Merry Christmas 2008...Levi's 1st, Amelia Grace's 4th, and our 1st in our New House

Christmas Eve evening, I realized I had to make 2 Sweet Potato Casseroles, and 2 Cranberry Pecan Pies, (with homemade pie crusts, I might add).  

So, on Christmas morning in the Barbee house, when Levi woke up at 6:30 am, he and I got up and began our preparations for the day. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice all of the gifts under the tree that "Santa" had brought for him and his sister.....but that was okay, right then I really didn't have time to play.  

We began cooking sweet potatoes and making our pie crusts, and soon it turned 7:00 and still no one was awake, Amelia Grace usually never sleeps this late, so I turn on the computer to look up my Cranberry pecan pie recipe and Jason begins to stir.  Levi and I were getting hungry and really wanted to go ahead and began making our Christmas breakfast of Pancakes and bacon, so at 7:30 when Jason woke up and then woke up Amelia Grace we were reallyhappy.  

But then the most puzzling thing happens...when Amelia Grace wakes up and comes into the family room, she doesn't even say anything about the brand new bicycle or the Tinkerbell doll that "Santa" worried himself to death over finding the exact one that she wanted, or any of the other toys that were under the tree.  All she wanted was pancakes and bacon and to know why Santa didn't eat all of his cookies, and if we left him any milk?  After breakfast though she warmed up to the toys that she was given and I think she wasn't actually sure that they were hers.  Levi on the other hand just dove right into his toys I think he was just excited to get trucks and cars, and barns with farm animals, real boy toys, he couldn't take it all in.  it was fun to have an 8 month old at Christmas time.  

All in all I believe this Christmas was the best that we have ever had as a family...we have our son and our daughter.  We have a wonderful set of brothers and sisters and all the family that goes with them and our parents are all doing great.  We truly couldn't ask for more....our whole entire  family is so very blessed....those are truly the best gifts we could ever ask for.

Merry Christmas 2008 with Mamaw and Papaw!!

On Christmas day we went to visit with my parents and have Christmas dinner.  We had turkey, ham, and all of the fixings, and my daddy and older sister's favorite...cranberry pecan pie.  For the last 4 years I have made this pie and I have never had a piece of it until this year....and it is yummy!  But anyway getting back to the memories that were made.  My older brother Tim and his family were there, my older sister came up from Surfside Beach with her 2 children, my younger brother was there with his wife and daughter, and my younger sister was there.  We also got to spend the holiday with my uncle David and aunt Linda and their granddaughter Kimberley.  

Amelia Grace and Levi really got alot of gifts, but I think they enjoyed being with their cousins most of all.  Bless his heart, Levi was suffering with a fever so he didn't want many people messing with him and come to find out he had double ear infections.  (We took him to the Dr. the next day)

Oh yeah I almost forgot my grandma was there or as Amelia Grace and Levi call her Gramma, and my Aunt Tina ( my daddy's sister) and her two boys were there.  

I spent most of my time out on the front porch in a rocking chair talking to my older sister.  I really miss her since she moved to the beach but that just means that we will be making trips to the beach this summer, I have never met my nephew, Gus or my niece, Apple.  Gus is a beautifulGreat Dane who is about 7 months old and is a smokey gray color, I have talked to him on the phone and can't wait to get to love on him and well,  Apple.... she's just crazy.   We had a great Christmas at my mama and daddy's house...a lot of people in a house that would otherwise be huge until you try to fit about 35 people in it at one time, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  My family may sometimes be odd, a little hard to get along with, or just simply crazy, ut they are my family and I love them just the way they are.

Merry Christmas 2008 with Nanny & Papaw!

This Christmas was a fun one we actually got to spend sometime with Jason's sister Julie,  her new husband, Trevor, and their "blended"family.  Our Christmas celebration with Jason's family is on Christmas Eve, which had Jason working for 1/2 a day, but he got home in time for us to meet at his parents house to have a pick-up lunch.  The food was great, sausage balls, veggie cheese ball, hot dogs marinated in Worcestershire sauce, pistachio salad, cherry puddles, veggie tray, chips and dip, party ham biscuits, oh and so many other good things to eat.  While we ate there were Christmas pictures of years past in the center of the table that we got to look at some for the first time.  And then we started opening gifts.........with 7 grandchildren that takes some time.  Everyone was so happy just to get to spend time together, but everyone loved the gifts they received.  It was great!  Julie and her family had to leave around 5:00 to get to Trevor's parents house but we stayed for our traditional steak and baked potato supper with salad and bread...I look forward to that every year.  We had a great time and it was nice for Levi to get to have such a big celebration for his first Christmas!

