Notes from the Slacker...

I know, I know... when it comes to blogging, I have definitely been a slacker! I'm sorry! I don't even have a good excuse... just that I've been lazy or something. I finally got the power cord for my laptop, and that has been nice, but it also creates a lot of distractions for me. There are emails to read, games to play, Facebook, Myspace... you name it, it's out there! Gotta love technology!


Well, the election is finally over. I know that a lot of people are disappointed in the results, but we just have to remember that change CAN be good, we just have to be open-minded and trust in the true leader... the only One who is in total control... our loving, faithful Lord! Pray for America!


I saw a sign today that I thought was thought-provoking. It said "Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life" I really like that... and I keep thinking of words that we can put in the place of "Kindness"... love, hope, happiness, laughter, family, friends, faith... each of those work,too. These days I have been trying to focus on these words and what they mean. It is much more positive and optimistic than the stuff that we're seeing and hearing on tv, radio and newspaper!

I am still going strong in my weight-loss/get healthy regimine! I am exercising an average of 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes a day, and between that and my diet, I have lost almost 10 pounds since I was at the doctor last. Yay! I'm proud of myself!

Baseball and softball season is over for now. I'm glad in a way, because it was getting pretty chilly out there towards the end of the season! Basketball starts Monday for Carrie. I'm excited about that, because basketball is my favorite sport to watch!

This past weekend was a lot of fun for me. Halloween was Friday night, and Ricky & I had fun taking Carrie and her friend Semia trick-or-treating. Jeremy decided that he's too "old" for trick-or-treating, so he spent some time with his Grandpa. The girls had a great time, going to 4 different neighborhoods, including one that had a "party" going on. They were happy with the hot chocolate and cotton candy that they got in addition to all the candy!

"Semia the pirate and Carrie the 80's Diva"

Another fun time this weekend was Saturday evening. My parents had planned a "Low Country Boil" at their country house, so Dave and his family and Ricky and I and our kids all drove to the Mentow house for dinner. It was especially neat because Grandma Skip was in town visiting from NC. The meal was delicious! We had a huge pot of turkey kielbasa, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, onions cooked in Old Bay seasoning, green beans, several different types of bread and lots of yummy desserts.

"The Low Country Boil"

After dinner, we all loaded up the vehicles and went to take some family pictures down the road at a pond owned by some of Mom and Dad's friends. It was fun trying to get good pictures of everyone in the fading daylight, but we ended up with a few good ones. The whole evening was a lot of fun, and we're looking forward to Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from Saturday... enjoy!

view from Mom and Dad's front yard

I hope everyone is having a great week! Love you guys!

C:

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Wow... these last few days have been absolutely gorgeous! The sun has been shining with fluffy white clouds floating around in the sky... the air has been warm, but with a touch of coolness in the breeze... the leaves are starting to change colors... beautiful stuff, let me tell ya!

Because it's been so nice, we've spent quite a bit of time enjoying it. The kids love to play outside, so that's just what we do after homework has been completed. The boys like to play football or baseball, and the girls like to be the cheerleaders. :) They have lots of fun!

Today, JoAnn and I decided to go for a walk. We went downtown to Percival's Island, where there is a really nice paved trail for walkers, bikers, roller bladers, etc. The trail itself crosses the river and then goes on for miles. Well, today I found out that walking with a four year old is NOT about walking for fitness, but for pleasure. We would walk a ways, then stop to see a bug... or a lizard, or a pretty flower, or the river... and to collect leaves. I was impressed with JoAnn though, because we walked for half a mile before she said that she was tired and wanted to turn around. So, all in all, walking a mile with a 4 year old ended up being nice. It wasn't too hot, the pace wasn't too fast (or too slow) and we had a really nice time. I'm sure we'll do this again soon!

I have some pictures that I've taken over the past few weeks, and I hope to have more as the trees really change colors. In the meantime, enjoy!

Carrie

Carrie and Jeremy (don't worry... these are unused tracks that they're on!)

the boys playing football in the front yard. Andrew thinks he's as big as Jeremy and Tyler!

Tyler

Jeremy calls it a Touchdown!

