The Lee Family

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

Lee Lee's Birthday

2011-11-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Chattanooga, TN

2011-11-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we took a short family vacation to Chattanooga, TN. My first reason for planning the trip was to take Jack on a train ride. Here is what we did:

1. Eat lunch at Sticky Fingers

2. Creative Children's Museum (fun, but nowhere as cool as The McWane Center)

3. Visit the Chattanooga Choo Choo (the model railroad was great and the trolley ride was a favorite of Jack's)

4. Visit Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (1 hr train ride that involved getting off of the train and watching the engine turn around on a turntable)

5. Big River Brewery (an enjoyable lunch)

6. Tennessee Aquarium (good, but I prefer Atlanta's aquarium)

7. Walk around the River Front and watch the 6,000 participant Crew Tournament

8. Dinner at Sugar's Ribs

Overall, we had a great trip. There definitely were some hard times with all four of us in a hotel room, but when all else failed, we pulled out the iPod or iPad. haha.

Halloween

2011-11-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

I love my swing

2011-10-26T15:28:00.001-07:00

Holden

2011-10-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

A different kind of generation

2011-10-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Playtime

2011-10-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Holden's Dance

2011-10-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Like most toddlers, Holden loves music. One evening, the boys (all 3 of them) were dancing to music and Holden decides to come up with his own dance move. Jack found this hilarious and now we all do "The Holden".

We're Back!

2011-10-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

This blog has been on a long break. There are multiple reasons for the 2 month break, but the following picture is what brought it back. We bought a new computer....

Here are a few pictures of the boys that I took recently.....

Beach Fun

2011-08-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate to fit in a third trip to the beach, this summer. It is so wonderful to have a beach house to visit that doesn't require a reservation. =) This trip was special because Jack and Holden had friends for the trip. I was worried about four little kids, in one bedroom, but it worked out great. The last night we put the two toddlers down, at the same time. They fussed for about 2 minutes and went to sleep. It was great!

Next year we will need a bigger pool

Airplane!

Taking after their mommies

The seaweed was bad, but the water depth was perfect

Jack and Marina loved the pac-n-plays

Ready for bedtime

The next few pictures are funny. We were all ready to leave and were trying to get a few last pictures. There was an argument because Jack wanted to put arms around each other and Marina wanted to hold hands....

An added bonus: When we returned to our house, LeeLee and Big J were there. The boys were excited.

Birthday Party

2011-07-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great time, in Atlanta, celebrating Will's 3rd birthday. If I remember correctly, we haven't seen them since Will's birthday, last year. Jack and Will got along so well, that I realized the boys needed to see their cousin more than once a year.

Look at those sweet hands

Three grandsons...Holden was in a mood

Sweet brother

2011-07-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Right before I picked Holden up from school, yesterday, he hit his head on the table. He was still upset, when I got there. It just so happened that Jack had snuck his blanket into the car that morning. Jack is very protective of his blanket. Holden was crying in his car seat and Jack said, "here you go, Holden. Maybe my blanket will make you stop crying." I almost started crying.

All Aboard Music Camp

2011-07-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Jack just finished his week at Samford University's All Aboard for Music Camp. He really had a good time and looked forward to going, every day. It was from 9-11:30am. I had to work, yesterday, so my parents came into town to take him. He was upset, this morning, because he wanted Gdad to take him.

Today, they had a 30 minute program for parents. The children sang the songs they learned and showed off their music terminology knowledge. It was fun to get to watch Jack with all of the other students. At one point, the whole room (about 40 people) was quiet and Jack blurted out, "mommy, you are a silly donut". Then, the teacher made a joke that sounded like Jack had been using that term all week.

A Day Late

2011-07-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Happy 83rd birthday, Gran.

Happy Birthday, Kiki!

2011-07-16T18:11:00.001-07:00

Watching lightening

Jumping off of the windowsill

Headed out to his swim lesson

Watching the cupcakes

I just realized that this post included my boys sitting in a window during lightening, jumping off of a windowsill, and leaning against a 350 degree oven.

Vacation

2011-07-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Family Reunion, Enterprise

Jason and Holden in the Gulf

Apparently, Holden got a little sand in his mouth

I'm pretty sure Jack is teaching Holden bad habits

Holden stayed up late for fireworks

The fireworks were loud

I taught Jack how to drink out of a water hose

The new parking pad looks great!

