Out in the backwoods...

Well, here are a few beautiful pictures to warm your heart...

or curdle your blood...

This is what greeted me as I walked out my door yesterday afternoon right about dusk...

Thanks, Matt.

I'm trying to look on the bright side:

1. It's dead.

2. It wasn't actually alive in my yard.

3. It's dead.

The redneck measuring tape.

Justin: "I'm about 6' tall. Hold it up next to me. WAIT, not that close!! You sure it's dead??"

You'll notice that he's holding our child while they're doing all this...

Matthew and Justin arguing about what kind of snake it is. I think they settled on a chicken snake. As for me, I DON'T CARE!! A snake's a snake's a snake. Period.

The only thing good about this one is that it's DEAD.

And check out Hopper, our fearless canine.

Yep, he's about to run.

SEA WORLD!!

Here are some pics from our little excursion to Sea World!

We all had such a good time!

The weather was so nice, and it wasn't too crowded!

I know the Princess won't remember it, but she sure had a good time while she was there!

Getting ready to go!! Is she cool or what?!

Watching the dolphins with Daddy! She would say "Oooh!" whenever they would swim by!

Getting ready for the 4-D Pirate Movie. She lasted all of about 3 minutes...

Resting up before the Shamu Show!

The Grand Finale!!

Abigail loved "Hamu" and all his tricks! We even got to see Baby Shamu!

We were all pretty exhausted after such a long day, but what fun we had!!

So glad we got a chance to go--our first little "vacation" as a family!!

San Antonio!!

Here are a few pics from our recent trip to San Antonio!

We went to celebrate Claire and Allison's birthdays with a big ol' Luau on Saturday, and boy did we have fun!!! There are far too many pics to post, but here are a few good ones!!

The Three Princesses!! Those girls are too sweet!!

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed...

Abigail and her MyMy! Two peas in a pod!!

Sweet sugar for Mr. Will!! He got SO many sweet kisses this weekend! He is a sweetheart!!

Abigail and Claire pooped after the party!!

We had such a fun time visiting with all the fam! It was a busy but wonderful weekend!!

For Momma...

Abigail and I sent Daddy off to a Men's Fish Fry at church this afternoon so we could have a little "girl time" to ourselves! We did all sorts of girly stuff, like paint our toenails and ride around the pond on the 4-wheeler (hey, we are country girls, you know!). On one of our many passes through the pasture, I spotted some yellow wildflowers--some might call them weeds--across the road. I decided that we had to "pull a Sissy" and pull over to pick 'em.

And so we did...

Momma used to embarrass the mess out of Madeline and I when she would whip the 'Olds over and make us get out and help her pick wildflowers off the side of the road/highway/stranger's yard. She even carried around the clippers to do it!!

They would look like a pile of weeds in the back seat of the car, but by the time she got them arranged for church on Sunday, they were a professional bouquet.

I know I didn't do her justice, but I gave it a try!

Momma/Memaw--these are for you!

Fishin'

Wednesday evening, Daddy decided to go wet a line at the pond out back! Now, you know he needed some help, so Abigail and Momma decided to tag along to show him how to do it!

Apparently, it was a good evening for a little fishing,

because we met Uncle Ralph and Dixie out there, too!

Here, Daddy, let me help you!!

Keepin' an eye on Uncle Ralph and Dixie, in case they might wanna steal some sugar!

Eyeing Uncle Ralph's catch! She's not too sure what to make of fish just yet!

Daddy, I think you should use these. Then maybe YOU could catch fish!

She decided to open the "balls" and play with them, since Daddy didn't want to use them.

It was a nice, relaxing evening, even though Daddy didn't catch any fish.

Guess he should've used those "balls" like Abigail told him!

Gardenin' Girl!

Well, it's only taken about 50 tries (no lie) to get these pics up,

so I REALLY hope you enjoy them!!

Apparently, one of the pictures was somehow corrupted and they would not load...

So here are some uncorrupted pictures of the Gardening Princess for you to enjoy!!

Miss Priss loves being outside and helping her Daddy in his garden.

She is actually a very good helper, and definitely doesn't mind getting her hands dirty!!

Here she is gathering all the necessary tools and implements to get the job done!

She is all business, as you can see!

Taking a break to smile for the camera!

She helped Daddy plant (and sometimes harvest!) his seeds and plants!

When she's done, she's done!!
She just started walking off and gave me the "Come On!" signal!
Girlfriend was ready for her snack and a nap!!
It is just so hard having to work for a living...

Party at PawPaw Jerry's!

We had a little pre-Easter shindig at PawPaw Jerry's the day before Easter, and we got to visit with lots of our Merryville/DeQuincy/Sweet Lake crew! It was a very fun day!

Miss Priss likes to put on her "makie" like Momma!

I always tell her that she is too beautiful for makie, but she insists!!
The Princess loves to dance!
(Thankfully she gets her rhythm from her Momma and doesn't dance like her Daddy...)
She was jammin' out to some George Jones (PawPaw's favorite) and Merle Haggard and put on quite the show for us!


Abigail was telling Granny what all the Easter Bunny was going to bring her!

Granny has to fix that pretty hair--can't stand for it to be in her eyes!!

This is quite possibly my favorite picture of all time. And the story behind it is even sweeter:

I was changing Abigail's diaper on MyMy's bed when she rolled over and saw this picture of Momma.

She looked at it, and with a big 'ol smile on her face said, "Hey, Memaw!"
I looked at Madeline and she looked at me, and we both had tears in our eyes.

I always talk to her about her Grandma and show her pictures, but I've never called her "Memaw" and she's never said it before. It was like she just knew exactly who that was. Even when she was little, she would sometimes stare off into space and just smile so sweetly.

I'd ask her if she was talking to her Grandma, and she would smile more.

I know Momma is watching over her sweet girl that is so much like her.

Makes my heart happy and sad all at the same time...