Update.....The kitchen is finished!

The new kitchen floor is FINALLY finished! And they look great! Here are some pics.

Feeding the Ducks

Saturday we went to a birthday party at Lenora Park for my cousin Justin's son, Cohen. We had a great time. Braden loved playing on the playground and he especially loved feeding the ducks. Or as he says, "Ducky, quack, quack".

Justin & Cohen

Happy 2nd Birthday Cohen!

Not the best picture, but I love this face!

Ace, Braden & Gage feeding the ducks

Update......new kitchen floors coming soon!

Our old vinyl flooring has been trashed and our new ceramic tile is being put into our kitchen as I write this. Brad and Chad are working very hard! Hopefully I will have th kitchen cleaned up and ready for pics by Tuesday! Stay tuned!

Goodbye Carpet

Yes! Yes! Yes! We no longer have filthy, disgusting, stained, ugly carpet in our living room and dining room. I am so excited! Saturday Brad stayed at home with the installers while Braden and I spent Friday night and Saturday getting spoiled by my Momma (let me just say that I have the BEST Mom in the world- Thanks for letting us stay!). I cannot believe how quickly they removed the old carpet and tile and installed the new flooring. They started around 9:30 and finished before 4:30. I told Brad that I am so glad that i was not home when they puled the disgusting carpet back- I would have been grossed out and mortified by our own filth! I just love the new floor! Ok, I could go on and on, but I will just let you see for yourself!

BEFORE

AFTER

The first week of October we are FINALLY putting in the tile that we bought a year ago! By the way when I say we, I don't mean me....I mean Brad and our good friend Chad. I want to make sure that I give them credit for all of their hard work. So that means more exciting pictures to come! (Exciting for me anyways!)

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

I wanted to post these Sunday evening, but I guess I was being LAZY! Anyway I love Sunday afternoons because after church Braden is always so tired so while he is napping I try to nap also. It doesn't usually happen......however, this Sunday I did get an hour and half nap. Ahh......Sigh.......I love lazy Sunday afternoons. After our nap Braden and I went outside to play! His favorite thing in the world. We took his beloved pop-pop (he absolutely refuses to go outside without him) and we took out his new truck and of course sidewalk chalk. While we were out I got soem really cute pictures of him that I thought I would share.

Don't you just love the big misquito bite on his head?!

He's just the cutest little thing I 've ever seen!

Never Leave a Toddler Unattended for Even a Second!

Well I thought that Brad and I were both smart enough to know that, but apparently this weekend we were pretty clueless parents.

Friday afternoon I met my dad at the doctor's office because Braden had been running a fever the night before. Come to find out he has strep throat. I took him to Kroger to drop off his prescription and then I swung by Dairy Cream to get us both a slushy. One for his throat and one for me just because I knew that I would want to drink his and I did not want to catch strep throat. So...this may be too much information for some of you, but for those of you who know me very well you this is not news to you: I hate public restrooms, so I pee in the morning when I wake up and I don't pee again until I get home from work....no matter what time it is. Well, since I had not peed since earlier that morning when we got home I REALLY had to pee! I am blaming it on the slushy! So I go to the bathroom and not even 10 seconds later in comes Braden with a handful of Kali's cat food saying "Avey, Avey". In my head I am thinking "where the heck did he get the cat food? the pantry door should be closed". But to him I say, "Avery isn't here. Remember Mommy had to leave her at Grandmother and Palpaw's because I couldn't leave her in the hot car at the doctor's office?" So he walks out and comes back with another handful so I tell him that we can take them outside and feed Kali. So we head to the foyer to go outside to feed Kali, but as soon as I round the corner to the foyer I see the WHOLE bag of cat food in the middle of the floor! I gasped! AHHHH! And Braden looked up at me, grinned and in his sweet voice said, "Mommy." Why does he have to be so darn cute? I started laughing and I got a measuring cup to scoop all of the food up and being the little helper that he is he started picking it up also, but there was so much food on the tile floor that he was slipping aand sliding as he was putting it tinto the bag. It was very funny! He even tried to help sweep the rest of the food up!

