6 yeas ago today...

Allen and I were married! It was an amazing day...but it has been an unbelievable six years! One thing that I love about Allen, one of the reasons I fell in love with him, is that he loves me with an Ephesians 5:25 kind of love. He pushes me every day to grow ~ spiritually, in our marriage, as a mom, as a friend. Every day is different from the last and every year brings a new chapter....but we have a great love story and I love turning the page to see what is next! Happy Anniversary, Allen. I love being your wife and I am so thankful for you!

i can't help it

for those of you that know me, know that i absolutely detest bad (or is it poor?) grammar. i can't help it. and if you know me really well, i've probably corrected you (all in fun, of course...). in fact, i recently heard a teacher, an educator, say "we was." anyway.... i was perusing websites (don't worry, it wasn't yours!!!) this morning and catching up on some things i rarely get to read when i came across...

pet peeve #1 - the improper use of 'I' and 'Me' in a sentence.
for instance: here is a picture of my husband and ME (not my husband and I). rule of thumb: if you are writing it as a caption, a good rule to follow is to take out the other persons name and see if it makes sense. so mine above would read "here is a picture of me" rather than "here is a picture of I." make sense? yes it does.

pet peeve #2 is the improper use of the words 'to' and 'too'
for instance: we are in disney world and wish you were here too!rule of thumb: the best way i can explain this is with a sentence - it is too hot to go outside. (sorry, i know that's a pitiful example)

pet peeve #3: 'accept' and 'except' my mind goes to the Friends episode where Rachel is telling Ross that he must ACCEPT the fact that they are no longer together. However, Ross hears that they are no longer together "except that..." so he says "except that what?" and she rightly says "no Ross, you have to accept that." tough lesson for him and i feel like the above description was a rule of thumb in and of itself. if i could find the video on youtube, i would post it.

and last but certainly not least, pet peeve #4: its and it's AND your and you're (i didn't use any extra "...." marks there as it would be confusing...:)

i feel like these are tied together and misused in the same way.
for instance: avery, this is my toy, it's not yours. (it's = it is/it has)

for instance: You're going to get your morning coffee. Who doesn't remember the (again) Friends episode where Phoebe sets Ross up with her bald friend bonnie?? during that beach episode, Rachel pens a letter to Ross that is "18 pages - front and back." bottom line - he didn't read the letter and the episode ends with him stating "y-o-u-r means YOUR (possessive, belonging to you) y-o-u-'r-e means YOU ARE. actually the episode ends with Rachel saying "we are sooooo over" and Ross (fake crying) "fine by me." enter Rachel, "oh, and just so you know, it's not that common, it doesn't happen to every guy and it IS a big deal." a solid lesson for us all.

and i'm sure there are plenty of grammatical mistakes in this post...feel free not to comment about those!!! this post really was all in fun (kind of)! hope you got a good laugh! some other *fun* confusables for you to ponder are: allot/a lot ~ affect/effect ~ awhile/a while ~ bad/badly ~ breath/breathe ~ than/then ~ set/sit (a recent discussion with my sister) ~ lay/lie (even this one gets me!!) ~ good/well ~ their/they're/there (They're going to their house over there). seriously, there are so many that confuse me that i take pride in the few that i get right...or is it correct? ha!

ready or not here i come

avery loves to play hide and seek. inside, outside, with you, with me - whoever wants to play. and while some of her hiding spots are pretty blatant, like laying under a blanket, i will give her credit and say she is very still and very quiet. she loves the chase, loves to be found and loves for you to discover her best hiding spots.

found you!

addison has even joined in on the fun and avery is great at taking turns. when it's addisons turn to count she says "one, two, one, two, one, two, ready not, here come." and then she runs off into the distance, with no clue that she's in search of the hider. they've been playing this game a lot more recently and addison must be a quick learner, or avery a good teacher...or both. when we were in the car friday she started counting and this is what we heard - "one, two" (normal) "free, four" (allen and i look at each other) "fiiiiive, six" (you want to say 'pick up sticks...') "seven, eight, nine" (our eyes are wide) "ten, eweven, twevve, FIRTEEN, " (crazy clapping and shouts of praise)! she went from "one, two" to 1-13!! i have video of it, but i don't know that i can get it posted. it's pretty great, though!! all weekend we would ask her to count and she would promptly start with "one......twoooooo......freeeeeeee" and finish with 13!

