Donuts with Daddy

Our baby school has done it again.  For Mother's Day, they had a sweet little way of delivering our gifts.  Well, they did it again for Father's Day.

It actually wasn't a day that Briggs had Mother's Day Out, so Justin loaded him up and headed to school for donuts so he could get his gift.  I met up with them after and we made a baby swap.

 Here are my two boys...so cute and handsome :)

And here is a picture of what Briggs made for Daddy (in the wrapping paper)...

Sorry for the glare...but you get the idea.  Picture of our baby in a cute little frame.  Will be perfect for Daddy's desk at work.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we are so thankful for our Mother's Day Out program.  Not only does it give mommy a few hours to get some much needed things done, but they really do go above and beyond to do special things for the kids and parents. 

Happy Father's Day

Today is a day we all reflect on our own fathers and the influence they have had on our hearts and lives.  My mom always calls me a "daddy's girl".  I guess I'm guilty as charged. 

My dad is awesome (you are too mom), he set the bar high for the man who would eventually win over my heart (Justin).  He has led our family with grace through many trials and triumphs, loved my mom with a very selfless heart for the past 30+ years, and has played a huge role in pointing and guiding my heart to loving the Lord above anything or anyone else.  I love my dad and cherish all the times I have and will get to spend with him.  He's the best! 

Justin here:

Now that I'm a father, it's given me more appreciation for my father. Father's tend to sacrifice their wants and needs for the greater good of the household; that's exactly how it should be and that's exactly what I think about when I think back to my raising.

I'm sure dad would have rather been in the finest of boats, fishing the finest of rods and casting the finest of lures but instead he was spending every ounce of sweat he could to put dinner on the table and provide the funds necessary for me to play baseball and later attend college.

I could write a novel about Charles Poland but words wouldn't do justice for my appreciation. He's a man among men and anyone that comes in contact with him will tell you the same. I have a good example to follow.

Happy Birthday Briggs

We had us a party this past weekend and we now officially have ourselves a ONE YEAR OLD!

We had a little theme of "do it yourself" and "keep it small" kind of party.  I guess we went of a little of the non-traditional route from most typical first birthdays.  It does help that I have a super talented husband to help and then a little creativity goes a long way.

We started by making the invitations ourselves.  Justin set Briggs up outside with a smash cake and got the whole thing documented.  Click here if you want to see more.

And then with a little Photshop magic...this was the final invitation.  We dropped them off at Office Depot where they were printed (at a great price)...

And then I decided to attempt to make his cake.  I did one trial run (I know that's probably corny, but I wasn't going have his cake looking crazy b/c I hadn't practiced)

This is the final product.  I mean I know it's not from Edgar's or anything, but it tasted yummy and I thought turned out pretty cute

As I said before, there really wasn't a theme.  I basically just used different blue and green stuff I already had....placemats, vases, mason jars, scrapbook paper...

Centerpieces for the table were pics of Briggs from birth to one year...it was fun to look at how much he has changed over this past year

In preparation for our party,  I wanted something simple for some vases and blue mason jars I had.  When finally deciding on flowers, I went three places looking for some.  My last stop was a little florist by my house.  I just knew she was going to be expensive.  I went in asking for white daisies.  She came out with a bunch in her hand and said it would be $2.  I told her I wished she had some hydrangeas.  There were a bunch of bushes in front of her store...she says..."just go cut yourself some"...well ok then...

So I ended up with this display of flowers for $2...I call that a bargain right there :)

Party favors were baby food jars filled with goldfish.  I made some stickers to put on the front that said "thank you for coming to my party",  covered the tops with some cute fabric...and there ya go...

Last but not least...I made some of my special lemonade...and used the glass Starbucks drinks as our cups with blue and white striped straws.  I thought the wall looked a little boring behind the drink display, so dug some scrapbook paper out of the closet, cut it out in different sized pieces and painted "happy birthday briggs"...

Here is our attempt at a family photo..Briggs was much more interested in my necklace than smiling at the camera

And the fun begins...

We are working on being gentle with our friends...

Time for presents...

