Pink in a Sea of Blue

15

2010-09-08T06:46:00.009-05:00

It was the afternoon of September 9th, 1995. The church was decorated. The groomsmen, bridesmaids, maid of honor, best man, and ushers were dressed. People were arriving and taking their seats. The music started playing and my brother walked me down the aisle. It was a beautiful day. It was my wedding day.

Happy 15 Harvey! Know that I love you and that I know just how very blessed I am. Thank you for hanging in there with me. :)

Our Summer In Picture Review

2010-08-18T14:52:00.011-05:00

It was a fun fast summer. The boys and I didn't do half the things I thought we would but we were busy every day. School is back in now and although it was a rocky start, its seems to be going well. Here's a fast and furious picture review of our summer.

On May 29th, Avery turned 9! Even though he has been nine for a few months now just even typing that takes my breath away. He's halfway to being an adult!!!! Halfway to heading off to college, 6 years from driving... I think I may need to go breathe into a paper bag. He had a sleepover. The boys competed in Minute to Win It games and fun was had by all.
Aidan graduated from Kindergarten. He had such an amazing year with truly one of the best teachers ever.
We went to Montgomery Bell State Park for Memorial Day Weekend. It was a lot of fun and an added bonus that there is an inn at this park so we didn't camp! :) We got to canoe, fish, paddle boat, and play in the creeks. The boys had a blast!

And we had fun with friends!!!

And more fun....
and more fun....
and more fun...
and more fun!!!!
We took a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge where we enjoyed playing around in their indoor waterpark. Aidan had spiky hair one morning which made him just tall enough to ride the Tornado water slide. Unfortunately once he came off the slide and the water had slicked his hair down, the lifeguards decided he wasn't tall enough.

We visited our sweet friends The Lathropes who were kind enough to let us hang out with them. The boys enjoyed riding the motor bikes. Jim and Aidan wrecked so if you are wondering why Aidan looks a little dazed-- well ask daddy. :) Mr. Mark worked with Avery on getting the hang of riding.

Ms. Donna took the boys on a ride on their sweet horse Roxy! A big thank you to Erin for letting them ride.

And we all had lunch at Olive Garden since they didn't have a Demos. :) A HUGE thank you to Mark and Donna for their hospitality. We so enjoyed being with them and wish we lived closer!!!

Avery went to church camp for the first time and LOVED it!!

Its always fun with the Smith girls. Aidan and Adeline pretended our back yard was Disney and they made the waterslide Splash Mountain, the trampoline Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc. And all four of them turned the living room into a Wipeout course. :)

3D Chalk!

We added a new member to our family. Welcome Biscuit! He is a collie and was seven weeks old when we got him.

Our sweet friends The Hoopers came in town and stopped by for a visit. Cannot believe how much their sweet little girl Sophie has grown! Hope my boys didn't teach any bad habits. They had a lot of fun with those planets!

The Traywick boys spent a weekend with us and it was a boy fest!!

We visited the Adventure Science Center with our sweet friends the Eversoles. The kids loved the space activities!

Our neighbors The Walkers came back to hang out with us! So glad to have them back in Hendersonville!
Aidan turned six on August 8th. Such a big boy!!
And the boys went back to school!! First day of first grade and fourth grade.
Phew! :)

Brownies, Peanut Butter, and Cheesecake- How Can You Go Wrong

2010-07-29T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is from the Betty Crocker website. My hubby is a HUGE cheesecake fan and loves anything peanut butter so I'm expecting this to be a big hit. I copied and pasted the nutritional info at the bottom and for that reason this will be a rare treat in our house. :)

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
	Water, oil and egg as called for on cookie mix pouch
1	box Betty Crocker® Ultimate fudge brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
	Water oil, eggs as called for on Brownie mix box
3	packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1	can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
4	eggs
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	cup caramel ice cream topping



	Print these coupons...





	About Concordance™

1.	Heat oven to 325°F. Make dough as directed on cookie pouch. Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm.
2.	Meanwhile, make brownie mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3.	Wrap outside bottom and side of 9-inch springform pan with foil to prevent leaking. Spray inside bottom and side of pan with cooking spray. Press cookie dough on bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Bake crust 13 to 15 minutes or until set.
4.	Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, just until blended. Stir in vanilla.
5.	Crumble 2 cups of cooled brownies into coarse crumbs. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over cookie dough crust.
6.	Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly when moved. Run small metal spatula around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Let cheesecake remain in oven 30 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight before serving. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack 1 hour.
7.	To serve, carefully run small metal spatula along side of cheesecake to loosen. Remove foil and side of pan. In small microwaveable bowl, microwave caramel topping uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds until thoroughly heated. Top individual servings with caramel topping. Store cheesecake covered in refrigerator.

Nutrition Information:

1 Serving: Calories 580 (Calories from Fat 270); Total Fat 30g (Saturated Fat 14g, Trans Fat 1/2g); Cholesterol 135mg; Sodium 470mg; Total Carbohydrate 65g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 47g); Protein 10g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 10%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 3 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 High-Fat Meat; 4 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 4
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Esther

2010-07-28T07:37:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend and neighbor started a summer Bible Study in June. We are doing Beth Moore's Esther. Because of the nature of summer, attendance has been hit or miss and sadly I have missed more than I've attended. Things are settling down now as school is starting back in a week so I am hoping to attend more regularly.

Even though I haven't attended each session, I have been able to keep up with the weekly homework. I think the thing I love most about Beth Moore is her ability to write as if she is speaking directly to you. There is an ease about her style that flows. Another thing I love about her is how she can make a one or two sentence statement and it just shoots straight to the heart of the matter. There have been so many in this Esther study and rather than write a narrative, I'd like to just share some of the things that have really spoken to me.

When we trust our lives to the unseen but ever present God, He will write our lives into His story and every last one of them will turn out to be a great read with a grand ending.

You cannot amputate your history from your destiny.

God is so wholly secure in His own spotless integrity that He feels perfectly comfortable giving us an account of something without making himself accountable to us.

We too can become so steeped in our culture that we are almost indistinguishable from the world. We too can lose our sense of identity and forget who we are. Indeed the fact that we can hide our Christianity assumes a certain amount of assimilation. I believe one of God's purposes in this journey is to help us recapture both our identity and identification as His children-- not so we can be obnoxious but so we can be influential.

Only a person strong in character and steadfast in spirit can follow someone else's instructions for long.

Information served with a heaping side of personal agenda almost never turns in to the meal we had planned.

Some crises are too important for saving face.

Guilt is a relentless mocker even if it's misplaced.

That which shatters our superficiality also shatters the fetters of our fragility and frees us to walk with dignity and might to our destinies.

Sometimes we fear that fighting for what is right will kill us. Then again, it occurs to us that to stand by and do nothing out of self-preservation is to be dead already.

Easy BBQ

2010-07-26T07:10:00.002-05:00

My friend Melissa passed this recipe on to me and I made it for my family last week. It made such a large amount that I was able to share it with my neighbor and her sweet family. I have never made BBQ before because honestly I thought it would require a lot of work. This recipe was so simple!!! And delicious!

Ingredients
4-5 lb Boston Butt Pork Roast (I couldn't find anything smaller than 7 pounds but that worked fine)
1 bottle Allegro Hickory Smoke flavor
water

Place Boston Butt roast in crockpot fat side up. Pour entire bottle of Allegro over it. Fill Allegro bottle 1/4th of the way with water. Shake and pour over roast. Cook on high for 1 hour then set to low and cook for 8 hours.

What ever happened to....

2010-07-14T12:31:00.002-05:00

Mercurochrome.... Merthiolate...

If you read the words above and have no clue what I am talking about chances are you are much younger than me or at least younger than your early thirties. If you read the words above and cringed then you know exactly what I'm talking about!

It came in a little bottle with a cap that served as a dropper or just had a stick on it. It was this reddish orange color that stained everything it touched including your skin for days. And it was what my momma used on every cut, scrape, or injury involving blood throughout my childhood. Just the mention of it brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes I wouldn't even tell my momma if I cut myself or had a bike wreck for fear she'd break out the mercurochrome.

What made me remember the good ole days where all cuts and injuries were treated with this reddish orange antiseptic from the devil? My little one was running the other night and fell on the concrete driveway- scraping the crud out of his knee. He came running up to me, big tears streaming down his face and a small stream of blood running down his leg. "Don't touch it momma! No I don't want you to wash it off!" I ran in the house scrambling for something to clean it with. I pushed the peroxide aside and grabbed this Instant Antibiotic spray foam - the creators of Band-Aid produce it and in big letters on the front of the bottle it reads... HURT-FREE.

So as I sat there coaxing my little one in to letting me spray this on his leg, promising it wouldn't hurt I had flashbacks of the cleansing antiseptic my momma dabbed on my cuts and scrapes. It was most definitely NOT hurt free. It stung like the dickens and she never promised it wouldn't hurt. In most cases the application of mercurochrome to my injury was more painful than the injury itself. I think peroxide would have been a welcome alternative. But before you start thinking of my momma as some demented woman who took pleasure in dishing out more pain and if you are younger, just know that it was what the doctor recommended. And did you know that whatever properties it possessed, it also apparently aided in minimizing scarring?

So if you grew up with mercurochrome then you are probably as thankful as I am for all of the research and progress and for companies like Johnson and Johnson that produce hurt free antiseptics.

And I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... In 1998 the US Food and Drug Administration said that mercurochrome was not generally recognized as safe and effective as an over the counter antiseptic. Oh yeah and it contains mercury. Ok FDA- coming out with that observation 20 years earlier would have saved me a lot of pain!

Homesick

2010-01-14T12:32:00.005-06:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit my friend's church and hear 90 Minutes in Heaven author Don Piper speak. Don Piper was in a terrible accident in 1989 and was pronounced dead on the scene only to come back to life ninety minutes later. In this book he recounts his ninety minutes in Heaven, how it felt to come back, and his long and painful road to recovery. Just reading his story is so powerful; however, actually hearing him tell it was overwhelming. I kept thinking to myself that I needed to be taking notes but I was too caught up in his story to take my eyes off of him. He is a humble man with a miraculous story. I wish I could share everything he said but I'll take a few lines to share what I loved most about hearing his story.
What Christian doesn't want to hear about Heaven?? I remember when Avery was younger he would ask me about Heaven. Mainly his questions were very child like- Do you think there are toys in Heaven? Will there be a McDonalds there....? As he's grown older and with the experience he has been through with my mother living with us through her illness and death and with his own growth in the Lord, his questions have become more poignant. What will Nana look like when I see her in Heaven? Who will I see in Heaven?
As I was listening to Mr. Piper speak about his experience, I was overcome with emotion. He spoke about seeing his grandfather waiting to greet him and how his scarred hands were now perfect. He described his great grandmother and how for the time he had known her on earth, she had been bent over from osteoporosis and had always worn false teeth. When she greeted him at the gate in Heaven, he said the first thing he noticed was how upright she was standing and then he saw her smile, her real smile.
He spoke about many people who greeted him in Heaven and it was only once back on earth and laying in a hospital bed for months that he realized what each of the people who had greeted him had in common. Each and every person who came to greet him at the gate had played a part in getting Mr. Piper there. He spoke about seeing his childhood next door neighbor and at the time wondered why in the world she was there to greet him. After figuring out what everyone had in common, he realized that his childhood neighbor was there to greet him because she had for many, many Sundays picked him up to take him to church when his mother had no way to get them there.
Driving home, I kept thinking about who will greet me in Heaven. And of course I thought about my momma and daddy. How wonderful it would be to see them healthy and perfect! Avery was thinking the same thing. As we were driving back home he said he wished that Jesus would just come on back and take us all to Heaven so he could see Nana and see her walking. Avery and I are a lot alike and that makes us butt heads quite often but it also makes us "get" each other so much more than anyone else. :) Love, love his sweet heart.
As much as that part of Mr. Piper's story hit home with me, there was something else that hit me hard. I got all caught up in thinking who will greet me when I get to Heaven and wow what a wonderful thing to think about. But then, I began to think about who will I greet when they get to Heaven. Who had I helped get there? . I struggle with sharing my testimony- I admit it. Its not because I don't love the Lord. And if I love the Lord, I need to be sharing that not only in the way I live my life and in my actions but in my words.
The following song has been one of my favorites for a while. Makes me cry every time I hear it. I've added the video and the lyrics are below it. It seemed to perfectly fit this post.

Homesick by MercyMe
You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now

Christmas Toys in Review- The Good

2010-01-05T11:48:00.003-06:00

So we have some new toys here in the Waters house since the Christmas season. Some of them have been huge hits while others have fallen far short of the glory that the tv commercials promised (can you believe that?? ha!). I always like to share my opinions on toys we have because I like to hear other opinions as well. So for what its worth, here is my two cents on some of the toys the boys received for Christmas.

Hot Wheels Color Shifter Garage
Can be purchased at any retail store $24.99
This may very well have been the hit of the season for both of my boys. It was a gift for my four year old but my eight year old loves it just as much. It has been a huge hit with every friend my boys have had over- boys and girls alike. The cars go around the track and can either fall in cold water that will change the car color or hot water that will change the color back. The downside is that it only works with the specific Hot Wheels Color Shifter cars; however, two come with the garage. It can be messy so we put a towel under the whole garage and let the boys play with it in the kitchen floor. Would definitely suggest this if you don't mind the mess!

Playmobil Pyramid
Can be purchased at Toys R Us or online at the PlayMobil site
Its an expensive purchase and at least in the beginning of this Christmas season was a tough toy to find. Both of my boys love imaginative play. They love PlayMobil, Legos, and Imaginext. Aidan at a young five is not quite there yet with being able to contruct the massive lego sets on his own and gets very frustrated because they fall apart so easily when he tries to play with them. PlayMobil still has the construction aspect to it so he can build the set; however, the pieces are much larger sections and much less involved allowing him to build it on his own. And because it is in larger sections, stays together for play. This was one of those toys I thought at first was a bust. He wanted it so badly but didn't play with it for a while. Now, he, his brother and friends play frequently with it. I love listening to them and the stories they make up for the Egyptians. We have other PlayMobil sets and they end up playing with them all together so it doesn't matter that some sets are pirates, some are the Romans, etc -- they all go together very well.

Monopoly Deal
Most retail stores $4.99
We LOVE playing games in our house. I think Jim and I love it just as much as the boys. The boys would be content to play the same four games over and over. Jim and I are not. We get bored with the same games and are constantly looking for new ones that we all will enjoy. Avery LOVES Monopoly. Aidan hates it- mainly because it takes too long. We have Star Wars Monopoly but rarely get to play it because it is so lengthy. We found the perfect solution. Parker Brothers came out with a card game called Monopoly Deal. Its the same concept of collectiong properties, charging rent, getting hotels, etc only at a much faster pace. We have played this every night since Christmas. Aidan is five and below the age range suggested on the box but has had no issues learning the game. Great game and only $4.99

Rolling Coaster Cars
Overstock.com $42.99
Although we haven't had a huge amount of time to play around with these due to the frigid temps, the time we have spent has been fun!! The boys love them. It did take Aidan a while to really get the motion of it to get going but he's good now. Jim and I raced them down opposite sidewalks and had a blast. They seem to go well downhill or on flat surfaces; however, neither the boys or I have been able to get them to work really well getting uphill. The garage floor was a fun surface- the boys were able to spin around and spin out. We're hoping it warms up soon so we can play around with them more.

