Painting and TBall... TBall and Painting

Quite the pair, right?

Sure, I should/could have added in many other things to my title, but these are the two main things at the top of my head at the moment.

Stay with me, though. I tend not to focus much lately, so who knows where this post will end up? For now I will stick to painting and tball... besides, if anything else does come to mind I will not have any pictures available to upload for show and tell!

For weeks now we have had more chaos in the house than our usual dose. We have been remodeling EJ's room and it's dragged on longer than I expected... here is the color scheme for her "Princess" room, and let me tell yall - it is PINK!


We had Big Randy and his guys come in to put up beadbord, shelves and get it all ready for us to paint. That was before Easter... we'd moved ALL of EJ's furniture and toys from her room into Cub's room, and the upstairs hallway.

Okay, just for a second let me tell yall how unbelievably messy Cub's room is right now! And, everything is now all mixed together too... the Little Pet Shop pets are fraternizing with Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Her American Doll Bitty Baby "Scarlett" is getting friendly with Thomas the Train and friends... I do not know if I will ever get thir stuff all straightened back out.

Anyhow, I am coming to the end of this painting business... one more coat on the beadboard and delicately painting the crown molding and I am done!

Cub is playing TBall this spring for the first time and loving it!

Well, honestly he loves to bat and run the bases, but he isn't so keen on playing in the outfield.
He says that it is "boring because the ball never ever ever comes my way Mommy!"

I am not concerned as he is only 3 1/2, and tball is designed to be an introductory game to playing when they are bigger... besides, he is just too dern cute in his uniform!


See! He was so proud to put it on, the first night he slept in it. The next day he had to wear the shirt and hat to PreK too! At practice he was learning to run bases and the coach said to "touch base" as he went around. My sweet little boy bent down at every base and "touched" it with his hands... it was SO very cute, and my heart leapt, but I was also afraid everyone laughing would hurt his feelings. Cub is kinda sensative, but that boy was so excited about running bases it never fazed him one bit!

Time to go put the babies in bed and paint some more... or, maybe I'll just take it easy tonight and watch American Idol?!

Starting Over... Again.

It's Spring!
Gracious yall... where does the time go?
Since my last post (3 months ago? Really?) so much has happened I will never catch it up here... but here goes a small try in a nutshell...
EJ's room - remodeling! PINK, pink pink... pictures soon. Hopefully anyway... gonna try AGAIN to blog regularly...
Sis in Law Reynie and brother Billy... pregnant w/ a girl (!) who will join us this August!
Mother in Law, Nana, moving home from Charleston... what a blessing and joy for our family. =)
Another Tax Season done, and my Daddy, a CPA, is now free to go antique shopping with me once again!
Easter and Spring Break behind us now... Geoff played the Roman Centurion in our church Easter drama, "The Empty Tomb" and I was the costume coordinator... the kids loved having their cousin Jeffrey here, as well as Aunt Lee!
The flu hit our house like a ton of bricks. Three weeks of it between the 4 of us. I was last, but it kicked my tail... nasty virus that flu!
Back and forth to town way too many times to count for a thousand trips to the pediatrician, EJ's dance, Cub's pre k classes and now adding in Tball practice/games... taxi anyone?!
Of course there is always Wal-Mart, Target and the grocery store - mini scenes full of kid drama over a toy or something chocolate...
Too many funerals of some well loved family friends. I know they are now at peace with our Lord and Saviour in heaven.
Rain. And then more rain... and more! We cannot be in a drought any longer. Impossible!
And SO much more... it's getting late, and I am tired. I will again make a promise to myself to do better with my blog and I hope that I can keep that promise this time!
Goodnight yall!

The Sweetest Things in Life are Made of This

The kids have taken to sleeping together. At first it was only in Cub's room when he got his Big Boy bed. Now it is either room, and I took this sweet picture of them one night while they were fast asleep in Elizabeth's bed.

Cub will probably get me one day for showing him sleeping so peacefully in such a princess pink bed, but I love this picture.

To me it shows just why I adore this "job" we call motherhood.

Amidst all the extra busy days, trips to see the pediatrician, fussing between each other and pushed deadlines my babies look so peaceful here. When the "lights are out" for the night (or in EJ's case, the "big" light is out and the nightlights are on!) all is calm, quiet and they look like angels. I could go in there and watch them all night.

I am trying to remember that they will grow up way too quickly, and that other things can wait. I tend sometimes to over-commit myself, and I am giving it up! When my current obligations are done, I have decided that I do not want to add anything else for awhile... I want to make sure I do not let the rush of everyday life take away from enjoying the little things with my children.

Sweet times, just like this picture...

Hey Yall! Anybody Still Out There?!

Tap... tap...
Hello?
Is anyone still out there?
I don't expect many to be checking in with me anymore... I have been away from this blog for almost two months now. Geez! I do hope if you are here, and reading this post, that I will be much better from here on out about updating.

It would be on the top of my New Year Resolution list, if I made one.

But I don't.... because I always feel bad when I can't stick to them, and I always tend to try to do too much anyhow, and burn out. So I don't create more pressure for myself. I've got enough to go around!

So, see? No resolutions, no problem!

Still, I do make plans, and I plan on being a much more faithful blogger in 2009, much like I was in the summer. You see, I really look forward to reading all these spirited adventures and sweet remembrances of my children as they go headfirst through childhood. One day when they have grown up and I will then have time to read again (!), I want to go back through this blog. So, I need to make sure I have written it all down. I may not remember much by the time we get that far!

In the past couple of months lots of cute and funny things have occurred that I already wish I'd written about here... but even the past couple of months are now a bit of a blur. Both EJ and Cub were sick a lot with too many bouts of the stomach bug for me to remember (nor do I even want to!) and poor EJ had it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Bronchitis, strep throat and all those type things kept visiting our house with one child or another...

