A quick update

Zeke eating his 1st cheese puff!

Ok- so I have uposted in a LONG time. Things have been pretty busy for the Tuggles. We are trying to get this school year finished up. I had a birthday on May 5th........I can't believe I am 28. Then we had mother's day. I am so blessed to have my 3 precious boys! The boys are just getting over sickness......the big boys had pneumonia and both of Zeke's ears were infected. Chad hurt his ankle and got to sport the big boot like I had for a while. I think we are all on the road to recovery now. Chad finished up his golf season at school, but has been extra busy with side jobs. I have been crazy busy at school. I have taken 22 girls to Birmingham to paint and eat at Stix, gone on various other field trips, and brought 6 of my kids home to swim at my house. Believe it or not I am not completely crazy yet. We have also been playing ragball. Ian loves it and is read for the major leagues any day now! ;) Luke is another story. The first game he got mad when every ball was not hit directly to him and he threw down his hat and glove and cried and pouted. He hit the ball and ran to first base but would go no further. The next time at the bat he hit and went straight to the dugout. I don't think he would even bat in the last inning. The next game he did run all the bases, but he refused to wear his glove while on the field. Also, he will only go out there if Mommy is with him, so I go to the next base and yell for him to run to me. I get to be out there with all the coaches and dads. Last night I was able to watch from the stands with the other moms. Luke did much better. He hit the ball everytime and ran all the bases. He played in the field......with a little coaxing.......although he didn't catch any balls. He wore his glove some of the time. It was a much better game! It was even better when we had supper at the new Mexican restaurant in Curry. It is great.....now we don't have to drive to Jasper. We are having a nice laz Saturday now watching Little Einsteins and playing. The boys didn't get up until 8:00 which was great. We get a day off on Monday then the boys have 2 days of school, Chad has 3, and I have 3 1/2. On Friday the Tuggles are headed to the beach! Hopefully I will have more time to update the blog throughout the summer. Enjoy the pictures of the boys.

Thursday's Thirteen

-Just a side note.....I just read a friends friend's blog and totally stole her blog title. I thought it was a cute way to write about what's going on.....maybe she won't mind :)

1. Whale's Tales........that is the swimming program that our 4th and 5th graders attend every Thursday afternoon. It is also what gives Mrs. Tuggle a much needed break on Thursdays........Yay for swimming!!

2. 2 would be the number of pounds I have gained when I weighed this morning. I have got to get back to the gym. I hurt my ankle, so I had to take a break. I'm sure eating Doritos for supper doesn't help either.

3. 3 is the number of precious little boys that I wish I were at home playing with right now! They are growing up way too fast!

4. 4 would be the number of kids that are absolutely driving me crazy right now!! They are in a group with the teacher I share a room with. I get the pleasure of hearing them argue all day long!

5. 5 is how many minutes I will have of wonderful silence when these kids leave until I go to lunch.

6. 6 is the time that Ian and Luke's art show starts tonight at their preschool. They are so excited. They get to show off off the cool things they have been making over the last few weeks. My camera is fully charged and ready, so I will post pictures later!

7. 7 is the number of times I have been to the tanning bed so far......why does having a little color make you feel so much better???

8. Ok- I am running out of things to associate with numbers, but here is something interesting. I got to meet a Harlem Globetrotter the other day."Hollywood" Brown came to speak to our school. He had a great message and some really cool tricks.

9. My SPARKLE girls club met this morning and we had a really great speaker!! She talked about the choices we make and how they affect us and others. I might have gotten more out of it than the girls!! Thanks Mary!!

10. My sweet baby Zeke is staying with the Goforths today. I am so thankful God has blessed us with such awesome friends. It is so nice to be able to leave your kids with people and know that you don't have to worry about them.

11. Sickness has been going through the Tuggle clan lately. Everybody seems to be getting better. My sinuses are slowly getting better. The pollen isn't helping at all!! Ian and Zeke have had ear infections, but are tremendously better. We go to the ENT for check-ups on Monday. Pray for their ears to be clear and no surgeries!!

