Springtime weather,

Hiding and finding eggs…time and time again,

A visit (and surprises ) from the Easter Bunny,

The annual Easter march wearing your Sunday best…pastels…smocked bishops, jon jons, knee highs, and saddle oxfords,

And most of all, God’s word…John 3:16-17. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”

Easter Prayer…Thank you God for your son. For the gift of families and time spent together rejoicing in Your name. Thank you for life. For forgiveness. And for your steadfast, unconditional love. We rejoice in all of these blessings!

Let’s go all the way back to the end of December. Yep, that’s how far behind I am…The kids adore their Papa Joe, so when we found out that he would be in the area working, we jumped at the opportunity to see him. While the Mall of Georgia wouldn’t be an exciting meeting place for many, it proved to be an amusement park for the kids. Seemed like every time I turned around, Papa Joe was having to dig deeper into his pockets…

We rode the carousel,

took a spin around the mall on the train,

and cheered on MR as she got over her fear of the bungee trampoline.

And just when we thought that our time together had come to an end, we discovered a whole section of the mall with kiddie quarter rides. The kids were in heaven. And poor Papa Joe was broke.

New Years Day was spent with our neighbors. The mimosa’s were great. And the food was even better.

A few days later, we had more great food at our sweet friend Emily and Brian’s house. Emily cooked up an amazing pot of jambalaya in a huge cast iron dutch oven. While the grown ups ate, the kids played. And while I ate, I wondered if my semi-homemade lasagna and bag salad would ever stack up to the delicious meals that we had eaten lately. I quickly came to the conclusion that it would not. And convinced myself that ordering pizza was not necessarily a “no no” when hosting kid-friendly get-togethers.

Fast forward to Jan 7th. On this day,we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Garrett’s sisters baby with lots of food, grilled sausage, and a keg (all requested by the baby’s daddy)! And while I initially laughed at this request and joked that this sounded more like a fraterniy party than a baby shower, I must say that the combination of beer, sausage, and baby gifts was a huge success. Three of us hosted the event and the day couldn’t have been more perfect! The difference between boys and girls (take note Hannah and Brantley)…while sweet MR played quietly with her leap pad throughout the shower, Huttie Cat tried his best to pretend he was a college freshman at the keg. This will be the first child for Hannah and Brantley and our first in-town cousin! With less than two weeks until baby Brant’s arrival, we are on total countdown mode!!!

If Brantley has anything to do with it, Baby Brant will play golf. If he doesn’t play, at least he will have a Petey Pie’s golf shirt to show his support of the game!

The day after the baby shower, we headed to Cumming, Georgia to celebrate Jacob’s birthday. This years theme was every boys dream, a mobile gaming theater full of large screen tv’s and video games. Huttie didn’t think twice about getting in the midst of the big boys. He especially enjoyed his time with the birthday boy and sat beside him while he opened each gift.

After cake and gifts, we exchanged Christmas presents. As usual, sweet Aunt Lynn spoiled MR and Huttie with all kinds of fun stuff! MR’s favorite, a pink princess phone that really works!

Huttie wasn’t quite sure what to make of Santa Claus. The photographer earned his keep by shooting this picture of Huttie before he unleashed his (very loud) disapproval. Luckily, a candy cane got our boy back on track. As did the promise of a ride on the Pink Pig.

With Santa and the Pink Pig behind us,  G and I were set to attend our last holiday gathering of the season. This one was a murder mystery party with loads of drama and a room full of crazy characters with names like Shamus Steele, Constance Cheat, and Enid A. Drink. The event was lots of fun, until I realized that the real mystery was how I managed to grab the wrong appetizer dish from our refrigerator before heading to the party. Instead of grabbing the full container of toffee fruit dip, I grabbed the half eaten container that had been sitting in our refrigerator for over a week. The worst part, which thankfully I can laugh about now, was discovering my mistake in a room full of people.

Another source of embarrassment came the next day, while looking through the pictures of late night karaoke. Apparently, it ain’t a party until someone brings a half eaten appetizer and/or reveals their thigh support pantyhose…

Much of Saturday was spent with Grance and Bigs. After lunch at Flip Burger, we drove around Buckhead in search of old homes and Christmas decor. During our ride, we decided to do a quick drive by of my dad’s first cousins home near Piedmont Hospital. Our timing couldn’t have been better! As we drove by, we were thrilled to see Anna and her husband John outside. The unplanned visit was even more special when Anna gifted me with a picture of Huttie’s namesake, Samuel Hutson Goolsby.

We said goodbye to Grance and Bigs on Sunday, but not before attending church and eating at the Marietta Pizza Company. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend…half eaten appetizer, exposed pantyhose, and all!

