Easter Bunny?

The Easter bunny came to visit us the other day.  I’m sure he came to most people’s houses.  Haley was so excited.  We’d been telling her how the Easter bunny would bring a basket fully of candy.  Boy did he.  He also brought her some “big girl panties”.  Yep, we’re starting with the potty training.  Its been interesting to say the least.

Anyway, back to Easter.  She LOVED her basket.  She actually has been carrying it all over the house and helping herself to the fruit snacks that are in there.  We had to hide the basket to keep her out of it.  And don’t think for a second that there wasn’t a minor meltdown as we pried it from her hands.  You’d have thought she’s never eaten!

Its been a slight battle of wills around our house lately, but so far the adults have been winning.  Lets hope that keeps up.  I’ll post more pictures over the next couple of days of easter egg hunting.

We also went to Jesse Butcher’s birthday party this weekend.  It was airplane themed.  Jesse’s dad, Darren, is a pilot for FedEx and has a plane of his own.  Some of his buddies did a flyover for the party.  Pretty cool stuff.  No one ever gave me a flyover.

He’s Alive!

Been really busy over the past few weeks with the Passion Play.  I played James, the brother of Jesus.  It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well.  Quite a blessing to be a part of it.  More photos will be coming soon, but here’s one photo from the dress rehearsal.  I wanted to post tonight in light of the celebration tomorrow!

He is risen!  Happy Easter!

Marriage Retreat

This past weekend we went to Pigeon Forge, TN for a marriage retreat.  We went with our Sunday School Class.  There were about 22 couples there in total.  We had an absolute blast.  We left out on Thursday around lunch.  Mom and Dad came up from Brandon to keep Haley while we were gone.

It was a long drive, but the trip was worth it.  We all stayed in this one massive cabin up in the Smokey Mountains.  It was beautiful.  We “almost” got to see a waterfall on a hike while we were there.  I say “almost” because we ran out of time about 5 minutes before we got to the waterfall and had to turn back.  So sad.

All in all the trip was a huge success.  Laura and I got a chance to really get to know some of the other couples in the class.  That part was really great.  Our teacher, Scott, was great as well.  He brought up a lot of topics that are already helping Laura and I grow closer together.  I can’t wait until next year’s retreat!

The Princess is Two

Princesses live in fairy tales…or so they say.  For me, it’s my Princess that makes me feel like I’m living in a fairy tale. 

This weekend we celebrated Haley’s 2nd Birthday.  Well, I say weekend but it was more like a full week of celebration.  I know you are thinking…a whole week for a two year old??  And yes, we went WAY over board but what’s more fun than spoiling a toddler to pieces??!! 

Wednesday we hosted the Bellevue Moms and their kids for an Elmo Birthday Party.  We had cookie decorating, a gold fish toss, and pin the nose on Elmo.  The kids all played wonderfully together and we all ate cookies and cupcakes to our heart’s content.  Sprinkles make everything better!  We sang, blew out the candles, and opened presents before everyone left too.  The girls helped me clean up, which was VERY much appreciated!  Haley and I were both ready to lay down after such a fun and exciting time with all our friends. 

Thursday we got to spend the day with Grandma Dee and Aunt Peggy after they flew in from St. Louis.  I had the chance to run some errands and get a pedicure…which was much needed since the ability to reach my toes is now only a memory!  Now I’m officially ready for Spring!

Friday, Haley’s actual birthday, started out great with Jesse and Teja taking a walk with us to the fire station.  We love our Lakeland Firemen and they are awesome about making the kids feel comfortable and showing them around the fire trucks.  We even got to see them leave on a call so they flashed the lights and honked the horn for us as they left.  Hayden’s family all came in for the weekend that afternoon.  We had a great time catching up with them and playing in the beautiful weather.  Hayden, Ryan, and his Dad got straight to work on the new deck we are adding on.  They got a ton of work done in just two days!  Hayden and I already love the deck and have spent time enjoying the beautiful weather as we sit outside.  That night we sang and blew out candles again, then gave Haley her birthday presents from us.  We got her a Wiggles Guitar (she calls all people who play guitar, Elvis) and some baby doll furniture.  We put the new baby doll crib and high chair in her room.  It’s been a little more challenging getting her to fall asleep because she is having such a ball mothering her babies.  She’s going to make an AWESOME big sister!  It was so much fun seeing her so excited.

Saturday was the day of the family party.  Hayden’s parents, Nana Clack, Laura, Ryan, Seth, my parents, Grandma Dee, Aunt Peggy, Kathleen and Jason were all there.  We had so much fun visiting, eating and honoring Haley on her birthday.  Haley had an Elmo cake and it was the hardest thing waiting till after dinner to eat it!  My favorite part was watching her open all the incredible gifts she got.  She was so excited about each one.  Joy was exuding from her and it was fun being caught in the overflow.  She got a new baby that talks, which she opened first and it was hard getting her attention set on opening the rest of the gifts…she’s all about babies.  She got several adorable outfits, playdoh, markers, and a rocking horse.  Two other great gifts were a Mississippi State tricycle and a Snow White dress up “princess dress”.  That’s when I realized it was actually me living the fairy tale, watching my baby grow up into such a beautiful little girl with such a bright light shining from her that it’s impossible not to be happy around her.  I am obviously overcome with emotion and pride!