Andrew on the slide

JoAnn on the bike and Andrew playing with the bat and ball

Shelby

taking a break... reading books on the front porch swing

Just stuff

Ok, I'd like to clarify something here. I am generally not a complainer. Or at least I try not to be. However, after reading my last post, someone called me on it, and said something about my "bad luck post." Honest, y'all... I did NOT intend for it to be a "bad luck post", but rather one that shows that while we all have times when we are walking through storms, God is always there to see us through. He has done that for me and my family, and is continuing to do so. So, please forgive me for unintentionally making my life out to be all "Doom and Gloom" because it really isn't! I am truly blessed, and it's all because of my Faithful Friend, Jesus!

Now, on to something else. The weekend ahead... what are your plans? My kids have a 4-day weekend from school, so they'll be home tomorrow. That means that I will be able to sleep an hour longer in the morning. Yay! I don't know what we'll do with our day yet, though. Heather is off tomorrow too, so we'll find something fun to do, I'm sure. I am going to a scrapbooking crop tomorrow night (thanks for the invite, Cathy... I'm glad I can finally make it!) I have a lot of catching up to do on my scrapbooks, and this is a great time for me to go.
I promised JoAnn's Mommy that she could stay with us overnight Saturday night, so she will come around lunchtime, and Carrie has a softball game at 3:00 in Forest. Other than that, I don't think we have any other plans for Saturday. We have fun when JoAnn is here overnight. The whole "nite nite routine" is so different with a 4 year old in the house!
Ricky has to work Sunday (very unusual, but it's overtime!) so we'll do the whole Sunday/Church thing without him. Sometimes, if Ricky's not going to church, I don't go either, but this week I am going. I want to make sure that the kids get to Sunday School, and I really like the song that we're singing in the choir this week. It's called "The Cross Said It All" and it was the title of the Living Cross several years ago. It is a very pretty,very powerful song.
Maybe after lunch Sunday we'll go walking again (it's becoming a Sunday tradition, I think!) and then Carrie will go to her CORE group at church in the evening. So, not too much planned for the weekend... just enough to keep me from going stir-crazy, but not enough to wear me out! I'll bet we'll go "trainin' at some point over the weekend, for sure!

I hope that you all have a great weekend!
C:

Long time, no see

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. Sorry 'bout that, y'all. Things have been kind of out of the ordinary around here lately, and I just haven't had much to say, or the inclination to blog. I think things are swinging back around now, though!
We ran into a few weeks of bad luck, it seems. First, one of the kids I take care of isn't going to be here for a while. Andrew is everyone's buddy, and we miss his sweet smile. His not being here means a loss of income, too, which hurts our bank account. (Pray that his daddy finds a job soon!)
Our Expedition decided that it needed a break, so it broke. Well, not completely, but enough that we only felt comfortable driving it VERY short distances... like to Ricky's job and back home. That's it. The problem is fixable, but it costs money to fix it, and well... we just didn't have it. Hopefully we'll be able to fix it this weekend. We'll see. In the meantime, we're driving the van, which is almost in as bad of shape as the truck. At least it runs! I'm glad that gas prices are starting to go back down some... that helps!
Not only did the truck break down, my power supply for my laptop died. That's fixable too, but again... no money. I miss my laptop though... I have all sorts of stuff saved on there that are not on the dinosaur family computer. Hopefully I can replace the power supply for that soon!
We've had our normal bills and financial obligations, and broken down stuff doesn't help any! Not to mention some discouraging news from my doctor... it's been one thing right after another!
BUT... things can change, and they are!
Some of the financial burdens are starting to work out, thanks to answered prayers. Hopefully things will continue to look up for us!
I have decided that I will not let bad health get in the way of my life, so I've changed my diet and have started exercising. Now those of you who know me well know that I am bad about starting a diet/exercise program and within a couple of weeks, I quit. Well, I am determined to keep it up this time. I want to get off of the 4 prescriptions that I have to take! I want to feel better, and it would be great to look better, too, and the key to doing this is to lose some weight. So... for the past 9-out-of-10 days, I have been walking (either outside or on a treadmill at the YMCA) or swimming. Does anyone have a Wii Fit that they bought and don't like? If so, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands! :)
I have been eating my Cheerios for breakfast (trying to test out the commercial) and being very careful about the rest of the stuff that goes in my mouth, and I have actually lost some weight. I have a "target weight" that I'd like to reach before I go back to the doctor at the end of October... we'll see what happens! Please keep me in your prayers!
Otherwise, we're still running out almost every night for church activities and baseball and softball games for Jeremy and Carrie, but the games will be over by the end of the month... just in time for bastketball to start for Carrie. Oh well... I don't mind! (and basketball is my favorite!)
Lots of people are asking about Morgan, and I'm happy to say that she seems to be doing great! :) She's excited about her SIL's new baby on the way (due in December) She's settled in for the long haul now, and is happy.
I am running out of things to say, so I think I will go outside and sit on the porch with my book, and enjoy the crisp Fall air for a while. I'll post again soon, I promise!
Still smilin', even through the storms...
Christy C:

