The Good Stuff

We have been looking forward to this one last weekend before the football frenzy begins with great anticipation of rest, relaxation, and no stress. All week we've been discussing going to the zoo today, but finally decided we really wanted to have a commitment free weekend and have absolutely nothing planned to do. It was even better than we imagined!.

Last night we decided to attend the Auburn High School football game. We knew we needed a quick dinner, so Turner and I came home after school and cooked a delicious homemade pizza with my new pizza pans from Chow Bella. (Thanks Holly!) Here's a picture of our final product. It was yummy (red onions, sausage, spinach, broccoli), but we are still in the learning phase of baking homemade pizzas. Anyone with tips or good recipes please share!We didn't plan it this way, but several friends were at the AHS game also and we had such a wonderful time visiting and cheering on the tigers! I was cheering on several of my former students, students who I might not have said would even still be in school at this point in their lives. This is always a necessary reminder that what I see in middle school is not the final product! And also a reminder that athletics can be such a powerful motivator in the lives of young men and women who need a sense of purpose and belonging. Here are a few pictures.

Getting all fired up as we neared the stadium!

Sitting with our friend Collin!

Daddy teaching Turner all about the game of "flootball" as she calls it!

Today, well, today we did nothing. All day. And it was awesome. Seriously, we got up and Mark made blueberry pancakes and we stayed in our pajamas until the afternoon. We alternated between playing inside and outside, and Mark and I squeezed in some naps in between play sessions with Turner. This afternoon while Mark went to campus for a while, Turner and I headed to a local fun event with inflatables, Aubie, and sno-biz. Turner wasn't keen on Aubie at ALL, but she was pretty fond of the sno-biz. Shocker? No.

When we got home the plan was to grill out hamburgers for dinner, and while Mark grilled Turner played in her pool and sand table outside. We decided to take dinner outside as it was rare cool night in August and we enjoyed an impromptu picnic in the backyard. We finished off the delicious "daddy-burgers" with a dessert of popsicles, which made Turner's whole night! We made a quick trip to the garden to check on our watermelons and squash and then it was time for baths and bed.



I am a country music fan, and a Kenny Chesney fan. If you don't know his song "The Good Stuff" it's worth a listen. I feel like the last two days have been just that for my little family - full of opportunities to create "the good stuff" in life. High school football on a Friday night, pancakes and cartoons on Saturday mornings,naps, backyard gardens, grilled out hamburgers, time to slow down. This weekend has been full of precious memories and hilarious moments.

Life doesn't get better than this.

Making this musician Momma's heart melt...

I just can't help but smile when my precious girl breaks out into song! This was her first rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider and while it's not perfect (and could be hard for those who haven't had experience deciphering toddler-talk to understand) I thought it was too cute not to share!



This second video is her most recent version of the ABC's - more letters included now, but this time she left off the grand finale of "Now I know my...XYandZ. Now I know my...XYandZ." Once she gets to that part it's like a broken record! :) Again she left it off because she was so interested in watching the playback!

Yes HE Does...

Just in case you were wondering...


And for those who prefer a more contemporary style of worship...I give you the punk rock version. The one we couldn't even finish because we were so interested in seeing the results played back in the camera!



Psalm 8:2
"You have taught children and infants to give you praise, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you." New Living Translation

"Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble."
The Message

Amen.

Weekend Fun

This is post is overdue, but working again and being exhausted at night doesn't allow much time for posting! Last Thursday, Mark's parents came to visit for a few days. We had several fun things on our calendar for this weekend such as supper club with our Sunday School class on Thursday night and our church "back to school bash" on Saturday night.

Here are a few pictures from the bash at church. I have to brag on my husband, who in my eyes is the best Dad in the world. He arrived perfectly dry, and left completely soaking wet. While I talked and socialized with friends, he hoisted Turner countless times onto the water slides. He is Turner's favorite playmate and I love that about him! You'll notice we have quite the daredevil on our hands...just a few months ago she wouldn't have anything to do with inflatables....now she's flying down these water slides! And she really enjoyed the "slip and slide" (aka huge tarp on the ground) and has asked me repeatedly this week if we were going to slip and slide again! Enjoy the pictures!

Please notice Mark's face in the picture below...priceless.

The sprinklers ("blinkers" to Turner) were on when we got home and of course little miss had to get in them for a minute since she was already wet! She would say, "I go under!" and try to run under the spray, only getting a direct spray in the side of the head!Mark and I also had our sights set on getting a batch of gumbo made for our freezer, which with everyone's help we finally accomplished! This a much easier task when there are people here to help entertain Turner while we work! There is nothing better than having ready-made (and tasty!) suppers waiting in the freezer for easy preparation!