The Wedding.......

Friday night December 12, 2008 we attended Jason's sisters wedding. It was on a yacht in Lake Norman called the Lady of the Lake. A beautiful boat, a beautiful place to have a wedding, not such a great place to have a 3 year old and a 8 month old, who are used to being in bed at 6:30 and 7:30. It was a beautiful wedding, with prime rib, roasted pork tenderloin, or salmon for dinner and wedding cake, of course, for dessert. We also had the cutest party favors, little tiny Godiva dark chocolate wedding cakes filled with milk chocolate ganache. The boxes were tied with ribbon and had a silver heart charm.Luckily, Levi slept most of the time, and Amelia Grace was well behaved, most of the time, except when she was crawling under the dinner table and refused to come out, and all she ate for dinner was the little chocolate wedding cake. So, after her sugar rush kicked in her and her cousins (Julie has 3 children) began running around the top floor of the boat, which seemed to only get smaller as the night went on.
All in all it was a beautiful wedding, we are so happy that they are happy. We all had a good time and we will never take Amelia Grace and Levi on a boat again, until they get in their teens!

Happy Birthday, Remington!

December 10th is always a very difficult day for me, you see that is our oldest son's birthday. Remington Edwards Barbee was born on 12-10-04 @ 7:30 am, in heaven, surrounded by angels and with his Heavenly Father.


If someone had told me that at 26 years old I would be in a cemetery on a cold December morning burying my firstborn infant son, I wouldn't have been able to imagine just how horrible that could have felt. I always think about him and just how much he looked like his daddy, with dark hair and his daddy's dimple....and my nose....what a perfectly beautiful little man he was.


I know you hear people say things happen for a reason, and I believe that too, but more importantly I believe things happen to in some way bring glory to God and His ultimate plan for our lives. No matter how short Remington's life was it was not an insignificant life, I believe in some way he had an impact on someone, even if it was just me...to be my first son, to help me know how much love a mother can have for her children even if she doesn't get to physically care for them, and to know that if I had a choice, with how much my heart aches to hold him some days that I would never bring him back to this place, to know fear, pain, anger and sickness. But with my heart resting in the assurance that he is with Jesus, and that when the time comes I will see him again, makes my heart peacefully happy.

Thanksgiving

I know it is a tad bit late to writing about Thanksgiving but I have just now gotten the time. This Thanksgiving was special because it was Levi's 1st, and well sometimes holidays are the only times we get to see extended family. Our Thanksgiving holiday started on the Tuesday before when we went to Jason's Mama & Daddy's house to have a big dinner with them and Jason's sister Julie. her fiancee, Trevor, and her 3 children Blake, Madison, & Annsley. The dinner was wonderful however we failed to get any pictures because all of the grandchildren are so young it takes lots and lots and lots (did I mention lots?) of supervision when they are all together. But they have fun and get along so what more could parents ask for?
Then on Thanksgiving Thursday, we went to my Mama & Daddy's house for dinner. It was slightly crowded and my Mama & Daddy's house is fairly a good size one. My older brother Tim was there with his wife, Tanum and their 3 children Kylie, Nicholas, and Madilyn. My older sister, Shelley came up from Myrtle Beach with her 2 children AJ, (short for Ariel Jordan) and Jacob. My younger brother Joshua came in with his wife Savanna and their 2 year old daughter Kaytlyn and then there is my youngest sister Melani. Then add in my Grandma and my Uncle David and his wife Linda and their granddaughter Kimberley and then my cousin Steven and his wife April who is pregnant and their little girl Taylor. And oh yeah I almost for got my Uncle Butch without his wife ( a very long and somewhat complicated story) and My aunt Tina. Plus 2 dogs BJ (Bruiser Jr.) and Jelley Bean, and a cat Tessa. We had a great time except that Levi would not let anyone hold him except my Daddy and Jason and someone threw my plate of food away before I got to finish it, but my oldest brother Tim did say the my Sweet Potato Casserole was the best that he has ever had, so that made me feel really good.
So, yea, memories, and we get to do it all over again on CHRISTMAS!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

