Weekend in Hattiesburg, MS

We spent this past weekend in Hattiesburg visiting one of my best friends from college - Amanda & her family. I was thinking about what I was going to write about mine & Amanda's friendship, and went to look back to see what I wrote last time I visited her. I died laughing because it was the same exact thing I was going to write this time! So to sum up mine & Amanda's friendship, read here. Everything I wrote about her 2 years ago, is the same. She is one of my very favorite people in this world and I love looking back at our friendship over the last 15 & a half years. And of course we once again stayed up til 2 in the morning laughing about old memories and spent the weekend making new ones.

Amanda has 3 boys - Sellers (7), Gabe (almost 5) & Beck (2.5) 

We left Birmingham around 3 Friday afternoon & headed down to Hattiesburg.

Jake enjoying a cookie on the car ride down.

We got there around supper time & got to eat with them. After dinner, we gave the boys a bath (Sellers wasn't there Friday night because he was at a birthday spend the night party).

Jake, Beck & Gabe

The boys on the blow up mattress in Gabe's room

 After we got the boys down, we stayed up talking. We lost the guys around midnight, but Amanda & I stayed strong until after 2 AM. We just sat there at her kitchen table laughing, talking, reminiscing. I'm surprised we didn't wake the whole house.

Saturday morning!

Enjoying some breakfast

We went & got to see Sellers play in a basketball game. It seems crazy that 7 years ago, I was holding him in the hospital the day he was born. Sellers was the first baby any of my friends had, so he will always be extra special.

We got back to their house & just let the boys run loose. Jake was in hogs heaven. Not only did he have guys to play with, but they had about every toy imaginable.

Jake & Gabe in the bounce house

Just going for a ride

Until the battery died

Sweet Beck

Having fun on the swing set

 Mike & Amanda have a little zip line in their backyard. I knew that would get interesting if Jake attempted it. The back of their house sits on a golf course, so I felt like the golfers riding by got a good laugh.

Gabe zip lining

Let's just say arm strength is not one of Jake's strengths

There goes Beck

3 precious boys

Gabe & Sellers playing some basketball

Mike & Robbie went out for a bike ride while Amanda & I napped watched the kids. (We might be able to still stay up late like we used to do, but we pay for it a lot more the next day!)

That night, we went out to dinner & to a show to see a juggler.

We were all packed in their land cruiser. Jake, Gabe & Beck were in the 3rd row, Amanda, Sellers & myself were in the middle row & Mike & Robbie were up front.

At dinner

The show was an entertainer/juggler/comedian. (You can find out more about it here.) I wasn't sure how the boys would do, especially since the show didn't start until 7:30. But they did great! All of them sat still through the entire show. (Now the car ride home might have been a different story, but they were perfect during the show!)

The boys
(Parts of the show were in 3D)

 We all crashed Saturday night and then Sunday it was time for us to pack up & head back to Birmingham. It was such a wonderful weekend and I cannot thank Mike & Amanda enough for their wonderful hospitality.

And because I LOVE a flashback (in case you couldn't tell!!), here are Amanda & I through the years. 

Freshman Phi Mu pledges in 1997

Post college where we lived together in Birmingham 2002-2005

Amanda's wedding day

The day Sellers was born

 

My wedding day
(Amanda had just had Gabe 1 month before)



Mardi Gras 2008

This Week

#320

Jake got Bucky the ship & the Jake & the Neverland Pirates figures all for his birthday. He has had the best time playing with it. He was on the floor for an hour playing with it, making he figures talk. I love it when play can hold his attention for that long (and not just TV & computers!).

February 15

#317

I was trying to upload a video of Jake saying the months of the year (something we had no idea that he knew). Lately I've had the hardest time getting videos to upload into blogger. It uploads but never finishes. I finally just have to cancel out. :(

 

#318

Jake was having his first soccer practice on Monday, so Sunday after church we took him to get his soccer supplies. Once we got home, he wanted to put on his "new shoes" and kick the soccer ball.

February 17

#317

FIRST SOCCER PRACTICE!!

This is Jake's first attempt at an organized sport (or as organized as 4 year olds can be). He was so excited all day. He kept saying "I love my team!". (Even though we have never met anyone on his team yet.) Every hour he asked me was it time to go play soccer. It was finally time to get ready. I told him we would just put on his cleats on our way out. I turn my back & next thing I knew, he had gone out into the garage, gotten the cleats and put them on his feet. He was jut a little bit excited.

