Makeup time!

Angie got Josie some play makeup! She let Josie pick out anything she wanted from......Walgreens! Oh yeah! Josie just kind of stood there all starry eyed! This is the kind of makeup every 3 year old girl loves. You know the one that WILL NOT wash off no matter what you do! Home girl got a hold of it before Nana's Christmas musical! She had red "eye shadow" on. It looked like she'd been stung by a bee. The crazy thing is that Joey and I didn't even notice it until we were on the way! How is that? How did we not see her lipstick eyeshadow?? We tried to rub it off! Big mistake, our tireless efforts only made her eyes more red. So, we just left it! :)
Josie's sweet Aunt Christy let her do her makeup! She's so good! That was a major turning point in their relationship. Josie has always loved her Aunt Christy, but after this little experience together, Josie's really feeling the love for my sister! :) Christy got to do Josie's makeup, too. Don't you just love that baby blue? Such fun memories!!

Traditions!

Aunt Cheryl and Josie have the sweetest relationship! For more than a year now she and Josie have made Aunt Cheryl's homemade chocolate chip cookies together. And I do mean together. Cheryl lets Josie be a part of each step. It's so special!

When I tell the kids that Uncle Lennie and Aunt Cheryl are coming Jake says, "Aint Cheryl cookies, Unca Lennie couch." If that's not the truth, I don't know what is! Cheryl works in the kitchen and Lennie chills on the sofa.

I had to take a picture of Cheryl's nails. Josie pays such close attention to every detail. One morning we were watching a Hi-5 show. Lord, help me! Josie saw that Kimee's nails were polished. She goes, "Look Mommy, she has paint on her nails like Aunt Cheryl!" Then I got to thinking....I don't think, in all my years of knowing Cheryl, that I've ever seen those nails naked!

We love our family tradition! :)

My little knot head!

Here's to my little knot headed son! He's something else. That boy bout sends me into cardiac arrest daily.....so today was no different. He just has bigger marks to prove his boyhood. The first pictures are how his precious face is supposed to look. The last two are what happens when he rolls down the steps in the garage face first. It was a sad sad sight. Jake's way tough, though. He didn't cry long. He saves "real crying" for things that matter, like when I won't let him jump from the coffee table to the couch. Those water works can last for minutes! :) This was just too cute not to blog! So, here's looking at you Jake!

Tinkerbell and Tebow

Josie dressed up as Tinkerbell and Jake was Tim Tebow for Halloween. They were cute as could be.

Nana made Josie's one of a kind Tink outfit (even the wings). Josie went online with Nana to decide what she wanted to be. She found a fairy costume and there was no going back. She HAD to be Tinkerbell and the costume HAD to be green. Josie didn't understand why her dress wasn't strapless. That girl pays attention to every single detail. I don't think I even noticed that Tinkerbell went strapless. She even does her sleeves off the shoulder like Aurora. Her hair has to be in a side ponytail when she's Bell. The only wand that will work with her Snow White dress is the Snow White wand (not any of the other 5 wands). My sweet girl is a particular one! Anyway, Nana came through with this breathtaking Tinkerbell costume. Seriously, Josie gasped when she saw it...totally took her breath away. I polished her nails with sparkle polish and put some shiny eyeshadow and lip gloss on her. Her hair was up, just like Tinks! She was in heaven, pure heaven. She looked beautiful.

Jake was the most adorable little football player I've ever seen in all my 31 years of living. We spiked his hair and put the black stuff under his eyes. Aunt Cheryl had originally given us some shoulder pads (from her closet). Angie later found some real football player pads for him. Oh man! When he would wear his helmet he looked dang cute. I even bought him those tacky light up shoes with balls on them. He's been eyeballing those things at Target for a good month now, but I refused them. Needless to say I finally gave in! He looked perfect and loves stomping his feet to watch his shoes light up!

We had a great time! Two of my nephews, Austin and Tyler, were there in the shot with Josie Ryann. My neice Taylor was with us, too. She was a big help with Jakers. Enjoy the pictures (noting Jake's basketball bucket). It was from Easter. It's all we had :)

Happy Birthday, Jake!! (a little bit late)

October 23rd my Jake turned 2!! We decided to give him a ball party. He loves all kinds of sports stuff!

We didn't do a big party for him, just family. We have family night at my mama's every Tuesday and Joey's folks every Thursday. So...we figured he could celebrate both days.

