A visit with Darby and Brock

We finally got to meet Brock this week! I have been dying to get my hands on him since he was born and finally got the opportunity to visit while we were in town this week. It was great to visit with them on Friday! Brock is just the sweetest thing and perfect in every way! I didnt get to see those pretty eyes since he slept the whole time, but I hope to be able to see him again very soon. Darby looked fantastic and doesn't even look like she is the mother of a 3 week old! Darby...I need to know your secret! I had such a good time catching up with my sweet friend and Connor enjoyed his time there as well. I had been telling him that we were going to visit a baby. When I told him it was baby Brock, he replied "baby Rock?"! It was hilarious! Darby he might have a new nickname from Connor. LOL! Although he did finally start calling our dog Cooper instead of "Pooper" so there is hope! I think Darby got a small glimpse of what it is going to be like to have a two year old boy in her house! Hopefully it wasnt too crazy for you. Ha! I was very impressed that he let me hold Brock the entire time except for the last few minutes. He finally said, "Put baby down. Want Mommy to hold me!" Ha!

This is a really bad picture of Connor. Darby has these on her blog and hers turned out much better!

Fishing on dry land

Connor now associates going to Pops house, with fishing and we cant take a trip without getting out the fishing gear even if it means fishing off the boat on dry land! I have to say that Connor is getting pretty good at casting his line. I think he will be a pro by the time summer gets here. On the last trip Brad put a hook on his line since they were fishing off the dock and Connor actually caught a rock, if that is even possible. It is going to be a fun summer at the lake this year!

I think Connor looks like such a little man in these pictures. It looks like they were engaged in deep conversation in this one!

I love this picture! It looks like Connor is watching Pops catch a big one! Ha!

Scholarship

This week we traveled back down to Rockwood to go to Coalfield's graduation ceremony where our family started the Kathryn Elizabeth Wilkie Memorial Scholarship in Susie's name. Knowing how much she emphasized to her students the importance of getting a higher education we knew this is what she would have wanted. It was such a touching tribute to her especially since she always took a high interest in helping the less fortunate students. It is a scholarship to Roane State Community College which is where she went her first two years. Here are some pictures from the night.

Here is the seat they reserved in her honor. The reason for the lay is that Susie was married in Hawaii to her late husband Bob and she loved it there. I dont think I will ever see one without thinking of her.

Spread the Blessings!

So I have to tell this story and how the actions of another can bless another in return. We have been talking about this in my Bible study (or at least we were- I haven't been in a month due to being out of town a lot, etc.) about how you should always be obedient in your callings from God because you never know how it might impact or bless that person. Well, today I got to be on the receiving end of that.

I was in Lifeway on my lunch break looking for some sheet music that I will be singing to in Amanda's wedding, and had probably been standing there for about 10 minutes when this girl walks up to me, touches me on the shoulder and starts saying, "God told me to come and praaaa....Oh my gosh! Tara, its you!" It was my friend Kristen who I used to work with at Final Touch and haven't seen in about 2 years. We actually go to the same church but due to its size we never see each other. She said that God told her to come and pray a blessing over me and she was supposed to be meeting a friend, so she walked out and God told her again to be obedient. She also had to use the restroom so she came in. After we talked for a while she prayed over me and then proceeded to use the restroom, which was OUT OF ORDER! Can you believe that? He used her urge to pee to get her to come in and approach me...LOL! During our conversation, I commented on how she looked great and had lost some major weight (probably 40 pounds). She said that it was all God and that she had cut out her breads and sugar. I told her about my struggles to lose the baby weight from like over 2 years ago. This was a blessing for me because it is a confirmation for what I have been praying about for a long time. To rely on Him to give up my sugars which is going to be extremely hard for me. I will definitely need God for this, as I have tried many times but always fall off the wagon. As long as I can remember I have had a sweet tooth! I can bypass food to get to the dessert if you know what I mean. I get this honest...my Mom is the same way. I can tell that it is harder and will continue to get harder for me to lose weight as easily as I used to. I have been so frustrated to say the least that I have trained so hard the 1/2 marathon only to get no results. I was eating great during the training but lets be honest when you dont see results it is real easy to go back to the good stuff. Dont get me wrong, I really dont eat that much but havent been hard core dieting either. I have started incorporating some strength training as well so hopefully this will help. I just feel like I am in great physical condition, but you would never know it from the outside. Several people have said that I look fine, but when you are bigger than you have ever been in your life it is definitely an uncomfortable feeling. SO I say all of this to say... that by Kristen coming over she definitely blessed me! I am so glad that she was obedient with God, otherwise I would have never caught up with an old friend and received such encouragement from her in an area that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Thanks for letting me put myself out there! I hope this inspires you all to step out of your comfort zone and listen to God's calls! You never know who will be out there...an old friend, a new friend, a perfect stranger who needs to know that someone cares.

Playing Golf w/ Daddy

On Sunday we went to the golf course so Brad could get a little practice in AND we took Connor to the course for the first time. I didnt mind because I got to experiment with my new camera. It was lots of fun UNTIL we had to leave. Connor had a meltdown and Brad was yelling at me to get him in the car ASAP so we didnt disturb the other golfers. It was a good thing they weren't busy because it would have been quite embarrassing. I think I got some good shots though. I hope to put some in frames in his new golf room.

