IJS

Okay, I just have this to say, and I'll get it over with! I know abortion is not big in the media right now, but if I hear one more person say that women have the "right to choose" I'm going to lose it!! I mean, yes, in theory that statement: Women have the right to choose; is true. Yes, I do have the right to choose NOT TO HAVE SEX, or to at least not have unprotected sex.

That, my friends, is when babies are made.

It's not like God "strikes" innocent victims pregnant...Well, not anymore anyway(remember a little couple named Mary and Joseph). So, in my humble, but ever so matter-of-fact opinion, that is where we, women, have a decision to make. You don't want a baby? Don't have unprotected sex. Or, better yet, don't have sex at all, whatever you gotta do.

If you are reading this, and you are pro-abortion, I suppose that is your own business, but please, please stop playing the "right to choose" card.

You had

the right to choose

whether or not you wanted to have sex. Once you

practiced that right,

whatever results from there should not be a surprise.

So, basically, enough already. Same thing goes for dads...don't have sex if you don't expect results from it. Use protection, and use it perfectly every time (and even if you do it perfectly, there is still a chance a baby might result).

Women, just stop acting like you are an innocent victim that just magically becomes pregnant.

I personally find it insulting that people think that women are incapable of preventing pregnancy. Irresponsible? Yes. Conniving? Yes. Incapable? No.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure (or abortion).

And that's all I'm saying.

Father's Day

There are a lot of things that come to mind when someone thinks of attributes a good father must have:

He must be a lover of children!

Mikey and Charlie April 2010

He must find joy in them.
Mikey and Charlie September 2010


When his children smile, so does he
Mikey and Sam September 2007

He must be a little goofy

Mikey February 2010

Willing to try things at the urging of his children Mikey April 2010


He must be a child at heart

Mikey and Sam January 2008

He must be an adventurer

Mikey and Sam June 2009


and an entertainer

Mikey and Charlie October 2010

He must also be a historian, marking his family's territory.

Mikey March 2010

He must be strong and steady

Mikey and Charlie April 2010

He must lend a helping hand

Mikey and Sam June 2009

He should be involved on every level

Sam, Mikey, and Huett November 2009

It is very important that he keep a child-like heart

Mikey September 2009

And that he always remain a willing participant for the sake of his children

Mikey October 2009

Even when he may have to sacrifice himself

Mikey June 2009

He must be villain, or superhero. Whatever the story calls for

Mikey July 2009


He must be a dedicated uncle to his childrens' cousins

Archer and Mikey June 2009

Loving his nieces and nephews as if they were his own

Mikey and Archer September 2009

No matter how many children abound

Mikey and Ava Claire March 2010

He loves each and every one,

Like. His. Own.

Mikey and Taiden April 2010

He must be a chauffeur

Huett, Sam, and Mikey February 2008

To kids, baby, paci, toys, sippie cups, or grandmothers
Whatever the need.

Mikey June 2009

He must be a coach

Huett and Sam May 2009

He must be a proud father

Mikey and Huett November 2005

He must inspire confidence, while providing protection

Mikey and Sam March 2010

He must be a good example of how his sons should behave
On and off the field.

Huett, Sam, and Mikey June 2009

He must find pleasure in the little things

Mikey and Sam September 2007


He must help his children when help is needed

Mikey and Huett April 2010


He can instill bravery in a timid son

Mikey and Huett January 2010


He must teach sportsmanship and competitive spirit

Mikey June 2010

He must remember how to have a good time amidst the stresses of being a parent

Mikey and Tiffany October 2009

Most importantly,

He must

Love. Their. Mother.

Mikey and Tiffany October 2009

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father

Sam, Mikey, Charlie, and Huett February 2010

Happy Father's Day Mikey!

Thank You for giving me three amazing, perfect sons!

Thank you for being the dad I always knew you would be!

No doubt, it is one of the major reasons I married you, and seeing you with them everyday makes me love you even more!

...In the words of Brad Paisley, "And I thought I loved you then".

Tannehill 2010

So, a few weeks ago, we took the boys camping at Tannehill with my family. It was our first trip of the year, and it was a lot of fun!!

The big boys did wonderfully, and Charlie did great, too.

It was such a success, in fact, that these next two pictures are of the boys on our way home before we could even get out of the park.

Sam, as usual, was out first.

