U.B. and the Twins

September 26th...a big day in the life of my family. Twenty-one years ago today my older brother, Brian (McKenzie's U.B.) was 10 years old. It was today that he was hit by a car at 55 miles per hour, flew 140 feet over the telephone wires and landed helplessly on the road. Today is not a sad day for my family...rather very happy! I still have my brother Brian! Sept. 26th was just his accident day not his death day! God chose to heal him because He had great plans for him. Brian is doing amazing things with his life. He recently quit his job as a landscape architect to follow his new dream of being a personal trainer. He now works at a gym and teaches people how to work out and lose weight! Brian also is a Youth Leader at his church which is one of the biggest churches in GA. He takes time out of his days to play with his guys, teach them about Christ, and be a positive role model for them. Brian is also a wonderful husband and father to our sweet little Tater! I love him very much and I am so glad that I still have him! Thank you God for giving Brian a second chance at life because you were not done with him yet!

That is not where this story ends. One year to the day of Brian's accident, again September 26th my twin cousins were born! They are both girls! However, the first one born was named Brittany Erin after my brother, Brian Eric. Caitlin is the second twin! They are both in college now and today they are celebrating their 20th birthday! Happy Birthday Britt and Cait! Love you lots! We will never forget September 26th, it is a happy reminder every year that the power of prayer is real and that miracles can and do happen!

Pigtails and Water

McKenzie had her very first set of pigtails today! She looked so cute! She pulled on them at first and then left them alone! Her hair is getting quite long now and is still very curly in the back!

This afternoon we got our water back! You never realize how many things you need water for until you have none. We went this morning again to the Slocumbs to take showers and we filled some containers for flushing purposes but luckily we never had to use them! The kitchen is clean! I have run the dishwasher 3 times on hot to sanitize everything! It is so nice to be back to normal. Thank you to our awesome friends for letting us bathe, wash McKenzie's cups, and brush our teeth at your houses! We really appreciate you!

Remembering the Rainbow...

...And the promise that the Earth will never flood again! Well, we have had some rain here in the sunny South! Sunday night we got over 5 inches of rain. (Which was not a lot when other places in our county got 20 inches in 24 hours!) Our roof leaked some but Jason was able to get into the attic and place a bucket on plywood to stop the dripping. We do have a water spot on our closet ceiling where it was dripping. We had 8 or 9 places in the basement that were moist but no "real" water inside. We never lost power! However, we just got our cable, Internet, and home phone back tonight. We are still waiting on water. Jason called the water company today and they said it may be Friday before we have water. In the meantime, the dishes in the sink get higher and higher and so does the pile of laundry! Just putting the dishes in the sink makes for a real easy clean up! We went today and took showers at the Slocumbs' house. It felt so good to be clean again! We have lots of food and we are just riding it out! I am hoping for water soon though...I just about can't stand not flushing the toilet. That just grosses me out! I will days without a shower, but no toilet...Boo! McKenzie is doing just fine and does not even realize anything is out of the norm. We just keep changing her diapers! Lucky girl! I will keep you all posted on our water situation. You never know how convenient it is until it is gone. However, we are very lucky that we are just missing water. Lots of people have lost everything, even loved ones. Check out the pictures below. We took them today on the way to take showers. This is our road. It is about 1/2 mile from our neighborhood entrance.

Muddy, muddy water...

The water is just beyond the trees.

This picture is showing the culverts that were once under

the road that the water flowed through.

Here is the road...enough said! We are
very lucky! This is our road
about 1/2 mile from our neighborhood
entrance.

McKenzie and Brock riding this pony during
our shower time at the Slocumb household!


And...they fell off!

Say My Name...

