Zoo trip

Darryl has been in South Africa for the last 12 days. He arrived back home yesterday. I will try and get some of his pictures from the trip to post here. While he was gone the little boys and I had a great time. I tried to plan a few fun things. Gigi came for a visit for several days which was a real treat for us. She has the pictures and I will try to get them from her. My favorite times were "coffee"/OJ time with Gigi in the mornings and reading with Gigi at bedtime. We also enjoyed a great trip out shopping, kids in tow, for the new baby and for Chase's new bed. We found some real bargins at my favorite consignment shop. We had a fantastic lunch at Figo and one great dinner at Sangrias....yummy. What a fun time. And what a great help Gigi was around the house. We shopped at the farmers market and she made us some great fish meals. I miss that. She is in South Africa now.

The next weekend we went to the pool and the zoo. The weather has been really mild otherwise you would not have found my very pregnant self at the zoo in the July heat. Here are a couple of pics from the zoo. The kids were so good while I had them all to myself and I am so thankful!!

Dreams...

Dreams…. I recently heard the song about dreams song by Miley Cyrus. I am not a huge fan and the song is kind of corny, but I was intent on hearing the message in her song. It's all about the pursuit of your dreams and the mountains you must climb over to achieve those dreams. I have always admired people who knew exactly what their dreams were and they seemed to order their life around the pursuit of those dreams. Everything becomes measurable against those dreams.

I was wondering what are my dreams. I don't ever remembering having such dreams.
As I think back over the years I don't remember ever saying that I had a dream to be a business woman in a big city, however all the indications of that dream were there. I vividly remember sitting behind the drivers seat in the car and using the drivers seat headrest as my steering wheel. I would pretend to be driving the car as we rode around town. When we got home I would go into the house and hop into the elevator (coat closet), ascend to the 10th floor, exit the elevator/coat closet, and proceed to my apartment/bedroom, "unlock" the door, and I was home. While my sisters would play dolls and school, I like to play store. I would label everything in the basement with a price tag, set up a money box, and charge Terese Monopoly money to buy things at my store for her doll school house. So, while the dream of being a business-woman/money-counter may not have ever been visualized and verbalized, it was there. I am so thankful that even when we don't know of a dream which to order our lives around, that we have moments we can look back on and realize that God gives us those desires of our hearts that we didn't even know we had. I will never forget the feeling of pride as I put on that first business suit, packed up my briefcase, and drove to the first day on the job "in my own real car" "from my real apartment". It has been a great 14 years of suiting up. I have realized though that dreams can be put on hold for the pursuit of other dreams.

Never in my college days would I ever have imagined having kids, let alone having 3 of them and staying at home to take care of them. The older I have gotten though the more the dream of being a mom is coming clear. I love being a mom. It is a God-given privilege to have these strong desires and I am glad to have been given the opportunity.

I think I am a case of someone with dreams that I didn't even know I had and they are coming true. I am not necessarily a dream-driven person, yet a God-directed person. He always known much better than I.

...okay I realize this is a little sappy but I am allowed…you think about these things when you are 34 weeks pregnant and your whole world is about to change.

Favorite Quotes of the Week

From Chase :

• I love my mommy.
• Where's daddy? Where is daddy Chase? Af-e-ca.
• Where's Evan? Where is Evan Chase? At Maine.

From Ryan:

• On Saturday, "Mom, that is so weird seeing Jeff Francouer in a Yankees jersey." I said yes it is Ryan, but that is a Mets jersey.
• Sunday as we are at Willy's watching the Braves game over burritos, Ryan announces to all of Willy's diners in his loudest voice "Escobar spanked that ball mom!!! He really spanked that ball out of the field." The fellow diners were so amused and so was I.
• After a visit from Ryan's friend Evan who has been out of town for the last 10 days, "I miss Evan, I should have asked him if he wanted to sleepover." (Ryan has never had a sleepover.)

I was tagged....

I am playing blog tag. My college roommate at http://gravityofmotion.blogspot.com/ tagged me to reveal 8 things about myself...