Wii Games
Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics

Lego Rock Band

Both are $49.99
Two of the most fun Wii games we have!

So what did your kiddos get for Christmas? What do you love and what is not so great? Would love to hear from you. My next post will be on the toys that fell short. :)

Happy Birthday Big D

2009-12-30T11:04:00.003-06:00

Its A-Dog, Av-Man and H-Diddy on the mic. We're a couple of days early. Happy Birthday Mr Dennis!!

Taking the Plunge

2009-12-12T12:19:00.004-06:00

14

2009-10-15T17:58:00.004-05:00

Last month my husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. We've never been huge on celebrations. We may go out to eat, catch a movie- something like that. We did get away without the boys for a weekend to celebrate our 10th. The more I think about marriage and what all it entails- how amazingly wonderful it can be and how crazy difficult it can be at other times- I think every single anniversary year needs to be celebrated.
If anyone had asked me during our first year of marriage if Jim and I would make it to fourteen, I don't know that my answer would have been a very confident "yes." In fact, I was a bit skeptical at times that we'd make it to two. To be fair, it was a stressful beginning. My dad died in May, my grandmother in August, and we got married and moved to Asheville, NC in September. I had a difficult time finding a job in my field and because we were young and just married, we had ZERO money so I took a job as a teller at a bank in Black Mountain, NC. I'm not knocking being a bank teller. There is not a thing wrong with that occupation. It just wasn't what I wanted to do and my life at that point was turning into a lot of not what I wanted to do.
I was MISERABLE in Asheville. Jim traveled a lot with his job and when he wasn't doing that, he was traveling to Raleigh every weekend for this study course for his Professional Engineers license. I knew absolutely no one and if you know me, you know I'm not hugely outgoing so making friends wasn't easy for me. And in the whole year we were there, I only had two visitors from home. I was very lonely. I was not nice to Jim. Looking back at it, I am amazed (well not really because he is a Godly man) that he stuck it out with me.
But he did and here we are fourteen years later- perfectly happy, never a cross word, just wonderful wedded bliss... and if you believe that well, I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona. ;) Marriage is hard work. Aside from parenting which was an eye opener too, I don't think there is anything more difficult. I'm not a huge Dr. Phil fan but he made a comment on one of his shows a long time ago that has stuck with me. He said, "If young couples put as much effort into planning for the actual marriage as they did for the wedding ceremony and reception, the results might be better." You know what I mean. One minute you're dating, all happy and in love- he's opening doors for you, planning romantic dates specifically catered to your likes, hanging on your every word and you say "I do" then BAM!... you're washing his underwear, wondering how someone could spend that much money on a DVD player, and certain that your words that ring in his ears sound like the teacher from the Peanuts cartoon. You get my point. :)
Its work- its compromise- its hills and valleys. And there are gonna be rough spots- some rougher than others. You pray a lot! :) You get through them- maybe not always with the grace you'd like but you get through and come out stronger on the other side. I thank the Lord every day for Him leading me to Jim. We've had our share of ups and downs, crazy differences of opinions, and heated discussions (some ending in all out yelling at the top of our lungs.) And I'm certain we will have all of that again. Had we given up at the first sign of trouble-- well lets just say that we might have rivaled Britney Spears record for the shortest marriage.
So for what its worth, here are fourteen things some funny, some serious that we've learned over the last fourteen years...

1. Jim's idea of clean is NOT the same (not even remotely close) as mine.
2. It is better for me to walk away when we have a heated discussion than to stay and say something I know will be hurtful and unfair (such a weakness of mine).
3. Jim knows that I am NOT a morning person and its NOT a good idea to talk to me before I've had a cup of coffee.
4. I know that when he has been unusually quiet there is something wrong and I also know I will have to ask numerous times with the repeated answer of "Nothing" until I finally get the reason.
5. The big tooth is an off limits topic.
6. He made it 25 years without having me have to tell him what to do and how to do it, he can make it another 25 without that too. :)
7. If I see a movie with him there will always be the risk of him cackling like a hyena at a scene NO ONE else in the entire theater thinks is funny. (And Avery has the same sense of humor)
8. I am NOT always right. (sigh)
9. He's learned that there is no right or good answer to, "Do you think I'm fat? or Have I gained weight?"
10. You do NOT toss 20 year old concert shirts- even if they are three sizes smaller than what he wears now- don't do it!
11. If I want him to be the leader of our household, spiritual and otherwise, I HAVE to step back and give him the opportunity.
12. Sometimes you have to say your sorry even when its not your fault.
13. Forgiveness means not bringing it back up again-- not even when you're angry and everything in you wants to pull up every hurtful thing for the past oh umm 14 years (yeah- another thing I'm working on and God's working on me)
14. And finally- God meant for us to be together and there isn't anything that we can't make it through together.

Happy 14th Harvey!

The Best Consignment Sale!

2009-08-14T15:39:00.001-05:00

Open to the Public:

Saturday, August 15 10am - 6pm

Sunday, August 16 12pm-6pm

Monday - Wednesday, August 17-19 10am - 6pm

Thursday, August 20 10am - 6pm -- 25% OFF DAY!

NEW MERCHANDISE ARRIVING DAILY!

Half Price Days:

Friday, August 21 10am - 6pm

Saturday, August 22 9am - 1pm

Pick-up Day:

Sunday, August 23

1pm -3pm

We accept cash and personal check ONLY. There will be a $25 fee for any returned checks.

38

2009-08-13T09:11:00.003-05:00

Thirty eight..... 38.....almost 4 decades...been out of high school for 20 years.... out of college for 16.... have an eight year old...married for almost 14...
No matter how you phrase it, 38 years is a long time. I joke a lot about my younger years. Its true I have more wrinkles and a few more pounds with my advancing years. I was asking myself last night, if I could go back would I? If I could time travel back to 1993, college graduation day and relive the past 16 years would I take that opportunity?
Sure there are many things I remember fondly about those years. It was nice to not have any responsibility. It was awesome to be a size 6. It was amazing to feel like at that moment I had the world at my fingertips and the opportunities were endless. I was passionate about saving the world. I left WKU with my little degree and was determined to help people- to make a difference. My mom and dad were still here on this Earth with me. I could go on and on about all the positives that time in my life held for me. I could also go on and on about all the things I would change. But would I go back?
Not a chance!
I'll take my husband and two beautiful boys, my mortgage, my bills, my extra pounds and wrinkles, and my thirty eight year old self over my younger one any day. I'm still passionate about saving the world only on a different level now. :) The experiences in my life whether good or bad have led me to the person I am today and while I'm still a work in progress far from perfect (and never will be), I love me and my life. The Lord has worked on me through the years and there's still a lot left to do but I wouldn't trade where I am in my walk with Him today for younger years. Time has weeded out acquaintances I thought were real friends and left me with true and deep bonds of friendships with people who have stood beside me through the good times and the ugly (and there have been some ugly times). Experiences and wisdom that come with age have allowed me to let go of self consciousness and embrace personality traits in myself that I once prayed would change.
So today I count my many blessings and I thank the Lord that I am His daughter; Jim, Harve, James, Jimmy, Mike's wife; Avery and Aidan's mother; and Bob and Joyce's daughter. I am humbled and touched beyond expression at the many people I get to call friends, best friend, and family. And I love you all!!!!
38

In The Blink of an Eye- First Day of Third Grade

2009-08-08T11:56:00.001-05:00

First Day Of Kindergarten

First Day of First Grade

First Day of Second Grade

First Day of Third Grade

5

2009-08-08T08:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday my sweet five year old boy!

Yearbook Yourself

2009-07-31T08:42:00.004-05:00

1950's me

1960's me

1964

1966

1968

1978

1982

1992

1996

2000

This is hilarious! Go to www.yearbookyourself.com, upload a picture of yourself, click on the year you are looking for, and adjust your photo to fit the picture. You can choose from the 1950's on up to 2000.Above are a few of mine ...

Happy Birthday

2009-07-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

My mom's senior picture

My mom and dad all cute and in love.

My mom on the ONLY ride she would ever ride at Opryland (the train!).

My mom's first trip to the beach.

One of the most precious pictures I have. My mom was terrified of the water but was willing to walk this close to the ocean because sweet little Avery wanted her to.

My mom holding Aidan at the hospital.

Momma and Aidan

Mom and her sisters and brother at her last birthday celebration on this Earth.

Today is my mom's birthday. Thinking about my mom this morning, I had to smile. I have this mental picture of my mom sharing a piece of birthday cake with Jesus and my daddy. And then I see my mom asking if anyone wants another piece and my dad and Jesus saying, "No," but then my mom continuing to ask until they take another piece. :) Happy Birthday Momma!

Summer 2009 Wrap Up

2009-07-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know its been a long while. I thought about deleting this blog. There isn't much I've written these past few months. Summer has been crazy, fun, and exhausting. The boys and I have packed it in and loved mostly every minute of it. This summer has presented some challenges with certain behaviors and somehow I can't help but think this is what it will be like when we hit the pre-teen/teen years only on a much larger scale. And I have to tell you, I'm a little worried. Ok, I'm a lot worried. So, I'm just praying about it, standing firm even when that means a major meltdown in the ice cream shop, and trying not to slap anyone.

We went to Disney the last week of May and it was phenomenal! I think we had just as much fun as the kids. If you are thinking of going, I would have to suggest the last week of May. The lines were minimal(utilizing fast passes at the more popular rides) and the weather was good. I hope when the boys are back in school to do a post on Disney with my pictures. It truly was a magical vacation.
I attended my 20 year high school reunion in June. It was so wonderful to reconnect with some people I had been very close to in my past life. :) It was a blast to catch up with everyone. Its funny how you remember people the way they were in high school and if you haven't seen some of them for almost 20 years, that is the picture you have of them. It was also great to just spend time with some of my friends who are long distance now.

Me and Tootsie Roll (Donna)

Amanda, Chermelle, and me. WKU girls!

Donna, Luther, and me Robby and me. I've missed you Hortense! :)Dani, Donna, me, Beth and Chermelle at the HLHS family picnic

The boys and I went to Cheekwood. If you are not familiar with Cheekwood, its a botanical garden located in the Belle Meade area. I have lived in Middle Tennessee most of my life and had never been here. My friend and I took our boys even though we were a bit concerned as to whether or not this location would hold their interest. Cheekwood currently has what they call "Backpack Adventures." We checked out backpacks for the boys and headed out on our "adventure." The backpack included a map with designated stopping points and crafts, games, etc to do at each stop. I think the boys really enjoyed it.

The boys looking for frogs in the pond

The boys completing our first activity at the first stop.

Chaney's Dairy Farm was another one of our summer destinations. We did this last year as well. The Farm is located in Bowling Green, Ky and you get a wagon ride, a visit with Ms. Glimmer the cow along with an educational and interesting presentation on feeding, milking, and other aspects of farm life, and time to play on their cool playground. Also included in the $5 fee is a scoop of Chaney's Dairy Farm ice cream- I would suggest the How Now Brownie Cow. :)

Aidan milking a cow for the first time.

Me and the boys on the wagon after our farm tour.

We also discovered the Maryland Farms Y this summer thanks to our good friends and neighbors, the Smiths. Its like a mini waterpark with a big bucket of water that dumps periodically, a double slide into the kid pool, two bigger slides in the deeper end, and a huge swimming area. My boys loved it!

In between these excursions we had free movies, visits with friends, VBS, lots of Avery spending the night with friends and having friends over for playdates, a game night with our neighbors and friends, hiking a trail, and thanks to my good friend and her sweet husband I got to see Josh Turner at the WildHorse. And we wrapped it all up with a trip to Chattanooga and rafting the Hiwassee river.

Monkey Joes

Making S'mores with our neighbors

Blueberry pickin'

Chuck E Cheese with friends

Playing a little Eye of The Tiger with Rock Band

Kinsey's Birthday Party

The Meerkats at the Nashville Zoo.

Avery and the Traywick boys monkeying around at the zoo. :)

Rock Band with our friends and neighbors- I believe Stacey is bolting out Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf.

Ready to raft the Hiwassee with the Smiths

Avery and daddy kayaking on the Hiwassee

So now, summer is winding down. School starts in less than a week. Avery will be a big third grader and Aidan will start kindergarten. And for the first time in eight years, I won't have any kids at home with me. Still praying about what that means for me but looking forward to this new phase of life. I'm ready to work on multiplication tables with Avery and study site words with Aidan- after that- well... I guess we'll see.
That's our summer in a nutshell. Hope you had a great one too!

Our Daddy

2009-06-20T15:33:00.003-05:00

For all of the times you hop in the floor and let them jump on you
for all of the thousands of lego pieces you've assembled
for all of the soccer and baseball teams you've coached
for all of the times you've taken off work so that you don't miss their special programs at school
for all of the times you've watched Star Wars and Indiana Jones
for all of the times you've carried them when they were too tired to walk
for all of the hugs and kisses
for all of the support
for all of the times your love for the Lord has shone through to them
for all of the times you've had to walk out of the room or you thought you'd kill them
for all of the times you've told them the Bell Witch isn't real and monsters don't live in their closets
for all of the times you answer the same question for the millionth time
for all the times you give mommy the opportunity to have a break
for every day you go to your job so that you can support us
for the unconditional love

For all of the above and so much more, we love you daddy! Happy Father's Day!

Hunters Lane High School Class of 1989

2009-06-12T08:40:00.002-05:00

Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend.

The Last Two Weeks= 8 days in Disney and 4 days of VBS...

2009-06-05T12:25:00.004-05:00

... so what do you get when you finally have a full day at home? I've said it before, its always Halloween at our house. :) The boys have pulled out every costume they've ever owned, we've ever bought at garage sales, or have ever been given by friends who've outgrown them. Here are their creations....

I LOVE the look on Aidan's face. I'm not sure this is a Superman you'd want to save you. :)

Spongebob and a Power Ranger (yes it has pink in the costume- what can I say- it was $1.00 at a yard sale)

Cap'n Jack

Spiderman and Hulk- ferocious! (This is when we learned that Avery had outgrown most of the costumes. :)

Scurvy Pirates- Aargh!

Spider Pirate and Flash Shrek

This Ninja Turtle has grown a bit since last wearing his uniform.

Anakin Skywalker

I have tons and tons of Disney pictures and will get my post on here about our trip soon. Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer- we sure are! :)

I Need A Diet Coke! :)

2009-06-02T16:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Lori! We might have been more effective getting our play on the diet coke the boys are passing around had we had an actual diet coke. But, alas you know we are cheap here in the Waters household and all we had was Diet Big K. :)

May- A Review in Pictures

2009-05-22T06:43:00.008-05:00

Brewers Baseball- Avery's game face.

Fun with the Smith girls

Fun with the Traywick boys

More fun with the Traywick boys

My sweet boys on Mothers Day

Geocaching

Geocaching in the woods

Using Jim's Iphone as a compass

The big mitten for Avery's school play

Field Day at Avery's school- Javelin Throw

Good Friends

Happy 40th Saundra!

Soccer Season coming to a close

Coach Mickey and the Little Owls

Avery's 2nd grade Author's Tea. He read two selections from his portfolio. His teacher Ms Huey(sitting beside him) is the best!

