time she was watching Liz and Me. It was hot outside and we had done some serious playing. So we came inside to get something cold and Granny offered us "ice cream". I took a bite and said, "Granny I don't think this is ice cream." She said, "oh yes dear, its just good." That stuff was yogurt. I did not know what it was at the time but I sure do now! I still laugh, I know she was just trying to get me to eat it. One thing I always have admired about Granny, even that day I asked her about the ice cream, was her soft voice. I have always wanted to have that ability, and she seems to have mastered it. Looking back, I don't think I have ever heard her lift her voice from anger. ( I am sure my dad might remember otherwise.)Another thing I love about this lady is she always is together. She never looks or acts frazzled. I really wish I could have this. As a child I enjoyed going to grans house. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed eating. She use to always have the best most interesting food. Not that it was different, but that it was different than what we ate. I still use a few of her recipes and every time I fix them everyone wants the recipe. Another quality of hers that I would like to keep is her service to others. She stills seeks out those who are needy to help anyway that she can. Joe and Granny still take trips to help people build homes or churches.

I think my favorite thing about Granny is her stories. I enjoy talking to her and hearing about people that I did not get the chance to know. I love history, and that is the history of anything. So hearing the things she used to do and places she has been always get me intrigued.

I love thinking about being a child and being with my grandparents. I am so glad that Addison is getting to spend time with the ladies who made me who I am today.

Virginia

Since I started so late I better do a couple of posts a day to get caught up in time for Mothers Day.

So next up is Memaw Matlock. I thought I might do all of the Memaws and Grandmothers First. So tomorrow you will get to meet my grandmothers.

I am sitting here thinking about all of the things I would like to write about this lady. This really might take me a while to get it all out....One thing that makes Memaw so special is her character. She is one of the warmest, funniest, kindest and best mothers I know. It is tough being a mother but I bet she kept it interesting. When Memaw comes into a room you can know that she is in there for two reasons.. One reason is that she told you and that is that. And the second reason is a feeling of comfort, love and warmth. Another thing I love and admire about Memaw is her. With Memaw you see what you get. There is no guessing with Memaw. I love that about her. One thing that she has shown me is that you can be a Christian woman and a strong intelligent woman at the same time. I have never seen strength and grace so intermingled in a woman before Memaw. Her courage is something that I would like to bottle up for myself. I feel like she would do what was right even in the hardest of circumstances. I love this lady she is on my list of favorites that is for sure.

There are two things I would like to learn from Memaw. One is her strength to do what is right and the second is her abilitly to put a meal together so fast. When that lady is in the kitchen amazing things happens. Just like all of the other amazing women I will be talking about this week I can not fit everything wonderful about her on this page. We love our Memaws.

Looking back over the last two posts I know that I am blessed with my own Grandmothers but I did not do too bad with Jon's. I am pretty sure he is thinking I stole them and yes I did!

Ozella

In honor of Mothers Day I am going to post blog entries about the Mothers in my life. Memaws, mothers, sisters, aunts and anything in between. So tune in every day to read about the mothers in my life that are still leaving impressions and guiding me through this thing called Motherhood.

I debated about how I should go about this and this is what I came up with. Just remember that due to time (I should have started this a month ago.) I will not be able to get to everyone but I am going to give it my best shot!

So today we are starting with Memaw Crawford.

A few of my favorite things about Memaw....

Memaw has a special place in Jon's heart. I am pretty sure that it is because of her Blackberry cobbler and home made biscuits. But aside from that she is a special lady and here are a few and only a few things that make her wonderful. It would take books to write every thing wonderful about her, so I am going to try and just hit the highlights. I think the first thing anyone would notice about Memaw is she is no stranger. She is able to meet and get to know anyone. And she has the best conversations, you could talk about weather with her and it would interesting. She also has the best Can Do attitude. I wish sometimes that I could bottle up her energy and keep it for myself. Another thing I just love about Memaw is that she is always positive. Even through the tough times that she has gone through she always looks to what is good in her life. One of my very favorite things I love about Memaw is her love for others. There are very few people who are so understanding and so concerned about others that they would forget their own needs for them. I am not gonna lie though, that girl is FUNNY! There is nothing I enjoy more than a good giggle and she has plenty to share.

The list could go on, but I have a few more of these to do. So if you need to know more of why I love Memaw Crawford I guess you might just have to have her over for a cup of coffee.

I Love My Aunt....

Since the day that Lily Grace was born there has been a thought between Andrea and me. We have always thought that Aunts had a special place in little ones hearts. I think Aunt Andrea has taken this to a whole new level and we LOVE IT!

PS Due to special request I added Andrea's name to the shirt. I am pretty sure that there is some competition going on with Uncle Bob and Aunt Andrea....