Chaos to Boring

It's a nice feeling to finally have a weekend to sleep, have no plans, and to do whatever we want. Aside from someone turning the thermostat outside to "hell", this summer has been fun but i'm ready for fall. Since our lives have been boring (not that i'm complaining one bit though) I have decided to jot a couple of my thoughts lately.

• Bo our golden lab that we got from a friend about a year ago had been destroying our back yard from day 1, we assumed since he was still young that this would pass....it didn't. Aside from our backyard looking like a land field he was also pulling a Houdini and escaping EVERY day. I had enough and told Justin that if the dog pin was not put back up that he had to go. Months later a pin went up, secured with 1foot of fence in the ground and STILL he was escaping. This last time we were not so lucky finding him. I love animals, especially dogs but this one was born to escape. Thus we now have 1 dog and 2 chickens. 
• Cohen will be starting Kindergarten this fall. He decided that he wanted a Super Mario Brothers bookbag and lunch box.
• I'm hoping that giving up is actually the answer.
• I miss my Daddy and wish I could see him more often, but we never miss our phone dates.
• Nearly 9 years of being together and 1 child later we have just now started to talk about getting married. Venues, food, guest list is semi made, my dress, guy's clothes, brides mates wear. We want something small, just close family and close friends. Now if we could just win the lotto we could actually execute this before I stroll down in my motorized scooter and hoping he pulls the garter and not my depends. :)
• Thanks to my Hunny's sweat and hard work our front yard looks like a golf course.
• I am worried that I might have an intolerance to wheat but i'm such a carb freak I refuse to give it up even if my intestines feel like they are being used for a double dutch jump rope competition. 
• I would like to eventually have a decor to our house instead of random nik nacs here and there.
• My creative side is about to come out. Thrift store restorations, ransacking Justin's man shop, & Home Depot is where I will be the next few weeks.
• I recently found out that LEGO LAND IS NOW IN FLORIDA!!!! Even before Cohen was thought of I have always wanted to go, but seeing how it was only in California that would have been an expensive trip. So next year we are planning to go to Orlando and visit LEGO LAND!!!! while visiting Disney too. This should be fun!

My oh my May!

*Pictures will come later, having trouble uploading.

This time ten years ago I would have been planning out summer with my friends. Sleep, sleep, pool, six flags, sleep. Nowadays it goes a little something like this. Bachelorette party, late nights at work, t-ball games, birthdays, graduations,  weddings, going away parties, Memorial Day.
Don't get me wrong, it has been fun and we have enjoyed every bit of it but whew i'm exhausted! Lets see where do I begin....

• Cohen's last game of t-ball was a couple of weeks ago. He got to pitch!! yay!!! It has been fun watching him and we're excited to see if he wants to continue with it in the spring.

• Chad & Erica got Married!! It was beautiful, elegant, homey, & just an all around good time!! Justin caught the garder..yeah I know what that means but unless you would like to chip in on our wedding jar fund, don't say it! haha

• The dogs are finding and eating all the chicken eggs

• MY BABY GRADUATED PRE-K!!!! I didn't think I was going to be emotional but it was surreal. It seems just yesterday he was saying his first words and crawling around, now he's reading, free hand coloring pictures that I honestly do not think I could color! Now my big boy is off to Kindergarten in the fall!

• Took another trip over to our favorite farm, Southern Belle Farms to pick some delicious black berries and of course while still in season and available we picked the mouth watering strawberries. 

And last but not least...Memorial weekend! Friday started off with putting the boat at the dock and out to eat with Josh & Amberly at the oh so amazing Amici's (there hot honey wings are to die for!!!) Saturday was fun, we took a picnic to the beach at the lake with Justin's parents and Mam-Maw. Grilled burgers, soaked up some rays, Cohen made a few friends, as he always does anywhere he goes, and just RELAXED!!! Sunday we hung around the house and soaked up the a.c. and caught up on our d.v.r shows. That night Josh & Amberly let us tag along with their friends to tailgate the Braves game. After having what was an amazing meal we went into the game where general admission tickets got us the nose bleed seats. I'm talking no cup holders, a mile hike to your seat and the fence behind your back! Aside from Justin losing his now 5th phone it was a great day! The last day was Monday, the day that we thank those who serve and have served! We headed to the lake to eat with Amberly's sweet family and spent all day on the water!

I'm pretty sure I need a vacation, and by vacation I mean at least 3 days of nothing. No alarm waking me up, no plans to do anything at a certain time, no phone calls and no cooking! Maybe one day but till then i'll just keep on with my calming chaotic ways I call my life!

A Bunny broke into our house!

That's right folks, a Bunny broke into our house. He luckily only managed to leave chocolate, clothes and toys! Easter is up there on my list of favorite holidays aside from Halloween!

We started the weekend off with dying Easter Eggs and boy was that fun!!

    

 After dying eggs we decided to visit one of our favorite farms, Southern Belle Farms to pick strawberries to take along with us on Easter day. 

Normally we go for Mothers Day but we thought since we actually had a free Saturday that we would fill the time by picking strawberries and visiting with animals.

                  

Churning the Homemade Strawberry ice cream that was DELICIOUS!!!!!

And now for the big day, Easter! Cohen awoke to a trail of eggs the Bunny had left him leading him to his basket full of goodies. He was thrilled about his one truck and the minimal candy (the Easter bunny took one look at how many toys he had and opted for clothes instead.) 

