A Day in the Park

We have an excellent park near our house. I've posted pictures from there before. It has a great playground, skateboard park, walking trail, ball fields, etc. Mom took the girls there a week or so ago and got these pictures. I guess I need to dig my camera out b/c all the shots I have to blog about lately are from mom's camera.

And apparently it was the same day as the Blueberry Pickin' b/c they have on the same clothes!

Here they are on the entrance to the walking trail.
A cute close up of my babies.

And while they were there the sprinklers for the flower and shrubs came one. As you can see, my little angels took it upon themselves to dance in the "rain." Mom said they were dancing and singing up a storm out there. I hate I missed the show!

Blueberry Pickin

Mom took the girlies to Mr. Glenn & Mrs. Francie's house the other week to pick blueberries. They love going to Mr. Glenn & Mrs. Francie's house and especially to pick their blueberries. They brought back bunches of them and they are really good. I like blueberries but I don't love them (my daddy did though). But these are huge and really sweet to eat just by themselves.
Gracie is picking very intently. She's my little "worker bee." She's got drive and determination and a pretty good work ethic if she's interested. She loves to help me and mom with about anything we're doing.
My Maggie's a pretty good blueberry picker too. She's my blueberry eater. She loves them on pancakes and of coarse in blueberry pie.
Cp is reaching up high to get as many as she could. Thanks to our sweet friends the Savage's for letting them come and gather their crop of blueberries.
Maybe the one we planted on my dad's birthday will have lots more next year too!!

A Great Weekend!

We celebrated the 4th of July with Al's family and some friends. It was a nice day and a great fireworks display downtown. Enjoy the slideshow!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Oh Say Can You See....

We hope everyone has a safe and Happy Independence Holiday! Please take a moment to remember why we celebrate this day in the first place. I hope you all spend some special time with your loved ones this weekend and appreciate the freedom we have been blessed with in this Great Country. See ya next week.

God Bless America!

Garden Beauties

Just thought I'd drop in a few pictures of my beautiful Garden girls. Mom took them to Aldridge Gardens in Hoover a couple of weeks ago. She always gets pretty pictures there.
Love this one on the bridge. Notice the silliness going on.
Have a great Thursday while you all gear up for the big 4th of July holiday this weekend.

Beach "Pictures"

Yes, we TRY every year to get those "Beach Pictures" that everyone wants when they get to that beautiful white sand. Yes, we TRY. It never quite works out the way I envision it in my head. Anyway I'll wrap up my Beach Picture Extravaganza with a few shots that were pretty good. (Well any picture with my angels in it is a good one to me but you know what I mean.)
I do love this one. It just seems to sum up the innocence of childhood to me for some reason.

With their toes in the sand in their white pillowcase dresses!

Ok so the sun was so bright that morning they could NOT quit squinting. They weren't even facing the sun!! Oh well, it's still cute.

Maggie, Clara Paige & Gracie

One last view of my babies in the sand. Until Next year everyone!

And MORE Beach pictures.......

So here are more snap shots from our vacation. You said you like em so I'm still posting them.

Sometimes, honestly, I do get scared really scared of what I am in store for being the mom of 3 very girly girls. This is My Gracie. Not my diva, camera hog, Maggie but my Gracie!! And what's scarier is CP took this picture.
They had to get a shot of their tattoos. ALL of them had to get a shot of their tattoos together. A family that tats together stays together?? Is that a saying?? If not I just penned it. Might need to copyright that one!! haha.

I love this one. Jumping in the waves together. It was so cute watching them.

On Friday my sister-in-law and her family joined us for the rest of the weekend. Here's our cutie pie, cousin Park.

And finally for today is a picture of all of the Hicks grandchildren all together in the same spot doing the same thing. That doesn't happen often. I'll send ya a copy Meme!!

Daddy just got home so I better go check on him and the rest of the crew. Have a great weekend everyone. Stay safe.

More from the Hicks Beach Trip

Here's a few more pictures from our beach extravaganza this year. I'm tired right now because I've had 5 girls at my house for the last 24 hours or so. Rachel's (my bestest friend) mom had intense hernia surgery today so I took her girls for her. The surgery went well. God is good! Whew!! However running around after 5 girls was a lot of work. Fun, but a lot of work therefore this post will be brief. I know you guys like the pictures the best anyway!!

In front of the infamous Souvenir City Shark!! They have to see it every year we go!
Daddy taking in a few ZZZzz's at the pool! hehee.

My girlies waiting to go eat at the Original Oyster House. Another annual stop on our Gulf vacations! Aren't they cute. Meme made their little dresses!! They LOVE them!!