The Tuesday party was cupcakes that Aunt Christy made for him. They had cute little soccer balls on them. Jaker's didn't eat any of the cupcake, though. Once he tasted that sugared up soccer ball it was all over. The rest of us tore them cupcakes up! The Thursday party was a ball cake his Nana made. I must admit that thing rocked! He loved it.

Jake did everything you'd want your 2 year old to do for his party. He cracked all of us up. I love the way he sings Hap Birday to ooh, hap birday to ooh, hap birday...then he'd start blowing like crazy and clap and yell, "Yay, Jake!" We had to relight the candles several times at both parties. It was too much.

He moved on to opening his presents. He jumped up and down and squealed. He made every person feel like they're gift was the best! Grampa Jack was there and he kept laughing and saying, "That sure is a happy birthday boy!" Grandpa Leroy was still talking about my son the next day. Jake really can put on a show! :)

I've put up a few pictures of my little man. There's one there from preschool. Jenny had the kids make these cute pumpkins and we put an unlit candle in Jake's. We all sang Happy Birthday to him and he blew his unlit candle out.

It's hard to believe he's 2 already. I know I sound old, but time does fly. I'm very thankful for every second with him! He really is the funniest person I've ever known. Jake's just a natural when it comes to making you laugh! He's got me wrapped around that tiny little 2 year old finger!

Mamma Mia!

Hey everybody!!! I've missed blogging. Just an update...Jake is doing wonderful without his ba! Sweet freedom! Woo-hoo! He's such a good boy!

Mama, Christy and I headed to New York for the week. We decided 3 years ago we were going to do one trip a year together (just the 3 of us). The first one was the beach. The last 2 have been NYC. Thanks to my sweet sister and all of her eye surgeries.

I've titled this blog Mamma Mia for two reasons. 1) We watched that broadway show together...and 2) My mama is a nut! I've got to tell you that woman just isn't right! :) And I mean that in the most respectful way.

When we first got to the hotel she was all hung up on this sign about O'sized vehicles (please note the picture). Brenda Mae couldn't figure out what the heck a zero sized vehicle was and why they were charging $8 to park it. She kept saying, "What on earth is a zero sized vehicle. Well, I've never heard of such! Is it a bike or something?" Christy and I were just looking at each other like...is she for real? I told her it's not a zero sized vehicle or a bike. It's an oversized vehicle and that's why it's $8 extra!

Then, Mom's awake at the butt crack of dawn and headed down 33 flights for her morning cup of coffee and a cigarette. This man plops down beside her on the outside steps and lights up a joint. Yes, mar-i-ju-wanna! He asked her if she'd like to take a puff. She smiles and says no thank you. After she wouldn't participate in his illegal drug activity, he asks her if she minds if he sings to her. That man starts singing some crazy song to Mama. She just laughed. She has the nuttiest stories!

Another incident happened on Times Square when me and Christy about had to wrestle her down. That woman thought it would be funny to ask the horse police man if she could jump on back and get handcuffed. She wanted to text the picture to my brother, Brett. She didn't do it, but I have to admit that would've been a hoot!

We rode one of those bicycle man carts back to the New Yorker when Mamma Mia was over. I think we laughed the hardest then. We just knew at any given moment homeboy was gonna fling us off that cart and into oncoming traffic. Plus, we were a little loopy. We'd been up since 3 in the mernin and the show didn't end til around 11:00 that night. There's one picture of our driver man and the other of us cracking up!

Where would I be without that lady? We had ourselves the most wonderful dysfunctional life growing up and I thank my sweet Lord every day for giving me to the Rimes family!! My life has never been dull...NEVER! As long as my Mama's got something to do with it, I don't think it ever will.

Bye Bye Ba!

I'm one of those people who used to say things like, I'll NEVER let my child have a paci! I'll never let my child watch a movie in the van. I'll never let my children get those crusty boogers under their noses. I'll never....whatever never is to you. You see what I'm saying. Well, then I had children and all those nevers came back to bite me in the bahonkus! So now I try to never say never (hee hee). You know the scripture...judge not lest you be judged with the same measure.

Man, I learned that the hard way. Both of my kids had pacis. Shoot, Josie had hers the first night we got home from the hospital. I think I had the Dr. sticking one in Jake's mouth before he laid him on my tummy to hold!

Then there's the dvd in the car thing. That lasted a while. I tried to hold out on that one. But, low and behold that treasured possession appears on every long road trip!

