It is here!!

After WEEKS of counting down...Brad Paisley's newest CD "American Saturday Night" was just released this morning!! I woke up this morning, like every morning, to a cup of fresh, hot coffee... brought to me in bed by my amazing man.....but when I finally got BOTH eyes open I saw "it".........sitting there like a brand new bicycle under a childhood Christmas tree!!! Brett got up early and made a trip to Wal Mart to buy me the new CD! I am so excited I feel like I could "burst"! You just gotta know how much I love Brad Paisley ( ......and his song writing, guitar playing.....) to really appreciate my excitement! He is such an amazing artist!! I am gonna get myself out of this bed, put the CD in my computer, then on my ipod...I have a feeling I am gonna have a CD long work out this morning!!

I leave for ONE night......

Last night I went to Tanya's house to keep an eye on the kids, while she and Chris went to a meeting at the school. BTW-they are working REALLY hard to save First Christian School from going under...they are leading a group of people who are trying get donations from people and businesses, so they can save the school. If you know of anyone who can help out-please send me an email so I can connect you up with them! They have ad space, in a awesome newspaper/ magazine -available in the Trinity area, to sell to businesses. Anyhoo, while i was gone last night, Brett decided it was time to "groom" the dogs. They REALLY did need a trim....but, THIS is what I came home to! Poor Lady bug :(



I got home kinda late so Lady was already asleep in Spencer's room-Brett said "go take a look at Lady bug, I have a feeling this one is gonna make it onto your blog!". Maddie said that none of her friends are allowed to come over until Lady's hair grows out! She begged me not to post these pics.."cause all her friends read my blog"....."WHY?".
Anyhoo, it is like that old country song "It'll grow back, 'honey' don't be mad...God and the rain will bring it back" (The song is referring to a boy talking to his Daddy about a tree he cut down...but it this case, I think the song fits!)

BTW-to really appreciate these pics, you must click on them to enlarge them...so you can see the "detail" of his grooming job! I just have to laugh every time I think about it! In fact, last night, while I was trying to be "serious" I busted out laughing! Brett wanted to know what I was laughing about...when I was trying to be "serious".....when I told him we both had laugh!

Our date night!

Last night, Brett and I celebrated our 14th anniversary by going out on a date! We left around 2 pm and we walked around Citrus Park mall for a while, then we stopped by "The fresh market"-the yummiest store-ever, packed with all kinds of healthy (and not so healthy!)goodies! My favorites there are dried pineapple, Bourbon pecans, and trail mixes. After we loaded up on goodies, we went to the Melting Pot-my favorite restaurant! Brett had ordered, a head of time, that a flower arrangement be set out on our table before we arrived! So sweet! When you buy that package, they also take your picture-we have several years worth of melting pot pictures to look back on!We always order the fiesta cheese fondue-YUM! I got the house salad-with a sweet honey dressing (Brett got Cesar salad), then we got the court bouillon classic-with chicken, steak, terryakki steak, sun dried tomato chicken and shrimp. It also comes with all kinds of veggies! They serve it with the yummiest sauces! Yogurt curry, plumb sauce, terryakki, cocktail sauce, green goddess-they are all so amazing! Then....the manager treated us to a chocolate fondue-since Brett delivers tanks there! We got the tiramisu with dark chocolate! It comes with cheesecake, pound cake, strawberries, bananas, brownies and marshmallows. I was so full that I could barely walk out of there! BTW-I am paying for it today!! I always feel sick the day after I eat too much! Anyhoo-we had a really great time together last night! Every year, I kid around with Brett and tell him that the only reason he stays married to me is so he can keep going to the Melting Pot every year! After we ate, we went to see the movie "Marley and Me"-the plot was decent, but I was unhappy by all the "junk" they put in it! For a PG rating, I would expect a lot less cussing and a WHOLE lot less sexual references! I am SOOO glad that we did not take our kids to see it!

Well, that is how our date night went-I really enjoy spending time with Brett, we always have a great time and a laugh a lot!

yeah, yeah! I know we have a lot of pictures of us kissing...well, that is because we kiss a lot! LOL! BTW-Brooke was our photographer last night-I just did a little "editing"!

14 years today!

