My first Blog

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEIGH!!

2009-02-09T03:22:00.002-05:00

Happy 20th Birthday Ashleigh! I can't believe I have a child that is 20 years old. She was born today at 11:29 pm, 6 lbs. 15 1/2 oz. She was my "little" baby and she was perfect. We were so excited. She was actually born on her due date and hasn't been on time for anything else since birth. After 19 1/2 hours of labor that should have been a clue for me about what was to come, lol. She has been my "interesting" child and life has not been the same since she was born. It has never been boring, but I wouldn't trade any of it for anything. I love her with all my heart and thank God everyday for giving her to us. She was the first girl to be born in Rusty's family in something like over 25 years and the first grandchild/great grandchild in my family, so to say she has been spoiled would definitely be an understatement. She was home for this weekend with us, celebrating her birthday and we have had an incredible time with her. On Friday Ashleigh and I spent the day together shopping, having lunch with Rusty and just generally enjoying being together for girl time. Saturday morning she spend with her Granny (Rusty's Mom) and then we had her birthday party that afternoon with Rusty's family. She will be having her birthday with my family this afternoon after she gets back home to Carolina Beach. She spent Sunday with her friends in D.C. This morning she is getting up to take Blake to school and then heading back home. She is doing so good in college, working toward her degree in early education. She wants to teach kindergarden and we are so proud of her.
(I have a virus on my computer so I can't post any pictures right now, but as soon as that is fixed I will get them on here of her.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEIGH, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Time to Breathe

2009-02-03T19:25:00.004-05:00

Wow, we have been so incredibly busy lately. I don't know how it happens but after it's over, you sit back and go "I don't remember volunteering for this busy, non stop life". But it happens and you push through knowing that there is, somewhere out there, a light at the end of the tunnel. This weekend was no different, but it was so much fun also. As some of you know my Facebook has been really busy also. I created it maybe a year ago but never really did anything with it, then Melissa got one, and another friend got one and it has grown from there. The great part about it, I have reconnected with some wonderful childhood friends. Now, I'm talking about friends that I have known all my life, not since school, but actually my whole life. When I was little, among many other places, we lived in Woodbridge, VA. We were 2 doors up from my Grandparents which was also pretty incredible. In between our houses was my friend Sandy. My Mom and her Mom had gone to school together, from elementary school all the way up. Sandy and I are about 5 months apart and we have known each other really since birth. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of times with her. A couple houses up from us was Barbara. I can't remember not knowing her. She was the "older" friend, 3 years, and I always wanted to be like her. When we moved away from there to Aquia Harbour in Stafford, VA they still came to spend the night and do things with me. Of course we always went to see my Grandparents so I got to see them at those time also. Barbara graduated from high school and went away to VCU and MCV to study nursing and we kind of lost touch. I got married and moved and things just happen like that in life. Sandy is a year older than me and we saw more of each other after school. (Yes, I'm the baby, girls if you are reading this remember I'm the baby of the 3 lol) But as things happen we lost touch also. I always wondered what happened to them and where they had ended up but life happens and time moves on before you realize it is happening. Well, thank you Facebook, Sandy found me. I was thrilled. She still lives in the general area and has 2 daughters. We were talking and I asked her about Barbara. She knew a little but not much more than I did. She started searched and even though Barbara didn't have her maiden name on her account Sandy was able to track her down. We have all been talking away on Facebook and Friday we met for lunch. I was so excited!! We spend 4 hours in TGI Friday's and it was like we hadn't ever been apart. It's been probably 25 years since I've seen Barbara and 20 with Sandy. I was like finding a piece of myself that I never realized I had lost.

This is Barbara.

This is Sandy.

Well, I guess you know who this is with Barbara.

I can't wait to see them again!!!

Saturday our midget football league had a dinner and silent auction to raise money for the league. Oh, that was completely exhausting!! We started at 6:15 in the morning when we got up and didn't stop until almost 10:00 that night. Rusty's friend Jimbo picked him up to pick up the chicken and then they headed over to Jimbo's pits to start the cooking. If you have never had Jimbo's chicken you haven't lived. There is just something about it. I met Sharon at 9:00 at the church where we were doing the dinner and we got started setting everything up. It was a success but we were all completely worn out by the end of the evening.

This is my best friend Sharon, we had a longggg day.

This is another friend of ours, Cindy. If it hadn't been for her and another friend Heather, Sharon and I wouldn't have gotten a break in the kitchen. Thanks ladies!

Sharon again, the end of the evening. We were exhausted and she hates for me to take her picture.

This is Rusty's best friend, Jimbo. They are worse than girls, they talk on the phone all the time and they are thicker than thieves. You just can't find a better person.

Blake and 2 of his friends, the one in the middle is Sharon's youngest son Josh.

Doesn't Rusty look happy?
2 other friends of ours, Beth and Becki. Their husbands are on the football board with Sharon, Rusty and Jimbo. They don't see their husbands very often either unless they help our with football.
Cindy and Rusty at the end of the night. Cindy said to Rusty "No offense but you smell like smoke (from cooking the chicken) and yesterday's beer." You just can't cook chicken without a little beer.

Yesterday Rusty and I took the day off and spend it together. We weren't sure what we were going to do and where we were going to go and we ended up in old town Fredericksburg. I love going there and walking through the antique stores. We had a great time and I took my camera but the only picture I took was:

I love Goolricks's Drug Store. They have an old fashioned lunch counter. It's like stepping into yester year. When I was in school at Faith Baptist School my Mom worked at the bank on Princess Anne St. and we would get dropped off there after school. My brother and I would walk the old streets and stop at the drug store to get a BLT or grilled cheese while we waited for Mom to get off work.

I carried my camera around all day and took 2 pictures, but they were of one of my favorite places. Oh, and I was very upset that we were 11 days too early for Carl's Ice Cream. Darn.

I'm Back!

2009-01-13T21:26:00.005-05:00

I'm not going to try to recap everything that has gone on since the last time I blogged but we've had birthdays, BIG BIRTHDAYS (we both turned 40 in December), holidays and Ashleigh was home for Christmas. We had a wonderful visit with her, we celebrated our birthdays a couple different times and had a wonderful holiday, what more can you ask for? My parents came up the day after Christmas to celebrate the holidays and Steven and Denise headed to Florida to celebrate with her family. Rusty got me a new camera for Christmas and I am in love. Well, I fell in love with it after I gave myself a migraine and finally called Canon in tears because I thought there was something wrong with it. Welllll, it was user error. damn camera. It's a Canon EOS rebel xs and I still only know about 10% of what it can do. I love playing with it though. Of course, I do have pictures. They won't really be in order but you'll get the drift.

Blake and I make and decorate gingerbreadmen every year. It's gotten where Blake does most of the work and I just supervise, he loves to cook.

This was the sunrise from our back deck and then the next picture is the snow that moved in later that day. I did not take the picture in black and white, it really was that color outside.

A while ago my Mom asked Steven and me if there was anything that we would like to have, something that was special to us. I think this came from her going through my Mawmaw's things. There were so many things she found that you know she had made for people and never gave them to them. Things she had packed away and probably forgotten she even had. It has really been kind of sad. We were supposed to pick 2 things each. The first thing I said I wanted was my Mom's original engagement ring and wedding band. Steven said he wanted a picture of my Mom when she was in 3rd grade. It is a beautiful picture, I was mad I hadn't thought of that first. lol Anyway, the next thing I wanted was my Mom's icebox. When we lived in Tennessee, when I was little, my Mom wanted an icebox. A friend of my Dad's said they had one out in the corn crib that had been his Grandmother's and my Dad could have it, if he wanted it. Well, yeah of course he did. It was whitewashed and needed alot of work. My Dad is very crafty and can anything so he went to work on it. It is absolutely beautiful. Now, I wasn't supposed to get this for a longggggggggg time, a time I really don't even want to think about. Before Thanksgiving Mom called me and asked me if I wanted it now, she wanted me to have it now so she could see me enjoy it. She said when people pass away they leave things to family and friends and never get to have the pleasure of seeing them enjoy it, so they brought it to me for Christmas. If I hadn't gotten anything else I couldn't have been any happier. It had the original shelves, the drain pipe and the metal plate on the front. There is also a metal plate on the back, it is over 100 years old. That is my Mawmaw's blender and rolling pin sitting on it and the scale that I "borrowed" from my Mom.

Well, I am headed to bed, I think I have rambled enough. It was kind of all over the place tonight but I've been away for so long you will have to bear with me while I get my bearing again and get back to blogging regularly. Stupid facebook.

ohhhh

2009-01-02T12:05:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged, stupid Facebook. I am planning on blogging later today, I got a new camera for Christmas so that means new pictures, YEA!!! Happy New Year, hope it was a happy and safe holiday season for everyone!

woooo hoooooo

2008-12-22T04:42:00.002-05:00

Way to go Skins!!!!! They beat the Eagles last night 10-3, couldn't ask for a better ending to a game. I didn't go to this game, Ashleigh went with Rusty and judging from how cold they still were when they got home last night I was perfectly happy to watch the game from my couch. They were bundled up and had taken 2 blankets with them but you just can't keep that wind out. Ashleigh took a bunch of pictures which I will try to post this evening, I am really behind on blogging but I will try to catch up.
Oh by the way, sorry Anniesue, did you watch the game?
Have a great day!!!!

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

2008-12-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!!

2008-12-10T07:16:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Denise! We have alot of December birthdays between Rusty's side of the family and mine and then Steven married Denise and she has a December birthday also. That was how we knew she was the right one for him. ha ha Denise, I hope you have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUSTY!!

2008-12-03T04:29:00.002-05:00

I will be back later today to post more but I wanted to wish Rusty a happy birthday first thing this morning.

Black Friday

2008-11-28T04:05:00.002-05:00

It's 4:05 am, yes am, and we are headed out to hit the stores for Black Friday. Do you Black Friday shop? Have a great day!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

2008-11-27T18:17:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving with lots of good food and great times with family and friends. We had 19 people at Mom's and it was wonderful. We always go around the table and everyone tells what they are thankful for during that year. My brother started us doing that a couple years ago and we have really enjoyed it.
What kind of traditions do you have with your family?

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!!

2008-11-24T14:44:00.007-05:00

Normally, I don't start decorating for Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving but this year we will be at my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving and I didn't want to wait for the next weekend. I love Christmas and I love to decorate for it. We have 5 totes full of just tree ornaments. The kids swear the tree is going to fall over. We really need another tree or two but I just don't have room for them right now. I love ornaments and the more the better.

When Rusty and I first got married we had to combine our Christmas traditions. That sounds easy but sometimes not. Growing up we always had Christmas stockings. They weren't full of expensive things just a new toothbrush, toothpaste, razors, little toys when we were kids, shampoo, things like that, and none of it was wrapped. Rusty's family had presents in theirs, I've gotten diamond earrings, perfume, movies, you get the picture. AND EVERYTHING WAS WRAPPED! Do you know how long it takes to wrap chapstick, shampoo and crayons?! As kids our big presents were always unwrapped, put together and sitting in front of the tree for the awe factor when you walked into the room on Christmas morning. Rusty likes everything to be wrapped, so you have more to open. I haven't had alot of different stockings in my lifetime but I do have all of them, still.

This is my first stocking, my Mom has always referred to it as my "hot pants". I can still remember being a little girl and using this on Christmas. This stocking was bought for me by my great grandmother.

This was the next stocking I used. My Mawmaw made this for me. Steven has one just like it with his name on it. I used this stocking for a long time and it was just in the last couple years that my Mom parted with them and gave them to us. She still displayed them every Christmas.

This is the one I can remember using the most and still use to this day. My Mawmaw also made this one. Everyone in my family has one that she made. Using them on Christmas is like having a piece her with us still.

This is the one Mawmaw made for Rusty.

And these are the kids stockings.

This is the stocking Rusty bought me our first Christmas married. Yes, it really is that big and yes it was completely stuffed. Rusty is like a little kid at Christmas. He absolutely loves Christmas. He loves to buy presents for people and he loves to search the house from top to bottom looking for his gifts. That is something he has done since he was a little boy. He stayed home sick from school one day and found a Redskins shirt that he had really wanted, when his Mom came home he was wearing it. lol He is not opposed to unwrapping and rewrapping gifts either. Gotta love him. I refuse to let anyone tell me what they are giving him because he will annoy the hell out of me trying to find out what it is. He will always be that little boy waiting for Santa.

Until you get married you never realize how different other peoples Christmas morning can be, you just assume that everyone does it the same way you do. We always had a light breakfast with a big Christmas dinner later normally around 2:00 or 3:00. Rusty's family has this huge wonderful breakfast with more food than any of us could ever eat in a 2 days. My mother in law in up at the crack of dawn starting breakfast and has it waiting for everyone when they arrive. When you get to my Mom's you can smell the turkey that has been cooking and your mouth starts to water when you walk in the door. Both mornings are different from the other but they are both so wonderful. Houses full of family and love, what more could a person ask for?

What kind of Christmas tradition does your family does your family do every year? Do you do stockings and do you wrap every damn thing in it?

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2008-11-18T15:50:00.002-05:00

It is so pretty around here today. You can't even see the mountains for all the snow. It's not going to stick around but we are enjoying it while we can.

The Rest of the Pictures

2008-11-10T15:20:00.004-05:00

As promised I have the rest of the pictures, the ones of Rusty getting drenched by the parents and coaches. He was completely soaked and loving every minute of it.

Can you guess what happened?

2008-11-09T19:47:00.005-05:00

Well, can you guess? You got it, they won!!!! Rusty's junior midget football team went 9-0! They were so excited, I think they would have all floated away.

This is what Rusty saw on his right side behind him. What he didn't realize was, while he was watching the 2 jugs of water on that side someone else was sneaking up on him on the left with another jug. Great diversion, he never saw the other one coming. Oh, they also poured these on him also. He was soaked but so happy.

Rusty is a man of his word and he told the kids if they went undefeated he would let them shave his head. Do you see a little apprehension on his face. They wanted to know if they could shave his face also. He told them sure, he didn't care, but he did draw the line when they wanted to shave his eyebrows also. bwahhaha I can promise you if he didn't veto that I would have stepped up at that point. I can live with him not having hair or the goatee but eyebrows, no I don't think so. All of the kids lined up and took their turn. Rusty said he didn't think it would cause that much interest but all of the parents stood around to watch it happen also.

Blake getting a swipe at his Dad's hair.

Cody hurt his knee during the game so he was sitting in a chair but Rusty leaned over to accomodate him.

This is Tim, one of Rusty's assistant coaches, fixing Rusty's hair after 36 kids had a chance to shave part of his head. Tim, thank God, is a retired Marine and knows how to cut a high and tight.

It all turned out pretty good in the end and the kids loved doing it. He has had his hair cut like this on purpose before so I've seen him with no hair in the past.

This is another one of Rusty's assistant coaches Vann, after Rusty told the kids about shaving his head he offered to get in on the deal with the kids. Another man of his word, took the chair and let the kids take the clippers to his hair. This is his youngest son Josh taking the first swipe at his Dad.

This was his finished product. Not too bad either. He is my best friend Sharon's husband.

It was a great day and a wonderful way to end our season. The other 4 teams have 1 more game, this coming Saturday. The each have a game that was rained out and they are making it up. Football is almost over and I really will miss it, we have a fun time. It does take alot of time and while my season is ending, the midget football board is a year round job so Rusty's job will continue on just not every night of the week. I will have more pictures to post of Rusty getting drenched by the water, I just couldn't get a picture while it was happening but the league photographer did get quite a few of them and she said she would email them to me. So this is.....
to be continued......

We Did it, Did you?

2008-11-04T16:09:00.006-05:00

We got up bright and early and headed out to vote. When I say early, I do mean early, well early for not having any sleep. We went to the Redskins/Steelers game last night (I hate night games and may be banning them from now on) and didn't get home until almost 3:30 this morning! ACCKKK If you saw the game or even saw the score you will understand why I don't have anything else to say on that subject.