The weekend

Wow, what a weekend! We had a blast! I'm not sure that I wanna do it again real soon, at least not the driving part of it! (We drove over 1000 miles in 3 days, ick!) We always have fun when we're with Christy and Richard, though! :)
Let me fill you in a little bit on the weekend.
About a month ago, we made plans to go down to GA to visit Morgan and Nicholas for their Georgia Reception. We didn't realize at the time that Hurricane Ike was planning on making an appearance in the gulf. It was a good thing that I gassed up Thursday, because early Friday afternoon, we started hearing horror stories about the gas prices going up (and up and up and up) I started to get spooked... after all, our "Big Blue" (Expedition) LOVES to drink gasoline! I was not excited to hear that in some places the gas price was already over $5.oo/gallon, and places were running out of gas quickly. Come on, now... we've got a road trip this weekend! Cut us some slack here! Anyway, we'd already promised M and N that we'd be there, and Christy and Richard were waiting to ride down to GA with us, so off we went. The Expedition was cram packed again. We picked up Stuart, and headed down the road. (By the way, if you ever hear stories about teenage boys always being hungry... they're all true!)
We left town at around 6:30, and stopped in Greensboro for dinner at Bojangles. The chicken that they gave us was spicy, but pretty good, regardless. After dinner we got back on the road again, stopping a couple more times (when teenage boys eat as much as they do, they have to make "pit stops" a lot) and finally arrived at the Letanosky home sometime between 10:30 and 11:00. Christy had found a station that had gas at what we decided was a fairly good price ($3.79/gallon) so the two R's went to top off Big Blue. We sat around and chatted while watching the Weather Channel for a while (I'm working on getting Jim Cantore for you for your birthday, Christy!) before heading off to bed. (It always amazes us how quickly Richard can start snoring!!!) Kirby and Tanger (the Letanosky kitties) decided to come to visit a couple of times during the night, which thrilled me, but not so much Ricky. :) Meow Meow, kitties!
Saturday morning we got everyone up, loaded back into Big Blue, and headed down the road. We stopped for a delicious breakfast at a restaurant in Shelby NC called Ken and Mary's. It's obviously a local favorite, because both times we've been there, it's been packed! After breakfast, we resumed our journey. Christy, Richard and I had fun rolling up a bunch of one dollar bills and stuffing them into the holes of little plastic "practice golf balls" for part of a gift for the newlyweds. Christy tried to sweeten me up by showering me with miniature bit o'honey's. (we kept finding them all over the car all weekend!)
We finally made our way to GA, where we stopped at Walmart for new shoes (for Ricky) and birthday cards (for Charles), at Lowe's (so C could give her daddy a gift card as a joke for his bday) and at a bbq place (also for a gc for Charles), and finally at Krystal for a very late lunch. Since we had eaten early that morning, and hadn't had anything since then, and since Ricky, Stuart and I had never been to a Krystal, we all enjoyed our meal. We kept getting phone calls from Morgan and Nicholas wondering where we were... I think we got 10 calls before we finally showed up in the driveway. I guess they were anxious to see us!
We had some time to relax and visit with Morgan, Nicholas, Kim, Charles, and Christina before the reception started, which was held at the "Hart Bed and Breakfast" (my nickname for Kim and Charles' place) There were around 60 folks there to celebrate the marriage. :) M and N got a couple of nice gifts and bunches of cards with money/gc's in them. The food was terrific (typical cookout fare, as well as Charles' famous chicken salad) It was fun being around so many people that we recognized from the wedding and/or from being down there before.
After a while, the crowd started to thin out, so we went up to Morgan and Nick's apartment to get ready for bed. It had been a very long day!
Sunday morning, we got up and got ourselves ready for the day, then went over to the Big House for breakfast. I have to admit that Kim's biscuits are just as good as the ones that Charles makes! :) She makes really good sausage gravy, too. After breakfast, we had time to chat with everyone again for a while before it was time to head back up the road. I had thought it would be hard telling Morgan goodbye again, but fortunately for all of us, she left for church before we left to come home, so it was easier.
We finally left, to go on a gas hunt. There was very little gas to be found, but after striking out two times, we finally found gas for $3.99/gallon at a Shell station somewhere in Paulding county. We were able to fill up there, and again in SC ($3.89/gallon) and that was enough to get us home.
On the way back up to Christy and Richard's house, we kept seeing neat stuff. We saw a monkey in a porsche (I'm NOT kidding!) and lots of Hurricane relief/repair vehicles. We saw 3 trucks/trailers from the Southern Baptist Convention, 3 buses from FEMA, 6 truck loads of generators, several tree service trucks, and at least 25 Electric company trucks. It was amazing!
Once we got to SC, it was very breezy, so we turned off the A/C and rolled down the windows. Christy and I were having fun playing with the wind, but it wasn't much fun trying to get the tangles out of our hair later.
We arrived at Christy and Richard's house, relaxed for a few minutes, then went to dinner at an Irish pub in Charlotte called Murphy's. It was good, but loud in there! (the football game was on every tv in the place until we got them to put the race on in the room we were in) There was a sign with an Irish Blessing that said "As you slide down the bannisters of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction." I liked that one! Next time, I want the quesadillas, Christy! You're right... they're yummy!
After dinner, Christy and Richard headed home, and Ricky, Stuart and I continued on up the road toward home. We hadn't gone far when we hit some major traffic near Concord Mills. We ended up inching along for almost an hour only going 5 miles or so. After that, it was smooth sailing all the way home. We dropped Stuart off at his house at 9:30, and got to our house shortly after that.
Thank you, Heather, for picking up Jeremy and Carrie for me, and for the other stuff that you did over the weekend! Thank you, Christy and Richard for a great weekend, for helping with gas, and for dinner yesterday! Thank you Kim and Charles for letting us crash at your place again, and for all you do for Morgan! Thank you, Christina, for being Morgan's friend as well as her Sister-in-law! Thank you, Linda and Al, for kid-sitting this weekend, and getting them to their games, etc. Thank you, God for allowing it all to happen!