12. Zeke has started sitting up. He doesn't get up by himself yet, but he will sit there if we sit him up. He will also clap his hands if you yell and cheer for him. It is adorable!!

13. The Tuggles have a busy weekend coming up.......SS fellowship, birthday party, cutting grass, LOTS of laundry, cleaning, church, and maybe even a few hours of sleep.

Happy Easter!!!

Easter baskets full of goodies!

Easter egg hunt @ Blooming Grove Preschool

Dying eggs with Mommy

Hunting eggs @ church

Easter fun @ Aunt Becs

Ian, Luke & Zeke Easter 2009

Just a thought.....

I haven't posted much lately, so I thought I would. I wanted to share my morning devotion from today. It was titled The Pursuit of Jesus and referenced the scripture Psalm 41:1. "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble." This really hit home for me. It talked about how we should remember how Jesus was constantly pursued by so many people. He always helped those people and never complained. I can't remember one time in the Bible where He said get away from me or please quit calling my name. I thought about how many times a day someone "needs" me and how I respond. Some days I think if one more kid says Mrs. Tuggle or if someone else needs a favor or even if my sweet babies say mommy one more time I might go insane. I'm sure we have all been there. Don't get me wrong, I love to help people, I especially love my babies and I love the fact that I am "needed" in so many ways, but it gets overwhelming sometimes. The last part of that verse rings so true for me. The Lord has definitely delivered me in times of trouble........sooooo many times. I know that most of us are so busy and play so many roles in life and are so often needed and pursued by others. What if Jesus told us to leave him alone or that He didn't have time right now or that He needed time for HImself? That is what I thought about this morning as I read that verse because I had said all those things at some point yesterday. I am going to keep that in mind today as I hear Mrs. Tuggle I need this or Mrs. Tuggle can you help me... and especially when I hear Mommy........ I know that all too soon my babies may not need me as much. Just a thought.......

Way to go Chad!

Before After

I have learned that when Chad decides to do something he doesn't play.......he does it! A few weeks ago we discussed the need for new flooring in our kitchen and dining area. ALthough our house is only 4 years old, the linoleum was coming up in several places. I would NOT recommend the people who did our flooring! ANyway, we decided to go with hardwood. I came home the next day and all the linoleum was in the driveway and my stove was in the garage. It was a mess for awhile, but it was worth it! Chad did a fabulous job. I learned that you can survive without a stove and still feed a family of 5 as long as you have a microwave and a George Forman grill.

Let it snow!!!!

When Ian woke me up at 7:00 this morning and said it was snowing, this is what we saw out of our back window.......a snowy Smith Lake. It was really pretty. We of course had to wake Luke so everyone could see. We then bundled up and went outside to make snowballs. We didn't stay long because Ian has an ear infection, and both boys are very snotty and congested. I had to let them go out though. It's not very often we get snow. Poor Zeke got to look out the window. He too is snotty, and I decided it wasn't risking anything for the snow.........he won't remember anyway. The boys went outside and made snowballs, and I took a few pictures. Luke decided quickly that it was too cold for him and he wanted to go in and have strawberry milk and white grits. Ian had to be forced inside as he always is. They are like night and day!! Later, all 5 of us (plus 2 snowballs) loaded up to go eat lunch with Paw. We went to Ryan's where we ate way too much. We came home to a powerless house. It was ok though since it was during the day. It was nice to have a break from Dora and Handy Manny. I really hated that I couldn't do any laundry though! ;) Church was cancelled all day, so we stayed in and realxed (mommy), did laundry (daddo), played (boys), and napped (Zeke). It was a good day! Now, time to get ready for Monday.

Fun at AA

Friday night I did something I rarely do. I went out with some girl friends. We (friends from work) went to dinner at Cabos and then to AA. In case your wondering, AA stands for Art Affair.....not alcoholics anonymous! Art Affair is the Jasper version of Sips and Strokes. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed painting........it was very relaxing. Here is a picture of my creation. I was kinda proud of it. Maybe this is yet another backup career?????