Rusty and I got up, got ready and then I went and asked Blake if he still wanted to go and vote with us. He was right up and out of bed. Blake loves to vote and is very interested in the whole process, actually very interested for a 10 year old. He has voted in every election possible since he started school. They gave the students voter registration cards at school so he grabbed his and out the door we went. Rusty and I voted first and I love our small town, we are still voting with a pen and paper, filling in the little circles. They have one electronic voting station but you normally have to wait for that so we grabbed our pens and paper and got busy. After we finished, which didn't take but maybe 10 minutes, we took Blake to his station to vote. He is very serious about the whole thing.

Finally, just a picture of one of the trees in our yard. I love the yellows and oranges of the leaves, it is so pretty. If you look beyond the tree to the left you can see our McCain/Palin yard sign.

Have a great day and keep praying that the right candidate gets voted in.

THEY DID IT!!!

2008-11-02T18:06:00.003-05:00

Yes, Blake's midget football team beat their biggest rival yesterday.....in overtime. It was the most nail biting game I think I have ever seen in midget football. We have 1 more game, next Saturday, and if we beat them Rusty will soon after the game being getting a VERY CLOSE HAIR CUT. The kids are very exciting about it. The chances of us winning that game are very good, we played them 1 other time already and we beat them 50-0. Rusty hates to have a score like that, he is all about the kids and doesn't want to humiliate them. After our score had gotten up pretty high he was putting kids in positions they had never played before, had offense playing defense and vice versa. He did everything but make our kids stand on the field and not move and we still continued to score. They are going to add the "red flag" to the rules next year just for games like that. It's like a slauder rule in baseball. I think it's a really good idea. The kids are supposed to be having fun and losing like that doesn't do anything but cause bad feelings. But on the upside we are now the champions no matter what happens next week, but Rusty and the kids really want an undefeated season. It will be the first time in Strasburg Midget Football history that a junior team has been undefeated and they are very excited about that. Rusty has a great group of coaches with him and they are just seem to click together. It has been really exciting to watch it all come together this year. Rusty is my husband but he really is an incredible coach and a wonderful person with the kids. While they are warming up (both junior teams warm up together) he goes down each line and shakes the hand of each kid and calls them by name. We have a little boy on Rusty's team who's Dad has a brain tumor. The Dad came to Rusty at practice one night and told him his son was going to be going through some hard times and asked Rusty if he could be there for him when the times were tough. Rusty had a hard time not crying. That's an important thing to ask someone to do for you and Rusty was very honored that they would think of him. But that is how the parents feels about him. He treats their children with respect and cares about each one them. He wants to teach them about football but he wants them to enjoy it and love the game also.

Way to go team, 1 more to win!

I've Won a Major Award!!!

2008-10-31T21:26:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much for the award, Rebel. That was really sweet.

"This blog invests and believes, in 'proximity' [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy] They are all charming blogs, and the majority of them aim to show the marvels of friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?"

Now I have to give it to 8 other bloggers. Melissa, Emily,Anniesue and Dy. If anyone else would like to claim it, please do.

Have a great night.

Ghosts, ghouls and Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T19:49:00.005-05:00

We had a fun time trick or treating this year. My friend Sharon brought 2 of her boys over and went with me and Blake. Rusty stayed back at the house making his world famous chili and Wayne handed out candy to the 1000's of kids that came by the house. It seems like there were alot of kids out tonight but not alot of people giving out candy. I think this was the worse year for candy. Blake had a good time though and that is all that matters. He was a zombie this year and it was pretty scary. Wayne went outside to get set up for the trick or treaters and all of a sudden he came flying back in the house yelling for me to come outside, the headless horseman was riding up our road on a coal black horse. Of course I ran outside without my camera. It was the neatest thing I have seen in a long time. He had a pumpkin tucked under his arm and the horse wasn't at a full out gallop but a pretty good trot.

Ashleigh has come home for the weekend, I think she is a little homesick. It is really good to see her. She will be going to Blake's football game with us tomorrow. He only has 2 left and they are undefeated. Tomorrow's game is a tough one. We have already played Luray once and beat them but they are a tough team. Rusty has a ritual he does before every game (well other than wearing the same clothes every game down to his underwear), he prays with the kids.

They don't have to participate in the prayer but he hasn't had anyone tell him they didn't want to be included. He prays for both teams to do well, for no injuries and to have a good clean game. He ends it with the Lord's prayer. I think it is really neat that he does that.

Rusty has coached for a while but this is the first year that he's been a head coach. He was so nervous the first game, he wanted to do good and he wanted the team to do good. He had gotten himself so worked up before the game that one of his assistant coaches told him he thought that Rusty needed him to pray with him. They walked away from everyone and Tim prayed with him. That has also now become a ritual before every game. Tim is one of those people with a very calming nature about him. He always seems to be able to calm Rusty down, well as much as Rusty can be calmed before a game. It's nice to have a friend like that, with the same Christian faith who feels confident enough in himself to pray with you in public.

On Tuesday at practice Rusty told the kids if they win the next 2 games and go undefeated he will let them shave his head on the field after the last game. He wanted to give them something to pump them up and get excited about. Oh, let me tell you, they are very excited. Tim told Rusty he would fix his hair in a high and tight after the kids get done with him. He's a retired Marine so he's had alot of experience with that hair cut. ha ha Wish us luck tomorrow, it is going to be a hard game but I know the kids are up for it and are ready to play.

Happy Halloween and good night.

October 8th?

2008-10-29T19:09:00.012-05:00

Has it really been that long since I've blogged?! Wow, October 8th, where has the month gone? I will try to finish posting about Steven and Denise's wedding and post the rest of the pictures. It was a beautiful wedding and the weather was absolutely perfect.

My Dad and I went and picked up Rusty from the airport. This was a picture of him right after he got off the plane. He was calling his Mom to let her know he hadn't died and was on the ground again.

My Dad lying on Steven's bed at the beach house. He was working up his energy for the wedding.

Denise, the beautiful bride. Her friend made her dress and it was perfect. They did an autumn theme and her friend put the orange panel in the dress to go along with the wedding colors.

My Dad and Mom both walked Steven down the aisle to give him away. ha ha I've been waiting to give him away for years. Just kidding Steven, just kidding. Actually, I could not have ever asked for a better brother. He has always been there for me. He was the kind of brother who would spend his last penny on me instead of himself. He is always thinking about other people and wanting to help them.

Denise and her Daddy, he was so proud.

I love the bare feet in the sand. Denise in the top picture and Blake in the bottom with his bucket. He carried Denise's wedding ring in it.

One of Denise's favorite things in the world is cupcakes, well next to Steven it's her favorite so they had a cupcake wedding cake. It was so incredibly neat. I had never seen anything like it. To the right is a sandcastle that Denise made of brown sugar and the shells that are on the table are all chocolate. Oh, they were so good.

Steven and Denise's first dance together. It was like they were the only ones in the world. It brought tears to your eyes and just made you burst with happiness that these 2 people had found each other.

Denise and her Dad with my Mom and Steven in the background.

The following are pictures of everyone just having a great time at the reception.

Denise learning to do the Electric slide, she got it down but oh was it funny in the process. Love ya Denise, remember, laughing with you not at you.

Actually, some had more fun than others. Have you ever seen a keg stand? I had never even HEARD of a keg stand. But of course after seeing Steven's friend do one Rusty had to do it. You do a hand stand on the keg and the other idiots, oh sorry "guys" hold your legs up in the air while your other "friend" holds the keg tap in your mouth until you can't take anymore. He broke their record. I am just so proud.

This is Steven's friend showing Rusty how to do it. They aren't supposed to have his legs that high in the air so they had to lower him some. I guess gravity messes with the beer, whatever.

Steven removing the garter.

I loved what Denise did with the bouquet. Instead of throwing it to the single girls, they had the married couples come out on the dance floor and eliminated everyone until they go to the couple that had been married the longest and that was my parents. They will be married 42 years in January. Steven and Denise wanted to celebrate longevity in marriage and love instead of just throwing it to a single girl. I loved that. I told you, there is something incredibly special about them.

Ashleigh and her Uncle Steve. Steven was just 18 when she was born and even as a teenager and a boy at that he always has been really close to her. They have had their rough times but they are getting back to being close again. Love you Steven, you are my favorite brother. Well, you're my only brother but you are still my favorite.

2008-10-27T05:52:00.001-05:00

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WAY TO GO!!

2008-10-11T20:31:00.001-05:00

Just a short note:

Blake's football team won today 42-6, it was a great game! They are now 5-0.

I will try to get back and post the rest of the wedding pictures, maybe tomorrow, if we don't get back too late from the Redskins game.

Way to go Strasburg White Juniors!!!

As promised...

2008-10-08T19:19:00.012-05:00

As Paul Harvey would say "Now ...the rest of the story.

We had a wonderful time at the wedding and all the pre-wedding activities. I took Blake and Wayne, left early Thursday morning, and headed to Carolina Beach, NC. We had a really nice trip down, it's about 7 hours. We laughed and talked and just spent some really good time together. We have also discovered a new channel on Sirrius radio "AC/DC radio". I know, I know but I am a rock lover at heart. The kids really like them too, so if the radio was on that is what we were listening and singing to at the top of our lungs. I met Steven in Wilmington and he took the boys with him out to the house where he was getting married. He wanted to spend some time with them. This is where they were headed.

And this is the view as you come across the bridge onto Topsail Island.

I headed to Mom's for some shopping and fun time with her. We hit a local shop and bought a dress for the wedding. I didn't have anything to wear to a beach wedding and of course here in Virginia all they have are winter clothes in the stores. This is what we found.

No, not Rusty he flew in Saturday morning for the wedding. The dress, I love that dress. We walked into the first store and there it was, like it was put there for me. Ashleigh referred to the store as "the old ladies store" but I am not old and I refuse to get old. Back to Rusty flying. Rusty has NEVER flown before, ever. He was petrified, he knew he was going to die. He didn't come down with us on Thursday because he brother was retiring from the police department after 28 years and Rusty really didn't want to miss his retirement party, of course it was being held Friday evening. So he flew out of BWI, went to Charlotte, and then flew into Wilmington. He did great, I was so proud. ha ha ha By the way Rusty "I told you so!" So anyway, Thursday night Mom and I went to a get together for Denise. It wasn't really a "bachelorette" party but a bunch of friends getting together and having a good time. We all met at a Greek restuarant in Wilmington called Mediterra. Now, neither my Mom or I are very fond of Greek food, but it was a wonderful restuarant. We were on the second floor in a room in the "Hookah Bar". We had Tiropita and Escargots. I love escargots and it was the first time I had ever had Tiropita. It was to die for. For those of you who like me didn't even know what that was until that evening it is phyllo dough stuffed with greek cheese. MMMMMM, so good.

There was about 17 people there and we all went around the room talking about how we met Denise or telling "Denise" stories. It really was a good time and a really nice way to get to know the people you would be spending time with over the next couple days.

Ashleigh didn't make it to this party she was working and then went with friends to " City Limits Saloon" down the street. She went with hopes of meeting 3 of the people from The Real World reality show on Mtv. I think it was Paula, Kenny and Evan, maybe, not quite sure, I've never seen it. She did get to meet them and was so excited. She had pictures of herself with them. I will post them if I can get her to send them to me.

Friday we got up and got pedicures and manicures and then began the day of running. We finally made it out to the beach house for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was all very casual and informal and everyone had a good time. The food was wonderful, fried chicken, bar-b-qued chicken, North Carolina pulled pork, green bean, corn on the cob, cole slaw, rolls and banana pudding. How could you go wrong with a menu like that?

My Mom is squished in the middle between my Dad and Blake. This was the view from Steven's balcony at the house. It was 4 stories and the top floor was 2 master suites with a connecting balcony.

I really have extraordinary children. The lady in the picture with Blake is Dale. She and her husband have been friends with our family for as long as I can remember. She has had MS for over 20 years and has been in a wheelchair for a long time. They came down for Steven and Denise's wedding. Alot of children are uncomfortable around people who may be different, but not my kids. Blake marched right over to talk to her. He had found a bunch of sharks teeth on the beach and he asked her if she wanted to see them. Then he stood there and talked to her for quite a while. I was so proud of him.

Finally, I will leave you with the view of the sunset from Steven's balcony. I love the beach.

To be continued.....

Here Comes the Bride...

2008-10-06T15:50:00.004-05:00

Well, here came the bride.

And a beautiful bride she was. It was an incredible wedding, I think one of the most beautiful wedding ceremonies I have ever attended.

I just wanted to let you know I'm back and I will have alot more to tell you and alot more pictures to post.

Here's to love and happily ever after.

25-0

2008-09-20T16:12:00.004-05:00

Rusty's team did it again!! The junior white strasburg team beat Mt. Jackson 25-0. We are now 3-0, way to go team. I don't have any pictures from the game, uh well uh, someone forgot the camera. Ok, ok that would be me, sorry. I just can't remember everything at 7:00 in the morning. Our game wasn't until 12:00 but we got there early to watch one of the other teams Rusty helps coach and then the other junior team. Out of 4 games today we only lost one, so all in all it was a good day. The senior team (6th and 7th graders) had a time, the other team was punching our players, trash talking and just being bad sports in general. They had 6 or 7 personal fouls called on them. The last play of the game one of their players tackled my friend's son and then proceeded to punch him over and over in the ribs. After the game over half of their players wouldn't shake hands with our coaches. Our teams play clean and our coaches don't put up with any of that mess and see who wins in the end. Good sportsmanship is very important to our coaches, we want to win, but the coaches want these kids to walk away and take something with them. I think they are doing an excellent job and our kids and coaches should be very proud of themselves. Once again, WAY TO GO RAMS!!!

The End of Era...

2008-09-11T15:19:00.003-05:00

I just found out that "For Better or For Worse" ended. For those of you who have never read it in the comics or have been unfortunate enough that your paper didn't carry it, it was started 29 years ago and the whole comic strip has been the life of the Pattersons. We have seen them have children, their children grow up and have their own children, the grandparents passed away and Ellie and John (the parents) grow old. It's not like other comics where the characters never age or move on, they have been part of our family. My parents, brother, grandparents and myself have been reading it for years. When Ellie had April we all waited through the whole pregnancy to find out what she was having and when April was born my Mom yelled upstairs to my Dad (who happened to be in the bathroom) "Ellie had a girl!!" Now, we aren't dilusional we know they aren't "real" but to us they have been family. I am devestated. Go on, go ahead and laugh I know it really is silly but I just can't help but be upset and sad. I called my Mom and she got upset. She got on the internet to find out if Lynn Johnston had maybe died because other than something horrible happening why in the world would she leave us like that. Mom did find out that she had gone through a divorce and is sort of retiring. She will still be doing the strip but she is starting back at the begining again and writing it over, in her words "she is a better story teller now", I thought she was great before. How many other "comics" could touch you and pull into their world like that? I do feel kind of silly but on the other hand this was something that my Mom and I have shared since probably middle school. I think I am entering a deep state of depression, pray for me.

33-6

2008-09-07T19:44:00.004-05:00

We won our first game, the kids played great and had fun in the process. Rusty has 34 kids on his team and he has to make sure everyone gets to play which can be really hard with that many kids. What is really sad is you have some kids who do not want to play, they are only there because their parents are making them, they cry through the whole practice but their parents make them stay. So Rusty has to still rotate the kids who don't want to play with the kids who are loving every minute of being on that field, but he's a genius when it comes to football and he really has it down to a science so everyone gets to play. He has some really great assistant coaches this year that love the game as much as he does, if that is even possible.

That's my little guy, #58, that was Rusty's number in high school.

Rusty congratulating the kids after a great win. (He's the one leaning over)

The coaches finally taking a rest after a job well done.

Way to go Rams, way to go!!!

WE'RE PLAYING!!

2008-09-07T10:17:00.004-05:00

Yea!!! Our game was rescheduled for today at 3:30, wish us luck. Check back later for hopefully good news.

We had our county fair a couple weeks ago and of course we had the derby. Now the derby is a big deal around here, people actually travel around to different county fairs during the time of the year with their derby cars. One of our coaches does the derby every year and he did a car for our football league this year. He brought it by practice so all the kids could sign it, it was very cool.