We enjoyed your visit Granny and Grandpa! Come see us again soon!

Life in our world....

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but we've been quite busy around the Armstrong household. Last weekend we went to Andalusia for a night (mainly so I could get a haircut) but also to visit with Tootsie and Pop in Andalusia before football season starts. They come to us for AU home games, so it's always a long stretch of time in the fall that we don't get to Andalusia for a while.

We arrived back in Auburn, and I was determined to get in some quality time at the pool before heading back to work on Wednesday of last week. So pretty much every morning Turner and I slept late (a favorite activity for both of us), and then enjoyed the sun and water at our neighborhood pool. Then while she napped I tried to finish up all of my "to-do-list" projects...and I can honestly say I think I got it all done! Exciting!

My biggest summer project was decorating our guest room, which is located right off the kitchen in our home. When we designed this house, we designed it with our bedroom, Turner's bedroom, and the office on one side, and the guest room on the other side. We love this orientation, however it is very visible when guests are here so I definitely wanted to like this space. And although I loved the fact that we have a king size bed in there now, I hated the comforter and pretty much how the entire room looked. So, with some summer workshop money I purchased a new comforter off Ebay (I LOVE IT), some paint from Sherwin Williams, and some fabric for headboard...and it went from this:

Please note, I had dumped the drawers from the dressed onto the bed by the time I took the picture. Also, the carpet is not green, that's the drop cloth! :)

...to this!!!

If you look closely, you'll notice that the room changed dramatically due to the addition of a custom made headboard on the bed. Can I just brag on my Dad? He is awesome. I talked to him about this about a month ago and asked him if we could get it done before the wedding shower at my house on August 8th (last night)...he of course assured me we could. When we got to Andalusia last weekend the headboard was built. They came to Auburn this weekend and we finished attaching the fabric and bolting it in Friday night. I. LOVE. IT. Totally changed the room - totally what I wanted. I have been teased before for constantly saying, "My Daddy can do it..." But it's the truth. In my eyes he can do ANYTHING. Thanks Daddy - love you.

I did ask Mark if it was ok for me to paint his grandmother's dresser, and I want to say that he was gracious in allowing me to take on another big painting project after I pretty much ruined the last thing I tried to do. I got some advice from Seth and listened intently to the nice man at Sherwin Williams, and am very happy with how this project turned out. Still haven't purchased new pulls for it yet, but will do that soon. The dresser before:

...and the finished project!!

A lot of my wanting to re-do this room centered around a wedding shower we had here last night for our friend Star. I really wanted this room to be something I loved and would be proud to have people see - and it definitely was! Mark and I loved entertaining in our new home, the flow of traffic, the conversation areas, etc. It was exactly what we designed and hoped it would be! It was also great to visit with old friends, especially those we haven't seen in many years! Let me also thank both of my parents for their help in pulling this shower off - Dad worked like crazy with Mark in the yard all day Saturday, Mom helped entertain Turner so I could cook then she helped prepare food, mop floors, etc. while Turner napped. My parents make my life SO much easier. And my husband is the best. I couldn't list all the things he did on this blog, but he definitely washed dishes for over an hour straight Saturday night - I didn't touch one. He's amazing. Here's a pic of my sweet hubby getting a kiss from his favorite little girl.

Tomorrow is a big day...another school year begins - number 9 for me which is still hard to believe. Admittedly, I had the hardest and least enjoyable year of my teaching career last year. I am hoping like crazy that this year will be different. It has to be. I have a new goal - to focus on memorizing one scripture verse a week for this entire school year. Based on my slight lack of enthusiasm as we've approached this school year, here's my verse for this week from the New Living Translation - Colossians 3:17. " And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus..."

Would you please pray?

For our friends the Shraders? Their 12 year old son, Benjamin, had major hip surgery last Friday and had some big time complications yesterday. I do believe he is stable now, but they are desperately in need of prayers at this time. I know many of you are faithful and will pray for them. You can find their blog here.

Some background, Wade and Carol (the parents) went to Mississippi State with Mark. They have three precious triplets (Claire, Mason, and Benjamin) and an adorable daughter Cate. The triplets were born almost three months early and the two boys have cerebral palsy. Wade is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, so this family understands the magnitude of the surgery Benjamin had last week. Yet that doesn't make this any easier when it's your child in pain, need, etc.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for our friends!

Maybe I am a music dork...

...but I think this is TOO cool. Thanks Dad for sharing with me!