This time of year is always one of my favorite, because it reminds me of my grandpa. My grandpa had a nickname, "Treeman" because in the small town of Mt. Holly North Carolina , he was the "man" when it came to selling Christmas trees. And everyone who was anyone bought a Christmas tree from him, I don't know how did it, but he remembered everyone who came to see him at Christmas time....or he was really good at faking it!
As long as I can remember the day after Thanksgiving was not one of shopping to get the best deals at the mall, it was spent "shopping" for the best Christmas trees in the mountains of North Carolina. I can remember some years my daddy going with my grandpa to pick up the trees. I can remember all of my "family" who came to the tree lot, there was "Red" Pattterson, "Uncle" John Hope, my Uncle Ray and his wife Judy and people I didn't see any other time during the year I would get to see at the tree lot...but those were my favorite.
Some of my best childhood memories come from hanging out with my grandpa at the tree lot, because I didn't really get to spend that much time with him other than at Christmas, well not quality time anyway. I can remember just running around the Christmas trees and standing in front of the fire, eating homemade cakes and drinking coffee. As I got older I was able to help more, although they never let me run the chainsaw.......I wonder why? I can remember one Christmas we decorated wreaths with pine cones and bows and my grandpa manned the glue gun and my mom and I were the brave ones manning the pinecones and bows. We had such fun!!!!

In our house growing up there was a Christmas tree, of some kind, in every room. It isn't any wonder why the smell of evergreen puts me so at ease.
We were blessed to get Amelia Grace's 1st Christmas tree from my Grandpa's tree lot, but the following July 4th my grandpa passed away. It is bittersweet to drive by that same place and not see Christmas Trees, but to remember the man that I did not know a lot of when I was young, except at Christmas time. But when I got older is when I think he truly realized how much I loved him, and I realized just how much he had always loved me...and we both realized just how much alike we truly were.

Chimney Rock 2008

A few Sunday's ago we decided to take a trip to the mountains. We also decided that we needed to take reinforcements, so we asked my parents if they wanted to go with us. My mama and daddy, and my grandma all signed up for the adventure if Levi's first trip to the mountains....Chimney Rock and Lake Lure...and we picked a great day because the sun was shining but it was cold very cold and we weren't even in the "real" mountains.
We started off the day by my daddy insisting that we buy Levi a hat because his head was going to get cold and he would not be a very happy camper if we had to keep his head under a blanket the whole entire day, so we walked to Bubba O'Leary's outfitter shop (one of my most favorite, next to Fibber McGee's) and al we found was a youth small fleece camo cap, well we bought it figuring it would be a good investment for a 7 month old considering short of losing it he will be able to wear it until he is oh say 10 YEARS OLD. Then we decided we were hungry so we went to this most fabulous restaurant called Laura's House which has family style dining and the best meatloaf next to my mom-in-laws that you can find. Although I decided that day to try the turkey and gravy. We sat in the upstairs section that has a perfect view of the Chimney Rock, a breathtaking view. Then we decided that we needed to walk around in the little shops, yes with a 3 year old, everything turned out okay because the whole trip she didn't break anything. We ended up in a small shop called Willow Creek, who upstairs has the quaintest coffee and dessert shop in Chimney Rock, we all got coffee and some type of dessert, Jason bought a small rum cake for us to bring home and it was very good.
We had a really good time Amelia Grace got to spend lots of time with her great grandma and with her mamaw and papaw. We got mountain apples and peach cider and have some very good memories of Levi's first trip to the mountains, even though he slept on his papaw's shoulder most of the time.

