Wedding, Retirement, Birthday and Family

Well before I get to Florida let me share that I was honored to be a part of my good friends, Kallie & Tim's wedding in Birmingham June 19th. I read a scripture and luckily didn't stumble over my words. Kallie is my friend from Bama who lives in Reno so it was especially fun to see her again. She looked gorgeous and I am thrilled for them. The reception was beautiful in her father's back yard...even though the sky fell down on us...it makes it all the more memorable, right?!

We were headed to Panama City, FL where my relatives live for my sweet Aunt Pam's retirement party (taught and changed lives for 20 years). It was also my Grandmama's birthday. I can only pray for her health and youth when I am 82!

Emma, Aunt Dianne and JT at the party. JT was busy trying to put rabbit ears in every photo taken...he is a funny boy!Lacey, Leah and Mook

Here is the 4 generations of Bell Girls!

The Original Bell Girls! (Aunt Pam, Mom, Grandmama, Aunt Dianne)

Summer had her first time in a big pool at Aunt Pam's house and she loved it.

She loved playing with her cousins.Ella Katherine, Emma, Summer and me

Tiff and Reece (sorry for cutting your head off Tiff). Reece is the most content baby I have ever met! And those dimples are adorable.

The things you do to try and get the little ones to smile on cue!

Summer and Emma

Next up - The Beach...

Where did I leave off?

Last I wrote Summer was headed to Grammy and Papa's house for some fun times.

Summer had a new pair of golf clubs waiting for her and after seeing the way she held the club, Papa knew he had a long road of lessons ahead!

In true Papa fashion, there was LOTS of instructions before she even got to touch the club.

Then they practiced their swing together. Papa said, "keep your eye on the ball" or maybe that was a softball quote.
Loving up to Papa.Grammy and Summer are holding hands but Summer and Papa are holding putters! Too cute.
We had a wonderful Father's Day brunch celebrating dad while Chad celebrated with his dad in NC.

There is so much more to tell from our trip so stay tuned as I will try to post daily this week.

Best Grandparents Ever!

Summer Marie is blessed with 3 super sets of loving grandparents!
I am so thankful for the love, care and participation they provide to Summer. It gives me such peace knowing she is under their watchful eyes.
She is spending this week in Alabama but before she went we snuck a quick trip to Gramma and Grandad's house. There she had an eventful and late night out on the lake. We went to dinner and she had her first ordered meal, grilled cheese with applesauce! Afterwards, she and daddy got jiggy with the band.
Then we shipped her off with Mimi and Grando who have proceeded to fullfil her every hearts desire! Going down the slide at Brewster's after a little ice cream!Giving kisses to Sadie after getting love from Uncle Bud and Aunt Jen (note: Bud was doing yard work and that is why he has on a cut off t-shirt...even still questionable attire for yard work)

However, it wasn't all fun. Mimi and Grando gave her some household chores too.
And they packed her bags and sent her off to Grammy and Papa's house for a couple of days.

She is now with Grammy and Papa who have many fun events planned. One thing I know on the agenda is a golf lesson with Papa using her new putters! More pictures to come.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET FRIEND NICOLE!

Oh, and here are some cute eggs from a bird who has made a nest in my furn on the front porch.

Anybody out there?

Why is it so hard to be content?

I want to be a stay at home mom but yet I find myself struggling through the day. Probably because my expectation of a stay at home mom is absurdly delusional. I think I should just be singing and perky all the time, playing games and teaching life lessons.
Side note: that sentence just made me smile it is so far from my current reality!
Instead, I spend my time trying to keep Summer busy so I can do things around the house. Whether it is making her next meal, doing laundry, cleaning up from the last meal, using the bathroom, cleaning up from her destruction while I use the bathroom...you get my point. I just keep catching myself not savoring the moment.

Does anybody ever feel the same?

Life with a Tutu on!

Life is more fun with a Tutu on!

Recently we have realized that Summer is a bigtime talker! From the second we get her in the morning its-talk talk talk talk. Chad says she is going to get voted Most Personality when she graduates from Kindergarten. However, at this stage she doesn't have control of her volume...and her knob is stuck on FULL BLAST! She IS loud!

One of her new discoveries is the trash can. She realizes that she can put things in the trash can and even take things out! Wonderful...and I thought the dogs were my only nemesis. I find DVDs, sippy cups, farm animals, pot lids, you name it and it can be put in the trash when you're not looking.

You know how when most all of us talk about our weight we say "I could stand to lose 20 lbs." Well guess what, I am on my way to making that reality. Since April 1st I have lost 18 lbs. I want to thank God for giving me the physical strength and mental discipline as well as my bootcamp teacher who help me get rid of the first 9. And Chad for being supportive of my goal.

I hope to be more consistant with my postings this week.

Talk to you soon-Jana

Oh no!

Just when I gave thanks for Miss Dede at the gym yesterday I find out that this is her last week. As I could obviously see, she is a kind heart and she is leaving to work with the children at the Salvation Army for the summer.
I asked her if I could drop Summer off at the Salvation Army a couple days a week...yes I did and she said yes!

Give Thanks

You know how when the holidays come around we feel that special warmth in our hearts (well maybe not everyone) and we say we should "give thanks" or "honor our mothers and fathers" on everyday of the year.

Well it just hit me...here is what I am thankful for:

• The health of my family and friends (by the way, why do people always say friends and family when your family should come first?)
• Peace that comes from unconditional love from God
• Sweet loving puppy dogs
• When Lucy licks my feet and it feels somewhat similar to a massage
• Living on the same side of the country as my family
• Having a church were we can grow spiritually
• A JCREW clearance center nearby
• My beach plans with family in a few weeks
• Any babysitting time, praise God!
• Summer sleeping 11-12 hours a night
• My new healthy lifestyle
• Healthy knees (ran 4 miles today)
• Our gym membership
• Miss Dede, the gym daycare worker (the only one who doesn't page me!)
• Green grass and bright colored flowers
• Being a stay at home mom (funny how you might think because I don't work outside the home I could sleep in and do whatever I want all day...contrair mufrair Miss Summer rules this ship-to a degree as you can imagine I am a tough love mama)
• My neighbor across the street who has an imaculate yard hasn't mowed his grass this week and his blooming clover looks as bad as mine (holiday weekend got in the way)!
• And finally, that you actually care to check in on our life.

Take a moment to be thankful for some of the many blessings in your life.
Love ya!

Memorial Day at the river

This Memorial weekend we went to Chad's parents' home on the river. They were leaving town and we thought it would be a fun getaway. We pretended like we were going on a weekend vacation...well we DID go on a weekend vacation but we didn't have to pay for accommodations or food so it was even better.

We started our days getting some exercise. I ran the dam while Chad strolled with Summer. By the time we got back home it was Summer's first nap and the PARTY BEGAN! I am getting excited just writing that! I put on my bathing suit, river shoes and literally put 2 chairs in this river and did NOTHING!

Everytime Chad would walk inside and return to tell me he didn't hear anything I would raise my hands in the sky and say "Praise God from whom all naps flow!" Yeah, we really needed this weekend.

After Summer's nap we dressed her in a bathing suit and she sat in her own chair in the river!

Chad enjoyed fishing for some trout. Amazingly, even with these 2 dogs in the water with him he caught 3 fish.

Our last night there we decided to go out for dinner but Summer seemed to have had enough of our company. She escaped her seatbelt and turned completely around with her back to us so that she could fully soak in the other patrons! Of course, she received the attention she was seeking.