Black Widows

This past weekend, Hank and I traveled to Nashville to coach our team, the Black Widows (who named themselves because the socks they chose have a spider web pattern on them), in a tournament.

I was super impressed with them!! They pulled together so well. Not only are they developing as a team, but they are all becoming friends and I like to see that! I remember developing some long lasting friendships from club ball.

And I would like to annouce that the Black Widows placed second in the tournament!!! We played in the championship match and should have won, really! Nevertheless... we are so very proud of them!

I also had a blast with my husband. We haven't had a trip with no kids in... well, I don't think I could tell you how long... and it was much needed! We went to dinner, watched The Office, laughed a lot, and even held hands a little :)

Life is good.

Diet and Exercise and a little something else...

When Hank and I first met, he had just made some pretty big life changes. He had dropped close to 80 pounds and was really into exercize and fitness. So what in the heck drew him to me?

After we married and we were having our first baby, he decided to stop taking a supplement he was taking. When he did, he had some adverse reaction to coming off of it. He had what felt like panic attacks and shortness of breath. So when he told me that he wanted to try it again in preparation for an upcoming half marathon, you can imagine my skeptisism... so we decided to take a look at a few Hydroxycut reviews. The formula for creating it is different now, and is supposed to be more natural. Hank bought some and used it for a while but felt like it did little to nothing for him, so he decided to stick to just exercize and a very loose form of a diet. I mean, it's hard to be on a diet around me right now.

Putting My Foot Down!

I guess feeling more aches and pains is a sign of aging... not that we're old, but we are definitely not getting younger. Over the course of the last year, Hank has been having some issues with his feet. He says they just hurt when he wakes up. We've brainstormed everything we could come up with... arthritis that developed from breaking his foot at a young age, to poor support. When he wears a certain pair of tennis shoes with insoles (purchased with ECB's at CVS!) he says they feel the best. He is trying to train for a marathon in January... and just this morning he told me that he couldn't go run cause his feet hurt so bad. I mean, I even rubbed them down for him the other night. Talk about love, ladies. I think he needs to go to the doctor, but short of that, I think we just need to make his shoes an investment and not worry about finding a great, cheap deal on tennis shoes that don't offer support. I found a brand of shoes that seem to offer that, Merrell shoes. I think some of them are pretty darn stylish too!This one is called 'Cruise Control.' I thought that was clever!

Then I found some shoes that I like, too. I'm in need of church shoes. These look like they would be comfy on Sunday and that I could also wear them with jeans!

Birthday Bash!

I had planned to make Hank his favorite meal for his birthday, complete with cake, but he requested (no reflection on my cooking skills, I'm sure!) that we go out. We went to his favorite eat-out, Wings. Wings is the place we typically go to on date nights... we even had our rehearsal dinner there! Ha!
Anyway, it turned out to be Kid's Night, so they got to eat free!! And since it was kid's night, they had a comedian type guy there who was doing balloon animals and hats and such. The kids loved it!!THey each got a sword (and promptly popped them within minutes!)Bryant was looking up at the balloon as it was being blown up. "Oh Wow!" she says. Sophie got a little doggie. It was a fun birthday dinner. Our waiter came and sang Happy Birthday to Hankie in Italian... which was interesting (notice I didn't say good). Then we came back to Mom & Dad's and had cake and Hankie opened a few presents.

It was simple, fun, and full of laughter!

I love you, Hankie! I hope your 37th birthday was a memorable one.

"Honor They Father..."

Happy late Father's Day to all you dad's out there! I hope you ladies all spent some quality time honoring the father's in you life. My kid's and I had fun doing that this weekend! On Saturday, we sent Hank out of the house for a while with Sophie while the boys and I got his father's day stuff ready!Excuse her messy mouth... she recently discovered Doritos! :) Father and daughter took a trip to Lowe's and to get gold... I mean gas. While they were gone, we wrapped presents. And we filled out his card. The boys took finding the perfect Father's Day card extremely serious! They had me read about a hundred cards to them before we finally found and settled on this one! Then we made Hank's favorite dessert, chocolate covered ritz and peanut butter sandwiches.They took it very seriously! Especially when it came to licking the bowl!They even came up with a Father's Day song just for their daddy!
Then Dad came home, and we decided to go ahead and celebrate Father's Day since we knew Sunday would be full, and Hank had to work. I picked him out some plaid short and the boys picked out "Mighty Putty." I just want to say that whoever the marketing guy is who decided it was a good idea to plug in infomercials during cartoons is a genuis! My boys have been telling us for months that Daddy just needed Mighty Putty.... that it could fix almost anything. So when we passed by one of those As Seen On TV endcaps at Target and Tres spotted it, he about killed my eardrums yelling, "Mom!!! MIGHTY PUTTY!!!!" So that's what Dad got. He laughed when he unwrapped it, but my guess is that he'll find a why to use it! :)Here is my family on Father's Day morning! I have one good looking husband and kids! Hankie, I love you. You are an incredible Dad and I thank God every day for you. Thank you for playing legos when you didn't want to... for getting 'un-gettable' video games just because our kids REALLY want to play them... and making every weekend full of special and memorable moments.

