It's the little things...

...A full tank of gas after he drives my car...

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...bringing me unexpected ice cold glasses of Coke Zero.....

....Taking the boys outside to give me a few moments peace...

...that make me love this man truly, madly deeply!

Dream Dinner

Obviously, I'm a foodie. I don't think I need to expand on that any further, but just for re-iteration...I love me some food!!! Last night I was preparing for our girls night out pool party, looking for some questions to have handy, just in case the conversation ended up lagging...fyi: whenever there is a group of women together... lag of conversations...not so much!
ANYWAY, I came across this question and thought it would be fun to throw out to you all and get your answers...

You are selected as guest of honor at a dinner, and are allowed to invite 4 famous people to attend your dinner and guaranteed their participation, who do you invite?

A note especially for my mother-in-law, as I'm already hearing her answer in my head...You can't say "my family is all I need for a dream dinner"...Love you MIL, but I'm on to you and your ways!!
So, here are my 4...
Ashtan Kutcher- He could "tweet" to his 3million followers that he's at dinner with Tonya Gray and 3million people would google me, find my blog, and then I'D be famous...plus I'm sure he'd provide some comic relief
George W. Bush - For so many reasons...I would love to hear all that he has to say about life outside the White House; inside the White House; His proudest moments; etc..I think he'd be very interesting to listen to
Will Smith - Eye Candy...need I say more?
Billy Grahm - Someone's going to have to pray for this messed up dinner party!! Also, I'd be interested to hear what he thinks about the Church in America today, among many other things.

OK, so there's my 4? Who are yours?

Remembering a Remarkable Woman...

With me on September 4, 2004

On August 5th, 2009, my great-grandma passed away, and I lost a major part of my heritage. I don't know many people lucky enough to have a great-grandmother that they remember, let alone have in their lives for 30+ years.
Since the day she died, I've been writing this post in my head over and over, trying to think of the best words to put together a tribute to someone so special. At her funeral, my dad (her grandson) and 2 of his sisters shared their memories of a grandma who was far beyond just the title "grandma" to her grandchildren. It was said many times over the 2 days of visitation and funeral that she was "the family matriarch...the glue that held our family together".
Most, if not all, of my memories of holidays as a child revolved in someway around Grandma. Many of my Christmas mornings were shared with her, as she usually spent the night with my family and woke up with us Christmas morning.
My grandma was strong...she was not tall or big, but she had strength. She was a widow for over 20 years, and lived alone until the last 5. She kept a remarkably clean home, and even moved her furniture once a week (it was on rollers, of course) to clean under, behind and over it.
She survived breast cancer, the loss of her husband and son, the depression and many life altering changes to her and her family.
Her laughter was contagious...the first thing I thought as I stepped up to her casket for the first time, was how much I will miss her laugh. She had this cackle that just echoed through any room. She loved to be teased and tricked. My sister used to call her every year on April Fool's day and try to sell her windows, siding, roofing or shutters. Sitting on the other end of the phone, I could always hear her say, "Jessie, is that you, I knew you'd be calling today", and then the cackle would come.
She loved her family well. Do your remember this post I wrote about the sixth love language? Not until Grandma passed away, did I realize where I got this passion for food from. Grandma loved to bake and cook for her family. I spent almost every Sunday with my 7 cousins and aunts and uncles at grandma's house. She would prepare homemade noodles and beef; roasts; and a plethora of cookies, cakes or pies...did you get that I said every Sunday. She never complained (that I know of) and loved that all of us were at her house to eat her cooking. I am now convinced, more than ever, that food is the 6th love language, and I'm pretty sure that was Grandmas dominant love language.
There is so much more that I could say about this amazing woman and the ways that she impacted me are too numerous to mention. I realize how lucky I am to not only have had a great-grandmother in my life, but one whom I knew well and loved much. She certainly will be missed!!

Holding Baby Levi, one of her 9 great great grandchildren!

Thankful

Tonight I'm thankful for....

this sweet face...

...and this one

....and this one..

