Wear SUNSCREEN

(Graphic picture below!!!!!) Don't say I didn't warn you.

Remember that song? Well we always called it the sunscreen song. Let me refresh your memory. This song came out my senior year (Class of '99!) so I remember this song very well.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

So let's all say the very last sentence of this song together: BUT TRUST ME ON THE SUNSCREEN!

It seems more and more of my friends and family are getting skin cancer these days. And yes, there are several different types of skin cancer, some more serious then others, BUT it's still cancer. My husband has been the latest victim of this. We found out back in May that he had Basal Cell skin cancer and this morning he had it removed. Way worse then we thought it would be. He went in around 7:45 and was out by 8:00. They removed, he thought, about a quarter size from his face and they told him to come back at 9:00 to make sure they got it all. Well they hadn't. So they went deeper and wider and hopefully took care of the tumor. (yes, all cancer, all types is still called a tumor). So Leven just HAD to take a picture of his wound. (Don't look below if you have a queezy stomach). It is so gross....a very OMG picture! The doctor even took this picture for him. He got it stitched up and hopefully it will heal up good. It's so important now days to wear sunscreen. Think about your future. Your loved ones. Lather up friends! (maybe the picture below will help remind you to lather up!) And one more thing....if you have an unusual spot show up on your body and won't go away...have it checked out. Large moles that are raised above the skin...have them checked out. If you have never even been to a dermatologist...GO! Let the doctor check out your whole body! Better safe then sorry!

Romp it UP!

I have had more people comment on Taydem's outfit from the beach, aka...lacey romper! These little rompers are really popular right now. I bought Taydem one as well as my niece Austyn. Same color, so I need a picture ASAP! I bought these rompers off of facebook from a sweet gal that I have bought a few things from already. She's super fast with delivery and very easy to work with. Her name is Shayna Strother Mills and her facebook page is called Texas Monkey Boutique! Check out her page. She has all kinds of feather headbands and more colors for the rompers! I bought the necklace from Old Navy at the last minute before heading to the beach.

Leven's surgery will be July 5th (next Tuesday). He has to be at the doctor's office by 7:45. Please say a prayer for him in hopes that this is just a simple procedure and wipe it all out!

And speaking of Leven: He found his "old" high school baseball jersey and decided to try it on for old times sake. Um...little small! He was having major flashbacks and wished he was this size back then! Wonder how he got this jersey in the first place???? ha

And one more picture! Hopefully this makes you smile! This is my beautiful niece Austyn! I laugh everytime I see this picture:

Have a blessed week!



Gulf Shores, Alabama

We had a really really good time at the beach last week. It was so nice to get away for a while and just relax. We left out on Friday after work. We thought breaking up the trip would be the best thing. So we spent the night in Vicksburg, Mississippi. We wanted to tour the battlefield in the morning so we got us a cheap hotel room and called it a night around midnight. We loved the battlegrounds, so beautiful. I haven't been there since I was a child and didn't really remember much of it. It took us about an hour to drive through the whole thing and of course I took tons of pictures. Here are a couple:

We arrived at our beach house on Saturday around 3:00 pm. The others had already made it there so we quickly decided on what we were going to eat on the next week and headed to Wal-Mart! We ate out a few times, but mostly cooked at the house every night and every morning. Taydem and Trever both loved the sand and water. Thank goodness Bradley came along to keep Trever busy. And Taydem and Tucker played so well together. I wasn't looking forward to the office at all yesterday morning. But it was time to get back to reality.

On the Mound

Trever is playing on a summer league baseball team. They have had a few scrimmages and last night was their first game. They each took an inning to pitch.....I took just a few pictures of him. I missed most of the game bc I had volleyball lessons!

My sweet athletic nephew, Aidan, made the All-Star team for the 7-8 year olds.  Only 24 boys made the 2 teams out of 120! And only two 7 year olds are on his team of 12...and he is one of them! The boy has been playing baseball since he was 1! Yea Aidan....super proud Aunt right here!

