Valentines Day 2009

Tonight for our dinner...I had a candle lit dinner with the 4 most special people in my world.....yes it was Valentines day, and it wasnt the most romantic thing but it was perfect for me. See I know that it wont be long till you three will be having dinners with other Valentines....I know how precious this time is, so as I sat at the table with Riley burping, Cody making a mess and Jay asking 100 questions, I looked at yall in the candle light and thought......this really is LOVE!! And thats what Valentines is all about........PS For the future NEVER buy your wife flower seeds for Valenties Day!!

Cody's 6th Birthday Party

Cody,

I cannot believe that you are 6 years old!! Pretty soon you are gonna be driving and dating girls. You are such a good little boy. You are funny, creative, and sooooo adventurous. I believe that you could take anything and make something out of it. You love to make "stuff"...doesn't matter what it is...just Stuff. We had your birthday party at Chuck E Cheese at 4pm yesterday (Saturday). I hope that you enjoyed it, because we are NEVER doing it again!! There were SOOOOO many people there that they actually stopped letting people inside unless you were there for a party. When we left, the line to get in was lined up all the way around the side of the building. All of your cousins came (except for Gigi), and you had some of your friends from your class: Austin, Wesley, and Sam. You got a medal to wear around your neck (you haven't hardly taken it off in 2 days) and you got 100 free points. You used those points along with the ones that you earned playing the games to get you an orange wristband with a soccerball on it, and you woe it to church today. You are so funny about stuff like that!! You are so proud of yourself whe you accomplish anything, and it just shines off of you. Mommy and I love you so much, and we are so blessed to have you as our son. It is children like you that make Mommys and Daddys have tons of babies. You are an absolute pleasure to have around because you brighten everybody around you! I cannot wait to see what the rest of your life has in store, because I know that God has big plans for you!! I love you so much! Happy Birthday, son! Love, Daddy.

Happy Birthday Cody-bug

Happy Birthday Cody-bug, I can not believe that you r 6 today. Sadly, you are sick youve had croup and now you have a upper resp-infection. I hate for you to be sick anytime, but esp/today of all days. You still wanted your chinese food for dinner, you have wanted that for your birthday dinner since you were about 3. I just got done laying down with you, and we said our little saying that we say every night..I love you most....no I love you most...uuuuuuuuuuuuu. I just kissed your little head for the millioneth time, and I close my eyes and I promise I can see everyday of your 6 yrs of life...I can see all of it. I can feel them laying you on my chest, you looking up at me for the very first time...you did not even cry...you just looked at me and that was it...true love...perfect love. I love you Cody-bug....Happy Birthday!!

Inauguration Day - 2009

Boys,

Today was a tremendously important day in the history of our country. Your mom will tell you that I was always big on things that I think are "history". Most of them are ususally sporting events, but today was not sports, but something even more important. Today, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Why is that important? Why is that history? Because it breaks down walls; it breaks down barriers. It proves that racism in our country, while it still exists in many corners, is basicallly a non-factor. I would have never thought that we would have ever seen this day....and I can promise you that my parents and grandparents would never have believed it either. I was telling Jay at dinner tonight that I can remember the marches in Forsyth County back in the 1980's where there were riots and fights. Forsyth County was 99.9999% white back in the late 80's, and the residents there didn't take very kindly to people whose skin wasn't the same color as theirs. So, Hosea Williams (google his name to find out more if you want) organized a "peaceful" march of black folks through Forsyth. They were met by white folks that weren't so "peaceful". I also remember going to high school with the son of the grand dragon of the KKK. His house was on Atlanta Highway right down the road from where the Falcons complex is now, and they always had interesting billboards and signs erected in their yard with their message of racism. I guess my point is that in less than 30 years, people have overcome that hatred and elected a black man to be the most powerful man in the free world, and I just wanted to capture this day as best I could for you to recall one day.

I do want to tell you that I did not vote for Barack Obama. I voted for John McCain. President Obama had many views that I didn't agree with, the biggest being his stance on abortion...but it had absolutely nothing to with the color of his skin. But, the great thing about living in the democracy of the United States is that by voting, the majority wins....period. Now that President Obama is in office, although we don't have to agree with his views, it is our duty to respect him and support the office of the Presidency.

The other thing, and probably the most important thing , that I want you to take away from a day like today is to never, EVER stop working towards your goals and dreams. Just imagine for a second what it must have been like for Barack Obama as a little boy about the age that each of you are now. He and his family were not allowed to eat in the same restaurants, not allowed to drink out of the same water fountains, not allowed to go to the same schools, etc...as white people. What do you think that his parents told him when he said that he wanted to grow up to be President of the United States? I'm sure that they told him that he could grow up to be anything that he wanted....but, do you REALLY think that they believed it, considering the state that the country was in? I don't. Sure, as he grew up, many of those racial barriers were broken by very influential black men that came along before him....Martin Luther King Jr, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Hosea Williams, Jackie Robinson, and Colin Powell were a few of them. But, none of them had the platform to truly knock down these walls that President Obama does now. I pray for him and his family as they start to lead our country today.

Boys, just know that just like President Obama's, your dreams...whatever they might be....are REACHABLE! His presidency proves that nothing is out of reach if you believe in yourself and you work hard enough to achieve your goals. Me and your mom love each of you so much, and we promise to support you in every dream / goal that you strive to achieve.

New to the Blogging world

Since it is now 2009, we figured that we would get with the times and start ourselves a blog. Our intention is to hopefully give our boys this gift that could possibly last them the rest of their lives. My hope is that one day, that they can look back on these posts and remember these points and experiences in their lives. My goal is to record the important events / dates and to express to our boys how much that their mom and I love them and sacrifice for them each and everyday. So, Jay, Cody, and Riley, this is for you.

We want to include pictures of you as you grow up, as well as record our thoughts, prayers, and hopes for each of you. We truly want this to be a gift for you to cherish forever. We love you so much, and we thank God that he chose us to be your parents. Out of all the little boys in the world, He couldn't have picked 3 better ones for us. We are so very blessed to get to share in your lives.