On the road again...

On the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again...
Well, that's not entirely true. I am glad that we're about to leave town again for a couple of days, because I like to travel. This weekend, Ricky, Stuart, and I are going down to GA for Morgan and Nick's wedding reception. We have stuff to take to them (things that Morgan left here because there was no room in the truck on the last trip, as well as a few other things that people are sending down to them), but our main objective is to just spend time with the newlyweds.
We'll be leaving home this afternoon, driving to Christy and Richard's house for the night, then leaving in the morning and making our way down to GA. That part will be fun. The part that will not be fun will be paying for food and the gas to get there and back. I heard from a very reliable source that gas prices have already risen around .35 cents a gallon because of the hurricane. Gee thanks, Ike. I guess I can't complain too much, though, because the folks down in Coastal Texas and Louisiana have a lot more to worry about with this hurricane on the way. I can't imagine having to evacuate like they are having to do. (I would think that their gas prices are much higher, too.) I just pray for the safety of the folks down there.
Anyway, I'm hoping for a good trip this weekend! It will be great spending time with C & R, and with Morgan and Nick! :)
Happy Weekend!
C:

Makin' waffles

I got a waffle maker for my birthday last year, but I have only used it a handful of times. I woke up this morning wanting waffles in the worst way, so I thought that JoAnn might enjoy making them instead of just pulling some out of the freezer. Yeah, call me crazy, but I have fun making stuff like this with kids! So, once the big kids headed off to school, JoAnn andI got busy in the kitchen.
Here are some pictures of our waffle making adventures! JoAnn really enjoyed making AND eating the waffles! (she got full quickly though... after only one waffle!)


mixing the waffle batter

uncooked batter

golden brown

cutting her waffle

first bite

"they're good!"

all smiles (notice the syrup is sugar free??? I'm not totally insane!)

I love my job!

I think that since I have to work, I have the best job in the world. I am a daycare provider in my home, and currently I care for 4 children. I have Tyler (age 10) and Shelby (age 6) (my nephew and niece) before and after school, Andrew (almost 2) part time (3 days one week, 2 days the next), and JoAnn (age 4) (full time, but she's at preschool 3 mornings a week). Throw into the mix my own kids Jeremy and Carrie, and there's never a dull moment around here! Honestly, though, they are all terrific kids! They keep me busy, that's for sure.