That is Reagan behind Briggs.  She is my friend's little girl and she was a great helper during the party...

Time for his cupcake...

Yummy...

And...we are already done..this was the best shot we could get of his messy little self.  It was getting close to nap time so Briggs wasn't too pumped up about the cupcake

Note: We had just spent the week before with my family, and had cake there, so they weren't able to be at the party, but my mom FaceTimed in so she could watch the smash cake part...thank goodness for technology.

Had to get a picture with "Aunt Celeste"...

Pa-paw and G-Maw (Justin's Parents)

And our last family pic before Briggs had a little meltdown followed by a 3 hour nap.  

Overall the party was a success.  We have great friends who showed up and were there to celebrate Briggs' first year of life.  We love our little boy and all the joy he has brought our whole family.

My talented husband

Many of you know how talented Justin is.  I wanted to feature his photography skills in a post.

He has taken pics of many families, kids, couples, and he also does scenery, or in this case, the train museum.   

There is a little store in the heart of Homewood, AL called Soho Retro.  Justin has developed a relationship with the owner regarding his artwork and they finally got something in the works with one of Justin's recent pictures.  

And here is his featured pic (between the lamps on the table).  This is a limited edition of only 50 prints available of this particular shot.  And of course signed by the artist :)

Justin gave the store exclusive rights to the print for the first 6 months.  After that, he will be selling them to anyone who is interested.

A closer look...

Needless to say, Justin is very excited about this opportunity and I'm a proud little wifey :)

Library Fun

We have recently joined our local library...why I didn't think to do that earlier?...

It's a great service that is FREE!  I think the last time I went to the library was in college and that was mostly to study.  So...when I was searching for a specific book..who knew they had gone all computerized on us...no more card indexes with the book location on it....

Things I learned and love about the library:

• FREE services: computer training, knitting/crochet groups, story time and craft time for kids
• electronic library for iPad, Kindle...
• Availability to order books that are not currently in the library (if you are looking for something specific)
• Check out 10 books at time
• Have a really good selection of movies (great for trips)
• Check out time is two weeks 
• Online service to request and renew books...very convenient!

Just wanted to encourage everyone to participate in their local library.  One thing I learned is that community participation is critical to their funding and eligibility for grants.  It's a great source for information and it's free :)

Tip:  I brought a reusable bag (that I use for groceries) to carry my books, since you can check out so many.

Happy Birthday Briggs

I can't believe it has already been a whole year since my little guy was born.  Looking back at my blog has been a good reminder of just how blessed we are to have him here safe and sound.  I had a great pregnancy but things got a little rocky toward the end.

Now Briggs is full of energy, moving all over the place, happy all/most of the time and very fun -loving.   Justin took some pics of Briggs with his smash cake so I could put one on his bday invite.  I know it's a little overboard...but I couldn't pick, so I included all of them :)

Enjoy...

Happy Anniversary

33 years ago my parents said these words to each other...

I take thee Rhonda, in the presence of God and these witnesses, to be my wedded wife.  Under the direction of our Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I will dwell with you according to knowledge, I will honor you as the weaker vessel, and as my joint heir to the grace of life.  Recognizing the authority of God and His Word, I will endeavor by the Grace of our Lord, to love you as Christ loves the church and to be to you, as Christ Jesus is to me prophet, priest and king.

I take thee Bob, in the presence of God and these witnesses, to be my wedded husband.  Under the direction of our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I will adorn myself with a meek and quiet Spirit, as did Sarah to Abraham calling him lord, which is in the sight of God of great price.  Recognizing the authority of God and His Word, I will endeavor to submit myself unto you as unto the Lord, and will so order my life, that our children may call me blessed, and I will find praise in thee.

And now they have:

• three of the most amazing kids
• three grandsons who are even more amazing
• two sons-in-law who they love as their own
• a dog named Bullet
•  so many memories with all of the above
• and are honestly more deeply in love and live out these words in front of all of us.

Love you both...yall have been a great example of what a Biblical, Christ-centered marriage should look like.  I'm thankful for the two of you and the marriage you live out daily!