Hello, Baby

Old video, but just recently uploaded.

Feburary’s Nearly Gone

February has flown by.  These past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.  Haley is developing so much lately.  We’ve got her repeating “God is great” before we eat.  It is so cute.  She’s nearly got it down where we don’t have to say the lines.  I guess that is to be expected when shes nearly two!  Next week is her birthday.  Laura’s got an Elmo themed party planned and we’ve got more decorations than the actual set of Sesame Street.  It should be a blast.

I went to Bellevue Loves Memphis again last Saturday.  This time, we did some fixer-up projects for The Neighborhood School.  Our Sunday school class sponsored it and we had about 50 or so people show up.  We painted about half the walls, replaced ceiling tiles, replaced lightbulbs, built shelves, laid mulch, fixed the roof and a host of other things.  It is really neat to work with that school.  Our class got involved with the school about 9 months ago and according to the principal, we’ve saved them about $50k so far.  Its awesome what can happen when everyone is pitching in.

The weather has been nice lately, but here and there we get a cold snap again.  In fact, it is snowing outside right now.  I took Haley out today and to my surprise, she didn’t like the snow very much.  Odd, since one of her favorite things right now is snowmen.

Laura has been getting along fine with the pregnancy.  3 months to go.  We’re getting excited about welcoming Trey into the world.

I’ve been spending a good bit of time lately at rehearsals for the Passion Play at church.  I’m playing James, the brother of Jesus.  We’ve got practice two nights a week, so that is keeping me pretty busy.  I’m also “trying” to get back into shape.  It is getting much easier to get up in the mornings in run with the sun coming up earlier and the weather being warmer.

Bulldogs

This weekend Laura, Haley and I went down to Starkville for the Alumni Association Leadership Conference.  The Memphis Maroon Club took home an Honors Chapter award.  I was informed this weekend that we had the third largest chapter.  Ahead of us are the Central Mississippi Chapter and the Oktibbeha County Chapter.  So, all in all, we’re doing great.

While we were in Starkville, we got to hang out with Jason and Kathleen.  We stayed with Kathleen on Friday night.  I had a blast staying up late and talking with them.  It made Saturday morning come REALLY early, though.  After the conference, we had a chance to go to the game with my parents, which was a real treat.  State was down by 15 at half time and I thought we may actually be leaving the game early to go grab dinner.  But, the Dogs came back strong.  We ended up winning handily.

On the way back home, we stopped in Tupelo and got to visit with my Papaw Ben for about an hour.  But, not before we had a tire blowout.  I know we are lucky we didn’t have a wreck, but man, that tire changing is a pain.  Why in the world do all cars come with such a puny jack?  We were digging around in the car looking for books to put under the jack so we could get the car high enough to get the old shredded tire off.  We made it home fine, but tired.

Laura and Haley are in St. Louis for part of this week.  The will be coming home Wednesday, so I’m just “bachelloring” it.  Not sure what I’m going to do over the next couple of days.  I did manage to get in some yardwork this afternoon.  the weather has been beautiful the past few days.  I hope it holds out!

New Camera

Well, I got a new camera last week.  I know, I didn’t need one.  But, I got one anyway.  I purchased a Canon 40D, which was an upgrade to the XTi that I had.  I think I’m going to keep the XTi and use it as a back up.  It will also come in handy during those times when I want to use two different lenses.  I’m going to do a wedding for a dear friend in March and having the two bodies will definitely come in handy.

First impressions of the 40D are great.  The main reasons for wanting it were the size (it’s a lot heftier, which is nice with my bigger lenses) and the lower noise levels at high ISO’s.  So far it has been just what the doctor ordered.  An added bonus is that this camera does 6.5 frames per second.  That’s right.  If you hold down the shutter button, it takes 6.5 photos every second.  Pretty sweet.

So here are a couple of shots from the zoo this weekend.  They turned out pretty good.  More are in the gallery

Soul Mate Live

Soul Mate Live is an event put on by Bellevue Baptist for young married couples.  Its byline is “a date night with a purpose.”  Laura and I first started going to Bellevue about 6 months ago after attending a Soul Mate event.  Its somewhat of a spin off of Saturday Night Live.  There’s a skit portion, a band and a speaker that speaks on a topic that faces married couples.  Bellevue puts on the event about every 3 months.

Friday night they had another Soul Mate event.  This time I got to be a part of it.  The theme was “team spirit” and I played a sports announcer, Bobby Buttersworth.  I had a blast.  There is definitely nothing that is second rate about the event.  We had plenty of rehearsals, but in the end it was all worth it.  There was a shade over 800 people at the event and a great time was had by everyone.

I did a little bit of acting in high school and really enjoyed it.  I’d forgotten how much fun it is.  The comraderie with the other actors is awesome and you really lose yourself in the part.  I’m considering trying out for the Passion Play in the next week or two.  Check out the gallery for more pictures from the event.