Cheetos on the beach

Holden has a large belly

Chasing birds

Jack is teaching Holden how to use the iPod touch

After a Bath

2011-06-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T05:06:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day, everyone. It is an interesting one, around here. Jason and Jack spent last night at Lake Martin. Holden and I have been bonding, during our 24 hours, alone.

Pictures from our quiet Saturday....

A picture that Jason sent me....

And, I just realized I never posted a picture from our photo session with Erin Cobb...

Happy 4th Birthday, Jack!

2011-06-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

Water Fun

2011-06-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

A Quick Visit

2011-06-04T16:33:00.001-07:00

We spent last night in Huntsville to have family pictures made with Erin Cobb.

As we were leaving my dad said, "I think we set a record for the most dirty dishes, in the shortest amount of time." I found that funny because we didn't eat that much.

Here is a picture of Holden watching Elmo....

Here is a picture of Jack with a horrible stomach ache....

Memorial Day 2011

2011-06-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time, at the beach, for Memorial Day Weekend. It was a full house with all four of us, Lee and Big J, and Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Phillip. Jack loved the beach! Holden was okay, but couldn't control where the sand went. The following pictures are from the beach and after we got home.

I think this picture is hilarious. It reminds me of the book, Holes, and the kid is trekking through the desert, trying to escape.

Hilarious

Some things never change

Jason is disposing of the dead bird, on our beach.

This might be my favorite picture.

Jack had fun playing with Kennedy.

By the way, the cute shirts were made by Aunt Jennifer.

Waiting on Beach pics

2011-06-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, this video will hold you over until I have time to finalize our beach pics.....

Pictures

2011-05-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

In trouble

2011-05-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

About one week ago, Jack had to go to time-out twice, in one day. We were disappointed and had a long talk that ended with him telling his teacher he was sorry, the next day. Two days ago, I went to pick him up, and he wasn't in his normal seat. His teacher told me that she had to move him because he and Tanner wouldn't stop talking. I almost laughed because I found it funny. When I told Jason, he said, "I'm kind of proud of him." I'm not sure what was the difference between the two.

On Wednesday, we held a memorial service for our two students that died. It was very sad. Many of our students were crying uncontrollably. At the end of the service, they released white doves. It was very moving. Here, is a link to the story..... Concord Elementary School.

Two pictures from Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Phillip's wedding.

Washing my car is different than it used to be.....

A third uncle

2011-05-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

Jack and Holden gained their third and final uncle, last weekend. We were all fortunate to be a part of Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Phillip's wedding. Jennifer and Phillip have been together as long as Jason and me. The entire wedding weekend was beautiful. We are all so happy for them and wish them many years of happiness.

I can't believe that this is the only picture I took, this weekend (on Sunday). Actually, I took one picture during the reception, on my dad's camera. All four of us were dressed formally and I didn't get one family shot. Oh, well. We will be visiting this wonderful photographer, in 3 weeks.

Graduation

2011-05-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

My last week of Graduate School did not go as planned. I wasn't looking forward to it because I had 3 assignments due and 2 final exams. One of the assignments was a 10 page paper. The worst part of it was that I was having my Spring Book Fair, so I had absolutely no time to work on anything, at school. I kept thinking that, if I could just make it through this week, then I would be finished studying and writing papers. Wednesday, April 27th changed everything. All of a sudden, I had no ability to concentrate. I trudged through my final assignments on Thursday and Friday because school was closed and the boys were at daycare. But, I completed them through tears, watching the news, talking to coworkers, and putting up refugees (haha). The exams were hard to study for, but I finally took them.

The weight being lifted off of my shoulders from finishing school didn't come like I thought it would. There were so many other important things. I am, now, feeling the freedom of no school. I read a short novel and am halfway through another one. I am happy to return to reading for pleasure.

I am happy and proud that I went back to Graduate School. I earned straight A's in 11 classes and graduated with a 4.0. When I earned my Master's Degree, I made one B, so I didn't have a 4.0. We won't discuss my grades at Birmingham-Southern. =) I am also thankful that my parents supported me and helped me reach this goal. The following pictures are my graduation present, from Jason, Jack, and Holden. I have wanted a swing, since we bought this house.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T09:59:00.001-07:00

She might not be MY mother, but I wouldn't be here without her. It sure was a good Mother's Day present to get to see Gran. I wish she lived closer.