I do not have much time this morning, but I wanted to share how blessed I am to be married to the man God gave me...Brett is such an amazing husband, friend, Daddy.......in my all my childhood fantasies, I never dreamed that marriage could be so fulfilling! I am so grateful for ALL the God's blessings and the favor of God that has been on my life throughout the years!! Happy anniversary Honey! 14 years and counting!

He says I need THERAPY!?

Alright..... so Brett comes home for lunch everyday, and after he eats he always lays down to rest until he has to leave to go back to work. Well.......today we were laying there resting and he was trying to tell me that I NEED to go out with my friends tonight. (It is Girls night out and I decided that we really did not have the extra money for me to go-even though we DO have coupons that will make each of our dinners 1/2 off). He was trying to be sweet and he kept trying to talk me into going...then he says......."It is good therapy"! OMG! So I, (knowing that he really was trying to be sweet) aggravated him by acting like I thought he had just told me that I needed therapy.(I knew that he really meant that it was good for me to get together with my friends and just take some time off.) We have a playful relationship and we love to aggravate each other (I aggravate him a lot more than he does me)-once he even told me "You have a little of your Daddy in you!" .(If you have ever met my Daddy....you'd know what he was talking about!). Anyhoo-I acted offended by his "therapy" comment and had him stuttering over his words trying to make it right.......such fun! SO......a few minutes later-as he is quoting lines from the new Madagascar movie...cracking himself up so much that he can not fall asleep....I asked him ...."Now WHO needs therapy?"
In all honesty...I know that I am really blessed with a husband who knows that spending time with my girlfriends goes beyond a "want" and it really is a "need".




I love him so much and I am so glad that we can have such fun together....it is just the simple things in life that amuse us!


He is going to LOVE the pics I am posting with this blog......one way or the other he'll learn! LOL!!
The pics were taken late one night when we were being WAAAAY goofy with my niece and nephew (the night before black Friday last year). I am SOOOO glad that he does not blog....there are pics that are EVEN worse of me! In all fairness...I will put up one!

Brett's Britches!

Omg! I am laughing my head off at my crazy husband! Several weeks ago, Brett's suit pants (the ONLY pair that he has for his limo job) spit right up the middle. I put on a patch and it has lasted.....until today. He just came home and there was a "great divide" on the backside of his britches!! Ok-so we now know that we are gonna have to break down and buy him some new pants-but soon after he got home, he got called back into work! Being the "resourceful" man that he is.....he STAPLED his pants shut with about 50 staples! Now, if his jacket was long enough to conceal this mishap I would say he might get away with it-but it is NOT! Not only can the staples be seen.....but he yelled "ouch!" when he had to sit down to put his shoes on! I just had to laugh at him! Poor guy has to drive all the way to Tampa while sitting on staples! Gotta love him!

Oh yeah! He's gonna love me for this one!

He will not "pull the plug"!

Alright..so Brett and I were having our coffee after dinner tonight (which was from Pizza hut-Thanks Michelle!)at the same time I was busy filling out paper work to send in to my new doctor. At the time of my surgery I was given a "living will" form-my nurse that comes out to the house told me that I need to make sure that who ever I choose to "execute" my living will needs to be strong enough to fulfill my wishes (ie "pull the plug"). So, while I was finally getting around to filling out the paper work, I asked Brett if he'd be able do it. I said I'd not want to be kept on the machine more than a couple of weeks-he said "but what if you would have gotten better in 2 weeks and 1 day?". I asked him how long he would keep me alive like that and he answered "at least a year"! OMG-I told him that I would just call Karen and ask her to be listed on the will! I can not believe that he'd let me lay there for one year!! He says that new technology may come out within that year....yada yada yada.
Then, he says what he always says when he does not want to think about something (like our girls getting married!) "Well, the Lord is gonna come back before then anyway!" I can never get him to talk about the "what ifs" of life. I guess this may be too personal to be sharing with the "world" and it really is not a laughing matter but truthfully, if I ever thought I would need a living will-I would not be joking around about it. I just laughed when I thought about him letting me "suffer" for 365 days! As I type he is saying "Noooo.......giving you a chance to come back to your family for 365 days!"

Bottom line?....

Karen....I will need you to sign some papers when you come over !
......as Brett is now yelling "don't do it Karen!"

Date night and my sisters..