February 18

At soccer practice. There is 1 coach & about 8 kids. Other than the coach's kid, the rest of them looked like a colony of ants that had their ant bed stepped on. They were just running round crazy & confused. I'm afraid its going to be a long year for that coach. Technically the parents are supposed to be on the sidelines, but the kids were so confused & kept running off, that most parents ended up on the field with their kid. Robbie had met us there after work. I kept laughing because he was out there in a suit pants & a tie.

 

 So how did it go? Well, the first 30 minutes were good. Jake was excited, his coach is super nice. He really enjoyed the practicing, "drills" &  running. He did a good job of listening to the coach & he never tried to run off the field. I was pretty impressed. Of course, not for long though. The last 30 minutes, it got very windy & cold. I didn't have a jacket or long sleeve shirt for Jake. (Oops. Lesson learned. Just because it is warm when you leave your house that afternoon, doesn't mean it still will be at 5:30.) Jake really likes individual soccer play, but does not like the whole team having to share 1 ball. He would get upset if he had the ball &someone else kicked it. He doesn't quite understand that part of soccer. Towards the end, he kept running over to tell us he was ready to go home. But he said he had fun & wants to go back. He just doesn't say he loves his team anymore. Ha! Their first game is in March, so it should be very interesting!

 

No pictures Tuesday or Wednesday. From Jake's practice on Monday, I left to go to Chattanooga for an audit at work.

 #314

I got back from Chattanooga Thursday night. We FINALLY got to use our fireplace! I LOVE fireplaces. Our house in Chattanooga didn't have one, and poor Robbie had to listen to me complain about it all the time. Our new house has one, but last year was such a warm winter, we never got a chance to use it. Robbie is really hot natured, so he is not as huge of a fan. But we finally turned it on for the first time Thursday night. Because it had never been used, once we turned it on, it was a wee bit dusty & you could smell it. I was paranoid it was gas & we'd all die from carbon monoxide poisoning. So we had it on for 20 minutes & then turned it off. But it was beautiful those 20 minutes!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

In typical great mom fashion, the little Dollar Tree gifts I'd bought Jake for Valentine's Day, I accidentally left the bag out in my office Wednesday. Jake of course found it. He pulled out the puzzle & asked "is this for me?". I had to snatch it out of his hands & say maybe. Which of course made him cry.

At his school party

Tanner's mom made these cute mustache suckers for the boys and red lip suckers for the girls. We were trying to line the kids up & take their picture with their suckers in their mouths. Of course that was a failure! 

Best Buds

 Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

This Week

#326

On Saturday, we got up and went to Oak Mountain. Robbie went mountain biking & I went for a run. Now before you roll your eyes (because believe me, I roll my eyes at anyone who gets up at 7 in the morning to exercise) I had to be practically drug out of bed. I love to talk on Friday nights about doing all sorts of things early Saturday morning, but once Saturday rolls around, there is no way I'm getting out of bed that early. But I had promised Robbie that I would go, so I went (and only complained a little). I have to admit, it was a nice setting to run (usually I just run through our neighborhood). And actually, I don't run, it is more of a slow jog! There's water, there is a little beach, it was nice. I'm not going to lie, some of the buildings looked like they were out of a scary 1970's movie (got to love a state park!). But it was a nice way to kick off Saturday.

February 9

#325

We worked on projects all weekend. This is my newest project. Redoing this old trunk. This one is going to take a while.

(I had sprayed wallpaper remover inside, that's why it looks all wet)

February 10

#324

The Bush's are permanently moved in now for the next few months. They brought their cat Tiger with them. Jake is very excited about Tiger being here, he just didn't initially want to be near him. Tiger was still in his crate and Jake was begging us to put Tiger in his room. We did, but this was the closest Jake would get to him. Ha! (Tiger is in the navy box. Excuse the mess of a room!)

Jake likes having more people to "fight" with now

February 11

 #323

February 12

 #322

My parents sent Jake a Valentine's package in the mail. Jake was so excited to get it. My mom had put the goodies in a old hand mixer box. Jake ripped off the packaging paper & saw the hand mixer box. He started crying! He kept whining "but I don't want this". Ha! We finally actually opened the box & he saw that it wasn't a hand mixer. He was excited about his gifts. Especially his new flashlight (he is obsessed with flashlights). This one is a Cars flashlight. Before bed he was watching a movie in our bedroom. This is how we found him. Asleep with his flashlight on. 

February 13