Ugh, and those boogers. You know the ones where it's like a white ashy snot puddle right under both nostrils. I was the worst judger of this one. When I saw children like this I'd think to myself, "Please woman, wipe that child's nose. That's disgusting!!!" Can't you hear the I know it all tone in my voice? NOW I know why she didn't. It's like a beaver's dam. It holds all the other runny stuff back. Genius, I tell you, sheer genius!

On to my blog title...Bye bye Ba. Jake has named his paci "ba." Oh, and does he ever love that ba! We were going to take it when he was one....but were too scared. Jake's very capable of some long long long long crying spells. We just weren't ready. Then it was 18 months. We did take it but gave it back because he got scheduled for his winkie surgery. What kind of mama would take his favorite thing before his other "thing" got wounded? Then it was next month or this weekend or tomorrow! So here we are with a boy who says, "Ba now" all the time. Tonight was the night. We pretty much took ourselves by surprise. It was the only way. We told the sweetie that he was a big boy now and had all those beautiful teeth. We didn't want the ba to make his teeth pokey outey and give him boo boos in his mouth. He was like unh-unh. Then, I got the idea to tell him we'd give it to baby Cooper. Josie was distraught when I said that. She says, "I don't want Cooper to get bad teeth and boo boos!" My quick thinking self said, "Girl, Coop won't get bad teeth or boo boos because he ain't got no teeth!" She was happy with that. We then drove to Coopers and Jake gave him his 2 ba's.

It was so sad. He didn't cry or anything. He didn't even cry when he went to bed tonight. He just told me "Ba Jake boo boo mouth" and I said yay (that's how Jake says his yes). We'll just see how tonight goes. I do pray he understands and doesn't even ask about his best friend ba.

I do love me some Jake Jake!!! I'm very proud of him.

This an oldie but a goodie. It's from Christmas time last year. He's got his teddy, blankie and ba.
*** Last night was a very hard night. It didn't start until the middle of the night. He really wants his ba. This morning's nap has been pretty tough, too. He'll have none of this nap business. Oh well. We gave it to him as a newborn. Time to suffer the consequences, I suppose! ***

Tidbits from the week!

I love these children God has given me! I just love them! Some days, especially lately, I wish they'd let me sleep just a wee bit more. But, that love is there so big inside of me that it makes my heart hurt.

Earlier this week Austin, my nephew, decided to make sweet tea. Josie and Jake were all about being A's helpers. They call him A. I don't know why. Both of my children can pronounce his name, still they choose to call the boy a letter! He doesn't mind at all. So...Austin makes this tea. That youngin used 2 CUPS of sugar. Yes, 2 cups! Christy uses 2 scoops...that doesn't mean 2 cups. I didn't know the difference. I am not a sweet tea maker. I'm not a tea maker of any kind, so I was like, "Go on ahead with yo bad self, boy!" Jake and Josie got to "tir,tir, tir" as Jake says. Notice the towel on the floor. Those 2 stirred their little hearts out all over my floor. It'll clean, right? I loved this picture of Princess whoever she was that day with the shirtless wonder. I was looking at the pictures of Jake and my son does wear a shirt, just not in the past few blogs! :)

The next two pics are walking pneumonia boy. Jake has had that for heaven only knows how long and I've been putting it off as allergies. Finally, I took him to the doctor. Joey pretty much made me. Ya'll know what that's like. Half the time you take them and it's the common cold. Didn't want to waste the energy. Turns out Jake-Jake has some p-neumonia. Poor fella. I've had him at Ethan's soccer practice, games, church, friends houses, even the beach! How sad is that? In his pictures he's using his breathing machine. He's blowing "bubbles" at the animals in the book. That only works some of the time. The other times he's screaming his fluffy blond head off. He's on all kinds of drugs! Lord love him!

The last picture is too sweet. That one truly makes me melt. It's Josie and her Manny. She's been wanting my Mama to sleep over with her. Josie told mom that she's got a bed under her bed she could sleep on. "It'll be so much fun, Manny!" I know you can hear her say it in her Josie voice. So, there they sleep! I love my mom for doing that. I just hope they both get some sleep tonight. :)

Finally, yes finally! I want you to pray for my babies. There's all kinds of stuff going on with their bodies. I'm ready for them to be better! Thank you! I'm so glad you've taken the time to read this!

Jake's World!