8 things I look forward to...
1. Meeting my 3rd son in person (and seeing him sleep through the night for the first time).
2. And on the same note, having my body back which includes drinking a whole Dr Pepper after delivering and feeling so light on my feet that I want to go for a job!
3. Taking my family to another Brave's game.
4. Hearing about my husband and dad's trip to Africa in July.
5. Taking my husband and kids snow skiing for the first time (winter 2014 baby).
6. Experiencing all those extra hugs and kisses I am going to be receiving from my kids after I quit work in August.
7. Hearing George's new song.
8. God's continued blessings on my family.

8 things I did yesterday...
1. I got to my house about 1AM after celebrating the big 80th Birthday for Jimmy in Knoxville.
2. Slept a little.
3. The boys and I went to Dekalb Farmer's Market, bought groceries and checked out the live fish, crab, and lobsters.
4. Spent 45 minutes at the lab to get blood work for Ryan's food allergies only to find out that the lab could not understand the doctor's orders...urggg.
5. Took a nap...ahhh.
6. Tried 3 new recipes, cauliflower "mashed potatoes" (not as good as the real thing), ginger and scallion orange roughy, and broiled veggies. Low sugar and low carb, and absolutely terrible.
7. Supervised the building of the longest Thomas the Train track that Ryan has ever seen.
8. Watched the Bachelorette.


8 Things I wish I could do...
1. Snow ski trip every year.
2. Africa trip every year.
3. Beach trip every year.
4. Alaska trip every year.
...boy am I dreaming
5. Also, cure my son of his peanut allergy
6. Eat donuts everyday.
7. Play the french horn.
8. Speak Afrikaans so that I don't miss a beat with my niece and nephew.

8 Shows I watch...

Not nearly 8 but I do watch The Office, Bachelor/Bachelorette, Lie to Me, Day's of Our Lives occasionally and that's all I can think of right now.

Although I've been tagged I really don't know any bloggers. If you are reading, consider yourself tagged and leave it in a comment.

Irreplacable

I was reminded this week of Beyonce's song "Irreplacable" when they hired a guy into my old job. If you have forgotten, I resigned at Delta about a year ago but they have never backfilled my position until this week. I have been contracting with them every since to fill the gap. I had the pleasure of reviewing resumes, interviewing and recommending my replacement. Working myself right out of a job. I knew this thing was only temporary but it has been a little weird. I must say that we seem to have gotten a good guy and he is starting on July 1.

What does this mean for me professionally? Well, my contract ends Aug. 31. Yipee! I think. The person who coined the phrase "mixed emotions" must have just given up a really cool job to stay at home with family. I have never in my life been so happy and so sad all at the same time. I feel the tears well up inside and nothing comes but a big smile on my face. Darryl has a way of always putting things in the right perspective. He hit the nail on the head when he said "nothing's permanent."

I would appreciate any words of advise as I am about to embark in uncharted territory.

ATTENTION: Friends and Family

We went to the allergiest today with Ryan and it is official...he is STILL allergic to peanuts. This is just a reminder to everyone. Most of you are aware and go to great lengths to help us keep him safe and we really appreciate it. He is awesome to always ask if he doesn't know. He is quite the little tropper that one.

Book review: Pillars of the Earth, Ken Folliet

I managed to finish this book a few weeks ago. From the moment I started it, I could not put it down. I really like the old English-type literature. The neatest thing about this book is that it first became popular by word of mouth rather than by being on someone's book club list or best-seller list. The interest in it started over in Europe and popularity finally spread to the US. Of course once it became popular here the book was completely exploited in grand US fashion. However, it was not a best-seller here until several years after it was written.

I had heard rave reviews of this book and was curious to read a book about the physical building of churches. I was super-more curious when I read the prologue and found out that the author of the book is an atheist. Can this be right? Guy spends years studying the grand cathedrals of England and researches the people that actually built them. I am talking about people putting down the stones, not the church leaders organizing the religion. I am talking the physical building to the church. Okay, so I was curious. Turns out he wove a fascinating story, HOWEVER, several of his characters shared his views on the non-existence of God and I just can't get past that. I suppose I can understand someone being so passionate about architecture that you would want to make your mark by building a grand cathedral. But without purpose besides architectural significance, I just don't get it. They could have built a castle, a wall, or something else. The attempts of the priests sponsoring the cathedral building projects were to build something that would inspire people toward God (or so I like to think). To think that the hands building that church had no affections for God seems crazy. I could be totally wrong though, they lived in different times, in different cultures. But I like to think the hearts of these people had to be hearts of God-fearing men. Curious to me that Folliet, self-proclaimed atheist, is so drawn to churches. Imagine his level of fasination and influence if he truly believed in their purpose. Maybe one day?