Charlie and Huett were soon to follow. That's the top of Huett's head leaned up against Charlie's! Talk about a pain in the neck. Funny how those painful-looking sleeping positions don't seem to bother them at all, and when they wake up, they are no worse for the wear.

There was a lot of mischief on this trip, and nothing captures that like this picture. He comes by it honest, considering I was voted "Most Mischievous" in my nursing school class**
**Why college graduate/adults were voting on a "who's who", I'll never understand. Other things I'll never understand: How I was voted "Most Mischievous" in the first place.
Whatever, Bevill State, Class of '04




There was a lot of playing in the creeks and streams, and in this picture, Ava Claire is ducking under one of the wooden bridges.





Cold little pigs!

Chad's family unit came to visit with us on Saturday, and Teagan had as much fun playing in the water as anybody! Taiden and Jenny were there, too, they just didn't venture out to the water!

Tannehill also has a pretty cool playground that we rode to a few times, and it was a lot of fun for the kids.

There is just something I love about walking through a stream. It takes me back to when I used to spend all day in the woods with my friend Amy, at her grandpa's land. We would literally stay gone all day. Walking through streams, riding four wheelers, playing in his barn, coming home completely covered in good, clean mud! Fun Fun!! When I was really little, I'd go with Trisha and Chad to a creek out by our old house. Chad would catch crawdads (sp?) and we would put them in our neighbors birdbath and let them fight each other to the death. Morbid? Maybe a little.

I can just imagine what our kids would get into if we were able to let them go and venture out alone like we did. Isn't it a shame that they probably won't ever know that kind of freedom because as parents, we just can't let them go like that anymore. Innocence lost, I guess.

I don't think I mentioned it on here, but I've been trying to figure out how to maximize the use of my expensive camera. I think this picture just goes to show that I'm getting better at it.

This looks professional, doesn't it?

Well, at least I think so.
Archer had a great time on our trip, too. He is just getting so big, so fast!

Charlie hung out in his stroller most of the time while the bigger kids were playing at the playground. He was just happy to be outside. The kid loves to be outside!

I can't put my finger on it, but I love this picture of Sam. He is so handsome!

It's his big brown eyes. I've got a thing for brown-eyed boys/men...and one little blue-eyed boy, too!

This is a great picture, too. He is changing so much lately. He has been eating a lot more lately, and seems to be growing like a weed. I guess it's a growth spurt! He's almost five ya'll! I can't believe it!!

In other news, Charlie has finally learned to crawl, and he keeps one leg up, and he just kind of scoots himself around the room. It's really cute. I bought him some leg warmers from Target, which have gotten mixed reviews from my family, but they really do keep the leg that he scoots around on from getting rubbed raw. It's pretty stinking cute, too.

He will be getting tubes put in sometime in July. He'll be getting them when he's ten months old, just like his biggest brother did, and for me (and Charlie) they can't come soon enough. The child's ears have been riddled with ear infection after ear infection for the past several months. Along with those ear infections comes oral antibiotics, which bring the pleasure of...and I'll just say it...diarrhea, and it is accompanied by raging diaper rash, which is sometimes worse than the ear infection in the first place! So, bring on the tubes!

In Sam news, he is still pretty basketball-centric, and Mikey and I are almost completely convinced that if we could find a 5 year old team (which is the youngest teams they have) to let him play, he would probably be schooling kids almost twice his age. He won't wear any shorts, unless they are basketball shorts. Like he refuses to wear his Old Navy and Gap cut off gym shorts that are like sweat-pants material. He looks at me like I am ridiculous and says, "Those are not basketball shorts" It's pretty funny! He is so much like Mikey, who will also only wear basketball shorts, unless it is a special occasion, and I specifically tell him to wear a shirt with actual sleeves, and shorts with an actual button!!

In even more other news, we still don't know anything about the house we are trying to get, so I guess no news is good news, in a sense. As far as I know, we still have the highest offer, so...we'll see.

Our house should go on the market this week. Chad is over there polishing off a few little touch-ups today, so once that's done, we should be in business!

I think that just about covers it. I know it's been a while since I've posted. Mikey has finals this week, so I've been helping him, and proof-reading his projects, etc. And that keeps us pretty busy! He starts his ninth and tenth classes tomorrow. Time does fly!

Intermediate Algebra starts Monday, so pray for him on that, because that is one step further than I ever had to go in college, and I'm no math whiz!

All right, that about sums it up!!

Hope to post again soon with some updated news about something...anything house related!!