The hole is this way!

Just making sure it went in...

This was hilarious! Connor finally got frustrated and kept hitting it with his hand to make it on the hole. It only took about 5 tries! LOL

Mothers Day with Nonna

On Saturday night and Sunday morning we got to spend Mother's Day with Nonna. Connor gave her the flowers and had a great time playing with all of our old toys that Mom has brought down from the attic. He was very excited to be able to go to the barn in the backyard since the last few times we have been there it has been rainy. Grandy found a cone that we used for a tee and we practiced running the bases. I had told Dad that they start playing tee ball at 3 years old here in Spring Hill so he thought we had better start practicing. I can already see how comical it is going to be to watch a 3 year old try and make it to home! Connor did pretty well. He made it to second and then took a short cut back to home. I was just amazed that he ran at all or didnt run the wrong way. I forgot to mention that I took the pictures with my Mother's Day present, birthday present, Christmas present, etc....I got a new Canon D-SLR XSI thanks to Lacy's recommendation! I have been wanting one of these for some time and Brad had originally given me my gift on Thursday because he knew that I had been talking about the camera a lot and wanted to see if I wanted to take his gift back (which was a GPS running watch) and get the camera for a combined birthday gift. After a lot of consideration, I decided to get the camera only because Brad has one of these watches and I can use his, only I cant track it online which isnt a huge deal for me since I am finished with the 1/2 marathon training. I really want to learn more about photography and plan on taking some classes. I was told by the photographer at Best Buy that I should just watch tutorials online and I could probably pick it up by simply playing with my camera. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know! This is all new to me.

Amanda's Bridal Shower in Townsend

On Saturday I got to go to Amanda's bridal shower in Townsend at "The Lily Barn". It was a very nice shower since it was all of Amanda's closest friends. I always enjoy these kinds of showers the best! She got showered with so many great things! And while we are on the subject of showers...we had quite a lot of rain showers before, during and after the shower! I thought we were going to need a boat to get home. Despite that it was a great day!

Mother's Day with Grannie

Here are some pictures from our visit to E TN this weekend. Friday night we had a break in the weather and it was a very nice evening. We had a table at the end of the balcony that overlooked the water and Connor got left over cornbread from the kitchen to feed the ducks, fish, and whatever else was down there! He had such a good time! When we got back to Grannie and Pops house, Brad and Connor waded through the mud and standing water in the yard to the lake to fish. Unfortunately Connor's line broke pretty early on, but Daddy was able to catch a fish for Connor to see! Connor has never seen a fish out of the water before and immediately said, "I wanna touch it!" Brad took it off the hook and held it out for him and he said so calm, "Just throw it back in the water." It was so hilarious!

Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures of Grannie or of Kaitlyn's birthday party. :(

Pops and Connor walking down the water at Calhoons. I love this picture!

Feeding the fish with his buddy Pete.
Catching a fish in Pop's lake. By the way... I dont know if you knew that. Its not Watts Bar Lake, its "Pops" lake according to Connor!

Connor loves "gardens"! My Dad took him down to his garden last summer to pick "geen beans and berries in the basket" and ever since he has taken an interest in gardening. Well, Pops had told Connor on the phone a couple of weeks ago that he was planting him a sucker garden. When we got there it was ready to pick! How am I going to explain this one later on... LOL

Mothers Day Weekend

I had a great Mothers Day weekend and it was quite action packed. We have been staying quite busy lately and this weekend was no exception. We left on Friday to head down to Rockwood to spend the night with Grannie and Pops and had a Mother's Day dinner at Calhoun's on the Lake. On Saturday morning, Amanda, Doris, and I headed to Townsend for a bridal shower for Amanda. It was a rainy day, so Connor stayed at home with Daddy and Pops. Later that afternoon we went to Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday party and then left to go to my parents house to spend Mother's Day with my mom. On Sunday, we came home and spent a relaxing day at home just hanging out as a family.

Here are some pictures of Connor planting Grannie and Nonna some flowers in their very own flower pot that was engraved with Connor's name on it. On the front it said, "Nonna's/Grannie's Garden of Love". I thought this would be a good idea for Connor since he loves helping me garden and he could do this all by himself (well...maybe I helped a little.) and actually give it to them. He loves giving presents to anyone and had been asking me since we planted them when we were going to get to give them to Nonna/Grannie. He calls dirt "garden", so we needed to give them their flowers in the "garden". I love the stuff he comes up with!

Mr. Sandman

A few weeks ago...(Easter actually) Nonna and Grandy made a special trip to our house to bring Connor's Easter present. A new sandbox! He also got all kinds of shovels, rakes, and pails to make castles with. He has already enjoyed it so much! It didnt take long for Connor to wind up IN the sandbox, of course! We positioned it right outside my kitchen window so I could let him play some and keep my eye on him if I am washing dishes, etc. I cant wait till summer. I know he is going to be out there all the time. Isnt the awning so cute? I thought these pictures of them playing in the sandbox together were too precious not to share!