Election Results

I would be lying if I said that I was not disappointed with the results of this year's Presidential Election. I did not want Barack Obama to win, I do not think he is the right man to run this country. I do not think that you can take a minority and put them in charge of the majority without many people voicing their opinion, and doing so rather loudly. And that does not make me a racist.
Now do not get me wrong I thought that Barack Obama talked a very good game, he is great at saying what you want to hear without really saying anything at all. As I was watching a debate one night I was listening to him talk his way into the minds of many Americans and as I was thinking, "This man could be exactly what we need to help this country", then GOD snapped me back to attention and said,"stop what you are doing and listen, truly listen to what this man is saying" and when I did I realized the above, He is not what this country needs, and I do not think it is in our best interest to have him as our President.
With that said, however, I do understand that we are told by God that we must pray for Mr. Obama even if we do like the position that he has been put in, and I do believe that just as we must pray for Mr. Obama to make the right decisions for us and our Country I believe that we must also pray for him tobegin a personal relationship with God and to seek God in his daily life, and to fully rely on Him in these next 4 years.
I do believe that there were Christians who voted for Mr. Obama and I am sure they had their reasons....reasons I will never understand.

Trick or Treating

This is the first year that we have taken Amelia Grace trick or treating. It was a little bit of a challenge since this was also Levi's first Halloween. So we recruited help.....Nanny & Papaw (Jason's mama & daddy)

First we went out to eat at our favorite Japanese Steakhouse SOGO in Concord, which was a fun adventure because Amelia Grace was dressed in her butterfly costume (minus the wings because those things are just unhandy) but anyway then we went to Mall-o-ween at Carolina Mall in Concord. We had a good time seeing all of the different costumes, some were scary, but most of them were really cute little kids all hyped up on sugar. I kind of felt sorry for some of the moms and dads but Halloween = candy and lots of it. then we went to Nanny & Papaw's and Amelia Grace got to help give out candy to the children trick or treating in the neighborhood. Jason's mama said she had more fun giving candy than she did getting it, and that sounds exactly like Amelia Grace.

Amelia Grace's 3rd Birthday Party

What do you get when you put 35 people in a room, mostly adults, dressed in costumes? Amelia Grace's birthday party. At first when she wanted to have a costume party I thougt it was a great idea, then I started planning this party and suddenly realized that what I thought was a great idea....wasn't. I don't know how I convinced at least 24 adults to dress up in costumes and come to a birthday party....except to say that we have some pretty cool family and friends.

We had some unique costumes: Sarah Palin, several princesses, a butterfly, a black cat, pirates, bikers, doctor, nurse, panther fans, and player, bunnies, Grammy & Grampy, ladybugs, and bumblebees. There were a few that I think didn't want us to have evidence of their sillyness so they didn't dress up but we were blessed they came to the party. Oh yes, we had the most adorable little red riding hood and jack-o-latern you have ever seen.

We painted pumpkins and gave out lots of candy. The theme of the party was Tinker Bell (Amelia Grace is very into fairies right now...not sure why) So we gave out pixie sticks and had popcorn and cotton candy bags. We had cake and cupcakes sprinkled with pixie dust and really just had a very good time with family and friends.

Most importantly Amelia Grace had a wonderful time, and I think another costume birthday party will be in our future, just not next year.

Fireman, Firewoman, or Firefighter???

I am just wondering what you call a female fireman?
You see, our almost 3 year old daughter has told us several times that when she grows up she wants to be a firefighter. I am not sure whether it is the fact that she wants to (A) run into burning buildings to save people in the most horrible of situations, (B) some of the situations that she will be put into, the things that she will see, or (C) at the tender age of 3 she is already so adamant and passionate about what she wants to be when she grows up.
It isn't as though she has some silly reason for wanting to be a firefighter, she actually has logical, and reasonable reasons. If you ask her it isn't I want to ride on the big red truck, or I might get to play with a spotted dog. She says she wants to help people when they need it most.
Jason says he thinks she will make a great firefighter, and we should foster this in her and I say, it scares me.
I asked her if she would like to go see a real fire station and real fire trucks (Jason has a childhood friend that is a 10 year veteran on the Concord Department) she said,"sure, mommy but you know I am going to work there in a few years when I grow up." Man, she is growing up too fast.
She also says that Levi is going to be a firefighter when he grows up......who knows maybe we will have two in the family.