Please excuse Holden's appearance. The goop had returned to his eyes, when we took him around a friend's dog. Next thing we knew, he looked like he had been socked in the eye. When Jack has had allergic reactions to dogs, he cleared up as soon as we left. Well, Holden woke up looking worse.

Generosity, a coincidence, and a new excuse

2011-05-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

GENEROSITY: I asked a teacher, today, about when we were going to start taking up collections. We are taking up a collection for the Kreider family and our students who lost their homes. Mr. Kreider could not afford one funeral, let alone three. She said that, we don't know who, but someone paid the entire cost of the funerals. Wow.

COINCIDENCE: We have a student, who arrived a few months, ago. I was talking with her and remembered why she came in the middle of the school year. Her father is military and they were living, in Japan. They lived through the earthquake. It was a voluntary evacuation, so they returned to Alabama. I asked her about the tornado. She said that her father returned, from Japan, on April, 26. As would be expected, his family is giving him a hard time about attracting natural disasters.

NEW EXCUSE: Yesterday, I had a second grade class that had three students who had lost their homes. I told the class that any books lost, in the storm, would be okay. One girl said, "my home wasn't damaged, but my book was on the back deck and it was sucked away." I asked her why her book was on the back deck, when she knew there was going to be severe weather. She said she was reading, on the back deck, when they had to run to the basement. I didn't ask her why she didn't take the book with her.

Note: This will be my last post that does not include pictures of my sweet children. I can't commit to stopping tornado stories, though. I still have not been able to drive through the area that the tornado damaged homes. The roads are closed. When I experience that, the homes will bulldozed and gone. Still, it will be memorable.

A Daily Reminder

2011-05-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken from my car, on the way to work....

And, a reminder of God's glory...

(Tuesday, May 3, 7:30pm)

Still Overwhelmed

2011-05-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Fionnuala went with me, on Sunday, to Concord. The Concord Elementary School teachers were offering to babysit children while people worked in the damaged area. We (Fionnuala) bought our supplies that I wanted to take out there. We brought hand sanitizer, work gloves, sunscreen, and D batteries. We got there more than an hour before the babysitting started, so we didn't end up staying that long. It was overwhelming to see the mass of volunteers and donated items. Concord is a close knit community and all of the local churches are doing more than their share.

Monday, we had a faculty meeting at school. The teachers discussed how to handle our students. As far as I know, we had two students who died and 14 families (about 25 students) who lost everything. People I know, that have lived in the area for their entire lives, say they went to the destruction sight and became disoriented because their was nothing recognizable. My closest friend, went to the site on Thursday, and said she couldn't go back. She, along with many other of my teachers, suffered horrible losses and devastation, in the 1998 Oak Grove tornado. How sad that these people have to experience this more than once in their lives.

While Fionnuala and I couldn't drive through the area where the tornado entered Concord, we did see the path on 15th Street. I knew that we couldn't go through Hueytown to get to Concord because the roads were closed. However, it never occurred to me that we would still see the path of the tornado on the other side of town. After all, the tornado went from Tuscaloosa to Concord. There would have to be point that we would drive through. As we started to see snapped trees, we realized that was the path of tornado. How humbling it was to see the destruction in an area that was uninhabited. The trees were bent over and the power lines mangled. I do have memories (they might be pictures) of all of the trees laying down, on the mountain, above Jones Valley School, after the 1989 Huntsville tornado.

I'm still overwhelmed with grief. The funeral for our students is tomorrow. Also, school reopens. There is supposed to be heavy rain and thunderstorms. Our teachers, with experience from 1998, say that children will become upset during thunderstorms after experiencing such devastation. Please pray for our faculty as they deal with children, who have experienced unbelievable situations. I heard one story about a fifth grader's experience as he climbed out of his demolished home. I can't finish the story, but it is not something an eleven year old should ever experience.

It will take a long time for these people to recover. However, I can remember the destruction that the Huntsville, AL tornado of 1989 caused. The tornado demolished Airport Rd and took many lives, but that same area has recovered and become an area of prosperity for Huntsville.

