HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

This is a day early, but I will be gone most of the morning tomorrow and I was wxcited to celebrate my little gal!

After 13 hrs and 15 minutes of frustrating pain and suffering (had to add the drama :)) my little Alyssa was born! Yay, a girl! I saw visions of pink and hair bows--didn't picture the drama that came with 'em! LOL She made me wait at 9 1/2 cm. for 3 hrs before she decided to just SLIDE *Bloop* right out!!! The doctor barely made it in time to see the nurse catching her!

After 7 years she is still on her own time table, but I LOVE this little sweet heart I have been privileged to have in my home to teach me patience...when the drama and tears come out, tolerance of annoying sounds, understanding when she takes over my kitchen or chores (i know I shouldn't complain, but hey i'm human, right?!) I absolutely adore this child. I remember that when she was 3 years old, we butted heads a lot and I thought, "I shouldn't be butting heads with a 3 year old"! She did have a tendency to be stubborn when she wanted things her way and we fought over the alpha mom role! :) But I also remember in my prayers one night asking for the Lord's help and when I went to check on my sleeping beauty I felt a soft whisper tell me "You and she will have a very blessed and beautiful relationship and she will always love and look up to you"! I get tears just remembering such a sweet experience. These are some of the many reasons we have children, to keep us humble, more loving, kind and patient, and to help us see where we need to change.


So here are 10 things about Alyssa:

1. She has always been good with kids and LOVES babies. She adores her siblings and is VERY proud of her little sister! One day she said to me I want 1 baby, then 3 babies in my tummy, then 2 babies together and then 2 more together...how many does that make mommy?" O.k I'll let you do the math, but it was pretty funny!

2. She loves just about any food and I mean LOVES FOOD, but hates mayo! She loves sauces and gravy over most anything!

3. She loves to sing and play with her family as well as help out. I have read the Love Language Book for kids and have found that she is a Words of affirmation kinda gal with Quality Time following closely in second! So, we try to make sure that we sing praises to her on a daily basis and spend some down time with her!

4. After we go down to my family Reunions in Georgia, she gets a kick out of trying to talk like some of our cousins down there and really does a good job, too! She actually says many things that have a slight southern twaaaang on it!

5. We were watching the Women's Figure skating during the Olympics a few years back and there was a girl getting on the ice for her performance and they announced that she was from Turkey and we explained what that meant to the kids and when she was done with her routine on the ice, another girl got up to do her routine and my sweet, innocent Alyssa said "Is she from chicken?" LOL that was one of the funniest things I have ever heard pass from her tiny lips!

6. She loves her dolls and stuffed animals and has named them some interesting names! Like chocolate marshmallow, smarshmallow bean, fluffy, cloppy (a horse) and many more that I can't remember right now!

7. She loves movies one of her favorites is 'North by Northwest' with Carey Grant.

8. Her favorite color, like most other girls, is pink!

9. She loves to clothes shop with me and loves to put her own outfits together...so watch out at church! LOL

10. She willingly gives and doesn't expect anything but acceptance in return and I greatly admire that in her. There was one day at cheer leading that for some reason they were short one snack and a little girl had to do with out, but Alyssa went over to the little girl and gave her snack to her. There are several more times that she has done something like this on other occasions, but this is the most memorable one to me because one day she had forgotten her poms and the mother of that one little girl noticed and let her borrow hers. They were on different squads so it worked out, but that lady told my sister that she was one of the sweetest girls that she has ever met and that there aren't too many kids that would have given up there snack for someone else. And believe me when I say that was a MAJOR act of service and sacrifice because my daughter LOVES food! She eats VERY slowly and savors EVERY bite! LOL

I LOVE YOU ALYSSA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

The Goods of Life

We often face many struggles and challenges in the game called "Life" and I am grateful that we get glimpses of true happiness and love despite whatever life may throw at us. Life is hard and we all have struggles. No one has a perfect life, EVEN if it looks like they have it all "Together"or they have no challenges, some people are just better at hiding it. There are many people who are great examples of someone trying despite whatever life may throw at them and I am grateful to know many people like this, it helps me to re-evaluate the way that I think and look at life and look at other sons and daughters of God. We are all on the same boat. Some just have more boat malfunctions than others and we are here to pull each other up and back into our own boats to survive. Like Dory says so GREAT on Finding Nemo, "you know what you gotta do when life gets you down?...Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."
So here's to all the things that make me smile, all the things that bring joy to my loved ones, and here's to the people who have really helped me through some of my rough patches and never turned away when I needed someone...you know who you are! :) and here's to getting to know more people and hopefully being a good friend back!


These are the GOODS of LIFE!!!
The simplicity of a child pretending he can fly!

Family playing in the hay forgetting about everyday life and living for the moment!

For the many good men in our lives!
For the loving sweetness children bring into our lives!
For the simple and little things that bring us joy!

For curious minds!
Sun shining all around us!
laughter in the home!
A good pie eating contest!!!
Tys WON!!! Ok maybe not a shocker...he can pack it down! J/K I love you honey!
Love in the home!
keeping your eye on the GOAL despite the odds!

These are the things that lead us to true happiness!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my DADDY!!!

