14 Years Ago Today

It was 14 years ago today that I began what is the second greatest journey of my life. Second only to my relationship with Christ is my relationship with my husband. Tom and I were married on July 9, 1994. Looking back at these pictures we laugh about how young we look and how we have grown over the years.



Who would have guessed the journey we have started and the one that is still waiting for us. We have had many opportunities to laugh and to cry but through it all the Lord has bonded us together and given us an awesome family.

Looking back at these kids, we had no idea what was ahead, only eyes for each other and the idea that we could conquer the world.


Who knew that our family would grow....




and grow.....



and grow.....



And that ladies and gentlemen is the final Phillips' family picture...three boys and no more!

Happy Anniversary, Tom! Thank you for loving me through all my faults and shortcomings and for making me a better and complete person. I can't wait to see what the next 14 years have in store for us! I love you!

Chore Time!

This summer one of our goals has been to get the boys into a routine of doing certain chores each week. To help them with this I found a cute site to help me create and personalize their own chore chart to hang on the fridge and keep up with their chores through out the week. I found it at www.dltk-cards.com/chart/ . Well, today was our first day and they really enjoyed checking off their chores and I really enjoyed their help cleaning up the kitchen after dinner! I know the novelty will wear off eventually but for now life is good!

Family Vacation

Each summer I make a list of things around the house I would like to accomplish before the summer is out. The usual, cleaning out closets, organizing drawers, etc... The month of June was dedicated to checking off my list. I told my sister that I would be blogging my brain out this summer and that is the one thing on my list that I have failed to do. With our vacation last week I am now working on keeping my promise.

Each summer we head out with my husband's family to a destination for a week and plan on just chillin'. At least as much as we can with the three boys. Our destination this year was Panama City, Florida. So with everyone in tow we headed out to the cabin we rented right off of Tyndall Air Force Base. With my father-in-law being retired military we get a great rate at the many military vacation spots all over the country.
We got settled in our cabin and stepped out onto the beach just in time for the thunder and lightening to start. Which was just fine with Jackson because he was not enjoying the sand or the surf!



So for the first day it was movies and the mall. Just what the boys had hoped for. The rest of the week however was perfect vacation weather.

We first hit the water park, Shipwreck Island. I am sad to say that the camera was left behind that day but I can assure you we had a fun-filled day in the sun. We even survived Trent losing his tube on the Ragin' River Rapids and vowing never to go on that ride again! We did enjoy the family water slide and Jackson even overcame his uncertainty of the water and loved stomping around and making eyes at the ladies!


The rest of the week we enjoyed the beach and the pool. But we mostly enjoyed not having anywhere to be or anything to do. It was exactly what a vacation should be about.





I do always enjoy being on a military base and seeing the life these men and women and their families lead. We enjoyed free bowling, swimming, hot dogs and hamburgers on the Fourth of July. It was great and it was neat to laugh with some of men and women of the Air Force and their families at the bowling alley that day. There were some wives there that were with only their children and you had to wonder if their husbands were overseas. It makes their sacrifice seem so real and opens my heart to the service that they provide so that we can enjoy a weekend like we had.



Finally we enjoyed a great fireworks show at Mexico Beach. It is a quaint little town with a wonderful beach and a family atmosphere. We sat right under the fireworks and actually were hit by a couple pieces of ash! Awesome!!


I say "we" enjoyed it but I really mean everyone but Jackson. He didn't make it through the families shooting off their own fireworks before the big show. So we settled down and slept through the whole thing! Oh the life!!





Well, the fourth always reminds me that the summer is halfway over and another school year is on its way. But, as Scarlett said, "I'll think about that tomorrow!"

Just plain cute!

Nothing really to blog...just thought these were adorable pictures of Jackson. Since he wasn't really in the previous blog just wanted to include him!

I'm Back! (Month in Review)

OK, I know it has been about a month since my last post. It has been very busy and I have just let it go. So I am going to squeeze a month of Phillips' happenings into one blog.

First of all, one of my favorite things has to be our "grown up" table. Tom and I have had the same table since we first got married and it's country style just has gotten to be a little...well...1994-ish. It does have sentimental value with Trent's name indented on it. So with an unexpected stipend from my elementary drama we were able to get the table of my dreams. So with a flourish it's goodbye to the past...
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and hello to the table we will be passing onto our children one day.
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Don't worry our old table is still in the family. Tom's dad took it with him to Knoxville, so we will be seeing it again!