Do you see my Jaker's with his Pa's ear cover thingy's, Pa's sunglasses, and toy chainsaw in hand? Let me tell you what, that boy is crazy about Pa and all things surrounding Pa. Mr. Randy was cutting down a tree the other day. Jake had to get in on the action. He was all up in Pa's mix. So, Mr. Randy, being the good man that he is, gave Jake those ear covers and sunglasses. I don't know who got him the chainsaw. It came from Nana's playroom. Anywho, Jake got right down to business. He was sawing things and trying to push that big wheel barrel full of leaves. I know it's not a wheel barrel, it's a wheel burrow or some craziness, but some things I simply can't change.

Jake got to bring the ear covers and chainsaw home. He's such a little hoot walking around the house in his "dress up" attire. I wish I had a picture, but a few days ago, Josie was having a girly girl meltdown. Jake went and got his ear covers and ba (paci). He crawled up on the couch right beside little miss freakin out. That made her yell even more. Jake just laid against a pillow with those ear covers on. Joey recorded it. We could probably win $10,000 from the Funny Show off that little puppy!

He loves to be outside. His face will be beet red and I'll be dying from heat exhaustion, but he will not want to come in. He's all boy. I've heard that saying so much in my life, but it's the darn-tootin truth. I've never seen anything like it.

The next few are him playing ball. He's not picky. He'll play baseball, football, basketball, soccer! It makes no never mind to him. We were having family night at Joey's folks when the ball pics were taken. My little man was in hog heaven. I'm so very thankful for Jake Landon. Where would all my hard laughing joy and near heart attacks come from? Love him to pieces!

Wednesday's not here anymore!

Well, as some of you know, Josie is no longer in preschool! We tried it. She liked it, just not enough to stay there without me! The candy box at the end of the day was almost enough to win her over! We'll always have her pink and gold glitter princess back pack and a closet full of new school clothes to show for it!

Have you guys heard of the Five Love Languages??? Well my top 2 are a tie for physical touch and quality time! I'm all about being with the people I love. If you ask Joey he'll tell you I spend that time practically in their laps (and I'm 31.) So, I'm sure in time my clingy girl will branch out from me some and it'll be bitter sweet. Until then, I'll enjoy having her close.

In place of 3 year old preschool, we've started dance and Kindermusik. Josie totally loves them both. You'll see her adorable self in her dance outfit with Pa's boots on! In music class, there was a part when the kids were supposed to roll on the floor. Josie wasn't about to have that. She says, "It'll mess my hair up, Mommy." Such a girl! Jake gets to do the Kindermusik class, too! Ohhhh, you should see that cute little codger in there. He is such a nut! See him practicing on the Dora potty. No, he's not practicing how to use the potty. He's playing his conga!

I "heart" New York!

I love New York! I do need one of those stank white shirts that say I "heart" NY! Never could bring myself to buy one, though.

These pictures are only a few of my favorites. My sweetest sister and I are at a yummy Italian restauant (Carmine's) in the first picture. The next pic is Broadway where we watched Grease. We love us some Grease! Um, um, um! Taylor Hicks (Idol winner from 2 seasons ago) was the beauty school drop out guy! I didn't really think I'd like Broadway. All those overly dramatic faces and all, but I was way wrong. It's one of my best memories! :) Joey was tickled pink that we got that out of our system before he came with us in August.

The next two are us in Central Park. That is the prettiest place. It's funny how drawn I was there. I go to the city that never sleeps to stroll through the peace and quiet. Don't tell anybody, but Christy took those pictures. Yes, my sister, who had surgery not even 24 hours before these shots were taken! My mom would whoop my hine if she knew I wasn't the best babysitter! But, you can't make that girl rest. If she doesn't want to, she won't!!!! That bridge is the one you see in all the movies. It's in "Enchanted." Josie loves that one. Surprise surprise! My princess enjoying a princess movie!

I did save the best for last. You'll notice it's the Hershey store on Times Square. Oh yes, the Hershey store! That place was almost too much for my little heart to bear. You know that saying, "Like a kid in the candy store!" Well, that was me. It was heaven on earth. I'm 100% my heaven is gonna include the biggest chilled hershey bar ever with a side of peanut butter! Some people appreciate a good meal....I appreciate a good piece of candy, or two, or three! :)

We had so much fun. We went everywhere that counts! Lots of Law and Order watching went on! It's pretty cool and scary to watch that show in New York. We had our fair share of Michael Phelps and the young gymnastic girls,too! I've also never walked so much in my life. You just feel so healthy there! Minus the bad smog and fumes you're breathing in :) Ok there's New York in a very little nutshell!