Today I took JoAnn swimming at my parents' pool. She is a little fish! Her daddy says that one day she's going to beat Michael Phelp's record for the olympics, and watching her in the pool, I believe him! Today JoAnn was doing flips around the pool noodle, jumping off the side of the pool and swimming to the steps, and swimming the width of the pool without her swimmies. She's amazing!
This is JoAnn... the pic was taken in June




Yesterday I had Andrew by himself for a while, since JoAnn was in preschool. He is a little love-bug, as long as it's what HE wants. Actually, everything is good, as long as it's what HE wants. LOL! We spent part of the morning just cuddling and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then, he decided that he was hungry, and boy, did he eat! He had his granola bar, a kid-size container of yogurt, half of a banana, a slice of bread, and a cup of juice! He ate more than I did!
Andrew is also beginning to say actual words, instead of baby babble. He'll try to repeat almost anything (again, as long as it's what He wants to do!) I was changing his stinky diaper and said "Ooh Yuck!" ... Andrew says "Ooh GUCK!" He calls for Ricky "Icky!" and the cats are both "Hattie!" He's such a cutie pie!
Here's Andrew, happy that he will soon be getting up from his nap.




Shelby is a miniature version of Carrie at that age. She's very smart and happy, and always has a smile on her face. She has very long blonde, curly hair and big blue eyes. She is in first grade now, and reads very well. She likes to play with JoAnn in the afternoons, which is fun for both of them. They like to play with Brats most of all, but they also enjoy playing with the toy animals, too.

Shelby on the first day of school

Tyler is like a little man. He just turned 10, and for as long as I've known him, he's always enjoyed the company of adults much more than that of kids. He will sit down and talk to me for hours, rather than going to play. It's amazing! He is really good at jigsaw puzzles and is playing football for the first time. He's the smallest guy on his team, but that doesn't seem to phase him. He's very strong-willed which comes in handy when he's with his brother and sisters!

Tyler, on the first day of school

Being with kids has always been one of my favorite things, even though they can try my patience from time to time. I guess that's normal, though!
So, thank you Robin, Valerie, and Tammy for loaning your kids to me during the day! They are truly gifts from God!

Trains

I don't know what it is about trains, but I love them. I started really enjoying them before Jeremy was even born, and to this day, I still like to sit and wait for one to come by. I call it "trainin."

This morning JoAnn, Heather and I had to go to the store for a few things. On the way back, we saw several trains. The first one was downtown at the Percival's Island crossing. That one was a CSX with 2 engines and mostly hopper cars. We got to the crossgates just as they were going down, so we were lucky enough to watch the whole thing.


After that one was gone, we went over to LU and sitting on the tracks there was a BNSF with at least 3 engines, maybe 4. I couldn't tell what all that train was pulling, but it looked like a bunch of mixed freight. I wish I'd had a camera with me, because BNSF is not generally seen around here much. I love to see trains from different places!


Last but not least, we went down beside the UPS place and one set of the lights down there were green. We decided that we had a little bit of time left to sit and wait for the train to come. While we were waiting, we got to play with a ladybug, watch a train working in the yard, watch a deer cross the tracks (he got across just in time!) and then the train came. It had 2 NS engines and a Conrail engine, and was mostly coal cars. It was a really good trainin' day! :)

Just The Two of Us

What a nice weekend! Ricky and I were able to spend some quality time together, just us... with no kids! Jeremy and Carrie had already planned on spending the weekend at their Grandma's house visiting company, and Heather had to work, so Ricky and I decided that we would spend Friday night and Saturday alone. Perfect timing, as we could "celebrate the 4th anniversary of our celebration."

See, when we got married in April of 2004, we had a tiny ceremony with only our parents (and a nephew, who happened to be with Grandmother and Papa) in attendance. The whole thing was a whirlwind thing... we decided Thursday afternoon that we wanted to go ahead and get married, so we got the marriage license on Thursday, and had the little ceremony on Friday night. Then we went out to Bulls (a tex-mex steakhouse) with my parents for dinner. The next day, Ricky went fishing with a buddy! Can you believe that? LOL... he'd had it planned for weeks, and I wasn't about to make him give that up.

We knew that people would want to be a part of our "wedding" so we planned a "Celebration" to renew our vows and have a big ole' party. We had our celebration on August 28, 2004. This time around we had the kids involved, lots of people came, we did the whole wedding cake thing, plus a very informal picnic-y dinner, and we had a blast. :) We went to The Outer Banks of North Carolina® afterward for a week for our honeymoon.

