March 20, 2012

For Mama...

Today would have been my mom's 60th birthday.  Last year at this time we were celebrating, not only my mother's last birthday on this Earth, but my sister's beautiful wedding as well.  It's crazy to think how much things can change in a year's time.  March 19th will forever in my heart be a day of tremendous joy, extreme sadness and one that's flooded with memories from the 30 wonderful years I was lucky to be able to spend with my amazing mother.

Like I've said before, my mom was a huge part of the reason I kept this blog going for as long as I did.  So, to honor her on her birthday I want to have a post of pictures....pictures of her daughter who misses her like crazy, her son-in-law who loved and respected her, and her two grandchildren who were the light of her life and whom she loved to no end.

Happy 60th Birthday, Mama!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!

 Here we are at the Bobcats game.  The boys really enjoyed it, especially Austin!

We got to see Michael Jordan (from afar), which Ryan and I thought was pretty cool!

Austin loved dancing in the aisle!

Owen had a ball roaming free up and down our row...he always likes to be on the move these days!

Austin had his first T-ball practice last weekend...and you'll never guess who's coaching his team, Ryan!  Both boys are doing awesome and are really enjoying it.


Ryan does great giving each of the kids individual attention and batting practice while the assistant coaches keep the others active and busy.  Our first game is in a couple weeks and we're all looking forward to it!



This was Austin one afternoon after playing at the park all morning.  He's been protesting naps a lot lately...which means he falls asleep in random places sometimes when he has a big day!  I've never seen him fall asleep like this before!!

Owen's too young for team sports, but he's still having a blast and making friends!  This is him and his buddy Everett at the park one day last week.  The weather has been beautiful lately and we've been soaking it up!

Boys will be boys!  Three little boys playing monster trucks in the dirt!

This is Austin's "best friend" Christian (Everett's big brother).  They play really well together and we really look forward to our play dates!  Their mom is really cool too and we enjoy hanging out while the boys play.

Of course Christian's parents are big Gamecock fans, which makes me love this picture even more!!  :-)


My silly boy on his way to preschool before St. Patrick's Day.  He looks cute in his green!  I packed him an all green lunch that day and he was most excited to eat his shamrock cookie and green Jell-O!

We made his teachers a special St. Patty's Day treat and he was excited to get to school and hand them out!

The boys made some cute artwork which I just had to show you.  Austin's turned out really good and he impressed me.  Of course he liked opening the gold coins and eating the chocolate more than anything!  Owen's is a little more abstract but totally cute nonetheless!

We spent St. Patrick's Day (and your birthday) weekend in Columbia this year with daddy and the family.  We took the boys to Chuck E Cheese which was quite the interesting experience!!  Afterwards we went to see Aunt Geraldine and Uncle Carroll's new house that they're building.  It's gorgeous and the boys loved running all around the big open spaces.  We all got filthy but it was worth it!

"Mister Blue Eyes" (as you liked to call him) really had a blast.  He was playing peek a boo around the columns and just laughing away!


Ryan gave us all a little scare as he tossed Owen up in the air a few times.  Owen calls it "flying" and asks to "fly" all the time!  This boy really is fearless!

That's a face of pure joy!

On Sunday we met with the family at Miyo's for lunch (because we know it was one of your favorites)!  We had a delicious lunch and then came back by the house for some Easter egg hunting fun!  Owen was exhausted and had to take a nap, but Austin really enjoyed hunting the eggs and found all 36 of them...twice!


He really like when we hid them in the cars!

It was a beautiful day and your dogwood tree out front was in full bloom.

Those yellow flowers (I know they have a name but that's all I ever knew them by) were really beautiful and made me think of you.  The yard and front porch are still just the way you left them.  Even though everything around there reminded me of you, I felt more at peace being home because it made me feel closer to you.

I spent a lot of the afternoon at the cemetery.  It's a peaceful place and somewhere I can always talk to you and know you're listening.  The boys stopped by and Owen said Happy Birthday and Austin sang to you.  

We all love you so much and miss you more than words can say.  Happy Birthday, mama!

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