A few posts ago I shared how McKenzie can say Katie's name. Ever since that night Lobello and Heider have been very upset that she does not say their names too. (I know Katie is the easiest to say!) However, it has been really funny to watch Lobello and Heider thy their hardest to say their name next! So Monday after Preschool, McKenzie and I meet Lobello and Heider for lunch at Moe's. Now, Heider knows about McKenzie's love of cookies. So after she was finished eating her lunch Heider asked MG if she wanted a cookie. Of course she patted her little chest to say please and said the word "cookie." (The only word she says as plain as Ma Ma or Da Da!) So Heider goes to the counter and buys her a cookie. As he is giving it to her he says, "McKenzie say Heider!" So McKenzie just looks at him. Meanwhile, Lobello and I are just laughing our heads off that Heider is going to such lengths to have his name said next. MG ate the cookie and never said Heider!

Last night we had supper club at our house and Katie, Lobello, and Heider came. Katie and Lobello arrived first. McKenzie said Katie a few times and Lobello was practicing her name just as Heider walks into the house. Heider walks in carrying a small box from the Publix bakery. Inside the box, he has bought one huge cookie, with the word HEIDER written in blue icing! It was so funny we all lost it. Again, MG enjoyed part of the cookie after dinner and never said Heider! Below, you will see the cookie and MG's face after eating it! Too funny! We really do have the best friends!

The "HEIDER" Cookie

Look at this blue face and fingers!




"Now let me tell you..."

Cookies make MG do silly things!
She loves to put bowls on her head!

McKenzie is putting on a show with crazy faces during dessert!

Yellow Daisy Festival...round 2

Well, last Saturday we went to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain for the second year in a row. It was really fun! It was much harder this year to look at everything because McKenzie wanted to keep moving in her stroller. Then she got to her breaking point and just started to meltdown. She was melting down just as we rounded the corner of a musician selling his piano Cd's. She cried until we let her out of the stroller. She walked right up to the speaker where this man was playing his CD from and just touched it! McKenzie then walked right to the middle of the path where everyone was walking and began to dance. Her dancing is so cute! It is more of a sway from side to side! I tried to get her out of the middle of the path but she would not hear of it. She walked right back to the middle. It was so funny! After a few minutes of dancing she was good to go and got back into the stroller and we were off again!

MG Dancin'

Dancin' some more!

MG loved these swings made out of tires!

Da Da and MG

While The Cat's Away...

The Mouse Will Play...and play I did! I decided to paint Jason's home office for him! We have talked about painting it before but just never got around to it. We have this problem about agreeing on colors and having the house turned up-side down! So, I decided if I was the only one here then I got to pick the color and do all the work! It turned out really well if I say so myself! I am proud of it. It is like a tanish, yellowish, or maybe just a dark cream. Neutral though. Jason was very surprised and loved the color, so all is well and it is a job done!

When Jason got home last Thursday, McKenzie could not stop saying Da Da. She followed him all over the house and when he was out of sight, she called for him and had to go and find him. It was the sweetest thing ever. She really missed her sweet Daddy! It is good to have Jason home. It felt like he was gone forever. Our communication while he was there was minimal so it really felt like he was gone a long time. However, he and Jeffrey had a blast! It was great that Jason had the opportunity to go and visit.

First Day of Preschool

First Day of Preschool....

this is what McKenzie wanted to wear!

Today was McKenzie Grace's first day of preschool! I can't believe it! She is already 17 months today also! What a big day for her it was. When I got to her classroom and dropped her off, she cried and cried. It made me feel so bad. She looked back at me like, where are you going Mom? Her teacher handed me a bag when I handed McKenzie to her. When I got back to the car and looked inside the bag there was a package of tissues, Hershey hugs and kisses, and a flamingo (McKenzie is in the flamingo classroom) that said "Mom's first Day" on it. It was so sweet! When I returned to pick her up her teachers told me she did fine. Which I hope she really did. McKenzie was sitting in a buy buy buggy when I got there and she saw me outside the door and smiled and said "Ma Ma, Ma Ma." It was so sweet!

While she was in school Cookie and I had a nice breakfast and then went to the mall. It was a great way to wrap up our visit together. After picking up MG we headed to the airport to take Cookie back. Tomorrow Daddy will be home! We are so excited to see him! He was so sad about missing McKenzie's first day of school.