Waiting for the bus on the last day of 2nd grade

Class picnic with Mrs. Harris and Aidan's Pre-K class

Love, Love, Love Mrs Harris!

Kickin' off the first day of summer with some sno cones!

And we are off to DISNEYWORLD!!! See you soon.

Neglect

2009-05-18T06:40:00.001-05:00

I have so neglected my poor little blog. I hope to update it more regularly in June.

To Mom... From Avery on Mothers Day

2009-05-07T06:35:00.002-05:00

Avery made a sweet book for me for Mothers Day. He brought it home yesterday and was so excited that he couldn't wait to give it to me. And it truly is so sweet. He drew a picture of me and him. It has fill in the blank questions where he answered different things about me.
Here's a little excerpt...
My mom is as pretty as... a butterfly.

I'd like to tell my mom... that I love her more than the whole uneverse (love the phonetics!)

If my mom were a flower, she'd be a ... rose.

If my mom were candy, she'd be... chocolate

And my favorite- makes a momma feel good

If my mom were an animal she would be a ... HIPPO. :)

Out of the mouths of babes. Your hippo momma loves you my sweet boy!

Banana Split Pie- Light and Easy

2009-05-06T18:19:00.003-05:00

Banana Split Pie

1 reduced fat graham cracker crust
1 sliced banana
18 oz. drained, unsweetened, crushed pinapple
1 small pack of sugar free, fat free vanilla pudding (mixed with 1and 1/2 cups of skim milk)
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 tub fat free cool whip (small size)

Layer ingredients as written above and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold. Healthy, low fat yummy Weight Watchers dessert.

Very Little Time to Blog

2009-04-27T14:08:00.011-05:00

It has been a crazy but fun few months. Lots of fun with friends, neighbors, school field trips, baseball, soccer, and on and on. We had lots of spring break fun with friends and family. I think I posted about those a few posts back. On Easter, my brother, his family, and Vicki came over to grill out and fellowship. Vicki brought my nephew, Will's new pet Honey Bun. Aidan took an instant interest in him.

We had an egg hunt with our neighbors.

Cousin Will, Aidan and Avery

Ryan and Avery playing football. I couldn't get Robert, Ramona, and Katelyn's picture. Maybe next time.

Aidan and Honey Bun

Vicki and Honey Bun

The boys are in to baseball and soccer full swing. Its the first time we have had both boys in something at the same time and its a little crazy. I honestly don't know how parents of more than two do it. This may be the last season that we have both boys in something at the same time. We enjoy our family time and just have not had enough of it lately. We still want our boys to be able to pursue extracurricular activities. The challenge for us is allowing them to do that without sacrificing our family time. Its something we will have to work on.

Avery hitting for the Brewers

Aidan kicking for the Little Owls (sound ferocious don't they). Owls can be mean. ;)

In the midst of the sports craze, I was able to take a much needed break for some girl time with an old friend in Pigeon Forge. Donna and I were such good friends through out high school and for whatever reason ( I like to call it life), we just lost each other after that. She went off to UT Martin and I went to WKU and other than seeing her brother once in the mall right after college, we never saw, heard from, or spoke to each other again... until... Facebook. If you don't have a Facebook account, I would so encourage you to get one. Had it not been for Facebook, Donna and I may never have found each other. Its been almost 20 years since we last spoke or saw each other and we were able to re-establish contact through Facebook several months ago.
You know old friends are good friends when you can pick right back up where you left off. And we did just that. It was a nice relaxing weekend where we reminisced about our high school days and caught each other up on our families and lives in the present. Made me wish we didn't live in different states. Oh well, we'll just have to plan another trip and soon!

Donna and me at high school graduation
Yes- it was the eighties. :)

We registered Aidan for Kindergarten on Friday. I think I'm sadder about Aidan starting school than I was with Avery. Don't get me wrong, I shed a few tears when Avery put on his backpack and headed out the door for the first time too. But, this is my baby. My last little one at home. Its what I've done for the past eight years of my life. I think I'm sad that he's growing up but I'm also a little sad that this era in my life has ended and well, I'm a little uncertain as to what is in store for me next. I'm praying about that and seeing where the Lord will lead me. I still want to be able to be a big part of my children's classroom experiences and be able to be involved in their school. We'll just have to see where He takes me in this new stage in my life. Be praying for me!

Aidan's Children 1st Pre-K class touring Kindergarten classes at Indian Lake Elementary

In between all of this, we have had time to have a little family fun. I LOVE my boys so much- including my biggest boy. God has blessed me with a wonderful family that I take for granted so often. My church is doing a series related to the book "One Month to Live- Thirty Days to a No Regrets Life" I have only just begun to read it but am already looking to see how I can put these concepts to work in my life. More on that to come. :)

All three of my precious boys

My sweet babies!

Yes, that is a sprinkler you see under the trampoline. ;)

Our makeshift water slide. :)

I love the things they come up with to play. Avery and Aidan were pretending the wagon was a roller coaster. It did get a little hairy rounding corners and Aidan almost came out.

Seriously...

2009-04-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

... if you're going to drive like a maniac, weave in and out of traffic with reckless abandon, shout curses out your window, and flip people off- I want you to know that my wish is you wouldn't do any of the above but if you are regardless- please don't put a Jesus fish on the back of your car!

What's The Scoop

2009-04-13T07:29:00.003-05:00

My boys were on Spring Break last week and as I was preparing for the week, I decided to pick up some craft stuff. Most of it was Easter related- just some things to do and have fun with while they were home. I was at Target looking on the craft aisle and came across the Crayola Window Markers. I suspect that dry erase markers serve the same purpose but these really are like crayons and wipe off glass surfaces remarkably well. I opened them up and Avery and Aidan had a blast drawing on our kitchen windows that look into the back yard. Seriously, they were entertained for well over an hour. I used glass cleaner to wipe it off- it even came off the white weather stripping around the window when Aidan accidentally marked on there. It was fun, they were entertained and when they were finished, I had clean windows. :) We also used them to write the boys' Bible verses on their mirror in the bathroom. I purchased these at Target for $3.99.

My new favorite teeth whitener product is Crest Vivid White. I have used the Crest White strips as well as the "paint on kind" of teeth whitener. The thing that I like about Vivid White is that it doesn't add an extra step. This is a toothpaste and whitener all in one. It gradually whitens as you brush and protects your teeth against new stains. There is a "day" and "night" version. I've only tried the day product. I also purchased this at Target for $3.39.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T15:25:00.002-05:00

From the Waters Family to yours!

And the angel said, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said He would!" Matthew 28:5-6.

Baseball Ready

2009-04-11T13:10:00.003-05:00

Its that time once again. Baseball season. This year Avery is playing in the 8 and under league. Its a big step for him because after the first few games, the coaches will no longer be allowed to help in the outfield. There have always been coaches (dads) every where on the field at every game since he started playing. He's excited about this season. His team was the be the Red Sox until there was a shortage of red team jerseys across the league. The Civitan assigned them a new team name- The Brewers. We're not too excited about the team name (personally I feel like the league could have come up with a better team name in light of what the "Brewers" represent); however, that won't keep us from cheering loud and proud for them. Here's a few pics of my big man - Baseball Ready!

Spring Break

2009-04-10T15:33:00.009-05:00

This week has been Spring Break for my boys. It started out a little questionable as it was 40 degrees and below Monday and Tuesday but warmed up nicely on Wednesday. We were able to salvage some of our outside plans. I have so enjoyed being home with Avery and Aidan. It has been a fun week.
Here are a few pictures of our Spring Break fun. Saturday evening our friends the Eversole's came over. Ms Saundra brought all of the goodies to make Easter Bunny Peep cars. It was a fun visit!
Sunday night Drake and Kinsey came to spend the night. It was a fun night of cookie decorating, egg dyeing, and movie watching. We played a mean game of kickball. We'll need to have a rematch and get Ralph and Meredith in on the action.

On Wednesday we were able to meet friends at the park and play there most of the day.

On Thursday Jim took off and we traveled downtown to visit his work and the TN State Museum. The boys really enjoyed getting to see Daddy's office. I think the last time we were there was when Aidan was a baby so its been a while. Jim works in the TPAC building and the State Museum is in the basement. After visiting his office, we walked downstairs to check it out. Avery has been studying TN and TN History so it was a perfect visit to reinforce some of what he's learned in school-- and its free.

We left there and went to Dragon Park. It was a beautiful day and we just enjoyed being together. After that, we stopped back by Gigi's Cupcakes for some scrumptious cupcakes. My pictures really don't do them justice. Jim complained saying it was crazy to pay $3 for a cupcake; however, once he took the first bite, that sentiment quickly melted away. His analysis-"That's the best cupcake I've ever put in my mouth. Worth every bit of three dollars!" Just to put that price in perspective, a elderly man came in behind us and ordered two dozen cupcakes. His total...$79!!!!! Yeah- we won't be having those for a birthday party. But if you're on Broadway, stop by and get a treat.

On the right is the wedding cake cupcake and on the left you have the Turtle cupcake.

And we rounded out our week in good old Middle Tennessee fashion- with a trip to our neighbor's house who so graciously shared their safe room during the tornado warnings. Its not the best picture but Ms. Ashley's sweet mom read books to the kiddos while they were waiting out the storms in the safe room.

As this week draws to an end, I love the fun we've had. I love this time of year for many reasons but the most important is Easter. It brings tears to my eyes when I think of my savior's love for me- for all of us. That Jesus Christ hung on a cross to pay the price for my sins. That He loves me with all of my faults and in spite of everything I've done and will do. That I am His forever...
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
I hope you and your family have a very blessed Easter.

Avery or Aidan?

2009-04-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

What do you think... Avery or Aidan?

Good Friends, An Egg Hunt Indoors, and Lightsaber Bubbles

2009-04-02T08:01:00.004-05:00

It was over eight years ago when I met my friend Lori. I joke and say our friendship is the only good thing that came from working where we did at the time. We had worked together a while before we actually met. It was a common thread that brought us together- pregnancy. We were both pregnant with our first boys. There were many mornings spent in Lori's cubicle discussing the aches, pains , and joys of pregnancy.
I love that we have grown closer through the years. I love that our husbands share a common thread as well. I love that our boys like each other and have fun when they are together. I love that they are easy to be with and fun to be around.
We got together last weekend and had an egg hunt. It had been 70 degrees the day before but was only 45 on the day of our hunt- that's why the pictures are inside and the boys have their coats on outside. It was still a lot of fun. Thanks to Ms Lori for the cool "lightsaber" bubbles.
"I always thank God for you..." I Corinthians 1:4
"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." Proverbs 27:9

Twilight

2009-04-01T12:56:00.002-05:00

I've finally done it- given in. I watched the movie Monday and bought the first two books today. I haven't started reading yet but hope to soon. I know a lot of people who read the books and when the movie came out, were not impressed. I have to say that I enjoyed the movie- I mean it wasn't mind blowingly thought provoking but it was very entertaining. I'm anxious to dive in to the books.

Nine Lives

2009-03-30T14:11:00.005-05:00

I am not a huge pet person. I'm even less so now that I have kids. But even more than I'm not a pet person, I'm especially not a cat person. If you know me, you know that we have a cat. Before you start feeling sorry for our cat because I'm not a feline lover, know that Jim loves all animals and Avery loves Rogue enough for the rest of us. Aidan and I can take or leave her. No, we don't want anything bad to happen to her and we would never hurt her ... purposefully (Aidan was 2 when we got her and he used to "love" on her by picking her up by the neck.)
Rogue (our boys named her after an X-Men character) came to live with us a little over two years ago. For a while she was an inside cat- until she scratched up the leather furniture and chose to pee on the carpet rather than in her litter box. She then became an in the garage, let her out to run around during the day, come in the house occasionally kitty. Several months ago, she ran away. She was gone for three weeks. Avery was devastated. He drew pictures and put signs up all around. Just about the time we were thinking she was not coming back, right about the time I was getting ready to put the litter box out for the trash men, our neighbor calls and says she thinks she found Rogue. And it was her. She had been living under this abandoned house not far from us. We didn't know if she really couldn't find her way back or if she had tried and been scared by the traffic to cross the road (it was in a high volume area.) Jim took the kitty carrier to the old house and lured her in with some food.
Fast forward to last Thursday. I was heading to lunch with a friend. It was a beautiful, warm day so I opened the garage door to let Rogue out to play. That evening our neighbor across the street called and asked if we were missing a cat. Come to think of it I told him- I hadn't seen her since I got back home. He starts to apologize saying he's sorry for the boys. Apparently Rogue had crawled in the motor part of their Sequoia. His sister in law had started the car, heard a meow, and opened the hood to find our cat. He said someone had to help get it out. So, in my mind (even though now as I remember the conversation he never actually said what happened) I'm seeing Rogue getting caught in the fan of the motor and well, your imagination can take it from there.
I called Jim in from outside and we debated on whether we should tell the boys she was dead or just let them think she had run away. We decided it would be better for Avery not to hold out hope that she was coming back and for us not to have to make and hang hundreds of signs around town all in vain. So we told the boys and both of them were very upset.
Later that night our neighbor's wife calls. She had talked with her sister and we had the story all wrong. Rogue did climb in to the engine. Our neighbor's sister in law drove the truck all the way from their house to North Nashville (about 20-30 minutes away) heard a meow, pulled over, opened the hood and out jumped Rogue. Scared our neighbor's poor sister in law to death. So, Rogue is very much alive somewhere in North Nashville. It helped Avery to know that she wasn't dead. Each night we've prayed for her to have food and shelter and to either make it back home to us or find a loving home (I'm hoping for the latter of these two.) As for the litter box and cat toys, well I'm not carting them to the curb any time soon. If any cat could make its way back its Rogue. :)