So, this weekend, Ricky and I decided that since we had some time to spend together, we would make the most of it. On Friday night, Ricky surprised me with dinner at Red Lobster which is a place that we both love, but can't afford to go to very often. After a delicious seafood dinner (the shrimp scampi and biscuits were our favorites!), we drove out to Mom and Dad's house in the country to spend the night. Well, we didn't stay the whole night, because well... let's just say that there were circumstances that were beyond our control. So, we ended up driving back home at 2:00 in the morning. That was ok with us, though.

After sleeping in for a while Saturday morning, Ricky and I decided to spend the day doing something that we don't get to do much anymore... just riding around. (We don't do it much anymore because it costs so much with gas prices the way they are, and our big ole' Expedition is a gas guzzler). So, after breakfast we just started driving around, with no destination in mind. We had the ipod going full blast, and went riding all over the countryside. Eventually we ended up on the Welcome to the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Peaks of Otter. The lake was a bit low, but higher than I was expecting it to be. After we left the Peaks, we drove on the parkway into Amherst County. It's so beautiful up there!

After our drive, we decided that we were hungry again, so we went for a late lunch/early dinner at Macado's, then we finally made our way back home, where we relaxed and played the Wii.

I am so glad that we were able to spend some time together! We had a great time!

Tonight

Ok, so I went to the funeral home tonight. As we pulled in the parking lot, I saw my "half Mom" Tricia getting out of her van. (I call her my half mom because she's the mother of my half-brother Larry,Jr. and half-sister Amy, and I never knew her when she was married to Larry, my biological father.) Amy is in California doing photography for a wedding this weekend, so she's not able to be here. I was surprised to see that Larry, Jr. was with her. For those of you who don't know, Larry used to "rent" a room in the basement of our house, and when he moved out, it was on less than good terms. I hadn't seen or talked to him in months. Tonight was kind of strange for both of us, I think, but we did ok. :)

I got the answers to some of the questions that I had in my last posting.

Papa Wright died from Lung cancer. He had been in remission for a while, but then he fell and I guess the fall woke the cancer up again. He did not look anything like what I was remembering him looking like. The man I remember had a lot of thick, white hair, he was husky and jolly. The guy in the casket had very little hair and was very thin. I'm almost glad that I hadn't seen him looking so different.

Yes, my biological father was there tonight. I spoke to him, and gave him a hug, but otherwise it was as if I didn't even exist. He barely looked at me, and didn't even acknowledge that his grandkids were standing there. I'm convinced that he doesn't remember their names. Sad, huh? The man doesn't know what he's missing with not having Jeremy and Carrie a part of his life. Oh well. Let him have it his way. It's not like I'm really a part of his family anyway, even though I was listed in the obituary. It's ok. I have all I need.

Oh yeah, before I forget... supper tonight was awesome! Everything really did taste as good as it smelled! :)

Going to bed now... have a good night, all! And Critty... see if you can find any typos this time! I didn't see any. LOL!

C:

Just stuff...

Hello. It's me. Back again. I am sitting here enjoying the coolness and cloudiness of the day. I have my ipod playing through the "over the counter stereo" in the kitchen, and the sound carries perfectly into the living room. I have the ipod on "shuffle" so that I have a wonderfully wide variety of songs to listen to. Right now, Cyndi Lauper is singing, but the song before that was Calling Levi, and before that was Brad Paisley singing about Alcohol. LOL! I never realized that my musical tastes were so varied. There was a time, not too long ago, that I would not listen to any country music. Now I'm enjoying it, as long as it's not too "twangy." Anyway, no matter what song is on, I much prefer to be listening to music over watching tv. There's usually not much on worth watching anyway.



Yesterday is rained. We needed that rain badly! So, thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Fay, our area got almost 3" of the wet stuff. I like rain. I like to go out in it, so JoAnn and I hopped in the truck and went to Walmart. I was trying to teach her some kiddie songs about rain, but she wanted to sing "Jingle Bells" instead. Don't get me wrong... I'm all for singing Christmas songs all year long, but a 4 year old's version is a little different than I was wanting to hear yesterday. Oh well. We had fun in the rain even though she wouldn't let me teach her any songs about the rain. :)



I have to go to the funeral home tonight. My biological father's step-dad, Papa Wright, died Tuesday. I'm ashamed to say that I don't even know how he died. The newspaper said that he died in a local nursing home, and it also mentioned that if one were to give a memorial contribution, to please consider the American Cancer Society or the choir fund for his church. I'm taking that to mean that he had some form of cancer. Very sad. And sadder still is that I was not very close to this man. I hadn't seen him for a while... maybe a year or so, but he looked great when I saw him last. I wish I'd been a better granddaughter to him. I loved him though, and I know he's in a much better place.

