June

Summer's in full swing. We have attended vbs, had playdates, gotten a new puppy, been in Monticello for a week, gone to a car museum (to get pumped up for the CARS 2 movie), had family here for several days, started Grace in swim lessons, and more. Mom and I even went to an Emmy Lou concert! We have been blessed beyond words. Sure there have been traveling woes...we packed 5 people into my mom's altima and traveled a 3 hour trip in 6. There have been nights that sleep was interrupted a lot (I won't show you the picture of me to prove it). There have been time-outs (and times I should have been the one there). But woven all throughout it, there have been family and friends with hugging arms, delicious homecooked meals, and big yards for running, romping, wagon-pulling, chasing, and rolling. It has been great! Now we are getting ready to settle down just the 4 of us and enjoy our 4th of July together. Plans tba but I'm thinking a museum or the zoo will be involved!

Grace, her best friend, and her bf's miracle-sister! :) Another reminder of how we should count our blessings!

Closing ceremony at VBS...Go Grace!

I stole away with the boys, their wagon, and my camera.

Girls just wanna have fun!






Praying for the requests this summer that have come our way. We have a close friend who was in a horrible accident and lost half of her ankle and some of her leg bone. She is an inspiration to many, including me. Hopefully she will come home after 2 wks of hospitalization this weekend, and she needs prayers for healing so as to avoid another major surgery. She is also expecting and in her first trimester! We see the miracle in her life and her daughter and husband's lives as they were barely hurt! As for us, just today, we have seen evidence of God answering prayers in our little family and providing for us despite my doubts!!!

I hope all of you enjoy the remainer of June and have a happy independence day. And remember, while it is cliche, it is also true: freedom and protection have never been free. We have so many niceties simply because we live in America. As the years have ticked by (long days but somehow SUPER short years), money has gotten tighter while our "stuff" has gotten older and worn out. The furniture is stained, scuffed, scratched, and while I long for new stuff, I wonder...am I spoiled? I know the answer to that, and the answer is shameful. I hope I can teach my children to be ever-mindful of these things because it is easy to forget and take it for granted. I can't help but think of all the places in this world where freedoms and liberties are nonexistent, not to even start with lack of healthcare, child support systems, clean water, variety of food (if any), sanitation. A friend once said "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours." I guess when it comes down to it, what breaks mine isn't that some people don't have what they want; it's that some people don't have what they NEED. I WANT new furniture. All I need ... that I have. I'm humbled.

I'll close with saying thank you for servicemen and women before and during our lives, including our grandfathers Jack and Bill who served in the US Army and US Navy respectively. We will be waving our flags this Monday with thoughts of them in our minds and thanksgiving in our hearts for sure.

Redecorating

Noah peed in the floor today...just.like.a.puppy. He is into taking off his diaper...the pro is this is early potty training. The con is...read sentence 1 again. That was about 8 hours ago and I have yet to clean it. It's dried now...I'll have to use my sniffer to find it. (Eyes rolling)

The kids wanted "peanut butter spoons" and I was too lazy to make them stay in the kitchen (or ANYWHERE in one place). So there is peanut butter on the floor and I am afraid to check where else! Seriously. In Grace's hair for one. Blah! Now I'll have to bathe her for sure.

Laundry is stacked in the recliner. Just towels. They will be fast and easy to fold. Oh ... I now remember that there is a load big enough to count for 3 in my dryer (said load almost threw my washer out of whack due to the size!) Is it bad that I hope it isn't completely dry yet, just so I can turn the dryer back on and not have to fold it yet?

The counters are so dirty, you can't rest your arms on them or you might get stuck (ok, this is where I'm exaggerating but they ARE dirty and it bugs me to look at them).

The kids have watched Strawberry Shortcake (or Strawberry Cupcake according to Noah John) twice today. The TV is still on despite the fact that I know their brains are rotting away. They had many giant marshmallows for lunch, along with some other random stuff, like spinach artichoke dip, goldfish, cheese... (So did I).

We made it to a friend's to swim today. She has a large 5 bedroom home. It's massive and stately. The pool was cool and refreshing. I went inside. It was spotless. I can't keep mine clean and it's half that size. And I have half as many kids. No joke.

So I have come to the decision that I am just going to say I'm redecorating...the mess is a work of ART. So there. I'm always trying to expose the kids to art in some form or fashion. There ya go. I just told them the mess is an expressionist art form. I feel better already except for the fact that Grace wants a clear definition of expressionist and I will now have to tell her I'm lazy (thus the icky mess), not smart....

A few MORE summer favorites....

Day lilies!

Itty bitty tomatoes make me think of summer dinners with a BLT as the main dish!!!

Our magnolia tree has had a rough way to go...it is trying to come out of it as is shown here. Nothing says southern like a magnolia tree.

Blue skies and green grass...and across the road "amber waves of grain."

These purple beauts are petunias of course! Grown by my mother-in-law...4 baskets don my deck and sway in the late evening breeze even as I type.

