Short And Sweet

One thing people can say about me is that I have a zest for life, having fun, and LAUGHTER...lots of it!  Well, I think I rubbed off on my girls because while they were home this summer, they let loose!

One evening, Brittany came downstairs with the blanket from her room, went in front of the mirror and created this snazzy look. Makes me think of Chef Boyardee...

I plan to show this one at her wedding one day...

Of course, Abby couldn't resist giving it a try and came up with this headdress. She could not stop laughing!

Those girls had me on the floor rolling!

There were even a few times when Bella had to get in on the act. I think she was singing opera or something.

Point is...life's too short to not act silly and to have yourself a good ol' belly laugh from time-to-time!  I believe in making the very most of this journey I'm on...hope you do, too!

Now, go out and make it a GREAT weekend, my friends! On the agenda for me tomorrow...shopping for a homecoming dress for Abby! Wish us luck...and for me...plenty of PATIENCE! I have a feeling I'm going to need it!

That's Life

Good morning, friends,  I had the best intentions to post today about our summer vacation, but that's not going to happen.  I, also, had planned to pay each of you a visit over the weekend and I didn't quite make my rounds.  The reason being is that Abby is still sick.  Today is the 2nd day she's missed school.  She has a horrible cough and just feels awful.  No appetite and no energy.  Last night, I got very worried because she coughed up some blood.  So, I'm taking her to the doctor at 2:30 this afternoon.  I'll post an update when I can. In the meanwhile, please say a prayer for her that she starts feeling better soon.

Also, if you would, say a prayer for Brittany, as well.  As most of you know, she attends college in Mobile, AL. and that's right where Hurricane Isaac is headed this week. At last account, they were predicting a storm surge of 4-7 ft. She has no plans to leave the area because I think classes are cancelled for only one day, so it doesn't make much sense to drive 5.5 hours home only to have to turn right around and go back.  Just pray for her safety and for the safety of everyone else in the path of the storm.

Thank y'all so much for continuing to hang-in-there with me and I apologize for not being such a good bloggy friend lately.  I keep hoping that things will get back to normal, again, but that's life. 

A Brand New Start

Good morning, my friends!  Well, we had a fun and memorable vacation in Hilton Head, SC.  As soon as I can find a few free moments (or days!) to sit down and edit all of the pictures I took, I'll write several posts about our trip. Since we returned, there has never been a dull moment around here!  We had a surprise birthday party for my mother-in-law over the weekend in South Carolina.  She'll be 75 on the 19th.

As you can tell by the look on her face, she was blown away when she walked into the room filled with 40+ friends and family. 

 
Beyond that, I've been trying to get the girls all geared up for the start of school.  Buying school clothes for a 15 yr. old and a 20 yr. old can be the challenge of a lifetime!  I'm not kidding...I have never been so exhausted in my entire life!  Often times, what they think is cute, I just shake my head at and what I think is cute usually gets this response..."Mom...are you SERIOUS?"  I think it would be so much easier if we'd had boys!

Needless to say, today was the big day for Abby.  My alarm sounded at 5 AM...much too early, if you ask me! I walked into her room and told her it was time to rise and shine!  She didn't move a muscle!  This should come as no surprise from someone who's been known to snooze in all summer long past 11 AM. It took me about 5 tries to get her up and moving.  She made it downstairs around 6 AM, just in time to scarf down some scrambled eggs and buttered toast before the bus arrived at 6:15 AM.

I insisted on taking a picture of her as she prepared to head off to 10th grade...

Just doesn't seem possible.  You know, I've had the awesome privilege of being a mom for the past 20+ years.  However, there is one sight I don't think I'll ever get used to...watching the school bus pull away from the front of our house.  Puts a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye every single year. I hope and pray that Abby has a great start to the new school year!  Can't wait until she comes home this afternoon...I miss her already!  Brittany leaves for college on the 15th.  I'm sure that will stir up a whole new set of emotions. Just never gets any easier to say "goodbye".

I'm still hoping to get back to my regular blogging sometime after Brittany leaves.  Until then, I plan to milk every last second we have together for all it's worth!  Miss y'all!  

