They're Baaack!

The beast. 8'.

The hunting crew, random guy, Mark, another random guy, Robbie (BIL) and Chris (FIL).

So, I have been a hunting widow/single mom for the past 3 days....let me tell you, I have the utmost respect for single moms. I can hardly make it for 3 days without pulling my hair out. I love my little man but I just get to a point where I need someone else to talk to! Anyway, Mark was alligator hunting this weekend in Pascagoula. He got the opportunity to be a "guide" for another hunter. They loaded up Friday and headed for the coast. Friday night was a bust for them but Saturday proved to be a better night and they harvested an 8 footer.


Jake and I got a glimpse of the beast this afternoon at my in-laws house.


Next weekend is my turn...but on this hunt I will be the permit holder. I'm hoping to do better than my catch last year which was 6'10". Mark claims that they "left" a 10 footer out there for me. Let's hope I can get it!!

S'mores?!?

This afternoon, Jake says "Mama, I need some crackers, chocolate and a marshmallow." I asked "what are you going to make with that?" He replied, just as cool as a cucumber, "spores." Ha!

Pump It Up!!

Sooooo...it's been a long time ya'll! We have been super busy over the last couple of weeks and I have really had no desire to blog at the end of the day...basically, I have been a blog slacker!

We went to Hayden's birthday at Pump It Up a couple of weeks ago. Jake, Mark and I had a wonderful time. It's always a plus for me when the adults can have fun at the kiddo birthday parties! Jake and I raced through the obstacle courses and down the slides, we bounced in the bouncy houses, it was excellent! Jake has been asking to have his next birthday party there...he doesn't turn 5 until May...

Here are some pictures from the day.

Racing through the obstacle course with Jake.

I look like I'm striking a pose...really I'm just trying to cool off my armpits!!!

Did someone say CAKE??

The whole gang.

Have You Forgotten?

I certainly haven't. I vividly remember standing in the breakroom at M&F Bank in Ridgeland watching in disbelief as the first plane hit the North tower. I thought, that would be terrible to be on a flight that runs into a skyscraper in NYC...then the second plane hits the South tower and reality sets in...this was no accident. I've been watching specials all week on the events of 9/11/2001. I can hardly believe that it has been 7 years since it all took place. I want to encourage everyone to take a minute today and just say a prayer for all of those affected by this tragedy...the loved ones left to pick up the pieces and move on. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like.

Random Thoughts

I don't have any pictures of Jake this time, but I do have a snapshot of our two dogs, Duke and Dixie. They were so sweet to wait for me to come back from the mailbox. Surprsingly they were both standing still, on all fours and Dixie was not barking. Duke doesn't bark unless absolutely necessary so it wasn't unusual for him to be silent.

Does anyone else feel a tremendous sense of pride upon seeing a convoy of power trucks rolling down the interstate? This has been a common sight around the Jackson area over the past 2 or 3 days. I'm not sure if it is my love of blue collar workers...yes ladies, that's right...I don't find a man who wears a suit to work every day very appealing...or if it's just the sight of all these workers coming together for a common cause. It's very heartwarming! I'm proud to live in a country where we all pull together and help one another out.

Jake threw another interesting question at me this morning. We were just riding along when Jake says "Mama, God made all people from dust." I say "that's right." He then says with the most serious tone in his voice "I wonder what he made cars from, probably concrete." That's right baby, concrete!! I love that kid.

Jake's been doing well so far in 4K. We've made major strides in getting him out of the car in the morning. He is still extremely tired at the end of the day. This is both a blessing and a curse. It sometimes makes for a long trip home full of crying and whining about various things. Last night, he was asleep when Mark brought him in the door at 5:30. He slept through dinner, snack and bath time. We finally put him in his bed at 8 and he slept until 6:30. 13 hours of sleep does WONDERS for a 4 year old's attitude. He woke up this morning with a huge smile on his face and was very cooperative when it was time to get dressed.

Just a random update on what's been going on for the past couple of weeks...I hope to have more to write about soon!!

I Don't Want to Grow Up!!

Lately, Jake has been telling me that he does not want to grow up. He wants to stay little forever. I imagine he is probably coming to the realization that things get tougher for you the bigger, or older you get. I was putting him to bed last night and our conversation went something like this:

Jake: "I don't want to go to school tomorrow, they give me too much work to do."

Me: "Well, that's just the way life goes, you've got lots of years of work ahead of you."