Final Moments

2009-03-25T11:41:00.005-05:00

I've been in a funk lately. I get that way from time to time. I think we all do. If you've ever lost someone dear to you then you'll be able to relate well to this post I would imagine. Most people say its the holidays or special occasions that hit them hardest when a loved one has died. That's not the case for me. I know when holidays or special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries are coming. I can prepare myself for those days. Its the every day mundane activities that spark memories that slip up on me.
I have been with both of my parents as they suffered through chronic illnesses. My daddy had cancer and my momma had ALS- Lou Gehrig's disease. My perspective of each of their struggles was different. My mom was the primary caretaker for my dad. I was more in the background helping out if needed but pretty removed from the day to day. I was 24 at the time. On more occasions than I care to remember, we were called to the hospital or to my parents house with the indication that time was very short. I talked a lot with my daddy during his last weeks. There he lay in a hospital bed in our living room, paralyzed on his right side, his body weak from chemotherapy and radiation, in constant pain and do you know what he was worried about? Me.
My sweet daddy was so worried that he was leaving me behind without any one to take care of me. I would sit and read the newspaper to my dad frequently. One article I read was about adoption and I just remember tears welling up in his eyes and him saying he hoped he had been a good daddy. Jim and I had been dating for about eight months at the time. We had a long distance relationship with him living in Asheville, NC and me in Hermitage, TN. We had talked about getting married and Jim decided that he wanted to ask my dad before he passed away. Jim sat down by my dad's bed and they talked (my dad was having difficulty speaking at this point). I don't know what Jim said to him other than to ask for my hand in marriage but when I went back in, I could tell my daddy was more peaceful. He just didn't want me to be alone. There were many sweet moments during his last days. I was not there when he went to be with Jesus but my mom just kept saying how peaceful it was and how thankful she was that he was finally healed.
I was the primary caretaker for my mom. It was difficult. Avery was 5 and Aidan was 2 at the time. Day to day, it really was just me and Jim until a few months before she passed away. There were instances here and there where other family members helped but daily, it was us. I wish that I could tell you it was calm and pleasant all of the time. Believe me, I wished it had been. I wish that I could write about the long talks we had or the special time I spent with her. The truth is after caring for her and the boys all day (and Jim was such a huge help in the evenings)- doing all of the day to day stuff - personal care, feeding her, doing the physical therapy exercises, sitting in on the speech therapist, the occupational therapist, the nurse, fighting with medicare, interviewing countless in home care workers only to have them never show up (thankfully finally after Thanksgiving we had two sweet ladies we hired), making sure her bills were paid, I could go on and on.... I was overwhelmed. I don't say all that to offer that as an excuse. None of that should have mattered and for the most part it didn't. But there were days when I was tired, emotionally overwhelmed and physcially spent. There were days when I was ugly to my husband, ugly to my little boys and yes, ugly to my momma.
The week before she passed away, we got in an argument. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "What kind of person gets in to an argument and yells at their dying mother?" Me. I do. There are many moments in my life I'm not proud of but that single moment is the worst. That night my mom started acting strangely. Her speech became slurred, she was agitated, and she refused to eat. The next morning she was worse. I called the Hospice nurse who came to examine her. The nurse's best guess was that she had suffered a stroke. And what that nurse said to me after that broke my heart. She said sometimes strokes are brought on by emotional outbursts (especially in cases where people's bodies are working so hard because of a terminal illness.) Yes, its true, she gave me a million other reasons why my mom could have had a stroke and no we don't really know what caused it but as you can imagine that has stayed with me.
I had the unbelieveable opportunity to be at my mom's side when she left this world. I held her hand and listened as she kept saying my daddy's name. I had a few minutes with her when no one else was in the room and I was able to tell her how much I loved her, to give my daddy a big hug when she got to Heaven, and that I was sorry I had yelled at her. And I watched her take her last breath. It was such a peaceful end to a hard fought battle.
I think many times our most intense grief comes later. I'm a suck it up and get through it kind of person so I struggle with the fact that 2 years later I feel as if at times I grieve more now than in the early days following her death. Maybe its just that now I allow myself those times. As for my regret and guilt at the way some days unfolded in our house while caring for my mother, I'm working through that slowly.
One day at a time...
So if you still have your momma and/or daddy on this Earth, let your momma go on and on- on the phone about nothing in particular even though you have a million things to do, listen to your daddy tell that same story for the billionth time, let your momma give you some advice on child rearing without getting defensive... it may not seem like it now but trust me- you're gonna miss that. :)

Go WKU!

2009-03-20T07:40:00.002-05:00

March Madness

2009-03-19T11:17:00.003-05:00

Are you a basketball fan? I have to say that when it comes to watching sports on tv, I'm not much of a fan of any of it. Now, put me in the bleachers at a game and I could watch just about any sport. I wouldn't say it was my favorite past time but I'd much rather see live action than televised. The exception to that is the NCAA Tournament. I absolutely LOVE to watch the basketball games that go on for March Madness. LOVE IT!! Part of the excitement is that it truly is a tournament where anything can happen. And has.
Jim and I have always filled out brackets to see who makes the best picks in the end. The last two years, the boys have also done a bracket of their own. Its hilarious to go over their picks with them. Their logic for picking a winning team can range any where from, "Oh we like Texas because that's where Sandy on Spongebob is from." to " Ha, ha, ha, ha... Let's pick Butler because it has the word "but" in it. " I love it. And can I just tell you that Aidan beat us all last year!
So here we go! My final four...
Louisville, North Carolina, Duke (I just love Coack K), and Memphis. To win it all (shhhhh- my husband would kill me to know that I picked them to win it all) North Carolina.

Smart Move or Crazy

2009-03-18T07:37:00.003-05:00

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I am working on losing weight. I've lost some. If I told you how much in how long, well lets just say you wouldn't be impressed. I haven't weighed myself in a while. I like to go by how my clothes fit and how I feel more so than the number on the scale.
Losing weight sure isn't as easy as it used to be. I don't know if its having two small boys that keep me on my toes and when there is time to exercise, I'm just too tired to or if its being in my late thirties and just not having the metabolism I had in my twenties. Probably a little of both and add in the fact that my WORST time of day eating wise is from 7pm to bedtime.
I haven't given up. I know I need to kick it up a notch in both diet and exercise and I'm working on that. My new motivator is- and here's where you'll either think smart move or crazy lady... that I just ordered some new spring and summer clothes and I ordered my pants and shorts in a size smaller than I am now.
Before you think I have lost my mind, its important to note that the size I am now is loose on me. So, I'm not going from the top of my size all the way to a different size. Its very doable. The payoff other than feeling tons better about myself is that I'll have new clothes to wear. I'm very frugal and I know myself. If I can't fit in to my new stuff, I won't buy any other new things. So I've either got to lose the weight or let my new clothes hang in my closet taunting me.
I'll let you know how it works. Could be a great motivator.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T13:31:00.000-05:00

What's The Scoop

2009-03-16T06:26:00.005-05:00

My friend Saundra and I took our kids to the Pfunky Griddle Friday morning. It's this cute little house where the griddles are in the middle of the tables and you make your own pancakes. You have your choice of pancake batter- white unbleached or five grain. You also have your choice of toppings. There are anything from M&Ms, strawberries, granola, peanut butter- and the list goes on. Everyone gets a spatula and its flap jack flippin' time. It was a fun experience and the pancakes were yummy! The only drawback is that its a bit more expensive than you'd think it would be- especially since you are cooking your own meal. :)
If you live in the Middle Tennessee area its worth checking out!

Geocaching

2009-03-10T06:46:00.004-05:00

Have you heard of it? Thanks to my friend Saundra, Jim and Avery discovered the exciting world of geocaching on Saturday. It was a last minute thing so they only went to two spots locally. And when I say locally, they were areas they could walk to from our house. Aidan and I set out on this journey as well but alas only made it a couple of houses down before Aidan decided it was too hot to walk.
What is geocaching? I pulled this from the website...
Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

How do you get started? Click on the geocaching website and create an account. Type in your zip code (or any zip code) and it will bring up the geocache sites that are located nearest you. Grab your GPS- we don't have a GPS but Jim's I Phone has a GPS application and he was able to download a compass application as well. So grab your GPS and head out. You can drive or you can walk. I won't tell you where the two sites are that the boys found in case you want to try it on your own. Avery absolutely loved it!! It was an adventure- they hiked through cow pastures (thankfully the big bull they saw was in the next pasture over with a fence between them). under barb wire fences, and ended up at Target. :)
Each geocache has a log where you can sign and date. Just a little side note- On our long walk back to the house- you know all of three houses down the road- Aidan said, "Mommy, I bet they call and want us to come get them." Sure enough, we got a call asking us to come pick them up at Target.
We will definitely be doing this again.

Never a Dull Moment

2009-03-06T14:00:00.005-06:00

Yes, those are staples. About 10:45 this morning the director at Aidan's school called. He fell on the playground and hit his head on the corner of the picnic table. They couldn't get it to stop bleeding. I went to pick him up. His teacher said he never even cried. He was sitting in the office with the assistant director who was applying pressure with gauze to the back of his head. We made a trip to see Dr. Steve at Tennessee Pediatrics and one trip to McDonalds, one to Target to get a toy for being such a big boy, and three staples later- we are home.

A wider view. :)
And here's my big boy.

What's the Scoop

2009-03-02T07:10:00.004-06:00

Ok- I really am getting old and I know that because I am about to blog about Fiber One Bars. :) Vickie suggested that I do this because there are so many of these type bars out there, they are all a bit pricey, and unfortunately not all of them are good tasting. I just tried the Fiber One bars in the last two weeks. There are a variety of flavors including chocolate, cafe mocha, and oats with strawberries with almonds. There are 140 calories in a bar, 3 grams of fat, and a whopping 9 grams of fiber. I love the taste and have to say that they are very filling. At $2.99 a box (at Kroger) I think they are a bit expensive for five bars but there are always coupons in the Sunday paper for them. And I don't have to fill you in on the benefits of getting your daily allowance of fiber. :)

This one's for the kids. Santa brought Aidan the Martian Matter Alien Maker for Christmas. Santa was a bit concerned about getting it. It looks a little messy and he wondered if it would get a lot of play time. I have to say that it was a hit and has been a huge hit for everyone that comes over to play. Aidan is four and can do the entire process by himself. Kids from four to ten years old have enjoyed it. Its not nearly as messy as you'd think although I can see how it could be if not supervised with smaller children. You can purchase the Alien maker at most retail stores for around $14.99.

The Great Debate

2009-02-26T16:46:00.005-06:00

We are really struggling with the decision on whether or not to send Aidan to Kindergarten in the Fall. He is in a Pre-K class now and his teacher is a retired kindergarten teacher with 25+ years experience. We had a conference with her in October. The funny thing was that I totally prepared Jim that she would say he wasn't ready. To tell you the truth, up until that conference, I didn't really know what he knew. He has never wanted to sit down and "learn" with me. He's so different from Avery. Avery loved doing flash cards when he was little. He loved everything about learning his letters, shapes, numbers, etc. He even enjoyed making a game out of learning his personal information- address, phone number, etc. Aidan wouldn't do flash cards with me if his life depended on it. I'm hard pressed to get him to recite the alphabet. So when I tell you I didn't know what he knew prior to speaking with his teacher, Mrs Harris, I had no idea.
So I walked in to the conference in October fully expecting that he would NOT be attending kindergarten in the Fall. I had convinced Jim of that as well. Imagine our surprise when Mrs. Harris went on and on about what he knew, how well he does socially, and that he was absolutely ready for school. Then... she looked at his birthdate and said, "Except that he's a boy and has a summer birthday."
I've received a lot of information about why you shouldn't send a boy with a summer birthday to Kindergarten when he turns five. It gives him an extra year to mature and it will make him one of the oldest in his class. Let's face it, for boys size matters and the extra year could mean a huge difference in physical stature, especially in high school years.
We go back Monday afternoon for our final conference with Mrs. Harris before Kindergarten registration. I'm interested to see what she has to say now. She was Avery's Pre- K teacher as well and as stated previously, has a wealth of experience as a retired kindergarten teacher.
Here's my question, "Should there be this blanket statement applied to all boys?" Can there never be any outliers?
There are so many things we've looked at- scenarios we've played out in our heads of what will happen if we send him and what will occur if we don't. I have to tell you that socially, Aidan is much more ready than Avery ever was at five. I think that is just a difference in personalities. I'd love to hear opinions. And if you can answer what you would do, I'd love to hear that too.
What would you do if your son had a summer birthday and was by all accounts "ready" in all aspects for school other than the fact that his birthday falls in the summer?

What's The Scoop

2009-02-23T07:37:00.006-06:00

I absolutely love Netflix. Its affordable, hundreds of movies at your fingertips (some you can just download and watch), comes directly to your mailbox, and there is never a late fee. That late fee part is huge for us since we are horrible at getting rented movies back on time. I'm embarrassed to say that there have been times when we could have purchased the movie for what the late fees cost us. Oh and I almost forget- there is no contract- you can cancel any time.
A couple of months ago I thought about canceling our membership just for the sake of tightening up our budget a bit. I never got around to it and I'm glad I didn't. For under $20 a month (there are cheaper plans), we can have any three movies at our house at one time, keep them as long as we want, or return them as quickly as possible and continually have new movies rotating in and out. If you haven't checked them out, I'd highly recommend it.

My husband and our neighbor and friend coached Aidan's Indoor soccer team at the Y. We had seven kiddos on our team ranging from three to five years old. None of them had played an organized sport. Just to get a plug in, if your child hasn't played a sport yet and you want a calm, low key introductory to the world of sports, this is the way to go. The season was six weeks long, it was relatively inexpensive as sporting costs go, and it is very laid back- more focused on getting the kids acquainted with the sport and with playing on a team rather than winning.
Ashley and I thought it would be great to give our players something at the end of the season, especially since none of them had ever played before. I went online in search of trophies not expecting to find any inexpensive ones. But, I did. We got these very cute inexpensive soccer trophies for our team for $3.95 a piece with free engraving up to 40 characters. The shipping was less than $10 and we received them within 5 days of placing our order. The kids LOVED them. I think the more you buy the cheaper the price so if you are in need of trophies, plaques, medals, or any other kind of award, check out Crown Awards.

Photo Tag

2009-02-22T14:00:00.004-06:00

I borrowed this from my friend Karen's blog.

Go to your 6th photo folder

-Pick the 6th photo and post.

This is from our October trip to Chattanooga. We were in Ben and Jerry's in downtown Chattanooga and Avery was playing some air guitar to whatever was playing over the intercom and just having fun.

Monumental

2009-02-20T06:38:00.003-06:00

It's taken me some time to come up with a title for this post. Nothing seemed adequate. I think the one word does. We've had a busy few weeks; however, this post is about only one thing and its HUGE! Last Sunday Avery got baptized. If you've read my blog in the past, you will remember that Avery made his profession of faith last summer during Vacation Bible School. Why have we waited so long to have him baptized? We just wanted to make sure he knew exactly what that decision meant.
Our children's minister allowed Jim to do the "dunking." I love our church for so many reasons and this is yet another example. Avery is super shy and does not like for the attention to be directed on him. We knew it would be a struggle for him to be up in front of the entire congregation. Jim approached our children's minister requesting to be with Avery (we had seen another father baptize his son last summer.)
I will share some pictures from the day below. It was so amazing to watch. Have you ever had those times when you feel like your heart will burst- if you started crying you'd never stop? That was how I felt. I am not a crier but it was all I could do to contain the emotion. I did not get a picture of the actual act because we decided that Jim would take the camera to get pictures beforehand. I've tried our camera in big dark places before and the quality of the picture was not good. Jim got a good picture of Avery and our Children's minister. The church will mail us a DVD of the service.
We were so touched that Papa and Memaw came to visit. The boys loved having them here. Our good friends and neighbors, The Smiths were there and my sweet best friend and her family came also. I'm so thankful that my brother and nephew came and that Vickie was there as well.
My prayer is that Avery will grow in Christ each and every day.

Papa and Memaw come to visit.
Our wonderful Children's Minister and Avery right before his baptism.The White Waters Crew

Remembering My Momma

2009-02-12T06:04:00.003-06:00

There are a lot of things I remember about my momma but none more vividly than the way she loved her grandchildren. I've done a post previously on my momma so I thought I'd take the opportunity today to post about her as a Nana. And she was a great one. She loved Will, Avery, and Aidan passionately and wanted them to always be happy.
My mom worked at Wal-Mart. She worked the night shift and often times she would show up at our door at about 7am after just getting off with an arm full of stuff for Avery (this was before Aidan came along or she probably would have had to have a wheelbarrow to bring it all in-ha!). I remember one year he mentioned to her that he liked Shrek. The next day, she had bought him every character, pajamas, a blanket, and t-shirts. She enjoyed being able to do that because she was able to do that at that point in her life. Our household budget was tight growing up so she really had to watch her spending with me and my brother. I think that's one of the reasons it gave her such joy to be able to do that for the grandchildren.
I remember her letting the boys have dessert before dinner. What? Was that really my mom or had something taken over her body. :) I remember her getting sad if they got disciplined. I remember how her face would light up when they came to sit in her lap.
Avery will tell you that his fondest memory with Nana are the times he got to spend the night. She would let him sleep with her and called him her snuggle buddy. Aidan remembers that she always read to him. Even when she was sick, before she became bed ridden, he would run up to her with a book and she would happily oblige.
The boys miss their Nana and Jim and I sure do miss my momma. Every time Avery and Aidan get a balloon, whether its from a restaurant or a birthday party, the first thing they ask is if they can let it go for Nana. The other night Avery and I were sitting on the couch and he asked me if I thought Jesus was coming back soon. I told him I didn't know but I sure hoped so and he said, "I do too because I miss Nana and want to see her." And we take great comfort in knowing that momma is with Jesus and that we will see her again.