Hoots, Howls, & Other Country Sounds

I am wondering if owls are an endangered species, I know they are not extinct because we have one that sits outside our bedroom window every night and hoots, and hoots, and hoots, and hoots....get the picture? You would not think that an owl would be very loud, and in actuality it is not, it is the repetition of it's hooting that can drive a person crazy. I am not violent in my nature...I have honestly met animals that I like better than some people that I have met, but if I find out which tree this owl sits in every night I may be tempted to become violent with him or her.
I am sure that if it was possible to actually sit the owl down and explain to it that I am a mommy of 2 children, and that have just recently decided to join with the group of children who boycott daytime naps, so the only time I actually get to rest is at night....well until it moved in, that it would understand and gladly move to our neighbors house. Who, by the way, do not sleep at night, and I am not sure what they do during the day...but that is a completely different posting.
If the owl wasn't enough, our neighbors are one dog shy of having a pack like Caesar Milian, the dog whisperer. They have dogs of every shape, and size, but unfortunately for us it seems they all bark at the same level....LOUD! And when it rains, which they apparently do not like, they bark.....VERY LOUD! Not only do they bark, but they howl, not at sirens or "special" sounds but at everything. They are also mean.... both our neighbors and their dogs... rabid, you ask....the dogs I think are in the clear, but not sure about the neighbors. We have tried to be friendly, but they act like they will bite even if you were trying to feed them, so we just listen to their barking. I hope they don't read this and decide to join the owl and sit outside of our window and bark...both the neighbors and their dogs.
We actually live across the road from a Turkey Farm, and for those of you who are not familiar with turkeys they can actually gobble in unison....and very loudly. The other night Amelia Grace was sitting with her Daddy in the living room and she said mommy the turkey trucks are here. I looked out the front window and there were tractor trailer trucks parked on the side of the road and in front of our house waiting to go into the turkey farm to pick up their loads. They didn't get loaded until 3:00am...is turkey business best done at night? They certainly don't make less noise at night.
Actually during the day it is quiet, and calm, except for the occassional tractor going down the road. We are still very blessed to live where we do , and that our children get to see turkey, deer, turtles, cows, goats, horses.....I just wish they would choose to be both seen & HEARD not while I am trying to sleep.

The DMV and Costume Shopping

I discovered at 4:00am on Saturday morning, (after my cell phone woke me up to remind me that we had a surprise birthday party to go to that evening), that my drivers liscense expired on my 30th birthday. Jason did remind me that I needed to renew them... IN APRIL, but since then I have become a mommy of 2 and, besides the DMV was SUPPOSED to send me a reminder, which they DID NOT.

So after not being legally able to drive all weekend, my very sweet, kind, loving and just all around blessing to my life mother-in-law left her house at 7:00am this morning to go to the DMV and stand in line for me. (By the way if you live in the Concord and/or surrounding area you know this is very necessary.) I get Amelia Grace and Levi ready and we leave our house at 7:20am only to have to turn around to come back home because I forgot to put in my contacts. I am restriceted on my liscense for corrective lenses, but I actually see just as good without them. But anyway, I forgot my contacts so I came inside and grabbed a new pair out of the box and stuck them in my pocket, I know I should have put them in but I didn't. I was much to worried about getting pulled over and getting a ticket for driving without a liscense, which doesnt' make sense baciuse I do have a liscense it is just expired.

Thanks to my mother-in-law(which sounds like aname that should be reserved for a husbands mother that you do not like so I will call her Deloris from now on) I was the first person in line when they opened the doors at 8:05am, I was given my ticket and told to have a seat. I don't know id you know this but just because you are the first one in line doesn't mean you are the first one to go back. . But when I did get back to have my license renewed, I had to take the sign test and I almost missed the railroad crossing..actually I did but it was just a big yellow circle. I have two (not so quiet) children in the car with me and we usually pay attention to everything but signs on the road. So I got my license which I have to say is one of the best that I have had made, the picture is actually good.


I told Amelia Grace if she was good for her Nanny I would take her costume shopping after the DMV. How I ever let her talk me into a costume birthday party this year, I will never know. It actually sounded good in the planning stages.....not so much right now though. She said she needed to be a butterfly, but finding an insect costume isn't easy, so we settled for a"butterfly princess". We brought the costume home and it fit :) now on to mine & Jason's costumes.....we'll save that for another day.