Jake: "But Mama, I don't want to get bigger, and they just keep feeding me snacks! It's not fair!"

This of course made me laugh out loud and he then told me that this was not funny!

First Day of School

He just keeps getting older...Today was our first day of 4K. I had to fight back the tears as I watched my BABY walking down the sidewalk by himself. He was so excited and was so proud to be going to the door on his own, with no help from his mama. I'm full of mixed emotions...I'm so proud of him and I am so excited about this new school year but I'm also so sad to be losing my baby.

He's so adorable in that shirt and khaki shorts! I could just eat him up!

Happy Birthday!!

We recently celebrated our neice's first birthday. Isn't she a doll? She wasn't all that interested in her soooo cute cake but she did manage to make a little bit of a mess! Enjoy the pics! Happy Birthday Shelby!!

Ruby Falls...Day 3

On our final day, we traveled back up Lookout Mountain for a trip to Ruby Falls. I had been nervous about this part of our trip since before we left. When you get here, you are loaded into what appears to be a freight elevator in packs of about 15 people. You then decend about 260' into an opening in the rock. I started to get nervous on the elevator when I realized that the elevator door was glass. You get a nice view of all of the solid limestone that you are about to be UNDER. I had a little trouble breathing when we first got off the elevator but I quickly remembered the breathing techniques I was taught in childbirth classes! They help in other situations too folks!! Anyway, you go with a tourguide on a trip that is 1 mile total. .5 miles to the falls and .5 miles back (along the same path) to the elevator. Jake was truly in awe of all of the stalagmites and stalagtites in the cavern. I really believe this was his favorite part of the whole trip. We completed the mile journey and got back to the elevator where we were again loaded on with about 12 other people. This time, the elevator operator thought he would have some fun with an elevator that was mostly female. He slowed the elevator down to a turtle like pace...this caused 4 or 5 of the women (me excluded) to squeal very loudly. He then looks at them and says "don't worry, it won't take them long to get us out of here," That didn't help the situation any!! He sped the elevator back up and we made it to the top safe and sound!!

We left Chattanooga a short while later for what seemed like the longest drive ever. We made it home safe and sound and overall we had an excellent time!

This was called "Mirror Lake."
The picture does not do it justice!

The falls.

Stone teeth as Jake calls them.

See Rock City...and Throw Up in a Garbage Can!! Day 2

So, day 2 begins with us waking at about 8:30 and getting ready to head out to "See Rock City!" Mark complains of the usual stomach ache...(he always has a stomach ache when we go on vacation) I tell him to get over it and hurry up because we want to beat the crowd as well as the mid-day heat. We all load up in the car and head up Lookout Mountain. Rock City is one of those tourist attractions that everyone wants to see, yet everyone makes fun of. It's so ultra cheesy and well, tacky. It was alot of fun for Jake as he loved climbing on the rocks and running throughout the park. It was fun for the rest of us until we got to the entrance to Fairlyland Caverns...we all went in and experienced the same darkness, the same dank odor...Jake and I looked at the displays with the little gnomes in them. We were at the Hansel and Gretel display when I hear coughing off to my right. I knew it was Mark coughing since we were the only ones in the cavern. Then I think to myself "I recognize that particular cough"...at that very moment, I look over to see him ralphing in the garbage can...how nice!! He looks up at me and says "I've got to get out of here!" I was in a panic...we stood at the garbage can for a few seconds because I think he was afraid to leave it...we finally found the exit and we were thrilled to see sunlight and get some fresh air! I was very torn between feeling sorry for him and being totally angry with him...as if he could control it! Needless to say, we got out of Rock City pretty quickly and headed back to the hotel for some rest.

Jake getting ready to cross the swinging bridge

Mark and Jake trying to make it through "Fat Man Squeeze"

Where it all went downhill

After and hour or so at the hotel, Mark decided that he was okay with going to the Children's Discovery Museum. This was a really neat hands on museum for kids. Jake thoroughly enjoyed digging for dinosaur bones and checking out all of the displays in the museum. His favorite part, of course was the gift shop...oh how I just love a museum gift shop. We ended up with a relatively cheap purchase of dinosaur goo...yes, he loves the goo.

This was a really neat display on the power of water.

Jake putting together a dinosaur puzzle.

Our last stop was at the IMAX theater where we watched a 3-D movie on dolphins and whales. I'm a sucker for anything 3-D. I love to feel like the animals are right there in front of me. It took all that I had to keep from reaching out to "touch" them! That was it for day 2.