Here's a picture at the Oyster House with some random dude who hopped in our picture! Too funny. Bet he didn't think he'd be on the Internet after that cute little stunt!! The girls were a little confused if you can't already tell!

My girls on their second day out in the sand. They all had to wear their color coordinating swim suits. (The picture is blurry because I'm not and never will be a photographer- I leave that job to the cousins in the family.)

Sorry folks but there are more beach scenes to come. You'll just have to grin and bare it.

Father's Day - Bittersweet

I just wanted to post quickly about today. As you all know, it's Father's Day. I just want to mention 3 of the best Fathers I've ever been blessed enough to know.

Of coarse there is my loving husband, Alex. He is an excellent father to our 3 girls! He is strong and such a leader to our family. When we need him he is always there. I know my girls will learn determination, passion and durability from him along with sensitivity and humility. And you know what? He's getting better and better every day! I'm excited to see how the years go by and his relationship with our daughters grow and grow into that special bond b/w a girl and her daddy. I love you, Alex! I couldn't do it without ya!

Also, I'd like to take a minute to celebrate my father-in-law. He is a great man and loves his family tremendously. He is a giver and wants everyone to be happy. My husband learned a lot of great things from him and one of them is to be an upstanding and honorable man. I thank him for that. He's a wonderful PawPaw to my girls!! I don't have a picture handy of him at the moment but I'll add one later on today!!
Love you Earl/PawPaw.

As you all know this is my 1st Father's Day without the person who defined that role for me. It's hard; I won't lie! However, this is a day of celebration and not sorrow. My dad was and will always be my hero. I learned to be selfless from him. This picture is from last year's trip to the beach. The last one he took with his girls. This defined him to me. He would dig in the sand as long as his grandbabies wanted him to. If we were on the beach, chances were he was digging or building some kind of sand castle just because they wanted him to.

This is his day and he deserves every bit of credit for being the best Dad to me and my brother that he could have ever been. I love you Daddy!!

Beach Trip -Post #1

Well as promised, I am beginning to document our trip to the beach. As always there's chaos going on at my house as Alex has an upper respiratory infection AND strep throat but I was determined to get at least one beach post on the books. When will the madness end?? Haha. Anyway, enjoy....

In my family we just can't start a trip to the beautiful Gulf Coast without visiting LuLu's Restaurant on the Inter Coastal Waterway. If ya don't know it's owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister, LuLu. It is just one of those places that has excellent atmosphere and lets ya know you're on vacation and at the beach!! We love LuLu's!!!
Of coarse one of the first things the girlies had to do was go for a swim. Thank goodness for daddys that get in the water with their babies.

I LOVE this picture of Gracie and CP! There's nothing like the love of a sister.
I forget where Maggie was. Probably back up at the beach chairs or somethin.

My girlies and their daddy coloring before bed. They love it and I loved that daddy did it with them!! Special, quiet time bonding moments!

Mags diggin in the sand with her shovel.

Diggin with PawPaw. These pictures are so much more precious to me now!! My dad did this with our girls since the very first time CP could sit up in the sand! I don't want to miss getting a picture like this ever again.

CP taught herself to hold her breath underwater. I was so proud of her but I think she was more proud of herself. GO Clara Paige, you little fishy you!!!

My sweet Twins waiting to go get ice cream at Scoops that second night we were there. I might be biased but they sure are cute!!
More beach madness to come soon so don't flip that channel!!

PS- do continue to pray for the Spivey family. Thanks guys!

More Prayers...

Mrs. Cathy Spivey passed away today.

I am heartbroken over this loss.

Please continue to pray for this family and all involved.

Prayers are Needed!

I have more beach pictures to share with you but first I need to ask that you please put Dewayne and Cathy Spivey and their entire family in your prayers. Dewayne is our pulpit minister at our church, Riverchase Church of Christ. He and his wife Cathy are the most godly and precious people you will meet. Cathy is currently in Shelby Baptist Medical Center in critical condition. She has had multiple surgeries all since the beginning of this week. I can't begin to go into all she is battling right now but if you are interested you can visit the family website at - http://www.thespiveys.org/. She is a graceful, peace filled and beautiful soul. I know God's will is greater than mine and we will never know the plans He has laid out for us but I pray that this is not her time. She does wonderful work for the Lord so I really hope he has lots left for her to do here. Please also pray for the doctors that are overseeing her and that they will be guided by His hand to what is needed for her recovery. She's a wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, friend, neighbor and most importantly a child of God. You may not know her but I bet you can understand that she would appreciate your prayers anyway.