Did I Mention We've Been Busy?

Well, here's what we've been doing:

Being cute in the pillow case dress my mom made!

Playing with the "talk"...aka sidewalk chalk

Taking a bath in the big tub and playing with letters.

Going to Home Depot to drive the car and buy paint supplies.

Photo shoot with LaLa by her flowers

Cheese!

Giving sugar to Bubba, whose whiskers tickle.

Visiting the Old State House

Another photo shoot in the flowers outside at the Old State House.

In the Whistle Stop Room at the Old State House. LaLa may be more excited than Caitlin.

Playing dress up.

Watching the ducks at the Peabody.

Going to the Museum of Discovery

Bubba likes the cow as much as Caitlin...probably because he knows a good steak when he sees one.

Playing at the museum..and doing bear crawls.

In the light house with Lala, who also found the fog horn.

Eating macaroni and cheese like a bandit outside at Boscos! Yum Yum!

We had a good time last week, but on Friday they had to get back on the "airpane" and go back to Arizona. I was so glad they got out before the bad weather hit (and let me tell you it was B-A-D on Friday and Saturday nights).  Our visit with Caitlin was a lot of fun, and now that she is talking a whole bunch, it's even funnier. I have some videos that show just how funny, and I'll post those soon.

This week is slated to be super duper busy for us. Unfortunately, Brent is sick with a sore throat right now, and he's trying to finish up school work for the semester. Tonight is the last night of class, and then on Wednesday is our big leadership conference at work. Which also means tomorrow afternoon I will be setting up for it, so that pretty much leaves Thursday for any kind of real work. Because Friday Lamona and I are going to a spa day - and that's how all weeks should end.

We Are Busy!

Since April 5, we have had Brent's mom staying with us for a visit. We've enjoyed hanging out, but the fun has just increaded by a bunch! Our two-and-a-half year old niece Caitlin and her mommy got here yesterday, and we've got a lot of fun planned. Plus, we're also in the middle of building a screened-in patio and flower beds, so the outside is a disaster area.  Stay tuned for updates, but in the mean time I've got to go play.

Old Pictures

Over Easter weekend, Nannie brought some pictures of her for me to scan, and I found some that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Here's mom and dad on their wedding day with all four of my grandparents.

I think I was 18 months here. So happy, but then...

Someone came along to steal my spotlight. HA! Please notice that the half smile. Apparently I was not thrilled with her, but she was cute. P.S. Could our hair be any different?

And here it is. I am most assuredly not thrilled with her here. We laughed at this one because Sarah is trying to give me a hug, but I am not interested. Yes, my mom made all of the dresses here, and no she didn't cut my hair with a bowl (that's what' Brent said).

Good times!

Easter Weekend

Last weekend was Easter, so I headed to McGehee to spend time with my family. Unfortunately, Brent did not go with me because he was sick and trying to study for a business statistics test. I've learned to pick my battles, and it was a lot easier to leave him at home than to have him come with me and make everyone else miserable. LOL! (He did make a 94 on the test, so it was worth it).

Friday night, mom fixed homemade pizza and we had a good time. Nannie came over for supper and we had a long discussion about church and other stuff. On Saturday morning, Sarah, Mom and I got up and drove to Lake Village to shop at Paul Michael's. It's this home decor store that has pretty good deals on stuff, and also a warehouse of scratch and dent stuff. If I lived closer, I would shop there more often, but it was fun to look. I did find a clock and vase for the office that was on sale. When we got back to McGehee, we stopped by Periwinkle Place and looked around. Periwinkle is the local gift shop when you walk in, everyone knows your name. If I had money, I would open a store just like it in Cabot.

That afternoon, Josh bought 10 pounds of crawfish and we had lunch in the carport. I must say this was a first for our family, but they were delicious! They needed to have a few more potatoes and corn, but the flavor was good. I probably wouldn't eat them all the time like this, but every now and then was good. The weather was so pretty that day, we all stayed outside most of the afternoon. Josh taught us how to play botchi-ball and then Sarah and I played catch with our old softball gloves. I'm proud to say that I can still catch pretty good, but throwing is a different story. Saturday night, we drove to Greenville and ate at Sherman's. Oh my word - that place is so good. The shrimp bisque is worth the drive over there that's for sure. 

Then Sunday morning was church. We all got dressed up and it was good to see our friends at FBC McGehee that morning. After church, we took pictures and had lunch with Nannie and Ma. All in all - it was a great weekend. It would have been perfect if Brent had been there with me.

Please note that my dad is wearing his OBU t-shirt and an NRA hat. Any idea on what party affiliation he is?