What Kind of Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

2009-02-10T16:37:00.002-06:00

Just some Wednesday humor. Leave me a comment if you take the quiz. :)

You Are Peanut Butter Sandwiches / Do-si-dos

You are easy going and naturally happy. You don't need a lot to make you smile.

You genuinely care about people and are a great friend. You're always doing your best to make the world a better place.

Even though there isn't an immature bone in your body, you still are like a big kid sometimes.

Why make life complicated when the best parts are actually quite simple? You enjoy the small joys of life.

What Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

What's Your Cardboard Testimony

2009-02-10T08:28:00.001-06:00

This is a long clip but one well worth watching if you have never seen it before. It never ceases to amaze me what God can do in people's lives. I only have to look at myself to see that. My church, Long Hollow Baptist in Hendersonville, TN did their own version of this a few weeks ago. The clip below is from a church in South Carolina. I think what is so powerful about this, especially in witnessing those who did this at my own church, is that often times as we go about our daily lives, we get into this mind set of thinking how perfect other people are or how "easy" their lives are compared to our own. Sometimes we can think that no one has anything as objectionable in his/her past as we do. We can see a person living full force for the Lord and think well of course she's a Christian look how "good" she is. And that my friend is what is so amazing. To know the struggles and sin someone was in prior to accepting Christ and to see that enormous change, the aftermath if you will, of someone's life after becoming a Christian.
I've been thinking a lot about what my cardboard testimony would be since that worship service. For these people in this clip and for the members at my church who shared their hearts, thank you. I can't imagine it was easy to put your struggles in bold print for all to see but what a testimony. What's your cardboard testimony? I hope to share mine soon.

What's The Scoop

2009-02-09T06:41:00.004-06:00

Encores and More North Children's Spring Sale March 7th - 14th

Encores and More North Consignment sale is in my opinion hands down the best consignment sale in Middle Tennessee. It was the very first consignment sale I ever attended or participated in and I remember the first time Meredith and I dropped off our stuff to sell. I can't remember the year but the sale was in a little building in Greenbrier, TN or maybe that was Springfield- one of those little towns up that way. Years later, it has grown into a huge sale with hundreds and hundreds of consignors, new boutique items at big discount prices, as well as brand new gymboree clothes.
Having done the sale for several years, I can say that its also one of the best organized sales. Brea runs a tight ship and its like a well oiled machine. :) This year the Spring sale will be in Rivergate in the old Goody's building between Old Navy and Best Buy. This is her largest location yet and I can't wait to see how much stuff will be there. Seriously, I have found some of the greatest deals at this sale. The clothes are phenomenal and the toys - well you just have to go to see just how huge this sale is.
If you're thinking of consigning, or maybe you want to be a worker at the sale so you can shop early, or even if you just want to shop the sale when it opens, I encourage you check out the Encores and More North website for all the details.

As Seen On TV

2009-02-05T07:58:00.004-06:00

I have to apologize to the few readers I have. I have been in a blogging fog since Christmas. I'm hoping to come out of it soon and get some better and more consistent posts on here.
For the time being, you'll have to settle for a little humor.
My boys crack me up! They are most definitely all boy. They love to wrestle, play video games, and anything Star Wars. So, I have to laugh out loud when the commercial for the Snuggie blanket comes on TV. I don't know if there is some subliminal message hidden in this infomercial or if whoever planned the marketing strategy is a genius but my boys are GLUED to the tv. And yes, my boys ages 7 and 4 want a snuggie! They've even picked out what color. I just may have to take advantage of that buy one get one free deal - oh and don't forget the book light special gift for free!!

Here's another one that makes me laugh. The Buxton Organizer. I almost ended up with one of these for Christmas. The boys had seen the commercial several times and asked Jim if they could get me that. Thankfully, Jim had the good sense to steer them another direction (if you've read my earlier posts, you'll know this doesn't always happen).

And here's one that I really would like to try. Its the Steam Buddy. Anyone out there have one? If so, does it really work?

And the great thing is that you can get each of these for the low, low price of $19.95. One last question- just who is Billy Mays? Did he used to be famous and now has been forever banished to the world of tv infomercials or is he just some guy who seemed to have started with advertising oxy clean and now has a corner on the market?

Happy Friday!

Lordy, Lordy Jim, Jimmy, James, Harve, Mike's 40!!

2009-02-02T07:56:00.003-06:00

Today is my sweet husband's 40th birthday. We celebrated Saturday night with a small party of good friends. It was so much fun to get together without the kiddos. We played some fun games and even broke out Rock Band on the Wii at the end of the night. Thanks guys- we love you all!!
Here are some pictures from the evening. Mandy, of course as always, made an amazing cake that Jim got a good laugh from. I think the highlight of the night was Darrell's clue for Catch Phrase for the word as---teroid!
Ralph, Meredith, and Saundra- we missed you guys.
Mandy's awesome cake!Stacey, Ashley, Lori and Me trying to figure out the game Don't Forget the Lyrics.
Me, Dawn, Stacey, Ashley, and Lori after our Catch Phrase victory- girls vs guys.

Jim on the mic, Laron on the bass guitar and Jason on the drums with Mr Dennis listening in.

Ashley, rockin' it out on the drums. Thank you Hendersonville!!! Good night!

Happy Birthday Harvey- I love you!

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-29T06:34:00.002-06:00

This is all the craze on Facebook right now and I must admit it has been so fun reading everyone's. I thought I'd post mine to my blog as well. Some of them are a repeat from a post a while back where someone tagged me to do a list of random things.

1. I am adopted. I gained access to my records a little over seven years ago. I know my biological mom's name and other information but haven't attempted to find her yet.

2. I LOVE to sing in the car. I can't sing so that's where that talent is best kept. If you see me singing in my car, chances are I'm rockin' out to something 80's or praise and worship music.

3. I worked at Shoneys for 2 hours. The manager hired me to be a waitress (this was in my college years). I came in for orientation and had to watch this video. The manager let us go for lunch and I never went back.

4. I don't like large groups. I'd much rather be in a small group of people or better yet, even one on one. Yes- I'm agoraphobic. :)

5. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE crime shows. CSI and Criminal Minds are two of my favorites. I also like to watch true crime shows- Snapped is one of my favorites. This worries my husband. :)

6. Right out of college, I worked at the Department of Children Services where I investigated child abuse and neglect. I went in to the projects of Nashville at all hours of the night. It didn't bother me then- now I look back and wonder why in the world I did that and for so little money!!

7. I can touch my nose with my tongue.

8. My husband and I had a long distance relationship. When we were dating we talked on the phone so often that our phone bills came shrink wrapped to cardboard because they were too much to fit in an envelope.

9. I love books. I am a nerd (its ok- I own that). We went on a cruise a couple of years after we were married to Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Key West. I was most excited about the Hemingway house in Key West.

10. I've been repelling- rapelling- however you spell it. You know when you tie yourself to a rope and scale down a cliff...

11. I've stood on the stairs where they filmed the final scene of The Exorcist. Ok- the rules say random facts- can't get any more random than that.

12. I've had the windshield wiper fly off my car on the interstate in the middle of a downpour.

13. I am not a very trusting person. I never answer the door during the day unless I know someone is coming over. Could be too much of #5. A semi truck driver stopped to help me with my windshield wiper issue (see #12) and the first thing that ran through my mind was, "What if he's some kind of serial killer."

14. I've seen Milli Vanilli in concert along with Young MC.

15. I don't like cats. If you know me, you know that we have a cat. :(

16. I'm a get it done kind of girl- I don't mind moving furniture, mowing the grass, changing a tire...

17. I participated in my very first organized Bible study this past Fall. I was very nervous and way outside my comfort zone- see #4. I hope to do another this semester.

18. My dad, brother and I were all baptized at the same time.

19. If one of my children had been a girl, I would have named her Miranda Katherine.

20. I have always hated my nose- its way too big.

21. I am SO thankful that its by grace I am saved.

22. I HATE to talk on the phone. I really like to pay close attention when people are talking to me and I don't feel like I do that very well on the phone.

23. I have always wanted an island in my kitchen.

24. I have never been to Europe and would LOVE to go to Greece.

25. My most favorite memory of my childhood is my cousin and I staying weeks at a time during the summer at our great grandmother's house playing Barbies. :)

Reuben Casserole

2009-01-28T06:38:00.003-06:00

If you like Reuben sandwiches, I bet you'll love this casserole. We sure did!

2 cups nonfat or reduced calorie Thousand Island Dressing
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
12 slices rye bread, sliced into 1-inch strips
3 cups (1 pound) pastrami, sliced in 1/2 inch strips
3 cups sauerkraut, drained
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded swiss cheese
nonstick cooking spray

In a bowl, combine the dressing and sour cream until well blended. Set aside.
Layer one third of the bread strips on the bottom of the sprayed 9x13 baking dish.
Layer one third of the pastrami over the bread, then one third of the sauerkraut over the pastrami, then one third of the sour cream mixture, followed by one third of the shredded swiss cheese. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with a layer of cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for 30 more minutes.

The recipe says it serves 6 but this makes a HUGE casserole which I think serves far more than that so be prepared for leftovers.

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Tuesday

2009-01-27T15:24:00.003-06:00

I think Hendersonville, TN is the Bermuda Triangle for snow. It can be snowing every where around us and some how it just gets sucked in to the black hole here and we get nothing.

I may be the only person alive who is actually hungrier when I'm sick. That figures.

Wouldn't it be nice if your neighborhood was set up like your university or college? Think about it, you could walk out of your house over to the student center and get a meal for your entire family that someone else prepared using your parents money. :)

We thought about naming Aidan, Wyatt. Then we considered that we live in the South and with the accent, it would come out sounding like White Waters. I still really like the name Wyatt.

A little boy in Avery's class told him the Bell Witch story. If you're not from or don't live in Tennessee, you may not know about the Bell Witch. At the end of the story, the person telling it tells the person to go in to the bathroom, lock the door, turn off the light and say "I hate the Bell Witch" three times. In the middle of the night she's supposed to appear and do something to you. We've already been through this once since someone on the bus told Avery about Bloody Mary last year. Its similar. Avery is very freaked out about it.

After Avery shared the story and how scared it made him, Aidan ran around the rest of the night cackling, saying, "Hee Hee Hee, I'm the Bell Witch." Avery was even more freaked out. Brotherly love.

I'm so used to not having a complete conversation with anyone because of interruptions from the kids that even when they don't interrupt or something doesn't happen, I find myself pausing.

I think its easy to say that you will never have plastic surgery or do any altering treatments when you're young. Yeah, I said that but now every morning in the mirror I have to stare at these wrinkles in my forehead and Botox just isn't looking that bad.

What's The Scoop

2009-01-26T06:40:00.005-06:00

Product #1
Folex Carpet Cleaner

If you have any kind of stain any where on your carpets, run as fast as you can to WalMart and pick up this product! My friend Mandy suggested it to me a few weeks ago. At any given time, there are what seems like a million stains on our carpets. From spills of apple juice to spots where someone (wonder who that could be) wiped their cheeto hands on the carpet, to this huge coffee stain we've had forever, you name it and its probably been spilled or ground in to our carpets. I steam clean them frequently but even that doesn't get out the tough stains. Folex does! The coffee stain we've had forever that hardly any cleaning product would touch is gone. And it cleaned up many of our other stains. It retails for around $4.99. You may be able to purchase it at other stores but I bought mine at WalMart. I've only used it directly on the carpet. The instructions state that it can be used in steam cleaners. I can't wait to try that. I'll let you know how that works. Thanks Mandy!

Product #2

This is not a product but I wanted to share just in case anyone is in need of this information. We have a cat (I am not a cat lover) and she peed under Avery's bed. Uugh! I had cleaned, steam cleaned, and ousted the area and could not get that smell out. I googled removing the smell of cat urine from carpets and found this concoction. I did it this weekend and the smell is gone! So, just in case you need it, here is the recipe...

Mix together 3 parts water to one part vinegar.
Saturate the area with this solution- allow to dry.
Sprinkle baking soda over the area.
Mix together 16 oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide and 1 tsp of dish washing liquid. Sprinkle over the entire area.
Allow to dry and vacuum up. If there is still some smell, repeat until the smell is gone.

It said to test in an area of your carpet to make sure it didn't bleach the carpet. I did not test because honestly, a bleach spot of carpet to me is better than a cat urine smell; however, it didn't bleach my carpet. I do have a very light beige carpet so I'm not sure how the solution would work on darker color carpets.

Pee Wee Soccer- Panda Style

2009-01-19T10:06:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, Aidan had his very first experience with an organized sport. We signed him up for the Indoor Pee Wee Soccer league at the Y. Its very laid back and its only six weeks long. Avery played soccer one season and just didn't care for it. He is our baseball boy. Soccer just wasn't his thing. Aidan seemed to really enjoy his first soccer game and may be our soccer player. His little friend Adeline is on our team and her mom who is our good friend and neighbor is helping Jim coach. Jim is very thankful that Ms Ashley wanted to help coach, especially since Jim has never played soccer and Ashley has! :)
They were both awesome with the kiddos and everyone seemed to have fun. Aidan even scored a few goals. Go Pandas!!

