View through the tall grass

We knew we had to name her Chandler Mae after her great grand mother Annie Mae who is 99 years old.

Annie Mae lived on this land and plowed in this dirt and ran barefoot across these hills.

She came to live here because her mother couldn't afford to feed her and sent her to live

with her sister Sarah Chandler and her husband Steve. They had no children and Annie Mae

would grow into a woman on this farm. Just like Chandler Mae will grow into a woman here.

She will have the same view through the tall grass as her great grandmother did. She will feel protected here and when life closes in she will come back here and always know she is home.

The trees, the land, her footprints scattered through out this farm forever etched in her memories.

Anna Mae came to see us and although she couldn't get out of the car she asked to see Channie Mae first..Channie Mae gently laid her head on her shoulder and for a moment time stood still between these two...The young and the old, hearts colliding, souls forever joined somewhere on this farm.

Beneath the tall grass are the footprints of her great grandmother and the land that built her..

A special date on mothers day

Mothers Day always leaves me feeling a little overwhelmed. My family loves to celebrate and celebrate we do. Birthday celebrations could last a week or longer....so on Mothers day it has lasted all weekend. It started on Friday with a shopping spree from my dear hubby at one of my favorite clothes store. He goes in and buys me a couple of outfits and then usually brings them home as a surprise..he has done this for 18 years...and I love when he does this..:)
On Saturday night we enjoyed a three course meal at our friends house. Stayed way too late, but so enjoyed the conversation.....
On Sunday morning I had notes under my coffee pot and in my make-up drawer from the little people I share my world with; reminding me how much they loved me. My portrait in all shapes and sizes sketched out on these papers with big fat letters saying I love mom..I will tuck these tiny love notes in my bible and one day pull them out again and remind myself how blessed I have been to share my life with the very people who have changed me forever.
Changed me from just somebody to a mama....Their mama...
After Church I took my Mommy out to eat and then Taylor and I headed to see our all time favorite singer Norah Jones...

We put her album on and cook and clean to her music. Her music took me to Africa when I went to bring Jo home..Her music makes for a romantic evening with my hubby. We love her music...
So when we found out she was coming to B'ham we had always promised each other
we'd go and so we did.....We searched everywhere before we finally found tickets and we justified how we just haaaad to go.
We laughed and talked and sang.....after the concert we popped in her cd and rode all the way home singing .... This was an unbelievable Mothers Day memory... Thank you my dear family for making me feel special all year but really taking it to a new level on mothers day..:)



Mothers Day 2010

View from my front porch..come sit a spell..

We went Strawberry picking and eating as many as we could stuff in..
It's hot here already, folks.

Falling in love with my kids more every single day because that's what I do...I have nothing else to do except sit on my front porch and take in the beauty surrounding me (except laundry :) and taking in the beauty the Lord has given me.....I will not take one single day for granted..I will enjoy each and every one to the fullest..I will build memories so when they're old they will remember...

Sprinklers

First pool

Channie hosted a tea party under the tree that her dad and I planted 14 years ago.

Cullen stayed up late one night and brought this to me in the morning.. I tell ya there is nothing better then the love of your five year old son. He loves me so much he wants to marry me one day.

I said "yes." I couldn't tell him no..and then he just hugged me and hugged me........

Boys wrestling ..

Very common around here I usually don't get involved unless one of them

stops having fun. Scott says it's what boys do..I believe him because they do it alot.

Rosie and Lucy drinking tea at the party under the tree in the front yard.

(I have always wondered what my babies looked like when I was a little girl.)

so whenever Taylor and Channie got babies they became part of our family.

They go everywhere with us. Vacation, grocery store,church...

I know this is crazy coming from a mom with 8 kids..Keeping up with them should

be enough but we have Lucy and Rosie and big Bertha (you might remember we took

her to the zoo with us.. :)

The boys bobbed for apples and wrestled in between :) I brought out icecream

and sprinkles.

I have only a few years left when all my kids are home with me and I plan to make the most

of them..from my front porch.

If I told you

They were the cutest babies in the world

would you dare believe me?

I shared....

I shared

My table with two great families.

I had my table set for 18 and I do believe

I could have squeezed one or two more in:)

I shared my bed with an incredible, crazy father

who wrestled while the rain was coming down.

I shared some of my hugs and.....

I shared my food with these three friends

and they shared their laughter with me.

They look like brothers!

These little guys

are city boys and it was so much fun watching them

running in the dark

under the blanket of stars..

Their family lost alittle boy named Zion two years ago.

(the same way we lost William)

so I shared Williams grave with someone

who knows....

I shared a phone call from Africa;

birthday wishes to her son..she got

to hear Jo's words as he said "I love you."

silence on the other end of the line..

I shared a tear for a woman

who gave life to her son

and now I share him with her.

always.....

The Zoo

The drive was hot......We went to the zoo which is over an hour away. I have no air in my big

red van...so we had to cheer ourselves with the fact that the zoo would have a water play area.

It felt like it took us three hours to get there but we arrived in style, no air and all.


The little girls cried from the moment we got out of the van until we left..Ok so maybe not the whole time but....close enough. :)









































Coop loved feeding the birds and the birds loved Coop....

























