Relay for Life

Relay for Life was last night at the Church of Covington and what a beautiful night for the event. This year the theme was T.V. shows and our church did College Gameday. We were all supposed to wear our favorite college team's apparel. Unfortunately, Emma Tucker's UGA cheerleading outfit was too little so she wore her Alabama cheerleading outfit. At least it made her Daddy happy. The boys enjoyed themselves by eating the entire time they were there. Emma Tucker loved the slides, bouncies and running around the track. This year the CP-3 (cancer prevention) study was here in Newton County so I decided to participate in it. This is the same study that determined cigarettes can cause cancer in the CP-1 study. It is only going to two relays this year so we decided it would a great opportunity to help find a cure for cancer. They took our blood last night and then they follow us by questionnaires for the next 25 years.

Scared to Death

Will screams the most blood thirty, frightening screams you have ever heard when you put him in his crib now. This just started and it is horrible now during nap and bedtimes. Last night, it was thundering and lightening very bad and Will kept saying, "Mommy, that scares me." Finally, we tried putting him in his crib a lot later than usual and he was letting out these terrifying screams. It got louder and louder until we realized the cries were a lot closer than they should be. He had jumped out of his crib and was about to be superman and fly down the staircase until Brandon grabbed him. He was still screaming at the top of his lungs at this point. I guess he was terrified of the lightening. However, today wasn't much better. He fell asleep in the high chair and I thought this might be easier to get him to sleep today. Unfortunately, he woke up and didn't won't to be in the crib again. The screaming stopped way too fast and I knew something must be wrong. He had jumped out again and this time was laying in the bottom of Brandon's closet. What am I going to do? I was really hoping to make it until the summer time before getting them some big boy beds. How come some people's children will stay in their cribs forever and mine have been crawling out for about 4 months.

Prayer

Yesterday, I had a horrible headache and went to bed when Brandon got home from work. My medicine wasn't kicking in fast enough and as I was laying in bed I was praying that my headache was ease or go away. When I woke up, Brandon had taken the children for a walk to get some icecream. When the children returned, Emma Tucker asked me if I felt better. I told her I sure did and then she told me she had prayed for me. How sweet! I found out she prayed for me twice actually.. once at dinner and once while she was on a stroll to the icecream shop. After she prayed on her stroll, she looked up at her daddy and said, "You can pray outside?" I found this to be so sweet and innocent as she is learning the "rules" of prayer. Now, she knows you can pray anywhere, not just inside.

Day Six- Home Sweet Home

trying on the t-shirts Aunt Sandra made for them

On the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again... that is the way I felt. Monday, we got up and started the last leg of our trip home. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and Grandmother bought the children some goodies to take home with them. During the drive, Emma Tucker got a hold of our hanging clothes and dressed her herself in mine and Brandon's clothes. We finally arrived at our house at 5:00 to some very happy boys. We were all so excited to see each other again. However, Emma Tucker had some adjusting to do since she had been the center of attention for six days!

Day Five- On the road again

Sunday morning we started our trip back home and once again, Emma Tucker did great. She was so worn out from the wedding that she slept most of the way. We stopped in LA and ate lunch at Landrys. We were stayed in Biloxi again on the way home. We decided to get off the interstate and drive down by the beach for part of the way. That night we stayed at the Imperial Palace and ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I wasn't a big fan of the Imperial Palace. It was too crowded and smoky for me. Boy am I getting old!

more pictures

Day Four- wedding

Saturday it was storming so bad that I stayed in the hotel and just relaxed. Thank goodness we were able to make Emma Tucker take a nap before the big night she was going to have. It stormed up almost until time for the wedding. Emma Tucker couldn't wait to put on her dress and she felt beautiful. She was so well behaved I hardly recognized her. She walked down the aisle like a big girl and she and I sat outside during the ceremony. She had done so good I didn't want to chance her misehaving during the wedding. She danced the night away at the reception too. She was so tired when got back to the hotel she started her own bath and got in without any help. I have so many pictures it will take me a while to get them all posted.

Day Three- Rehearsal

this picture is out of order... this is the rehearsal dinner site

at the rehearsal

patiently waiting for everyone to arrive

I'm exhausted

Friday, we spent the day in Katy hanging out and trying to figure out where the wedding and rehearsal dinner was going to be housed. Randy and Glenda had to go to the airport to pick up some family, so we went to look for flowers and to the mall for a brief period of time. We took Emma Tucker to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch and met Jamie, Stephanie and Braelynn there too. The rehearsal was at 3:00 so the rest of the day was spent doing wedding stuff. We got there on time, but Dustin got lost and was 30 minutes late. The weather was very nasty so it made it even harder to find things. After the rehearsal, Glenda and I went on to the Swinging Door to get ready for the dinner. We had all you can eat brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage at the dinner and it was served family style. The weather was so bad that the power went out a while during the rehearsal dinner. Luckily, we had put candles on the table earlier. My camera's flash isn't working so I don't have great pictures from the dinner. I'll post a few from the day anyway.

Day Two- On the Road again

this picture got out of place.. this is when we finally arrived in Katy

On the road again

our stop in LA

finally asleep

stopping in TX

one of the many oil refineries

picture of Houston

Thursday morning we left around 9:00 to start our ride to Texas. Emma Tucker did excellent on the ride yesterday. She played dolls, watched TV and sang songs. The worst part of the drive for Mommy was Louisiana. Why would any person want to live in this swampy state beats me? Most of you know that I despise bridges and that is all this state is... one big bridge. One bridge lasted for over 20 minutes. I just kept trying to come up with my survival game plan if this bridge went down. At one point I said, "I am about to die." Later on, Emma Tucker said, "Mommy, I am about to die too." Once we finally got off the bridge, we stopped for a potty break and Brandon got Emma Tucker some lunch. He came back to the car with a daiquiri for me for surviving the bridge. I needed it before we got on the bridge.. not afterwards. I've decided that whole state needs our prayers... all the drive-thru daiquiri bars and casinos. I felt like I was in culture shock. I've been to LA before, but I just forget how different it is than GA. I had great intentions of taking pictures as we entered every state to make Emma Tucker a scrapbook of her trip to Texas, but I didn't get any of those taken. However, we did stop at the Texas welcome center because I was determined to get some pictures for her to have later on in life. As luck would have it, she had finally fallen asleep for the first time that day. I decided I had no idea when she would be back to Texas so I woke her up to take some pictures. The Welcome Center was built on a swamp so they had walkways built out into it. Brandon loved it because he could see snakes eating fish, turtles, etc. I wasn't that impressed and went inside to get brochures for Emma Tucker's scrapbook. Unfortunately, we hit Houston right at rush hour and Emma Tucker had to go to the bathroom. We didn't have anywhere to stop so she had an accident. We finally arrived at our hotel in Katy at 6:36 on Thursday night. It took 14 hours to get here, but we made it. We are staying at the Springhill Suites in Katy, TX. Jacy's family had us over for dinner last night and Emma Tucker was so glad to be able to run around the yard that she didn't eat any dinner. We came back to the room and crashed. By the way, I really want a king size bed. We are getting spoiled sleeping in one in our hotel.