I Got You On My Mind

I'm sitting here tonight at the computer and all I can think about is my wonderful husband. He's upstairs as I type, watching cartoons with the boys... or sleeping, not really sure which. I keep thinking about the chain of events that brought us together and how God orchestrated our lives. I never would have thought, in a million years that I would marry a man like my Hankie. When I was younger... like a lot of teenagers and women in their early twenties... I had plenty of ideas of what I thought I needed in a significant other. I'm just so thankful that I wasn't so stubborn that I missed what God had for me!

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this past Saturday. All day Friday and Saturday we kept saying, "Six years ago today, we were at our rehearsal, at our rehearsal dinner, getting ready, picking up flowers, etc, etc, etc."

Hank and I had talked a lot about taking a trip together for our anniversary, but this time of year is super busy for us and we couldn't make it work. We still wanted to do something special, but we just never really made a plan. So I began making secret plans of my own!!

Friday morning, I went to see my friend Ashley, who is in school at Mitchell's Cosmetology School, and she cut my hair for me. First haircut since before little miss sunshine entered our lives... that's over eight months if anyone cares! She gave me a bob with a slight angle with long layers all around and razored some bangs. Then the kids and I headed over to Ross, where my boys picked out a special shirt for me. They did so good! We came home, I dyed my hair (nothing drastic!), jumped in the shower and got ready while the kids all rested. Then ran them over to my Mom's house.

I was at Hank's work waiting when he got off. He might of had an idea I was planning something, but never let on really. He came and got in the van when he saw me and I had a CD playing that he had made me when we were dating. We have always called it our "I Love You CD." When he realized it, he smiled at me and told me I was smooth... which, come on... you know I am! He kept telling me all night that I looked pretty, and every women knows that feels good!

Then I gave him directions to a restaurant. I didn't tell him what restaurant. We had never been, but had heard about it. We went to Ruth's Chris. It was so good, but so expensive!! Thank you PayU2blog! We figured once every six years or so would be enough for us penny pinchers! I got a petite filet and Hank got stuffed chicken breast and we each halved ours and shared. The atmosphere was very relaxed and nice. There were all sorts of prom-goers there and we had fun watching the girls try to stay contained in their dresses! And some of the guys looked like they hopped out of an Easter basket with their white suits accented with turquoise, peach, pink, purple, etc. It was pretty good people watching time. The waiter was kind enough to indulge us and take our picture for our anniversary. We were very full after dinner, but the waiter boxed up a complimentary piece of Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake for us. It was storming when we were leaving, so my valet picked me up: Don't worry... I tipped him. Wink!

After that, we went and picked up our kids, got every one home and tucked in and called it a night. It might not sound like much, but it was enough. Just some quiet time to focus and invest in our marriage.

I love you, baby. More than I ever thought I could love. Marrying you made me a wife, having our children made me a mother... but loving you had made me complete. Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for believing in me unconditionally. I believe that there is no one else in this entire crazy world that is more perfect for me than you... and I thank God for the miracle of our marriage every day.

6 year
5 cars
4 trips to the ER
3 kids
2 houses
and 1 unbelievably blessed life!

I LOVE YOU!

Kitchen Overhaul!

Hankie has been hard at work on our never-ending home improvement project otherwise known as our new house! We moved our washer and dryer from a closet area in the kitchen down into the basement, and converted that closet space into a huge pantry.
We've updated light fixtures and replaced light switch covers. We changed out the stove and dishwasher to stainless appliances and have plans to purchase a stainless fridge soon. We received a new kitchen sink and faucet for Christmas from my parents. Can you believe the previous owner didn't have a sprayer on their sink? And Hank has spent a lot of time sanding and painting the kitchen cabinets to give it a brighter look. He did a wonderful job!! Then we updated the hardware and hinges. Just look at the difference!
Also, we mounted a small television in the corner near the fridge, and added a microwave cart on the other side of the fridge to free up as much counter space as we possibly could! I'm starting to really enjoy my kitchen! And it seems like my little family loves to be in there too. The boys will sit at the table and do arts and crafts, watch tv, play toys, and eat of course.