These three boys...errr...2 boys and one man are 3 of my biggest answered prayers. I was one of those girls that just wanted to be a "wife and a mom", and sometimes it just baffles me that God not only answered my prayers but he did so in a way that exceeded my biggest dreams and hopes for a family.
I have a wonderful husband, truly wonderful. He is faithful, compassionate, aware of my needs, a provider, protector, encourager and my lover...wooo, is it getting warm in here or is it just me???
With all my heart I wanted to be a mom, and God saw fit to bless us with Levi in a much earlier time frame than we would have planned, but as always, His timing was perfect. Levi is healthy, funny, playful, physical (we're trying to turn that one into a positive trait), a prayer who loves to talk to Jesus, a thinker and quite the storyteller.
Mason came along and when we thought there was no way we could have MORE love to give than what we were giving Levi, Mason's arrival proved us wrong. Mason is healthy, sensitive, a cuddler, emotionally expressive, funny, obsessed with his big brother and equally obsessed with cars (toy cars, cars that drive by, his daddy's car).
I know life can be tough, trust me, I've been there and I'm sure I'll be there again. But man, is it also so sweet! I don't know where you are in your life right now, but if you're struggling with something, feeling like life sucks or just plain down, I encourage you to look at what's good in your life. Maybe your spouse and kids are bringing you down (Hey, been there, too) or maybe you're feeling lonely and wishing for someone to appreciate you. Go find something that makes you realize how sweet life is. Go to a park and take in the beauty that's just there; call your mom, dad, brother, sister just because; pray and ask God to show you a glimpse of HIS love, I can pretty much promise, if you ask Him and you're looking, He will show you!!
If you are feeling down and/or struggling with something, I would love to pray for you. You can e-mail me at tonyagray813@gmail.com, and/ or leave a comment here and I promise to pray for you!

Oh Yes I Did....

Go to the store in flip-flops and tool around in our our neighborhood pool and never even realize that my feet looked like this...






I remember thinking I badly needed to fix my toes last night and starting the process (by the way, I despise giving myself pedicures, which should be obvious) while watching Real Housewives-Atlanta, and then getting really tired, I do NOT remember stopping half-way through and going to sleep. Maybe I should check Chris' feet to see if I continued on with him...???

Today...

Today I am..

...out of Coke Zero

...really wanting a Coke Zero

...going to Costco to buy Coke Zero (and other things)

...wishing Coke Zero would pay me for advertising!!

...longing for sunshine

...planning to attend the Beth Moore Simulcast in August with church friends

...looking forward to the Beth Moore Simulcast

...wishing Beth Moore would pay me for advertising!!

...feeling great after running 5 miles (on the treadmill)

...thinking running on a treadmill may be easier than running outside, but I push myself so much more on the treadmill than I do outside

...Struggling to grasp the thought that tomorrow I'm taking Levi to pre-school open house

...reading this blog and praying for this baby mycharmingkids.net

...thankful for my own two healthy boys

...trying to redesign my blog

...thinking I'll be much better at redesigning my blog once I get some Coke Zero in my system!

...what are YOU doing today?

Letters from my mind

Dear Lady at the Mall Play area:
Are you aware that most of the moms in the play structure spend 90% of their time telling their children to STOP TATTLING! What then, makes you think it's a good idea to tell me 10 minutes after my oldest child pushes my youngest down (something that happens 1.2billion times a DAY), that "your baby was crying (10 minutes ago, a 2 second cry) because his big brother pushed him down over there". Well, thank you so much, let me just grab that mean big brother and punish him right in front of you so you will feel that justice has been served. By the way your perfect child may not be pushing his sibling down, but he's over there licking all of the climbing toys, you know the ones that all the other kids are running on barefoot, and I think he just put a pre-chewed piece of gum in his mouth!

Sincerely,
Big-brother bully mama!!

Dear Lady @ Target,
Listen carefully, there are TWO, TWO photo centers here, right next to each other. While I have 2 patient children in my cart, who are quickly losing their patience, could you please BUZZ OFF! I don't need you standing over my shoulder commenting on my vacation pictures, reminding me that I'm using your favorite photo center. By the way, when you say you'll go away for a moment, so I don't feel rushed...I didn't think you literally meant ONE moment, so I don't know why you were surprised that I wasn't finished when you returned from your "moment". Also, even though I apologized, I really wasn't sorry that Levi kept bumping into you while you were trying to use said photo center, since it was still our turn, and he was trying to get our pictures as they were printing out! Finally, my vacation pictures were way better than yours!!!

Sincerely,
The one with nicer pictures


Dear Coke Zero,
Did you hear that I got rid of facebook once I realized I was facing an addiction to it? Aren't you worried that I might axe you out of my life? In all of your fizzy goodness, I'm downing more cans of you than I should, and I'm starting to take notice...what's that? Oh, right, you heard that I went crawling back to facebook so you're not afraid? Nice...

Sincerely,
The one with no will power