Mamaw's Burgers...

For as long as I can remember, my Mamaw's burgers have been my favorite.  But since we make it back to Texas so infrequently, I hardly ever get to eat one anymore.  But Memorial Day, Mamaw made burgers for me and they were as good as they ever were.  Most of the family came over and we had a great afternoon seeing everyone.  I feel incredibly blessed to be able to share my Mamaw and Papaw (G.C.) with my boys.  They mean so much to me and I am grateful every day that they are still in my life!

Here I am with a mouthful - I told you I liked them!

Mamaw has many, many "famous" dishes, but this is another recipe I can 

remember her making most every Memorial Day and 4th of July.

Off the Grid...

It's been a while, I know. But we've been enjoying a little Mimi time the past couple of weeks. My mom had planned her 3 week visit around Tim's underway schedule before he switched subs. He was originally going to be at sea now, but his whole schedule has shifted with our new boat. But Mom decided to come anyway - and we are so glad she did! We've had lots of fun and, as usual, she's been a big help around here. I threw a baby shower with some gals from our "old" sub and we had it here. Her expertise in hosting beautiful events was such a help. (More pictures to follow.)

It hasn't been all work though. She's had plenty of time to spoil her grand babies and have a good time with us. We've been to the zoo, to take Easter pictures, to shop, to eat local shrimp and tomorrow we headed out (just the girls) to find a dress for Mark and Meghan's wedding. It's been a great visit and we will all be so sad to see her go next week!

Sliding at the zoo with Mimi

Surprisingly, Mark chose the Merry-go-round over the train for this particular zoo visit. The boys had a great time though and I think he might choose it again.

A Sunny Saturday...

The weather has been great here. I could really get used to living somewhere that only has 2 months of cold weather. We decided to pack up the family and head to the Jacksonville Zoo. A nice warm day, a dad who doesn't have to work and zoo membership are a great combination. I've written about our membership before, but it's such a fantastic thing to have. The only cost to us each trip is riding the train - which we get a discount on. I always pack the boys a sandwich so that we don't have to pay to eat in the restaurants. Today we only stayed 2 1/2 hours because apparently we weren't the only ones in Georgia/Florida who thought today was the perfect day to go to the zoo. Plus, the boys were getting tired and hungry. But it was a great morning together! Check out our pictures!

The zoo was also crowded because it was the member's only preview of the new Komodo Dragon exhibit.


Head first, of course!


Luke loves to slide!


2 little monkeys watching the monkeys...


Mark and Daddy


Luke and Mommy


Lunch at Whataburger - "What a burger should be!"


Playing Peek-a-boo!

Mmmm...bacon!

Mom got up early to set a nice table for our family breakfast. It happens so rarely that we all get to enjoy a relaxed breakfast together I thought I'd make it a nice one!

Mark slept until 8 am this morning. Happy Valentine's Day to us!


We had heart-shaped "Toad-in-a-holes" and bacon...



Poor Lukie only got bacon. He seems pretty happy with it though.
Notice his spoon. He insists on having one when he eats now.



Mark got a magnetic cars fridge set and a new Thomas DVD.
Luke got a new book that squeaks and Dad got his favorite candy - Sweet tarts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you loved.

Love is in the air...

Dad's home! I mentioned it in my post yesterday, but Dad came home last Thursday. I intended to write about it earlier, but we had a whirlwind weekend. For a time we thought Tim was going to be changing boats and leaving again less than 48 hours after arriving home. Needless, to say there wasn't much time for blogging. The boys were thrilled though. This was the scene in Mark's room a couple of hours after he arrived home.

But thankfully he is indeed home for the next month or so until his first full patrol after he relieves and takes over his new job. We are looking forward to spending some time together as a family and as a couple.

I'll be posting several times this week about our Valentine's Day plans. We aren't going out this year because we don't have reservations or a sitter. I wasn't expecting Tim home so I didn't make any plans. And since the holiday falls on a Saturday this year that means we can eat dinner at 3:30 or 10:00 without reservations. (Or go somewhere and wait 3 hours!) No thanks! But more about that later. Today you can read all about our love story at Today's Housewife.

Zoo Membership...

One of our favorite outings is going to the Jacksonville Zoo. We haven't been since November so when I saw that the weather was going to be in the 70's yesterday I made some sandwiches and we headed out. (Sorry to all our friends and family stuck inside with ice and snow!)

Every place we have lived we have purchased a membership to at least one museum, aquarium or zoo. It's a great way to stretch your money and still get out of the house. Plus, you often receive a discount on extra tickets so that you can bring friends or out of town family with you and your kids. For me, a trip to the zoo or museum is worth the cost of a membership and definitely Works For Me. It more than pays for itself with the money I save by NOT going to Target to "get out of the house."

This particular zoo is a great size for kids - big enough without being overwhelming. Plus, with a membership you don't feel like you have to see everything every time you go. But one thing we ALWAYS do is ride the train. We also made sure that we petted the goats in Discovery Park and saw Larry Lion. (Mark's been learning about the letter L at school this week.) Here are some shots of our day!

Our visit began and ended with a train ride.

Mom and Luke on the train

Climbing on the elephant statue

Sliding in the kid's play area

"Making Lukie laugh," as Mark calls it.

Texas Happenings...

On Saturday we went to Northpark Mall to see the train exhibit. Even Luke was impressed with all the trains. Uncle Mark and Meghan came with us and we had a great time. Uncle Mark made us Duck Parmesan for dinner. It was our first time to have duck, but I'm sure it won't be our last.

