Thursday, March 18, 2010

Georgie goes to Zumba!!


Since Georgia Anne was out of school this week, it was the perfect opportunity for her to go to Zumba class with me. Luckily Candace, our Zumba instructor, didn't mind her coming. She hung in there the entire hour Tuesday, but today she stopped about half way through and said she was tired. She was the cutest thing, doing her dance moves with us! I only planned on bringing her Tuesday, but she begged me to come today as well. Thanks, Candace for letting her join our class this week! It was a blast!

Candace and Georgie


You can check out Candace's Zumba website here.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Hot Rods


Facing Forward

Guess who is a happy boy now that he has a new big boy car seat and is facing forward?


He even stole a sucker from Georgia Anne, and she let him have it. This facing forward thing has its perks!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Spring Break Weekend Fun


Saturday we were suppose to carry two baseball games on the radio. The threat of rain cancelled the games. After Michael and I were home with the kids for about 30 minutes with them running WILD....we decided we needed to get out of the house for a little road trip. After many suggestions, Michael thought of DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg. The kids were excited about getting to go in a real cave. So we loaded up the car and off we went! We have driven by the DeSoto Caverns sign hundreds of times, and neither one of us had ever been. We were really impressed with the park. It was very pretty, had tons of things for the kids to do before the tour, and the caverns were really impressive. Georgia and Daniel seemed to enjoy the tour. Jack on the other hand got really scared as we entered. I think we heard him say, "me a wittle scared" about a thousand times. At the end of the tour they have a really nice light show inside the cavern that really sent Jack into orbit. He cried the entire time. It was actually pretty funny. Poor little Jack is so scared of the dark, and loud noises, so this wasn't his idea of fun. I recommend you going if you're ever in the area or looking for something fun to do one weekend.









So when we were leaving DeSoto Caverns, we see a sign for Kymulga grist mill and covered bridge. So off we go! When we drive up to the park, it really looked like a scene from the movie Deliverance. There were what I call "yard dogs" and cats everywhere and a couple of pretty rough lookin' employees of the park. I must admit, I love this kind of place! There were so many photo opportunities, but everyone was pretty tired, so I didn't get to play around as much as I would have liked to. Georgia actually got scratched by one of the cats. The lady working there said "she must have eaten something sweet." Michael told her she had some ice cream at DeSoto Caverns and she replied "that's it!" She pretty much went crazy with that and was ready to leave. Jack is scared of dogs (and cats) so he was ready to go. Then it started to rain, so our stay was cut short. Oh well.....maybe next time!











Friday, March 12, 2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Miss America: Heather Whitestone

Many of you may probably remember Heather Whitestone. She won Miss America in 1995, and was from Alabama. She was the first deaf Miss America. She came to Tallassee a few weeks ago to speak at HeartLinks. Michael and I were so lucky as to get to meet with her for a private interview. She was the sweetest, kindest, down-to-earth person. After the interview, she wanted to know all about us and our family. Most people would do the interview and move along to the next task, but she took time to get to know us. She has an amazing story and I was so exited to get to meet her!


She tried to put her crown on my head.....I wouldn't let her. She told us it had been broken eight times, and most of the time it is in the front seat of her car or in a shoe box at home! She did say it had traveled with her to many countries, with the most memorable being Iraq. She said the soldiers loved it.

Michael said it wasn't everyday he got to meet "Miss America!"

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Happy Birthday, Daniel!!

Today is my baby's first birthday! It doesn't seem like an entire year has gone by since we welcomed him to the world, but it has! He is the sweetest little guy and we love him so much!
Happy Birthday, Daniel!


We celebrated this past Sunday afternoon with a family party at our house. Daniel's morning nap got cut short, so he fell asleep right before the party began. He usually is awake at the time of the party. We had to wake him up, which threw him off a little. He enjoyed opening his gifts, but wasn't too sure about the cake...which totally shocked me. I thought he would have eaten with gusto....
I made "wish cards" for Daniel. Everyone at the party filled one out and told Daniel what their wish was for his life. We sealed them up, and I tied them up with ribbon. I will give them to him when he turns 18.

He wasn't too sure about everyone singing "Happy Birthday!"

Nana had to hold his hands so he wouldn't get burned...

He thinks he's had enough of this cake....





