The Bright Eyed Brunette

Happy Memorial Day! Today we are thankful for those that laid down their lives serving our country. Our family celebrated the holiday by having a fish fry with friends and family at my parents house/pool. It was a fun afternoon. We came home full and a little red. Needless to say, we all slept well :) Here are a few pictures of our day. Pop and Carl cooking fish...YUM!   Makena Faith, waiting patiently for it to be ready :)    Carlie snatched sweet baby Peyton   Then it was Makena's turn to rock her!   Carlie and Ellie Kate   Sun bathing sisters!   I didn't get this at first, but they were doing '16....duh!   So happy Carl was able to be with us all weekend!   Seriously, what is sweeter than a sleeping baby?!  She was an angel all day long!   Carlie, riding Dino Dave!   Let Summer Begin!! Much Love, Beth 

I didn't take any pictures at church on Sunday, but it was honestly one of the best services we've had! Our pastor did a special presentation on Memorial Day then preached a great sermon on sacrifice. We had one profession of faith! We are not a big church. In fact, we are pretty much the epitome of a small country church...not to be confused with low tech (although I do not see anything wrong with that either). Of course since it was a 5th Sunday, we had potluck (all the Baptists say, AMEN!). Carl, our pastor, and another church member grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was just a great atmosphere. Our afternoon consisted of swimming and then grilling at our house. I forgot to post this picture earlier, on Wednesday we went to the cemetary and put out flags   Carlie finally got in the pool again!   Makena Faith, aka my little mermaid!   Me and T riding the 4-wheeler before it started raining!   Much Love, Beth...

Praise the Lord for Carl having a holiday weekend off! He did have to go mow a yard that he couldn't do earlier because of the rain and he took Trey and went to mow at the church, but they were done by lunch...then we went swimming. It ended up being a beautiful day! Later that afternoon we went to DeWitt to see my Papaw. He has a "get together" every Memorial Day weekend.  I felt extremely guilty for not seeing him since Christmas, so we went and enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to see everyone. T loves to jump off of the diving board.   Makena Faith didn't want her picture taken...what's new!   Me with my Wildman!   Austin was nice and played ball with Trey and Noah   My dad sitting on the swing with Carlie and Makena   Sadie Lou, chilling on the back porch with me! Much Love, Beth 

Our first day of Summer Break wasn't exactly beautiful. It rained, the girls went to town with my mom and Ellie Kate while Noah stayed here and Eli stayed with my dad. They brought us some yummy pizza home for lunch and then it rained....BOO! We later decided to go bowling, which was fun. The kids had a blast. Thankfully Carl wasn't working late, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the evening. Trey and Noah, snacking   Pop, Elijah, and Makena   Carlie Erin on her phone!   T-Man bowled the whole time with no bumpers and did great!   Much Love, Beth 

It is really quite ironic that only moments after writing the "Back to Basics" post (in the school parking lot, mind you) that Carlie gets in the car and tells me about her day...and what a day it was. There were things that happened that day that should not happen at school...period. Somethings did involve her and things that happened to her with, you guessed it, the teachers son along with psycho Hannah and the Keyboarding teacher. Long story short, I was mad, Carl was even more mad (he called the Keyboarding teacher and the boys dad), and I made a call to the principal to schedule an early morning conference. During the conference I said my peace, and stated my demands (that Carlie not return to the classroom) and gave a little extra info that I thought he needed to know. I also made it official that we would not be returning. I feel completely at peace with our decision  (more so now than ever!). So the rest of the week wasn't exactly the "Back to Basics" ...

After the chaotic couple of months that we've had, I am more than ready to get back to the basics, so I took off for the rest of the school year! It sounds nuts, but it's only 4 and a half days :) To be honest I just need the time to myself. Time to pray and meditate. Today was the first day "alone" ( for a whole 5 hours...I had to make a quick Walmart run!). I think over all it was a pretty successful day. I tried to get my thoughts in order and get a little housework done also. After I pick the kids up we are getting snowcones and going to the pool! I am giddy at the thought of summer break being so close. Here's to an awesome week!   Nothing says basics like hanging your clothes on the line.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but for some reason this is sort of therapeutic for me!   And then there is our garden.  It is thriving and maybe we'll have some fresh veggies soon!   These flower always make me happy.  ...

Well, I guess today is the day that I post the post I have been putting off for over a month. It should be a fun post about Carlie's first formal event, Spring Celebration. It was a weekend that changed a lot for her and me.  You see, back in the fall she had a friend ask her to this event. She just assumed they were still going together even though he didn't mention it again. So mid February she asked him about it and he acted like he had forgotten about it, but said they would go together. Over a period of about 5 or 6 weeks, he seemed to tell everyone that he didn't want to go with her....everyone except her. His sister was even going around telling it.  When she confronted him about it, he said they were lying....whatever. I told her to tell him they were NOT going together. He hasn't spoken two words to her since, and to add insult to injury, her "best friend", Hannah posted pictures on Instagram about how she had such a great weekend with him! Now, no t...

I love these three and I am so blessed to be their mother.  The weather was beautiful so we got to spend some time in the pool with the cousins   My mom with her kids and grandkids.  I do love this woman!   Carlie, sun bathing again!   I got many goodies for Mother's Day.  My mom went way overboard (but I loved it!) with the gifts she got me, Carl and the kids got me goodies, and then Trey made me this sign that said "Munger". It is so thoughtful because he painted it red and he pretty much came up with the idea on his own. I love all that I got, but more that anything, I love that I got to spend an awesome weekend with my kiddos!   Much Love, Beth 

Mother's Day weekend was a pretty good weekend. I got to spend time with my mom, grandmother, and of course, my kids. I do believe I have the best mom ever. She is so unselfish and giving. She has taught me so much about being a mother. I remember when I brought Carlie home. I was scared to death and had NO idea what to do with her! My mom was always there to help. And it wasn't just with Carlie. She has always been there for anything I needed. She also buys me stuff! My grandmother has also been a great influence in my life. I've watched her serve others my whole life. She is a doer...it's just what she does! I love that my kids still have a great-grandmother that is so active in their life. I can't think of mothers without thinking of Carl's mom. She is a very strong anf talented woman. I am thankful that she raised such a loving and caring son (even if he does need to be re-taught daily to put the toilet lid back down ).  I wish that she lived closer so s...

This is going to be a pretty random post of mostly pictures. Enjoy! Carl finally got the boat running and in the river!    Pop and Trey   My three little nuggets before church.   Makena and Trey were wishing the pool was ready to swim in!   We had a little fishing adventure.   Carlie tried.....   We all tried.....Carl caught the first fish....and most of the rest of them.   Makena caught two. The rest of us caught ZERO!!    Another big one that Carl caught!   Me and my lover :)   Carlie got her hair CHOPED OFF!!   It is super cute, though.   More Jeep driving...and yes, I am in the back seat. SHH, don't tell Pop!   Much Love, Beth