Please watch the following video. These pictures are from Concord, AL. These pictures are what some of my students used call home.

Concord, AL

Ready to Help

2011-04-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like everything has been a fog these past few days. I have been overwhelmed with Facebook, al.com, msnbc.com, and cnn.com. I have been in constant communication with teachers from my school. Finally, I am ready to go out there and help. I am planning to go to Concord, tomorrow. They are still in need of so many supplies and I am hoping to bring some things. Also, teachers from our school are babysitting workers' children at the elementary school. I'm ready to do what I can.

I am thankful.

2011-04-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for the safety of my family. The news from my school community is tragic. Slowly, we are accounting for all of our students. Two of our students and their mother passed away. I know of, at least, four families whose homes are "piles of rubble". I'm sure there are many more.

I am also thankful to live in a time where technology has greatly enhanced communication. There is a Facebook page for Concord, AL people affected by the tornado. Our teachers are posting the names of their classes and people from Concord are telling us about the ones that they know are okay.

Last Night Text

2011-04-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Me: "What do you know? I keep hearing of Concord damage and fatalities in Pleasant Grove."

Holly: "Between Concord Highlands and Steves Grocery. Don't know about Pleasant Grove."

Me: "I don't think I received all of your text. Everything is okay between Steve's and Concord?"

Holly: "Not okay. Flattened."

This situation is horrible. The pictures from Concord are horrifying. Please pray for my students and their families. I am so worried about the ones that I know live in the path of this tornado.

Funny Story

2011-04-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

Uncle David and Aunt Sarah sent the boys an Easter card. I have to admit that we got it while the boys were in Huntsville and I put on the mantel and forgot to tell them. Well, Holden started pointing at it, so I gave it to him....

Jack: "What's that mommy?"
Mommy: "An Easter card from Uncle David and Aunt Sarah. They are really good about sending you cards."
Jack: "They are really good at making cards!" (I'm not sure where that came from. They didn't make this one.)
then a few minutes later....
Jack: "But, who's birthday is it?"

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Jack and Holden went to Huntsville, on Thursday, because their school was closed for Good Friday. My mom did a good job wrangling the boys, all by herself. My dad left for work around 5am and didn't end up getting home until midnight. I thought they would abandon us and run away, when we arrived Saturday afternoon, but they didn't look too tired. We weren't in town very long, but spent most of the time talking on the driveway, while the boys played.

We just noticed...

2011-04-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Jack quotes...

2011-04-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, where do ya'll keep your plates?"

"Will you read me this book. And, be sure to read all of the pages."

(I'm notorious for skipping pages on long books or I summarize the page. Obviously, I learned that one from being a librarian.)

50 Years

2011-04-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile it will amaze me that I have been out of high school for almost 15 years. So much has happened in those 15 years. I can't even imagine what my life will be like when I have been out of high school for 50 years. I sure hope it is as good as my dad has made his. My dad will be celebrating his 50 year reunion , this weekend.

Barbie Jeep and Severe Weather

2011-04-11T18:06:00.001-07:00

Here are a few picture from our fun afternoon celebrating the birthday of Jack's favorite friend. We were celebrating her 4th birthday which makes me too aware that Jack is close to turning four. Wow, time is flying.

The following pictures are from Monday night. That was two Mondays, in a row, of severe weather right at Holden's bedtime, while Jason was out playing basketball. This time they were actually mentioning our neighborhood, so I had the boys closed into their basement. Luckily, nothing but a bunch of downed trees came out of the storms....

Holden's new hobby is climbing on the couches. He has reached a size where it is fairly easy for him to get up on the couch. Then, he gets too excited and starts standing up. I'm very concerned about this because we have always felt comfortable being one room away from him. (I have adopted a "minimalist" approach to decorating, so there is nothing that the boys can grab except for their toys.) I'm not sure how to handle the situation aside from taking the cushions off of the couch.

Humidity

2011-04-09T09:01:00.001-07:00

After years of hating what humdity does to my hair, I have finally found a positive. Look at those precious curls...

