Its been a while...

Did you just start singing that old Staind song?  I did.  It use to be one of my faves over ten years ago, dang I am old.  Anywho...

So I know I have been more that distant as of late but its only cause I am trying to spare you.  Its my attempt to keep every post from being: I'm stressed, I have anxiety, this house stuff is going to be the death of me, etc., you get it.

How about a few updates though.

We are buying these 88 wooded acres in PG county which has meant a lot of work with planning and zoning.  It has been a process for sure.  I am anticipating most things with the county to be finalized this week so we can start moving ahead.  I have actually started packing already.  I need everything about where we are in life right now to feel as temporary as possible.  It is what will inevitably keep me sane.  In the meantime, we, okay well not me, but the guys and some friends, have been working on clearing the property.  I am absolutely convinced there is nothing that my husband does not have the ability to do.  He's the man :)  Speaking of, the 5th of July marked 10 years that we have actually been together, crazy!  

Jay is doing great.  We finally finished all his state testing and got his scores back and he passed.  As I looked through the test before he took it I was sure he would ace it cause it was all stuff he knew well.  He missed a few but not many.  I am still so nervous about him going into 3rd grade this school year and hoping he adjusts quickly back to public school.  In short, I am just hoping I did not screw my kid up this past year homeschooling.  We had planned on him playing football this season but with everything we have going on, we had to pass.  We have made quite a few sacrifices this year to get things lined up to buy our home.  I feel like we have had a semi-crappy summer but he is not the one to complain, thankfully.  I am so unbelievably proud of the man he is becoming.  He is at this age where so much is changing with himself and in our life as a family and I can see how it is molding him into something even greater than he was the day before.  The size of his heart is overwhelming at times.  I love this boy so much ♥

and Little Miss Blakely Boo, let me tell you, she is growing up so fast.  8 months has gone by so quick!  I would say she is well over 20 pounds.  We had to upgrade her out of her infant seat.  She loves her new Britax though cause she gets to sit so high up and see out the windows, and it means Mommy carries her everywhere now.  She crawls, but only to the nearest object to climb up.  She has even perfected the gentle fall to her bottom, after many times of not falling so gracefully.  She wants to eat, like everything.  Loves her some spicy food.  I made some Jambalaya last night and she went crazy over the rice and andouille.  She says her "ma, ma, ma, mas" and "da, da, da, da, das" and "bu, bu, bu, bu, bubs".  Here a few minutes ago Jay let out a "boom, boom, pow" while playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii and she sure nuff copied him with her own "boom, boom, pow".  It was another one of those moments that just made me wanna eat Jay up.  He gets so excited over everything she does, that's his girl.  She fusses just for her bubba sometimes.  I love their bond.

I am still only at ten followers, but finally hit a mini milestone with over 1000 page views.  I know most bloggers get that in a day but as someone who is super new and doesn't post much, I am happy bout it.  

So here are a few random, unedited pics of the last few weeks.  No collaging,  No picmonkeying, just all as is.

sweet cuddles.

big girl seat!

playdate with our fave lil guy.

what the guys do when they aren't chopping trees, see Jays tongue, that means business!

no more baby tub!

"you looking at me"

No, you cannot have any.

bubba and B

told you I can stand up!

xo♥xo♥

lydia

He raised the bar.

HELP!!?!!

I am so in need of help as to what to get my husband for Fathers Day and his birthday.  Fathers Day is June 17 and his birthday is June 20.  

I have been racking my brain on what to get him.

First off, as a person who does not work, my funds are crazy limited.  He really went all out for Mothers Day.  I got clothes, shoes, jewelry, tanning package, a weekend of no cooking, and all the loving I could handle from my family.  He definitely raised the bar.  Ideally, I would love to get him a gun but my budget will not allow for the one he has been eyeing.  He is incredibly hard to shop for too. 

He is a guys guy.  He is a country boy.  He is amazing.  He is mine :)

and yet I have no idea what to get this man!


The 5Gs don't really apply to him.  
No Gadgets, its not his thing. Golf, no.  Gift Baskets, impersonal.  Grooming, he is good.  Grill, he is pretty covered.  I thought about getting him a brander with his initials, but honestly, he could make it for less. 


I NEED HELP!  


he deserves it.






xo♥xo♥

And it went a little something like this...

Our Memorial Weekend was pretty rad.

The hubby has been putting in a ton of hours the last few weeks working and working with little, if any, time off.  We had been looking forward to his weekend so much.  No alarm clocks and not waking up before the sun.  Its something I have to many times before taken for granted.  Spent my whole Friday shopping.  It was crazy out.  It reminded me of a major storm prep.    All the essentials were missing off shelves but instead of toilet paper and flashlights it was like no hot dog buns and no solo cups.  My oh my the weather was humid here.  Also reminded me of before a storm, hmm, my head is very gulf coast right now.  Sidetracking...  

I really wanted to make the jello shooters going around on pinterest that look like watermelons.  I was so stoked about it and even got watermelon flavored vodka.  Let me tell you, a lime is really hard to get right without breaking skin.  It could of been I accidently bought a bag of key limes.  I gave up very quickly on this.  I next went for the oranges, they have got to be easier, right?  Ha!  I partially think I may have just been out of patience from my long day shopping.  I gave up quickly on it too.  My hubby and BIL had to show me up and make it look all easy until I went ahead and finished the oranges.  I am super happy I did too.  Everyone loved them!  They did not make it to a photo.  Sorry.  The last time I had made jello shooters I had got these plastic shot cups that were just long enough to annoy the hell out of you cause you were hurting the bottom of your tongue trying to get it out.  So yea, I got much kudos on the ease of these shooters.  I made some Madagascar jigglers for the kids, they were happy too and didn't even need the vodka :)


So Friday was spent shopping for me, yardwork for the guys.   Blakely had the very important task of being a sweet baby while we finished our to-dos, she rocked that out.