Besides all the sickness in December, holiday parties, shopping trips, plays, cooking and eating my parents both decided to take a little fall. Separately, but fall they did. Momma broke her wrist in 3 places, and had surgery right before the new year arrived. Diddy fell on Christmas morning and we all thought he had broken his back... but xrays showed no broken bones, for which we are all relieved. My parents are both 65 years young, so the falls were not from frailty but happenstance. Still, God is good, and the falls really could have been so much worse. We are blessed.

2009 is gonna be a good one... I hope yall are off to a great start (those who may be reading this?) and that I will be back here to share as much of it as I can with friends and family.

Here's to new beginnings!

PS... for those who may read my Sis in Law's blog,
God Do You Hear this Southern Girl Rambling?, I have been given the okay to tell a sweet secret - a baby is coming this summer! Congrats to my brother BB and Reynie... we love you!

Fishing with Uncle BB

Hi!
I seem to have been away for awhile... for some reason I haven't had much time to blog lately. And, when some time does come that I could sit down to write, well, I'd rather just sit.

It's not that I haven't had a lot to say, or tell about, because the holidays are full of great tales here...

I honestly don't know what the problem is. I'll just blame it on being too busy for now.

Above is my favorite picture from our week of Thanksgiving celebrating... that's right yall. We went to four family gatherings, and loved every one of them. The company was wonderful and the food was awesome... I now need to go on a crash diet, and I don't even eat any of the turkey/meat! Squash and green bean casseroles here are a staple, as well as creamed corn from the fields, mac and cheese, potato salad AND mashed potatoes.

The cornbread dressing is always my favorite - the best part of all the yummy food made during the holidays. Just put some cranberry sauce on top and that's all you really need!

Well, and maybe the creamed corn... but any good Banks child has to have creamed corn.

Back to the picture again... this is my "little" brother Billy. As many of yall know Elizabeth began calling him "Unka BB" when she was itty bitty, and it stuck. So, here he is with Cub, Bella (Reynie's sister's daughter) and Elizabeth fishing at our Daddy's family Thanksgiving lunch. BB and Reynie have it at their house the Saturday after Turkey Day, as BB and Diddy are still out in Kansas hunting pheasant on the holiday.

Don't even get me started on that subject... it's been this way for years. They eat their turkey on Thanksgiving Day at a truck stop somewhere on the way home.

Seriously!

Anyway, it was cold and raining, but we went out for a little fishing. I just thought this picture was too cute not to share. BB and I used to fish right about where they are when we were kids too. Of course we used chicken livers for bait, and I feel sure my daughter won't go near it. Still, the fishing is becoming a family tradition!

I do hope anyone who might still be checking in here had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope to catch up on my blogging again soon, and look forward to sharing the joys of our Christmas season here.

Now, back to the laundry!

My Favorite Artwork...

I treasure the artwork my kids bring home from school. I save it all, which will be a problem when they are older and I have stuff of theirs from PreK 3, but for now I keep everything!

Here are the latest masterpieces from my little "Picasos"...


Elizabeth made this leaf project in kindergarten. I love all the work she put into it, and the pretty fall colors. She said the best part was getting to glue it all together, and I believe it.

Give the girl a bottle of glue, scissors and some paper, and who needs a babysitter?!


Cub came home with this turkey today... it's so cute!

On each feather are things he is thankful for, which I just love! If you will notice, on the last yellow one, at the bottom, it reads "my big boy bed"...

Now, if only he would sleep in it through the whole night!

Cub's New Big Boy Bed

Time sure does fly doesn't it?


My children are just growing up so fast. I remember nights when I rocked my son for hours trying to get him to go to sleep in his crib... with awful reflux issues (oh, the posts I could write on childhood reflux... both our children had/have it) sleep was a real novelty in our house for years.

As a matter of fact, both our kids "slept", and I use that term lightly, in their car seats, in their bassinet/crib for a good long while. It was the only way I found they would sleep for a couple hours at the time... I think it worked b/c they were sitting upright, and their condition was better when they were not laying down.

Just remembering all those endless, worried nights is making me a bit anxious...

Anyhow, for about a year now Cub has been in his toddler bed, which was really his crib with a side off. It has worked splendidly, and he usually slept well there. I knew it was getting time for him to move into a real big boy bed, but had been putting it off as I want my little man to be a baby forever.

Yes, forever... he's just too cute at 3 right now!

Last week Momma found a great deal on a mattress and box springs at Macy's, called me, bought them and they were delivered Saturday. Last night Geoff went out to our storage and got out his childhood bed. It's a cannon ball bed, and will look great in Cub's room once it has a nice coat or two of navy paint on it!

Plus, it being Daddy's "big boy bed" will be a special touch for him.

Until I paint it, though, we went ahead and set up the frame, box spring, and mattress. He has a nice new set of airplane sheets, and I am looking for a cool quilt to be the cover. Aunt Betty Jo made him the airplane blanket that I threw over the top last night, and both kids decided they wanted to sleep there... together.

Again, "sleep" being the key word... notsomuch.


I put a big damper on that as it was a school night, but maybe I should have let EJ sleep with him... he was up and down the stairs all night, climbing into our bed and hugging up to me.

Sweet, yes?! I think so too, but not good for me getting any sleep, as he has to have his hand wrapped around my heart necklace and he isn't a very still sleeper... I took him back up the stairs twice, all the while remembering those foggy first years of babyhood. Up and down those steps... up and down... over and over...

I even remember very well the places I needed to step in order for the stairs to not creak. Good heavens, I didn't want to wake up EJ too!

Maybe tonight they can have a slumber party in his room... whatever works still applies for this sleepy Mommy!