Well, on Saturday I headed to the grocery store before the Georgia game at 3:30. I try to go grocery shopping after Braden takes his nap, but lately his nap schedule has been all carzy and he wouldn't take a nap. So ther I am in the grocery store and I get a phone call from Brad and this is what our conversation was like:
Brad: Bring home a new jar of vaseline
Me: Why?
Brad: Braden played in the vaseline jar and it is all over him and the carpet.
Me: What?
Brad: It's really bad. It's a good thing that we are getting new florring in 2 weeks.
Me: How did he get in the vaseline?
Brad: I don't know. I was watching football and he got real quiet. Just bring home some more vaseline, I 'm about to give him a bath.
Ok.....so let me tell you how big our vaseline jar is. It is not a small jar it is the HUGE economy size jar of Baby Vaseline that we bought when Braden was an infant anf we still have only used about 1/8th of the jar. When I got home I found out more about the story. Brad said that Braden had been fussy the whole time that I was gone. He tried playing with him in his playroom, but he kept on fussing. So Brad was going back and forth to watch football and he said that Braden got really quiet. Well...that is usually our first sign that he is into something. But you know how you don't even realize that they're quiet for a couple of minutes and then you're like "oh crap...what is he doing?". Brad said that he saw Braden's head pop out from around the couch and he was holding the jar of vaseline and Brad said, "Braden put that down...Oh no!" It was covering his clothes, in huge gobs all over his arms and legs and even smeared all over his hair. He was literally covered from head to toe! When Brad looked behind th couch it was in a huge pile on the carpet. Brad called me and gave Braden a bath, but his hair had so much vaseline in it that even after washing and rinsing several times it was still standing straight up. When Brad walked into Braden's room he found another surprise, an even bigger pile of vaseline in front of Braden's dresser. We are still trying to get the vaseline up off of the carpet in Braden's room. I even pulled out our steam vaccum this morning. Anyone have any ideas? We're not as cocnerned about the living room carpet because we are getting it removed in a few weeks anyways.

And guess what? I think that they are both my fault. I forgot to put Kali's food up Friday morning after I fed her and I left the jar of vaseline on Bradens' floor Saturday morning after I put it on his nose where we had been wiping it so much. So...this taught me a good lesson to be extra careful and extra cautious about what I am leaving out.

This is his hair after washing it several times!

I've Been Tagged

Krysti just tagged me with a fun survey.....
Nice to meet you, I'm:Chassidy
Okay, who was the last person who held your hand? Braden
And who the last person to text you?Brad
Have you ever kissed someone with braces? yes
If you could change your eye color what would it be?green
How many pillows are on your bed?7
Is there someone you can't stop thinking about? my boys
Who do you make fun of the most?Hmmm. I don't know.
What's the longest you've ever talked on the phone? Too long according to my cell phone bill each month
How many 20 dollar bills do you have on you right now? not a one...I rarely carry cash so don't think you're getting anything good if you try to rob me
Do you dance in the car?Often
How did you get your last bruise? I have no idea, but I have one on the top of my foot...weird!
Who is in your house right now? Brad, my sleeping boy Braden and me
Does your mom make you wear a winter coat? umm....that's a weird question for a 26 year old
Are your lips chapped? actually I was just thinking that I needed to put on some Aquafor
What' s your favorite season? I love them all for different reasons
Has it snowed recently? in Georgia? Are you kidding me?
Favorite colors? red
What are you listening to? The Falcons on TV in the background
Have you ever thought that your life was so bad you wanted to give up? not once
How many piercings do you have? 2
Taken or single? taken
Do you like your relationship status? Love it
Do you believe in celebrating anniversaries? Absolutely....even if they are a month late! I love you honey! :)
Do any of your EXES still have feelings for you? hope not
Do you know anyone who has messed up your life? nope
Do you have a best friend? yes
Do you have any siblings? yes- my brother Chad
What are you doing tonight? resting
Wearing any jewelry? no
Where is your shirt from? GAP
Have you ever made anyone laugh when they were crying? yes
Are you happy? yes
Are people annoying? some are very annoying
Where were you last night? at home watching football
Has anyone ever sang to you? yes- Braden does everyday..."Baa, Baa Black Sheep", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Wheels on the Bus"

Ok.....I am tagging Michelle and Brandi.

GO GEORGIA BULLDOGS!

As most of you know today is the first Saturday of college football! My husband is obsessed which means that even as I type this he is glued to College Game Day, especially because it is here in Atlanta for the Clemson-Alabama game at the Dome.