Thank you, Hankie, for working so hard on our home. You put every bit of excellence into it and I love you more for that.
Now we just need to add some new flooring and finish painting the trim and it will be a brand new kitchen!

Disney Half Marathon

As Hank posted below, he and his Mom participated in the Disney Half Marathon. I know Hank is super proud of his Mom for setting a goal and accomplishing it! Way to go, Mrs. B! I think plans are already in the works to do it again next year.Getting some motivation from a soldier before the race!Hankie towards the end of the race. Notice the Epcot ball in the background! Hank said they were running through the parks!They crossed the finish together!

Elmo Bidet

Can I brag for a minute? I believe that I have the world's best husband! Lately, I have not felt up to taking the boys outside to play in the 100-something degree weather due to my enormous proportions :)! So he has been so great about coming home, and taking them outside to ride big wheels, dig in the dirt, or swim. The other night, he came and got me because the boys were doing this:
They found the Elmo sprinkler and hooked it up, and stripped down to undies to run through it!Then, Tres discovered that the water felt good in other places too! And what one does... the other does too! My kids make me laugh!

Hank's Birthday

The boys and I had so much fun planning Daddy's birthday this year. Hank's not much for big events, and prefers low-key stuff. So while we were out running birthday errands, Tres, Bryant, and I stopped by the station to give Daddy birthday cards and small surprises at work.The boys always enjoy going to the station! Daddy lets them visit the 'robot' (or the remote controlled camera) when they come most of the time. This time was no different! Bryant thinks it's really a robot and constantly talks to it. He says things like, "Don't get me robot!" We put the boys on the 'green screen' too... or the weather wall. Then we got a birthday picture with daddy and the manequin in the hall and headed out to finish our errands. The boys and I spent the afternoon baking a cake. Hank had mentioned a specific icing that his sister, Jackie, makes, so I called and got the recipe. My Mom agreed to watch the boys so I could take Hank out to dinner. I was planning on taking him to Ezell's, a new catfish place, but he chose Del Toro! So we ate there, then headed back to my parent's house to have cake, homemade chocolate ice cream (courtesy of my Mom!), and coffee. Can you see the Dove candies on top of the cake? There's a story behind those. When Hank and I were dating, he used to get this candy off of one of my co-workers desk and then he would tape one of the wrappers, which has little messages on the inside, to my computer screen signed with an 'H.' I used the wrappers from the candy to make him a card.

We had lots of fun! I got Hank a new CD player for his car. Tres picked him out a Star Wars GameCube game, and Bryant got him a CD.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday to the world's greatest Dad, Husband, & Friend. God sure knew what he was doing when He put you in my life, Hank Boemer. You and our boys (and littel girl) make my world turn!

Thank you for playing two-man Duck, Duck, Goose with Bryant.
Thank you for encouraging Tres to swim underwater.
Thank you for loving me unconditionally.

We love you!

Our 'REFRESHING' Sunday

Yesterday was also a special day for our family. Our church, Crosslife (a church plant from Cathedral of the Cross), had it's first baptismal Sunday. Pastor Tommy got special permission to baptize people in the lake at Oak Mountain. We had 10 people get baptized... including Hank!

I was so proud of him! Hank made a very well thought out decision to do this. Some of you may not realize this, but Hank was raised Catholic, and has been attending Assembly of God churches only since we got married! He considers everything logically, looks at what the Bible says about it, and makes his decision. He decided he wanted to take part in this baptismal service as an outward sign that the 'old' Hank was gone, and God has control over the 'new' Hank. I get emotional just typing this. But when I asked him what he was feeling when he was out there, he said he wasn't feeling anything. He was concentrating on what he was doing and telling the Lord that he was going to do this right.The only thing he said was that he wished he could have done it on his birthday (today).

Random Thoughts

Reflux sucks... that's why I'm sitting here after midnight and not asleep like a good little girl!

Our 4-D ultrasound is tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous cause I just found out that someone I know discovered they were having a girl on their 4-D AFTER they had been told it was a boy! Also, what if she's ugly? Scratch that... not possible. Have you seen my children???

I really want an ice cream Snicker's Bar.

Our neighbor just put her house on the market. Good for us, I think. She is represented by an agent. We are doing FSBO. So, our hope is that when her agent brings folks over, they will want to stop by too! Oh, and we plan on doing an open house when she does! :) She is also pricing her house at exactly what we are going too.

Did any one you SEE that comment my husband left on the Daddy posts? Oh my goodness!! Could he be any more sexy??? Sorry ladies... so sorry your didn't get the best one, cause he's all mine!

I will leave you with our little impromptu family portrait from this morning. Don't be jealous that your family isn't as pretty! :)

Happy Father's Day Daddy!