Future Opera Singer

Where else would you sing opera?

Everyone knows that the best acoustics are in the bathroom!

Ban del Soleil....

for the San Tropez tan.

And this is with Water Babies 50 sunscreen.

Jane, myself, and Daddy remain pink.

Water Nymph

Sunday Peace

A little girl is sugar and spice and everything nice -

especially when she's taking a nap.

~Author Unknown

Silence is NOT a Good Thing

October 2006

If your almost 2 year old and your 14 month old are being quiet then you really should have a

Miss Clavel moment and know that something is not quite right.

Because this is what you may find!

War Tide, Roll Eagle

A quick video of the princesses before the pep rally from last night. It started at 6:30 and they were home by 8. Evidently, it was very very painful to attend. It was way more crowded than Tripp and his friend, Dan, who met them there with 2 of his children. There was a 30 minute wait for the elevator so Tripp lugged the 2 princesses up 6 flights of stairs. Tommy Tuberville was late and the line to meet Aubie was well over an hour. By the time they arrived home Tripp was a flinching nervous wreck. He also came home with 2 Happy Meals because he was not "hoofing back down the stairs to buy a $6 hotdog".

Ahh.. these are the lessons learned in life as a parent.

The upside? They got to meet the cheerleaders and I got some nice quiet time and went to the store by MYSELF! Bonus for me = cute pics and video

Tripp is an Auburn fan and I am an Alabama fan although I am not as die hard as he is. If Alabama is not playing Auburn then I can certainly cheer for Auburn. Tripp is not this way. He says it stems from some traumatic childhood memories in which he was the only Auburn fan amongst some mean Alabama fans. The teasing was enough to scar him for life.

He cringes whenever the girls say "Roll Tide" thus the title of the post!

Me, Me, MeMe

Sooo....

I am a little behind doing this MeMe that Kristin over at Our Crazy House tagged me for. Tonight is the perfect night to do it because Tripp has taken the princesses to an Auburn pep rally and surprise birthday party for Aubie the mascot.

No, I did not attend. I am not an Aub. I went to Univ of AL and even though Tripp did not go to Auburn he is a typical Auburn fan. I have a love/hate relationship with the fall and SEC football. I love the games but I HATE watching football with Tripp. He is nervous and fidgety and snaps at anyone and everything if they are not doing well (read: winning). I try to remind him that this is just a game and not a life changing event but this had not worked. Nor has reminding him that the players are BABIES - still teenagers. I put up with it and certainly I am grateful that they have such events as they are having tonight. Because tonight, I got to go to Publix and not push one of the damn race car buggies. Nope, I go to be a normal shopper with just me and my list and my purse and my normal buggie!

But I digress...so here are 6 words about me:

Wife: I am blessed to have such a great husband that I am still in love with and love even more now that we have the princesses. He is amazing and does so much for all of us. I count my blessings everyday!

Mommy: I love being a Mommy!! If I had the energy and money I would adopt/have several more babies!

Preppy: No explanation needed. Read new sidebar - this was a conversation that Mae and I had just this week.

Perfect job: I do feel like I have the perfect job (unless you can tell me about a job that pays you to do nothing). I am out in the summer and done by 3 on the days that I work. I love love love all the people I work with and I will be there until I am old and gray.

Decorate: I love to decorate.

Traveler: I love seeing new places and meeting new people. There are many more places on my list to go to! Now if I could just win that lottery!

Picasso eat your heart out

This is a self portrait by Mae of herself and moi. I have on a coat and I am ROCKING a very short mini-skirt. And, no, those are not bug eyes but my sunglasses because as Mae says "you always have them on". She is right about that. If they are not covering my eyes then they are perched on the top of my head. She has also drawn herself with the hair of her dreams -

"long and shiny" as she says she wants it to be.

I think we may have the next Picasso or

perhaps a mini Casey Matthews (a friend that I went to school with)!

Fun Fun Fun Fun.....

I recently stumbled on a really fun blog!

The Lawyer's Wife has a great monogramming site with lots of too cute items including some fab flip flops that I have my eye on and some cool ways to monogram just about anything including your cooler. Starting on Monday she will be having free shipping so pop on over and see what she has!

I am still trying to figure out which flip flops I want. I mean how can I not support a fellow lawyers wife? Right? Those boys work hard so we can order such things! (love you, boo).

And for you girls who LOVE paper and stationary and all sort of fun stuff check out

Preppy Paper Girl. I think I'll be needing some fun note pads for my desk when school starts back this fall!

This White Girl Can't Dance

A video of Jane's Ballet and Fairytale Class that she is taking at our local community center. I was not sure if she would really like ballet so I opted for the less expensive class at the community center before springing for lessons at the Children's Dance Foundation. She likes ballet but it seems we lack some natural talent. I think swimming may be her sport! She does look precious in her leotard, tights, slippers and ballet bun though! And we all know that the princesses are VERY GOOD when it comes to looking cute!

Dear Mommy at the Pool

Disclaimer: Normally this blog is just about the princesses and our adventures but today I need to rant. Please ignore if you wish to. Unfortunately the target of this post does not know me and does not read my blog.