Awesome book and I will read the follow-up.

Vacation Reflections

A few of my favorite things about beach vacations….

….the nostalgia of it all. Growing up we went to the beach almost every year. Feeling the heat, the ocean breeze, and hearing the surf brings you back to all of those marvelous beach vacations growing up. It's amazing to me that we somehow cannot enjoy being so responsibility-free when we are young. Know what I mean? It is amazing to look back and realize how care-free you actually were when you were young. It's only when you are responsible for something/someone more than yourself that you realize this. I wouldn't go back for anything. I am just living in different but good times now.

…just seeing that BIG ocean reminds me of how small I really am in the whole scheme of things. Man, this is huge world I live in. Why I ever worry and let circumstances take over my life is beyond me. Seems that people who live near the beach must be the most worry-free people in the world.

…vacation allows you an opportunity to make life changes. On vacation you have time for things you don't seem to when you are at home. Exercise, smoothie making, reading, showering at night, watching TV in bed with the kids, etc. I always attempt to take one of these vacation-enjoyed habits and take them home with me. Seems to make the vacation last for me a little bit longer. All-in-all it is these little things we do on vacation that enhance our lives. Why do we not do them when we are at home? Yesterday I read for about an hour rather than watching the idiot box. Today I made a smoothie and brought it to work with me. The vacation lives on…..

See our cool beach pics below.

Go Braves

Ryan loves baseball. He doesn't know the game but he knows all the players and all the cheers. His favorite player is Kelly Johnson. We had been watching the Braves on TV and I finally took him to a day game one Thursday last month. It was a surprise and I also got him a jersey at Walmart to wear to the game. He was thrilled. He cheered the whole time and got mad at me when I made him come with me to get some lunch to bring back to our seats. We were in line at the concessions and he was saying "let's gooooooo mommy, we are missing the game." Towards the end of the game we went down and watched the opposing pitchers warming up in their bullpen. Wow, what a cool time we had. I hope I can take him to another game or 2 before it gets too hot and I am too big to go. I also hope I can get some one-on-one time with Chase too.

Mini...van

I've always dreamed of having a mini-COOPER. Can't say I've ever dreamed about having a mini-van, but here we go. It really drives like a dream and it is very handy. This all in preparation for the new youngster. Darryl and Ryan have already disgraced it with an Aubie sticker on the back. We traded in Crimson, my old Honda. It was quite sad watching old Crimson being driven away. She had 240K miles on her but she was an amazing car. I will miss her. Love the mini though. Definitely the nicest car we have ever owned! Darryl is still trying to get over the shock. He pulled out all the stops in trying to convince me NOT to go there (the minivan route that is).

Let's go cruzin. There is room for us all.

New Baby Martin

We found out the week after New Years that this was going to be a life changing year. We are pregnant and having the baby around September 3rd. We were a little surprised but mostly just excited. We have been blessed with a healthly pregnancy so far.

We found out about a month ago that it is....another BOY! I knew it the day I woke up and was scheduled to find out. I put on my big blue shirt and loaded up the entire family and off we went. Everything looks healthy. Praise God. I just had to scan in a few photos. This baby is measuring big already. The thing that amazed me most was that he is for sure to be a Stooksbury. Look at this long leg and these 2 big feet.

He has just started moving and I am really trying to enjoy every minute of it. Ryan talks to him just about everyday and wants to call him "Tra-la-la-la-la". Chase is crazy about babies and he is really going to be excited when he figures everything out. Right now, he is clueless. What a joyous time.

First Martin Beach Vacation

This year was our first ever Martin family beach vacation. We went to Fort Walton Beach, Ocaloosa Island in Florida. I can pretty much sum up the trip by saying it was amazing, however here are a few of the details that made it amazing (including food, surf, and fun)...