While we were at the mall we returned Papaw's broken christmas present for a popcorn popper that worked. And boy, was it good! I think we know what Daddy might get for his birthday...

We spent Sunday evening with Tim's parents, brother and grandmother. The boys love playing with Uncle Blake and banging on (umm...I meaning playing) the piano.

He's almost more cute than he is rotten...almost!

Today we went to the Wiggly Play Center with Marcy and Lincoln. Luke didn't come because he's had a runny nose we decided not to infect North Texas children with a Georgian cold. But Mark and Lincoln had a grand time. They jumped, slid, drove a big red car, danced with Henry the Octopus and rode the merry-go-round at the end of our visit.

Apparently, it isn't necessary to have your own horse to ride on the merry-go-round around here...

My New Years Gift...

Have you ever spent 15 hours in a car, airport and plane with my children? I have. I don't recommend it. Ever. Let's just say New Year's Eve 2008 can be cataloged with all our other stellar flying adventures...

It all started with a simple ride to the airport. Our friend Jerry (who now deserves a very nice gift, along with his wonderful wife, Laura) was going to take us so that I didn't have to park in long-term parking and ride the shuttle with our bag and the stroller and the kids. An 18-wheeler on the interstate interfered with our plans in a huge way. The 30 minute drive to the Jacksonville airport took 90 minutes and the day went downhill from there. We missed being able to check our bags and get on our 2:15 flight by 10 minutes. So, they booked us on the next flight out at 6:10. We spent the afternoon playing on the airport floor. We watched Thomas, ran around, ate a little dinner and prepared to board our flight. We were halfway through boarding when it stopped and they had everyone deplane. Our flight was cancelled and they had us exit security to rebook. We called Laura to come get us so that we didn't have to spend the night on the airport floor. Then, the flight was back on - at midnight. So, we called Laura again to cancel our ride and went back through security and spent the evening riding the moving sidewalks. We finally took off about 12:30 am New Year's morning.

As exhausted as I felt, I wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane and throwing a bit of a pity party. Both boys were asleep and I was listening to music. New Year's Eve has always been a special holiday for Tim and I. Our first date was 7 years ago on New Year's Eve. We've celebrated in Vegas, at parties with friends, and at home with other couples. Each year has always been a special time for us together. I was feeling particularly sorry for myself with Tim at sea and the long day I'd had in the airport when Luke started waking up. He couldn't seem to get comfortable in his seat to sleep. I unlatched his seatbelt and held him close to me and he immediately fell back asleep. As I sat on that airplane I thought about what an amazing gift God had given me this New Year's Eve. As I sat with my youngest on my lap and my eldest leaned against my arm I could not have been more moved than I was in those moments. I might not have been with my husband the moment the new year arrived, but I was blessed to be with my kids. If we hadn't missed our flight they would have been in their beds and I would have been alone. Instead, God reminded me of all my incredible blessings by allowing me to hold my precious children when I needed my family most.

I don't know how many more times Luke will even sleep in my lap. And I don't know when Mark will sleep with my arm around him again but I know that I will never forget New Year's Eve 2008. It wasn't the night I'd had planned. It was so much more.

Our DVD player and new Thomas movie were highly entertaining...

Good thing the airport wasn't crowded...

This is early in the day...when I thought we'd only be there 4 hours, not 10...

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours felt especially precious as Tim left this morning for a patrol. He'll be gone about 7 weeks, then home for 3 and gone again for 9 more weeks. We were so blessed to have this time together just the four of us before he left.

We went to Christmas Eve service as a family. Tim had Mark and I had Luke. If you were to think I got the better deal, you'd be wrong! Mark was so good. He sat in the entire service and listened and sang the carols. He was quiet and (mostly) still. Luke, on the other hand, spent the entire service in the lobby. He was so disagreeable and loud. We then went to a neighbor's house for a time of meeting our new neighbors and visiting. There were quite a few kids and the boys enjoyed playing with all kinds of new toys. The boys then opened one present each, put out milk and cookies for Santa and went to bed.

The boys "on the go!"

Christmas morning started early, but Mark didn't remember it was Christmas so he happily played in his room until 7:15 when we all got up. The boys got their presents from Santa and we enjoyed a yummy breakfast. We had Texas grapefruit, (Thanks Mimi and Papaw!) Chile Cheese Bites, Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls and Eggnog Lattes.

Luke enjoying his cinnamon rolls!

Mark was nearly too excited to eat.

It took us 3 hours to open presents because the boys wanted to stop and play with all their new toys. But that's okay because we didn't have anything else to do Christmas morning. We watched our new Thomas DVDs and spent all morning in our pajamas. So fun!

Luke loves Thomas as much as Mark.

After a yummy Christmas Dinner, we all napped and had a leisurely afternoon. We played outside for a while, in the dirt of course. I think Santa should have brought a sandbox for the boys. All they want to do is dig in the sandy dirt!

Reading one of our new books

Our makeshift sandbox requires us to take off our clothes before we go inside.
Good thing our neighbors can't see!

After baths and dinner we ventured out of the house to look at Christmas lights. It was the perfect end to a wonderful Christmas. As blessed as we feel for having the gift of family time together, nothing compares to the gift we have in Christ. The Incarnation is the most miraculous and wonderful of all gifts. Nothing else can compare. It is our prayer that you know the gift of Christ this blessed Christmas season!

Merry Christmas!