Disney Bound

After more than five months of planning, we are FINALLY leaving for Walt Disney World in the morning! This will be Luke's first airplane ride so he's very excited about that. This is our first trip to WDW (technically I went with my parents when I was almost 3...I do remember snippets of the trip, but maybe it's because I've seen the pictures...).

Eric is CLUELESS about the whole Disney thing. He knows about Animal Kingdom, because Luke has talked about it so much. But he doesn't even know the names of the other parks. I've read so many books and studied for months, but now I'm feeling a little panicked! I want there to be a happy medium of having things planned and going with the flow kind of vacation. I know we are not going to be able to do it all, but we are sure to see a ton. We are staying for 7 days.

I'm excited about seeing everything! I want to ride the monorail, visit the other "countries" at Epcot and ride Splash Mountain (along with tons of other rides). I'm also very excited about the following: NOT going to work, NOT going to Wal-Mart, NOT dropping Luke off at school, NOT making dinner, NOT running errands, NOT cleaning house, and NOT doing laundry. Ha! I'm very thankful for my life, but sometimes we just need a break!

Have you ever been to Walt Disney World? What are some of your favorite memories?

Petit Jean

I just realized that I forgot to post these pics of a weekend trip to Petit Jean. We went last month and had the BEST time. This was my first time to go with Eric & Luke and explore all over the place. I've gone scrapbooking a few times up there, but when I've done that it's nothing but cutting out pictures and sticking 'em in an album. Plus, plenty of meals, snacks and cutting up with my sister and my friends. No nature walks or picnics on those trips...


We've had tons of rain, so the waterfall was so huge and loud. We walked down this really cool trail that leads to this overlook facing the waterfall. I wasn't expecting to be SO high up! I don't know if you know this, but I have a HUGE PHOBIA OF HEIGHTS!!!! Oh my goodness...it was scary! But I prayed and talked myself through standing there on the deck overlooking the waterfall. I was trying not to act like a freak around my son. Ha! All the while, Eric is trying not to laugh at me.


Here's Lukey on the front porch of our little cabin. I say little because it was really a glorified motel room/duplex cabin with a wood burning fireplace. It was clean and that's all that matters when you are "camping". This is my kind of roughing it!!!


This view is right behind Mather Lodge where we had breakfast Saturday morning. YUMMY!


Me and my sweetie, Luke. He was running a high fever Thursday and Friday and we almost canceled our trip. Even on the way up to Petit Jean, he was sick. He had fever, was listless and had no appetite. When we pulled up to the Lodge to check in, he jumped out of the car, got a burst of energy and his sickness was TOTALLY gone! I'm going to have to remember that next time he runs 101 fever. We will be taking a road trip to Mather Lodge-it has healing powers.


Here's Luke on the turtle rocks. We went to three different overlooks and two 30-minute trails. We will have to go back in the fall to hoof it down to the bottom of the waterfall-I think it takes about 2 hours for that walk. Luke didn't have the stamina for that (plus Eric didn't want to carry him back up the trail).


Looks like a greeting card for Father's Day, doesn't it? Luke sure does love his daddy. Eric has told Luke a different made-up story every night since he was about 2 years old. They love practicing T-ball in the yard, fishing, playing Wii, 4-wheel riding in Sheridan and driving me crazy with weird voices. :)



We ended our trip with a picnic on one of the overlooks (over by Petit Jean's grave). I took a picture of it, but decided posting grave pictures was not something I wanted on my blog. Ha! The story of Petit Jean is very cool if you've never heard it. I loved it, but Eric was laughing at me and said he thought it was all made up and a publicity stunt. Do you see the pattern here? Eric laughing at me!?! Yeah, so do I. The Lord sure did know what I needed when he sent me my Eric. And his little "mini-me", Luke. I love them!

Go Chicago Cubs!

We are very excited about Luke's T-ball team this year. We are playing at a new park and we saw so many people that we know while we were at Opening Ceremonies today. Luke is playing on a 4-6 year old T-ball team. Most of the kids are new to the game, so Luke is one of the only "experienced" players.


The weather could NOT have been more beautiful. It was sunny, warm and there was no humidity. Perfect!


Eric is an assistant coach. He's helping out Marc and Dawn Baty, who we went to high school with back in the day.


This may be one of my all time favorite photos of Luke. Too cute!


He made it home! He said, "YEAH! I scored a point!" I think he's supposed to say "scored a run". Shocking that I would know the correct terminology regarding a sporting event.


Nena and Papa were on hand to cheer the Cubs on to a victory! Oh yeah...not today! We lost by four runs, but they all played hard.


I may not be a huge sports fan, but there's just something neat about watching your little boy hit the ball and run! He really seemed to have fun today. Go Cubs!

What is your favorite spectator sport?

Luke's Room

My friend, Leigh Ann, posted some pictures of her son's room and asked others to do the same. Luke's room is one of my favorite places to be. It's very bright, colorful, and eclectic in decorating style. It's always a work in progress. Most of all, it's very comfortable and he loves it. We got his little bed at a flea market. It's probably from the late 60s or early 70s. So cute! I splurged on his bedding (Pottery Barn-my first and only purchase from them!), because I loved the colors. It's a surfing theme and I found the grass skirt dust ruffle at Target which I thought was so cool! His organizational cubes save our life! Luke is a tad bit OCD about his toys getting out of order (i.e. Ben Ten toys are only in the green tub...this tub goes in the top left hand corner of the shelf on the left side of his bed...we may need to get him some medication! Ha! He sure didn't get that from his mama!). The colorful lanterns in the corner and the ribbon trim around the bulletin board I borrowed from my stylish friend, Julie!


