7 months

Seven months since my last post.  I'm still living in the land of no internet.  (Did you know what a challenge it is to plan vacations or do all of your shopping from your phone? But it can be done!) But in the past couple of weeks I have received notes/e-mails from 3 different people encouraging me to get back to blogging. I have REALLY REALLY missed it!  I miss keeping that living journal of what's going on with us.  But I'll be honest enough to say that now it's been so long I feel very overwhelmed by the idea of trying to play catch up.  Not sure exactly how concise I can be summing up 7 months, especially when it includes Spring & Summer Breaks!  So, Please don't feel like you have to read any of this...this is for me.  So I can put a few of these memories down before they're lost.

{Disclaimer:  You'll notice pretty quickly that most of these pics were taken with my phone.  Sorry!  But I can say one GREAT thing came from not blogging...instead of standing on the sidelines trying to get that perfect picture, I was actually in the middle of the action. for once!}


Back in April we went to the Smoky Mountains with some friends for Spring Break.  We stayed at the Wyndham Resort at The Wildnerness.  The Wilderness is a fabulous indoor/outdoor water park.  There is truly something there for all ages & it was seriously SO much fun!  I love opportunities when I really get to just hang out & PLAY with the kids.  This was definitely one of those trips! 

On the big rides, up to 4 or  5 people could get on one inflatable, but there was a minimum 200 pound total.  My boys along with their friend didn't come close, so I got recruited.  97, ninety.seven. steps up to the ride.  One afternoon alone, I climbed those 97 steps for 2 solid hours. I don't know when I have laughed so  much. Those boys were a HOOT!

Despite what people who knew me back when I was little are always telling me, I never think that Meg looks THAT much like me.  That was until I saw this picture that I took on this trip.  It was like looking in an old picture album at my Mom's house.  Bless her little heart!

From the Smoky Mountains, we headed to Atlanta for a couple of days.  It was the only Atlanta game that we've ever been to when they lost.  It was a bummer, but we still had a lot of fun.  The biggest treat was seeing Meg on the jumbo-tron, not once but twice dancing herself silly. They zoomed in & it was only her.  When she saw herself it was priceless!

We celebrated Easter just a couple of weeks later. 

The boys cooperated for pictures...no one is sticking out their tongue, making crazy eyes or acting like a gangsta...so I feel I should post them.  It may never happen again!

By the middle of that same week, everyone's lives that live anywhere in this area were completely changed as tornado after tornado plundered through & ravaged our great state, along with many of our neighbors.  The entire north part of our state was without power, except this one little bright spot, the small town where my parents live. (Their town receives power from a dam.)  So we along with 10 others...yes that's 17 of us total stayed at my parents house through the rest the rest of the week.  We also had friends who drove over & just spent the day eating & playing in my parents' big backyard.  We were blessed beyond belief.  We had no damage & had a place to stay with lights & a hot water heater.  The biggest blessing was the TIME we spent together.  We made new friends that we are still getting together with, especially these boys...

I do have to share my funny story...several days after the tornadoes hit, while we were still at my parents' I start getting texts, fb messages & pictures sent to our phones of cows.  COWS!  All over our yard.  I felt guilty when so many people had lost so much that I was freaking out over a yard full of cows.  But I did.  All I could think was cow patties everywhere & all my shrubs being eaten to the ground.  Thankfully they only left a few traces behind!

A couple weeks later, I went with Cole & his ACE class to Dauphin Island, AL. 

We stayed at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.  It was an incredible learning experience, for me too!  I learned more in those few days than I have in probably the last 10 years combined.  If your children ever have the opportunity to go, encourage them to do so & tag along!  We learned about the sea life in that area. We went on a boat ride where we saw dolphins,

fed seagulls,

& held all kinds of sea creatures.

We visited Indian Shell Mound State Park  and we toured Fort Gaines...which I loved (especially the blacksmith demonstration)!

Nothing was lacking on this trip EXCEPT for the accomodations.  The Sea Lab dorms are old army barracks.  Let's just say that I'm not a roughing it kind of gal.  The pictures really don't show how really not nice it was & just be thankful that you can't smell the stench that hit you when you opened the door to the dormitory! 

I missed the rest of my family like crazy on this trip, but I think they had more than just a little fun while I was gone.  But it was hard to leave my baby for the first time!

We finished up the school year with field trips

and Awards Day presentations. 

Ben was the proud recipient of an A Honor Roll award

while Cole earned an A Honor Roll award along with awards for highest class average in English, Math & Science, highest class GPA & he received an art award for having art that was displayed at the Museum of Art.

But Meg got the biggest suprise of them all!  Staples in her head :(  After Cole's Awards Day, a little boy was running down the hall & ran into her, knocking the back of her head into the steel door frame. 

We really couldn't plan anything for the first half of the Summer.  Ryan was working mostly double shifts (48 hours straight).  I was busy with VBS...

and the boys were playing ball every weekend.  We have truly been blessed to play on teams with some awesome kids & some really fun parents.  Sure makes those crazy hot days a little more a bearable!  We also FINALLY won a few trophies :)

The first free weekend that we had, we were right back in Atlanta where we caught a few more Braves games!

And we finally ate at the original Varsity & Meg slept right through the whole adventure after shopping til she dropped.

We never planned to not have a big summer family vacation this year, but somehow it just worked out that way.  I thought it was perfect :)  We went on several small trips & day trips. We went to local carnivals...

through caves...

to water parks....

rock climbing...

fishing...

and just playing around.

We celebrated my Papaw's 84th birthday with many relatives who came in from Kentucky, Arkansas & Texas.

Mid-July, Ryan & I did something we haven't done in years.  Lots of years.  We took a trip, just the 2 of us.  Not even with friends.  Just us.  We went to the mountains in North Carolina & stayed at a fabulous, as they advertise themselves, Rustic Chic Spa Resort.  It was wonderful just to get away.  We didn't even have TV! 

I went white water rafting for the first time on the Nantahala River.  It was so fun, despite having to wear a wet suit which I did find slightly humiliating.  (That should be motivation to shed these unwanted pounds!!!)  Ryan thought we should go without a guide.  Obviously we survived, but one of us did fall into the water, while one of us was laughing so uncontrollably in the raft that the other began to fear for their life. I'll let you guess who was who in that story :)

Ryan took Meg to get her ears pierced back when I was at Dauphin Island, but there was only one girl working & Ryan knew I would kill him if I got home & she only had one ear pierced!  So at the end of July, we took her.  She was so excited leading up to the big event.  But when they actually did it, she might not have been so happy but in the end this is her 60 seconds later proud as ever of  her "diamonds".

The kids have had some wonderful opportunities at church this summer.  They've volunteered to serve & they've also had lots of fun.  Cole graduated in style from our Children's Ministry, taking his 1st limo ride. 

And at our Kid's Rally, while all the little kids played games, jumped in moonbounces & got their little faces painted

Cole was getting dunked!

We celebrated Meg's 3rd birthday on August 18th at a playground at our local state park.  I wish I could say I had lots of pictures, but my camera battery died after just 3 shots.  What luck :(

We are now getting back into the swing of things with the whole school routine.  Ben began 3rd grade & Cole has started Middle School {ugh!}.

Meg has started taking a gymnastics class & is loving it!

Ben is taking a gymnastics class too, along with playing baseball (what else?!).  Cole decided to take a little break from ball this fall & is taking some art classes.

WHEW!
...So what have y'all been up to?