A funny Holden story

2011-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Jack was 18 months old, when we found out that he could only hear at about 30%. That explained why he wouldn't watch TV, listen to books, or talk. Holden is so different. At 15 months old he's a big talker, loves TV, and expects a book read to him before bedtime. He is quite obsessed with his board books.

He has this weird thing about wanting to put his board books in the bathtub. He ruined two of them, before I caught on. When we are waiting for the water to warm up and fill the bottom of the tub, he walks into the bathroom and throws a book into the water. He threw an enormous fit, last night, when I tried to grab the book out of his hands.

Monsters

2011-04-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Leelee bought Jack a cute monster bowling set a couple of years ago. I hate to admit that Jack didn't play with it a lot, but Holden is obsessed. He carries the monsters around like they are his babies. It is funny.

Reunited

2011-03-31T17:33:00.001-07:00

Jack is home!

This picture makes me laugh....

My blond haired beauty....

Fooled

2011-03-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Jack fooled all of us. Somehow he faked a fever so that he could spend the week in Huntsville doing fun things like this....

Quiet Weekend

2011-03-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

We had a nice quiet weekend. Jason and Holden's weekend began Friday morning. Jack caught Holden's fever, today. We shipped him off to Huntsville for a few days.

Elmo

2011-03-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

Holden loves Elmo. When I say "Elmo", he runs to the computer and says, "Melmo". It is cute.

Today's excuse...

2011-03-23T15:08:00.001-07:00

"Mommy, did you see those fingers in my mouth? They are invisible fingers."

Congratulations

2011-03-21T15:41:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Uncle James, Aunt Jennifer, and Will! Even though Atlanta has been their home for awhile, they decided to make it official and buy a home. They spent last weekend, along with Kiki, Gdad, Uncle David, and Aunt Sarah moving.

While my entire family worked hard, I played hard. I spent the weekend in Nashville. I went with Aunt Jennifer (Lee) and her friends to celebrate her upcoming marriage. I haven not been on a girls trip, since before I got pregnant with Holden. We had a great time.

I am so happy to have my boys home. When I picked them up from daycare, it was the first time I had seen the since Friday.

Black Creek

2011-03-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Blanket.

2011-03-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Jack just brought me his blanket and said, "Do you know what this says?" I thought he was talking about the monogrammed name and assumed he was going to tell me "Jack".

Well, he points at each letter and says, "It says, Jack's blanket that you suck your fingers with. That's what it says."

Can you believe it?

2011-03-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Holden has been off of antibiotics for a few days and the thick, runny nose has returned. Frustrating.

Blessing

2011-03-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I feel the need to preface this video by saying that it wasn't a typical dinner. Usually, Jack is fully dressed. On occasion, when he uses the restroom, he wants clean underwear. If it is late, then I just put a pull-up on him. And, it was a little late, so Holden and I had already eaten. This video catches Jack saying his school blessing. It is adorable.

In case you haven't heard, we made our first trip to the Children's Hospital emergency room, last night. Holden cut his finger on a can. The after hours clinic wouldn't see him because they can't put stitches on fingers. They decided to not use a stitch, but did use a little glue. The cut was typical, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. If it was one of us, we would have kept pressure on it until the bleeding stopped. Well, a 1 year old doesn't understand that. It was a battle in the hospital room (we waited an hour for a 15 second application of glue) to keep a bandage on his finger. He would fuss and fidget and, if we let him down, he would rip off the bandage and blood would be everywhere. We brought some medical tape with us and Jason kept wrapping it with tape, but he kept pulling it off.

Spring Break

2011-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

This has been the quietest Spring Break that I have had, in awhile. I am finally feeling better (I think) and ready to accomplish some things. Yesterday, I ran all of my errands, so I could spend the rest of the week cleaning out toys and studying. I have two classes left, until graduation!

I took the following picture, this morning. When I look at my family, I think about how thankful I am. The disaster, in Japan, is breaking my heart. I look at my own children and pray for the 14 month old babies who were helpless, during the earthquake and tsunami, and the 3 year old children who didn't understand what was happening. It makes me sad.

Who's the bully now?

2011-03-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Happy 6 years!

2011-03-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

Today is our anniversary. I wanted to dig up some old pictures of us, but I have been really sick. Instead, I'll let you look at this precious child....

Steam Mop

2011-03-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

Now, if only Jack could teach Jason how to use the steam mop.