My sister, April, came up with this idea for the picture frames (which I got at Dollar Tree) hanging from the letters in his name. Eric bought the easel at IKEA in Dallas! It has been one of our best purchases ever! Luke loves drawing on this. It's usually an action figure, animal or notes to us (my favorite!). Eric stained the toy box when I was pregnant with Luke. It is full of all his big toys like swords and light sabers.


I bought this dresser at a garage sale when I was pregnant with Luke. My father-in-law, Michael, painted it and I found these cute little drawer pulls at Target (the speech therapist in me loves that his drawers are all labeled by pictures). He may be about to outgrow this...so sad. The red wooden plaque above his closet is from 1st Samuel 1:27. It says, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." Hannah's words about Samuel are exactly how I feel about Luke. I feel so blessed to be his mom. His gentle spirit, funny personality and thoughtfulness toward others never cease to amaze me. I love my little boy!

What do you remember about your bedroom as a child? April and I usually shared a room. We had a canopy bed with patchwork bedding. She had tons of stuffed animals, a doll house and loads of Barbies. I had tons of books. Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Box Car Children, Nancy Drew, Judy Blume, and Beverly Cleary were many of my favorites. I used to make April play school and library. She hated it! Ha! I wish I had detailed pictures of my room back then...

Favorite Foto Friday

Eric and I were at Waimea Falls on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. His mom and Michael were living out on Johnston Atoll, which was a government island near Hawaii. They flew both of us out there to visit and we had an amazing time. We stayed in some incredible hotels right on the beach. We were both 20, but we look like we are in 9th grade, don't we? This was a trip of a lifetime. I had barely been out of Arkansas, so being in a tropical paradise was an eye opening experience. They were all laughing at me all week, because I was in awe of so many neat little things. The beach at Waikiki was the first beach I'd ever been to. One of my favorite memories was both of us trying to stay afloat on a $3 air mattress (in my two-piece bathing suit, no less!!!!). Check out the little Asian guy in the background. Love his outfit! :)

Have you ever been to Hawaii? What was your favorite memory?

Easter Day 2008

Here's Luke all "duded up" for church on Easter morning. I've always loved picking out his clothes. With him getting older this may all come to an end soon. Just this winter, it was the first time he told me he didn't want to wear something because it looked "too baby". So sad...

Luke loves church, his Sunday School teachers, going to choir, his lifelong friends and AWANA. That's all good, but Eric and I pray that we are pointing him to Jesus each and every day. He has such a sweet heart and it is my prayer that he will come to know the Lord at an early age. I know that the Lord will be able to do great things through this little boy.

I didn't grow up in church and I love that he will be able to say that he grew up in church. He says such sweet prayers. He's very good to remember those we are praying for and to think of little things that I might forget.


I actually bought an Easter dress this year. I'm glad we all ended up wearing sleeves because it was a bit chilly this morning.


Here are my sweeties. Don't they look like twins? Eric is such a wonderful daddy. He is so much more patient with Luke than I am. Luke really gets his funny sense of humor from Eric and everyday he says things that my sister, April, and I say "that is JUST like Eric!!!".


After church, we headed out to my sister and brother-in-law's house for their 7th Annual Luncheon and Easter Egg Hunt. They open their home (with tons of acres, a pond, a barn full of horses and plenty places to hide eggs) every year for this. It's for family and tons of friends who don't have family here for whatever reason. We usually have about 50 people out. For the past couple of years, April and I have taken care of all the food and everyone just chips in to help out with the cost. This year we had ham, potato salad, slaw, baked beans, rolls, desserts and sweet tea. We just have everything out on a buffet in the yard, grab lawn chairs and let the kiddos run wild (in their play clothes, of course!!!).


Here's our sweet friend Kara Lane. Our stomachs usually end up hurting from all the laughing we do with this crazy girl!


Look at these goofballs! Of all the things to do on an Easter day...play in the horses' hay! Most of the kids ended up here at one time or another (at least those without allergies...ha!).


The guys hide all the eggs while the mothers corral the kids at the back of the field and then we let them loose! Craziness-I tell you! Thank goodness we put the little kids in the a special spot or these big kids would just bulldoze over the babies. I think they are all trying to find the money eggs!


What an incredible Easter day! I will never stop being amazed with how much the Lord has blessed me!

2 Thessalonians 1:16-18 says: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

This stuff is amazing!

After a seemingly long fall and winter, I'm so ready for some summer footwear. I cannot wait to get into my flip flops and sandals! But I can't stand what my feet look like and feel like after wearing socks and boots after 6 months. I've bought some scrubs and lotions occasionally, but have never found anything I love. I remembered my mom using this stuff when I was a little girl. It's called Pretty Feet & Hands and it used to be in a blue bottle. I couldn't find it at Wal-Mart, so I looked online. They've changed the bottle and I found it at Walgreens. It's crazy, because it's lotion like, but when you rub it in, the old and dead skin just starts rolling off! I know that sounds so gross, but my feet LOVED it!

When I was little and even up through my teen years, I hated the feel of lotion on my hands. Now I can't stand when they are dry feeling. My hands (especially my knuckles) get super dry in the winter. I have all kinds of Bath & Bodyworks hand cream that I use at night, but my favorite thing to put on my hands at night right before I go to bed is Vaseline. Of course you can't do that during the day, but it's amazing how it will soak right into your skin and make them so much softer.

Have you ever tried Pretty Feet and Hands? What is your favorite foot product? What's your favorite lotion?