Have a great day!

Rain

2008-09-06T14:11:00.004-05:00

We were supposed to have our first football game today and .....it rained. We are getting the remnants of the hurricane, oh well. We are going to have a make up game tomorrow so at least the kids won't miss a game. It seems like we have been having practice forever, they need to finally see the outcome of all that practice.

On another subject, I wasn't very excited about this election it just seemed to be missing something, but I think it's been found.

I have been so impressed by everything I have read about her. She loves her family, loves her country, loves God and isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in. So what if her teenage daughter is pregnant, that just makes her more human. I think McCain make a great choice. If you haven't read anything about her, take the time and do it.

My parents and Ashleigh live at Carolina Beach in North Carolina and thank God they didn't get hit too hard by the hurricane.

We had the first day of school last week. It is Wayne's first day of his senior year, that is so hard to believe. This is Blake's first day of his last year in the elementary school. Wow, where is the time going?!

Ok, has anyone tried these? They are the bomb, if you like peanut butter you have to try them.

Have a great day!

Party, party, party

2008-09-05T18:46:00.012-05:00

Last Saturday we went to help Rusty's middle brother, Gary and his wife, Bev celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Let me give you a little background on them. Bev is 12 years older than Gary, when they met Gary was still in high school and Bev was divorced with 2 children. To say his family was not excited about this is an understatement. In fact when Bev told our other sister in law, Debbie, that Gary had proposed (he was out of school at this time lol) and that he was at that same time telling their oldest brother about the proposal she was not happy, I mean really not happy. I think her exact words were "Oh my God, we have to get to them, Bobby is going to kill him." But Gary knew what he wanted and no one was going to stand in his way. He was 23 and she was almost 35 when they got married. He also married her 2 children, Kelly 11 and Michael 7. When they got married he knew they would not have any children of their own and he was ok with that. When Debbie got pregnant Bev saw how excited Gary was but she wasn't sure she wanted to have another child. They were sitting in church one Sunday morning and she had really been struggling with this, she prayed sitting there in the pew that God would give her a sign that she and Gary were meant to have a child together. After she finished praying, silently to herself, the lady sitting in front of her turned around and handed her a paper saying "I think you may need this". On the front was a daddy sitting in a chair holding a baby and above that it said "Let God's love into your home". She just started crying, there was her sign. She decided if Gary wanted, they were having a baby. And so they did.

I guess you can figure he's on the left with his cummerbund(I swear that's spelled right I looked it up on dictionary.com because it didn't look right to me either) on his head. I love that kid. Well, he's not a kid anymore and he's been taller than me since birth, I think. Bev was pregnant with Jacob when I started dating Rusty. Kelly is their oldest and a graduate of UVA, Michael is a graduate of GMU, married with a 2 year old and Jacob is a student at Mary Washington College.

Jacob and Sherry, they met in high school and have been together every since.

Michael, Misty and Mason. Michael has a beautiful family.

My baby wearing his Daddy's cowboy hat. It was a very fancy, dress up party but Rusty still wore his cowboy hat and cowboy boots. I have to say I like it, I like it alot.

I know, I know I look naked. I swear it was not that kind of party ha ha, my dress was halter style, it is black and I loved it. You know how sometimes you find that one dress that you would wear everyday if you could, well this is it. I love this dress.

Wait, don't call the police or social services on us, it was apple cider. They didn't have real champagne because they wanted the kids to be able to participate in the toast. Blake, Rusty and Jacob were supposed to be filling everyone's glasses.

Bev and her sister Linda dancing and enjoying the band.

Gary and Bev cutting their cake. The cake topper is the same one they used on their original wedding cake. They didn't plan it but Gary and Rusty both wore cowboy hats, it's a Gibson thing.

Rusty and Bev dancing and enjoying the music.

Blake and Mason. Blake just loves Mason, every time we are together Blake heads right for Mason.

Mason helping out with the band. The little boy on the left is the grandson of another band member.

We had a great time, great food and great music. During the renewing of the vows each one of their kids said something also. They all had wonderful things to say about their parents, Kelly and Michael refer to Gary as their Dad and they think of him as their Dad and for all rights he is their Dad. He raised them, loved them and was really the only Dad they've had. Kelly said it"Thank you for marrying our Mom, loving us and being our Dad". How much more can one person ask for after 25 years when everyone said it will never last. Happy Anniversary Gary and Bev, we love you!

The following picture is for Melissa, yes I have one of these also. I'm on the left, my friend Vicki is in the middle and Beth is on the right. Gotta love it.

17 - 14

2008-08-10T17:10:00.004-05:00

The Redskins did it, they won their 1st preseason game last night. We had a great time!!! We have had our season tickets for 5 years now and we always have a wonderful time. Rusty does all the cooking for tailgating and I get to sit and watch. Everyone is out there having a good time, cooking out, throwing footballs, playing games and just enjoying themselves.

This is our annual "Oh my God, I can't believe they finally got here" picture. Every year I take the same picture of Rusty with his tickets.

This is my nephew Brett, the one in the back, and his friend Justin. They ride with us when they go to the games. Rusty and I have 4 season tickets and we sell 2 of them to his brother every year. Really those 2 are his tickets since he's paid for them every year that we've gotten them, they just come in my name. He plays in a band and isn't able to come to every game so his sons take turns using them. Brett won't be making many games this year though, he will be attending VCU and he moves in this Saturday. He is such a good kid. He works (for the longest time he worked 2 jobs), he attends college and is just an all around good kid. Every parent wants someone like him for their daughter.
Rusty is such a good cook.

Brett, Rusty and Justin.
Brett, Me and Justin.
Way to go skins, let keep it up!!!

2008-08-09T07:57:00.005-05:00

IT'S TIME FOR REDSKINS FOOTBALL!!!

This is Rusty at the last game of the season last year, crutches and all. He had just had knee surgery, again, but he insisted on going anyway.

Ashleigh loves sports just as much as her Dad.

The first game is today and we can't wait. The game is at 7:00, we will be meeting my nephew and his friend at 2:00 in Manassas, they are riding with us, and we will waiting for the parking lot to open at 3:00 so we can tailgate. It is so much fun! This is our 5th year with our season tickets and it's still as much fun as the first year.

GO SKINS!

2008-08-08T18:47:00.007-05:00

I didn't put a title to this post because there are so many things to talk about I wasn't sure what to title it. We celebrated Blake's 10th birthday the weekend of the 26th. We had 1 party on Saturday for family and then a second party on Sunday for his friends. Blake had a great time and received way too many presents,

And too much money.

Blake got a new Nintendo DS, his other one got broke.

And who were the stupid people who bought this child Rock Band? Oh, I guess that would be his parents. Oh, that would be us. How stupid are we? We now have 2 Rock Bands in our house, Wayne has one for XBox 360 and now Blake has one for Wii. He loves it, plays it all the time.

We took him to a place in Winchester called "Fun Expedition" for his party with his friends. I'm not stupid (well if you don't count that Rock Band gift), I wasn't having all those little boys at my house to clean up after. They have a great program for birthdays and it was worth every penny. The kids had a great time, we had a great party hostess who took care of everything, all I had to do was sit back and watch them have fun. Well, and play some 3D putt putt and lazer tag. That was so much fun. Blake invited 9 (the party was for 10 kids) and 7 showed up. My friend Sharon brought 2 of her boys and stayed with me. Another friend of ours Wayne brought his son and he stuck around to play also.

They raced each other.

While the adults were playing 3D golf. The kids did find us eventually, darn it, we need to find a better hiding place next time.

Wayne with his hole in one. Sharon and I are sure he cheated, we're not sure how, but we know he did. ha ha

The boys had a great time playing golf.

Dance, Dance Revolution. Have you ever seen anyone on this thing? I think I got dizzy just watching them.

We got all the kids together and took them in to play lazer tag. That was great! It is 2 stories so everyone is running all over shooting each other.

They also have a rock wall that all the kids took a chance on. Did I? Uh, no.

FOOTBALL HAS STARTED!!

If you've been reading my blog for long you know sports is a big part of our life and football is the biggest. We have been having practice for 2 weeks now and we have some great kids playing this year. Rusty is the head coach of one of our 2 junior teams and he also helps with the senior team and the freshman teams. This means practice Mon - Thurs and Sat mornings. Home? When do we see home? In the off season, ha ha. I think we have a house so the cat and dog have somewhere to live. I am the team mom for the 2 junior teams and I help out Sharon (our league secretary, she was in the birthday pictures) with whatever she needs.

This is Sharon's son, Josh catching the ball. I love the way the sun is setting over the mountains in the background.

Blake practicing with the sled. See the seat and cup holder? The coach sits on that and makes the kids push him around the field. This was during the first week of practice, they didn't have to wear their pants during that first week. I guess to get them used to wearing the shoulder pads and helmet with overwelming the new players all at once. That's alot of equipment to get used to.

I have to tell you a funny story about midget football. Wayne, the one in the birthday pictures, and his wife own an athletic store here in town. Wayne decided he wanted to put together a football camp this year for the kids. He started calling around to companies to find out about sponsors, donations, etc. He called Nike and talked to a lady about the process of donations from Nike. He told her he was with Strasburg Midget Football. The conversation went like this:

Wayne: I am with Strasburg Midget Football.

Nike lady: Did you say midget football?

Wayne: Yes.

Nike lady: Oh my gosh, that is so great. My Mom is a midget. It think that is so great.

Wayne had the hardest time not laughing before he got off the phone. bwahahahha

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and not say anything at all.

Have a great night!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!!!

2008-07-26T07:10:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been 10 years.

Denise

2008-07-19T11:16:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted alot about Denise, I wasn't quite sure how she would feel about being part of my blog, but I have now decided that there is just way too much not to post her. Sorry Denise and welcome to the family.

First off Steven has been a bachelor for a while now. He has been married before and has been divorced for a number of years. It's hard when you are in your 30's to find someone. He had tried eharmony, chat rooms friends of friends and nothing seemed to work out. Actually, I think I posted about the eharmony experience before but maybe not. Those girls were crazy and I mean certifiably crazy. Steven wants to be married, he wants children but not just with anyone, he wasn't desperate, he wanted someone to love. So Mom and I decided we were going to put him on Match.com. Best thing we ever did, you're very welcome Steven. After we listed him we went through all these matches, picking out the girls we thought he would like (aren't we thoughtful) and emailing them to him. Denise was one of the girls he was matched up with but she is a professor at UNCW. She has her PhD, she's a doctor for God sake. He's a deputy, for the love of God what would they talk about? And {gasp} she was listed as a vegetarian. That would never do, we are big meat eaters, what would we do for holidays and cookouts? But little did Mom and I know, they connected. She was the only girl he asked out, I think he talked to a couple others before he met Denise is person but after he met her that was it, there was no one else. Every time he talked about her, you could just tell there was something special about her. I think he fell hard and fast and that is absolutely NOT like him. Anytime he would date someone we would be afraid to like her because the next thing we knew she was gone. I haven't gotten to spend alot of time with her because they are in NC and we are in VA but I have met her, loved her, and I've talked to her on the phone. They are getting married October 4, 2008 and I can't wait. They also want to have a baby very soon. That I really can't wait for, a baby, we haven't had a baby in our family in almost 10 years, that is very exciting.

Steven and Denise have a small garden at Denise's house and they have a couple tomato plants.

Steven couldn't figure out what was happening to the flowers on the tomato plants so he asked her about it. She told him they died so she picked them off. bwahahaha Needless to say, she's never grown tomato plants before. (Again sorry Denise, but this stuff is just too good not to share, not laughing at you, laughing with you) Also, she's never been to or had a yard sale. Mom had one and Steven and Denise brought over some things for it and to help out. She could not understand why people would think it was ok to show up earlier than the time you advertised. She didn't get it, the early bird gets the worm. My Dad gave her a fig tree, he has one in his back yard and they love the figs from it. She put it in her car and took it home. There must have been some kind of little bug on the bark because it decided it liked her car more than the tree. It kept biting her but she couldn't see it or figure out how to get rid of it. She went to AutoZone(I think it was Autozone) and they weren't real sure how to get rid of it. So while Steven was on the internet researching how to get this out of the car she was buying a fogger and setting it off in her car. Now, I talking the kind of fogger you set off in your house and this was in the car. Steven said her car smelled so bad of chemicals.

But on the other hand she is so sweet and giving. After they get married Steven is going to put his house on the market and they are going to live in hers. Steven lives out in the country and her house is closer to town and the college. She wasn't real sure she could live that far out comfortably. She wanted Steven to feel like her home was his too so she has already started doing things around the house to make him feel at home. She took one of her bedrooms, cleaned it out and that will be his computer/gaming room. She has hung up some of his pictures in there and is very concerned about him being comfortable there. She really seems to have a huge heart and Steven really loves her. He loves her, so I love her, he's my brother and if she makes him happy that's all that matters. Good luck Steven and Denise, it's going to be a wonderful marriage.

(not quite sure why the pictures are so small, but Mom emailed them to me and I saved them from the email so maybe that's the problem.)

I LOVE THIS MOVIE

2008-07-15T20:31:00.001-05:00

When Rusty came home this evening I was in the kitchen whipping up a culinary cuisine that would make Emeril weep. Ok, it was egg and sausage sandwiches but I just didn't feel like cooking and everyone here likes egg sandwiches for dinner so it was a win win situation. Anyway, Rusty came in the kitchen and said "What's wrong?". "I was, sniff sniff, watching Mr. Holland's Opus snifffff". His response was "Oh dear God". I'm sorry, I just can't help it, I love that movie. I don't know how many times I've seen it but if it's on I'm watching it. It's such a great movie with such an incredible message. He spent his whole life thinking he was a failure, he had never accomplished his heart's dream but in reality he had done something even more important. He affected the life of every child he taught and made a difference. He touched them and made them want to learn and push to obtain their goals. Teachers have a way of doing that if they truly understand why they are in that classroom. We were so incredibly blessed with such teacher when Ashleigh was in middle school. She was absolutely amazing and brought history completely to life for her students. At the end of the school year she organized a living history museum at the school. Each student was a different person from history and when you walked up to them they came to life and told about the person they were portraying. The kids loved it and the ones lucky enough to have her as a teacher loved her. She will be leaving soon to live in England for 3 years with her husband and children. His job is taking them there and while she is sad to leave our small town she is also looking forward to a new adventure. After the 3 years they will come back here. Everyone should know a Mrs. Korte, we will miss you Jessina.

This and That

2008-07-14T19:23:00.006-05:00

Well, I was going to post some pictures but blogger is not cooperating. I wanted to post a picture of a rash (hives) that Blake has broken out with in the last 24 hours and see if anyone has any idea what might cause something like this to happen. At bedtime last night, isn't it always at bedtime, Blake tells me that he has these bumps on his chest. I thought it was a stall tactic, go ahead give me the mom of the year awards, and I told him it was allergies and get in bed. Well.....this morning he calls me at work and tells me that the rash is worse and itches really bad. I had Wayne look at him to see if it's maybe poison ivy and he tells me it doesn't really look like poison but that Blake is really complaining about it itching. Thank God I work for 6 pediatricians, so Wayne brings him to work and one of the doctors takes a look at him.

Dr. K "No fever, does your throat hurt?"

Blake "No."

Dr. K "Ears look good."

Blake "Do you see anything in there?"

Dr. K "gum".

Blake loves Dr. K, he says he so funny.

Anyway, Dr. K wasn't really sure either because we are still using the same soap, detergent, shampoo, sunblock, all the known culprits. The only thing we could come up with was Blake went to football camp on Saturday and then came straight to a picnic we were at in a soaking wet shirt. Dr. K said him wearing the wet shirt all that time could have caused this unknown rash. So Blake is now sitting in an Aveno bath soaking and we pick up the hydrocortizone tomorrow. Dr. K ordered a large order of hydrocortizone so our little drug store (Rite-Aid you would think they would have it) has to order it and it won't be in until tomorrow after 1:00.