Cold Snap

2011-03-06T16:14:00.001-08:00

Despite how cold it was, today, we made it outside for some playtime. We had such a wonderful, quiet weekend. With the exception of a trip to the store and a haircut, we stayed closed to home. I just can't seem to shake this sinus stuff and Jason's back is giving him problems.

I will be surprised if Holden never gets run over by that golf cart.

I was not happy about this.

Did I forget to mention....

2011-03-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

HOLDEN IS WALKING!

Stories

2011-03-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

1. Jack's teacher told me, today, that all of the girls have a "crush" on him. She said it was mostly the older girls in the class next door. They always want to go talk to Jack. And, one girl told someone to move because SHE sits next to Jack. His teacher said it was like a mini soap opera.

2. Last night, I went in to check on Jack after Jason had put him to bed. He was still awake and I said, "give me kiss". Then he said, "and a hug.... and a high five".

3. Jack asked me who was the teacher at my school. I told him that I was a teacher. He said, "You are not a teacher. You are a mommy. Miss Katie is a teacher."

4. "Coach" Larry always give the boys high-fives, at daycare. Well, now Holden thinks he is supposed to give all of the employees high-fives. When I sign him in, he reaches across the reception desk to high-five all of the people in the front office.

A nightly occurrence

2011-03-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

Our sunrises are just as pretty. And, here is my sweet Holden....

I love him so much!

2011-03-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

Flowers on the back deck

2011-02-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy, during the last few weeks. This weekend we went to Pensacola, FL to attend the wedding of some friends. My parent came to Bham to keep the boys. On Saturday, we went to the beach and we both got burned. That is crazy since it is February.

As you can tell in the following pictures, Holden is fighting sickness. His nose runs constantly. I know that he will eventually get over all of this. The pictures are from this evening when the boys played with some flowers on the back porch. Jack enjoyed shaking them so that the petals ended up everywhere.

Let's catch up...

2011-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

1. Jack and Holden spent 6 days with LeeLee and Big J. I can honestly say that we were all in bed at 8:30, last night. We were exhausted from our big party weekend and the grandparents were sufficiently worn out.
2. We had a wonderful time throwing a wedding shower, at our house. Thank you to LeeLee and Big J for letting us send the boys away.
3. Kiki and and Gdad will be taking the second shift, this weekend. We are going to Pensacola for the wedding mentioned earlier.
4. I woke up Friday night with a very painful right ankle. After 4 days of pain, I went to the doctor and found out a small blister was infected. It hurts.
5. We are extremely thankful to everyone who made our birthdays special. We appreciate the cards, gifts, and being taken out to dinner by the Gambles.
6. I did get grief from Jason for not giving him a birthday post. In my defense, it was like Grand Central Station around here, this weekend.

Valentine's Morning

2011-02-14T04:39:00.000-08:00

We had a nice visit with Uncle David and Aunt Sarah, on Saturday. It was a nice and relaxing day in Huntsville. I have two lucky boys. They got more Christmas presents and a Holden got a birthday present. Then, they got goody bags full of Valentine's stuff, today.

Another funny story...

2011-02-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

Jack was playing PBSkids.org and I told him that I loved Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, when I was kid.

He said, "I liked Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, when I was a kid, too."

Thursday Morning

2011-02-10T06:22:00.001-08:00

Cooking

2011-02-08T17:01:00.001-08:00

Jack and Holden are deciding what to cook me for my birthday dinner. I asked him and he said, "chicken"....

An early birthday post

2011-02-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for my brown eyes, but always get jealous of David's eyes.

Super Bowl

2011-02-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge NFL fan, so I decided to steal this picture for my Super Bowl post.

Will Dinsmore....

A warm January weekend

2011-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas in January

2011-01-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

I went to visit the family that I used to nanny for, yesterday. I didn't realize that they had Christmas presents for the boys. Jack was quite excited about the surprise.

Sharing

2011-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Mommy: "Jack, give that toy back to Holden."
Jack: "But, I had it yesterday."

I don't think it works like that.

Like Father Like Son

2011-01-26T16:24:00.001-08:00

He obviously takes after his daddy. I've always found it gross to hold a bone in your hand and eat the meat off of it.