Surrendering- Step One

2009-01-16T15:20:00.002-06:00

Today, I let go of one of the duties that I have held tight for the thirteen years I have been married. Actually I guess if you really break it down, I have held tight to doing bills and balancing my accounts since I was old enough to have any kind of bank account. And I am a stickler for balancing to the penny. This has been a GREAT source of contention for my sweet hubby and me. Here I am a write everything down, balance to the penny, mega-saver and here he is a write it down when my wallet fills up- if I feel like it, never balance a checkbook because I know there is money in there, spend it like its your last day on Earth non-saver. :) That's what we were like when we first married.
We came from different backgrounds. My parents were both hard workers who didn't make a lot of money. We always had what we needed but not much beyond that. My parents never had credit cards and my daddy never bought anything he couldn't pay for in cash. That's the way I grew up. My mom was very frugal because she had to be. I learned my habits from them.
Jim grew up in a family where things were not nearly as tight. They were not wealthy but well off enough to have what they needed and then be able to buy the things they wanted. He learned his habits from his situation.
Right out of college, I worked at the Department of Children's Services investigating child abuse and neglect where the people receiving AFDC and food stamps made almost as much a month as I did. Jim was an engineer so right out of college he started with the State of North Carolina in their survey and design department. I don't have to tell you that starting salaries were very different between the two jobs. :) I had to keep on top of my money because I didn't have a lot of it and I had rent, car insurance, groceries, etc. Jim didn't feel that pinch because well like I said the difference in the two salaries was significant so he had money to play around with.
So, that's how we came together on the money issue when we got married. I have to say that after thirteen years, Jim has come much of the way over to my view of things financial. The rubber really hit the road when I decided to stay home after the birth of our first son. There would be no more extra to play around with. We were a one income household and we had to stay on our budget.
I have always done our bills, kept on top of savings, and any other accounts, 401k, etc that we have. I do our budget. If you had asked me a few weeks ago why, I would have said it was because Jim doesn't like to do it. Ask me now and I'll tell you its because I like to be in control and I don't feel like he can do it as well as me. Ouch. The fact is that Jim CAN do it as well as I can, in fact, he may be a lot better at it. He's an educated man who is loyal to his family, loves his God, and would of course manage our money accordingly. Well, focusing on my word for 2009, I am turning that over to him. I think he's wanted to do it for a while and it should have been his a long time ago.
We get paid on the 15th so yesterday was the first time in thirteen years that I didn't sit down at the computer to do our bills, etc. I gave him all the information, passed on the budget, showed him how I'd done things all these years. Is it making me a little crazy- YES! I have the urge to ask Jim a million and one questions, "Are you sure you...?" Not that we won't talk about things financial- of course we will. I just need to trust that he has it under control.
I'm not saying that any wife who does her family's finances needs to just hand it over. I'm saying for me I needed to. I wasn't doing our finances because I wanted to, I was doing them because I wanted control and because I didn't trust my husband to do them the "way I wanted them done." That was my issue and why I needed to surrender. So here we go.

In Case I Didn't Realize I Was Getting Older...

2009-01-12T13:11:00.003-06:00

Do you ever have things happen and then all of a sudden you think, "Man, I'm getting old!" Here are just a few things that have occurred recently.

I teach a 4 year old Sunday school class. They were having snack and asked to watch Veggie Tales. Just recently the church has installed new tvs. So I said, "Sorry guys there's no VCR hooked up- we can't watch a movie." Lots of blank stares. :)
Almost every song I hear in JCPenney over the intercom I know the words to. The music of my younger years has now become elevator music!
The fashions of my childhood (70's and 80's) are cycling back around! I promise you that in JCPenney on Saturday I saw black leggings paired with an oversized suit jacket (with shoulder pads!) on a mannequin. If the mannequin had blond hair, she'd have passed for Debbie Gibson.
I watched the Golden Globe Awards and kept hearing myself say, "Wow, insert name of an older actor or actress here, is looking old."
I still own cassette tapes. I even have a few 8 tracks! I have records too that Avery thought were some type of frisbee.

Jim turns 40 in a few weeks (and I'm not all that far behind him). We've been joking a lot about getting older. Each time he goes to visit his parents, they send back some of his childhood things. Last time he came back with the Evil Kenieval Scramble Van! It probably has lead paint on it. :) I'm expecting him to show up from a visit next with some lawn darts. Ahh the good ole' days.

Fear

2009-01-11T17:48:00.002-06:00

We are struggling with this in my house. Avery used to be a good sleeper. Even from infancy, I could put him in his crib awake and he'd fall right to sleep. He'd sleep through the night. I don't remember exactly when we started having issues. It was probably around the time he was four. He started waking up at almost the same time every morning- 2am. His room was in the front part of the house so we wondered if it was because he would hear our neighbor's car coming in from the night shift. At that point, it really didn't seem to be about him being afraid. He would just wake up and for what ever reason not be able to get himself back to sleep.
That went away and he seemed to be sleeping fine for a while. Right after my mom passed away, he developed this intense fear of the dark. I wasn't sure if it was just developmental or if it had something to do with my mom's death. She lived with us while she was sick. Avery walked into her room that night to kiss her goodnight and in the morning she was gone. I wondered if he started associating darkness with death. He would not walk in to a dark room by himself and required a very bright night light to sleep in his room. He again began getting up in the middle of the night, several times a night.
I know what the experts say. I think in theory all of that advice from well known therapists and doctors is ideal- if we lived in a perfect world where every child was the same. But that's not reality. Avery was now in school and he'd be up four or five times sometimes till midnight. It was not a manipulation on his part. He was genuinely scared. He'd be shaking and when we would walk him back to his bed and sit with him, his eyes would dart around the room and he'd sit up in bed repeatedly thinking he saw something or heard something.
We were at the end of our rope. Sleep deprived, worried, and very frustrated. At some point we decided that he had to sleep. He had to go to school and could not function in that setting on four or less hours of sleep a night. We put his sleeping bag in our room and let him sleep there. He still does it from time to time.
I hear some gasps. Believe me- I know. Its a habit we started but sometimes you do what it takes and you go with what works. We've been working with him on the weekends, being more adamant about sleeping in his bed because he could sleep in the next day after the hours and hours of getting up and us walking him back. He's begged and cried and believe me if I didn't think he was legitimately scared to death, we would have been more forceful during the week. I remember laying in my bed as a little girl, hearing some strange noise and being scared out of my mind. I remember being very still thinking that if I didn't move, whatever boogeyman was lurking in my house wouldn't get me.
Last night we put him in his bed, we prayed with him as we've always done, kissed him and left him sobbing in his pillow. "I just can't do it.", he said. "I won't make it- I won't" He got up a couple of times and it was almost midnight before he fell asleep but he did it and he stayed there all night. Praise the Lord.
So, we had a celebration today. We made a brownie cake and celebrated Avery going to sleep and staying in bed. We made a HUGE deal and told him we understood how hard it was but that he did it and he was here with us in the morning.
Talking with friends and reading, I know that age wise its developmental. I think the intense fear is probably that and some issues about my mom's death combined. He hurdled a HUGE obstacle last night and I'm praying that tonight is a continuation.

My One Word for 2009

2009-01-07T13:09:00.007-06:00

Last year my friend, Tracy from my MOPS group challenged us to pick one word to focus on throughout the year. My word for 2008 was forgiveness. I've discovered that this is a word that I need to focus on for the rest of my life and that sometimes forgiveness comes a day at a time- maybe even from moment to moment. I received some wonderful advice from friends, specifically to make the conscious decision to forgive each day I wake up and then letting God do the rest.
I have to say that I've struggled to narrow my focus this New Year. It's taken me some time to figure out what one word encompasses what I want to work toward. I've thrown around several and for me it all comes back to this one- surrender. Surrender can be a verb or a noun. In my case, I want it to be a very active verb. :) Websters defines surrender as follows: "to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand. To give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another."
I would venture to say that most of us view surrender as a lack of action. When I first thought about it, the picture in my mind was of someone throwing up their hands and walking away. I think I used to feel like that's what it meant to give it to God. Ok God here's my problem- it's all you Big Man- I'm walking away. Yeah, I was wrong. That's not surrendering, its giving up and there is a HUGE difference.
I'll admit I have issues with the words "power", "control", "possession." And if those weren't enough, the synonym for surrender is submission. I am a control freak. I own that. You can ask my husband. I'm strong willed, do it on my own, never admit defeat, and never admit I'm wrong. I am passionate about being independent to a fault. Its this stubbornness, this fierce need to be self sufficient that has been the albatross in my relationship with the Lord. Its been the "thing" I have held on to that keeps me from that next level of relationship with Jesus. I want to be more intimate with my Savior.
I want to surrender every aspect of my life to Him. Looking back, its those times in my life when I yielded to Him completely that I was happiest, successful, and most at peace. I want there to be no worry, no doubt, and complete faith that whatever happens He's got it. He's got it because I'm where I should be because I've completely surrendered to His will- not mine.
Those are big goals, I know. I intend to break it down. My first focus of surrender is going to be in my marriage. My husband is a good Godly man and I haven't allowed him to be the spiritual leader, the head of our home that he needs to be. I've placed myself in that role because of my need to be "in control." So, I'm waving the white flag. First in my marriage and for those of you who know me, that may take me all year and then some, and then in other aspects of my life as well. I hope to give you guys some updates from time to time on my progress.
I encourage you to pick a word. You'll be surprised just how much you'll learn and how God will work on you through your focus.

This One's For You Mr. Dennis

2009-01-01T09:07:00.002-06:00

Taking a Break

2008-12-28T14:01:00.004-06:00

I am taking a break from blogging for a bit. My sweet hubby has some time off and since we don't get to be together as a family that often, I am taking some time to spend it with my boys. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I'll be back at the first of the year.

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours

2008-12-23T08:12:00.004-06:00

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:9-11

Merry Christmas from The Waters Family

What's The Scoop

2008-12-22T14:22:00.004-06:00

Product #1
Indulgence Cookie Cutter 100-Piece Set

Just because I think everyone should own this set of cookie cutters. Its a 100 piece set with several cookie cutter shapes for every holiday as well as the complete alphabet, and miscellaneous shapes like dinosaurs, teddy bears, moons, etc. I have used this set for everything from Christmas dough ornaments, to Halloween and Easter cookies, to using the alphabet cutters to spell out my youngest's name on top of his birthday cake. I've also used them to cut my kiddos sandwiches for their lunches. Its a neat surprise for them when they get to school and open their lunch box to find a dinosaur sandwich or one in the shape of an American flag.
My friend Lori bought this set for me for Christmas one year (if my memory is correct). I'm not sure where she bought it but you can purchase one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $9.99.

Product #2
Hyper Dash
Saundra got my boys this game for Christmas and they absolutely love it!! Its fun and a great way for them to run off some energy indoors or out. You set out the colored cups- my boys usually set one in each room of the house. The handheld battery operated control tells you what color to find, you run to it as fast as you can and smash the controller on to that color cup, it then tells you your next color and so on. You can have races to see who can finish in the least amount of time. We have played this game with kiddos from 2 years to 8 years old and they all have loved it. There are several different types of games you can play as well. I like that it requires your child to run around. I'm all about burning off some energy!
You can buy it at most of the retail stores and it sells for around $20.

The Best Advice

2008-12-19T11:42:00.003-06:00

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received and who gave it to you?

I've received some great advice in my life. If I had to narrow it down to the best, I'd have two selections.

1. Its easy to get your feelings hurt when everything is about you.

My past Sunday school teacher Mike Morris said this in one of his lessons and boy did that smack me right in the face. Ouch! But so very true and to this day if I am in a situation where I'm feeling targeted or hurt, I repeat that statement to myself.

2. The Lord wants us to love everyone but some people you have to love from afar.

Can I get an Amen?! I used to be the Queen of toxic relationships. The Lord does want us to love one another but when the people you interact with daily are negatively influencing your life, especially when it comes to your walk with the Lord, you got to love them from afar.

Difficult Times

2008-12-18T14:33:00.003-06:00

It is no secret that our country is going through difficult times. Its most noticeable for most in financial aspects. Its more noticeable for Christians in religious ones. Sadly, I see our country turning away from the very principals and beliefs that this nation was founded on. Its a scary time for our nation. Sometimes I'm overcome with worry about what the future holds for my children but then I'm reminded that it doesn't matter what the future holds because The Lord holds their future and that's all that really matters.
Its sad that during what is supposed to be such a joyous season, there are people who are going through the darkest, most uncertain times in their lives. So many friends and neighbors have lost their jobs and some even their homes. Here in the state of Tennessee, our governor has asked all state departments to cut their budgets by 15%. My husband works for the State and as I was talking to him on the phone this morning I realized that he could lose his job. He talked about being hopeful that only currently unstaffed open positions would be cut but he just wasn't certain. I worried about him having to let some of his staff go and what that would mean for their families as well.
I think what saddens me the most is that our government, the auto industry, the oil industry, you name it- they all have spent carelessly and lived frivolously in extravagance without any care or concern for those people who even made their gluttony possible- the working men and women of this country. So we have the big CEOs who make millions of dollars a year asking for bailouts for their companies. Big CEOs who make more in a month than most of us will make in a year or years, asking that Congress bail their company out because they have gone over their budget. Playing on sympathies, stating that if they do not receive bail out funds, many men and women will lose their jobs and their pensions.
So here we are paying the price. I'm not saying that we are totally blameless. Many of us have done the same things only on a smaller scale. Many of us have purchased homes knowing that we really couldn't afford them. Bought a better car or a bigger tv just because we wanted it even though we really couldn't afford it. In many ways its become the norm in our country to live way above one's means. When will we realize that "stuff" will not make us happy, that "stuff" does not make us better than others, and that "stuff" will not get us where we need to be in the end?
When did we lose sight of taking responsibility for our actions? Why can't that millionaire CEO be forced to put money back in his company to pay his workers, keep their pensions, and ensure his company stays afloat. Why can't we as citizens take responsibility for our actions. If we have a house we can't afford, we need to sell it and get in to one we can. If we own a car where the payment is crushing us, sell it. Let's let go of our pride and take responsibility.
I promise you I'm not preaching because I'll be the first to admit I've made some not so sound financial decisions in the past and I've spent years paying for them. But I did pay for them. Never once did it cross my mind to ask for a bailout. I didn't realize that was an option. I made those decisions and I took the consequences. Its what made me learn a better way.
So, how will big business ever learn a better way or even care about a better way if they never experience the consequences?
I would just ask you to join me in praying for our country. Pray for those that have lost their jobs or their homes. Pray for a better awareness of financial stability both in the individual citizen and in big industry. Pray that our country would get back to the principles it was founded on. Pray because prayer is strong and we pray to a mighty God who hears us.

What's The Scoop?

2008-12-16T07:44:00.006-06:00

A day late and a dollar short- story of my life lately. :) I know that this post is supposed to happen on Mondays but with the freaky "no snow" snow days our county has been getting (at least one a week for the past three weeks), I haven't had time to get typical things done much less post on the blog. What can I say, I live in Tennessee where even the minute threat of snow or ice is apparently paralyzing. :)

Product #1
The Wii Fit

Because its a long story, I won't get in to how I received my Christmas present from my hubby early. I'm so glad I did. My family and I have had the best time with the Wii Fit. It calculates your weight, BMI and your Wii fit age. I can't say I was happy about some of that but it was a good motivator to kick working out in to a higher gear.
So, its fun if you do it by yourself and can really give you a good workout. There's yoga, balance, aerobics, and strength training. And the stuff you do is fun! Yes, I said it- exercising is fun (with the Wii Fit). The best part is that my boys love it. They love it and they don't even realize they are exercising.
One of my favorites is the aerobic hula hooping. I hear you laughing. :) You try hula hooping for 2 minutes straight- it can kick your booty! I also love this one because it is hilarious to watch people on the Wii Fit board hula hooping! My four year old just cannot get the motion but its funny to watch him try. Its really fun to watch Jim (I may have to video him!). I'm certain I'm quite funny to see also.
If you have a Wii and are thinking of purchasing a game for it, get the Wii Fit. Here in Middle Tennessee they have been difficult to find but if you find one, you won't regret it.

My last part of What's the Scoop is not a product. My boys decided to run the one mile Jingle Bell jog at our local Y this past Saturday. Our neighbor and friend, Ms Ashley was running the 5K before the jog. The boys were super excited to get there and cheer her on from the sidelines. It was freezing! The boys put jingle bells on their shoes and took off for the one mile run. Avery ran the entire mile and LOVED it. He's asked to start running so he can run the 5K next year. Aidan had fun too! He didn't quite make it the entire mile but he ran his little heart out. They received "medals" at the end. Check out their pictures here and here. You may have to scroll down to find the boys. It was a lot of fun and at the end, we got to watch the Frostbite Freeze where adults and kids alike took a plunge into the outside Y pool. The temp of the water was a chilly 37 degrees!!