After getting ready we headed off to Church with Chassidy, Brad & the boys where we also met Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Gay. The service was great and it was our first time attending their Chruch. I'd say we'll be back again!

Finally, we headed over to the Easter Hunt with the rest of the family. This year was especially fun, all the boys were bigger, faster and all the babies are now old enough to hunt on their own.

Daddy wake up the Easter Bunny Came!

Cohen's 1st T-ball game

After all the anticipation and practices the big day was finally here! Cohen's 1st t-ball game! He was beyond thrilled to play and even more excited that all the family and are friends were going to be there.

Staci and I were in the dugout getting the boys ready so it was kind of hard to get all the shots I wanted of the boys but I did manage to snap a few.. this is when Chass would come in handy!

Cohen did great at hitting the ball, running and catching the ball (when it actually came to him)

Ace 

Dodgers huddle time!

Ace on the mound

Cole..the game ball winner

Cohen getting ready to bat!
So far we have had 3 games and they have all done amazingly well . I'm so proud of my little man for getting out there  and being a team player, he's done so well and we all have enjoyed watching him play!

Just in time for Easter!

I have been wondering when these chicks were going to lay eggs for a while now. After getting very frustrated and aimlessly walking around the yard looking for any signs of eggs, nothing! Well that all changed today when Cohen found one egg near his play ground.

The 1st egg we found!

After we were all stoked to have found this one egg we then noticed one chicken lying up underneath a bunch of tree limbs while the other chick hopped up on top of tree limbs. We didn't know what they were doing until one wandered off and we snuck a peek. WAHHH HOOO EGGS!!!

Justin looking at the eggs

12 eggs!!

After that great discovery the other chick finally moved  and to our surprise MORE EGGS!!!!

Cohen was beyond thrilled to be able to get the eggs out, so from now on this will be his chore!

So all in all we found 1 lonely egg, 12 in the 1st nest and 17 eggs in the last nest, 30 eggs total!! Though we cannot eat them because we have no idea how long they have been there we are all very excited to start having fresh brown eggs straight from our back yard! YUM! Now just to get the garden started and we'll be eating most everything from our back yard!! 

LET'S GO DODGERS!!!!!

It's time to make memories that will last forever! Some of my fondest memories were spent at the ball field. I love every minute of it, the competition, drive, skill, and making new friends. When we signed Cohen up for t-ball all I could think about was how much fun he was about to have and how this is the beginning of all that is which to come with him growing up. It's bitter sweet to have your baby signed up for T-Ball & Pre-K in the same month :( 

                             

This year especially is going to be fun seeing how Cohen and his cousin Ace are on the same team the... LA Dodgers! And to top that both their dads are the coaches! He had his 1st practice March 2, 2011 and it was the cutest thing i had ever seen! He was so excited to see his cousin and to get to play some baseball! Though half the time the boys were having a competition of who can get their pants the dirtiest they still all did very well! On a funny note I tried to pass on the oh so famous & legendary  #17 that my brother and I wore all through our "career" while Justin tried to pawn his #3 on him but in the end he opted for the #5. I figured he could start his own legacy number now :) 

Ace catching the grounder!

Cohen catching the grounder!

Coach Shane giving tips to Cohen

I cannot wait for the games to start and for Cohen to learn a little bit about the fundamentals of the game but mostly I hope he walks away with a scene of accomplishment & success. Seeing how he is 4 I expect nothing of him but to have fun and be a kid. (He can train for the BRAVES when his school work is done :)

So to my son, 

Have fun, pay attention, do the very best that you can and PLAY BALL!!

Love you Punkin 

Dodgers # 5

Credit where Credit is Due

It was nearing the end of my Kindergarten year as me and my fellow classmates were going through the year book picking out who has coodies and who was as cute as Zack Morris (with his brick of a phone).  And there he was, Justin Parker. He was soooo dreamy and cute even though he was a grade above me and I had actually never met him. Mainly because he had the last name as me, but his big brown eyes sucked me in. As all of my friends were pointing and laughing as I drew hearts around his picture, I knew he was going to be mine (I was 6 people c'mon!) After school I peeked back into my year book to doodle just one more thing and no lie as this is what I wrote, "My futer huzban." Who knew almost 10 years later he was the one I was calling my boyfriend! Now almost 8 1/2 years after that we are still happily together.

Sure we have been through hell and back a time or two, but in the end we grew up, grew wiser and grew more in love. He is  my rock. I might not tell him thank you enough or that I love him, but I want him and everyone who ever may read this that I am utterly grateful for all that you do, have done, and will ever do for me. You have been there at my weakest moments and my most memorable. You have dealt with my estrogen highs of yelling at you because the shower curtain wasn't pulled back all the way. You have patiently waited for me to get off the phone when a, "What year is your car?" question turns into a 2hr long convo. When we had our 1st baby boy, Cohen. I was barley 20 and you were a 21. both of us were scared, but you stood by my side and said reassured me everything was going to be ok! The moment they pulled him out I can still remember the one man tear rolling down your right cheek as you weepingly said, "He's perfect!" From that day on I knew I wanted to be with you till the good ol' golden years where we can sit on our front porch listening to our grandkids shooting deer, riding 4-wheelers, and sipping on a glass of sweet ice tea!

So to end the rambling, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU , I LOVE YOU!! ...& COHEN

Thank you, and just remember, if I don't show it right away or when you want, its because i'm saving it for a special day :)

Your Hunny Bun