1. Dewey Destin is the BEST new place for seafood. We went for lunch (great idea with kids). Breezey patio lunch on the marina watching boats come and go. Kids were plenty entertained and the Mahi Mahi parmesan was to die for. Yes, mahi mahi parmesan. Who would have thought?

2. Amazing that you can put on 45/50 spf everyday all day and still get a tan. We never saw a cloud in the sky.

3. Ryan thought the swimming pool was soooooo cool.

4. You can get the Braves on TV at the beach. Had to watch some and they won!

5. You can do without Thomas trains for a week.

6. They first AM we woke up and Chase went to the balcony and said "where's the people". He is such a people person. He ran to the window when a few folk finally decided to arise and emerge onto the beach and said "there's the people, mommy." He did this several times while at the beach.

7. The first night on the beach we enjoyed dinner on the pier and saw the full moon rising over the pier. So pretty!

8. Ryan and Chase slept together for the first time and did great. They were adoreable.

9. When we came out onto the beach for the first time Ryan said "look at all that snow." Ahhh..."that's sand babe." WOW!

10. For the first time ever Ryan had no fear and Chase was more than skeptical about the beach.

11. We tried an Irish Pub, McQuires, for lunch one day because of all the good things we have heard. Amazing 3/4 lb. burger. I have been seeing this place for years and never knew.

12. One night we went to the Back Porch for dinner. Thank the good Lord for beach access to a playground for the kids. We sat right on the window and felt a nice ocean breeze while enjoying some fried shrimps. ummm....

13. Staying out on the beach till after 7:00 and then hitting the pool....ah. Afterwards we went for a "late" dinner at the Tiquana Flatts Burrito Bar. Either I was hungry or this was the best burrito I have ever had.

14. Not so great....sporting around on the beach in a maternity bathing suite. There is no way to look good in it. HOWEVER, you can eat and drink as much as you want and no one knows you are bloated.

15. Darryl enjoyed catching red snapper but was sad that it was not red snapper season.

16. We went to Stone Cold Creamry for ice cream one night. Oh so good.

17. They minivan was an awesome, hauling machine.

18. I loved watching Chase play with the sand toys under the umbrella.

19. Ryan's feet rarely hit the sand when he was on the beach. He ran about 3 miles a day. Up and the down the beach, back and forth. Jumping over and into waves. Kid was absolutely exhausted at night.


Okay, so admittedly a lot of my ah-ha moments involve some kind of food, but that is to be expected when you are eating for two.






Ryan's pic on the beach, on the balcony, and with his "funny hair".



Boys dressed up for Mom for mother's Day. We went to Cafe Italia. Yummy!

Daddy went fishing one day and here we are eating Daddy's fresh catch...snapper. Yummy!

We had to tune into the Braves one night and luckily they won by a lot!! Go Kelly Johnson. We spent an hour playing baseball on the beach the next day. Kid is crazy about it.

A little pool time....

A little surf ....

A little chillin under the umbrella...

Is that Darryl reading? These moments were few and far between but we did find some.

That about sums it up. Can't wait for our next Martin beach vacation!!!

Auburn A-day...what??

I find myself in the craziest places with Darryl Martin. It is a gorgeous, sunny, Saturday afternoon. I look at my children and they are adorned from head to toe in Auburn appearal. I look around me and I am standing in a line with those children and my husband, also in Auburn apparel. Where were we and what were we standing in line for. Well, we were standing on the Auburn football field in Jordan Haire stadium in line to get an autograph from Auburn Coach Cizik. Great! Like I said, I find myself in the craziest of places. The last time I was on that football field...I was completely outfitted in my UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA majorette uniform marching across the field to Yea, Alabama. Amazing really. What would my old buddies think of me now? Shame, shame.

Chase's First Fish

Okay....this was a big moment. Chase got a new fishing rod and we were off to Uncle Stan's pond in Alabama to attempt catching his first fish. He was sucessful. You should have seen his little feet stomping the ground with excitement. He was running in place. He was not the least bit scared of the fish and had no problem touching and holding on to it. He loves fishing! Uncle Philip was there to provide the celebratory "ding dong" which ended up all over his face....ha. One of these pictures shows all of the Martin men (brothers Tim, Philip, Darryl and their sons Graham, Ryan, and Chase), except for baby-Martin-to-be, ofcourse.

Fun time with the Martins!!!