A few summer favorites

What makes my summer sweeter every single year? These pretty babies! Tiger Lilies! Why? Because they come back time and again with no replanting. Beauty in the summer...when there was nothing there but bare ground in the winter. Ahh!

And this summer, I have been even MORE pleased because of this surprise calla lily. It is one of my closest friend's favorite flowers; I think of her each time I see it. It is blooming among the orange tiger lilies, like a little surprise! I cannot recall where I got it or even when I planted it...my memory is foggy about it...but it's been a pretty little surprise this early summer!

Watering can that I got for Mother's Day 2010.

Lounge chair that I got for Mother's Day 2011. It is very comfortable and reclines back a little bit too.

Friends and family, if you're reading this...come and sit a spell. I have a big front porch and can have sweet tea ready in no time flat.

Noah John's Birthday Party

We had a small get-together Sunday after church. My mom was in for the party and for Grace's recital. As always, we loved having her here. Noah sang himself happy birthday when we sat the cake infront of him. He grinned from ear to ear when everyone reacted with "AHHHH" :) He is a ham! Grace helped him open his presents and show 0 signs of jealousy when he opened gifts. She was so excited for him to get new toys. The little party started with kiddy pool time and swingset playin'. Jonah, Grace, and Noah jumped, shrieked, splashed, ran, climbed, slid down the slid while Logan and Papaw threw ball. We have the best backyard ever. You could say I know a guy who took care of the sod. It's super nice and really pretty too. :)

Happy birthday Noah John Brumfield, the sweetest, spunkiest little boy I know and the apple of my eye! In this picture, we were adding sprinkles to the cake (Noah chose his icing color: blue!)

The theme? Thomas the Train of course! If I had found Chuggington supplies, that would have trumped....Isn't it cute? I like the bright, primary colors.

What's a sunny day without a swingset?

First Ballet (Baw-yay) Recital

Grace started ballet this past fall. It was a great experience for her as she liked to dance around with her new friends in tutus and ballet slippers once a week :). Mom and I had a good time learning to make a tutu and she wore it in the first half of the recital. See a sassy picture of it here.

The hair-do.......

Touch of makeup...

Grace is the little ballerina on her toes.

Great first recital! Grace did well, knew the routine months in advance (I think it was very simple because there were some 3 year olds in the class). Now I am just trying to decide where to put her in August...there are 2 options in the big metrop of Madville! Another studio focuses on Christian principles, which caught my attention. We shall see.

Our Son is 2!

Our sweet Noah John is 2. He was born weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz and was 20 inches long. He was born 3 days before my due date and 2 days before the csection was scheduled. My dr let me labor with him to try to avoid the surgery. After an hour of pushing and 13 hours after my water broke (in the same spot as it did with Grace!), I was wheeled to surgery. When I first saw him, I said through tears, "I'm so happy to finally meet you." (I was a tad loopy/sleep-deprived and just happy-emotional). Anyway, he smiled at me. I know that is hard to believe but he grinned. (My delivery nurse told me a couple years ago that I laughed out loud after I was delivered!) Back to Noah John's big boy accomplishments: He now speaks in full-on sentences, can count to 10 and recognizes that items are numbered...example "How many birds do you see?" NJ: "3".) He can repeat anything, loves to laugh at and make others laugh, has a will of IRON (which makes me wish parenting came with an instruction book), likes tv (he started out saying, "I una hotch pb" which is now "I want to watch tv.") His favorite movie is Alvin & The Chipmunks and Yogi Bear ("Wogi Beaw"). He likes tractors (imagine that) and trains. His bday party will be Thomas the Tank Engine. :) He also loves animals, like his vet-aunt, I tend to think. He likes sweets, french fries, chips, goldfish crackers, and by far, his favorite snack is pretzels. For example, Grace asks for apples as a side; NJ asks for pwench pwies. His favorite vegetable is tomato and his favorite fruit is banana. He loves to drink milk and juice (*watered down) and has figured out that when I go to the fridge door and push the button on the front, he is getting water (to which he complains sometimes but when he gets really thirsty, he stops!) I limit the kids' sugar intake/junk intake but I don't prohibit sweets and snacks entirely. He is the most active child I have ever seen. He runs everywhere, climbs everything, loves to be outside no matter the weather, and is a bit accident prone (which REALLY stresses me out!) He has a head full of dark brown hair with lot of natural body and a good amount of curls. He has bright blue eyes and long lashes. One of his most endearing traits to me is that when he gets shy, he diverts his big eyes up and over and rolls his tongue around in his mouth, turns it sideways, and sticks it out. It makes him look uncomfortable and embarrassed. It's really cute. Maybe I can catch it on video sometime :). He and Grace have just started fighting over toys, etc. He is determined to keep his toys but any time I intervene and ask if Grace can see it (or have her ask him), he always obliges. He likes playing in the sandbox, in the yard sprinkler, and the swimming pool. He has little to no fear, which again, greatly stresses me. He constantly has bumps and bruises and they barely slow him down at all. He is all boy! And he is so loved and cherished!