Let Go My Legos!

2008-12-12T14:58:00.004-06:00

It never fails. Every year one or both of my children ask for a certain toy for Christmas that is super hard to find. And its not like you know months before when the stores have plenty of them that that particular item is going to be the toy or toys that will be so popular. A couple of months ago my youngest asked for a Batman lego set. A couple of months ago every single retail store and toy store had many of this set in stock. It's the Lego Batman Harley Quinn Hammer Truck lego set. For you die hard lego fans, I don't have the set number.
Anyway, why, you ask, didn't I purchase said set months ago? Because its a Batman lego set. I really didn't think it would be that hard to come by for Christmas. Apparently, I thought wrong. I simply cannot find it anywhere. And I have looked just about everywhere online and in store. The only ones I can find are on ebay for $80 to $100. The set retails for $29.99. Why must the sellers on ebay snatch up every single set of something and then price gouge?? I'm all for making a little money and I'd be willing to give you $35 or $40 for the set- maybe even $45. The seller would still make money. But NO, here in the land of greed and money lust, they want more than three times what its worth.
So, no my youngest will not get what he's asked for unless one of the retail stores gets it back in stock. I love him and want him to be happy but I don't think missing out on the Harley Quinn Hammer Truck will scar him for life. Paying $100 for it would; however, scar me and our Christmas budget.
Before I leave you, I have to share what I DID find while I was searching for Batman legos. Just in case anyone is interested, you can purchase a life size lego Batman (yes, I said life size- when put together it stands over 78" tall), at FAO Schwartz for a mere $27,000. But, they're SOLD OUT!!

Hair's The Question...

2008-12-08T11:15:00.003-06:00

I am in desperate need of a haircut and a different hairstyle. So help me out. I have never been afraid to try just about anything with my hair so I'm not afraid of very short. Above is the best picture I could find that was close up of me. Be honest. I'm mid to edging in to the late thirties (sigh). Its important to know that my hair is very fine but I have a lot of it. I would say my face is an oval shape. Look at the pictures below and leave me a comment telling me...

A. Which style you like best.

B. Which one you think would look best on me.

C. Do you think I should go blonde?

I really like this one but my major concern is that I'm too old. (I can't even believe I have to worry about that but I do!!) The thing I like about it is how easy would it be??!!! :)

This one is probably my least favorite although its similar to the one above. I think maybe I don't like the longer hair in the back

Its been a long time since I've had bangs but then maybe that's what I'm searching for to change it up a bit.

Ok, this girl needs a bigger shirt but I do like the hairstyle. This may be my favorite at this point.

I like this one too. This girl's hair color is closer to mine than the others.

MASH

2008-12-03T06:35:00.005-06:00

M A S H

1. List 3 boys you'd marry

1. List 3 cars you want

1. List 3 places you want to live

0, 1, 2, 3, 4

Did you ever play this game when you were younger? I remember my girlfriends and I playing this all the time. I was reminded of it because I saw a piece of flair on Facebook. Its hilarious to think back on some of the things I chose to write down for the categories. I'm sure that at least one of the "three boys I liked" was the latest pop/rock guy or the newest teen heart throb. I'm certain I probably had the likes of Ralph Macchio (sp?) and Kirk Cameron on there somewhere. What can I say. I grew up in the 80's. :)
My cars were always outrageous. I remember always putting porsche and lamborghini(I can't even spell them!) and then just for fun, throwing in some normal car. My "places to live" were always some place tropical.
And for those of you who have never played MASH, the M stands for mansion, A for apartment, S for shack, and H for house. The numbers at the bottom- 0,1,2,3,4 were the number of kids you would have. Now, I'm getting old so my memory is not what it used to be but I think you picked a number from 1 through 5. Let's say you picked the number 5. You started at the M and counted each letter and then went through each column. Every time you got to five, you would mark that off the list. You continued to do that until you only had one thing left in each category.
So, it was possible to live in a Shack, be married to Ralph Macchio, drive a porsche, live in the Bahamas, and have 4 children!! :)
So come on girls- did you ever play this when you were younger?

What's The Scoop?

2008-12-01T06:42:00.005-06:00

Product #1
Uppercase Living

Have you heard of this or seen their products. I had heard about their stuff and a couple of months ago my friend Sarah invited me to a party she was hosting. I didn't get to attend but she did drop off a catalog. I seriously wanted to buy everything in it. Check it out at UppercaseLiving. What really sold us is that we got a fairly large piece that has the Bible verse, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." The cost was some where around $34. When compared to the price of buying a good size, nice framed picture for a wall which can be in the hundreds of dollars, the uppercase living looked even better. And now that we have it on the wall, we are very pleased. If you do decide to order, I'm certain Sarah would pass on her consultant's name.

Product #2
Shutterfly

I just ordered our photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly last night. I have to say that I've used Snapfish and Ofoto and really only tried Shutterfly because a friend told me about a free deal they were having just for signing up. I love Shutterfly and at least in my experience, their pictures have been better quality.
They are having a deal on photo Christmas cards. Once you've designed your card and are ready to order, add 75 to your basket. It will charge you for the first 50 and the next 25 are free. Be sure to use the free shipping code when you check out on orders $25 or more- code SHIP25. You can also receive a free 12 month calendar if you spend over $50 using the code SECRET02.

Thankful- Out of the Mouth of Babes

2008-11-26T10:06:00.001-06:00

I am thankful for many things. First, I am thankful for my family because thay love me. I am also thankful for my toys because I can play. I am also thankful for God because he made the world. I am thankful for my frinds (friends) because thay are nice. And I am thankful for Jesus because he died on the cross.
Avery Waters
November 2008
2nd grade

Couldn't have said it better myself. :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What's The Scoop

2008-11-24T06:21:00.003-06:00

Product #1
Mary Kay Mineral Make Up

I'm a less is more kind of girl when it comes to makeup. Although I have found as I get older, I require more where makeup is concerned. I had tried the mineral powder last year and liked it but for whatever reason I just wasn't hooked. A few months ago, a sweet lady at church who happens to be a Mary Kay consultant talked to me about their new line of mineral makeup. She encouraged me to try it again and I did. And I'm hooked.

You can get the Mineral Powder Foundation for $18 and you have to make a one time brush applicator purchase (it can be cleaned with your mild facial cleanser and used for a long time) of $10. The thing I love the most about the mineral powder is how light it is and feels when you are applying it. You never get that "caked" on look. Its very natural looking.
I use the facial highlighting pen ($18) which acts similar to concealer but also adds dimensions of light in those areas that need them. For example, I have some laugh lines around my mouth that I added the highlighter too and they were not visible after that.
The mineral eye makeup is $6.50 and the cheek color is $10.
If you're in the market for a new line of makeup, I highly recommend giving this a try.

Product #2

I did a post last week on the gift of giving. We decided this year to help provide Christmas for a family who has a member with ALS. Over the weekend we received our family's information in the mail. They are local to us. The father is a man in his early fifties and the mother is in her forties. They have two daughters, ages 9 and 11. Her husband was diagnosed two years ago and is now at the stage where he is confined to a wheelchair. He can still eat, breathe and speak normally which is a huge blessing.
They own a farm and have had to sell part of it off over the past few years.
If you are reading this and feel led to give, please contact me. If you don't know how to get in touch with me, leave me a comment on how to touch base with you. The mother asked for gift cards to restaurants. The father is interested in books on CD or DVDs with his interests being in history, native Americans, and World War I and II. The girls love crafts and to read.
My family and I are planning to shop for them soon and would be happy to add to what we give them if you would like to help.

Happy Birthday Aunt Meri!

2008-11-23T14:16:00.003-06:00

The Miser Brothers

2008-11-21T06:11:00.000-06:00

We have a lot of Christmas traditions. Some are serious and some are silly. We like to watch all of the Christmas shows during the season but there is one that is a Waters family favorite. If you're around my age you'll remember it and probably even be able to sing along. If you haven't seen it, try to catch it this holiday season. Cut it some slack where the animation is concerned, it was made all the way back in 1974! :) Look for it in your tv guide. Its called The Year Without a Santa Claus.
And now for your viewing pleasure...

The Gift of Giving

2008-11-20T06:34:00.000-06:00

I know that's a corny title but it really is so true. There are so many great organizations that we can donate to throughout the year. Agencies that are in the thick of it out there in the day to day helping those who may not have even the most basic of human needs. Whether domestic or international, I would just encourage you to research a cause that you are passionate about and find a way to give. This year has been tight for most financially but money or material things are not the only way we can help. Donating your time is just as helpful.
Let's be the hands and feet of Christ.
Below are just a couple of links to some agencies that are near and dear to me. You can adopt an "angel" from the Salvation Army angel tree . Families of patients with ALS suffer huge financial burdens relative to the nature of the illness. You can adopt a family and help make their Christmas a little brighter. And an agency that meets people at their basic needs is the Nashville Rescue Mission.

What's The Scoop?

2008-11-18T06:21:00.005-06:00

This week's What's The Scoop is a little different. I'd like for you to give me the scoop. My boys have asked for a trampoline for Christmas. We've checked around and found some with the safety enclosure feature included at pretty decent prices. We have several friends who have trampolines and the boys have a ball when they go play on them.
Every time I look at one, I run the pros and cons in my head. My biggest pro is that it will be something for them to do to blow off some energy. My boys NEED things to do that help them expend the endless amount of energy in their little bodies.
My biggest con is the fear of injury. My boys are rough and tumble and although we haven't been in a while (let me knock on some wood), we are no strangers to the emergency room. Boys are gonna be boys and I've learned to let them be. I just think the trampoline adds in a whole new dimension of possible injuries. That and the fact that when Avery broke his hand, the orthopedic doc said that the two things they see the most injuries with kids from are skateboards and trampolines.
So, what do you think?

From the Perspective of an Adopted Child

2008-11-14T12:02:00.005-06:00

Bob and Joyce Childers adopted me when I was two months old. I've known from a very early age that I was adopted. My parents were very open about it and from the time I could sit and listen until I could fully understand, my parents would tell me. What did that mean for me growing up? Truthfully, not much. I didn't look like either of my parents or my brother but then there are lots of kids who don't look like their biological families. I couldn't tell you what hospital I was born in or the time of my birth but then little kids don't really care about that kind of thing anyway. I remember that for whatever reason (most likely he didn't read my chart before entering the exam room) that my pediatrician could never remember that I was adopted and would always ask my parents about history of diseases in their families- duh. :)
Other than that, I had two parents who really loved me and an amazing grandfather and grandmother. They never treated me like anything other than a part of the family. My mom's side of the family was very good to me. My dad's side of the family was not the same; however, I feel like I should insert here that his family didn't treat their biological parts any better. Long story short, you know God does amazing things in people's lives because I'm always amazed that my daddy turned out to be such a good man coming from his background.
I never had a big desire to find out about the woman who gave birth to me. I never harbored any ill feelings toward this woman. Actually, I was always thankful to her. I was thankful that she had chosen life for me even if that meant it was not a life with her.
I got married when I was twenty four. A few years after that, there was a petition filed that opened up adoptive records. Jim and I were thinking about having a baby and I told him I wanted my records to see if there was anything genetically I needed to worry about. Right after that, the files were closed again. It wasn't until I was nine months pregnant with my first son that I received a call to come and view my adoptive file. I was nervous walking in to the Department of Children's Services office. Jim went with me but I remember they would not allow him to go back and view the file. I walked back with a social worker. She began by telling me that many biological mothers would call back in from time to time just to update the file, especially with medical information. Mine had not. In fact, the social worker told me that my file was one of the smallest she had seen. Not a great start.
Before I was allowed to open the file, I had to sign an affidavit stating that I would not attempt to contact my biological family except through the Department. And with that signature, I opened the file.
There was my mother's name, Kay Marie Soper Teal. Soper was her maiden name. How funny that my middle name is Marie. My adoption was a closed adoption through the State so my parents could not have known that was my biological mother's middle name also. My mother was married previously and had a little boy from that marriage named Robert. She worked for the State in a secretarial position and because there was no such thing as maternity leave back then had to quit her job to have me. When she divorced her first husband, she and her son Robert moved in with her parents. She felt that she could not care for another child financially and apparently her parents were not excited with the idea of there being another "mouth to feed."
My name was Katherine Teal for the first two months of my life. My mother held me once and when I was cleared to leave the hospital I was placed in a foster home.
My father was just drifting through town. I have his name but I won't type it here. He knew about the pregnancy but chose to move on.
There was a little background on my maternal grandparents, the social worker's home visit notes, a crazy amount of court documents, and a hand typed letter made by my foster mother of my feeding and nap schedule. Bits and pieces of the home visit papers as well as a few other pieces of information validated a lot for me.
So the Department gave me two weeks to decide if I wanted them to pursue contacting her. I was nine months pregnant, very emotional, and so I decided that I just couldn't pursue that at that point. Logically I felt it would be understandable if she were contacted and didn't wish to see me. My heart just didn't feel that way and I just wanted to focus on having my baby and maybe look at that again later on down the line.
Here I am seven and a half years later, two precious boys, a wonderful husband, and an even deeper knowledge now of the sacrifice my mother made for me. When I held my oldest son Avery in my arms that very first time, I could not fathom the pain that my mother must have gone through at that moment. To hold me, to look into my eyes and then to hand me over knowing that she would never see me again. She would not see my first step, could not comfort me when I got hurt, would never hear me call her mother. How do you get passed that? Do you? At that moment I realized that one day I would try to find her and that whether or not she wished to see me, whatever her answer, that would be ok. That would be ok because I know for me, in order to hand my child over for someone else to raise I would have to cut myself off completely. I would. Otherwise, I would wonder every single minute of every day was my baby being loved, was my baby being cared for, was my baby better off for the decision I made.
So thank you Kay Marie Soper Teal. Thank you. I WAS loved, I WAS cared for, and I believe I WAS better off for the decision, for the sacrifice you made.

Christmas Quiz

2008-11-12T14:08:00.002-06:00

I love these kinds of things so I thought I'd come up with a few questions regarding the holidays. I look forward to reading the answers! I'll post mine in the comment section.

1. Your favorite Christmas Carol/song...

2. Your favorite holiday dessert...

3. When do you open Christmas presents- Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

4. A holiday tradition you have...

5. Lamest Christmas present (oh come on! We've all received a few and maybe even given a few.)

6. Egg Nog or Boiled Custard?

7. Least favorite holiday food...

Burn Baby, Burn

2008-11-10T18:06:00.005-06:00

I chose this title because this is what the kids were singing as we sat around the bonfire- Disco Inferno. Yeah- they only knew the "Burn baby burn" part. :) A few weeks ago, we had a bonfire cookout with the Whites. Ralph cleared us a spot and got a great fire going so we could roast hot dogs and marshmallows. The kids decided to dress in their Halloween costumes so they could play. Drake and Avery played Star Wars and Kinsey and Aidan played something that included the hundreds of dogs little Kinsey has. She loves her dogs!
The kids actually played so the adults were able to talk a while. When it started getting dark, we took turns telling scary stories around the fire. It was hilarious to hear the stories that the kids came up with. Actually, my scary story came true thanks in part to Ralph! We still love you Uncle Ralph. :)
A good time was had by all and we decided that it was the beginning of the annual White-Waters Weenie Roast.

