Spencer comes to visit!

Anna Grace's oldest friend is named Spencer. They have been friends since she was born. They are four months apart in age and AG has already decided they are getting married one day. Mary and I are wonderful friends too. God brought her into my life when I lived in Sumter and she has been a special friend to me since then.
They now live in Virginia, but we keep in touch on a regular basis and have visited each other pretty regularly. Anna Grace always looks forward to Spencer coming to visit or going to visit him.

They came into town on Sunday and left today. We had a wonderful visit with them...as always and were so sad to see them leave. Anna Grace and I were reading a book on feelings this afternoon and I asked AG what she was feeling. She said, "Where is sad in the book? That is what I feel." I asked her why she felt sad, and she said, "Because Spencer left."

We will definitely be planning another visit soon.
Here are some fun pictures from their visit.

Anna Grace took Spencer on a ride in the Gator.

They enjoyed having a "slumber party" - watching videos in their pjs...

Spencer told his mommy he wanted to give Anna Grace a valentine. So he gave her a special pink dog and asked her to be his Valentine.

Spencer also brought Anna Grace some heart chocolates that they ate together.

They always love to play games together. They are playing "Monkys jumping on the bed" here.

We had Jackson, Isabel and Wyatt over for some pizza and fun. Jackson provided the music while everyone else danced into the night.

They sure did have a fun time!

Wyatt likes to find all of his favorite animals when he comes over. He is holding a tiger, a lion and the green man.

Wyatt and Isabel meet and talk.

Mrs. Mary bought Spencer and Anna Grace WebKinz while they were here. AG picked out a cat that she named "Lily" and Spencer picked out a penguin that he named "Cody". Cody will be best buds with the WebKinz dog Spencer already has and loves to pieces. In this picture they are jumping around with their new pets.

It's always fun to take a break and play some video games.

Spencer and Anna Grace put on a show for us. Spencer tapped and AG played the piano.

Then it was AG's turn to tap dance while Spencer played the piano.


"As we grow older, things may change, but they don't have to end. You are so special to me, Spencer, you will always be my friend"






These two always have so much fun together. Mary and Spencer, we are so glad you came to spend the week with us! We love you and wish you were still here!

What will Heaven be like?

Anna Grace and I have had a lot of fun conversations lately about what Heaven will be like. I have been teaching her this scripture -
John 14:2-3 - "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

We like to sit and talk about our beautiful rooms that Jesus is preparing for us In God's BIG mansion. Anna Grace says that her room is pink and mine is gray. I do hope I don't spend eternity in a gray room. I would like a pretty pink one too! :)

Well, with the new year here, Thomas and I have decided to join a gym. We went and looked at a few gyms this morning and AG came with us. As we were touring the first gym, the man showed us the indoor pool. It was filled with lots of excitement as children jumped into the warm water, splashed, played, laughed and adults swam laps. There was lots of activity and excitement going on in there. AG just stood there and watched. Then she turned around with a HUGE smile on her face and exclaimed, "Mommy! That is what heaven will be like! There will be a pool just like that one in Heaven!"

It was precious and made me happy! I love that Anna Grace gets excited when she talks about Heaven and how wonderful it will be. Heaven is going to be a wonderful place. I look forward to the day we get to see our savior face to face and live forever with Him. I just know it will be amazing. Heaven will be even better than a pool at the gym!

A fun day at Chuck E Cheese

Today Anna Grace and I went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. It had been a while since we had been there. We called up our new friends, Paola, Jackson and Isabel to see if they wanted to join us and they did! Here are a few pictures from our fun outing. It was so nice. Noone was there but us for a long time.

Anna Grace driving the car. She has always enjoyed this ride.

Anna Grace on another one of her favorites - the Merry Go Round.

Anna Grace and Jackson on the roller coaster. They rode this many times and had a ball. They were laughing and yelling! It was cute.

"Say Cheese!" Anna Grace and Jackson also enjoyed riding this ride and having their picture made over and over and over. This ride takes your picture while you ride it. We seriously came home with about 15 pictures. AG handed them to me proudly saying, "Mommy I have some pictures for you!"