However, you also know that our house is divided and I am so excited about my #1 ranked Dawgs! YES THAT'S RIGHT!!! #1 RANKED!!!!

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I am posting a couple of pics of my boy in his new Georgia outfit saved expecially for today!

Here is a funny email that my brother sent me. If you are an SEC fan you will really like it!

HOW MANY SEC STUDENTS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A LIGHT > BULB? At VANDERBILT: it takes two, one to change the bulb and one more to explain how they did it every bit as good as the bulbs changed at Harvard. At GEORGIA: it takes two, one to change the bulb and one to phone an engineer at Georgia Tech for instructions. At FLORIDA: it takes four, one to screw in the bulb and three to figure out how to get stoned off the old one. At ALABAMA: it takes five, one to change it, three to reminisce about how The Bear would have done it, and one to throw the old bulb at an NCAA investigator. At OLE MISS: it takes six, one to change it, two to mix the drinks and three to find the perfect J. Crew outfit to wear for the occasion. At LSU: it takes seven, and each one gets credit for five Semester hours. At KENTUCKY: it takes eight, one to screw it in and seven to discuss how much brighter it seems to shine during basketball season. At TENNESSEE: it takes ten, two to figure out how to screw it in, two to buy an orange lampshade, and six to phone a radio call-in show > and talk about how much they hate Alabama. At MISSISSIPPISTATE: it takes fifteen, one to screw in the bulb, two to buy the Skoal, and twelve to yell, "GO TO HELL, OLE MISS". At AUBURN: it takes one hundred, one to change it, forty-nine to talk about how they did it better than at Bama, and fifty to get drunk and roll Toomer's Corner when finished. At SOUTH CAROLINA: it takes 80,000, one to screw it in and 79,999 to discuss how; this finally will be the year that they have a decent football team. At ARKANSAS: None. There is no electricity in Arkansas

Here are some Clemson pics of Braden so that my husband will not fuss that I am biased. Which I'm not.....Only when Georgia and Clemson play (which doesn't happen very often).

Ok....So maybe I am a little bias. Isn't he cute in red and black?

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my wonderful mother's birthday and I just wanted to remind her how special she is and how lucky I am to have her. Thanks Mommy! I love you!

This is the gift that Braden made for my mom. I actually had a creative

moment! I am using this same idea for my pre k class as

gifts for thier grandparents for grandparent's day.

It's Ok Mom...I'm a Big Boy Now

This morning Brad and I took the morning off from work to take Braden to his first morning of preschool. He will be going to Heritage Hills Preschool one day a week from 9-12. After a big breakfast of waffles and grapes (Braden's favorite fruit of the month) we snapped a few pics and headed to Conyers. On the drive to Conyers I talked to him about going to school and seeing his new teachers, Ms. Karen and Ms. Mary. We talked about some of the students he would be seeing that he met yesterday at Open House (my parents took him). He kept saying "ool...ool (school)". And then we passed a prison bus and the rest of the way to Conyers all that I heard was "bus...bus".

I was a little apprehensive about how he was going to do since he has never stayed with anyone other than family. He got so excited when I parked and he looked out the window and saw Brad get out of his truck. He started saying "Daddy, Daddy". Brad got him out of the car and we debated on putting his book bag on him. I envisioned him walking into school wearing his new book bag, but every time I tried it on him at home he would fuss and pull it off. We decided that it was worth a try. To our astonishment he wore the book bag and strutted down the breezeway to join his classmates who were waiting for the doors to open along with their very anxious parents (glad we weren't the only ones!).

When the doors opened we were greeted by Ms. Mary and we headed to Braden's classroom. As soon as we hit the door to the classroom he dropped my hand and joined some of his classmates standing in a group. (I had visions of him in middle school instantly~how scary!) I was kneeling down staring at him socializing with his classmates and these words escaped from my mouth before I even realized they were coming out "He's not going to miss me at all"! AHHHHHH! How did I become that mom? Please tell me that other moms have felt that way too?!!? I think that his teacher might have even heard me. I was mortified. However, my precious boy must have sensed my trepidation because he walked over to me and put is arms around my neck and hugged me. It was like he was reassuring me 'it's ok mom....I'm a big boy now'. It was the sweetest thing ever (& my wonderful husband even caught it on video so I can always relive that touching moment...thanks Brad). Isn't it amazing how our rough and tough boys have a way of melting our hearts more than anyone ever could?