An Interesting Conversation

A few weeks ago I was talking to Amelia Grace, my 2 year old, she brought one of her baby dolls in the living room to me and said, "I want a baby sister." I told her, "Well you have a baby brother, not a sister." She says," No Mommy I want a baby sister", so I tell her to go talk to her Daddy. I then think the conversation is over, because I know her Daddy is going to tell her "No". Besides there are no guarantees, the next baby could be another boy, but I am not trying to explain that one to a very precocious two year old. So a few days ago she came back to me with the baby doll and this time very demanding she said, "I want a baby sister, NOW", I tried to change the subject and mentioned to her that she really needed to talk to her Daddy. Which I don't think that she has or I am pretty sure that the subject would not have come up again. Anyway for now I haven't had to answer the question, "Why do I have a brother and not a sister?" I think she may have accepted her little brother...at least she hasn't tried to give him away yet!

The Scrapbook

Recently I thought my mama was very sick. I called her one day and asked her what she was doing she said she was separating pictures by families, now if any of you know my mama ( and some do) you know she is not one to clean out anything. So I told Jason that night I thought she might be sick and just not telling me. It turns out that I was just being paranoid and she is perfectly healthy. When she and mt daddy came up for my birthday dinner on Sunday they gave me my gifts one was a scrapbook starting from the day I was born going up to the day that I gave birth to Levi. This is why she was cleaning out our pictures. I was so touched by this gift and it never crossed my mind she would be doing this for me. I am so happy she did.

I now have pictures of my Mamaw and Papaw who have passed away and my Uncle Peewee who has also passed away. I have actually gotten to sit down and look at this very precious scrapbook and see pictures of my friends like Brandy and Nicole, and pictures of my 16th b-day when I got my little white convertible cabriolet. pictures of me in plays at church and memories that I had forgotten, or just had not taken the time to remember.
What an awesome gift to give me these memories that will now last a lifetime that I can share with my children when they get older.

Wednesday October 1, 2008....My 30th Birthday

Well on Wednesday I turned 30 years old, technically not until 7:29pm, but 30 nonetheless. I thought I would feel different, I had approached this particular birthday with much less enthuasim than I have all of the others, there was no excitement about gifts...no anticipation to go shopping. I actually cleaned my house!!!

It could be that I have a 5 month old son that is teething and I have been getting no sleep, but I really don't think so. So as I was feeling old and run down two very unique conversations popped into my head-One was a conversation I had a few months earlier with my younger sister. We were talking about getting older and she made the comment, now she just turned 21, she had heard that 30 was the new 20....yeah that was her attempt at making me not feel so old. Bless her heart I love her she is everything that I was at her age..it just makes me tired thinking about one of her weekends.

The next conversation was with a sweet friend Liz as we were sitting at her baby shower, some how we got on the topic of birthdays and I mentioned I was going to be turning 30. She turned to me and said,"did you ever think you would be a mom of two when you were 30?" Actually after we lost Remington in 2004 and I was told that I would never be able to get pregnant again, and if by some miracle I did I would never carry the baby to full term, actually I didn't think I would ever be a mommy to anyone.

Then 2 sweet little faces popped into my head...suddenly I thought...how great it is to be 30(the new 20), and to be a mommy to two of the most precious beautiful miracles in the world.

Thank you Melani & Liz...you made me realize age is just a silly little number.

Dirt movers

When we woke up this morning I decided we would have one of those days....I put on Levi's tie-dyed Joe's Crab Shack onesie, Amelia was wearing her tie-dyes shirt and we were going to relax and just play all day long.
Then I got the phone call...Mrs. Barbee we are going to come today and do the grading work on your front yard. Oh really you were supposed to come tomorrow when my father-in-law could be here to make sure you do it right this time. Well we need to come today. Okay we will be here all day...ughhhhh.
So they came and right now they are tearing up both of my driveways and my front yard. They almost dug up my antique irises hand raised by my great grandmother, because they thought they were grass---with purple flowers on them? PLEASE!!!! I have had to move Amelia Grace's birthday party to another location because I can't have people coming to my house with my yard, that was full of green grass, looking like this.
Oh okay I have got to go the dirt movers MUST BE SUPERVISED!!!!

This is our life.....

This is the story of our life.....as it goes on from this moment on....we will include inportant milestones in our family and in our children's lives. Day to day adventures in the Barbee house...ups and downs...bottoms and tops. If you want to keep up with what we are doing as a family, we welcome you our friends........the adventure will now begin!!!