Update with the Barker's

~We leave for the beach on SATURDAY! Can't wait
~The roomba vacuum is the best gift EVER! I haven't swept since last Thursday
~Leven and Trever started S.W.A.P (Speed, Weights, Agility (can't remember what the "P" stands for)) this morning. It will run until 2-a-days start. All girl and boy athletes can choose which time of the day to come work out for 2 hours. It's like either 7-9, 10-12 or 6-8. Leven has to be there at ALL three times...Poor thing. I feel sorry for him. He is one of the coaches in charge of the training.
~Trever got his first official pay check last week!
~I am still giving volleyball lessons on Tuesday and Thursday and I'm coaching on Monday nights for Summer League. I am coaching the same team I did with club. Just a few new girls....
~I still sell Willow House, but I have the majority of my sales go through my website...check it out...June has AMAZING sales going on right now...http://devinbarker.willowhouse.com/Catalog
~Taydem has got one personality. She makes us laugh everyday. Where did this little girl get all this spunk from??????? She is long and skinny these days...She may just be tall after all!
~She is very grown up for her age (I think!). Very independent and is my shadow...all day every day!
~We leave for the beach on Saturday...oh yeah...I already said that....I'm sooooooooooooo READY to get away from work, volleyball, my house, a schedule, responsibilities.


On a more serious note. Leven found out a few weeks ago that he has skin cancer. He has a spot on his face (right below his right ear, close to his jaw line) and has had this spot for a really long time now. I begged and begged him to go have it checked out but he insisted it was nothing. So I kept begging and he finally set up an appointment. Sure enough it is a pretty serious type of skin cancer. The day the lady called to tell him, he heard the word cancer and can't remember anything else she said. So we don't know what time, where the surgery will take place or anything. We just know July 5th. He thinks the type of cancer she said was Melanoma!! But like I said, he can't remember what she said. Just keep him in your prayers. He is pretty scared about it (although he tries to act all tough!) I just want them to make sure they get it ALL out before it spreads.

It's calling my name...DEEEVVVVIIINNNN! Can you hear it?

Get this Roomba started!!

My husband is getting sweeter and sweeter the older he gets. For the past few months I have been dying to have an irobot Roomba! My cousin Chelsea introduced me to this little awesome vacuum robot back in the fall and I have wanted one every since. I'm not kidding when I say this....I sweep every day! From the dust, to the crumbs, to the baseball field dirt my family keeps me busy with those dang floors. And yes, I can  probably be a little OCD about my floors, but I can't help it. If I can see it on the ground it needs to be picked up. So last night Leven snuck the Roomba in our bedroom and put it under the covers for me to find! I was sooooooo excited. I got it out of the box right away and started reading up about it. I charged it overnight and this morning it took it's first spin around my house. My favorite part of the whole idea of this robot sweeping my floors----it docks itself on the charger when it's done. You can also set a time every day for it to turn on and work its magic. I will do it everyday right before I come home from work! That way I will have a smile on my face when I walk through the house. Yes, it's not cheap...but oh so worth it!

Happy Anniversary

My parents have been married for 38 years now!! WOW....that's a long time to be married to one person. Leven and I have a long way to go....

I know everyone always says this, but my parents really are the best parents any child could have. I have learned so much throughout my 30 years and I continue to learn from them every day. I still call my mom every time I have a questions about something I want to cook, when Taydem has a certain cough I'm worried about, if Leven is driving me crazy and I just need to vent, what flowers to plant in my flowerbed, any "woman" question, etc. The questions never stop. And I'm so thankful that I have a mother and a daddy that I can still call on. They raised us 4 kids pretty well (I think!) and taught us at an early age to keep GOD and FAMILY first ALWAYS! And us 4 continue to do this every day. Our family is growing bigger and bigger and my parents are the perfect Nana and Papa to our kids! It's so great. Another thing that I think is great, is I know not only do us 4 kids look up to my parents but tons of family members and our friends look up to them as well. Really really good example of a husband and wife! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We ALL love you so much!