I left the room to go get his school supplies from the car and on my way back Brad came out and said that he was the only parent left in the classroom and we needed to go. What??? Leave my baby already? He needed me right? Oh, how very wrong I was. The teachers had already closed the bottom half of the door and being the psycho/crazy parent that I didn't know I was until earlier this morning I hung my body over the top half of the door and snapped pictures while my son was oblivious to the fact that I had even left the room and his teachers were giving me the "ok woman...it's time for you to go look" that I have given to so many parents myself. Thank goodness that Brad is just as crazy as I am because he was hanging over the door video taping Braden so I didn't feel quite so bad! However, I would like to apologize for all of the not so nice thoughts i had about some of my "crazy" parents! My mom was right this morning when she told me that it is definitely a different view depending on which side of the door you are on!

My mom picked him up this afternoon and she said that he was having such a great time when she got there that he looked up, flashed her a smile and kept on playing. What a brave big boy!

Thank you Lord for my amazing son who is even braver than I could ever be. Thank you for giving me courage through him and for giving him the gift to be brave even when I am not. Thank you for the opportunity to put him in a school where he can more about you and have teachers who will take care of him. Thank you for giving him the opportunity to grow up in a home where he is confident in who he is and secure in the fact that when we leave him we will always return. Thank you for our precious blessing.

Hoffman Quarterly

Once a quarter all of the Hoffmans try to make a point to get together since we all live so far apart and rarely see eachother. This quarterly was our turn to host and we all had a good time. We enjoyed dirt pudding, catching up on eachother's lives and watching all of the cousins play together. Here are some of the pictures.

Happy Anniversary

Today is mine and Brad's 7th anniversary. I cannot believe that it has been 7 years since we got married at Heritage Hills on that scorching hot Saturday in August. I thought that marriage would be easy....boy was I naive! However, it is extremely rewarding and I truly love my husband with all my heart! And now we have beautiful baby boy to share our love with!

Brad is out of town once again this week and it happened to fall on our Anniversary which makes me very sad, but he promised me dinner at Ruth's Chris when he returns!

Happy Anniversary baby! I love you!

7 years ago (not the best picture since I had to scan it)

June 2008

***Brad and I were married on my parents' anniversary and today they are celebrating 29 years! Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! I love y'all!

Little Helper

Our boy is quite the "little helper". He loves to help load and unload the dishwasher (aka close the dishwasher door and pull out all of the silverware), get his own diaper for mommy, feed Avery and he is even pretty good at putting some of his toys away (only if he is asked of course). This weekend he "helped" even more by helping me tonight work on laundry and Saturday morning help Brad in the yard.

Saturday morning Braden and I decided to join Brad out in the yard while he was pruning the bushes with his new hedger that he has been dying to try. We were out in the yard by 8:00 which seems really late after getting up by 5:15 each morning for the last week. Braden brought out his beloved "pop-pop" (lawnmower) and his wheel barrel. He pushed his lawnmower around the yard first and then he used his wheel barrel to help us pick up the debris. He was so cute putting the pieces in his wheel barrel. When we finished loading all of it into the back of the truck I sat with Braden in the bed of Brad's truck and we rode to the back yard to dump everything out. Before some of you start clucking your tongues because I let my child ride in the back of a pick-up truck, please know that he was safe and tight in my lap, Brad was not going over 3 mph and every child should experience the wind in their hair in the back of a truck at least once in their life. Even if it was really more like a faint breeze since we were driving so slow!

Tonight Braden helped me load the clothes into the dryer. Another one of his favorite jobs. He is so cute picking the clothes up and pushing them in the dryer and he loves to close the door to the dryer and he usually closes it several times before all of the clothes are in! He's not much of a helper when it comes to folding. He loves to run and jump or drive his trucks through my folded pile after I've finished. Tonight he decided that he would like to play peek-a-boo with the towels so after a quick game of peek-a-boo I started on the towels, but he had a different plan. Tonight he decided to load some of the towels in his wagon and drive them around! Too cute! He was such a good helper and with his help I am happy to say that the towels have been washed, dried, folded, and put away! Thanks "little helper"!

I love this face! It looks like pure joy!

Braden was very curious about what Brad was doing to the bushes and the loud noise that he was making!Braden playing peek a boo while I was folding laundry