McKenzie and Mommy just before she got dropped off.

After her first big day...so tired!

Imagine It

Yesterday, Cookie and I took McKenzie to Imagine It. It is a place where kids can go to have fun and explore! It is a really cool place. There is a pond where McKenzie put on a raincoat and went fishing! A huge sandbox with moon sand which is like sand but sticks together like clay. Very cool! Then McKenzie's all time favorite was the shopping area. It begins like you are in a field and all the crops are there. Then you move into a grocery store and can grocery shop! McKenzie loved this but could not understand that all the food was plastic and put it all in her mouth to try. It looked so real! Then after the grocery shopping was finished she could check out at the register! She did not understand this at all but it was cute to watch her play with it. After the shopping was finished she took her cart to the kitchen where she played and played! I defiantly think a kitchen is in her future! My little baker! There is also a dress up area with tap shoes but they were all too big for McKenzie. There is an area for painting on the walls, a huge ball area, and a train table also. So much to do there for little kids! It was a very fun day and McKenzie loved it! I can't wait to take her back when Daddy can come too! McKenzie fishin'

Playing in the moon sand

The Kitchen

"I think pineapple was on my list!"

Checkin' out the what is in the cart

Grocery Shopping!

"Which one should I buy?"

The giant Banana slide!

The entrance to farm

The video below is hilarious! There was a little show going on and McKenzie

did not want to sit and watch it. She wanted to dance to it. That was until she

spotted a little mixed boy with curly hair. She went right up to him and rubbed

his hair...not once but twice. She is so fast. It was so funny! We left that

section after the second rub of his hair!

Cookie's Visit

Cookie came to visit McKenzie and I while Jason is Africa. She arrived on the 4th and left today, the 9th. We had a blast, like we always do! We got to do lots of really fun things! We went to Madison for the long weekend and McKenzie and Baxter hung out with Nana and Papa T. while Cookie and I went to Athens and saw a movie and had dinner! It has been a long time since I have gone alone out to have dinner with a friend. It was very fun! Then Cookie and I visited the aquarium on Monday! Nana wanted to keep MG on her day off, so I left her! They had fun too and when Cookie and I got back to Nana's house, McKenzie had been shopping and got new clothes! It is always so much fun to see Cookie and hang out with her. We just laugh and laugh and talk and talk! I only with we lived closer! Cookie and Kenzie

Kenzie dumped the goldfish and Nana laughed!

The Aquarium! I love this picture!

Cookie's favorite dessert...Dirt Cake!

McKenzie loved it too!

Playing in the hose...only at the farm!

MG's New Car

Our neighbors across the street have a little girl that is one year old than McKenzie. Lauren has outgrown this little car so they have given it to us to barrow! McKenzie loves it! She loves to ride in it, push it, and of course look under the hood!

Ride time!

Push time!

Checkin' on the engine!



Reverse!

Gettin' in the new ride!

Jason called us from Africa today! He is doing great! Jeffrey and him are having a blast! They have visited a tea farm, elephant orphanage, seen giraffes, and petted a cheetah! Super fun! Jason said it was very different there and the traffic and the drivers are absolutely crazy!

McKenzie and I are off to the airport now to pick up Cookie!! Yeah, she comes today! :)

Bye Bye

Well today we told Jason bye bye! He is on his way to Africa to visit Jeffrey! Please say a little prayer for him for a safe trip! It is a long flight and flying that far can get very boring! He is so excited! I got everything to fit into his two suitcases which was not an easy task. He could have 100 lbs. of luggage and when he checked into the Delta desk he had 99 lbs! I am so proud of my packing skills!

Tonight McKenzie and I went to eat with Supper Club. When we were leaving Katie went to tell McKenzie bye and McKenzie looked right at Katie and said bye bye Ka. It was so sweet! No one told her to say that, she did it all by herself! Katie and I looked at each other and just started clapping and screaming. It was so exciting! McKenzie loves Katie...and Lobello...and Eric....and Tiff!