My paternal grandmother, Papa Wright's wife, also died of cancer. I was not close to her either. Part of this is because Larry, my biological father, is a deadbeat. He was not a part of my life when I was a child. He gave up his rights to me and allowed another man to adopt me when my mom re-married. I didn't see Larry at all from the time I was 2 years old, until I was 22. We had very limited and sporadic contact for the next decade or so, and now he does not contact me or my sister at all, and only talks to our brother once in a blue moon. I don't know if Larry will be at the funeral home tonight or not. I don't know if I want to see him or not. After all, I have a great dad now. Someone who treats me like I'm his own flesh-and-blood daughter. That's something that Larry never did. John Boyles is the person that I would have chosen to be my dad had I had the chance. :)

Anyway, I'm cooking supper for mom and dad tonight, and then we'll all go to the funeral home together. I'm cooking a pork tenderloin, macaroni and cheese, and green beans. Mom said that she would bring some fried apples and rolls. Mmmm. Sounds yummy! I hope it tastes as good as it sounds!

Well, duty calls... I'll be back later! Have a great day y'all!

C:

Back in the swing of things....

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life." That's what I told Jeremy this morning, as I woke him up at the very early time of 6:45 AM! I'm not sure that he heard me, because if you know Jeremy, you know that he is not a morning person at all, and he doesn't often comprehend what people are saying to him until he's been up and at 'em for a few minutes at least. (he gets that from me!) Carrie, on the other hand, was up and eating breakfast before Jeremy was even in the shower.

Why did I have to wake them up so early today? Because neither of them set their alarms for the right time, and today is the first day of school... Jeremy's first day of his last year of Middle school... Carrie's first day of her last year of Elementary school... gosh, where did the years go? It seems like just yesterday I was putting Jeremy on the school bus for Kindergarten. Now he's in 8th grade! And Carrie's in 5th grade! No fair! My babies are growing up.

I was looking around for some pictures and I came across some the ones of Jeremy and Carrie's first day of school. My how they've grown!

kindergarten and preschool

kindergarten and 3rd grade

5th and 8th grades

It's amazing that I only have 4 more years to take pictures of the two of them together on the first day of school. Then only 3 more years with pictures of just Carrie... Nah, I don't wanna think about that!

Anyway, now that school has started, things might start to get back to normal. That means homework, ball practices and games, the phone ringing off the hook for Carrie, early mornings, late nights... but hey, that's life. They're only kids once, and they won't be home forever. I might as well enjoy it while I can. In the meantime, I'll stay busy, and will keep praying that they'll grow up to be awesome grownups, because they're already awesome kids! I love you, Jeremy! I love you, Carrie!

C:

Wedding bells were a' ringin'

Well, I am now somebody's Mother-in-law. Sort of. This weekend was my step-daughter's wedding, which means that my step-daughter's new husband is my step-son-in-law. Since I think of Morgan as my own daughter, that means that Nicholas is my son-in-law. I love it!

The wedding was beautiful! It was held in the chapel at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC. That's where Christy L and I went to college, 20 years ago. Since GWU is in between Lynchburg and Dallas GA (where Nick lives), we decided that the chapel would be the perfect spot for the wedding. That way everyone would only have to travel 4 hours instead of one group having to travel all 8 hours to get to the wedding. We didn't realize that the date that Morgan and Nick had chosen was Orientation weekend for the new freshmen at the college! Anyway, it turned out that the chapel was the perfect size for the wedding. There were 62 people there, including the bride and groom. After the ceremony, everyone went out to Golden Corral for a "reception dinner."

Here are some pictures of the beautiful bride and her wedding day!

getting in the dress

putting on the garter

getting beautiful with Aunt Rhonda and SIL Christina

Peekaboo Morgan

so pretty
Morgan and Daddy
Nervous Nick
the ceremony
the kiss
Mr. and Mrs. Brown

our family