good times....

fun in the sun

















at Wetlands
















The girls loved dressing Luke up as a girl.






































poor guy!

Ouch!

My kids are in heaven having Tonya’s kids here. Libby decided she wanted short hair like the girls so we took a trip to the mall for hair cuts. Luke got his usual and Libby got all kinds of attention as she came into a whole new look. She’s even cuter…. if that’s possible. The kids have been going to VBS in the evenings so we adults have enjoyed some “free time”. Well, I didn’t enjoy it so much yesterday. I was just playing around on my long board and about broke my foot. Immediately it grew in size and turned a deep blue. I’m alright except that Tonya and my neighbor witnessed the whole thing. I have a feeling my foot will heal a lot faster than my pride. The hilarious thing about all of this is after it happened Tonya said she packed an ace bandage. I asked if she takes one wherever she goes and she said “no”. She just packed one because she was coming to our house. What does that mean anyway? I’m still not sure how to take that?
















At the mall after haircuts and a trip to the Cookie Co.
(we picked up an extra kid...our neighbor's)

The girls.

What cuties!

Our High Ropes Course...(without the ropes or the course)

Tonya and girls are here. This afternoon the kids were playing downstairs and the adults were chillin on the couch. Well, Tim was passed out on the couch. We were watching some home show when the neighbor came in and said her son was stuck in a tree, way high up in a tree. She came looking for me since she knew I used to run a ropes course. I grabbed my shoes and Tonya grabbed her camera (being the true blogger she is) and we ran across the street. Well, sure enough he was way up there and really stuck. His parents said they were inside and heard someone yelling for awhile but didn't figure it was their son up in a tree. His foot had gone to sleep and he was a little frazzled. As I was climbing up one of the spectators asked if I was an arborist. I was like "uh...no". What a time to ask such a silly question. I
like trees but come on... an arborist? We got down fine. The little guy must not have been too shaken because I saw him up in the tree again an hour later, just not quite as high.

Our basement!

Our basement walls are up. The walls are styrofoam forms filled with concrete, so they are water proof, insulated, and radon resistant. You can nail sheet rock straight to it for your inside walls. Very cool! If you thought I was kidding when I said in a previous post that I will know how to build a house when this is over you were mistaken. I cut about half of the forms, leveled the inside beams, and placed the bolts for the sealant cover. Tim cut all the rebar. Are you asking yourself... why? Well, these walls are expensive and basically we could only afford the materials so the guys putting up our walls were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts for no cost. So, Tim and I went out there to help them as much as we could. Though it was exhausting, I did love having the opportunity to put in some sweat equity. Next thing (hopefully) will be the garage and porch footers then the finishing of the basement, garage and porch floors.

Coolest dorks ever !

Well, as tired as I was from my trip and as conflicted as I am of potential life changes I still felt like I was thirteen yesterday when Tim walked in the door with my new long board. I got a skateboard on Christmas day when I was thirteen. I used to ride it to my bus stop and hide it in the bushes. I remember the road was so bumpy that my body felt like it was still shaking long after I got to school, so that was about it for my venture into extreme sports. Until J.T came by a couple of weeks ago and let me ride his long board. Instantly I found a new since of youthfulness as it glides down the road carving back and forth. He said Beth had one too, so I thought if Beth can get away with having one, just maybe I could. Never mind that she is a little bit younger and a whole lot cooler than me, a girl can still try. The big surprise was, instead of grip tape (which most, if not all others have) it has astro turf. It’s designed for the beach bum surfer dude that rides to the beach, I suppose. I don’t mind the turf for now especially when it carves as good as my mother’s thanksgiving turkey! John and Beth came over last night and brought their long boards, we rode underneath the street light. We set up a course with cones and watched John show off ; ) It was tons of fun until I mistakenly went down the hill at Mach 1 …screaming. However, I did manage to stay on the board, falling wasn’t really an option that would have been far too painful. Here are some photos….I know we’re a bunch of dorks…but possibly the coolest dorks ever!

We're on our way home, 10 hours on this thing. Good times.

Janyl, Sarah, me, and Amy at Sharky's

Awesome set! The music rocks, literally. There is about 1500 of us here, our group makes up 89 of them.

A beautiful day!

We made it! The sand is beautiful. The surf is green from seedweed. But its all good cause I got Janyl on the beach with me.

Are we there yet? NO! Boaz talked himself to sleep. Lets just say I have a stronger appreciation for the 80s power ballad.

Bigstuf or Bust

I'm heading out to Panama City, FL. ( Bigstuf) I will try and mobile blog while I'm gone. Tim is staying home to "work on the house" that's code for: working on his back swing and maybe even his serve reception ; )

Game on!