Oh, good here we are. The picture didn't turn out all that great but you can see the top of his cute little belly button. The Aveno has helped some with the itching and a dose of Bennadryl didn't hurt either. Those things sticking out at the top are his ribs, oh to have my ribs stick out like that again. Oh, well.

Anyway, on to fun things.

When my Mawmaw passed away my parents bought my grandparents house at the beach to live with my Pawpaw and help him. Not that he needed help, he remarried last year and moved out. Anyway, they put their house up here on the market and told me they would give me their dining room set when it sold. Fast forward to a year later, it finally sold and YEA!!! I got my dining room set. I have had a set of good dishes that my aunt collected and gave to me and Rusty when we got married the first time, 21 years ago. They have never been out of the box. I've never had a place to display them. Ta da, behold the china cabinet with the beautiful dishes. I love these dishes, I have open the box to look at them and make sure they were still there and hadn't wandered away looking for some place to display themselves. My dining room looks so different now with the new to me furniture. Before we had a wonderful solid oak table and chairs but that was it as far as dining room furniture went. Well, we had a computer desk with 2 computers on it but that doesn't count. It really looks like a dining room now. Thanks Mom and Dad.

I had to show you a picture of this, do you know what it is? It is an antique doctors scale. When my office renovated the building that was outside in a shed. I really wanted it bad but I really didn't know why they had saved it all this time. Finally I got up the nerve and asked for it and they were more than glad to get rid of it, go figure. My mom had been storing it for me because I didn't want it get lost in our basement and never be seen again. She had it in her bathroom with towels drapped over it. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it but Rusty put it in the corner and I really liked it. My kitchen and dining room are done in antiques and old kitchen utensils. I love the flea market. What I have drapped over it is a matching apron, table cloth and napkins that my Mawmaw made when she was newly married. I love it and wanted to display them some where but I wasn't quite sure where. I want to be able to look at them and enjoy them, can't do that if they are in a drawer.

I've had this cabinet for a while, I just like it. It holds more of my old flea market finds and inside is one of my favorite places to sit and go through, some of my cookbooks. I collect cookbooks and I love to sit and look through them. I have my Mawmaw's Betty Crocker cookbook that she was given by her mother in law in 1957, that is my most prized cookbook. It is full of her handwriting. That one has a feature spot on a shelf in the kitchen.

Isn't this just the cutest? Rusty bought both of these for me at Cracker Barrel. They are for cupcakes but I have used them for deviled eggs also. I lined them with waxed paper and they worked great. I love baskets. The lids are wooden and both of them have liners.

Finally, take a look at my great free find on freecycle today. I love freecycle. I already have it hanging on my front door.

So, have you gotten any wonderful things from freecycle? And since I've shown you my dining room, how about yours?

Have a great evening!

I did it!!!

2008-07-13T17:48:00.001-05:00

I finally, months after the cruise, have figured out how to remove that ticker from the top of my blog. YEAAAAHHHHH!! I know that probably sounds stupid but for some reason I just could not remember how to get it off the blog. So, now what did I do? Of course I put another ticker on my blog. What can I say? I guess it will be next year at this time before I remember how to remove this one, but the countdown is on to the wedding. I am so excited!!

Once again, I am back

2008-07-11T12:38:00.009-05:00

I don't even know where to begin, it's been so long since I blogged I don't even know if anyone still checks to see if there is anything new. But here I am. Alot has happened and we have been so incredibly busy over the last couple months. We've had baseball come and go, not a bad season but not the best either but the kids had fun and that is what it is all about. In May we had "Mayfest" in our small town and that was alot of fun. The midget football league has a booth, the kids and coaches are in the parade and we had a dunking booth. Rusty did the booth last year and said "there was no way in hell he was getting in that thing again this year", so he cooked food instead. He loves doing things for the kids but the booth really did a number on his knee, for those of you who don't know he had a total knee replacement 4 years ago. Yes, at 35 years old he had to have his knee replaced. Football has been very good to him, yes sir. Anyway we got some really cute pictures from Mayfest.

The beginning of the day when it wasn't quite so hot.

My honey, isn't he cute? I told you I had some cute pictures from Mayfest.

Another really cute picture. This is one of Blake's favorite things to do at Mayfest. He loves to color his hair and of course it has to be Strasburg colors, purple and white.
One of our board members taking a turn in the dunking booth. The water was extremely cold and it is a long fall from that seat to the water.
This is Jayla, she is the daughter of friends of ours. She is adorable and starting kindergarten in the fall.

And here's Jayla's daddy taking a turn. He was so funny, every time the seat dropped he had the exact pose as he went into the water.

Warren, our president, helping the kids to dunk the victim every time.

Spencer, a friend of Wayne's (my son), posing for the camera. He was the first victim and he spent alot of time up there and in the water. He is leaving Monday for bootcamp, God bless our soldiers.

Cody, Warren's son, doing his best to dunk Spencer. He is a senior this year with Wayne. The kids really had a great time and loved being in the parade. Who wouldn't love being in the parade with firetrucks, a 18 wheeler truck, motorcycles and all of the other local businesses. Gotta love those small town parades.

Like I said, baseball went really good. The kids had a great time, hopefully they learned a little. The went to the batting cages and got in a little hitting practice.

My honey giving orders, he does it so well. Too bad it doesn't look like the kids are paying much attention to him.

Opening day when the uniform is still nice and clean and new. This was also before Blake got his hair cut. He was going through a stage where he wanted to grow it out long. Let me tell you, this child does not hair the right kind of hair to have long hair. It was horrible!!! It didn't want to lay flat, we had an awful time with it. I didn't make him cut it though because "it's only hair". But finally he got tired of it and got it cut. Thank God!!!!

Ashleigh was home in May for a week and she was home for a couple days this past week. She is doing well in North Carolina. She is about an hour from Camp Lejeune and loving that. She loves the Marines, well she loves the marines she meets and sees. I think it's the uniform and I understand that, love a man in uniform. A guy she dated, didn't date, dated (well you get the picture) just finished bootcamp at Parris Island and she went with his family to his graduation. She was in total awe of everything and had some great stories. He graduated on July 3, what at awesome time to graduate, right at the 4th of July. She came back to Virginia with him and his family and then was home with us for 3 days. She flew home on Wednesday and I was worried the whole time. Not because of her being on a plane, that doesn't bother me. Ashleigh is the kind of kid that can't find her butt with both her hands and a map and she had to change planes twice, once in Atlanta and then in Charlotte. I just knew she wasn't going to find her gate and she would miss her plane. She proved me wrong though and everything went great. Maybe she is a little more responsible than I give her credit for, no I seriously doubt that. She's a great kid and I miss her like crazy, she's just not the most observant person in the world. Sorry Ashleigh you know I love you.

Steven and Denise's wedding plans are going great. They have rented a house on the beach for the wedding and reception and things are moving right along. They are getting married on October 4th and then they are headed to Florida for a cruise. WHAAAAA!!! I am so jealous, I want to go on another cruise. (I still haven't figured out how to remove the ticker on the top of my blog from the last cruise but I'm working on it) The are going to Honduras, Belize, Cozamel and Grand Caymans. I want to go. I got to meet Denise finally and I love her. She is so perfect for Steven. Actually, she's kind of the opposite of Steven but they fit so good together and have the same goals. I am so happy for him. You can tell by the way he treats her, talks to her and about her that he is so in love and I am thrilled for him. It took us a long time but Mom and I finally found the right one for him. ha ha ha

Finally, we had a good time on the 4th of July. Rusty's family had their 30th anniversary 4th of July party and everyone had a great time. We had 127 people there this year even with the rain the day before and the morning of the party. Hope everyone had a great 4th and hope everyone's summer is going great!

Me, Ashleigh, my sister in law Bev, my sister in law Debbie and my mother in law Ethel, after about 2 hours of volleyball, lots of food and dancing.

Happy Easter and once again...Catching up

2008-03-23T18:42:00.006-05:00

Well, it's me again being a slacker about blogging. I try, I really do, but there is so much going on around here that I just don't make time to blog. Ashleigh moved to North Carolina 2 weeks ago and that has been a huge adjustment around here. We miss her like crazy but I know she is going to do really well there. She is living with my parents, it started out with my brother but with his work schedule she just wasn't ready to stay over night by herself. So much for "I'm 19 and I can do what I want" she is just not ready to grow up yet. So she is living with Mom and Dad, looking for a job and signing up for a summer class at the community college. I talk to her everyday and she really was homesick at first but she is getting better.
A friend of mine got a puppy and Ashleigh brought him to the house a couple nights before she left. His name is Gizmo and he really is sweet.

The cat wasn't sure what to make of this dog that was smaller than him. He kept checking him out.

The puppy kept chewing on Rusty's ears and his chin.

We went to church with my mother in law today, for Easter, and then everyone went to her house for dinner. It was a really nice time and it was great to see everyone.

This is my great-nephew, Mason, isn't he the absolute cutest?! He's 2 and already he loves that football.
He was also really excited about the easter egg hunt.
Blake and Mason are good friends, Blake loves to play with him.
My mother in law has a fish pond in her front yard and the kids love to try to find the fish. Blake was trying to keep Mason from taking a header into the water.

You've met Mason, now here is Mason's parents, Michael and Misty. Michael was in a horrible accident 6 years ago and we weren't really sure if he was going to make it or not. He was in a moving van in a parking garage and the garage fell on the truck crushing the cab. He broke his neck and was on a ventilator. Now 6 years later he's married (she was dating him when he had the accident) and has this beautiful little boy. God sure is good.
My nephew Jacob and my sister in law Bev. She is also Michael's mom.
One of my other nephew's R.J. Notice the tie? It's the Redskins, this whole family is a family of fans.

My niece Kelly and her boyfriend David. She is Michael and Jacob's sister. Kelly is 2 years younger than I am which is kind of weird that she is Rusty's niece but my sister in law is 12 years older than Rusty's brother. I've mentioned that before and I do need to tell you that story.

Jacob again and his girlfriend Sherry. I have more picture of other people, other than Bev's family but they didn't load for some reason. Oh, well, we had a nice day, we really missed Ashleigh and it didn't seem the same without her. We didn't make it to sunrise service like we had planned, Rusty did something to his back over the weekend and I wasn't sure he was going to make it out of bed for regular services. He helped cook 400 chicken halfs and I don't know how much beef for a church that was selling it to raise money for relay for life. Good cause but he's paying for it now. Hell getting old, isn't it. Oh, by the way, I had mentioned going back to church in another post, we did and loved it. We already know so many people there and Blake has so many friends that go there, I really missed going today but we will be there next Sunday. It's a wonderful loving church and it's a very active church also. I grew up in an active church and I've missed that.

I promise to try and keep more on top of this, please bear with me and don't give up on me.

Good night.

One Tree HIll

2008-03-11T05:41:00.003-05:00

Do we have any One Tree Hill fans out there? For those who don't know it is a show on the WB. (well it used to be the WB, then they changed the name of the channel) Anyway, this show is filmed in Wilmington, NC, where Ashleigh has just moved. You can go to the movie studio and tour the set, which of course we've done. Ashleigh has also been on the set for Dawson's Creek. Actually, what they called Dawson's Creek and where alot of filming was done was right around the corner from my parent's first house they lived in there. My brother's fiance (oh yeah, those that know him he got engaged over the weekend, we are so excited and happy for them) is a professor at UNCW and One Tree Hill will be filming at the college on Thursday in Denise's (the fiance) hall and Ashleigh is going to get to go there and watch them film. She is so excited and as she put it "I think I might pee my pants I'm so excited." ha ha They do alot of movies in that area, more than I think anyone really realizes, more than I realized. It's nothing to see a street closed and cameras everyone. My Mom and my brother have seen quite a few tv/movie stars around town. I'm always on the lookout when we are down there, you never know who you might see and John Travolta owns a home there. You never know, you just never know.

Baseball, Church and Blake

2008-03-04T20:20:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned before we are gearing up for baseball. Blake has his first practice this coming Saturday and he's very excited. He went to a baseball clinic last Thursday and Friday and had a blast. The youth pastor at the church we have visited does a baseball clinic and a football clinic for anyone who wants to attend. He does it for free out of the goodness of his heart. He also coaches football with Rusty. On Friday evening, after the bseball clinic, he witnessed to the kids. All 3of my children asked Jesus into their heart when they were about 8 or 9, except Blake, he was seven and had alot of questions. The thing is, he completely understood all of it. When he came home Friday night he was very excited because they were given New Testaments. He loves the Bible, I mean really loves the Bible. He will sit down for hours and read it. He has a children's Adventure Bible that is wonderful. But when he came through the door, he ran over to me and said "I have a very important question to ask you." I told him to go ahead and ask and he said "Is asking Jesus into my heart the same thing as being saved?" I told him yes it is and he had this total complete look of relief on his face. He said "I thought so, but I wanted to make sure because I don't want to go into the lake of fire." He had such a fire lit in his soul and that is all he talked about all weekend. He was also very concerned over what was worse, hell or the lake of fire, so we had quite a few conversations about that and then he would get his Bible and look everything up. We haven't been to church in a while and though we keep talking about how we need to get back to it, we haven't gone. On Sunday afternoon he looked and me and said "We really need to go to church." So guess what? We will be in church on Sunday. Who knows, we might have a future preacher on our hands. Who knew...

Alive and Kicking

2008-03-02T20:47:00.002-05:00

Uh, yeah, well, I am still here. Is anyone out there still checking in with me to see if I've actually posted anything? I know I've been bad about doing this but I do have an excuse. Well, it's a good excuse, I think. Ashleigh is moving and we've been busy trying to make plans and get things done for her here and there. She is moving to N.C. to live with my brother. I know, I know she's not moving out on her own but it's kind of like being on her own. She won't be living with parents or grandparents. So she will kind of be on her own but will still have someone that checks up on her. College? That's another story all in it's own. She didn't do so well her first semester so she decided to take a break. I'm not really sure what that means except there has been alot of sleeping in late and not doing much of anything going on with her. She said she is going to start back with college in the fall, ok, there went that money right down the prverbial drain. But at least she is saying she wants to go back. I don't think she realized how much she was going to have to work, nothing like skating through high school. But hopefully she is back on the right track and this will be a good move for her.

We've all been sick off and on with this stupid flu or whatever it is that has been going around. Believe me that hasn't been any fun either.

Baseball is getting ready to start up around here and Blake can't wait. He has his first practice next Saturday. Rusty went to a football clinic with the other board members and some of the coaches this weekend and had a great time. As you know, around here it's football all the time even during baseball season.
Other than these few things there hasn't been much going on around here.

I will leave you with this little "Heard around our house"..

Blake(coming out of the bathroom) "Mom, smell my hand."
Me "No, I am not smelling your hand, did you wash your hands?"
Blake "Yes, I washed my hands, smell my hand."
Me "No"
Blake "Mom, please it smells good."
Me "It does smell good, what did you do?"
Blake "I spilled shampoo on it"
Me "What were you doing with the shampoo?"
Blake "Smelling it, I spilled it on my hand by accident."
You never know what to expect at our house.

Have a great night.

Go Giants!!

2008-01-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

Way to go Giants, they just put the Cowboys to bed. It's a beautiful thing.

2008-01-13T19:32:00.000-05:00

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes.In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun.You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it!
Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsandwichareyouquiz/">What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Catching Up Part 2...

2008-01-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I am going to try to do a little more catching up for the last couple months. Some of the pictures are kind of out of order but you'll get the idea.

I think someone is just a little too spoiled, this is our tree Christmas morning. I love my tree, it doesn't have any kind of "theme" or anything like that. It has all the ornaments the kids have made me through school and the ornaments I have been collecting forever. Every year I buy the kids a new ornament so that one day when they have a tree of their own they will have ornaments to start out with.
My parents came up the weekend of Christmas to have Christmas with us. Wayne was very excited about one of his gifts from Uncle Steve. They play on Xbox live together and Wayne had really been wanting that game.

Uncle Steve was also a big hit with Blake. His Wii is in the living room so we get serenaded daily.