aves has also been teaching addison the days of the week. we have a great song we sing and addison has picked up on it. avery also always asks "what's tomorrow" and addison has started answering "tuesday." it's what she knows. and sometimes, she's right! i also have a(nother) great video of avery and addison going over the days of the week. it starts out great, avery being the teacher, addison repeating the days...until she gets wise and then you hear avery say "monday" and addison says "tuesday" and avery gets so mad that she's no longer 'following' her leadership. again, the video is better...sorry you're getting the manuscript!

i'll leave you with addisons best hiding spot - she's in the middle of a very small bush and wrapping the little limbs around her.

double trouble

don't get excited. i realize i've passed my posting limit of 3 in one week....i won't be keeping this up, but i had something i thought you'd want to read...

as most of you know, we're often asked if our girls are twins. haven't heard the story? try reading here, here, here or here.

last week was no exception, but there was a twist to this story. as you read from last week, i took a trip to the western warehouse sale. they have the racecar shopping carts for the kids to sit in, so off we went. actually, avery started out pushing her own mini shopping cart while addison sat in the racecar...but the mini cart quickly lost it's luster and in the car she hopped. so we're strolling around, following the arrows - because back in the warehouse it's one way and slightly narrow in places - when i forget that i needed something i already passed. so i just turned around. there was no one coming at me so i thought i could go the wrong way down a one way street (also not the first time i've done this). as i round the corner i nearly run into a mom pushing a side-by-side stroller (really, at the warehouse sale?? a side-by-side?) and in it sat what were obviously twins. i smiled, apologized, backed up and went around the correct way. i didn't comment on her children because i just really don't do that and because i'm sure she gets the "are they twins" (and rightfully so) all the time. anyway....

a few minutes later we run into each other again and our kids are facing each other. this mom of twins looks at my girls (who are sitting beside each other and wearing the same thing) and said "awww, are they twins?" i think i just shook my head and swallowed the sarcasm i wanted to use. really, you're a mom of twins. can't YOU tell? i laughed to myself and went on about my way.

later that night we went to visit a family member in the hospital and as we were getting on the elevator a lady got off and tapped her husband on the shoulder and said, "look at those twins." as the elevator door closed i wanted to shout down the hallway, "THEY'RE NOT TWINS."

i know what you're thinking....shame on me for dressing them alike. whatever - these girls don't even look like they could, for a second, be twins. and i have the picture to prove it. i took a picture after the warehouse sale of them, side-by-side and in the same clothes. now you tell me....are they twins?

deals of the day

Today started the Western Warehouse Sale. If you're not familiar with it...shame on you! :) Last semester i was in a strategic shopping small group at church....most of you know this but i know some people that read this blog don't go to COTH. Anyway, Sharon is a mother of seven, that's right, seven, and she is an amazing leader, teacher and friend. They by no means have to pinch pennies, but she believes in being a good steward of what they've been given and WOW, does she do a great job. I'm rambling. Anyway, applying biblical principles to something small (or big) like grocery shopping has taken what used to be a strain and made it fun. The above picture is what i got today...this is my list from left to right: 3lbs bacon, 3 packs of sliced ham, 8lbs rolled sausage, 3 packs of smoked sausage, 3 large jars of smuckers grape jelly, 2 bottles of marinade, 10lbs of ground beef in patties, 48 bottles of water, 1 package of cling wrap, 40oz jar of Jif peanut butter, 3 loaves of merita bread, 1 large package of merita hamburger buns, 2 jars of salsa, 2 bags of tortilla chips, 2 large bottles of heinz ketchup, 48 rolls of cottonelle toilet paper, and three bags of nilla wafers. all that for a grand total of $88! Now, you go to your grocery store and buy the same size and name brand and tell me your total!! If you're interested, the sale continues tomorrow and saturday, 9-6. It's the Western off Rocky Ridge. FYI - they also have their filets for 6.99/lb. Last time i got 10 filets for $49, trimmed and cut.

