WW - I love Uncle Andy...

We all love Uncle Andy!

True Story Tuesday and the gift

Time for True Story Tuesday over at Once Upon A Miracle!

**************************************************
Before Christmas, Melody's preschool lets all the kids "shop" for their parents. They have a little "Santa Shop" set up, the kids come in with a dollar and "buy" donated gifts for their parents.

It's super cute. When they bring their (wrapped) gift home most of them cannot contain their excitement and spill the beans right away.

Jack was one of those kids.
His first year of preschool he immediately told Alex he got him "sompin that you put da muney in." It was a John Deere bank!

Melody, however, didn't say a word. She's actually not some phenomenal secret keeper, she's just kind of indifferent. Her theory is; if it's not a cupcake, I just don't care that much.

So, Alex was really surprised when he opened his gift.

Yes, that's a car air freshener. A Georgia car air freshener to be precise. Which is totally ironic since we're about the biggest Auburn fans ever.

Alex asked her why she got him a Georgia car air freshener. (This was after Jack looked at it and exclaimed, "Dad, we hate Georiga!)

"It's not goes in da car. It fo-ur da twee. Here. You wet me hang it up hi-gh."

Yes, Melody got her daddy a Christmas tree ornament designed to make our tree smell like a new car (or a taxi cab). I'm not sure if it will be Alex's favorite ornament, but I know we'll hang it on the tree every year!

WW - Christmas Day

headed out of dodge

We are on our way to Resort Mitchell for our annual trip with my friend Stephanie. I look forward to this trip every summer. Stephanie (and her husband, Scott) are godparents to Jack and Alex and I are godparents to their son, Robert. A few years ago the Maceks moved to Dallas. Since then a gathering in Jackson has been our consistent opportunity to get together. (You know, I will never forgive my friends who move away! You know you who are.)

We have had a great time getting together every summer!

Over the past few years our families have grown quite a bit. This is 2007 with Rober (10 months), Jack (3) and Melody (6 months).

We both had babies in 2008...just 5 days apart!

It will be interesting to see what this year's "vacation" is like with 5 children ages 5 and under!

Oh, and in an effort to keep the chaos down as much as possible (yeah, right!) I did ask my mom to please put away the walker!

The Powell Beach Experience - Alex's Version (Updated)

Since Alex is the head of our family and since he celebrated his 31st birthday at the beach, I thought he should get to go first. Alex was pretty disappointed that it was rainy our first morning there.

However, he did not allow that to deter him from enjoying the rough serene waters of the gulf. It was cool and rainy on the beach and right after he jumped in a lifeguard came running over. At first I thought that he thought Alex was drowning. The lifeguard asked if Alex was with me and said that there was a bad lightening storm around. That was all it took and Alex got out of the water. The cold he can take, electrocution, not so much.

Fortunately, the weather cleared up and Alex was able to get his beach needs met.

There was a lot of holding Melody (who apparently thought she was Princess of the Beach) until she was comfortable enough to bear touching the sand.

A lot of sea shell hunting

A lot of playing in the surf with Jack. And let's not forget the abundance of Vacations (my family's terminology for a gin & tonic; because drinking one is like having one!)

And since Alex is not a cake person, he celebrated his birthday with his favorite dessert...

Oreo's

He thought this pose was funny

Alex's buddy Shane happened to be playing all weekend at a bar about a mile from our condo. We went down to see him both Saturday and Sunday night and got a chance to hang out with old friends as well. Check out the cool beer holders on their mics!

The verdict; Alex had a great vacation!
I forgot to mention the one unpleasant beach experience Alex had; his sunburn. I'm not going to post pictures, as I'm pretty sure that would not go over well with Alex, however, suffice it to say the sunburn was bad. Saturday afternoon we had some clearing and Alex and Jack immediately hightailed it down to the beach. Alex had assumed that the break in the clouds would be short lived and applied only minimal sunscreen. (I applied full sunscreen on Jack.) Three hours later Alex's chest was still a nice pasty white color while his back was flaming red. Yep, not just red, flaming red. It's actually still red. The moral of the story is apply full suncreen unless you know you will be coming back inside soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

This was me last Mother's Day. Jack was not quite 4, Melody was 15 months, and I was about 18 weeks pregnant with Charlie.

This is Mother's Day this year...my first as a mommy of three!

After church we went to Grandma Dede's to have lunch with my mom, aunts, my brother, Andrew, and some cousins.
Ok, I had to put this one in because I'm wearing these really fabulous shoes. I mean, I literally planned my outfit around these shoes, so I had to show them off!
I got some very special presents. Melody made me this at school...what a sweet little flower she makes!
Jack's class made all the moms "cookbooks". The recipes were hilarious.
This is recipe Jack submitted.
And he made this card to go with it. It's in the shape of a purse and he wrote me a little note inside. When he gave it to me he said, "I told Ms. Jeannie you would luuuuv this since you luuuuv purses!"
Daddy also took Jack, Melody, and Charlie shopping and they got me this beautiful blue topaz silver and gold necklace with matching heart earrings. How'd they know I love jewelry!?

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves and appreciates me. I love these children more than I even could have imagined and I'm so thankful to be their mother!

happy new year!

Happy New Year! As 2008 comes to a close, I have been reflecting on the changes our family went through this year and upcoming challenges for 2009. The most exciting thing that happened for the Powells this year was Charlie's arrival. At the beginning of 2008, we were a family of four and by the end we were a family of five!

These are some exciting and challenging things that took place in 2008;

We celebrated Melody's 1st birthday in January, the same day we found out we were expecting Charlie.

In April, Alex took a position with a new firm, Williams Financial Advisors.

In May, Jack graduated from three-year-old to four-year-old preschool and Alex hit the big 3-0.










Jack turned four in June.

Throughout the summer we took many trips to visit grandparents and spent our time at home playing at the park while we waited for Charlie to make his appearance, which came at the end of September.

By the end of 2008, we were settled into a routine as a family of five.

2009 will, no doubt, bring change and challenges as well;

We are currently in the middle of filling out private school applications. Remember when you were filling out college applications? That was A LOT easier than this!! Hopefully we'll have some interviews in the next few months and know where Jack will start kindergarden by March.

At the end of January, Melody will turn 2.

In April, I am running in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville.

Jack will be 5 (!!!) in June.

We will celebrate Charlie's 1st birthday in September.

These are the events we are anticipating...I'm looking forward to those unexpected challenges and joys God will send our way! Happy New Year everyone!