The Combs Krewe

Brooklyn and Braelyn are 5 months old! They are definitely starting to lose that newborn look--they're big girls now! Brooklyn continues to have such a sweet disposition! When she smiles, her little eyes twinkle, and she just wiggles with delight. She thinks Jathan is so funny and will laugh out loud at him! She has been working on motor skills this month reaching and grabbing; time in the bouncy seat has been fun since she has discovered toys! Although I thought Braelyn was going to roll over first, Brooklyn finally got that leg kicked over earlier this week!  Though I would still classify Braelyn as a high needs girls, she has settled down a good bit. She no longer screams the entire  time she is in her carseat. Although she frequently blesses us with her beautiful wide mouthed grins, we've only gotten a couple of chuckles out of her so far. This month she rolled from her tummy to her back and is working hard on rolling from back to tummy. She has also developed a real love ...

What a week we've had! Sunday was the first day of Vacation Bible School at our home church, Nazareth, and it was actually the little kids very first Bible School ever. It had just never worked out for us to go while we were in New Orleans so I was excited for them to experience something new.  Jackie even got the opportunity to teach the adult class so I, too, got to experience something new--being an adult student. That turned out simply wonderfully. I know what it's like teaching a VBS class--a lot of work goes into it before the week even begins and each night you go home exhilarated but exhausted. It's all worth it or the organizers and teachers and other volunteers, however, because you get the wonderful opportunity to minister to children. So I, as the mom, did not expect to be ministered to this week but that is exactly what happened.  Each night I got to drop my kids off with loving, caring adults then eat a free meal that I didn't have to cook! After that I we...

As a flea market junkie I know that the old saying is true: one man's trash is another man's treasure. This especially seems to be true with my children. Of course they love cardboard boxes just as many other children do, but they also hoard all sorts of other things most moms would chunk in the trash. Case in point: this trophy. Yes, Jackie "won" it back in 1984. Okay, actually one was just awarded to all the players after a losing season. But he held onto it, and last year the boys found it at their Uncle Doug's house. They were enthralled with the idea of a REAL trophy and wanted to take it home. I figured they would forget about it at the bottom of their toy box and that I would eventually get rid of it but no. They have played with that thing more than many of their toys!  One day back in NOLA, Jathan brought it downstairs to the playground. He and his friends raced their bikes and scooters along the sidewalk, each time awarding the winner with temporary cust...

So we decided to start recycling when we moved back to Alabama. Since this is our first go at it and space is limited, I decided to start with only cans and plastics. In one month we collected a lot of recyclables! Here is our giant stack of stuff that won't be going to a landfill--yea!  The downside to this is that this giant stack of stuff is filling up my laundry room. The recycling drop off center is a town away, and we do not pass by there often so I've just let it accumulate. Tomorrow morning it must go, though! I'm also on the lookout for free or cheap outdoor garbage cans I could store stuff in or someway to better store it indoors because I'd love to add cardboard to the stuff we're recycling. Ideas anyone? 

So I'm not too sure how I feel about Jackie being back on Facebook after a long hiatus. After all what are we to talk about?! It used to be that I had Facebook and he had Twitter, and we would swap stories in the evening. I would share the personal stuff like who was having babies and what they had for lunch; he would fill me in on world news and sports. Suppertime was like our very own quaint little newscast! After graduation, however, he decided Facebook would make it easier to stay in touch with faraway friends, friends we share. So now our conversations all start, "Did you see so-in-so's post?" And end, "Yeah, saw that one."  Of course I still get to hear what's on Twitter, but he doesn't care about Pinterest, so what in the world am I supposed to bring to the table?! What does the conversation generally revolve around between you and your spouse?

Can you believe the babies are four months old already! We have had such a busy month and a half with graduation then moving back to Alabama that I just realized today that I never even posted a 3 month update! And although we've been without a computer for over a month, I just thought today to search for a blogger app which, as it turns out, exists--yea! So here I am trying it out for the first time.  So Brooklyn and Braelyn were four months on June 26. Just last night Jackie and I happened upon some newborn pictures of them and were amazed at how they have grown and changed! Braelyn still has Brooklyn beat in the size department (no clue how much they weigh since we skipped the four month checkup) but Brooklyn seems to stay just a tad bit ahead of Braelyn developmentally. She is quite alert and smiley and I swear, it sounds exactly like she says mama when she cries. Jackie thinks its a coincidence but I'm totally claiming it. Brooklyn has given up sleeping so well at night an...