PS While Perry Eye and Vision did waive the $120 fee they charged me for, I am still without any glasses or contacts. I went last week, waited 45 minutes just to pick up my glasses, which were already two weeks late, and they weren't right. So, that was on a Tuesday, she said she was going to send them back overnight for a quick adjustment, and she would call me on Thursday(b/c remember, they are closed on Wednesday). Well, it's Tuesday of the next week, and I haven't heard a word from them. I would be interested to see how long it will actually take them to contact me. I guess I'll call them day after tomorrow, when I am off work again! And still, absolutely no word on my contacts, at all! The office manager was incredibly nice and understanding, so at least that was a plus. I'll keep you posted!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

So, as I wrote in a previous post, our house is soon to be on the market. We've had a few people ask to come look at it, so I thought I'd play real estate agent for a day and post pictures of it on my blog (complete with detailed *and maybe a little biased* descriptions)

This is the front of our house. Yes, it's dark and not a great picture, but it gives you a good idea of what it looks like.

This is the front porch, which is about to be recovered with indoor/outdoor carpet.

This is our foyer. On the left, just out of the picture is a closet, perfect for shoes and coats.


This is our nice, roomy playroom, or formal living room.

This is the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Directly to the right is the entrance to the dining room.

Same hallway, different end.

This is one of the bedrooms

I took a picture of each of the rooms from two different spots. This bedroom has a brand new fan in it!

Charlie's room, which also has a new fan.

Both of these bedrooms have normal sized closets complete with shelving and hanging racks.

This is the front bathroom. It was just completely remodeled two years ago.

It has a tub/shower and ceramic tile floors.

This is the master bedroom.

Our bed looks enormous, but I love it!
It has a normal sized closet in it as well.

This is the master closet. And, yes I know it's an absolute mess!
I have no good excuse for this except for the fact that straightening it out is probably the last thing on my list of things to do!

I felt I had to include it, however, because I love it and it was a major selling point for me!

This is the room that connects the master bath/closet/bedroom. I use it for a makeup room! This is the only area that is solely mine, so it's a little fluffed up! I needed some pink!

This is the master bathroom. It has new flooring, and a tub/shower combination as well.

I love the extra shelving in the corner. It comes in handy more than you'd think!

This is the formal dining room. It has new ceramic tile, and a new light fixture as well.

Yes, I know it's purple! I happen to like bright colors. I can't bring myself to paint it just to sell it. I figure the new owners can pick a color they love and paint it the way they like it! Anyone can paint, right?

This is our kitchen, which has been updated with all new appliances.

It also has newly laid ceramic tile.

This is our "downstairs" den. And by downstairs, I mean the two steps off of the kitchen that take you into this room. There is also a door in this room that takes you into the backyard.

This room also has new lighting in it.

The big stone fireplace is equipped with gas logs. I love nothing more than lighting them( and by lighting them, I mean turning the knob) on a cold winter morning and snuggling with my boys!

Also off of this room, the laundry room/pantry. My dad made custom shelving in there. And, yes it is a mess, too. That's why it isn't pictured! Whose laundry room isn't a little messy, hah!

Off the dining room are giant glass sliding doors that take you out to the back porch.

This is the deck, which leads into the backyard.

This storage building sits along the fence in the backyard, and will remain with the house! It's where we store everything and has plenty of room for all of our stuff, and more!

.

The house is 2200 square feet on a little less than one acre of land. The yard is just big enough for kids or pets to have plenty of room to play, but not too big that you'll be tied up doing yardwork constantly.

We just put a new roof on about six months ago, the landscaping in the front yard (not pictured) was just done last summer. The hardwoods were refinished last summer. The bathroom and kitchen were both remodeled in the last few years.

We put a lot of work into updating this house! It's as solid today as it was when it was built. And apparently it is well insulated b/c our utility bills are always lower than our neighbors(yes, we've compared). Speaking of neighbors, you couldn't have any better than the ones that surround this house! They have all lived in their houses for 20+ years, and are like family.

I think we will be listing it somewhere in the low 100s.

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How did I do as salesman? If you all aren't chomping at the bit to buy this house then something is wrong with you!

.

I'm kidding, but this house really has been a labor of love for us, and I would love to see it go to someone who will take care of it and can enjoy it the way we have.

If you are interested, email me @ misstiff0201@hotmail.com

or call my cell phone: 529-8523.