Saturday we fired up the grill early to get the cooking out of the way.  As I have said before, the hubby creates magic on that thing.

3 Racks of Ribs, 2 Pork Shoulders and 1 Brisket later...  oh yeah, and we had dogs and burgers.  Everything was amazing!!  I made my "you don't have to like slaw to love this" coleslaw and my infamous cheese dip and.  I 'wo'manned the magic bullet pumping out frozen margaritas and banana coladas.  So good!

I had my first jello shooter at about 10am so by 10pm, I was ready for bed, I felt so old.  Even more so my lil BIL had his girlfriend and a couple of her friends over.  I felt extremely old at that point.  Some great friends of ours drive down from Louisa and some of our local people came over also.  All in all, it was a really great day filled with amazing food and amazing drinks.






Our Sunday was filled with laziness and left overs.  Also, magical.

We raided Redbox and closed the blinds and laid around all day long.  Blakely stayed naked and was happy for the lounging and constant snuggles.  Her first tooth finally broke through and she is handling teething way better than her big bro did.  




Our Monday...
So for my husband and his family Memorial Day weekend feels more about the memory of his brother.  He and I had met during our senior year of high school but did not really know each other.  He died Memorial Day 2000 when his car hydroplaned and he ran off the road at the age of 19.  I know it is hard for everyone in their family this time of year.  We had his parents and brother over for a delicious dinner and just spent some time together.

♥1981-2000♥

Four days went by way to fast!
This morning all I wanted to do was sleep in with the hubby.  Back to work he went though.  To often I take for granted what an amazing man my husband has grown to be.  Then he reminds me, without even trying.  I am one lucky lady to be loved by this man.  He is everything I never even realized I wanted and needed.  ♥

beyond AMAZING!

My husband is as titled, beyond AMAZING!

We have been pinching pennies more so than usual lately with everything going on with getting our home.  (s/n:the process is taking forever)  He could tell that this momma was in need of a lot.  More so than anything he told me how he could tell that I need to become healthier mentally.  Something we both feel starts physically in my case.  I need to feel better about myself inside and out.  As far as the mental, he works on that everyday.  Constant kisses and even when I know I look a hot mess, he tells me I am beautiful.  The physical, well the hubs decided to spoil me with with some gift cards and a tanning package for mom's day.  He has to give gifts early, I am all over our accounts.  I went out yesterday and killed a gift card.  Feeling good about my warm time wardrobe and my super cute wedges.  I still have more shopping to do too!  I gave him a little fashion show last night and heard him not just tell me I was beautiful, but gave me the 
"You look hot!"

Score!  Now that's what I am talking about.

thanks for being my reason to smile Mr. Thompson, 
I love you more every and more every day.  

xo♥xo♥

lydia

the story of Us. Part 1.

This is the story on how we, came to be.  
This is how our forever began...


My hubby is a few years older than me.  He is a Virginia country boy through and through.  A deer mount hanging, camo hat wearing, good food cookin, country boy.  
I went to school with his younger sister and brother, so we had randomly met a few times around PG.  We were so caught up in our own lives that neither of us were even on the others radar.  It would be years before we saw each other again.  


He had a daughter and all that came with her.  He experienced and attempted to deal with the unimaginable, unexpected loss of his 18 year old brother, and his family forever changing.  Going through the worse loss and the best love.


During those years I put myself through a lot of rough lessons. 

I partied crazily.  I quit school frustrated that Virginia had wanted me to take classes I had already.  Problems you face when you go to four high schools.  I was working two jobs.  Making rediculous money for a 17 year old.  I moved out before my 18th birthday to an apartment next to VCU.  I didn't go to college but I partied like I did.  I had two DUI's before I was even legal to drink.  People always say the cliche "I don't regret anything I did cause it got me to where I am today."  Not me.  I have regret.  I did so much during this time period of my life that I am not proud of.  Drugs, alcohol and promiscuity, solve nothing.  I was forced to wise up when an ex began stalking me.  I had to quit jobs.  I decided to move back home with my parents.  I knew it was time to change some things up.  I started cutting relationships that were no good for me, out of my life.  That is as much detail as I choose to give for now. 


It is now, July 2002.  
I was hanging out with a good friend of mine one day, we will call her Fo ;)   
We were at my parents house getting ready to go out and she got a call from a friend of ours, (his sister), about a little get together.  My future guy was there celebrating his non-wedding.  Ya see, he was actually suppose to be getting married that 4th of July weekend but, lucky for me, he called it off.  We flirted ridiculously.  Ya know flirting is one of those things you are either good at or your not.  Its a skill.  It should be listed on resumes.  People who can't, but try, really make things awkward, don't you think?  Anyway, I am babbling.  I took off to go check out a party and ended up staying there most of the night.  Late that night on my way home I decided I would stop back by there.  We ended up sitting outside all night.  Listening to music and talking.  Mostly me.  I did get that neither of us were looking for anything serious.  I just had this crazy relationship and well he was just about married that weekend.  
I think that is how it is though.  Love finds a way when you least expect it.

to be continued...




xo♥xo
lydia


   



    

hE LoVeS mE

My hubby is the cutest

see... told ya!

I love him more than I ever thought possible.  He is incredibly intelligent (which is very sexy) and extremely funny (which is even sexier).  His random compliment last night....

he called me Snoop Dogg.

Yep!  That Snoop.  

This was a very loving compliment from my hunny.

xo♥xo♥

lydia