Sunny Day...sweepin' the clouds away!

You know its quite a catchy tune...I find myself riding down the road, sitting in my office or loading the dishwasher singing the theme song to Sesame Street, I have no idea why. (sense the sarcasm?)
We took advantage of the sunny day on Saturday & spent it with the Smiths...which should come as no surprise. Its so funny to think about the changes in a year. For example I thought that Addi would always be terrified of being put down in the grass but its quite the opposite. Granted Drew & Britt have some sweet soft grass but Addi wanted her shoes off the whole day. We grilled out, played cornhole, whiffle ball, keep the ball in the air, we just literally played outside from 2 in the afternoon until almost 11:30 at night. We even had a late night adult game of whiffle ball that got pretty cometitive and ended with me quitting. Its a whole different post. We might try to go to the cornbread festival this weekend but its nice knowing we have no obligations.
Addi hating grass last year

Couldn't keep her shoes on her

Being a big girl..."I can do it, mom!"

Jeremy, Starla & Maddox even stopped by

When Nature Strikes

Some of you know that the tornado that hit in Murfreesboro has struck close to home for us. My mom's very best friend, Judy, & the lady who also coordinated my wedding along with her daughter, Tori (who was a jr bridesmaid in my wedding) and a friend were all victims of last weeks tornado. The picture you will see is what is left of their home - absolutely nothing. You can see from the homes in the background that this home wasn't just small home, it was partial brick, siding, whatever homes are made of but it wasn't small & it was what we would call a very nice home, well built etc. There is absolutely NOTHING left of their home. Judy was at choir practice when she heard the warnings & immediately left to go to be with Tori. Brian (her husband, who played the trumpet at my wedding....I don't mean to keep referencing our wedding but I'm trying to give some of you faces with the names) was at work. Judy got home, got Tori and her friend in a closet & completely hovered over them. They began to hear it get louder and louder & that is when they were sucked into the tornado & thrown out of their house. When Judy landed she knew something was wrong. I'm attaching a link for you to view her interview with the news. She is in ICU with a L2 break, a broken collarbone, broken & fractured ribs but the love of God & in great spirits. Their church family & friends have set up a place for them to stay until a friend who is a contractor finishes a home currently under contstruction, they will allow them to live there until they decide either to rebuild or buy a new home. They've had people rummaging through their belongings finding the important things, pictures & sentimental items. Judy was only on like her 3rd or 4th week at a new job. A fund is being set up through Brian's work as well. We just never know in this world when our time is up. Although Judy has a very long road of recovery ahead of her both she & her daughter are alive. Please pray for this family - for all of the families that have suffered because of nature this week. I read about a 9 week old baby girl and her mother that died - the father in the hospital who still didn't know about his family. Its so tragic.

Here is the link to the interview ( http://www.wsmv.com/video/19180489/index.html ).......and

this is what is left of their home.

Thank you, Easter Bunny!

We thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend but it was most certainly jammed packed full of activities. We had egg hunts at church, egg hunts at home, and of course egg hunts at the Lewis gathering. We were brave parents this year and attempted coloring (a-ughs) eggs with Addi this year. I had bought this little chef's hat/apron combo pack thing & had all intentions of putting it in her basket for years to come helping mom in the kitchen but she spotted it & wanted to wear it. I couldn't have asked for a better photo opp, ha! She wanted to dive right into coloring eggs....its these moments that make being a parent so much fun. Right before bed we talked about how the Easter Bunny visited children that we good & would even leave something for them that was special. This brings up shopping for the basket....Josh wanted candy, candy, a choc bunny and more candy. I chose a choc bunny, hair accessories, books & stickers. He said I was not cool for that so I explained that an almost 2 yr old doesn't need that much candy. I'm a bad mom - ha! Back to Addi, first thing that she said when I picked her up out of her bed was Easter Bunny. I guess I was just a bit shocked that she really remembered what we talked about & that she knew her goodies should be there. And they were. We had a wonderful Easter, I hope you all did too. Our family time seems to be less and less as a large group...we are all in different places with families scattered too so its not always easy. We missed those that were not there but Addison had a wonderful time with all of her 2nd cousins. She's a hoot and definitely doesn't sit on the sidelines and watch, she's right in the middle of it all!

Se-wi-ously?

As Addi would say, Sewiously...snowing in April?? We were just at the zoo on Saturday in shorts. This weather is crazy.

Its so nice to be home. I can tell you I could not have asked for a better homecoming reaction than what we got from Addi. When we finally landed, after horrible turbulance & many delays we went straight to pick up Addi. She was standing at the window when we pulled up, she saw us and had her hand over her mouth like OMG. Miss Erma opened the door & seriously the kid was squeeling, hopping, running to us. I probably teared up a little. I knew I was missing her bad but seeing her & squeezing her was the best feeling ever. We made the most of a beautiful weekend, & I guess its a good thing seeing that its 40 something out and spitting snow. We took Seth & Eli to the zoo with us, they all had a good time. Sunday was typical church, nap and then we went over to the Lewis compound to see the horses, chicks & fam. I had a hard time getting Addi off the trampoline, she LOVED it! Here are a few pics from this weekend. My girl is just getting so big. She is talking in sentences, told me Saturday morning "momma I want something to eat" and is all the time saying "i don't know, huh" Life is so fun & funny with her. She just never ceases to amaze us with the things that come out of her mouth. It was nice knowing she obviously missed us too.

update from capital hill

Well I am on day 3 of my conference...our final day. Yesterday was a very long day of sessions and lobbying on capital hill. Oh I will apologize ahead of time for run on sentences and lower caps, I am using my blackberry. We have been able to meet with many senators, house reps etc. Although we all have different opinions on health care, healthcare reform etc its an amazing feeling to be ib our nations capitol as an american. No way to describe the feeling of walking up to capital hill to the offices of our representatives and explaining to them why or why not we do or do not support their views and policies. I can tell you that we have found that our administration def does not have it together although that isn't a surprise less than 4 months in. I will tell you no matter what you believe in, what yoy lobby for....get to know your reps. They need our opinions, our views and our voices and they do listen!
On a funny note...we have double beds in our room so that vacation get a way Josh was looking forward to led to some nice spacious sleep for ME! Ahhhhh. Miss our girl but we have received many videos, pics and calls. We thank all of our fam and friends who have helped in picking addi up. She is a lucky girl as are we!