Dear Mommy at the Pool,

GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!!!!!!! Your toddler is not really safe in those arm swimmies. I know you think she is BUT look carefully at the fine print. It says something about them not being an approved life saving device. Heck, the above swim jackets on the princesses aren't either. The difference? I AM IN THE POOL WITH THEM!! Yes, that was me who pulled your toddler up from the bottom of the pool after she took her arm swimmies off without you even noticing. I got there before Mr. Hunky-yummy lifeguard did. Why? BECAUSE I AM ACTIVELY SUPERVISING MY CHILDREN WHILE IN THE POOL. This means that I am in the pool. GASP! Now, maybe you do not get the whole medical reasons for "active supervision" in a swimming pool. So let me explain to you. Brain cells need oxygen. (is it coming back 9th grade biology??!!) If your toddler is under the water she is going to become deprived of oxygen. She is not a fish; she DOES NOT have gills. Only creatures in rivers, lakes and oceans and Harry Potter when he eats gillyweed have gills. So unless you have some gillyweed for her GET IN THE POOL WITH HER!! It only takes about 2-5 minutes without oxygen for brain damage to begin. BRAIN DAMAGE = DEAD BRAIN CELLS. Really no way around it.

So please GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE AND GET IN THE POOL WITH YOUR CHILD.

And when I bring your now screaming toddler to you don't cover your phone with your hand and ask me where her swimmies are. Because you will get the smart ass response that I gave you -

"I suppose at the bottom of the pool which is where she was 2 minutes ago".

Seriously, it is really NOT okay.

Oh, and you're welcome for saving your child.

Julie

Okay - so I am sane or a crazy sanctimommy for feeling this way?

I really can say that I am in the pool with the princesses at all times. This is just one of those rules in our house. It is really enforced especially since Mary Austin does not wear above swim jacket anymore - unless we are swimming in the lake and then the rule is that you will wear a life jacket until you are competitively swimming.

So what do you think?

Am I being a Momzilla or is this mom just ditsy/crazy?

All you lurkers feel free to chime in on this one!

Jane and her animals

Jane loving on Jenny

Jane Harris LOVES animals!

I mean she loooooooooves them.

We often comment that she may very well turn out to be a vet. She is not afraid of dogs of any size nor is she afraid of lizards, spiders or bugs. Yes, she really did come up to me with a HUGE Daddy long legs cupped in her hands (I am talking so big the legs were sticking out between her fingers) asking me where his mommy was. She has delighted in catching "lite bugs" this summer and asks to go outside every night.

We have spent the last 2 weekends at the lake. Our "fur girls" run. play and swim hard during our time there. So much so that we noticed Jenny limping. Yesterday Tripp took Jenny to the vet. Bess stood at the windows whining as she watched them leave. Jane ran over to Bess laid her head on Bess' neck and said "Oh Bessie, it be okay. Jenny will go to the doctor Mary (Dr Mary is our pediatrician) and she will get all fixed up good as new." I could have killed myself for not buying new camera batteries. It was just one of those moments.

Virginia Anne aka "Jenny" Elizabeth Belle aka "Bess"

Disclaimer: Yes, my dogs have real names. There is no way I would ever be able to have enough children to use all the baby names I have picked out.

Happy 4th Mae Day!

July 2004
June 2008

Mae,

You are the light of our lives.

You made us parents.

You are kind and sweet and loving to all creatures big and small.

You are athletic - already swimming, jumping off the diving board at the pool, playing in the lake and taking gymnastics.

You are beautiful inside and out.

You have an opinion on most everything.

You love church and God.

You love babies.

You are a terrific big sister.

You have a fabulous imagination and will play hours on end with your princess and animal figures.

You have many friends and love them all.

You love to snuggle.

You love to give European cheek kisses.

You love all Disney princess movies including Mary Poppins.

You are gentle and tough all in one.

You are everything and more that we could have wished for in a daughter. You are our precious child and we love you so very much. Never forget that you can always come to us and we will help you. Never let anyone tell you that you are not our child. You may not look like us but you are our child that we dreamed and hoped for all those years and we could not love you any more than we do.

We love you,

mommy and daddy

Fourth of July fun!

SWIMMING AT NANA'S!

My sister has been here all week and we have had a blast!

Mae and I will be taking a "mommy and me" trip up to their house in August.**

While there we will be having lunch at The American Girl Doll cafe, this is very exciting!

So 10 years ago I would have never thought that last sentence would come from me!

Oh how children change things!

**You must be at least 3 1/2 years to go on a "Mommy and me" trip so Jane will start next summer.

AT THE LAKE:

Get ready...
set...
GO!!!!

Mae and Elizabeth, my niece, had so much fun jumping off the dock!

Their routine was - jump in, swim to the ladder, climb back up and do it all over again!

Watching the fireworks off the dock with Turner (who was a flower girl in our wedding and is now all grown up - talk about feeling old) and her boyfriend, Alex.

Mae developed quite a crush on Alex about 5 seconds after meeting him!

Jenny enjoyed the fireworks too. Bess did not and hide in the boathouse all night!

Sweet cousins taking a break!

In Loving Memory

William L. Austin

September 14, 1922 - June 27, 2008

Beloved husband, father, grandaddy and great-grandaddy.

World War II veteran, pilot of a B-17 bomber flying 35 missions for his country.

Lover of all University of Alabama sports.

We will miss you and see you on the other side.

Celebrate the 4th this week!