love this!

...saw this on my friend's blog, and i just had to share it!  thanks, meg! it's true, and i'm so thankful i have this problem! :)

raising a house full of little kids...
trying to keep that house clean...amidst the toys, spills, and crumbs...
trying to stay on top of the laundry...
trying to get ahead financially...amidst the dance lessons, dentist visits, and pediatrician co-pays...
trying to have time to yourself...amongst kids visiting you while you are going to the bathroom, always wanting to eat whatever is on your plate...

"it's like trying to brush your teeth and eat oreos at the same time!!"

walt DISNEY world! day one

We just got back from a wOnDeRfUl trip to Disney World!!!  When everyone asks how it was, I tell them it was mAgIcAl!!!!!!!  (and I know that sounds cheesy, but it WAS!) 

It was so much fun seeing it through our kids eyes---well, and Sean's because it was his first trip!

We left bright and early Wednesday morning and had a treacherous trip to the Austin airport on the icy roads, but we made it!

A little surprise for the kids when they woke up!

Each day at DW they had a treat to pull out of their bags.   

When we finally made it to the FREEZING cold airport, we were all so anxious to get there!  Thank goodness for NONSTOP flights from Austin to Orlando. 
And this is when the camera got put away for awhile.  All hands on deck for the Clarkman!

We met up with Gigi and Papa at the airport and hopped on the "Magical Express" to our hotel! 
*:( Josh, Julia, little B, and Caroline and Luke were supposed to be there at the same time with us, but due to bad roads and cancelled flights, they didn't arrive until later that night.

The big welcome sign!  It was so exciting!

Our first glimpse of THE CASTLE!
*This trip was mainly for AnnMarie.  And, so, anything "princess" was at the top of our list.

We stayed at the Contemporary, and the decor was very           contemporary.

Work it, girl.  Just a snapshot of our bathroom.

To kick off our stay, we headed downstairs for dinner at Chef Mickey's.  It was the perfect way to get things going!

My little poser doing what she does best

Bubba had to warm up to the characters.  You'll see a progression in his comfort level as the week goes on.  :)

And that's where our night ended.  After welcoming the rest of the Jurgensen crew, we headed to bed to rest up for our first BIG day!

19 months



This month brought some snow for Bubba to enjoy!

Checking it out...



Sister taught him how to eat snow.

Clarky coming face to face with our snowman

Yes, Bubba had to wear AnnMarie's old pink boots...We'll try to make sure we have some non-pink ones for next year!

And then a few days later (Thank you, Texas) it was warm enough to wash Daddy's car in the driveway.  Little boys are too cute!

Clarky watched the Super Bowl with his friends Mase and Drew.

The whole group!  Bubba was not too excited about posing for a picture...

YIKES!  We are getting closer and closer to that two year mark!

Be True to Your School

If you know me, you know I always am.

And this year will forever go down in Auburn history as AUSOME. :) 

We are the 2011 NCAA Football Champions. 

I have the best parents in the world, and they made it possible for me to be there with the Auburn family to celebrate the win!

My uncle Marvin, cousin Trip, aunt Beverly, uncle John, aunt Lisa, Mom, Dad
The game was in Phoenix, and we all met up when we got there at the Biltmore to have dinner.  We laughed until we cried (as always) and (I think I did more than anyone else there) enjoyed a delicious dinner at a beautiful restaurant.

Beautiful Bev holding her tickets!

The next day we met up for lunch at a bar in old town Scottsdale where alot of Auburn folks had gathered.  Afterwards, Trip and I posed for a picture with former AU player, Karlos Dansby.



Then we headed out to the stadium to tailgate and complete our mission: to obtain actual tickets to the game.



What? You may ask?  No tickets?  That's right, because they were $4000 a piece before we left!  So we decided to take our chances and buy from scalpers (which is legal there) when we arrived at the stadium. 

Samuel, Daniel, Rachel, Kathy
We met up with the Rives family, who I have known my whole life.  They live in Birmingham, AL, and Kathy and Mom were college roomates and still are the best of friends.  We have many memories of childhood trips to Panama City beach, FL!!

Mom and Kathy

Back to the ticket story---My uncle and dad tried HARD to get us tickets---but long story short, they NEVER fell below $2500 even after kick off!!!  crazy!  And, after all that, they even closed the ticket offices.  Lights out--closed the windows in our faces.
The problem was that there were 10-15,000 AU fans there without tickets because the stadium was so small.  (only 63,000 and our home stadium alone holds 90,000+)
So we watched the game with a ton of AU fans!  So exciting!  We were outside in this huge arena right outside the stadium.

