The Lake

Lauren took her very first swim in the lake last weekend. We went up to visit my brother and his wife's new lake house. Their house is on lake Lanier and is on the Gainesville side. It is a cute place. They have 4 bedrooms, a family room with a fireplace and a very large master suite downstairs. I think Lala may fall in love with their whirlpool tub! Not too much to tell. There's a house and a lake. I'm sure more will develop as they decorate and get it set up just the way they want it. We spent most of the day down at the dock fishing and swimming. Well, Lala and uncle did all of the swimming.

Was it just a dream?

I dreamed of life the way it used to be last night. My family was together having fun, laughing and i even believe a little bit of singing. Aunt Leslie was there loving and hugging everyone. Uncle John was cheering for the Gators. My mind is starting to play tricks on me. Just when I think I am through thinking of it, I come right back into the middle of it.

We went to my brother's new lake house this past weekend and it is so nice. A very steep walk to the lake, but a nice place to be as a family. Lauren had the best time swimming with Uncle David in the lake. David, Dad, and Blake all went fishing and caught some fish. They promptly returned them to the lake as we were not prepared to cook anything up at the new house.

Uncle David got his puppies (big dogs Anna and Jackson) in the lake and was teaching them to swim. A funny sight to see! We wrapped our long afternoon up around 6:30 and headed up to the house for some sandwiches and drinks. I think it hit me then that Aunt Leslie would not be there to join with us ever in celebrating and enjoying this new house or any of our or her accomplishments. It's not a sadness that is overwhelming any more, it's a sadness of missing her and who she was.

I think the sadness is still so overwhelming because we still don't know how Rachel is handling it all. She's been busy taking care of so many details and planning and repairing things that she hasn't really let it all sink in. I am praying for her, Ken and Donya and I know God is taking care of them.

Now I wait for my heart to heal and the joy to return. I know life will go on and that we will carry Aunt Leslie and Uncle John in our hearts forever. I am just so sad still and I really miss her.

Beautiful and Sunny

It is amazingly beautiful outside today. The sun is out, it's hot, but not quite a million degrees. I'm thinking that today is a day for sidewalk chalk. Time to let Lala out of this house to get out some creativity and energy. She's seen more movies than I care to admit and so she needs to get back to the outdoors and playing. The yard is a bit high, but will be remedied when her daddy gets home from work.

Summer is coming to a close too quickly and I desperately want to work on spending good quality time with Lala. So, for a few days, my posts may be shorter or not at all, but no worries because I'm having a great time with my girl and we'll be back.

My Heart is Torn

In Loving Memory
Leslie Stallings Currie
(September 25, 1949 - July 5, 2007)

Casting Crowns - Praise you in this Storm
Chorus: And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

This song seems to sum up the struggle and heart break my family and I have been dealing with. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who doesn't know God to deal with loss in the way we have. I am so emotionally empty that I don't know what to do. I think that I should be angry or sad or something, but I just can't seem to find any type of emotion, and that scares me. I cry at the drop of a hat, a picture, a familiar smell. And more.

I cry after talking to my family. I know that my Aunt Leslie would want me to be sad and deal with my pain, but I also know that she would tell me to go on and live my life with joy and happiness. She had a love for the Lord that was so apparent to everyone who met her. She made you feel like the only person in the room when she talked and/or looked at you. She made it a point to tell me she loved me everytime she saw me or left me. She went out of her way to make me (and all of my family) feel so loved. She had this amazing love for my cousin Rachel. I captured it once in a photograph. They are so beautiful and I still can't imagine that I won't see her again. I guess I just don't want to believe it.

I miss her. I miss her voice and silly faces. I miss the way she opened her eyes so that they could be seen in a photograph. I miss her nicknames and the way she loved Lala. Dollbaby. How wonderful was she? She was truly a great woman. I love her. I miss her. But I will make sure others know her and about her, especially Lala. I have so many great stories. I have the best family on earth and I know that once we get through this, we'll be ok. We will let Aunt Leslie live on. Our little ones will know all about her and we will make sure Rachel is lifted up and loved as much as possible. For we have much love to give and many wonderful memories to help us get through.

So, Aunt Leslie and Uncle John, rest in peace. We love you. We miss you. We will forever carry a piece of you in our hearts.

A fun dress

For Lala's 3rd birthday, her Uncle JD, Aunt Laurie and buddy C sent some gifts. One of them was a really cute purple patterened dress from Old Navy. I took her outside to get some pics of her in it for them. I thought they turned out cute. What do you think? I worry that I'm already going to have a handful when she's a teenager!

Ahh..having fun

I hear the subtle whisper of bubbles calling. Lala is dying to try out the new bubble wand I bought her for a whopping dollar yesterday. Let's see how well it holds up to a 3yr old. I'll post some photos later. Should be interesting!

I dream of icecream

OK, OK. I stayed up way too late last night (4:30 am). Hmmm, let me rephrase that, I stayed up way too early this morning. Nope. Still doesn't sound right. Either way, I was up. Finally I went to sleep only to get up and help Lala get a breakfast snack and milk in my semi-coma state and then fall flat on my face to return to sleeping. My kid is awesome. She has a way of knowing when Mommy just needs an extra hour to get a little bit of rest so I can be a good mommy. She makes me want to have more kids. Then she has a tantrum or whines like no one's business and I rethink the whole want for more kids.

So here's how our day went. Our friends, Cole and Dani, decided we all needed to do something today. Cole is a teacher and is off during the summer. Dani took the day off of work. Have I mentioned that I work from home? That I am self employed? No? Well, I do. Some days I'm over my head with stuff to do and then there are the other days when I am twiddling my thumbs and playing sidewalk chalk with Lala. Any who, we all met up for lunch at Chickfia so the kids could beat each other, oops, I mean play while we ate and talked about this and that. Finally after the beatings were over we headed out to finish some other non-necessary errands. Ah, but alas we found the Brewster's and got us all a cone. The kids were hillarious, especially Rotten who is only 18 months. He proceeded to hold his ice cream cone in all kinds of directions before finally losing it to the sidewalk. When the ice cream fell off he looked at it for a long time. The expression on his face was one of "well, don't just lay there, get back on this cone and also a little bit of how the hell did that happen?". Priceless. He's a cutie. After the kids had covered their clothes with the yummy treat we decided it was time to head home.

And that's about it until the hubby came home. Not too exciting today. Tomorrow doesn't look so promising either. I am excited about Friday though. It's our 5 year anniversary. Now to find something nice for him. Any suggestions?

Summer Fun

Well, here we go again. Lala and I have been busy. So far our summer has been filled with free movies, trips to the pool, a visit to Turner Field to watch the Braves, a trip to south Georgia to visit Nana, visiting the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. It's been a busy few weeks, but filled with lots of fun. I'm not sure that I can keep up this pace, but i'll try.

One of our most recent visits was from Laurie, JD and C. Usually we try to meet up at the beach so we can all relax, but this year each family has a bit more than the usual going on. The myers are having M2 and we are trying to get our house re-roofed and painted. Yeah, the baby thing is better, but the our project is supposed to be less stressful! I also have Blake (my husband) working on landscaping, which is not getting far due to the drought. Thankfully it rained today, so perhaps we can get a bit more done this weekend.

So, on the summer goes. I'll let you know about our adventures. Lala and I are hoping to start more crafts. I will most definitely update the site with the finished product and any instructions (if necessary) on how to make one yourself if you'd like. For now, I'll leave you with a photo of Lala enjoying icecream at Brewsters.