Brett is on his way home and we are headin' out for one last "date" before my surgery. We are going to dinner and to Starbucks-then we are going to rent a movie and snuggle up and watch it together. I am really looking forward to spending time with him-things have been so busy and I am ready to just relax and enjoy some time together.

I just got a call from one of my "sisters" (Tanya)-I am just amazed at how they have pulled together to prepare a schedule for helping me out after my surgery. They have thought of everything! My church is providing 2 weeks of meals after my mom leaves and my friends are picking up where they leave off. Tanya has even stepped up and offered to do my grocery shopping every week and Karen has jokingly offered to come shave my legs :) -I bought some "Nair" instead! I feel so blessed to have friends like them. I know they all have busy lives of their own-they are mothers, they work, run their own houses,................ and yet they have taken the time to consider me. They have "stepped outside themselves" and put themselves into my shoes and I feel like that is an amazing quality! Thank You-I love you all and you will never know how much your kindness means to me!! sniffle...sniffle

GNO

Last night was my last "Girls' night out" for a while :(. Although, I like the way Brett put it, in the note that he left out for me last night, (along with my pjs,water,my towel....I know that I am spoiled!) he said "don't look at it as your last night out with your friends for a long time but rather your last night out with them while you are in so much pain." I guess that is one way to look at it. We went to "The cheesecake factory" and then Karen and I went to see the musical "Mama Mia". We had a really great time with lots of really "rich" conversation at supper. I have said it 100 times...but I am so glad that God has given me my sisters! Karen is now on her way from Clearwater (where she lives) to New Port Richey (where I live) to go with me to my pre op appt, in Tampa,this morning (ON HER DAY OFF!)-even after we stayed out until 1:00 am last night. She is amazing-I feel kinda bad that she is going with me-I feel guilty:( , but I am really glad that she will be there for me! We will be there all day long because I have 2 appts back to back. I have been to so many docs appts by myself and I can never remember half of what they tell me and it is going to be really nice to have a friend there for me this time. Thank you Karen!! She has even made me up a "hospital survival kit" to take with me for my stay at TGH-I thought that it was really sweet-she even put a huge chocolate bar in it that has a "emergency chocolate" label on it. Anyhoo... I will let everyone know how everything goes today.

A fun day with "our little Noah"!

Today we got to spend the day with our little "Noah-boa"! I have not been able to see him for almost a month and I have missed him soooo much! This morning we went to the free movie at the theatre (over the summer they show kid's movies for free), we saw "veggie tales-the pirates who don't do anything". The movie was cute-the kids really liked it, we had not seen that one yet. When we got back to the car I noticed a note on my steering wheel-from my "Prince charming"! He knew that we were there and he stopped by to leave a note. Ain't he sweet? Just a simple note but it means so much to me! It reads " Sweetheart, I just wanted to thank you for being such an amazing wife to me and an incredible mother to our children. I love 'doing life' with you, my best friend. Forever yours only, Love, Brett Michael xoxoxxo" I just love surprises!! Even if it is just a little love note. After that we came home and had lunch and spent the afternoon in the pool. It was so nice to get to spend time with Noah! Thanks Scott and Lisa for "sharing" him with us and allowing him to be a part of our family! (and for not feeling threatened by the whole "Mama Sherri/Daddy thing" :) ) He really is a precious child and I am so honored to be a part of his life! Thank You!

"Cheese"!

Mini Date night

Last night I had the opportunity to have a "mini" date night with Brett. We had supper at home and then Brooke "babysat" for us while we went to Starbucks for coffee and conversation (thanks Brooke!). Liz gave me a $30 gift card for Starbucks and Brett and I used it as an "excuse" to go on a date (thanks Liz!). After we had coffee we walked down to Target and browsed a bit. It is always nice to have time "away" with Brett-I think that it is an absolute necessity for a couple to spend time away with each other! It helps us refocus on each other and our marriage instead of always being caught up with work, the house, bills, kids......... . I am so grateful for having that time with Brett-and I am even more grateful that we both still want to spend time with each other (after 13 and a half years!). Love you lots baby!

Mother's day!