What's the Scoop

2008-11-10T16:13:00.002-06:00

Product #1
Star Wars Action Figures

If your boys are like mine, anything Star Wars just sends them in to a frenzy. They especially love playing with the little Star Wars action figures. The cheapest I've seen them is at Target and Walmart where they are between $6 and $7. I rarely shop at K-mart but was there today and they currently through the end of the week are having a sale on all their Star Wars action figures, $4.99. If you're looking for them, I'd hurry because they were going fast.

Product #2
The Millenium Falcon

I told you we are Star Wars crazy in our house. The Millenium Falcon I'm referring to is the huge over 2 feet one. We compared prices at several stores today and here's what we found. Target currently has the best price at $127. Its on sale so that will only last through the end of the week. Toys R Us has it for $159.99. Its a big ticket item and some people may think we are crazy for even considering purchasing it. The thing is we know our boys will get many, many, many hours of play out of it and its a gift for both of them that they will have to share.

The Invisible Woman

2008-11-07T12:27:00.001-06:00

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

2008-11-06T06:57:00.003-06:00

I am usually an early shopper when it comes to Christmas. Typically I am almost finished by this time. I'm not sure what's happened to me this year. I have bought a few little things here and there but am no where near being done. In the past I've done most of my shopping online. It was just easier to browse online at Aidan's naptime than to drag him to a store and try to look for specific things. And I think you can find some great deals online.
But here it is the first week of November and not only do I have a minimal amount of my shopping done but I also have no idea what we're getting the boys or what I'm getting Jim.
So help me out...

Are you an online shopper?

What are you getting your kiddos for Christmas this year? (My boys have asked for a trampoline- YIKES!)

Do you like to get out in the madness that is the day after Thanksgiving? If so, what's the best deal you've ever found? And what's the earliest you've ever been out on the Friday after Thanksgiving?

What are you getting your hubby?

The Force is Strong with Us... It Is

2008-11-03T06:40:00.002-06:00

We had a very fun Halloween night. Our friends came over and we trick or treated with our neighbors. Both boys are so in to Star Wars so Avery was Anakin Skywalker and Aidan was Captain Rex of the Clone Troopers. One of the highlights of their night was seeing a man in our neighborhood dressed as a Storm Trooper. Even Jason and Jim had to get their pictures made with him. Our neighbor Ms. Gege dresses up every year. She is dressed as pumpkin, passing out candy on her front porch to our crew.
Afterwards, we came back and the kids sorted their stash and even made some trades. And I'm off to the Y this morning to try and work off the 80 miniature candy bars I've eaten since Friday night. :)

Mismatch Day

2008-10-31T13:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T06:15:00.000-05:00

The Month of October in Picture Review

2008-10-29T07:06:00.000-05:00

The month of October has been a busy month.
We had dinner at Maggianos for the first time last weekend. Oh my goodness!! We did the family style dinner with our neighbors and friends. We were celebrating the husband's birthday. Above is a picture of Mom's lasagna from Maggianos. YUM!
And this is the Chocolate Zuccotto (I know I spelled that incorrectly) cake. Its a seven layer chocolate cake and its wonderful!! I couldn't even begin to calculate my weight watchers points for this!
Aidan had Farm Day at his school. It rained so we had to move it inside. The kids got to go around to all kinds of fun centers. Above Aidan is searching for chicken eggs (not really- they are plastic Easter eggs). I volunteered and got to work the pumpkin vine limbo!
Farm Day wouldn't be complete without the Chik Fil A Cow. This is Aidan's class and his teacher Mrs. Harris.
We carved pumpkins, although Aidan decided he would use the Mr Potato Head pumpkin pieces kit to make a "witchy" pumpkin.
Jim went to Avery's school and spoke to the 2nd grade about maps.
Aidan finally figured out how to put the plastic vampire teeth in his mouth without choking himself. :)
Our neighbors came over one evening to decorate Halloween cookies. We LOVE our neighbors!

My boys love the Smith girls! Avery is playing beauty shop with Selah. She's drying his hair.
Aidan and Adeline are playing beauty shop too.
Avery did carve his pumpkin. He used a template and made Anakin Skywalker with a little help from dad.
Avery's elementary school had their Fall Carnival. Here's Avery with some friends from 2nd grade.
The Carnival had games in each classroom. This is the first time Avery has ever played twister.
Digging for Dinosaur eggs
Pumpkin Ring Toss

Add in a trip to Chattanooga for Fall Break, dinner with friends at LaRivierres (sp?) on the Gallatin Square- also a first, 2 trunk or treats, a birthday party at Honeysuckle Hill Farm, a visit to the flea market, and the ALS Walk and that's our October.
We're wrapping up the month with trick or treating with friends on Halloween night and starting our November with a bonfire at the White House (with Meredith and Ralph, not George.) We are so thankful for good friends and good times together.

Play That Funky Music White Boy!

2008-10-27T06:59:00.002-05:00

The Waters (I know it surprises you) Family has no rhythm whatsoever. It always makes me laugh to see one of my boys dancing. But they do enjoy themselves. :) Just a little Monday morning chuckle for you to start the week.

Who Ya With?

2008-10-26T11:47:00.003-05:00

Click here to take the ABC News Match O Matic quiz. After you choose your answers, it matches you with the candidate your views most closely mirror. Who ya with? (if you want to share) :)

Souper Easy Loaded Potato Soup

2008-10-23T12:46:00.004-05:00

5 Large Baking potatoes

1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 quart half and half
3 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
8 fully cooked bacon slices crumbled
Garnish- sliced green onions

Prick each potato several times with a fork. Arrange potatoes 1 inch apart in microwave on paper towels. Microwave at HIGH about 20 minutes, turning and rearranging after 10. Let cool.

Peel potatoes and coarsely mash with a fork.

Melt butter in a large pan (Dutch oven if you have one) over medium heat: add onion, and saute until tender. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in potatoes, half and half, and next three ingredients, cook over low heat about fifteen minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Top each serving with cheese and bacon and garnish with green onion if desired.

The Ghosts of Halloween Pasts

2008-10-22T05:48:00.000-05:00

Did you dress up and go trick or treating as a kid? If so, what was your favorite costume as a child. If you don't have a favorite, what's your most memorable?

I don't really have a favorite. My parents were very frugal so most of my costumes were made out of whatever I could come up with at home (and that was actually a lot of fun). The only store bought costume I remember is The Road Runner. I'm not quite sure how I arrived at wanting to be the Road Runner but apparently that is what I decided on one year. I remember my mom bought my costume too big and I kept trying to tell her but she just wasn't as concerned as I was with that. Anyway, my brother and I went out to trick or treat in our neighborhood. About the third house into it, I fell down our neighbor's concrete porch steps (because my costume was too big) and that wrapped it up for me that night. :)

At the Drive In

2008-10-21T14:02:00.010-05:00

Sarah blogged about the Franklin Drive In theater back in the summer. I went to their website and signed up for notifications on upcoming movies. It is in Franklin, Ky so its a bit of a drive but at $9 a car load, the price for a movie can't be beat. This weekend they are showing two kids movies. My boys never got in to High School Musical so we've not seen any of those but you would have to be from another planet not to realize how popular it has become. HSM 3 and Beverly Hills Chihuahua are the two movies showing with gates opening at 6pm and HSM 3 starting at 7pm, Beverly Hills Chihuahua at 8:50pm. Just thought I'd pass along the info.

SHOWING FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY NIGHT ONLY
Closed Monday thru Thursday
ADMISSION $9.00 car load
Gates Open 6:00pm Movie Starts7:00pm
FM Stereo is required for movie listening.
Gates may open early due to the high volume of traffic on our main road
In case of a SELL OUT the gates will close and WILL NOT RE-OPEN for the second feature.
As always PLEASE take notice of others, put your hatches down while the movie is playing and if you are in a large vehicle, park in the rear or on the sides if room is available.

What's The Scoop

2008-10-20T06:07:00.000-05:00

Product #1
Mr Clean Mega Shower Foamer
Sometimes I like to clean. In a weird sort of way its therapeutic for me. Maybe its just that sense of accomplishment I get when I look at my shiny kitchen floor and enjoy it for the all of two minutes it will stay that way. When you have two boys ages 4 and 7, nothing stays clean very long. :)
The one room I hate to clean is the bathroom. The bathroom is hard work. Anything I can buy to make cleaning that room easier, I'm going to do it. Last week I bought the new Mr Clean Mega Shower Foamer. Its basically the old scrubbing bubbles with a spray foamer that covers a wider area.
I have to say that it does cover a bigger area with a good layer of scrubbing bubbles. I like scrubbing bubbles. I use it to clean because it really does do a lot of the work for you. I don't have to scrub the soap scum on the shower near as long and as hard when I use the bubbles.
I liked the Mega Shower Foamer and it does do what the commercial promises; however, it is quite a bit more expensive than the regular Mr Clean Scrubbing Bubbles which with more careful application can cover the exact same area just as well.
And having used the Target generic brand which is even cheaper and does the same job, I just don't see myself paying $4 plus dollars just for the wide spray.

Product #2
Mr Clean Magic Erasers

The Mr Clean Magic Erasers have become a staple in my house. Once again I have used the less expensive target brand with the same satisfactory results. These are so versatile. You can get just about anything up with the magic eraser. Crayon marks on walls- check. Shoe scuff marks on linoleum- check. built up crud on lawn chairs that were left outside through the winter-check. Sharpie marks on the kitchen table- check. The only drawback I've come across during my use is that you have to be careful what surface you use the eraser on. It can remove the finish from some things. I used it on my kitchen table when my boys got sharpie marks on it. It wasn't until the sun hit the table later that day that I noticed I had taken the finish off as well on the spots where I used the magic eraser. But, I would do it again because the sharpie marks on the table looked far worse than the spots left behind with the removed finish.

Goblins and Ghouls

2008-10-17T15:09:00.005-05:00

I love this time of year for many reasons. Mainly I love the crispness of the air, putting away my shorts and pulling out the jeans, the beautiful colors, and Halloween. I love Halloween. Let me clarify. I love the Halloween that is just the fun holiday (nothing to do with All Hallows Eve or with anything evil.) As a kid I have to admit that I had more fun passing out candy from my front porch than dressing up and trick or treating. Sometimes my dad would dress up too. I just enjoyed seeing everyone in their costumes.
We lived in a neighborhood with a ton of kids so we always had a lot of trick or treaters. On many occasions I remember my mom closing the door and turning off the porch light at around 8 because we had run out of candy. And let me tell you, my mom was not a skimper when it came to candy. She bought the good stuff and tons of it. So when I say we ran out of candy you know that we had a crazy amount of trick or treaters.
My mom bought milky ways, snickers, reeses, and three musketeers. If you came to my house, you were gonna get some chocolate. The one thing my mom bought every year were those gross gooey, can hardly chew them, stick to the roof of your mouth peanut butter chews- you know the ones- wrapped in either orange or black. Yuck! I would refuse to give those out so we always ended up with mass amounts of it left after Halloween. Thinking back, the smart thing to do would have been to give that yucky stuff out and horde the good chocolate!
Even after I moved out, I came back every Halloween to my mom's house to pass out candy. And after we had the boys, we took them to her neighborhood to trick or treat.
My boys LOVE Halloween and if I asked you why you thought that was, I'm sure most would think because of the candy. They do like the candy but what they love more is dressing up. Avery has been a duck, Barney, Woody from Toy Story, Shrek, The Thing, the red Power Ranger, The Human Torch and this year will be Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars. Aidan has been a pumpkin, Frankenstein, a glow in the dark skeleton, and will be Captain Rex, leader of the Clone Troopers from Clone Wars.
Once back home from trick or treating, the boys like to dump out their bags and sort their candy. They take great joy in this. :) We immediately pull out any candy they don't like and that goes with Jim to work the next day. They then get to keep their candy for a couple of days and whatever is left after that goes with Jim once again to work where he puts it on his secretary's desk to share. Jim said that its fairly busy around that candy bowl until the chocolate runs out. After that it takes days for the smarties, gum, and tootsie rolls (oh yeah and those orange and black wrapped yucky chews) to get gone.
So Happy Halloween in the dress up, trick or treat, Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown kind of way. :)

VOTE!

2008-10-16T11:23:00.005-05:00

Ashley posted this on a mommies message board. I thought it was worth posting on here. I can tell you from personal experience with the last election, early voting is the way to go. I stood in line for a LONG time to vote during the last election. Early voting gives you a chance to get it done without the crowd.
Whatever your political persuasion, please vote. Too many people have given their lives so that we have this privilege.
If you live in Sumner County, here are your early voting locations, dates and times.

Early Voting Locations:
Hendersonville- Sumner Co. Gov’t Bldg (old water dept. on Dunn St)
Oct.18,25- 9am-3pm
Oct. 27,28- noon- 6pm

Gallatin- Sumner Co. Admin. Bldg.
Oct.15-17, Oct.20-24, Oct.27-28- 8am-4:30pm.
Oct.18,25- 9am-3pm
Oct.29-30- 8am-7pm.

White House- White House City hall
Oct.21-23- noon-6pm.
Oct.22- noon-7pm.

Westmoreland- VFW
Oct.27-28- noon-6pm.

Portland- JE Kerly Bldg.
Oct.20,21- Noon-6pm.
Oct.22- noon-7pm.
Oct. 29- noon-7pm

ALS Walk, Rock City, and Chattanooga, TN

2008-10-14T07:53:00.016-05:00

Avery had Fall Break this week and was out of school from Thursday through Monday. We kicked our weekend off with the Walk to D'Feet ALS on Saturday at Centennial Park. Its always bittersweet because the Walk is fun and a wonderful way to raise money and awareness for this horrible illness but its also sad because all of our thoughts immediately go to how much we miss Nana. There were many more people present this year. The Vanderbilt baseball team was there and started the walk off for everyone. Thanks to everyone who donated money, pledged to walk
with us, and prayed for us.

We decided last minute that after the Walk we would head to Chattanooga for the rest of the holiday weekend. I have grown up in Middle Tennessee and have seen the "See Rock City" signs. I have to admit that I have made fun of it and joked about it. I mean how exciting could Rock City be?

We ABSOLUTELY loved it. The boys had a blast. From Fat Man's Squeeze to the 1000 ton balanced rock to seeing seven states, we loved it all!! We also went to Ruby Falls where we trekked deep down to the center of the Earth (ok that's a bit dramatic- Avery and I are reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne so he kept saying that..) and made our way to the Falls. Beautiful! Aidan was a little scared in the cave and didn't enjoy the Falls quite as much.

The next day we drove to downtown Chattanooga and walked around the city. Chattanooga is such a beautiful city and so family friendly. We played at the downtown playground by the river, walked through the water outside the Aquarium, and ended up at the Children's Museum. To end our trip, we walked to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream. Avery was playing air guitar and singing to Van Halen playing over the intercom. :)

Even with all of that, there is still a ton of stuff we didn't have time to do. We will definitely be planning a trip back. And if you haven't........ SEE ROCK CITY.... and Ruby Falls- you won't be sorry!