After the party, we took his balloons and tied a note and self addressed stamped envelope to them. The note told they were from his first birthday and asked if anyone found them, to drop us a line and tell us when and where they were found. We let Daniel release them......


only for them to get stuck in the pine tree in our front yard! Oh well!!


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Monday, March 1, 2010

Grandma Stalnaker

This past Tuesday, our sweet grandmother, Bernice Stalnaker, passed away. Grandma Stalnaker had a rare form of leukemia. She was an amazing woman. A strong woman. A kind woman. She was told this summer when she received the leukemia diagnosis, she might have a few weeks. That was almost almost 8 months ago. Right before Christmas she has hospitalized, and her oncologist told us, we could expect about a week when she got home. That was almost two months ago. We all knew this day was coming. I dreaded this day. I was very sad and heart broken, but relieved. It is so painful to see someone you love suffer. When the pain is so bad, and all you can do is be there and hold their hand. It is a helpless feeling.
Not only was she a grandmother (she is Michael's maternal grandmother), she was our neighbor and friend. We have lived next door to her for 11 years. She has been there on a daily basis for our family and my children. I am so thankful for the time she got to spend with Georgia, Jack and Daniel. She loved them so much, and the very last time we saw her awake, she said she hated to leave her babies. I can't even begin to put into words all the kind things she has done for us. Often she would call in the afternoon and tell me she was cooking dinner for us. Or the times she would just show up at the house with her famous "goody bags" filled with all kinds of junk food for the children. She helped me with with cooking all the time. If I ever needed to know anything about how to cook something, she always knew exactly what I needed. I can remember looking out the living room window and seeing her in our front yard raking our leaves, or all the times we would sit on her back porch and just talk while the kids played in her backyard. These times were so precious to us. It is a hard and sad thing to drive up in our driveway and look over to her empty house. It will truly be sad to see someone else moved in eventually.


Her pastor chose to read from Proverbs 31 at her funeral. As he read these verses, my heart was racing because every verse he said was so true. First, she loved her Lord with all her heart, and anyone who knew her knew she did. She was a devoted wife, and mother, and loved her family. She didn't have an easy life. Her mother died when she was only 4, leaving her and three brothers. She had to grow up fast, being the only girl. She married when she was 14 and had her first of five daughters when she was 16. She worked long, hard hours at the cotton mill here in Tallassee. For years she would wake up and cook two full meals in the morning: one for her father and one for Grandaddy Stalnaker who worked the third shift at the mill (so when he woke up while she was at work he would have a good meal). Then cook breakfast for the girls. She then would work a full day at the mill and come home and cook another full meal for the girls. After dinner she often sewed. She made all of their clothes, even their bathing suits. She kept a clean house and would spend a lot of evenings cleaning. If you ask people around Tallassee about her, you will probably get one of two things. She was known for her cakes and the flowers in her yard. While she was talented beyond belief in those areas, she was so much more than that! She was a true Christian, wife, mother, and grandmother and she will me missed more than words can express.
This has been very hard on my children. Georgia and Mamaw (as they called her) had a very special and close relationship. I look back on the past few years, and hope Georgia will be able to remember some of those days. Last year, before she started kindergarten, she went to Mother's Day Out four mornings a week. Almost everyday when we got home, she would ask if she could go to Mamaw's house. She would spend the afternoon with her helping her in the yard, shelling peas, cracking pecans, watching cartoons, or helping her clean the house. Mamaw loved her being there as much as Georgia enjoyed being with her. Jack loved his Mamaw too. Everyone tends to think small children don't understand what is happening when someone is sick or dies, but I think they understand more than we do sometimes. For weeks, every time we went to see her, Jack would saw, "Mamaw sick. Mamaw sad." It would break your heart to hear that sweet voice say those words. The day she passed away, I picked him up from preschool. After we got out of the car I told him we were going to go over to Mamaw's house. I had not said anything about her dying or even mentioned her name until I told him we were going to her house. As we walked through her back yard, he held my hand and looked up at me and said, "Mamaw not sick anymore." I told him he was right that she wasn't sick anymore. When we went inside, he walked to her bedroom, looked in and said, "Mamaw not here anymore. Mamaw not sick anymore." Jack was so right! In the words of a two year old, she isn't sick anymore. She is no longer in pain. She isn't here anymore.....she is in a wonderful place and is rejoicing with her Savior!