Last but not least, Avery wanted you to see her ponies, Scootaloo and Rarity. She took the picture and wanted you to meet them.

the weekend

allen's birthday was this week and we spent the weekend at his dads in georgia. you've read the posts about the farm and all the fun we have. if not, check out all our fun times...here or here. this time was no exception - we had a great time.

in the past, all of my pictures have consisted of fishing, horses and the gator rides. i thought about that while we were there and thought i would shake things up a bit.

addison was able to do a lot more, and even though she was too small to fish, she tried. she wanted to walk and explore more than stand by the water (and not go in). avery spent a lot of time - and by a lot of time i mean all day saturday - outside with either the fish, the turkeys, the dogs or the horses. she's an animal lover. addison likes to look from a distance.

we did go on a turkey chase, as they live on hundreds of acres, and we saw tons. the girls loved going "super fast" in the gator as we tried to chase them down. fun times were had by all.

we also tried out the wii fit. for 2.5 hours straight. i'm addicted. it was so much fun and i found out a few things about myself. 1) i have awesome balance, 2) i should have been a downhill ski jumper or a yoga instructor, 3) i'm not in the best shape, 4) running is for the birds....or animals that run. :) you'll see pictures below. the one picture you won't see is me holding a yoga pose and falling flat (and i do mean flat) on my back from a standing, posed position. it hurt but i got back up and tried again. check the top scores...you'll see my name in the #1 spot across the board (except in the running)

avery fishing

addison trying to fish...she's a little far backavery's fishaddison's rock huntrunning to show daddythe turkeys
right after we went "super fast"
here's where it gets good - allen and tommy did the two man race on the wii. allen won, as you can see him sucking wind. tommy is in hot pursuit, though. it was hysterical.
though not as funny as allen's lack of flexibility and balance

just a sweet picture of sweet addison - she looked really old in this picture to me

"the snow"

i'm finally posting snow pictures. allen, among others, have been nipping at my heels to get the pictures up, update the blog, tell people about what's going on. and i haven't. it's not because i haven't wanted to or because i want to keep all of you hanging by a thread to see what my children will do next (all 5 of you). i just haven't. no rhyme, no reason. but i have a sneaking suspicion that at the root of it is what i learned during the fast. i've spent countless hours with my girls and with allen and i've enjoyed not being nailed to my computer, as i felt like i was for so many months.

it could also have something to do with the fact that i dropped my phone in the toilet (at mcdonalds) so as a reward (???) allen got me a phone that allows me to do my computer 'busy' stuff on the go. i should have dropped it months ago. if you're wondering if i actually went in for the phone, that my friends, is another post in itself.

whatever the reason, i do plan to blog more...lots of exciting things going on in the Drew family.

the snow day was unexpected (despite forcasters) and i was pessimistic about the whole prospect of snow. wanted it to happen, hoped it would, but not building myself, or avery, up for disappointment. after all, it was 60 degrees the day before....

needless to say i was truly surprised and excited when we woke up sunday to a beautiful blanket of white. avery was ecstatic and addison had no clue what was going on.

we bundled up and headed (walked - allen's idea) to our great neighbors house, luke and ali. they have mae, who is a few months older than addison. as our perfectly good and running car sat in the driveway, we headed into the wind and walked. addison walked for about 100 feet and said "hold you." holding you is fun and normally easy when you're not wearing clothes for snow.

we built snowmen, had snowball fights, drank cocoa, warmed by the fire and took GREAT naps. when they woke up the snow was gone, so it was almost like it was a dream. i love avery's attitude in that she was thankful that she got to play in it, if only for a little while. not one complaint about it being gone, just joy that it was there to begin with. i love her heart.

starting the walk...(see the house in the background)

three girls ready to play

addison is cold...but thought the snowball tasted greatavery and frosty (you can't see his eyes or mouth and this was before he had arms)seriously, who wouldn't want to buy this house???