Today was a beautiful day! It started out with my "Prince and Little Prince" bringing me coffee and a special breakfast in bed (OK-nothing new there-Brett does that every morning). After that, I got to open my presents and read my cards. Brooke bought me a small make up case, perfect to put in my purse, Maddie bought me a key chain-in the shape of a key-she said it was the "key to her heart" and she gave me two of her "beanie babies". Spencer has been making things for weeks! He drew a picture of the "Saints" football team (he does not like the Saints-so I pretend to love them just cause my parents live in Louisiana and it is fun to aggravate him about it). He also drew a picture of "Brad Paisley" and "Toby Mac"-since they are my favorite artists. He drew a picture of a castle "since I am a princess" and he colored a picture of a zebra. They each put a lot of thought and effort into their gifts for me! My little Noah gave me a Mother's day card and a gift set from Victoria's Secret (vanilla lace-my fav!). I think it is so precious that his mom "shares" him with me! (Thanks Lisa!!)! To hear him say "Mama Sherri"- just melts my heart! After church we came home and had a lovely lunch-all prepared-with love-by Brett! It was SOOOO good! After lunch Brett took a nap-he did not get home from work until 2:00 am, then we all went swimming. We have had a really great day! NOW-I get a "movie long" massage! (yippeeeee!!). I got a movie from blockbuster (Bella)and once the kids are down we are going to watch it. Well-I wanted to share my day with everyone, I hope ya'll had a beautiful day too! Oh-I almost forgot.... (don't tell on me!) Brett got me a shipment of gourmet coffee-it is being delivered tomorrow!

I forgot to tell you about our church service! The kids all got up and said why their Mom was so special. Spencer said "My mom is so special cause she takes me to the movies! (he has NARNIA on his brain!!-he can't wait until May 16th-the 2nd Narnia is coming out!) and Maddie said " my Mom is special cause while I am at school, she does housework". Sweet-I was so worried when they said that the kids were going to be doing that-I even said out loud "you should have warned us!"-Spencer especially........you just never know what that boy is thinking! His thought process is so different-sometimes I am just shocked at what he thinks about and how he views the world. (That is a whole other blog I guess!)

Tonight

Tonight we are all going to walmart-Brett is making me a special Mother's day lunch on Sunday and he insisted on shopping for the ingredients himself. When we were dating he used to come visit me in Lakeland (where I attended college) and he would bring me picnic lunches. He makes this amazing gourmet croissant sandwich-it has turkey, sprouts,tomato,cream cheese, American cheese and a tangy salad dressing. I am insisting that he takes me along on his shopping trip tonight-so I can be entertained by him trying to find his way around the grocery store!! Once, when I was pregnant with our first child, we went to the store to buy "cocoa butter" (it is SUPPOSED to prevent stretch marks-but it did not work!)-when we entered the store he started walking to the left (where the dairy section is) and I began walking to the right (where the health and beauty isle was)-I asked him where he was going and he said to find the cocoa butter! I laughed so hard!! He thought that "cocoa butter" was CHOCOLATE butter!! Anyways-I am sure that the grocery store trip tonight will be very interesting! On a side note-Spencer is VERY excited about Mother's day! He has been making me things and hiding them for about 2 weeks now, he is literally counting down the days until Mother's day! It is really kind of cute!

Date night

"Our wedding bands"

Last night was "date night"! I love spending time just relaxing with Brett! A brand new "Cracker barrel" just opened up this week-right by our house, so that is where we went for supper. Good "home" cookin'-yum! Chicken and dumplins-almost as good as Mama's! After supper we went to the beach to watch the sun set-it is one of my favorite things to do! There is just no better way to relax and unwind than kickin' back and listening to the waves hitting the shore and watching the sun-with all the beautiful colors "disappear into ocean". After we left the beach, we went to (can you guess?) "Starbucks" (we all KNOW how much $ I waste there-right?-if you do not know what I am referring to-read several posts down). Date nights are such an essential part of our marriage-it is so important to take the time away and just spend time together. We make it a habit to reconnect every night and spend time alone-once the kids are all down, but there is something special about getting away from everything else and just being able to enjoy each other's company.

Here is a pic I took at the beach last night.