Do you think Ashleigh is excited?! She had wanted this Chanel purse so bad but didn't think she would ever have it. Grandma and Grandpa came through with this and a matching wallet. We are a purse loving family. Steven also gave me a new Coach purse. I love it. Steven was very generous with me especially this year. I got the purse, a Citizen watch and a sapphire bracelet. He just started dating someone so I'm a little worried about next Christmas. ha ha just kidding

This was our tree during Christmas with my parents, maybe we were just a little spoiled too. Naa, I don't think so.

The kids and I normally make Gingerbread houses together but it just didn't seem like we could get everyone together this year, so Blake and I made Gingerbread men. Blake was in charge of cutting and decorating. He did a great job, I just can't get a picture of the decorated cookies to upload. All in all we made 38 gingerbread men and they didn't last very long either.

On December 3, Rusty's birthday, he had knee surgery. Now he had a total knee replacement 3 years ago but this was on his "good" knee. Thank you football. Anyway, as some of you know we have Redskins season tickets and the kids pick one game they want to go to every year. This year Ashleigh wanted the Bears, well next to Dallas but I'm not giving up Dallas. Her game was December 6 and there was no way Rusty could take her so I did. Ashleigh and I did this last year also because Rusty had a make up little league game on the same day. The Bears game was a night game and it was so cold Ashleigh kept asking me if we could get frostbite. But like her Dad she would not leave, no matter what I promised her if she would. We were so bundled up and we had 2 blankets but nothing would warm us up. My nephew and his friend were also there and they were freezing right along with us.

We were all heartbroke over the murder of Sean Taylor.

Can you guess who that is? Isn't he cute?! That would be Rusty. He was Santa Claus for the little league in our town's Christmas parade.

That's the back of my friend Michelle, she the board secretary and she is trying to get some kind of order with all those kids. Good luck. Blake's little league team won 1st in the county, they only lost 1 game, way to go Strasburg Junior Purple team. We have so many junior kids that they split them into 2 teams, white and purple. The little league senior team went undefeated and our high school volleyball team was undefeated and went onto win the state champions group A division. There has been alot of winning going on around here.

It has been a really busy time for us and I know I have more to catch up on so stay tuned, there is more to come.

I'm Back!!!!!

2008-01-08T17:41:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am, back in the blogging world. It has been a crazy couple months and I really don't know where to start. I guess first off we went on our cruise and had an incredible time. It was our third and we had the time of our lives. It was my parents graduation gift to Ashleigh and they paid for us to go also, how's that for a graduation present!!

Our ship, you just never realize how big it really is until you are standing next to it.

My Dad and Rusty. Don't you love the shirts. My Mom had them made up for everyone. We had so many family members that went it was like a family reunion. All of our last names are listed on the shirt.

Before the ship sails they make you put on your lifejackets, go to your appointed muster station and then listen to a safety speech for about 3 hours. Well, maybe not 3 hours but it sure feels like it in the heat. We were sure we were all going to pass out from the heat. Doesn't Rusty look happy to be there and Ashleigh's face sums up the way we all felt.

Doesn't everyone look so cute? That's my Pawpaw and his lovely bride Margie.My wonderful Mom who did all the planning and scheduling of our fun family vacation. Way to go Mom!!

On the deck as we were sailing away from Miami. That is the drink of the day and for a mere $7.95 you get the drink and the lovely plastic cup as a souvenir. What Rusty and I did not find out until the end of our first cruise was you can pay $4.95 for the same drink in a regular cup. Needless to say we have alot of those very fashionable plastic cups from the first cruise and only 2 from the third. Live and learn people, live and learn.

Goodbye Miami, see you in 7 days.

Our first stop, Nassau. I love it there, the water is so blue and everything is so bright and pretty. We walked around and did ALOT of shopping. We then hit Senor Frogs for drinks and well more shopping. Steven bought Ashleigh her first mixed drink in a bar, the drinking age is 18.

Ashleigh is always ready to strike a pose.

At Senor Frog's with "the drink".

It had been raining as we were pulling into St. Thomas but nothing stopped us from seeing everything or being on deck to watch as we docked. Not long after this the sun came out and we had an incredible time. We went snorkling around a reef and the underwater pictures we took are really something. I will have to figure out my new scanner and eventually post some of those.
The view from the top of one of the mountains, we rode a tram up to the top. It was so beautiful!

While we were in St. Thomas we took a boat to St. John and went snorkling. That was so incredible, I didn't want to leave that beach.

The bus we rode on, after taking the boat to St. John, stopped so we could take pictures. This is the island we had been snorkling around. Now let me tell you about this "bus". They do not have sides or doors to them. They are open on both sides and THEY DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!! So not only do you have to hang on to your now very friendly neighbor, thank God it was family, you also have to worry about the cars coming toward you on this cow path they call a road. It was definitely an experince and I would most definitely go back. I just might bring a rope to tie myself into the bus though.

Now onto St. Martin.

This was really nice because we got off the ship, you can see it in the background, took a water taxi $5.00 a person for all day use no matter how many times you got on and off, it was a great deal and went right to the beach. Rusty and I spent about 5 hours at the beach. We both love it, he loves it a little more than I do though. You could rent an umbrella and 2 chairs for $10.00 for all day and they would even through in 2 beers. What more could you ask for?

We were at the red umbrellas and we were there so early that for about 2 hours we were the only ones there.

Aren't the fish awesome?! I took this looking into the water from the dock. The water is so clear.

Ahhh, a favorite among our family, FOOD. Eating on a cruise is also an awesome experience. This is our waitress, you have the same wait staff all week and it is so much fun getting to know them. Every night the whole dining staff dances and sings after dinner.

Our whole crew stuffed into the elevator, well minus me because someone had to take the picture.

Steven, Ashleigh and my cousin Michael, just a couple of trouble makers.

Ashleigh and her Grandpa, aren't they cute?

Okay, time for a quiz, can you guess where we are now? If you guessed back in Miami you would be so right. Doesn't everyone look happy?

And then the trip home, we didn't fly to Miami we drove. Crazy I know but we did have a great time.

Yes that is my child with her head inside the mouth of a stuffed alligator. Doesn't she look scared? not... She will do anything for a laugh.

Well that's enough for tonight, I hope I didn't put you to sleep too early in the post. I have missed my blog friends and I am glad to be back.

Good night.

Back to reality

2007-10-11T04:57:00.000-05:00

"YOUR KAROKE THEME SONG, LIVING ON A PRAYER"

You believe the best things in life are mostly forgotten, and you're definitely more than a little nostalgic .You're likely to still like the same foods, fashions, and music as you did when you were a teenager.
You have a knack for knowing what elements of pop culture people have missed, without them even realizing it.It's great to remember the past, but don't forget that not everyone is as stuck in it as you are.
You might also sing: "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rapper's Delight," and "Cherry Pie"
Stay away from people who sing: "Toxic"

What's" Your Karaoke Theme Song?

I am still here and no I didn't fall over board on the cruise or get left on some tropical island. (Being left on a tropical island does have it's benefits though) I will be back to blogging this weekend with pictures, so check back soon.

The Incredible Power of Prayer

2007-08-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

I have always believed in the power of prayer. I know and I have seen what God can do when you believe, but I have to tell you that after yesterday if you weren't a believer you would have to be now. On Sunday Angelica had a possible broken neck, a bleed in her brain that they thought was going to cause brain damage and broken ankles. On Monday after the incredible amount of people prayed on Sunday and into Monday she has 2 crushed ankles. That. Is. It. The bleed in gone, they can't find it anywhere in her brain, her neck is fine and she was asking for McDonald's sweet tea. How awesome is that!!! She has a long road ahead of her, they have done 2 surgeries on her so far and she may be in for more on her ankles. We now know more about what happened. She was drunk for one thing, she had been at a party with her friends and was on her way home. The car behind, that literally saved her life, saw the whole accident. He said her car hit the guard rail, went air born, the door came open and she flew out. They think she landed on her feet because of the damage done to her ankles. She is going to have to have skin grafts on her one leg, the skin was literally peeled off to the tendons. When the angel in the car behind her stopped, he called 911, went to her and she wasn't breathing. He performed CPR and got her breathing again. He has been to the hospital to check on her, so her parents have gotten the chance to meet him and thank him. He is a recovering alcoholic, he's been sober for 6 years. Thank God he was behind her. While he was on the side of the road, performing CPR,(he'd had to pull her out of the road) cars were just flying by. No one else stopped. He truly is an angel on earth. Please keep praying, the family needs it right now.

Prayer Request

2007-08-27T04:47:00.000-05:00

I am requesting alot of prayers this morning. Saturday night the daughter of my best friend (well, my best friend next to Rusty) was in a horrible car accident. Her name is Angelica and she is 17. We don't know all the details yet but she was thrown from the car. The car behind her stopped and had to perform CPR on her. She was in surgery most of yesterday, both of her ankles are broke, they think her neck is broke and they are very concerned about brain damage. Like I said, she is 17 and she is going into her senior year of high school. She has her whole life ahead of her. Please pray for her recovery and for her family as they are going through this.

Look what I got

2007-08-23T04:31:00.000-05:00

"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

I was awarded a "Nice Matters Award". I've never been given an award on my blog before, I am truely honored. L.B. at http://www.needleroozer.blogspot.com/ (I still haven't figured out how to do that without typing it all out) gave it to me. You should check out her blog, you will really enjoy it. She is a really sweet person. Now I will have to pass it on to the next 7 nice people.

Ashleigh is loving college, now it just started and she really hasn't gotten into the heart of it but starting with a good additude is half the battle. Wayne and Blake are gearing up to start school again. I think they are looking forward to it. I know Blake is, Wayne on the other hand, well we shall see. Football is going really good, but oh am I tired. I only have to be there Monday, Tuesday and Thursday but I usually go on Wednesdays also because I just like to hang out with my friends. Do I sound 16? We really have a good time watching the kids and even though Blake doesn't practice on Wednesday I know alot of the other kids, older and younger, so it's fun to watch them. We are having a scrimmage this evening, that should be fun.

During the school year, last year, Wayne found a bomb threat in the bathroom at school. He reported it and did what he was supposed to do. Now, guess what we get to do today? We get to go to court so he can testify about finding it. Doesn't that sound like fun? Arrrr, he's not happy either, but oh well. Hopefully, it will be quick and we can get out of there.
I know I am slacking on blogging I will try to get things caught up this weekend. I have just been so incredibly busy, I need more hours in the day. Do you think someone could arrange that for me?

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

2007-08-16T04:53:00.000-05:00

I have a child in college!!! I really can't believe it, how did I get to this place? Ashleigh and I went to the community college yesterday, sat through 4 hours of orientation (why can't they just let you sign up?) and then she signed up for her classes. That was a job, just getting the classes. Everytime you sign up for a class you have to make sure it doesn't overlap with another class you have just signed up for. But she is done, she goes back tomorrow to get her books, it was just way too busy in the bookstore yesterday with it being orientation day. She liked the idea of being able to pick the times for her classes but she still has classes in the morning which will be quite the culture shock for her come Monday morning. She is a big believer of sleeping in late. She wants to teach kindergarden. Ashleigh will attend the community college for 2 years, get her associates degree and then transfer to a 4 year university as a junior. The one thing we didn't realize was that she needs to decide now which 4 year school she wants to attend. Even though there are 23 (I think it's 23) Universities in Virginia that have agreements with the community colleges, they all have defferent requirements for addmission. She wanted to go to ODU or JMU but after finding out she would need 4 math classes for ODU and only 3 for JMU she decided on JMU. She will have to take 4 history classes for JMU versus 2 for ODU, but she hates math and doesn't mind history so JMU won out.
The wonderful thing about the community college is that as long as she keeps her GPA up whatever college in the state she applies to, she gets in. That is a wonderful thing. She is really excited but scared also. We had a great time together yesterday. Again, how and when did this happen to me?!

2007-08-07T11:16:00.000-05:00

It's really hot here.

A Sigh of Relief

2007-08-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

The passports arrived today in the mail. Wohoo!!! I've been sweating it but the government came through and the mail delivered. Now, I just have to wait for Ashleigh's. oh, the stress, I just don't know if I can take it or not.
Well, off to football practice where the sweat will run down my back and my hair will stick to my forehead. It's for the kids, it's for the kids, it's for the kids...
Anyone believing me yet?

4th of July Update and our nice quiet Sunday

2007-08-05T20:01:00.000-05:00

Let the party begin!!!
Rusty cooked for about 3 hours, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Cooking the food is his "thing" for the party.

This in my nephew, Michael, and his little boy Mason. Isn't Mason just the cutest?! He is such a sweet little boy. He was eating hamburger, some vegetables and beans until Sherry, one of my other nephews girlfriend, brought a brownie to the table. That was all she wrote. He wasn't having any part of any "food" he wanted chocolate and he wanted her's. He's cute, he got it and she got another one.

Mason's Papaw, my brother in law, sings in the band and Mason loves music. He stood in front of the band and just danced and danced.

Until he stopped to get a kiss from his Papaw. He really loves his Papaw.

My mother in law's house always looks so good. She takes off the week before the party to prepare. She cooks and decorates all week. It really is a sight to see. We had well over 100 people there this year.

Debbie, Rusty's cousin, caught me taking a picture of her and decided to return the favor. Everyone brings their own chairs or blankets and just spread out on the yard to enjoy the food and music. We also have volleyball, horse shoes and fireworks.

Jacob, one of my nephews, and his girlfriend Sherry. They celebrated 5 years together this year. They started dating in high school. Sherry graduated from UVA this year and Jacob will graduate from Mary Washington next year. 5 years ago Jacob spent the summer with us and worked with Rusty. He really liked Sherry but they had been friends for so long he was worried about asking her out. He is such a sweet kid, not a kid anymore, and I was worried about him getting hurt. Finally, he asked her out and she said yes and the rest is history. O their anniversary this year he called me and left me the sweetest, most loving message reminding me that they started dating while he was here (he went home on weekends) and how I had encouraged him to ask her out. I love that kid, we had such a great time with him that summer. He plays the guitar and he would sit out on the back deck playing to me. He was also just fun to sit around and talk to. Jacob if you read this I really did have a great time with you.

Ashleigh and Maddie. She is Ashleigh's cousin. She has a sister named Morgan and they fight over Blake and who's boyfriend he is. I don't have the heart to remind her that they are cousins. But they aren't first cousins so it's not really illegal, right? right?

Me, and my 2 sister's in law, Bev and Debbie.

Me and my honey. Isn't he cute?

Rusty and his cousin April. She is pregnant and due in October. I can't wait, they found out she's having a girl. She is so excited.

Bev and Jacob, her youngest, dancing the night away.

Gary, my brother in law, winding down as the night gets later.

Bobby, my oldest brother in law, man you should hear him play. Rusty whole family is musically talented. Their Dad had a bluegrass band and they played on the Ted Mack Variety Hour in New York. His uncle has bluegrass albums and his cousin just put out a bluegrass CD.

My nephew, R.J. He plays with this band and he has another band. His other band has played in clubs in New York and I think they play down in Richmond also. His other band plays a different kind of music than this one with his Dad. Southern Excess plays country and R.J.'s other band is more a hard rock.

Rusty in his 4th of July cooking outfit. Again, isn't he cute?

*************************************************************************************
TODAY

We had one of those rare days when there really wasn't anything planned. For us this is few and far between. I had to meet Wayne this evening, he's been at his Dad's for the last week. He was supposed to come home this past Wednesday but he called and wanted to stay longer, his Dad had given him a car and it needed a couple things done before he could bring it home. It's a '95 Dodge Neon. It needs a paint job but it doesn't look bad at all. It has sat in the sun and has faded some. Wayne's Grandpa used to have a body shop and he told Wayne he would paint his car for him in the near future. We got up this morning, kind of laid around not doing alot of anything. Rusty asked me if I wanted to go over to the flea market, so we threw our clothes on and headed there. I love the flea market and yard sales. The flea market can be better, it's like 1000 yard sales and I never have to move the car. I found a great Home and Garden cookbook, I collect cookbooks and I lost count a long time ago, from the 1950's. I paid $1.50 for it, great deal, huh? It's hardback and the pages are on a spiral. I was very excited about my find. We then took a ride out through Upperville and went by Rusty's Mom's house. We spent a couple hours visiting with her, she fed us lunch, and then I met up with Wayne. It was one of those days wiht no plans and we just take off with no schedule. I love those kind of days.