The weekend after the big birthday bash, we headed down south to St. Simons Island to celebrate another birthday. This time we were celebrating Uncle Jimmy’s sixtieth, and while the only animals at this party were four kids under four, there was definitely plenty of food and fun. If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to attend a gathering put on by Aunt Diane, you know that she pulls out all of the stops! She’s one of the few that will drop everything to make you a toasted piece of pound cake smothered with peanut butter.

We returned home late Sunday evening exhausted and five pounds heavier from our weekend of fun. Running on fumes, we knew we better rest up for MR’s “real birthday” on Monday.

MR politely reminded us throughout the day that it was “ok that we forgot to get her a present for her real birthday.” Apparently she thought the big party we planned a few weeks earlier was a “practice party”. Thankfully, we had a trip to the North Georgia State Fair to look forward to. This year we joined our friends Jamie and Ryan and their girls Ali and Rhodes.

This would be MR’s third trip to the fair and Huttie’s second. Hard to believe how much the birthday girl has grown since her first visit two years ago…

Wednesday night was the usual–choir practice for MR and family music for Hutson. G bravely took the kids so that I could stay home to catch up on Petey Pie orders. The fact that he didn’t utter a single complaint, despite being the only male in a room of a dozen or so mamas and toddlers, confirms that I married one hell of a man.

His efforts were rewarded on Thursday night with a babysitter and night out with Hannah and Brantley for drinks and music at the Botanical Gardens. The best part of the night was finding out that we will have a NEPHEW joining the family in February! Hannah baked this sweet little cake to reveal the baby’s gender.

On Friday we hit the road again to spend the weekend with “Grance” and “Bigs” (formally known as Gran C and Big Daddy). Much like her mama, MR has adopted a love for nicknames. Friday evening was spent enjoying perfect weather and pizza in downtown Athens.

We spent much of Saturday cheering on the dawgs at the Harvey tailgate. Thanks to Big Daddy and Gran C, the kids stayed behind so that G and I could enjoy our first football game of the season.

We had more baby fun at the tailgate…Hannah brought a box filled with blue Hershey’s Kisses to reveal the baby’s gender to the rest of the Harvey’s. Kristen (holding the box) is also due with a little boy; her and Hannah share the same due date!

With a big bulldawg win behind us, G and I officially declared the next two weekends to be spent at home with nothing to do. We’ll see how long that lasts. After all, this is the time of year where Halloween runs into Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving runs into Christmas…Time sure does fly when you’re having fun!

Notes: Hutson officially became a true walker after the big birthday bash. Just as I suspected, he went from crawling to running. He loves trucks and balls. He continues to smiles constantly and still loves to be held. Mary Reese adores her little brother and spends much of her time managing him. If he gets hurt, she’s usually the first to his aide with a big hug and a good ol’ southern ,”bless your heart sweet boy”. MR loves school. She also loves being the “tallest in her class”. I’m willing to bet she would also win the award for “most talkative”. Her mouth runs nonstop; we are constantly amazed at her growing vocabulary. With age, we are seeing that our sweet girl is internally motivated. She operates on her own watch, which means that we occasionally butt heads. Nevertheless, sweet MR keeps us all in check!

fast and furious.

Toys everywhere.

An on-the-go one year old who is happy one minute and pitching a fit the next.

And a silly three year old who is ready to bust with excitement at the start of the school year.

In the midst of it all, is a mama who can’t seem to write fast enough to record all of the activities that we have planned. MR has school, there are classroom responsibilities, Wednesday night supper, choir for MR, family music for Hutson, meetings and activities with the nursery guild, ballet, and cheer-leading….My list pales in comparison to others, but the thought of signing our lives away to activities kinda makes me feel the need to self medicate. Which is why my house will continue to stay stocked with beer, Cheetos, and Lucky Charms…

And if we’re lucky, G and I will add a few more thing to the calendar just for us. Like date nights. Movie nights. And nights out with friends. Last Saturday, we did just that. Gran C and Big Daddy came into town to watch the kids so G and I could celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. Dinner for two at Eclipse di Luna and a surprise pair of Frye riding boots made for the perfect night! I posted this on facebook, but it’s worth posting again…7 years later, we’re still having fun. I married a man who makes me laugh, lets me vent, and spoils me rotten. He’s a great listener and an even better daddy. As my mama would say, “I married up.” For the record, my mama married up too. Few men would agree to a game of dressup. And even fewer would agree to having their picture taken in this getup.

Thank the good Lord above for busy schedules, sweet, growing kids, back to school, time with grandparents, anniversaries, mornings on the front porch, and a taste of cooler weather. For each of the things, I am reminded to not get too busy to count my blessings!