My dad grew up on a farm in a small town in Southern Georgia. He was #5 of 9 boys and from what some of my Uncles have told me, he was a mama's boy! Having that many brothers had it's advantages...for instance no one made fun of the Crummey name because they'd have 9 boys all over them! I love to hear my dad tell stories from when he was a child. His dad would make their Christmas toys and apparently was REALLY good at it!
My dad joined the Navy right out of High school and eventually was stationed in Chicago where he ended up meeting my mom through a friend who was supposed to go on a double date with my mom and her friend, but ended up getting sick, so he asked my dad to fill in. Tell me if I am getting this right, dad :) That is the beginning of the rest of us! :)
My dad instilled some good ol' southern manners in me and I am grateful for that. I just wish I hadn't gotten into such BIG trouble in Minnesota for saying "yes ma'am" to a teacher. She thought I was being sassy. LOL

He taught me how to treat others and when my mom died, there were some neighborhood kids who would say mean and gross things about her decomposing and my dad told me that "your mothers in Heaven and don't listen to what anyone else says because it doesn't matter". It obviously stuck out in my 5 year old mind for me to still remember! :) There are many things that my dad has taught me and helped me with and I want him to know I love and miss him. I also love this next pick of our first Nintendo when they came out. My dad and brother played it for the longest time and even threw out their cowboy quick draw! Oh, the memories! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're MOVING to RUSSIA!!!

Last night I was informed that we are moving to Russia! :) We were packed up and ready to leave the Rain gutter Regatta for the scouts and my son who had lost every race said he never wanted to go to scouts again and we're movin to Russia!!! LOL SOOOO Dramatic (girls are NOT the only ones, but boys have less), but I had to laugh! So NO, we are not REALLY moving there, but my son wants us to! LOL He had gotten his boat the night before and my husband had mutual on the night they got the boat and chad was already in bed when Tys got home and then he had to stay later at work on Thurs., so my poor kid had to do the boat all by himself. I tried to help a bit, but I am a first time rain gutter regatta mother, so I had no clue about the rules of putting the boat together...for Pinewood derby they have a TON of rules :) Anyways, it wasn't too bad for his first time on his own...next year we'll be better prepared...I am experienced NOW! ha ha

SO...I am dedicating this lovely post to my first of many firsts and the kid who made me a mama! Why do I love this little rascal? Here let me tall ya...

...He is soooo funny! Last year for his book report he had to decorate a pumpkin as the main character and his was Captain underpants. One day i walked into the kitchen to start sewing and was looking for my pin cushion and when I found it, he had put the pins together to make a fighting ninja! It gave me a good laugh for the day! :)
...One day I came downstairs to him and Lys laughing soooo histerically they were almost hyperventilating and FOUND what they were laughing about! He had folded a ketchup packet in half and put it under the toilet seat and later on lys went potty and juuust as she sat down ketchup squirted ALL OVER her, the toilet and the wall! ha ha I had to laugh, it reminded me of the things I did as a kid, but I made him clean it up! LOL
...Although he is funny and scheming, he is VERY loyal and loving to his family! One day Lys went out to see a friend who had just finished swimming and the little girls brother started squirting Lys with a water gun and telling her to get away and she started crying, I was in the kitchen cooking and didn't know what was going on and then I hear Chad push the office chair (it rolls and it hit the desk) and he ran out the door and yelled "DON"T YOU DARE DO THAT TO MY SISTER!" He got right up into the face of this BIG 10 year old and didn't back down...Go Chad! He also "Saved" Bria from a bee...she wanted me to put that in there! :)
...Once he truely believes something or knows that it is true, he'll defend it come heck or high water!
...He loves his dad and they have such a special bond and I love that they have that, but he still loves being around me, though he has set the rules, no kissing him in front of friends. He loves me calling him baby, but NOT in front of "THE" friends. He will hug not kiss and make up! ha ha
...he's like one his Uncle's and loooves fire and like the most of the men in the family, he loves computer/video games...and is really good at them (the games). He can keep up with the adults that play all the time! :)
...he tries to be kind to everyone and he loves to joke around and wrestle...he and I play really rough sometimes and then I end up having 4 (even Heath gets in on the action!)against 1, unfair! ha ha I love that he and I can actually have conversations now and someone who understands some of my joking! The other kids are getting there, but he seems to understand the sarcasm a bit more ;)
...most importantly I LOVE the person he is becoming. There are so many times that he thinks I ride him too much and I guess I just see the potential and I have certain things that I am passionate about and want to instill in my kids. I guess I can sometimes get a little too uptight, but I love him and can see that he is a great kid and want him to be what the world needs...honest, capable, loving, compassionate, God fearing men! I hope I haven't ruined him yet! After all the first is the Guinea Pig! :) I love our CHADDY!

I am finally posting about the Competition!

We had a blast at Competition! Our girls won the Spirit award and did GREAT on their performance. They even had some music for all of the girls to go and dance on the floor to in between performances. It was awesome to see the girls cheering for ALL the teams--they would say a cheer when any team won and made it less about the trophies and more about the fun of it all and unity!

Some of the family were able to make it and then Tys treated us all to Applebee's! Yummmm! I am getting hungry thinking about that place! :)

Alyssa was sooo in the zone, she couldn't stop cheering the rest of the day and little Bria left saying some cheers too though she says she wants to be a ballerina! I posted a slideshow on my myspace page
page sooo check it out to see the pics! I will be posting a video by the weekend as long as we can get it edited so it won't be too long :) I will also be posting this on my myspace page because it's easier and has music so ya don't get bored watchin'! ha ha

I have a link to the page on the left if you can't get the lilnk above!

Way to go CRUSADERS!

We had our cheer competition and we WON the SPIRIT AWARD!!! They were awesome and Alyssa did GREAT! I will post later more about the event and with some pics of my little lady!