Alive and Kicking

2007-08-04T18:32:00.000-05:00

We are still here and breathing. It has been too long since I last blogged and there is so much to write about. We went to my parents in July for my Dad's birthday and had a great time. My Dad turned 61 and he is still so young looking. I made him an ice-cream cake and Steven cooked dinner. Sounded like a great trade off to me, well I did make bar-b-que baked beans also but I didn't have to stand outside in the heat at the grill.

After we ate, had presents and just lazed around doing nothing we got into their new pool. No one is able to behave themselves in the pool and you are not safe no matter where you are in there. Mom bought a bunch of water guns and you better we careful because that innocent looking float headed our way just might have someone lurking behind it just waiting to shoot you.

Everyone had a great time and Dad really enjoyed his birthday. After all how could he not have a wonderful time, his favorite child was there, me. The next evening we headed down to the boardwalk for, of course, Britt's donuts. We walked out onto the beach to eat them and just enjoy all being together.

No, that's not one of us, I just thought it was a cute picture. I love to watch the birds chase up and down the beach.

It's this a beautiful picture? Yes, I did take it, it has not been photo shopped those are the actual colors of the sunset. Wayne was the one who pointed it out and asked me to take the picture. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. We always have such a great time when we go see my family.

I have alot more pictures to post from the 4th of July party and other things that have been going on. Somehow when I transferred my pictures I transferred them some where other than what I am used to and it has been horrible trying to retrieve them. I am trying to get used to the new computer. I will try to post some more tomorrow.
Good night.

2007-07-27T05:18:00.001-05:00

Java Chip Frappuccino

You're a caffeine addict and pretty high maintenance about your coffee. There's a good chance that everyone at your Starbucks knows your name.

What Flavor Frappuccino Are You?

Checking in

2007-07-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

I am in the middle of trying to get the new computer hooked up and of course the internet has decided to throw a tantrum and not work. @#*$%%%% Sorry, I was having a tantrum of my own. I will get back on and blog, I have pictures and stories to tell. Ssshhh, I'm at work right now.
Football started last night and I am the juniors team mom, yea me. I'm already exhausted. It will probably be tomorrow before I will get to work any more on the computer, I might put Wayne to work on it. We have practice again tonight and then on Thursday night. God help me. I am walking around the track during practice so there is some good that will come out of this.
Well, hopefully I will have some pictures and lots of news very soon.

2007-07-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

You scored as Tilney, Your husband/boyfriend is most similar to Mr. Tilney of Northanger Abbey. Charming and witty, sometimes he confuses others with his satirical humor and outlandish statements. However, he has an excellent sense for the motives of others and therefore is very helpful to you. As a couple, you share many exciting experiences and laughs and enjoy constant camaraderie with those closest to you.

Tilney

95%

Captain Wentworth

95%

Edward Ferrars

95%

Col. Brandon

85%

Darcy

85%

Edmund Bertram

75%

Knightley

75%

created with QuizFarm.com

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

So, what did you do to celebrate the 4th? Rusty and I had kind of a quiet 4th, that's a first for us. Ashleigh was with her friends, swimming and having a good time, and Blake and Wayne are in North Carolina with my parents and Steven. This is the first time, in a long time, that Steven and my parents weren't here to cook out and watch the town fireworks from our back deck. We have the best seats in the house. Blake and Wayne will be gone for another week and a half and then we will be down there to celebrate my Dad's birthday and bring the boys home. They've never been gone this long before. It's really quiet around here and I'm not quite ready for this kind of quiet. We got up early and went down to Mom and Dad's house, the one they are selling here, to mow the grass. On the way home we stopped at Wally World and picked up some steaks and potatoes. We already had corn on the cob here at the house. Rusty cooked everything which was really nice and then he se the table with candles. We had a really nice dinner and then after getting everything cleaned up went out to watch the fireworks.

Last Sunday we went to see Lynard Skynard. If you've never been to see them you are in for the biggest mixture of people in one place. Rusty and I have been going to see them for years. His brother, Gary and his wife Bev have been a couple times with us but not in the last couple years. I've only missed one concert with Rusty and that was the year Ashleigh wanted to take him for Father's Day. We had a great time. I am having trouble getting pictues posted so I will do that tomorrow.

I hope you had a great day spent with family and friends. Happy Birthday American and thank you to all the soldiers, and their families, home and overseas securing the fact that we are able to celebrate this wonderful holiday!!

Same occasion, more celebrating

2007-07-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we had Ashleigh's graduation party. We had to delay it a little because of Ashleigh being gone for beach week and then Pawpaw's wedding. We had the party at my mother in law's house and everyone had a really good time. We had a lot of good food, we are a family that really enjoys food so most of our celebrations are centered around food. My parents weren't able to be there but we will once again be celebrating this graduation in September when we go on the cruise. That is their present to her, this is the party that never ends.

This is where is all began.

Ashleigh and her friend Caitlyn, they have been friends since 3rd grade. She also graduated this year.

I had asked my sister in law Bev (yes Dy that sister in law story is still coming) to make the cake. Isn't it beautiful. It wasn't really leaning, it must have been the way I was holding the camera. The bottom was chocolate and the top was purple funfetti cake. It not only looked good it was delicious.

Asheligh and the baker of the cake. Oh, and that's not champaigne or wine in the bottles, it's sparking apple cider and sparkling grape juice.

Ashleigh and her Granny. She had the house decorated all in purple and white. It looked great.

Asheigh and her cousin Brett. Brett graduated last year.

Ashleigh with her Aunt Debbie and her Aunt Bev. They both have informed me they should be able to ok any pictures of them that I post here. Sorry ladies, it's my blog and you are at my mercy.

Ashleigh opening yet another round of presents, will the insanity never end?

Enjoying her sparkling grape juice.

Ashleigh's Uncle Gary toasting her and her future. Her other uncle was there but he had to leave, he plays in 2 bands full time, I'm not sure how many part time, and he had to play that night.

My nephew R.J. is on the right and his friend Jesse is on the left. Oh, of course you know the one in the middle.

Stay tuned.

Settle Back and Get Comfortable

2007-06-26T16:58:00.000-05:00

The night before the wedding Pawpaw and Margie took all of us out to dinner. The food was wonderful and we all had a great time together. Our whole family was able to make the wedding except for my cousin Andrea.

Aren't they cute together?

Dad and Mom patiently waiting for the food. It was definitely worth the wait, which actually wasn't that long at all. The service was great and the food even better.

Ashleigh and my cousin Michael.

Steven and Wayne, I think Wayne looks like Steven. What do you think?

Our course that's Margie on the left and that is my great-aunt Marie. That's right, my kids are lucky enough to have a great, great aunt still around.

My cousin Nicole and her little boy Peyton. He is so cute, I just want to eat him up.

He really loved the cake.

Peyton, (still eating that cake), Dylan and Blake.

I love taking pictures of Peyton.

GOINGS ON AROUND OUR LITTLE TOWN

The week before graduation our high school baseball team won a game that no one expected them to win. That win put them in the finals for the state championship. That next game was on the same day as graduation and of course there were seniors on the team. The game was to be played at Radford University, which was too far for them to play and then make it back in time for graduation. My first instinct was there would be no way my child would miss graduation for a baseball game. But in our little country town, sports is everything and it has been taught to these kids from the time they are born. Our seniors players went to the game, took their caps and gowns and graduated on the field at Radford University. It was an incredible graduation for those students. They then played the game and WON!!! They were headed to state!!! The state game was the very next day at Radford and for the first time in Strasburg history our high school team brought home the trophy. It was an awesome day for our town.

They had a parade coming through Main St. lead by the trophy on a purple John Deer gator, if you can believe that. Everyone was lining the streets and then everyone headed to the school to welcome the team home. It really made you glad to be part of a small town. I know so many of those boys on that team and I couldn't be happier for them.

At the school.

Our basball coach, he could barely contain himself.

.Way to go guys, we are so proud of you!!!!

Settle in and get comfortable part 2

2007-06-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

The big day went off without a hitch. It was a beautiful day and the wedding was so nice. Margie looked so pretty and my Pawpaw was so handsome.

Pawpaw all dressed and ready to head to the church.

My Mom and my Aunt. Isn't my Mom beautiful? And doesn't my Aunt look great, just a while ago we weren't sure we were going to have her around and she is doing so much better. God really answers prayers, the Bible says ask and you shall receive. We really didn't expect her for the wedding but she surprised us and was able to come.

Me, Missy, my Mom and my cousin Nicole. Nicole is Missy's youngest daughter.

Ashleigh and her friend Lauren. Lauren is the friend that Ashleigh took to the beach for beach week. They had a wonderful time, sometimes maybe too much fun.

Wayne and Steven.

Dylan and Blake. Dylan is my cousin Michael's son. He had a little accident on his bike.(or should I say off his bike)

Pawpaw and Margie coming into the church.

The kiss and I think I see Margie copping a little feel, watch it, wait for the honeymoon you crazy kids.

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Fred Underwood. Her dress was beautiful.

I absolutely loved the cake. I had never seen one done with seashells before. All of the seashells, except the big one on the top and in the middle of the 2 layers, were made of chocolate. The looked so real. A lady from their church made the cake for them as a gift. I thought she did an awesome job and it tasted great also.

Cutting the cake. Come on, cut it faster we are all dying to try it.

They were both really sweet when they fed the cake to each other. Now get out of the way and let me at that cake. Oh, sorry, I got a little carried away for a minute.

The first dance as a married couple, actually it may have been their first dance ever. I hope they have many more dances together.

My Pawpaw and his favorite grandchild. Oh, yeah that's me, I'm the oldest that makes me the favorite.

Okay Steven, I'll give that you are his second favorite. Second born, second favorite. Aren't the cute? Sorry ladies, the one on the right is now taken, you waited too long but the one on the left is still available. Good job, owns his own home, a car and a truck and he's alot of fun. Oh, sorry I got off track there for a minute.

Pawpaw and his 2 girls.

Quite the cute couple, don't you think?

My Dad was Pawpaw's best man. He's always the best man in my book. He's giving the toast to the happy couple.

Ashleigh and Lauren decorated the car for PawPaw and Margie. They did a great job and they left the decorations on the car all the way to Myrtle Beach. They stayed in a bed and breakfast there for a couple days and then went to Charleston, SC for a couple days. They said people were beeping their horns and waving at them down the highway.

And away they go. Here's to a long and happy life together.

Checking In

2007-06-16T06:58:00.000-05:00

Today's the day. Pawpaw is getting married. We really like Margie so we are happy for them but it will be kind of bittersweet because we had to lose someone so important to us to be at this point in our lives. I know God has a reason for everything and we don't always understand it. My Pawpaw is like a different person since he met Margie. He's wearing shorts and sandles, I've never seen him dressed like this before. The changes in him have been good changes and he is so happy all the time. He's 82, getting married today and starting a whole new chapter of his life. Good luck Pawpaw we are so happy for you. I love you and wish you all the happiness in the world. Thank you Margie for showing us this other side of Pawpaw that we didn't know exsisted.

Congratulations Ashleigh

2007-06-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

She did it!!!! She graduated last night and it was quite a night. We had 17 family members there cheering her on. We were all so proud. Steven had to work and wasn't able to make the trip, he was really missed. Every since Ashleigh was born he has always been so close to her (they've had their rough spots through her teen years but when she was little there wasn't anyone like her Uncle Steve) so it really killed him not to be here. He was here in spirit though.

Walking the walk into graduation. They were supposed to have it outside but because of the threat of rain they moved it inside.

4 generations were there last night and my Mawmaw would have been so proud. She was definitely missed, there was no one like Ashleigh to her.

And we thought the silliness came from Rusty.

The countdown is on, Pawpaw and Margie get married on the 16th. We are very happy for both of them.

The very proud Daddy and Granny.

Ashleigh and her Granny.

Ashleigh and her aunt Bev.

Ashleigh, Wayne and 3 of our nephews, Brett, Jacob and R.J.

Ashleigh, Rusty, and her Uncles Gary and Bobby. (Are you starting to get the feeling that this is all about Ashleigh?)

This is Ram Country.

This is Ashleigh and Mrs. Korte. She was Ashleigh's favorite teacher of all time. She made history completely come alive for her students. Ashleigh class was her first teaching job in Strasburg and she told them she had better receive invitations to their graduations. She was there to congratulate them and cheer them on. She is the kind of teacher you want your child to experience.

Ashleigh and her 2 best friends, Brooke and Jamie.

Ashleigh and Mr. Dorman, her principal. He is another one of those people who isn't just doing a job, he truly cares about the kids. When Ashleigh was a freshman he started at their school as the principal and he is a wonderful person.

Ashleigh with her diploma. And her scholarship. Thank you to the Rotary for the scholarship.

Our Weekend

2007-06-04T18:45:00.001-05:00

We had another one of our busy weekends. I don't know if any other kind of weekend exists. On Saturday we went to Rusty's brother's house to celebrate their middle brother's birthday and our nephew's birthday. There's so many in the family we sometimes have to celebrate birthdays together. But first on our way down there we had to make a stop at Wal-mart. I am so organized and prepared we had to buy cards. Oh well, they got them didn't they?

And they ask me why I drink? This is why I don't take him in public very often. But, if he didn't act this way I would think he was sick. His sense of humor is one of the things I love about him.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

See what i mean?

We made it to Bobby and Debbie's house and Rusty pitched right in to help with the cooking.

While Blake headed right to the pool.

Wayne hadn't quite made it to the pool yet.

The 3 stooges, oh I'm sorry that's Rusty and his 2 brothers.

This is Bev, my oldest sister in law. She is married to the middle brother, but that's another story all together.

Blake lived in the pool almost the whole time.

Wayne finally made it into the pool and my nephew Brett joined him.

Kristen is Brett's girlfriend and she wasn't quite sure about getting into the pool with the rowdy guys.

Blake loves to get on the raft and have Brett flip him over into the water.

R.J., one of the birthday boys.

And the other birthday boy. Notice the pink gift bag? That was Rusty's little joke to Gary.

Jacob, another one of our nephews.

My honey, minus the pirate hat. I kind of like the pirate hat, I might have to make a trip back to Wal-mart for that hat. Oh, sorry back on track.

The end of the evening doing what they do best, being incredibly silly.

NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT

(get your tissues ready)

Sunday was Baccalaureate for Ashleigh's graduating class. The class of 2007. It's kind of strange the "7" thing and graduating in our family. My mother in law graduated in 1957, my mom 1967, Rusty's oldest brother 1977, me and Rusty 1987, our oldest nephew's wife 1997 and now Ashleigh 2007.

Don't you love the color of the cap and gown. Her school colors are purple and white and they are the Rams.

It just gives me shivers down my back to see her like that.

And then I get a picture like this.

And this.

And this.

Everyone is proud of her, even her 2 little brothers.

Don't you think she is just beautiful? We are so proud of her. She also received a scholarship to our local Community College that will pay for her first semester. I am really excited about that. She will receive it for the second semester also if she keeps her grades up during the first semester. What an answer to prayer. The Lord really provides.

WAY TO GO ASHLEIGH!!!

Baseball

2007-06-02T08:31:00.000-05:00

Blake had a baseball game last night, they lost. I just don't think they had their heads in the game last night, it was hot, the bugs were horrible (their fields are by the Shanandoah River so the bugs are normally a pain) and school is almost out. They were upset they had lost but I asked them after the game if they had a good time and they all said they did. I told them that was the important thing and of course the snack after the game always cheers them up. We have 3 balls fields at this location and 3 more across town, at the back stop of one of the fields is a sign and every tme I read it, I cry.

I love this sign. I think every person who has ever been to see a little league game should have to read it and memorize it. People can be so competitive that they forget what this is all about. It's to teach the kids the game and most importantly it's for them to have fun. It's supposed to be about fun, they are ages 7, 8, and 9 on Blake's team and this should be fun.

