"tarnation"

just a word my dad taught us when we were young.

pretty sure it only resides in the south.

wondering if "the frank" made it up.

use in a sentence please...

"we walked over all of tarnation to find you."

do you have a word like that in your family?

i would love to hear all the good southern words we have imbedded in our vocabulary on a daily basis.  

big gurl

straw + whole milk + standing alone = big girl

only in atlanta...

a 51 year old man (he told me his birthday was yesterday) walked up to me today in the wal-mart parking lot and asked if I had change for a "co-coal-ah."

in my head...

"serious" did he just ask me for change.....to buy a coke?  nice shoes, nice clothes.  just wanted a coke the day after his birthday.

awesome.

graduation, babies and moms

KC graduated from college on Saturday so we had a fun day in Auburn celebrating.  We had a party afterward with KC's roomate Jake and his family.  His grandmother, Nana, was there.  She was, by far, my favorite to talk to.  And the story begins.....Jake is from a big family 4 boys and 1 girl.  (His mom is a rockstar.)  Well we asked Nana what she was doing for mother's day.  She replied "Hopefully, being by myself. My husband is going to fix me lunch and I just want to be by myself.  I told Jake this was it.  This graduation celebration counts as a mother's day celebration too."

I loved this.  I really feel like this will be me, good or bad.  I love to be by myself.  I can see that will be a treat after you have all these people running around.  They are a blessing, don't get me wrong.  But there is just a good feeling deep down inside about the thought of some alone time.  I love how when you get old you just become brutally honest.  No need to sugar coat.

KC and his fiancee, Brittany.  We had tons o' fun talking about wedding stuff!

My little brother.  And just like that he is grown up!

Jake the roommate, on the far right.

My new nephew, sweet Bolton.  Newborns are so snugly.

girls are back in town

This past weekend we invited Raleigh and Camden to come spend the night with us and go to the zoo.  Our agenda was fairly simple: Chick-fil-a, drive to ATL, playground, zoo, cookout, bath then bed.  In adult terms:  wear everyone out.  Here are a couple fun quotes that occurred a long the way.  

Situation/Quote #1  Raleigh drank too much lemonade at the chick so we stop at REI (I am married to Russ Masterson) to use the restroom.  Camden comes a long too.  Raleigh trips over the speed bump on the way in.  Camden says with calm enthusiasm "that was awesome!"  I laughed for days on that.  

Situation/ Quote #2 I am brushing wet hair after the bath.  Camden looks at me.  "Are you having a baby"? "No", I say defensively.  "It looks like you are." Awesome.

We had a blast overall.  They were so sweet and fun to have around.  And of course Josie and Thomas were more than up for the company.  Josie just laughed and laughed at them.

I wish I had a picture of the car ride home.  Russ rode to Lawrenceville with Raleigh, Camden, Josie, Thomas and Granny.  That was a site to behold for sure!  Makes me smile just thinkin about it.

spring cleaning... who does this??

So yesterday I did my spring cleaning.  Cleaning the stove, coffee pot, windows, baseboards etc.  My mom kept Josie which allowed me the freedom to work as much as possible.  I longed for the childless, productive day to be a day also of where my thoughts could "practice His presence."  I kept coming back to the thought of "who does this?"  Spring cleaning that is.  I know my Nana does.  And I have heard of some friends of friends who do.  I know it is necessary.  But it is really not fun.  My motivation had to be completely external.  It did feel really good to know that it is done.  I felt incredible productive, after it was over.

Do you spring clean?  What chores are at the top of that list?

Russ' Birthday Celebration

Russ turned the big 3-0 on Saturday.

We celebrated Friday night at Two Urban Licks with our work/church friends.  

Yes, the are one in the same. (To which, I don't have any good pictures.)

We started our day on Saturday with donuts/pastries from Sublime Donuts (10th street).

(Awesome by the way!)

We headed to Sweetwater State Park for a family hike.

Side note:  This is a great park only 20 minutes from us.  

Home for naps then to the Waterworths for some good pizza.

Josie update:  She is a walkin' fool.  Not on her own, with her walker.

She has gotten super fast and when she hits a road block she is great at maneuvering to get the baby walker to move where she wants it. (video coming soon) All about standing on her own. It is not long until we have an official walker.  

Russ and I were discussing that the baby days are gone.  Her little personality is coming out.  She is super sweet but has some major independence deal breakers.  My sweet fiery little red head!