At the lake... more pics

Here are some more pictures from the lake today.

Too much time on his hands

So Anita and Anna got the point of my wonderful, reflective post about the sad songs. You know, be nicer to your family, let your mascara run all over your face. Apparently my brother-in-law didn't watch the videos and really let the words touch his heart. After reading the post, he seemed to think I was somehow infatuated with Reba herself and perhaps, deep down inside, wanted to be Reba McEntire. Then with, obviously, too much time on his hands he decided to try to make my dreams of becoming Reba come true. After seeing the pictures, while hysterically laughing, Cameron said, "Maybe that is what Piper will look like with her red hair" ;).

Pics from the iPhone

The boys have really been enjoying hearing sweet Piper Jane talk:). They try to interpret her screams all the time. They'll say, "Mom, she just said boo-ball" or some other made up word. She also loves it when they talk to her in her own language. Sometimes I feel as if I have 3 little babies around here:).
Andrew was drawing on my board at school the other day and drew a picture of PapPa's truck. Isn't it sweet? I guess PapPa doesn't need elbows, or maybe that's John McCain on that picture?:) Just JOKING!

Politics...

Politics.. politics... I've always been into political elections. I've also always been a diehard republican, despite my family's efforts to sway me the other way:). A couple of years ago, I felt very convicted about the divisiveness in politics. It's as if God gave me a disgust for the attacks both parties make. I've felt led to truly try to look at the candidates for who they are and not what party they belong to. I don't want to hate or dislike someone or some leader because what party hat they wear. I believe I can believe in a candidate without destroying another. I honestly like Barack Obama. I know a lot of people don't, but I think he really is a great man. I'm so moved and inspired by his heart for the people of Africa, and yes, I know we live in America. I think he seems to be a great family man. There are many things he believes in that I do not. I honestly wasn't thrilled with McCain but have always had respect for him. I'm hoping that he's an honest, loyal man. I am really excited about Sarah Palin but I'm SO inspired by Cindy McCain. Her intro video was amazing (it played before her speech on AETN). She is an incredible lady. Who knew?? I don't know tons about John McCain's convictions but Cindy seems to live life based on her burdens and convictions and that is so encouraging to me. I'm excited about this political election and pray that God will bless our country with a great leader.

What a good mommy:)

We were watching the RNC last night and couldnt quit laughing at cute Piper Palin mommying her little baby brother. Wish she were around to help me fix my kiddo's hair:)

We're just a bunch of saps...

Tonight Cameron was putting the boys down. Our routine is having our quiet time while they go to sleep. I usually sing a song, read my Bible, pray and sing another song (or two). The boys always request Why? by Nicole Nordeman and Dear Mr. Jesus. Well, believe it or not, Cameron doesn't know those songs;). So he called for back up. I sang those and continued to sing a couple more because they were on the verge of sleeping. Many times I'll just sing hymns but tonight I remembered a sweet song called If I had Only Known by Reba McIntire. When I came out I told Cameron about the song and then remembered another horribly sad song called The Greatest Man I Never Knew. Within minutes, I was boohooing, which isn't too much of a surprise for those who really know me. I've always liked sad songs, sad books, movies, etc. My favorite author growing up was Laurlene McDaniel. She wrote about every type of tragedy imaginable:). Cam always cracks up when he sees some of my old books from when I was a teen. (What's wrong with daddy?, Mother please don't die, Too Young to die, etc.) For those of you who need a good cry, I've added the two sad songs below. If you're already a little depressed and not totally stable you should NOT watch the videos (or look up the lyrics). As I was boohooing about the songs, Cameron started to get sad about Piper growing up and no longer being fascinated with the ceiling fan lights. It was just all depressing over here. Luckily I happened upon the last video I've attached to this post of this SUPER cute baby laughing. Unlike the other two videos, I recommend this one for all of you:).

He's been waiting for so long...

When Andrew woke up this morning I told him, "Happy Birthday". The first thing he said was, "Am I five? Am I five right now??" He was so excited that he was finally FIVE. He's had a great day. I let him choose what we would have for dinner and he chose tacos. Cameron took him and Parker to the sports center to play a little ball tonight. This morning at school, I was peeking in his classroom to see what they were doing and saw him proudly wearing his birthday hat:). He looked so cute with his huge hat on.
Although I'm so sad my little ones are growing so fast, I know that we'll make even more memories the older they get. This weekend we went swimming at a state park and I saw a mom and son spending time together. The son seemed to be around 16 or so. He and his mom were having a great time together. It made Andrew turning five not seem so sad.
Happy Birthday sweet son!! Mommy loves you!!