See what I mean? Blake knows about having fun, this is as he was dropping the dirt back to the ground. He doesn't play in the dirt in the field very often anymore but every once in a while he just can't help himself.

This is Rusty, isn't he cute? Sorry girls, he's taken, aren't I the lucky one.

This is Alton, one of the coaches, deciding who will play what position during this inning. Our kids rotate positions almost every inning. The coaches want to give every player a chance to play different positions. Like I said it's about fun, no one wants to get stuck in the outfield the whole game, it doesn't matter who good or bad a child is in a position they all get to play.

Talk about a tough little girl. Rusty also coaches her in football. She is a really sweetie also.

Looking pretty professional, don't you think?

Blake, after he put the dirt down and getting down to business.

The kids had a great time.

When we were helping Mom and Dad last weekend I had a dragonfly land on me. I was lucky enough to keep it while Mom ran and got my camera.

This picture makes my arm look huge, I swear it's not that big. Because of the creek being right there they have alot of water snakes. Now, I'm not afraid of snakes, my brother had one when we wre growing up but Rusty, he does. not. like. them. one. bit. I call him "Rusty the snake slayer" so we don't have any pictures of them. If I had let him know where I was seeing them he would have been down there killing them. Blake, Mom and I would sneak down there and watch them swim through the water.

We are off to a birthday party for my nephew and my middle brother in law today. I will be back later.

Have a great day and Mom, good luck with the yard sale.

Countdown

2007-05-31T20:16:00.000-05:00

The countdown is on. In 8 days Ashleigh will graduate from high school. I know I've said it before but I really can't believe it. It doesn't seem real. She was just a little girl not even in school yesterday, well it seems like yesterday. I will post pictures later, after my camera decides to come out of hiding. I'm not sure where it is, I know it's in the house but I can't seem to put my hands on it.
I feel like I keep saying this but "we have been so busy". We spent this past weekend down at Mom and Dad's helping them get the house, yard, etc ready to put on the market. It makes me sad for them to sell it but some things can't be helped. I was so sore on Monday, I didn't think I would be able to move. At all. I was sore in places I didn't know I had muscles. Dad gave me a bunch of flowers so after working down there so hard we had to go back out into the heat on Monday and plant them here at the house so they didn't die. I love flowers, I love to work in my yard but at that point I was really wondering why I wanted all those flowers. They really didn't seem that important anymore but I knew that Dad would ask if we had planted them and actually it was my Mom who asked. Wayne and I planted the rest of them tonight while Rusty was at a board meeting for football. Likely excuse, I'm not quite sure there was a meeting maybe he was just tired of planting flowers.

May 18-20 was Mayfest for our little town. We really had a great time, well I had a great time, Blake had a great time, Rusty on the other hand that's another story. The midget football league had a booth set up selling drinks. They also had a dunking booth that they put the coaches in. That was hilarious, to us watching it was hilarious, to the coaches taking turns getting in it, it might not be that funny. The kids loved it and they got to dunk their coaches and get back at them a little for all the hard practices. Rusty was soaked and was all the other coaches who were brave enough to do it. They filled the tank up from a fire truck (it was a really big dunking tank) and Rusty said he had smelled stagnant water that smelled better. It took him 2 days to get the taste of it out of his mouth. I'm very sympathetic, every time he hit the water I laughed. It's for the kids you know.

It's been very busy around here but it's been a really good kind of busy.

2007-05-30T18:22:00.001-05:00

You Are a Pinky

You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird.A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone.You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are.
You get along well with: The Ring Finger
Stay away from: The Thumb

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatfingerareyouquiz/">What Finger Are You?

Prom...take 2

2007-05-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

This weekend had to be one of the busiest weekend of my life. I didn't think we would eve slow down or get to sit down. Saturday morning Rusty and I had to run to Lowe's to get roofing nails and some shingles, we had lost some of our shingles during the last storm and my Dad was coming to help Rusty replace them. With Rusty's knee replacement he has a hard time standing on uneven ground and the roof is definitely uneven. I was paying him with homemade pizza, it sounded like a fair trade to me. Blake had been invited to a birthday party that evening and it was a pinewood derby car party. Blake and Rusty build the car and the paint was drying while we were gone. (We were given the car on Wednesday evening and Saturday was the first time they had to work on it.) We got home from Lowe's and had to be at Blake's ball game at 1:00. They won 10-6, Blake has a batting average of 11 for 14, he is really doing good this year. Anyway the game was over at 3:00, we raced home to put wheels on the car, get Blake in the tub and be at the party by 5:00. Ashleigh had her second prom that night so Andrew came by and picked her up for dinner (they don't get dressed until after dinner, that kind of takes the fun out of it I think but that's the way they do things now) and Ashleigh was supposed to call me when they were on their way back to the house to get dressed. I wanted to be there to take pictures. She called me around 6:15, so Rusty ran me home and then went back to the party. Mom and Dad got to the house while they were getting dressed. I took pictures and they left. Then Rusty and Blake got home.

Ashleigh with her Grandpa, my Dad. My children are very lucky to have very close relationships with their Grandparents.

This is Andrew, Ashleigh went with him to his prom. He got is vest and tie orange and yellow to match her dress. I thought that was really sweet. He is one of her best friends.

Ashleigh and Andrew. Yes, that is the same dress as expensive as it was I told her I was going to make her wear it around the house on the weekends. It is definitely going on the cruise this September.

Their chariot awaits.

He is very much the gentleman.

At the prom.

At the after prom party that was held at the school.

And at the party after the after prom party.

MOTHER'S DAY
Then on Mother's Day we went to my mother-in-laws and I was so thankful my Mom and Dad were up from North Carolina and I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom also.

This is 6 of my Mother-in-laws grandchildren, she has 8 and 1 great grandson.

Everyone just sitting around enjoying the weather and each other. On Mother's Day Rusty and his 2 brothers do all the cooking and cleaning up. It is really nice.

Rusty doing what he loves best.

Ashleigh and Rusty's oldest brother Bobby looking for the fish in the fish pond.

Ashleigh, Bobby, my mother-in-law Ethel and my sister in law Bev. She is married to the middle brother Gary. I'm married to the baby.

And now on to my Mom and Dad's.

Ashleigh and Mom. Rusty and Dad are in the background doing what they love, rocking on the porch.

Wayne also loves the rocking chairs.

blake looking for fish in their creek. He found a couple snails and was very excited. Mom and I walked down there, Mom was barefoot. She said she didn't want to go in the grass that was a little higher because we might run into a snake. I assured her there were no snakes and she believed me. Big mistake. As we were standing there watching the fish eat the bugs on the top of the water, she screamed and jumped back. A snake went right across the top of her foot. It was a little garder snake about 9 or 10 inches long. I think she scared it more than it scared her. It jumped from the grass into the water. I thought I was going to fall in laughing at her. Thank God she's not really scared of them, it just startled her. Blake and I tried to find the snake in the water but we couldn't find it. He really wanted to see it.

This is the view from my parent's front yard, I love that red barn.

It was a very busy weekend but a wonderful weekend. Hope you had a great Mother's Day.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2007-05-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone. I hope you have as wonderful a day as I am having already. I will check back in later and fill you in on Ashleigh's second prom night. It was another night of excitement and fun.

Prom and the weekend

2007-05-07T16:17:00.000-05:00

It finally arrived, Ashleigh's senior prom. It was a night of excitement, good food and her first ride in a limo. A friend of ours has a daughter, Meagan that is friend's with Ashleigh, they have known each other around 10 years and when they were little her Dad would bring her over and we would trick or treat together. Her Dad's girlfriend cooked dinner for 15 high school students before they went to prom. I thought that was incredible. The kids were picked up at the Country Club where the prom was being held and taken to her house to eat, get dressed and just have a great time. We met them at the house for pictures and to see everyone getting ready. I do not have the words to describe this house, it was amazing. There was a spiral staircase when you walked in the front door, a stone balcony on the back that overlooked the inground pool and the most incredible antiques. I would have liked to have walked through the house just taking pictures. I love antiques. When we got there the kids were just finishing eating. She had the table set with beautiful china and crystal and she really made the kids feel special. The girls went upstairs to get ready and the guys got dressed downstairs, of course the guys were dressed and standing around way before the girls even thought about being ready. Meagan's Dad also rented a limo for the night for them. They really had a great time!

The morning of prom, she really didn't want me to take her picture but I won.

The back of Ashleigh's hair, they put yellow and orange feathers in it to match her dress.

The theme of the prom was "A Starlit Voyage", which was kind of ironic because she is going on a cruise in September.

They were able to reserve tables for prom with their friends. The parents were invited to come by the prom 2 hours before it started to take pictures. When Rusty and I got there we had the whole place to ourselves.

They really did a cute job decorating.

This is Eric, Ashleigh's date. They have been friends since middle school. Originally, Ashleigh was going with someone else and Eric was dating Jamie, Ashleigh's friend in the yellow dress. Jamie and Eric broke up and the boy that Ashleigh was going with told her he didn't want to get to prom until late. Ashleigh told him she didn't want to get there late and broke that date, so Ashleigh and Eric decided to go together. Thank God she didn't go with the first boy, and my Mom says that everything happens for a reason, the first date came to prom drunk and got kicked out.

The limo was beautiful inside, and so was Ashleigh.

Thank you to Lowell, Meagan's dad, for the limo and dinner, and thank you to Winchester limo for having such a nice driver.

And away they went. They really had a great time and now next weekend we get to do it all over again with another boy at another school. God help me.

hi guys

2007-05-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

hey..its ashleigh.
prom was amazing..and i had an awesome time!
mom's gonna have pics up real soon of me and all my BFFE'S!

LOVE YA!
ashgib

DA NA, DA NA, DA NA

2007-05-01T07:55:00.000-05:00

My Mom sent these to me and I thought you might enjoy seeing them. My cousin's fiance, his father and uncle were fishing on Craig's (the fiance) boat down in NewPort News on the Oregon Inlet and caught some interesting fish.

The Dad, Uncle and a 60 pound marlin. I actually think it's kind of a pretty fish.

And then they caught JAWS. Actually, it was a Mako Shark, but he looks like Jaws to me. Do you remember that movie? Craig said he wasn't a big shark, but he looks big to me. They pulled him to the side of the boat to take pictures and then turned him loose. I was glad they let him go, I'm not really into running into a shark but I hate for someone to kill something for the sake of killing it.

I thought you would enjoy a side view also.
Oh, by the way the title of the blog is sang to the tune of the Jaw's theme.

Well, have a great day!!

Spring

2007-04-29T17:40:00.000-05:00

I love spring. The flowers, birds, new grass, I love all of it. I was out this evening watering my flowers and I thought I would share a couple of my favorites with you.

One of the azaleas in the front of the house. We bought this 11 years ago when we moved it and it was so little. I didn't think it would ever grow.

The lilac is my absolute favorite. I have 2, a white and a purple. The purple one is right at the front porch and when you walk up to the house that is all you smell.

This is the white one. It's a lot smaller than the purple which is huge but it still smells heavenly.

My dogwood. I love the white dogwood. This came from my mother in laws yard. She gave it to us when we moved in. Do you see the pink azalea at the bottom of the tree? It was mixed in with the dogwood and we were afraid to try to separate them, I didn't want the azalea to die. Every year it has come back out and bloomed, it doesn't get any bigger but it keeps plugging along.
I will have peonies this year. My Dad gave me a bunch of them last year and all but 2 of them came up this year. I really didn't expect them to bloom the first year but most of them have buds on them so as soon as they bloom I will have pictures to share.

Every week I try to make at least 2 new meals. I collect cook books and I tons of them, including my Mawmaw's cook book that was given to her in 1957 by her mother in law.

This is my favorite and I will always cherish it. It has her handwriting all through it on recipes, grocery lists and what she was making for whom. I love it and I feel very blessed to have it.
Anyway, I try to make 2 new recipes each week, it doesn't always work out that I am able to do it with our schedules but the past week we had 2 incredible meals, if I do say so myself. I thought I would share one of them with you.
COUNTRY CHICKEN CHOWDER
2 tablespoons margarine or butter (I used butter I always cook with real butter)
1 1/2 lbs. chicken tenders, cut into 1/2 inch pieces ( I used boneless skinless chicken breasts)
2 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 small carrots, sliced
2 cups frozen corn
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) cram of potato soup
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 cup half and half

Melt butter in large skillet. Add chicken; cook until browned. Add cooked chicken, onions, celery, carrots, corn, soup, chicken broth and dill to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 3 to 4 hours or until chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.
Turn off heat; stir in half and half. cover and let stand 5 to 10 minutes or just until heated through.
I doubled everything on ours, there's 5 of us and I usually have to double recipes. This was wonderful, you have to try it. Right now I have bar b que in the crock pot with a new sauce that we haven't tried before. That is for dinner tomorrow night. It smells wonderful. It has red wine vinegar in it and I was a little leery I've never cooked with that before, but I'm game to try just about any new recipe.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Finally....

2007-04-24T17:44:00.000-05:00

I finally have a picture of Ashleigh and the prom dress. But first for an incredible picuture take a look over at www.zoofullofboys.blogspot.com. You won't be disappointed I guarantee it.

Now, on with the show.

Now, give our honest opinion, what do you think of the dress that it took 4 shopping trips to find? I think it's very pretty, Rusty said it's the ugliest dress he has ever seen, my parents both liked it and my mother in law said it was different but better than she thought it would be from the description. Simon said it wasn't horrible but was a little pitchy in places, sorry just a little American Idol humor. Now give me your honest opinion, the count down is on prom is in less than 2 weeks. Well, at least the first of the two proms she will be attending.

Have a great evening.

My 8 year old the genius

2007-04-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

Ok, well maybe he's not a genius but close, very close. He came home from school today very excited, he had gotten a 100 on his spelling test last week. Now that is not amazing, he is very good at spelling, he almost always gets a 100, but on this test he spelled tuberculosis correctly. I can't even spell that correctly. I had to look it up on www.webmd.com to get the spelling so I could put it in the blog. He won't have to take the spelling test this week as a reward. I think that is pretty awesome. So of course I had to take a picture, always looking for an excuse to take a picture.

Isn't he cute?! He was so proud of himself. Oh, and yes in the background is my new refrigerator and yes it is covered with magnets, I collect them and have been for a long time. I am so happy with the refrigerator, lucky for my husband it doesn't take much to make me happy. ha ha ah

And finally what you have all been waiting for, drum roll please, the test. I thought that was quite the hard word for a 3rd grader, but he pulled it off.

The weather is beautiful, the flowers ar blooming, my azeleas are blooming, the lilac right in from of our front door is in bloom and I am getting to enjoy the wonderful fragrance of the lilac, that has to be one of my favorites.
We decided to take advantage of the weather and grill hotdogs. We opened the grilled and surprise, guess what we found.

I can't have birds for neighbors in my grill. We use that grill. Alot. Thank God there weren't any eggs, I don't think I could have evicted eggs, but the grass and leaves are now gone. The birds were not happy with me, at all. After I went in the house they were walking on the deck railing back and forth looking at the house, looking at the grill. I am sure my car with be covered with bird poop in the morning.
Have a great evening.

