Oh, the places you will go...

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, here's a picture of my favorite "Things" 1-6.

"You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So... Get on your way!"
~Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

The bigger the bow, the closer to God.

We're alive and well. One of these days I'll return to blogging. I miss all my sweet pals in the blogosphere. I'm still reading your posts, just not commenting as much because it's a pain to do from my phone/iPad. Totally a first world problem, I do realize.

So, until I can talk Bert into buying a new laptop for work, so I can have his hand-me-downs, these short, choppy posts will have to do.

Here are some pics of the Bitty Princess, who is already SIX WEEKS old, y'all!!

Her Highness and I might be having a little too much fun playing dress up, and picking out bows. Bert's asked me several times if I was trying to be funny with the giant bows and flowers I keep putting on the Bitty Princess. I just roll my eyes. We're southern. Big bows, smocked dresses, sweet tea, and God are all things we take quite seriously, so of course I'm not trying to be funny.

I hope to be back soon.
Happy weekend, y'all!
Hugs and Love,
~Big Momma

Head over heels in love...

with this sweet baby girl.

Her Highness and The Storm Proudly Introduce....

The Calm AFTER The Storm, our Rainbow, our Bitty Princess....

She was a late Christmas present, born at 10:47 a.m. on December 26th, weighing 6lbs, 14 oz. To us, she is truly a bitty baby, because all of our other monkeys were in the 8 pound range, and were born with giant noggins. Having a 6 pounder with a normal sized head makes her seem tiny to us.

We've all fallen head over heals in love. She has every one of her big brothers and her Daddy wrapped completely around her tiny pinky finger. Watching the way The Storm treats her so delicately, warms my heart daily. Her Highness absolutely loves finally having a sister, and treats the Bitty Princess as a dress up doll.

Here are some pics from the last ten days. I hope to be back soon, with more stories and fun pictures. I've missed blogging, and I hope to get back into the swing of it soon.

In the meantime...

"Sing praises to His name; HE forgets not His own."

We have been so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for...

-Our five (almost six) silly turkeys;
-Surviving ten years of marriage with the Father of those turkeys, who is also a loving and playful Dad;
-Having a close relationship with both my parents and all my siblings, who I'm very fortunate to still have here, even if we all live far apart;
-A best friend who loves me and my nutty children, despite my grumpiness lately;
-A group of girlfriends who always know how to make me laugh and keep things in perspective;
-My sweet, precious Granny, who has been a wonderful example to everyone who is fortunate enough to know her;
-A safe school system, where the principals love all the students and are truly passionate about education;
-Freedom to live for God and worship openly, without the worry of persecution;
-Good health, a roof over our heads, plenty of food and clothing;
-And of course, all of YOU;

... Just to name a few.

I hope this Thanksgiving finds you all well, happy and healthy.

Happy Turkey Day!!
Love, Big Momma

Because lately blogging has become a pain in my butt... Literally.

In the last few months, I haven't blogged as much as I would like. Life, busy schedules, and exhaustion have all gotten in the way. That, and my tailbone hurts too bad to sit down for very long. Which means no hard desk chair for me. Which means I have to blog from my phone. Which means thumb typing with my swollen, chubby thumbs. Which means thumb cramps. Which means... Okay, I'll stop.

For real though, my butt hurts. I have to stretch like a cat periodically, to loosen up the ligaments. Or is it to tighten them?? I can't remember exactly what the doc said about why it hurts so bad. It just does. My sciatic (sp?) nerve is giving me trouble too. Ahh, the joys of pregnancy. And I hate when people do nothing but whine while pregnant, which is another reason I've avoided blogging lately.

I've tried to jot down all the funny moments and sweet memories, hoping to get them all posted. But I kept losing the little scraps of paper I was writing on, and the ones I have found, I can't remember what the abbreviations are for, or who said what. For example:

"Store-- L and T fighting-- Fist hungry for justice."

Underneath that note would be half a grocery list: "eggs, butter, chocolate chips, tp, PB, Tums, razors" and then another note:

"H hugging F for doing good job."

I suffer severly with Mom-nesia. Blogging has been the only way for me to preserve our family's memories. And lately, since I haven't been doing it regularly, I'm afraid I've lost some good ones.

Sigh.

Such is life.

I'll dig my big girl panties out of the drawer soon and quit fussing so much. (They're the only ones that fit right now anyway.)
Until then, I'll be comatose on the couch or stretching like a kitty. Good times.

Sending you sticky hugs and sloppy kisses!
~Big Momma

Trick or treat, smell my feet...

Is it really Halloween already?? This fall has flown by.

We're still here. I know all seven of you have missed me. I've just been stricken with pregnancy induced narcolepsy, so anytime I sit down for more than 12 seconds, I pass out.

My kids are already high on life, with the anticipation of refined sugars that will fill their pails later this evening. I am sending warm thoughts filled with peace, serenity and extra energy to all the teachers we know and love. I don't know how y'all do it. This morning alone, I've had to tell my monkeys to CALM DOWN 84,000 times, at least. I've instituted a "NO sugar for the day" rule, because of what lies ahead in our day.

Hail, who completely understands this rule, tried to trick me into a treat already...

Hail: Can I hab an Oreo for bweakfast?
Me: NO. You know the rule today! NO junk all day. Besides, what kinda Momma would I be if I let you eat Oreos for breakfast all the time?? How about something healthy... like a poptart??
Hail: Ugggh. But Momma!! Fine den. Can I just hab the white stuffs from da middle?? That's not junk. It's not eben the cookie.

Sigh.

Instead of carving pumpkins this year, we opted to paint miniature ones. Don't judge. Do you have any idea how long it takes ME to scrape pumpkin goo out of FIVE pumpkins?? The kids always start out gung-ho and excited, but once they are reminded of what all carving a pumpkin entails, they bail. So, this year we painted. And they actually loved doing it. They even painted one for the Bitty Princess. It's funny, but I don't realize just how large a group we have until I see something laid out before me, like six lil' punkins all in a row.

We sure are blessed.

Wishing you all a happy, fun and safe Halloween! May you find your day filled with many more treats than tricks!
Love,
Big Momma and the silliest Punkins from the patch