A huge screen showing the game

There was a nice hotel also next to the stadium where a bunch of fans were watching.  So, we made our way over there.  (side note--for those of you tuned in to college football---Cam Newton's dad sat about 20 feet away from me.  He was very low profile, but yes, he was there.) :)
Funny story--a guy sitting in front of us told us he bought a ticket to this game a month or so beforehand for $700.  (Sounds crazy, right?)  Well, when he got to Phoenix, he was able to sell it for $3000!!  So that's why he was able to watch the game with us in the hotel.
madness.   



It was an uneventful game for a while, but in the 4th quarter, it got very tense.  We ended up being tied up with Oregon right at the end.  It all came down to this guy, Wes Byrum, our kicker.  If he could make this field goal, we'd win the game.  And that would be it. 



Trip trying to console my mom as we were all on pins and needles...

The kick was good!!!!!!  The place erupted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made everyone stop for a pic

...But then I thought we needed to show some emotion in this shot!

The man of the night YEAR!  Cam Newton, Heisman trophy winner and QB who led us all the way to the title.  Such a great and upstanding young man.  There's a lot of hearsay swirling around out there, but none of it has been proven, and none of it has been done by him.  See you in the NFL, Cam!



Trip and I celebrating in the middle of the dance floor!  I really didn't whip out my large camera very much during the weekend just cause it was not an easy "travel companion".  After we celebrated a little we headed back out to Scottsdale for a LATE night steak dinner.  Boy was it good, but boy was it WAY later than I ever stay up!

I also got to squeeze in a lunch visit with my sweet sis in law, Allison.  I can't believe we didn't get a picture!  shoot!



In the airport on our way home looking a little weary but bringing home the W.I.N. which made it all worth it!

It was the trip (and game) of a lifetime.  I am so proud of my school and so proud of my team.  It was such a fun time.  I loved shouting, "War Eagle" to all the Auburn fans we'd see in the airports and in our hotel, cabs, plane, etc.  So fun to be surrounded with the AU family when you don't live near it.

As for now, I am (as my friend, Chuck, said) basking in the glory of a National Championship.  Ah yes, for 11 more months.

Oh, and friends, please do not say, "Go War Eagles".  You can say, "Go Tigers".  We are not the Eagles.  We are the Tigers.  It's a battle cry, like "Sic 'Em" or "Roll Tide".  If you want to know the story behind it, ask me some time and I'll tell you.  :)



Clark is 18 months

This is what happens...

...when we don't remember to keep the bathroom doors closed at our house.

And this is the culprit.

Sigh.

As you know, there is no one on Earth who loves this peanut more than his momma, but I'll tell you one thing, month 18 has shown us his true colors.  :)

Full. Blown. Mess.

It's a good thing he's cute.

Because Mother Bear is tIrEd at the end of the day.  very!  All of a sudden we have a non stop little guy on our hands. 

And that's really the biggest news for this month---along with the fact that bubba has also started saying alot more words lately.

Last week I decided that we needed to cut the morning nap, as much as he still liked it some days, and as much as I looved it some days, it had to be done.  He was starting to wake up TOO early in the morn.

We also went to the Dr. for his checkup.  Clark had to get two shots.  He was doing great, and the main things we talked about were his allergies and that annoying eczema creeping back out again. 
height: 32 1/2 inches       
Doc predicts he'll be in the 6' 1" range.  Sorry, bubba, Momma brought you down a little from your daddy's measurement! :)

weight: 31.1 lbs

Lastly, I am loving seeing Clarky grow and change at this age.  He really is leaving his babyhood (waaaaah!) and becoming a rough and rowdy little boy.  I had a "moment" as we were leaving his checkup last week.  AM came along, and as we were walking out, I realized that I wasn't holding a carrier, I wasn't holding a baby, instead I had two kids walking behind me and following right along on their own.
wow.
I saw them grow.  Just like that before my very eyes!
How blessed we are!

Happy New Year 2011!

On our way to Barkin Ball!

AnnMarie-isms volume 2

Just a few things from AnnMarie lately:

I want a high dye-ded shirt for Christmas.                    (tie-dyed)

Cowboys wear mandanas.                                        

Mommy likes to watch "Forget Not to Wear".            ("What Not to Wear")

This my favorite park of the movie.

:)