Busy, busy days

2007-04-21T21:38:00.001-05:00

We have had probably the busiest 2 days in a long time. Yesterday we went to see my Aunt in the hospital. Please pray for her. Last month she had a tummy tuck (she didn't tell any of us about it) and every since she had it she hasn't felt right. She thought she had caught a stomach thing that just wouldn't go away. Well, last Sunday she was running a high fever and when she talked to my uncle on the phone he couldn't understand anything she was saying. He raced home and took her to the emergency room. They said she has toxic shock syndrome. She had gotten a strep infection from the surgery and was very seriously sick. They did emergency surgery on her Tuesday to remove as much of the infection as possible. Until today she was on a ventilator, they were keeping her sedated and had restrained her because she had tried to pull the vent out. I talked to one of the doctors I work for and she told me that what she had could very easily kill her. It scared me to death. My aunt is only 10 years older than me, there is 9 years between her and my Mom, and growing up she lived with us some. She has always been more like my sister than my aunt. So, Rusty and I went to see her last night. Her color was good but she looked so pitiful lying there. But today I am more hopeful so please keep her in your prayers, it is going to be a long road for her. Well, since the hospital is right next to Potomac Mills we of course had to make trip over there. We walked that whole mall and just did alot of window shopping. It was just Rusty and me which doesn't happen very often, so we had a night free of "don't run off, don't touch that, put that down, etc, etc, etc".
This morning we went over to a friend's house, Rusty is doing a little electric work for them in their basement. Also, they just moved back here, thank God I really missed her, and they brought their refrigerator with them so they didn't need the one in this house. They asked us if we wanted the one in their new house, YES. Our's is in good shape but it 's 10 almost 11 years old and it's got it's little problems. I am so excited about this, am I old or what I am excited about a refrigerator, anyway it's alot bigger than ours which is very exciting. You should have seen us getting, well trying, to get it in the house. It was just Rusty and me and it was quite the experience and not one I would like to experience again any time soon. But we did get it in and it is now sitting in the middle of the kitchen. It will be hooked up in the morning.
Blake has his first game today and had a great game. He hit 3 base hits, got 2 outs and just was really on top of it today. One of his hits quite possibly could have been a homerun but the little boy on the other team caught it and I am still not sure how he did it, it was an incredible catch. I will have to post pictures of another game, I was the dug out mom and between keeping the score, batting book, making sure each child was ready when it was their turn and trying to keep 10 8 and 9 year olds sitting down and behaving I didn't have time to take any pictures. After the game we had to run to Rusty's playground, Home Depot, and get stuff for the weed eater so he can do the lawn tomorrow. Ashleigh took Blake to the mall with her and then out to eat. They are now sitting on the floor playing checkers, I love to see them spending time together. I am exhausted, I don't know if I have the energy to make it to bed and it's only 10:30. Like I said I am old.
Good night.

Opening Day

2007-04-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Blake's opening day for baseball. I love living in a small town. Opening day is quite an experience to be had. We had to be there at 9:00, so we show up at early coffee in hand to stand around and wait. Nothing ever starts when it's supposed to. You try to get your child to stand still, be good and for God sake stay clean, at least until after the ceremony. If you know Blake this is a feat in it's self. We did make it with only a couple grass stains on the knee so I consider it a job well done. They have all the teams out on the field with their coaches, they thank they sponsors, introduce the mayor, the police department, the baseball board, etc and all this with children from ages 5 to 15 standing out in the field. Proud parents are all moving around trying to get that perfect picture of their child with their team. They have prayer which was done this year by the youth pastor of the church that Rusty and I have gone attended and he is a good friend of Rusty's also, they coach football together too. I loved the prayer this year. He not only prayed for the safely of all the players, but he also prayed that they parents realize that the coaches and umpires are all volunteers who are doing the best that they can. I thought that was so important, especially in our little town. Sports in very important around here and some of the parents can really get out of hand. Hopefully, they remember the prayer when they are getting mad because they think the umpire made a bad call or they think the coaches aren't playing their child enough. We have a great system with our little league, every player gets to play no matter what their ability. Rusty is a coach, but I do have to say that they are very fair about this. Hopefully, we have a great season with no injuries, good sports, and understanding parents.
After opening day we went to my parents, they were here for the weekend to work on their house. We had dinner with them and then spent the next couple hours just sitting around talking. It was so nice, they have cancelled their satelite service so there wasn't any tv, just us sitting around enjoying each other. Steven had class for work so he wasn't able to come with them, but next time he will be here also.
Ashleigh contacted a guy that she went to school with before we moved here when she was in 2nd grade. They have talked on the phone everyday this past week and last night they went out to dinner. It's really funny because when they went to school together he had this big crush on her and used to chase her around making kissing noises. She had a wonderful time, they went to The Outback for dinner, and told me this morning she is going out with him again. When Rusty and I were in school we used to refer to the boys from Marshall as the Marshall boys. Rusty was a Marshall boy. I asked him this morning if he realized his daughter had gone on a date with a Marshall boy. He looked at me and said "Not all of us are bad". No, I guess not.
Have a great day.

Easter, cont...

2007-04-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

Coloring Easter eggs is a family affair with us.

Everyone got involved in coloring easter eggs, except Wayne he was spending the night with Uncle Steve enjoying an evening of video games, food, movies and just generally enjoying being together.

On Sunday my Mom, Pawpaw and I walked up to the beach for Sunrise Service. It started at 6:30 and it was incredible. I have never experienced something like that before. They did a recreation of the Last Supper. (at the bottom of my blog is a larger picture)

Each of the disciples spoke about their life, how Jesus had called them and how they died. It was the most moving, touching thing I have ever seen and with the sun coming up in the back ground it was totally awesome.

Before the sunrise.

And as the sun was peeking over the ocean. I have always loved going to sunrise service but that was so special. You could hear the ocean washing up on the sand, it was cold but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Rusty wanted to go with us but he was sick the night before and I didn't want to wake him up, now I wish I had.

After we all went to regular services at my Pawpaw's church we headed to the state park for a family picnic. We did things a little different this year, we don't normally picnic on Easter but we packed our traditional easter food and had a great time. It was a little windy and chilly but being all together was definitely worth it.

You can't have a picnic without dill pickles.

Don't ask what they are laughing about, we probably don't want to know. When you put the 2 of them together it could be anything.

Like I said, it could be anything. My husband is one of the funniest people I have ever met. He has always been able to make me laugh. When Steven and I were growing up I always complained because no matter what he had done he could always make my mom laugh. They both have an incredible sense of humor. When I took this picture Rusty said "You are NOT going to put that on your blog." Take a look honey, here you are in all your glory.

We came home on Monday and are missing everyone already. Mom and Dad will be here this weekend to work on their house here so they can get it on the market. I am looking forward to seeing them again this weekend.

Sunrise Service

2007-04-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Take a look at the bottom of my blog. This is a picture of sunrise service, on the beach, Easter morning. I wanted a bigger picture instead of just putting it in a post. I will tell you about it tomorrow. Now, I know you will be back, it's an incredible story.
Good night.

Easter

2007-04-12T19:15:00.001-05:00

This could run kind of long so get a cup of coffee, a donut, sit back and be prepared to be amazed.
We had such a wonderful time with everyone. We celebrated Wayne's birthday, met Margie (Pawpaw's fiance), celebrated Easter, got to spend some much need family time and just had a great time. I had lots of pictures to share and lots to fill you in on.

I told you about Britt's donuts on the boardwalk at Carolina Beach, well here they are making our order. Don't they look good?! There is absolutely nothing like them, they literally melt in your mouth and because they melt they don't have calories and they don't count when you are on a diet. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. That way I don't feel bad for all the donuts I ate while I was there.

After they take them out of the low fat (ha ha ha) oil, they put them on this rack, cover them with glaze and let the glaze drip off. They then put them in a white paper bag and they are done. As you take donuts out of the bag, over and over again, the glaze gets on the bag and you end up with a sticky arm up to your elbow but it's worth it. Oh, is it ever worth it.

And the finished product. My mouth is watering just looking at the picture.

On Saturday night we celebrated Wayne's birthday, we all went out to dinner at Wilson's and enjoyed every minute of the good food, we are a family that enjoys food. They have all you can eat crab legs which is what alot of us where there to eat.

We had been there for a while when I took this picture. Crab legs are one of Rusty's favorite things to eat. One year we were in Tennessee and we went to a buffet with crab legs. We were there so long that they finally came out and said "No more crab legs, we don't have any more crab legs." I don't think we have ever shut down a restuarant before.

And here's the birthday boy. I can't believe he is 16. In a couple months I will have 2 children driving, God help me and my insurance rates.

Isn't that a beautiful cake? There is a bakery in Wilmington called Apple Annie's and they make the best cakes. We look for an excuse to have an Apple Annie cake. It had strawberry filling (Wayne's favorite) with real strawberries.

This is my Pawpaw, isn't he cute? He will be 82 in May and you would never know it. He is in perfect health and doesn't act 82 either. And this is Margie. She is really nice and I liked her alot. She's funny and just a very nice person to be around. I hope she realizes what a gem she is getting with my Pawpaw. He is one of a kind.

They had this guy going around the restaurant making balloon animals and just about anything you wanted. He made this for Blake and I was truely amazed. I've never seen a monkey climbing a tree for bananas made out of balloons.

And what about Ashleigh's flamingo? Wayne didn't get a balloon, he was too cool now that's he's 16.

My Mom and Dad. They have been married for 40 years. They gave my brother and me a great childhood, you couldn't have asked for a better one, and they have always been there for us. I have the best family.

I will be back tomorrow with more from the weekend and more pictures. I am headed to bed.
Good night.

ashleigh again

2007-04-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

I LOVE YOU MOM!

Prom dresses, AAARRGGGGG

2007-04-06T20:17:00.000-05:00

You would think that it wouldn't be this hard to find a prom dress. Last year we walked in and Ashleigh knew which dress she wanted right away. It was so easy. This year, oh my God!!!! We spent quite a while today in the mall looking for the "perfect, dream dress". I don't think it exsists, I don't think the dress is out there. She wants a strapless, backless dress. If you've ever seen my daughter then you know this dress just will not work for her. She doesn't wear a B bra size, she is very well endowed on the top. Every dress she tried on today wasn't the right one. I was to the point of picking out the dress for her. We will try a couple more stores tomorrow. I don't want her to settle for a dress, I do want her to find her "dream dress" but I'm not sure she's not being too picky. I don't know if she will be able to find that dress she's looking for, keep your fingers crossed.
We went out to Steven's house today. This was the first time I had seen it. I love it, it is really nice and he has such a nice yard. It has 2 1/2 acres and backs up to a body of water that runs into the river. We came home, had dinner and then walked up to the board walk for Britt's Donuts. You can keep Krispy Kreme and any other donuts out there, they can not hold a candle to Britt's. It is a family owned business that has been there since 1932. My Mom grew up eating them, I grew up eating them and my kids are growing up eating them. When you buy them they give them to you in a white paper bag. The donuts are very hot, they make them while you wait so they are always hot. Then you eat them walking on the beach and boardwalk. There is nothing like it. If you ever get to Carolina Beach you have to hit Britt's.
Good night and Happy Easter.

Traveling

2007-04-06T09:14:00.000-05:00

We are at my Mom and Dad's house in Carolina Beach, N.C., we came here for Easter. I was really excited about seeing my everyone and we will get to meet my Pawpaw's girlfriend. Well, actually she's not his girlfriend, she's his fiance, they are getting married in June. They were originally planning on getting June 9th but Ashleigh's graduation is the 8th so they moved it to the next weekend. I can't believe my Pawpaw is getting remarried. My Mom said that Margie is really nice and that she is very funny. She makes my Pawpaw really happy. My aunt isn't happy about his getting married, she said it hasn't even been a year since Mawmaw passed away. It will be a year in July and it has been fast but he will be 81 next month and why wait? I am happy for him, and if him getting married means I get to keep him around longer than I am all for it. We got in around 12:30 this morning and Mom was waiting up for us. My Dad had to work today so he was in bed but he did hear us come in, with there being 5 of us we are not always the quietest, he came down to give hugs and love and then went back to bed. We sat up and talked to Mom until around 2 and then we all headed to bed. Steven worked last night and then he came by around 6 this morning to pick up Wayne for a day of computer games, video games and food. They did alot of things together before Steven moved and this is the first time they have been able to get together. We are going to head to the mall today, Ashleigh wants to
see if she can find a prom dress here, she is hoping to find one different from any of them at home.
I will be back later. Have a great day!

its ashleigh!

2007-03-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

Family Night

2007-03-25T20:25:00.000-05:00

We are a family of games. I grew up playing games with my family but Rusty's family didn't. He always tells me that they would play rummy if the lights went out during a storm but that was the extent of their game playing, but he loves to play. We have card games, board games, video games, you name it we have at one time or another probably played it. I know some families have family night that they set aside just for things like that. We are so busy with sports and kids and everything else that we have never been able to set a certain night just for that but we are working on it. Ashleigh is grounded (again, will the agony ever end?) and Friday night she asked if we could all play Uno. Of course we couldn't find the cards so Blake went with her and they ran to the store and got a set. We have played every night since then. If you don't know my family then you don't want to play cards with them. You have to guard your cards with your life because whoever happens to be sitting next to you can be guaranteed to be looking at your cards and conspiring with the person on the other side of them. Last night our game lasted until 11:45, I didn't think it would ever end. The following are pictures from tonight.

This is Ashleigh letting everyone know not to mess with her, she is armed with a draw 4 and is not afraid to use it.

Rusty and Blake letting Ashleigh know that they are not afraid of her, they have their own ammunition.

Wayne laughing at the fools he had the misfortune to be playing cards with. Isn't he cute.

I am not quite sure what caused that look on Wayne's face, but there were 3 guys at the table and bad smells seem to follow them around. Take pity on Ashleigh and me, take pity.

Well, that ends our 3rd night of cards and I have to say we have had a great time. The tv is off, the phones don't get answered, it's just family time and it has been wonderful. We let so many things get in the way sometimes and we just don't take the time to spend the time together.

Good night.

OH MY GOSH

2007-03-25T10:22:00.000-05:00

Do you see what I see?! I am actually blogging and I think it's going to stay this time and not fly off into the great beyond. To catch up a little Blake's lip has healed nicely, Ashleigh is still putting us through teenage stuff (even though I don't remember being this much worry to my parents, actually I know I wasn't) and Wayne is still his normally happy go lucky kid. We went to my great nephew's 1st birthday party last weekend. That's right, I'm a great aunt, I know I look way too young to have a great nephew but yes, yes I do. He is the cutest thing. His name is Mason and after he got over the fact that all of these people were invading his house he was very happy to have everyone there.

My nephew Michael, Mason's daddy, cooking up alot of good food for all of us.

This is my niece Kelly, my nephew Jacob and Michael again.

This is Mason being alot more interested in the cards than the presents.

He was all nice and clean before he got a hold of the cake.

And after, oh yeah this was also after he stuck both feet in it but hey it was his cake. He had a great time.

I wanted to also show you his bedroom. Kelly painted his walls for him and they are amazing. They look like decals but believe me they are the real deal.

This one is on the chair rail next to the window. Aren't they great?

Well, I better go, we are headed out the door. Hopefully, will be able to get back on later tonight, I have more to fill you in on.

Have a great day!

Uh Oh part 2

2007-03-13T09:41:00.000-05:00

First off I do not have any idea what is going on with my computer at home. I can log into my blog, I can comment, I can read them but if I want to post, no go. When you are creating a new post you have the icons at the top that change the font, check spelling, attach pictures, etc well they are gone on mine. It won't let me preview or anything. I thought it was something I had done but I can do this on my computer here at work without any problem, so I don't know. The new computer should be ready soon, so yea!!!!

The Uh Oh from the previous post that never happened was about Blake. We had our first real accident with blood. We have been really lucky, no broken bones, stitches etc. so it was bound to eventually happen. He was playing across the street with his best friend. They were playing hide and seek, the front porch was base and Blake was headed to it. Shane was behind him, chasing him, and when he tagged him he pushed forward and Blake fell into the porch, lips first.

I love it, I tell him to just stand there and let me take the picture and this is what I got. The goofy 8 year old grin. Oh, well.

A little close up picture of the injury. Shane went running into his house yelling for his Mom. They took Blake in and cleaned him up and then called me to let me know what had happened. We thought he might need stitches at first for the cut on the inner part of his lip, but the more I looked at it I don't think they could really have done anything so we put ice on it, neosporin and he's doing great. Other than that things have been pretty quiet around here.

Blake and Rusty have had 2 baseball practices and things are going good with that. A friend of Rusty's coaches his daughter's softball team and he asked Rusty if he would mind helping him out with that, so Rusty will be doing softball and baseball. We have very busy springs and falls around our house but we like it that way.

Have a great day!

UH OH

2007-03-06T20:46:00.000-05:00