Now, that school is out Tim and I have our Sunday evenings to ourselves. The youth group takes a small hiatus for the summer but Mamaws never do. So we still made our usual Sunday evening stop to drop the kids but headed to the tennis courts instead. It was the hottest day yet and we could still feel it at 5:30 but that didn’t slow us down. Well, I should say it didn’t slow Tim down. I think he stepped it up a bit after I blurted out we were playing for bragging rights on the blog. Last time we played I beat him, straight up. Last time the court just wasn’t big enough, he kept hitting the ball out. This time he played with precision and finesse. It was pretty…..pretty painful! Ok. So I started thinking after he killed me 6-1 then again 6-1 ( it was bad but not as bad as it sounds I lost several games after I had the advantage. Well, that does sound pretty bad) that he has had to “work” a lot lately. Hmmmm…so I’m thinking maybe his “work” has involved, maybe a tennis instructor!@#? And, here I have been feeling sorry for him and trying to help him out by mowing the yard, just wanting to lighten the load a bit for him and he is out working on his back swing! Of course he denies it. But there is no denying his game. Well, all I got to say is GAME ON! Anyone know a good tennis instructor….preferably tall, dark, and handsome…. just kidding! It wasn’t a total loss (for me) we showed up with one ball and left with four and I got more power on my serve. Now I just need to find some consistency!

pumper trucks, sea monkeys, goodbyes and more

Well, there it is! The first bit of concrete poured. Wahoo! These past few days have been hilarious. In between organizing “end of the school year things”, t-ball, car pool, and doing the average ordinary things I have had to coordinate the construction of our house. Monday I had to stop cooking dinner to make a quick run to transit mix for more supplies. Tuesday I had to wait around to pay the pumper truck guys and today I had to rush home from picking the kids up to meet 3 tandem loads of 57 ( that’s what we builders call rock). You might chuckle but Rinker (rock quarry) has made it on my contact list on my cell. So, I spent my afternoon directing dump trucks and saving “sea monkeys” (water creatures of some sort, pet shrimp, I think). Luke has them, somehow these creatures come to life if you just add water and I have heard die just as easily (kinda like goldfish).
This summer and fall, hopefully not too much of winter, will offer a plethora of learning experiences for me. Who knows when this is over I just might start building houses for a living. That is if I still have my wits about me. If you know of any other stay at home moms that build houses on the side let me know ; )

Kindergarten Graduation

The kids put on a great show!
















Waltzing with Caroline ( poor guy only comes up to her chin).


















Luke and his teacher.

















However a great day, everything has been over shadowed with a deep sadness as the little boy in the front row (looking right at the camera) with his arms crossed was hit by a truck after school yesterday (shortly after this program) and today is on life support. Please pray for him and his family.

That a boy!

As a reward for a great first year of school Luke gets he very own skate board. No more snagging his dad's. This year has been a good one for him, he came home everyday with good remarks. Except for the day he came home with a "red ticket"( which indicates bad behavior) as a joke. I didn't think it was too funny but he is his father's son! His graduation ceremony is Monday. I am preparing myself by watching lots of Oprah and sappy movies in the hope of running out of tears by then ;)

FIELD DAY 2006

a thing of beauty and a joy forever.......

An older friend, kind of mentor, once came up to me and randomly said “you are a thing of beauty and a joy forever”. I have never heard that before, at least I have never heard those words in that succession before. It felt great to hear, I mean who wouldn’t want to hear that? It came at a time when I truly needed it too. I was in Africa and questioning my real significance and contribution to my team. The neat thing is my friend didn’t know my thoughts and I was trying hard not to be transparent and reveal my insecurities.

But since then those words have echoed in my ears, I have not forgotten them. I remember when she said those words to me I instantly questioned her in my mind, wondering what I had done to prompt such a wonderful compliment. Not wanting to seem ungrateful or give away that I was even questioning if what she said could be true , I just responded with a “thank you”. Unfortunately, very few things that have been said to me I remember verbatim . And if they do stick usually it is the most hurtful words that linger most. I’m not sure why. Is it easier to remember the bad because the bad is easier to believe or is it the pain that serves as the glue so that it sticks etched in your mind? I’m not sure. But truly if my words are going to be remembered I want them to because they were affirming, uplifting, and they came when they were needed. As a wife, and a mother, and even a friend, I am drowning in this opportunity. I think my friend's words speak more of her than of me. I pray that God will give me the words and the discernment to use them just as He has with my friend.

Happy Mother's Day

Nice day... Phyllis and Les ("Mamaw" and "Bubba", is what the kids call them) came over for lunch. I made Pesto Bowtie Pasta with Chicken (with my home grown basil) and homemade garlic cheese bread with a toss salad.
My mom is in up state New York today so in honor of her I wore the sweater she knitted for me. I miss her so it seemed to me a simple way to keep her close.

For the rest of the day.... probably nothing out of the ordinary, our sunday special. A family bike ride, a nap on the couch with the typical interruptions of quarreling kids, the sneaking of treats hid high up in the cupboard. The mad dash to church only after sweeping through the house to pick up the damage of the day and lastly dropping the kids off at Mamaw's so Tim and I can relive our Youth in a far better way.
So, here is to Mother's on such a sweet day and here's to their families that honor them in endearing ways.

da' boyz

Luke and ah ....we'll call him "the neighbor boy" got cool new do's from Amber today. I'm not sure how the topic of mohawks came up but it only took seconds for Luke to want one. It wasen't long before both were sporting "fohawks". They were heading off for soccer practice. I supose they were wanting badly to have an edge today. Neighbor boy's mother said her son actually played harder and stole the ball a few times, typically he is way too polite for soccer.
I think we are going to do this again for the game on Saturday. Hooyah!

ps: Talking about new do's Tim was on the local news tonight dressed up as Alex Trebec in a 70's leisure suit wearing a curly blonde wig......HILARIOUS!!!

Life around here is seldom dull!