Next came Brayden's birthday. My sweet Brayden turned 5 years old! Five has always seemed so old to me. He is getting so big so quickly but is very much like me when he says that he doesn't want to grow up. That's perfectly fine, baby, you can stay with mama forever!! When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, Brayden's answer was simple - Zoinks, McDonalds, and Dairy Queen! A boy after my own heart! So we invited 2 friends (yes, they are both girls but what the heck! And when asked about it Brayden's response was a quick "I don't cay-r!") We spent an evening at Zoinks! A fun, filled bouncy place that is exactly up Brayden's alley!





After that it was off to McDonald's for nuggets and fries!



Then we topped the evening off at Dairy Queen with Slushies and Dilly Bars!


What a night to remember!

Two weeks later of course it was Trent's birthday number 8! Again, is it possible that 8 years ago this tiny little guy is the same one that fills up my entire lap today?


He is still the sweetest, tender hearted little guy I know! Trent also chose two friends to celebrate with. Since they were both boys they were able to come and spend the night. The boys spent the night playing video games and watching movies.

Again the chosen places of celebration -- McDonalds and Dairy Queen. We should really enjoy these days before they hear about Outback and Olive Garden!! Since all of the boys had early baseball games it was a short party but they made the most of it staying up until 2am!

Grandpa and Aunt Caroline came down this weekend to celebrate both boys birthdays! We surprised them both by giving them a Wii.


They were thrilled and we spent most of the weekend figuring out the games and Tom and I realized how many muscles we hadn't used in many, many years!! I know my sister is right now saying to herself that she wishes I would go ahead and hook it up to the internet...slow down sister...I'm blogging aren't I?

We also just finished up our baseball season. Both boys had their last games Saturday and Brayden had his end of the season party tonight. They both had a great season and we could definitely tell how much they learned by the end of the season. We had two great coaches and look forward to next year(but more so we look forward to sleeping in on Saturdays!!




Now we are pressing on to the end of another school year. I can't believe that Trent will be moving on to third grade and Brayden will be in kindergarten. Time is moving so fast! But for now I am blogged up and looking forward to the summer. I plan to enjoy every minute of it!!

Tag I'm It!

Okay, I have been notified that I have been "blogger tagged" by my lovely sister Tammy. I had no idea what that meant and never knew that such a game existed. I have never been one to run away from a challenge (except when my life might be in danger!) but since this seems harmless enough I have gotten all the rules and I am ready to go.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
*teaching 4th grade (still!)
*coaching cheerleading (I have since retired)
*thinking about having children
*sleeping in on the weekends as long as I wanted
*going to movies and out to eat whenever we felt like it

5 things on my to-do-list tomorrow:
*go to church
*finish my laundry
*get my housecleaning under control
*Uh...it's Sunday, I don't want to do too much!!

5 snacks I enjoy:
*Twizzler Bites (never travel without them)
*Oreos
*Grapes
*Graham Crackers
*Twix

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
*pay off everything I owe!!
*pay for my children's education
*buy a vacation home in the mountains
*buy a vacation home at the beach
*help out anyone I felt had a need

5 bad habits:
*cracking my knuckles (thanks, mom!)
*not eating healthy
*not exercising
*procrastinating
*not studying the Bible

5 places I've lived before:
*Mobile, Alabama (born there)
*Birmingham, Alabama (age 6-12)
*Decatur, Alabama (age 12-15)
*Baton Rouge, Louisiana (age 15-21)
*Chattanooga, Tennessee (college)

5 jobs I've had:
*worked in a daycare (this got me through high school summers)
*worked at a jewelry store (college summers and breaks)
*cheerleading coach (10 years and coach of the year 2006!)
*preschool teacher (found out it wasn't quite my calling!)
*best one ever -- MOM!

Okay, I think that fulfills my obligation for Blogger Tag. I have been told to tag another friend who blogs. The only one I have who blogs is my friend Cynthia Cullen. So if she reads this, lets go Cyn!!

Play Ball

Well,it's a new season for the Phillips family. The days of sleeping in on Saturday mornings are gone and the smell of the ol' baseball field takes its place. Trent is starting his coach pitch baseball season and Brayden is enjoying the trial and error game of T-ball. Trent is on the Reds and Brayden loves being a Blue Jay.
They both have really been enjoying the game...or maybe it's the snack afterward. That seems to bring on a faster run to the benches than the run to first base! It's a lot of fun to watch Brayden figure things out - like the fact that you actually have to have the ball to get someone out at the plate! Trent is starting to actually understand what needs to be done and where to throw the ball at the right time. He really enjoys second base and is quite the hitter. Jackson on the other hand enjoys roaming the sidelines and finding nice holes to sit in.
All in all, I'd say that it's been a great trade off for our Saturday mornings. It's a good thing because it looks like it will be this way for a very long time!!