Out Like a Lamb

I really can't believe that March is over and done with. The first three months of this year have flown by, and I'm anxious to see what the 2nd quarter will hold. Anyway, I wanted to give an update on some things we've been doing at the Haywood house.

First thing we accomplished was what I call the Great Purge of 2010. I wanted to get rid of 25% of the crap I owned, and I feel very confident that that goal was accomplished. We rent a storage room and it had gotten so cramped that literally nothing else could fit into it. I'm talking a 10x20 space of stuff! Not to mention the closets in my house were also full to the brim. So with all of this stuff around, I really felt like my house was closing in on me and I just couldn't stand it anymore. A few weekends ago, we went to our storage room facility and rented a second room for the month of March. Our master plan was to have two separate piles - a keep and donate - and put the donate in the extra storage room, then call Goodwill to come pick it up. It probably took about three trips out there to go through it all, but let me say that it was totally worth it. If we knew any college students, we could have furnished an entire apartment with the stuff we donated. I'm talking about a desk, bookshelfs, rug, eight bags of clothes, electronic equipment, TV, kitchen stuff, and the list goes on.

Here's what it looked like before we got started:

And here's the stuff that we donated:

One thing I have to remind people about why we have so much stuff is that we had two households when we got married. That's just one problem with getting married later in your 20's. I had an apartment full of stuff, and he had a house full of stuff, so when we got married, the stuff that was old or not cute got put away. Now, we still have one storage room because it holds my Christmas decorations and some furniture that is too big for our current house, and I don't want to get rid of it.

In other news, we went and had our favorite eye doctor check our eyes one Sunday afternoon. We drove to Pine Bluff to let Dr. Williams give us an exam, and she did an excellent job. Here's Brent reading the letters on the wall.

Our weekends in March were pretty low key. We spent time relaxing, cleaning the house, doing homework, watching movies, and hanging out. The flowers have really started to bloom, and I needed a new garden flag. I think I found this one at Garden Ridge! We are about to start some work on our backyard, and I am very excited to see how it's going to turn out, so stay tuned for that.

Very springy!

And I totally forgot, but we also helped celebrate Mandy's birthday, and Jeff had an extra special surprise for her. He proposed! So we'll have another wedding in November, and we are very excited and happy for them.

Here's the happy couple right after he surprised her with a diamond.

We'll be heading south for Easter weekend tomorrow, and I am super excited to see my family. Sarah and Josh will be there, and we will be celebrating his completion of law school and also Brent's birthday. I will also be glad to see my grandmother's on Sunday. The older I get, the more I realize how fortunate I am to have them around. Also in April, we will have lots of fun things to do. Brent's mom is coming for a month-long stay, and we will be glad to have her stay that long. I love our holiday visits, but trying to cram a weeks worth of visiting in one week during the most stressful time of the year is hard. This will just be some down-time that I think we all need. Kelly and Caitlin will be coming the last week of April, and I will be so glad to see that little stinker!

Well, that's about all. I will leave you with one last picture. I decided a couple of weeks ago to get my hair cut, but I didn't realize how drastic it would be. I actually love it, and got used to it pretty quick. But then people would stop me and say they liked it and how different it is and how they didn't recognize me, and then I would remember that "oh yeah - my hair is different." ha!

Check it out for yourself:

Up next: Easter Weekend

Happy Birthday Brent!

Today Brent is 30 again. I hope you have a wonderful, fabulous day today, honey. I love you more and more every day, and can't imagine what life would be like without you. You make me laugh every day, and  I am so thankful to the good Lord above that he put us together.

Oh and today is also the three-year anniversary of when he asked me this question:

I obviously said yes.

Welcoming Miss Olivia!

This past Sunday afternoon, my bible study group showered our dear friend Katy Hill, who is expecting Miss Olivia on April 19th. We typically do a diapers and wipes shower, but Katy wanted a girlie shower. And since most of the group has boys, we were happy to do it! (Not that there's anything wrong with boys, but girls are WAY more fun to shop for).

I made the diaper cake, and it was very frilly. The bottom is a tutu that she can wear when she's bigger.

She is quite possibly the cutest pregnant person I have ever seen.

Opening presents. There was lost of pink and lots of laughing and lots of talking.

The hostesses

The gang's all here - except for Robin and Ashley and Amanda.

At this point on the calendar, we have about eight ladies from our life groups who are expecting. This is just four of them. And in order of due dates. I think I am going to Sam's to buy diapers for the rest of the showers.

Here we are with Ginger. We love her oodles and oodles.

We can't wait until Miss Olivia arrives. Owen will be a great big brother, and I am already amazed at Katy's skills. This group of girls (and husbands who weren't there obviously) are very special to us, and we are so blessed to be sharing this time of our lives with them.