Beach Babies

We took the boys to the beach this weekend on an impromptu trip....lots of fun, not lots of sleep. Dwayne (Deeee), Kimberly (Kiki), Brian (Mr.B), and the Pierce's had a quick LA get-away. We took them to the beach for the first time and they loved the sand and water, it was still a little chilly though. They also went in a big pool (indoor) for the first time too, they really like the water. Harrison carried the full-size football around all weekend and said "ball" about 713 times. Hudson had a tougher time, he was getting over a virus but really took everything in. We ate at Tacky Jack's and looked at the boats at the Marina. It was a short trip but NO complaints we all needed it and it was so nice to have so much help ;) Can't wait to take them back this summer which will be followed by a parents-only weekend of sleep and relaxation for sure!

Finally got Hudson to mooooo!

We live out in the country in Jones County, well it's country to me. There is all kinds of animals out here that people who are raised in the country take for granted. Such as horses, cows, chickens, goats and one of the farmers down the street just got a sloo of bees! We always pass the cows in the fields coming to or from our house and Hudson has always started barking at them. "Arf! Arf! Arf!" I always say nooo those are cows and they say "Moooo!". Well today on our way home Charlie and Harrison were sound asleep and I assumed Huddy was too when from behind me I heard "mmmmmm!" and he was pointing to the cows! Holy Cow (no pun intended) I thought, he finally got it! I corrected the "mmmm" to an "moooo" and by the next field which was by our house he was a mooooer!

This is a picture from the Choo Choo Train at the Hattiesburg Zoo. It was such a pretty day on Saturday we took the boys and had a picnic. Harrison laughed for the entire train ride, it was funny. If you will notice, Joel is squeezed ever so tightly in this seat with his long legs, good thing it only went around once!

Quack Quack! Watching the ducks...they knew just what they were when they saw them!

To make a long story short, we took Harrison to the ER Saturday night with a 104.5 fever and a racing pulse, we were scared to death. Mawmaw and Pawpaw came and stayed with Hudson, which was much appreciated! After a lovely 5 hour visit we returned home with an ear infection. We really thought he was dehydrated and I am still not convinced he wasn't. He is feeling better just not drinking enough. Hudson has been so sweet with him, he went home with Nana and Pop tonight in case I need to take Harrison to the doctor in the morning.

What a bad job on my part on the picture representation at Kali's party today! This is the ONLY one I had of all three :(. It was a gorgeous day and the party setup looked great! The boys jumped in a jumper for the first time and loved it! This is Kali showing them "jumpy jumpy". Harrison was still feeling bad so we left early. Liam and Jason came too!

















After the party today while playing outside, Huddy decided to go down the slide on our swing set alone! I can't believe how grown-up they are getting, now we don't have to lift him up and hold his hand as he goes down....sigh. I was proud!

To tie this excessively long post up I have a short story....normally they will not be this long, trust me it has been an active past three days. I am having trouble holding my eyes open!
Obviously we did not attend a church today (as we are still looking...pray we will find our match!). I had not received my "lesson" and thought "well I will have to catch it next week, had a bad night". However, while we were all in the car today Joel ran into the gas station and normally my mind is on another planet while in a vehicle (drivers beware) and for some reason I tuned in just long enough to hear a short message that has had my wheels turning all day. This is just the part that I heard...

"God gives us grace and God gives us mercy, think of it like this....Grace is when God gives us something we don't deserve and mercy is something God did NOT give us that we did deserve"

That struck a chord with me in that, we are very blessed in our lives, with our precious children, our healthy family relationships, our long time friendships, our health and a secure job. Most people cannot claim to have two of those things. Why us? Why do we get to enjoy those pleasures....by God's grace and mercy and I am so thankful for that. It reminds me that learning a lesson about God does not only happen in a sanctuary it can happen anywhere if even through a thirty second spot on the radio. God can sneak into my heart and give me my "lesson" when I need it if I will just listen. I thought that was such a great way to make sense of grace and mercy, two words we hear a lot in church and in the bible. I hope you all have a great week and maybe you can find signs of His grace and mercy too!

"We never know the love of our parents until we have become parents." Henry Ward Beecher

Welcome to our new blog! I was talking to Joel about it and I decided we needed to have a blog for a few reasons...

1. We have so many funny "moments" and I want to log them somewhere so we can look back and laugh!

2. We have so many not-so-funny-to-me "moments" where maybe other people can look back and laugh!

3. This is a great way for us to share pictures etc. with family and friends.

4. Not that I have a whole lot of extra time, but this is so important that I WILL make time to post things.

I decided that I will try to update on Sunday and Wednesday nights before bed. The reason I chose "puppy dog tails" as our title is probably obvious, not only do we have a lot of boys in this house but they are boys to the bone and this nursery rhyme I thought was very appropriate!

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails
That is what little boys are made of!

So here are my four "puppydog tails" :

Harrison - first born twin, blonde, very independent, loves to play with trucks and read books (over and over) often prefers to play alone and is "expressive" about his feelings whether that be happy, mad or hungry :)

Hudson - brunette, the social butterfly, he loves to play with tools and balls. He prefers to play with others. He is "selective" with his food. He loves to give the "just because" kiss and hug.

Charlie - our new white lab puppy, he has been pretty good so far, although he has chewed the corner off of one of our columns on our back porch...

Joel - our cornerstone to this family, he works and works and never complains. He is my best friend and my partner in this wild party.

I was reading and article in Parents magazine that said you are not supposed to label your children "picky eater", "fussy or whiny", "hard-headed" etc. So I am trying to use more descriptive and PC words :) I will have to update you this weekend we have our neice Kali's 3rd birthday on Sunday!! Her birthday is not only significant in that she was the first baby on Joel's side of the family and such a sweet and smart girl! We found out we were having not 1 but 2 on her 1st birthday two years ago...that day was kind of an out-of-body experience, but anywho. We are looking forward to this weekend, the weather is fantastic!!