Happy Birthday NeNe!

Today is my mom's 60th Birthday. For those of you that don't know her, she is the most selfless person I have ever known. We are closer than words can explain and I am forever grateful that God placed me in this world as her daughter.

For the last few weeks, my dad and I (and a few of her friends) have been scheming a surprise party for her. Since she DOES NOT like to be the center of attention we couldn't wait to pull one over on her. Here are a few pictures of our secret shin dig...

DecorThis portrait was blown up from a small, folded picture my dad has carried in his wallet since he and my mom started dating, for the last 45 years. People say that it looks like me.

On the lookout...

Who's Who...

Nana & Papa (Mom's parents)

Hubby & Kelly (oldest brother)

Sister-in-laws, Heather (Cheatham Chat) & Gwen

My Mom & Dad and brothers, Kelly & Derek

The Girls: Halle Caroline, Ellison & Emily

The Crew (minus the younger cousins & Sam Bo)

Me & Hubby

My mom and her best friends: Linda, Pam & Shirley

Happy Birthday NeNe!!! We love you!

Happy Easter!

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

John 11:25-26

The Day Before Easter

Before Church on Saturday, we went to a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt with GranRita and PapaSteve (Hubby's parents). Sam took off like a pro & held his own with the older kids.

Here are some pics....

Easter Sunday

Sam was all set to wear khaki's and little black loafers but he is BIG TIME into his boots right now. So in efforts to go with the flow, I gave into his jeans and boots. As it turns out, I think he looked cuter in his choice than mine :)

On Sunday, we went to Nene & Din Din's (my parent's) house. We had lunch with the family and then an Easter Egg Hunt. Once again, Sam didn't skip a beat. As you will see below, he quickly realized that these new shaped "ball balls" were filled with chocolatey goodness. He calls them A-ggs.

Sam waited patiently for the egg hunt....

...for about 10 seconds and then couldn't wait any longer.After the egg hunt, Sam and Cousin Luke (and Cousin Brooks) played a little "T-Ball Ball".
When Matt and Sam play in the backyard, Sam hits the ball and then Matt naturally grabs it, chases Sam and tags him with it which always turns into some sort of tickle torture. Sam loves it. Now, Sam just hits the ball and immediately falls to the ground and waits for Matt. That was when I captured my new favorite picture.....

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families as we celebrated our Christ's Resurrection.

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four...

Thanks to Sam's little friend Luke, one of his favorite new toys is his Mr. Potato Head.

I just love it when....

I just love it when I come in after putting Sam down for a nap and find a little reminder of him. For example, I just put him down and came in the kitchen and found this sweet little train on the window sill from when he had been playing just a few minutes before. I guess it's a mom thing but it's one of my favorite things nonetheless.

A Day Out With Thomas

Sam in now fully, 100% into trains. Just add it to his ongoing list of stereotypical boy obsessions...dirt, grass, cars, animals, rough-housing, balls, tractors, little stuffed cats (wait, scratch that last one). Anyway, Sam and I and a few friends went to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the Grapevine Station. He had a BLAST! We rode a little "choo choo", saw a huge train set in action, jumped on a Thomas bounce house, got a Thomas tattoo, and rode on the real Thomas train! On the train ride, he sat in my lap, looked out the window and had a constant "pleasant smile" as I call it. I had so much fun watching him. We will definitely be going back next year.

Here are a few pics......

After we got home, I just had to take a picture of his sweet little hand while of course, playing with his "choo choo". He was so proud of his tattoo. He kept saying, "Choo Choo Tattoo" and "Gween Choo Choo". Also, if you notice, he is wearing a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt. It was a gift from his 2Dad and KC. It's one of the 1st pieces of clothing that he really shows a preference for wearing (the other is a "ball ball" shirt from his cousin Brooks)