So, the little water park ended up being so refreshing and fun.. Jo was bringing lots of attention to the White House family.....His little black feet stood out amongst all the little white feet and boy did he bask in the attention....


























My lap was full...Faces snuggled together keeping warm after playing in the water. Every black family we saw would stop us and tell us how "juicy" the girls were..that means big..






































Their love crosses all nations and color...They're brothers...and one day they will be men
and I pray that they will still be holding each others hands...the world can be a hard place but
when you have someone on the left and on the right holding you up it's alot easier...together





























Channie insisted on bringing her baby and stroller...I didn't mind but...her baby is kinda

ugly...:) she is the biggest baby I have ever seen.. her feet hit the ground from the stroller.



Everyone kept snickering at this baby......but Channie didn't notice at all. She was such a proud

little mama and kept right on pushing that big baby all day...

The long day left a sister carrying her brother. A brother carrying his sister and one mama who looked forward to being home...

The zoo was fun......

Thank you Aunt Julie for a great Christmas present a pass to the zoo for a year..

My distractions...

Distracted is all I can say..
By the simple things of life like:

This little Latte. She has the brightest eyes I have ever seen.
Happy and loving and all mine. There is no doubt in my mind where she belongs. The Lord has given me a great gift and I open it anew every single day.
Yes, I'm one of those moms that has nothing better to do then dote on my children all day..


























I love doing school with this rowdy classroom. I dressed up like a woman from India; the red dot and nose-ring.(no, I will not share these pictures believe me you don't want me to..) We had the Indian drink lassie and Tandoori chicken with naan bread for supper.


In the midst of my day there is always blood. I guess it's living on a farm or it could be all the boys. Boys are rough there is no doubt...I have learned that blood is not a sign of death in most cases and their hollering doesn't mean they're dying, so I approach their skinned knees and toes kinda nonchalantly. Brothers hold pressure and sisters give great side effects and I'm doing this for the third time for the day reaching for a band-aid....telling him how tough he is...












































It's All in a days work....for me.

My love is big for all these beautiful diversions that keep me reminded of God's great love..I am loved much by him.































I love having a big blanket on the ground and lots of toys for the girls. They love being outside
and I love sharing their day with them outside..






























This is the beginning of my garden. I love having a garden and being able to go out my back door and grab some lettuce.. We have just recently moved a green house on the farm but it needs a little bit of work so I'll keep you posted on how that's coming along...

So as you can see I'm distracted and I love it!!!

come sit at my table

We've sat here for an hour. Laughing, listening, learning....As my eyes drift around my table

I see laughter and happiness around this 'used to be' tree. I slow down here. I laugh more and listen better. I have learned so much as I have lingered around this wood. My candles almost used up for the week. My china has made it through another meal. We use our china almost every night. I don't stress about it. I just use it and when the day comes that a cup gets chipped or a bowl broken I will only be sad that I have one less bowl..but the memories are piling up in the mean time using it.When the kids get older they will know my modest china. They will have memories of eating from it and washing it.

I have seen some beautiful china locked up behind glass doors and never brought out. It will be passed down to some other china cabinet with different glass doors and never used. Only looked at from a distance.

Supper time...

This is my favorite time of the day. Supper around this big ole' table. I greet Scott here at the end of his long day. I refresh him here. I have a table set for the most important company in the world: my family. I use cloth napkins and just throw those in the washer at the end of the night.

I use candles and bread plates and fancy flowers from their father are always in the middle.

The lights are dim and there is music in the background.

You might ask "why go to so much trouble?" and I don't know... I just like the way it feels when everyone anticipates dinner time. Wondering what mama's going to come with next. Yeah, it's a little extra work but in this season of my life what else do I have to do?...besides laundry......

I wish I could tell you

I wish I could tell you that the years were slow in coming. That I knew that one day I would awake and you would be all grown up, but I can't. A blink of the eye and now your grown. That fast!
I love being your mother Taylor! I have so many wonderful memories over the past 17 years of your presence in my life, in our life, that are memorable.... but one memory I have of you that stands out above all others because it shows your heart, is when William died and the rain seemed to never stop and you were gone and I caught sight of you coming from Williams grave and I met you on the porch and you said "I put my coat over Williams grave; it's cold and wet. I guess I'm just always the big sister"
Sure enough when I went down the next day there your coat lay over your brother. always protecting, always concerned. I will never forget that day as long as I live. You are different and everyone says so. You don't like the spotlight and you don't want anyone to feel left out. You are loyal and you love well..There is not a ounce of laziness in you and I'm thankful you're my daughter.. As I have been noticing you growing up it changes me. I've slowed way down. I take in every moment with you and the others. I don't ever miss the chance to build memories..because I know that time goes fast...

You and I have solved the worlds problems many times over with a bag of tortilla chips and salsa and I look forward to the up coming year and all that it brings......


Happy Birthday!

Love, Mom

The rain

The rain came! We slipped on rain boots and played. She splashed and explored.

She gave me the look....the look that made me melt right into the puddle that I was standing in.

The rain came and I spent the morning listening to some great music with my girls and playing in the puddles..

Little flowers never worry when the rain begins to blow because if it never never rained then we'd never ever grow...

Little Flower is growing up..