4th Of July And More

Hey, my friends!  Well, I think I've fianlly come to the conclusion that during the summer months when my girls are home, I won't be posting more than once, possibly twice, a week.  I just can't find enough time in the day to sit down and compose a post, along with pictures. Plus, I have a terrible guilt complex if I'm not spending time with them. I suppose it goes back to my knowing that our time together is passing by much faster than I care to admit...and I want to cherish every second of it. Sure hope you'll continue to bear with me! 

Last week, Chris and I decided to lay 6 pallets of sod in our backyard.  It was about 102 degrees outside! Definitely not one of the smartest decisions we've ever made.  I got really worried about Chris when we finished up.  As soon as he got a shower, he started having chills, then he had terrible leg and arm cramps.  We bought him some jugs of Gatorade and after about an hour, his symptoms subsided.  No doubt about it...I believe he was on the verge of suffering a heatstroke. Pretty scary stuff.  Thankfully, our yard looks great now!  As you can see in these first two pictures, it was dying in many spots.  We think that all of the large trees in our backyard deplete our lawn of water.  So, we got a Bermuda sod that is shade-tolerant.    

See how much better it looks with the new sod...

As for our 4th of July, we just decided to stick close to home.  We barbequed chicken and had corn on the cob, baked beans, and homemade peach ice cream for dessert.  The girls, of course, had to have some sparklers to celebrate...

We got a few more fireworks to set off in our driveway once the sun went down. So, I guess you could say that our evening went out with a BANG!

It was the strangest thing a few nights ago.  Abby and I were watching TV and Chris was mowing the yard.  He opened the back door and yelled for me to come outside QUICK! He told me to grab my camera, which is always nearby.  When I got outside, I found this fella roaming around...a PEACOCK!  What are the chances of seeing one of those in your backyard?  All I can say is if he escaped from a zoo...he definitely came to the right place! :)
 

 
Brittany will have her CT scan on Tuesday morning and I'll be glad to get that behind us.  I feel confident that all will be well, but say a prayer for her, if you would. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

Weekend At The Lake

Hey, everyone!  As you can see, I'm still hanging in there!  We got home late Sunday evening from a weekend jaunt to my mother-in-law's house in South Carolina.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect...not too hot and hardly a cloud in the sky!

Beautiful Lake Murray from my mother-in-law's backyard...

Brittany and Bella heading out for their first kayaking adventure...

She loved every second of it!

This is a home we spotted that I tried to convince Chris to buy for me...

I even told him this one would suit me just fine, but he wouldn't go for it, for some reason...

We spotted a few ospreys sitting on their nests...

This momma flapped her wings frantically and dive-bombed our heads a few times to keep us far away from her babies...

OK...I gave Chris one more opportunity to purchase a vacation home for me and this was his last shot.  Needless to say, I can keep on dreaming...

Brittany took over steering the boat.  Thankfully, we made it back safe and sound!
  

Abby and her friend, Miranda, heading out for a little kayaking fun...

Abby trying hard not to fall off the tube...

Another one bites the dust...

Check out these swallow nests underneath a bridge...

Here's my mother-in-law's house tucked up in the woods and one of her docks.  Such a great place to kick back and relax... 

On Saturday night, one of our good family friends, Russel, came over to celebrate his 50th birthday...

Here he is showing off a few of the gifts the girls and I gave him... 

The last day we were there, we went out on one last boat ride.  A storm blew in just as we were heading back to the house... 

The day after we got home, Chris had to fly up to Dayton, OH. and will be back later tonight.  l had to take Brittany to the doctor on Monday regarding some migraines she's been having.  I got a bit aggravated with our doctor because he, immediately, put her on something called Amitriptyline Hydrochloride.  I came home and did some research about it.  First of all, it's intended to be an ongoing type of medication.  Secondly, it's for the treatment of depression and chronic pain.  The side effects say it could cause suicidal tendencies.  So, I told her to hold off on taking it for the time being.  He's scheduled her to undergo a CT scan of her brain on July 10th.  She's been having some episodes where she feels like she's about to blackout when she gets out of bed in the morning.  Maybe the scan will give us some answers.  She's down in Mobile right now until Monday getting ready to move out of her apartment and spending time with Connor (oh, joy). Prayers all the way around would be much appreciated. 