By they way, I found out tonight that Holden loves rotisserie chicken. He stuffed himself. Actually, Jason came home after we had eaten and Holden stood at Jason's seat and begged for more chicken and roll, which is what he had for dinner.

New Hobby

2011-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Jack's new hobby is jumping off of things: beds, chairs, sofas, stairs, tables....

TV watching

2011-01-22T16:16:00.001-08:00

Both of our boys are watching the same TV, in the following pictures. Saturday's are relaxed around here.
You might notice in the first picture that Jack is sucking his fingers. Much to Jason's annoyance, he is the only one that enforces the "no finger sucking" rule. I walked into the den, this morning, and Jack was saying, "Daddy, I don't want you in here. Please go back into the bedroom." I asked Jason what that was all about. He said that Jack was trying to get him to leave the room so that he could suck his fingers.

Floss

2011-01-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

It surprised me, today, to hear a coworker mention her 4 year old flossing. We haven't been to the dentist, since June. I had never considered Jack flossing. Well, we just added a step to our nighttime routine....

Wednesday morning

2011-01-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

Holden loves that fire engine. We love to push him around the house. The other day I heard a suspicious laughter and I found Jack pushing Holden around the house on the fire engine. It was both hilarious and terrifying to watch.

Holden had his 12 month check-up, this morning. He is following Jack's size, but a little bit bigger. 95th percentile in height and 35th in weight. When the nurse came in to give him his vaccines, she asked me if my husband had blonde hair. For some stupid reason, I just looked at her and said "no". I'm not sure why I didn't tell her that my hair was very blonde, when I was a little girl.

More Celebrations

2011-01-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

Celebration #1: Joe and Jane's marriage
On Saturday morning, we attended a brunch to celebrate the marriage of (cousin) Joe and Jane. It was a nice gathering of a lot of people at their beautiful home in Mountain Brook.

Celebration #2: Holden's birthday
Well, we finished the birthday party marathon. Last weekend we celebrated with LeeLee, Big J, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Phillip, Aunt Susu, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Diane. It was a fun weekend and a full house. We utilized 3 couches and a blow up mattress!

Celebration #3: Bentley's inauguration
On Saturday evening, Jeff called and offered us tickets to the Inaugural Ball. It was fun to get dressed up and go to something so formal.

I wish photoshop had a feature that would fix posture. =)

Birthday 1 and Birthday 2

2011-01-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

For a number of reasons, we were not able to plan one official birthday party for Holden. So, it has been like Christmas around here. We celebrated as a family on his birthday and then we celebrated with Kiki and Grandad, last weekend.

Jason told me something funny, today. He told one of his coworkers that Holden was having his 3rd birthday, this weekend. We will be celebrating with LeeLee, Big J, and the rest of that crew, this coming weekend.

A special request

2011-01-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Mommy: "Jack, guess who is coming this weekend?"
Jack: "who?"
Mommy: "LeeLee and Big J and Susu and Jim"
Jack: "but, is Phillip coming?"

More Snow

2011-01-11T14:25:00.001-08:00

This is what my parents missed out on by spending 3 days in Birmingham, with slush and ice. They made it home, this afternoon.

We did it!!!!

2011-01-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

War Eagle.

I can't believe that one of the reasons I didn't go to Arizona was because I didn't have the "days" to take off work and school has been closed due to icy roads. haha. Oh, well. I'll still take 2 days at home.

WAR EAGLE!!

2011-01-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Ice

2011-01-10T05:28:00.000-08:00

Well, we got the ice storm they were predicting. It didn't end up bad enough to cause power outages, which was my concern. Either way, we are stuck at home. I am so thankful that my parents are stuck here with me. I know they are concerned about their home in Huntsville.

At 8:30pm, last night, Jack looked like he wasn't feeling well. He actually told me that he wasn't feeling well. As it turned out, he had a 102 fever. I guess he caught the virus that Holden had last Thursday.

It's hard to tell, but these pictures show a nice layer of ice....

Oh, yeah... WAR EAGLE!!!! I am planning to take lots of pictures of the boys in their Auburn gear.

Dangerous Games

2011-01-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I was letting my baby play with a hairdryer. Wait a minute... he isn't a baby anymore. I guess he is officially a toddler.

