Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Yesterday was our mom's birthday. Yay!! We were hanging out with her, drooling over houses, at the Vesta Home Show. So today, a little late, we present to you the Top 25 reasons why our mom is so awesome!!


1. She is our best friend. Even as teenagers, we enjoyed her company and time spent with her. That has only grown the older we have become.
2. She's hilarious. She has the funniest and quirkiest personality of anyone we know. She always makes us laugh. Not only that, she knows this and will stop at NOTHING for a laugh. Just ask Anita Mann....which brings us to number three.
3. She has a closet full of wigs and costumes used solely for entertainment purposes. From a toothless, homeless old lady visiting in preschool to an "experienced" floozy doling out advice at a lingerie shower. She's been Cher, Lady Godiva, Rhett Butler, Martha Stewart's sister, a turkey, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny....the list is endless.
4. She makes a mean chocolate pie and the best chocolate gravy around. She really should be famous for this...and to all who have tasted, she is.
5. She is the craftiest person. She will spend hours on the tiniest detail of a project, but when it all comes together, it looks amazing. There is never a party too small for some serious decorations as far as she is concerned.
6. She has been a model of grace and forgiveness to us through some difficult seasons in her life.
7. She is the first person we turn to for help in decorating our homes. Whether it be setting things up after a move or putting out Christmas decor, she's always working hard to make it look beautiful.
8. She taught us always to wear lipstick. And we are thankful for that. We come across so many ladies with some seriously washed out lips in desperate need of a little color. She might go to the mailbox without make-up, but she will have on some lipstick!!
9. She is a great Christmas present shopper. She finds the most unique gifts, and she is able to pick clothes that we love.
10. We never doubted her love for us. She has always been a loving and affectionate mom.
11. She is a great Kaki. Her granddaughters adore her!!
12. She made us both want to be a mom. We knew it was a job that she loved. Mom and Dad went with less when we were younger so she could be home with us more. We are forever grateful for this. She has always had a heart for her family and passed this on to us as well.
13. She is not a boring adult. We went to Six Flags not terribly long ago, and there was nothing she wouldn't ride. She still loves board games. She jumped in a leaf pile with Lily this fall.
14. She dresses and looks so cute! We still raid her closet.
15. She has a love for words. When we were younger, if we heard it once, we heard it a thousand times: "Increase that Vocabulary (ITV)!!" Which leads us to the next point....
16. She kills at Scrabble and Password.
17. She has always pointed us to the Lord. We don't know where we would be without her guidance and constant prayers.
18. From early on, we were taught what to look for in a future mate--we both listened quite well. She would also tell us that it was just as important to be the right person as it was to find the right one.
19. She would check us out of school and take us on picnics sometimes. She had a way of making ordinary days special.
20. School started at 8:15. We ran almost late everyday. But if there was ever a day we had an extra three minutes, she would take us to McDonald's for a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. We still love them to this day.
21. Most days, she had a hot, yummy dinner at the table. We realized now that is harder than it appeared at the time. She also usually made us breakfast every morning. And we rarely had to eat cafeteria food.
22. She made us each drive 100 hours with her in the passenger's seat before getting our license. Dreadful at the time, but we now know we will be doing the EXACT same thing with our kids.
23. We love the way she loves her dog. She loved our Pepper growing up, and Ellie is pretty much our third sister. We sometimes tease her about it, but it's really just endearing.
24. She read to us often. And the last time we all went on a vacation in the same car, she read to us still. We were adults at the time. This fostered quite the love for books in us!
25. She can make her tongue look like a flower.


Happy 25th plus birthday, mom!!


That's another one. I'm not sure we ever knew how old she was growing up. She would just say 25 plus! haha!!


We love you so very much! Thank you for all you have been and all you are to us. We are blessed beyond measure to have you for a mom.

Award time!!

Hi everyone!! Have you wondered where we have been? Probably not. But just in case you have checked this blog daily only to be disappointed that there has not been a new post in three weeks, I will explain. Anna has finally moved home!! Yay!! So that is where we have been. Well....that's not exactly true. Really, that only took a weekend. We are basically just major slackers.




Anywho, on to more important things! We received an award from our friend Hillary. She has, without a doubt, one of my very favorite blogs to read. So check her out at a gal and her dog. The rules of the this award are to list seven things about yourself and then tag some others to play along! So... thank you, Hillary. Here goes my totally random list of seven things:



1. If you know me at all, you know I love Diet Coke. I love the crazy burn as it goes down. I love the taste. I even think the coke can is cute. I used to be a full blown Dr. Pepper addict. But then I discovered the definition of a calorie. I promptly switched and never looked back. (Note to blog readers who hate on my diet coke, I know that it's the "devil's drink"...yadda, yadda, yadda. But if you gave it a shot, you might just like it...or just get pregnant, then you'll love it...haha...yes, you know who you are:)

2. I once heard (on some show or something) that people who ate the same thing everyday for lunch tend to weigh less. Since hearing that, I now eat a turkey and mustard sandwich, All Bran Crackers, an apple, and maybe a 100 calorie pack almost every single day. (And I actually did lose weight!) But the crazy part: I literally look forward to this meal everyday. I love it. And in four years, I have yet to get sick of it. Yes, it's been four years.


Have the past two things been about food? Um...sorry.


3. I really love the fall. I love the weather, the colors, the clothes, the smells, the baking, the food, pumpkins, the holidays, the beautiful trees...I love it all. October is my very favorite month of the year.


4. The other day, I was watching a cartoon with the girls right before their nap. I think it might have been Super Why. I went to put them down, and then I settled back on the couch and continued to watch it for ten minutes. I needed to see how it ended. This was a sad moment for me.


5. I used to be a night owl (somewhat). I stayed up until at least midnight most nights. I cannot even fathom staying up that late now. We are usually in bed by 9:45. I also was SO not a morning person. And now I adore my mornings. I guess two kids will do that to you. Coffee has become a dear friend of mine.


6. Every time a thunderstorm rolls through when I am sleeping, I almost always sit straight up in bed, scared to death. Not because of the storm, but because I think someone is outside of my window taking pictures. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times Patrick has had to tell me it was just lightening.


7. I always check my mirrors when getting in my car, just like they teach you in driving school. I can't even pull out of my driveway without every mirror being perfectly adjusted. Right now, one of my side mirrors is broken. I have to roll down the window and lean over to correct it. And I do it every time.



Okay, now I tag whoever wants to play along. Have a good week!!