My "Prince" and my "little Prince"

Yesterday Brett brought home a beautiful card for me. Inside, he wrote a very sweet and touching letter and he enclosed a gift card to "AMC" theatres (so I can use it to see a movie with my best friend on our upcoming "Girl's Night Out"-YIPPEE!!). Now, you all know by now that I am married to an amazing man-in fact I am told by my MOTHER that if I do not quit blogging about him then people are going to start "hating" me!-I am still not sure if she was kidding about that or not :) . But truthfully, I have already stated that I intend to be completely REAL in this blog and I am not going to "appologize" for or hide the fact that I married such an incredible man and that I fall more in love with him everyday. Of course, we have had our share of "knock down drag outs" in the past and I will PROMISE to blog about any future "disagreements"-(should they occur) if you will "allow" me to brag about my man for now. Now that I have THAT off my chest (happy Mom??) let me get to the REAL purpose of this blog. I am so happy to see our son, Spencer, following in his Daddy's footsteps!! He is turning into quite a gentleman! He is learning how to treat women with respect (we are still working on respecting his sisters, however), he is even learning how to hold the door open for me! Last week, the kids were on spring break so I took them along on my weekly grocery trip. Spencer saw a bouquet of flowers and said "Mommy, I should have gotten you those for your birthday!", then he said, "Well, maybe I could get them for you for Mother's day". I told him that I thought that would be a great idea. Then, he looked at me and said "Mommy, can I buy you those pretty flowers now?". Now, no matter WHAT my budget was I was NOT going to let an opportunity like this pass me by!! I told him that it was very sweet of him to want to buy me flowers and he then picked out the best bunch he could find-he put a lot of thought and effort into his choice. So, that day-my son "bought" me flowers, even though he did not have any money to pay for them-I really believe that he would have paid for them if he could have!! I am so happy to see Spencer turning out so much like Brett and I am equally as happy that my girls are growing up seeing how a woman SHOULD be treated and that "Prince Charmings" really DO exist!

Date night!

Last night I had the honor of going out on a date with my "Prince Charming". We try to go out on a date once a month but sometimes life and money prevent us from being able to. April is my birthday month so we sold some books on ebay so that we could go out and celebrate! Our date started out by my husband taking me shopping to buy some new clothes (I LOVE new clothes!!). After stopping at a couple of stores, and buying a pair of capris, shorts and a top, we were off to dinner. Brett surprised me by taking me to the "melting pot" (my FAVORITE-but very expensive, restaurant!). We had a beautiful, candle light dinner in a cozy little corner table that Brett requested. We then had to stop by walmart to pick up some shipping supplies (to mail the books to our ebay buyers)-while we we deciding on the size of the box we needed-Brett points up to the "bubble wrap" and says so sweetly "I need to wrap you up in bubble wrap because you are so precious" (what can I say.... The man really does try! :) From there we went to the beach and watched the sunset-it was a beautiful night, the weather was perfect and the sunset was breath taking! Then, we went to Starbucks and we sat and talked while we had our coffee (we lingered over our coffee, trying to time it so that by the time we got home the kids would be asleep :) ). I think it was one of the most amazing dates that I have ever been on-it was just perfect! I had such a good time with my price charming! I am so happy that, after 13 years of marriage, we still love to spend time together. I still miss him when he is at work, he still comes home for lunch everyday so that we can eat together. Brett has stood by me,through all of my health issues,he never complains about having to sometimes do more than his share of housework(he does laundry,dishes,scrubbing....) he works 2 jobs, takes time EVERY night to play with our kids and help them with their homework, (he is an amazing daddy!), he gives me a full massage EVERY night, he leaves me love notes, calls me during the day to tell me that he loves me and that he misses me, brings me my coffee and breakfast in bed EVERY morning...........I am so blessed to have him in my life. Sometimes, I think to myself "God must love me just a little bit more than all the other women in the world-because He chose to give Brett to me".

My "Prince Charming"

Sunday evening we were riding along, running a few errands, when we came up to a stop light. Brett stopped at the light, then he opened the car door and took off running across another lane of traffic! The kids and I were in complete SHOCK wondering what in the world this man was doing now! Within seconds the light changed to green and there we were, sitting at the green light waiting for Brett to return to the car-when he ran back to the car he had a single flower in his hand! He had spotted a flower growing in the median and he wanted to pick it for me! I thought of all the times I have received flowers and I could not remember a single time that it meant more to me. Of course, after I told him how incredibly sweet it was, I smacked him and told him to never do that again! I love that our children get to see the love that we have for each other and they able to see what marriage can be-I think that it gives them a huge sense of security knowing that their parents are truly in love.