So I'm in my late twenties... what of it?

On my birthday, Hank took the day off (by far the BEST present I got!). Since the boys were at my parent's house, after I got back home... I crawled in bed and slept for about an hour or so, then Hank and I got ready and went and had a late lunch at the Grey House Grill in Homewood. We had received a gift certificate at Christmas, so we cashed that bad boy in! Hank got a hamburger and I got a Ribeye steak! Hey, it was my birthday! It was so good too! And we actually got to have an unplanned meal with Tonnie & Brett. Tonnie was getting off of work, and Brett was there to pick her up. So they sat down with us and we talked and laughed the meal away! So much fun. Then we went and picked up the boys and mom's house. We had decided since it was warm to take them to the park, and when I told Tres where we were going, Luke looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes, and said "I never go to the park, Aunt Jamie." So we ended up taking Luke and Sierra too :) We had a blast!



We spent time swinging...



We spent time sliding...



And just monkeying around!



One of the best birthdays to date, people. I must say! God has truly blessed me! I got a sexy husband, the cutest kids, and a God who is ever merciful! Until next time!

Lots to Catch Up On!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. It has been a bit of a whirlwind the last few weeks. There was Valentine's Day and my birthday (which I'll do a separate post on each!). There has also been some interest in my song and the fact that I won the regional song of the 2006. There should be a story on it in the Calera Newsletter, The Birmingham News, and ABC 33/40 so far. So that's been a little hectic. And lots of work to do for 'el. We took some advise from some of the industry professionals and started a myspace account. Don't hate me! Myspace is so complicated, though. But it has already paid off. It also gives us all a way to connect with other groups, artists, and people!! Check it out and let us know what you think:

'el myspace

"Happy Balanze Times Day!"

Tres is really starting to understand what holidays are. He knows that we tell all the people that are special in our lives that we love them on Valentine's Day. He is such a joy, my Tres-Man. And he surprises me with some of the cute and funny things he says on a daily basis! Here is a picture of one of my three special Valentine's!



I was watching TV the other night and Tres came out of his room and made this announcement: "I'm smart. I'm funny. And I'm ggooooodddd looking!" Of course, Hank had prompted him! But it made me laugh out loud! And when he tried to do it again on his own the next day it came out like this: "I'm smart. I'm good. And I'm funny looking!"

Dipping Sauce & Love Letters

Yesterday was a great day! I had given the boys a small Valentine's present on Monday night since I am not at home when they wake up. I gave them each one of the Reese's hearts and a balloon. They always come up with the weirdest games with balloons! This time the string was long enough so that they would let them go to our ceiling (20 foot or so) and then get Mom to jump up and get them. They thought this was great fun until Mom collapsed from exhaustion! It was pretty darn good exercize so I did it for a while! :)
After Hank left for work yesterday morning, I called up our across the street neighbors Sam & Conner (and mom Terra) and asked them over to paint Valentine's, eat lunch, and play. We gave them all little bug statues, and they painted those. Then we let them paint a few more things like heart shaped boxed (for grandmothers). After we cleaned them up, they played while we got some lunch ready. Then we ate. After that Terra and I took our first stab at homemade candy. It turned out really good!! Not as firm as it should have been, but so good. It had a peanut butter fudge base with chocolate frosting and Heath bar brickle on top!
After our company left, the boys and I took a nap, then got up and I bathed and dressed them for a date with their Grandparents. My mom and dad took them to see Curious George and then they spent the night!
Hank and I stayed home. I cooked his request, Chicken Spaghetti. I had also looked online and found a recipe for Alfredo Dipping Sauce (like at Olive Garden). So I thought I would try something new. It did not turn out well, but I think I'm gonna try again tonight. I think I know what I did wrong. Then we ate some of the candy while we watched American Idol and Survivor (gotta love TiVo!).
We exchanged love letters too! I love mine. But it's private, so you guys don't get to read it :) He sent it to me via e-mail yesterday afternoon. I gave him his when he came home from work. I printed it out with a fancy font on some resume paper then used the boys paint to add a few accents (which turned out looking like kindergarten art!). It was a great night! And it was so quiet at our house without the boys! This morning, Hank is sleeping late while I work. Then I plan on heading home and getting right back in bed!! Cause I can! And cause it's my birthday!

OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH - PART II

I don't have the time or the energy to re-type what we put on the 'el blog, but please visit that blog! It will let you know all we did this last weekend! God is good people... so very, very, very good and faithful!

'el music group

Pump It Up Info

Pump It Up is located in Pelham off of Hwy 31. Turn next to Louie's Restaurant (just past the CVS) and Pump it up is located behind it.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays they have open bounce from 10am- 12pm. The cost per child is $5... well worth the long nap afterwards!

Pump It Up

Mom and I have a standing appointment once a week to take Tres, Bryant, and Luke to Pump It Up in Pelham. They have huge rooms full of inflatables and slides. They have an open bounce for two hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It's a G-R-E-A-T way to burn off some energy!



This is Tres acting like spiderman. He likes to come up the slides the wrong way... just like Spiderman! He begs me to let him take his socks off. I only let him when there are no other kids around! As you can tell, I was at the top of the slide! Mom gets a work-out there too! I go up with Bryant and slide down with him.



Tres and Luke like to play air hockey every time we go. This normally gets Tres a tad upset because he hasn't quite grasped the concept that Luke is trying to keep him from scoring! But they love to play. We do high fives after every score whether it's an accident or not. Luke told me yesterday that I was a cool aunt!



I think my mom has more fun being coach!! Such an excellent grandmother!

We made it back from Knoxville. It was a long trip. We left out Friday morning and traveling 4 1/2 hours, only to get to the hotel room (located in a nowhere town called Kingston) and wait for the rest of the family for 4-5 hours. We took the boy sto McDonalds and let them play until it was too cold. Then we found out where the closest Wal-mart was (about 20 minutes away!) and spent some time in there just playing around. Then we went back to the hotel, got the boys bathed, and let them watch cartooms until their cousins got there. We let them stay up late so they could have some fun.
The next day, we got everything loaded back up and headed over to the church (this is the church where Hank's aunt attends). From what Hank says, the service was nice. I ended up in the 'child room' with Bryant (the whole time) and Tres (the last half of the service). Mr. Boemer read some passages during the service... it was a responsive prayer. He would read and then the congregation would say, "Lord hear our prayer." Hank said that it had gotten quiet after the congregation responded, and Tres said really loud, "Lo-ward hear our pray!" Then he kept telling Hank that the man on the cross wasn't God... he was JESUS! So needless to say, he ended up with me! :) We had lunch with the family then hit the road back home. Since we will be in Nashville this weekend, we didn't want to stay gone too long.

Well, it seems like everyone has heard about my song making it to the top 10 of the 2006 Song of the Year. Darryl Holcombe at the Amen Corner knew... there's no telling how. And several other people I wouldn't have expected to know. I had several people (and not just any people... people who would know) tell me that the GMA's are associated with the Dove Awards somehow. I'm gonna try and look into that a little more. I asked a songwriter I know what his advise would be. He told me not to forget my words! :)
I went shopping today. I had some credit from returning a few things at Christmas. I wanted to get a pink shirt to go under a long black jacket I have that has pink pinstripes that I want to wear this weekend. I found a cool one a sale at Macy's. I also got a pink suide jacket that will look cool with jeans. So much pink, I know! Crystal would be proud!
It's been a little hectic with volleyball and work and funerals and stuff, so I probably won't post again until this weekend and I'll let you all know how my song did! Please pray!

Oh, I forgot to tell you that Hank got a speeding ticket on the way to the funeral! I can't say anything though. He was doing 73 and we DID NOT see where the speed limit changed, but apparently it was 50 on the freeway. So now we have a ticket to pay for! "Lo-ward hear our pray!"

I don't think Hank will get to readt his for a while.... so it's the perfect opportunity to say a few nice things! Hank is the best dad. He loves our children so intensely and completely. He plays with them and doesn't treat them like the things they want to do are meaningless or pointless. He hugs and kisses and answers questions endlessly. He admitted to me the other day that he has a problem: He wants to buy his kids things all the time! I could go on and on, but I won't. Hank you are the best dad. I love you.