Hope to be able to visit y'all soon! 

Fun Few Days

Hope y'all had a nice Memorial Day weekend.  I know we sure did!  Chris decided to head out to the golf course on Saturday...no surprises there. So, the girls and I figured we'd go on a little adventure.  We got lunch at Chick Fil-A, then drove over to Fort Yargo State Park.  We went on a walk, then got the urge to rent a canoe.  Ahh...we're such pros at that!  PIECE.OF.CAKE! 

There were 3 of us, but the only canoe they had available was for 2 people. So, Brittany ended up having to sit on the floor of the canoe in a big, puddle of water.  Not off to a good start. 

We, finally, made our way from the beach area, but we never went much farther.  Basically, we sat in the middle of the lake and went in 360 degree circles, over and over, again.  I think our paddles were defective! Boy, did we get in some good laughs...and I'm sure a lot of people who were watching us did, too!

We were somehow able to make it back to shore without the assistance of a rescue boat.  Felt good to be back on dry land, again! 

We decided to head back home since we were going to a baseball game that evening.  It's the minor league Braves team that plays close to where we live.

Here's the mascot, Chopper, who's always hamming it up for the crowd!

We topped off the night with a late-night trip to Sonic for a round of milkshakes. Worth every single calorie!  I'll be sure to post tomorrow about our Memorial Day and pictures of our house now that its covered in a fresh coat of paint.  Have a good one!




P.S.  I wanted to thank each of you for your words of encouragement and prayers regarding my GYN. procedure tomorrow. I made a mistake...I'm having a colposcopy, not a Cone biopsy.  I'm not sure why I got confused.  All I know for sure is that I'm ready to have it over and done with. Please keep those prayers coming!  THANK YOU!

The Visit, Pt. 2

So, I left off yesterday at our trip to the wildlife preserve.  I just have to include another shot of that beautiful peacock we spotted.

Here I am with Abby.  We're huddled close together because we were trying to stay warm!

And here with are with Connor...who makes us all look like munchkins!  Either he's really tall or we're super short!

The two little love birds.

Brittany and me.

After we got home, I got ready to prepare some hamburgers for dinner.  Brittany asked me if I had any plans to marinate them. No, not really.  I mean, I sometimes take an envelope of Lipton's Beefy Onion soup mix and stir it into the hamburger meat for a little flavor, but I hadn't planned to do so that night.  She said that Connor told her that his family always uses Dales's Steak Seasoning on their hamburgers.  Connor told me it makes them SO GOOD.  So, off to the store they went and they came back with some in hand.

Now, the only thing that got my goat about all of this is that I was raised so that when you're a guest in someone's home, you eat whatever they serve and are gracious about it.  I would never think to suggest to someone I'd just met how to make their meal different to suite my own palate, you know?  Just kind of struck me as a little bold, but whatever.  I mixed about 2 Tbsp. of it in with the meat and it made the burgers very moist and tasty.  Connor ate 3 of them, so he must have approved!

Now, Brittany pulled me aside and told me that Connor really liked us and appreciated everything we'd done for him, so to show his appreciation, he bought us this at the store...  

Yep...I now have my very own canister of Tony's Creole Seasoning.  I got so tickled!  Connor must believe that the way to someone's heart is straight through their stomach!

Though we ended up having a nice visit, it just wasn't the same with him here.  Brittany, Abby, and I didn't get much one-on-one time, at all, and I missed it.  No late night talks, giggle sessions, or shopping trips.  I mean, Connor, obviously, makes Brittany very happy and she does him, too, but I feel that this kind of visit is rapidly becoming our new norm.  Part of me wishes that things could stay as they "used to be", but I know that's not possible.  So, I guess I'll try to go with the flow as much as I can and take life as it comes.