We sure have an interesting weekend ahead of us. Jason flies to Arizona, today. War Eagle! My parents are coming into town to stay with me. It looks like we are in for a major winter weather storm.

Remembering

2011-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

This time last year, Jason and I were spending our first night in our new home. It was bitterly cold, Jack was in Huntsville, and half of our belongings were in limbo. As I woke Jason up around 11pm, I told him that we had tested fate too long and I was going into labor. We went to the hospital, called our parents, and asked my uncle to kindly arrive at our house at 6am for the rest of our furniture to be delivered. It was definitely a time in our lives that we will never forget. We are so lucky to have such wonderful parents. My parents kept Jack for most of December so we could plan for the move into our new house and Jason's parents setup all of our furniture while we were in the hospital. I am so excited to be celebrating Holden's first birthday, tomorrow. He is such a beautiful child and we love him so much.

And...

Jack and Holden started a new daycare, yesterday. To an outsider it might not seem like such a big deal, but it is. I was worried about Jack, but walked in to his new classroom and said, "bye mom". Holden cried, but he recently developed a strong case of separation anxiety. And, believe it or not, my barely 1 year old child is taking naps on a cot. As a matter of fact, I won't believe it until I see it. I have another funny story to tell....

Jack: "The teachers at my new school are bad".
Mommy: "What do you mean?"
Jack: "They say bad things."
Mommy: "What kind of bad thins do they say?"
Jack: "They say 'no' and 'be quiet'"

That is even funnier to me because I am a teacher.

Just Dance 2

2010-12-30T17:18:00.000-08:00

Jack shows us how the game works...

Backyard Fun

2010-12-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

Haircut

2010-12-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

Instead of digging through all of my Christmas pictures, I decided to post a quick picture of Jack's new haircut. It is hard to tell, but it is a drastic change.

Andalusia Christmas

2010-12-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

We had a great time celebrating Christmas, in Andalusia. Our boys were so lucky to have "three" different Christmas celebrations.

I am so aggrevated that our group picture turned out blurry. We set my camera up on the tripod and had it take 5 pictures. They all turned out blurry, but I couldn't tell from looking at my camera.

The Ballad of Jack Lee

2010-12-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

Jason was making up songs on his guitar and Jack decided to make up his own. In case you can't understand the words... he sings about mommy going to the store, mommy taking his picture, and playing in his basement.

Trains

2010-12-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Jack's week, in Huntsville, has been way more exciting than our week in Birmingham...

Christmas in Huntsville

2010-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Huntsville, last weekend, to celebrate Christmas with my parents. It was a nice trip. Since Holden is getting tubes and having his adenoids removed, Thursday, we decided to leave Jack, in Huntsville.

Kiki and Gdad decided it was time to buy a train table, for their house. It only makes sense, with 3 grandsons.

Holden is trying so hard to walk.

I saw this coming.

Jack has always loved this nook.

Look-alikes and a Look in the Past

2010-12-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Jason asked Jack who this was a picture of.......

He said, "Holden". It is a picture of Uncle David, when he was a couple months older than Holden.

And, here are some cool pictures that I found on my dad's computer. He has been converting slides to digital images. They are pictures from a trip he and my mom took to California, in 1970. The very last picture is interesting and sad. It is a picture that my dad took when they were building the twin towers.

Happy B'day, Grandad!

2010-12-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

Today is my dad's birthday. I wish I could post a picture, but I caught the Lee family stomach virus and can barely get out of bed.

I love you, dad! Leesa

Funny Story

2010-12-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

Jack and Holden were playing in our bedroom, as usual. All of a sudden, Holden started screaming. We ran into the bedroom. We find that Jack has taken one of Jason's belts and made a lasso around Holden's waist (buckled and all). Holden is trying to get away, but Jack is holding the lasso. Jack didn't get a proper punishment for that one because we couldn't stop laughing.

Christmas Pageant

2010-12-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

This morning was Jack's Christmas pageant. He was an angel. It was very cute to watch. We sat in the back and Jason had to stand with Holden, most of the time. Even though we were far away, Jack waved at us, from the alter. At one point, we heard him say, "hey, Holden".

Happy Birthday to Big J!!

2010-12-11T13:20:00.001-08:00