Shug got her teeth cleaned

The last time I had my teeth cleaned I took Anna Grace with me because she is 3 and will be going to the dentist soon. I took her so she could watch them clean my teeth and see there is nothing to be afraid of. She loved going with me. The dental assistants treated her like royalty. They gave her lots of stickers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pencils and even let her watch tv in a special room when she got bored of watching Mrs. Roxie take x-rays and clean my teeth.

Shug has HORRIBLE breath, so we try to have her teeth cleaned every 2-3 years. I told AG yesterday that we had to take Shug to the doctor to get her teeth cleaned, and AG said, "I can't wait to go watch Mrs. Roxie clean Shug's teeth and watch tv in the special room." I can just picture Shug in the dental chair having her teeth cleaned! Too funny!

Sweet Shug and AG at Christmas. Anna Grace loves Shug so much. She thinks she's a puppy even though she is 7 years old.


Shug resting on her favorite chair in the den.

Shug smiling for the camera...and showing off her clean teeth! And yes, her breath is MUCH better!

Fun with Bess

Today was a special treat. Anna Grace and I went to Columbia to see some friends and buy some cute clothes. My good friends Sallie and Lauren had a Le Cirque smocked clothing party. I bought AG some cute outfits and then we went to lunch at Yo Burrito, and then back to Sallie's house to let her daughter, Bess, and Anna Grace play. AG and Bess have been friends since they were born. They love each other so much and always play so well together. They were so excited to see each other. We try to get the girls together every few months to play.
They both love Disney Princesses and they love to play dress up. Here are a few pictures from our fun trip.


Two pretty Princesses are ready to go to the ball.

Bess let AG wear a "royal" coat to the ball.

It was so much fun listening to them laugh and talk to each other. They say the funniest things to each other. From talking about how princesses don't have passys to sliding off the slippery sofa together...they had a great time. Thanks, Sal and Bess for letting AG and me come play today. We had a great time!

Does Daddy wear a hat?

Well, Anna Grace and I had another great conversation today. All of our best conversations happen in the car. I think that is when she is really thinking.

We had to get out on this 37 degree cold day to get some birthday presents. AG has two birthday parties this weekend and Thomas and I have two friends' birthdays this weekend as well. So I bundled her up in her warmest jacket, hat and gloves. I put on my warmest jacket and gloves too. No hat for me...it may mess up my hair....
I seriously felt like we were going to walk outside and there would be snow on the ground - that is how bundled up we were.

As we were driving out of the neighborhood AG asked me, "Mommy where is your hat?" I told her I didn't have one. Then she said, "Does Daddy wear a hat?" Before I could answer her, she answered her own question again and replied, "Daddy only wears his hat to the dump." (We don't have trash service, so every Saturday AG and Thomas get in the truck and head to the dump - after making pancakes. Our family has some strange Sat. morning routines. AG actually looks forward to riding in the truck with daddy to the dump. Thomas usually wears a ball cap with his old clothes.)
I replied, "You are right, Anna Grace, Daddy does wear a hat to the dump." She responded, "And daddy wears a hat to the Clemson football game too. But when he goes to the Gamecock football game, I stay at Nana and Big Pop's house because I don't like the Gamecocks." I responded, "Anna Grace, daddy doesn't go to the Gamecock football games. He only goes to the Clemson football games." And she said, "That's because Tigers eat Gamecocks."

So, now you know how my daughter feels about Clemson football and you know when Thomas wears his hats. It is on two occasions - going to the dump on Saturday and Clemson football games.

Let's see if I can find two pictures - one from a Saturday and one from a football game and we can see if Thomas is wearing a hat....I found two older pictures and it looks like she is correct.


This is a picture of Anna Grace and her friend Hayley tailgating before the Clemson game. Anna Grace is 18 months old and Hayley is 2 in the picture. And look behind them - Thomas is wearing a hat.

This picture was taken on a Saturday. Thomas usually mows the lawn after his trip to the dump. As you can see, he is wearing a hat. So, Anna Grace was right.