HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEIGH!!

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

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!

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

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

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!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!!

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!!

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

Black Friday

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!!!!

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!!

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

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

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?

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......