This is my life....the rest is just details!

Quinn's First Report Card

2012-02-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

Quinn received his mid-year K-3 Progress Report this past week. It had several categories, including

"How I Feel" (does he play well with others, good attitude about school, etc)
Gross Motor Skills (kicking a ball, hopping on one foot, balancing on one foot, etc)
Fine Motor Skills (gluing, cutting with scissors, painting, zippers, etc)
Personal Care (going to the bathroom, getting dressed, etc)

There were some other categories, but I had to turn it back in to his teacher and was not able to write them all down.

Quinn received all G's, which means Good Progress Made, except for one area.

He received a W for Working On, in the area of cutting with scissors. I am not sure if he has just started learning this, or if he's tried all year and can't get the hang of it. Either way, I'm not concerned. If that's his only area to "work on", then this boy is doing great!!

And he was so proud of his "Giant Good Note" as he calls it!!

Geocache Bash!!

2012-02-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

Our Sunday School class held a Geocache Bash a few weeks ago and we had such a great time.

What is Geocache? Let's just call it 2012's version of a treasure hunt. There is a website you can go to, create an account, and it allows you to view where "treasures" have been hidden in your area. There's even an APP for smart phones so you can do this on the go! It tells you the location and you can use the GPS in your phone or car to lead you to the treasure. Some are hidden in large containers, like a plastic tub or ammo box. Some are hidden in containers smaller than your finger. Most include a log that you sign, and sometimes you must exchange a small item. Then you can log onto the website to tell the owner you found their geocache.

Our youth pastor, Pastor Josh, got hooked on this and showed a lot of people how to play when several people from our class went to Gatlinburg back in the fall. Then someone got the idea we should do this as a class social. Buddy and I were excited to participate, since it was our first event to go to since he has come home from working out of town. Some of the ladies stayed back to watch all the kids....the rest of us divided into 3 teams and went a-huntin' for treasures! We were assigned a starting "cache" to look for and then we were on our own, with each "cache" counting for a certain number of points.

I was on a team with Buddy, my friend Pam and her husband (our driver and navigator), another guy from our class, Curan, and Pastor Josh's wife Abby. My team was very courteous to let me not climb up and down the hills or anything else dangerous, as it had rained for several days and all was slippery.

We tied for 2nd place....a nice way of saying we lost. But it was a blast. Here are some pictures of some of the Geocaches that we found. Abby took a few pictures and I took the rest. Given that it was at night, rainy, and we were on a time-frame, please excuse the blurry, not so great quality of these pictures!

This was #3 out of 8 that we found....took us all of about 3 minutes. Curan is not bored with the pic...he is looking for our next location!

We wasted so much time at this location, not realizing until after 10-15 minutes of looking for the treasure, that we were at a "Virtual" geocache....meaning there was nothing to find. We just had to arrive at the location.

This one was neat....it was 1 of 20 along a roadside. This particular location held 2 separate Geocaches!

This was #2 out of the same location....notice everyone holding up 2 fingers!

This one was called a "skirt lifter". No we weren't being dirty....we had to lift up the "skirt" around the bottom of the light post.

This was the last one we found, although we did attempt to find one other after this. The top of the box that Curan is holding said "This is an official Geocache".....Abby was extra excited about this one!

We attempted to find 11, and were successful with 8 of them. The team that tied with us had 8 out of 11 as well. The winning team found 10 out of 12. So all in all, it was a good time. And what did the winning team win? The privilege of eating the first slices of pizza!

What's Dixie been up to?

2012-02-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

The last time I mentioned our new puppy Dixie, she was a little bitty thing....same size as Tillman.

Um...not so much anymore!

I can pet the top of Dixie's head without bending over. Tillman can walk underneath her, on the rare occasions they are out at the same time! Dixie and Tillman don't get along as well as we had hoped. Perhaps when we get all the puppy out of her, she will settle down and they will like each other. For now, we value Tillman's health, and Dixie doesn't realize Tillman is smaller than her.

Most recently, we had her spayed, which was more of an ordeal than we realized it would be. I guess it wouldn't have been so bad if she had not been able to get to her stitches, despite the lampshade sized cone she wore. But the stitches got infected and we got to visit our local emergency vet! And Dixie got to upgrade to an even bigger cone, and proudly wear it for over a week! She's much better now though and hopefully life will get back to normal.

Here's a couple of pictures of our "puppy"....despite her size, she is still a puppy! Only 6 months old! She's laying down in all the pictures because she won't stand still long enough for me to get a decent shot of her upright.

Gopher Buddies Awards Night

2012-02-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

Our church's children and youth participate in Word of Life clubs for Bible Study on Wednesday nights. Quinn's age level group is called Gopher Buddies.

Quinn has a devotion book that we work through and special Bible verses to learn. The leaders also read a required book to the children each month. They participate in Christian service projects and get credits for coming to church on Sunday. Then the WOL clubs have awards nights several times a year during the Wednesday night service.

The first awards night Quinn didn't get any awards. I had trouble this fall figuring out how to help him learn his required verses for Mrs. James's K-3 class at school, and then help him learn these additional verses for Gopher Buddies. Only one verse was the same for both groups, and the Gopher Buddies verses were longer, since they are meant for children up to age 5. One of the ladies who helps his group has a daughter who is in Quinn's preschool class. She mentioned that she helped her daughter learn her GB verse on the alternate week from Mrs. James's verse. That helped, and so in January, when there was another award's night Quinn finally received his prizes!

Here he is with the Gopher Buddies group. I have no idea if this is all the children, but it is a large group! Quinn is on the end of the second row. The girl beside him is in his class at school, but the other kids are some of the 5 year olds....and Quinn is their height!

They sang two songs, and then one of the workers came up to pass out the awards.

Quinn made "Membership" into the Gopher Buddies Club, which earned him the official Gopher Buddy Bag. He also earned "Level 1", which earned him a patch to go on the bag.

He was so proud to show off his awards when we got home! Now, I've got figure out how to iron on the patch!

How do you like my hat?

2012-02-04T14:39:00.000-05:00

Quinn got a whole Carharrt outfit from his Nana (Buddy's mom) for his birthday. Buddy often wears Carharrt clothes for work due to their tough, rugged qualities. Part of Quinn's gift was a black toboggan hat, just like Daddy's.

I just had to take a picture when he wanted to wear it to school for the first time!

Everybody knows that a dog's best friend is a human.....

2012-02-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

I love that quote from Lady and The Tramp!

Quinn and Tillman have been best friends since the day we brought Quinn home. For a brief moment in time, they were actually the same size!!

Lately, Quinn and Tillman have taken to snuggling together on the couch, especially on cold mornings. Our routine is that when Buddy gets out of the shower, he wakes Quinn up and brings him to our room for a few extra minutes of sleep. When Buddy leaves for work, Quinn comes out on the couch to watch a cartoon while I get ready. He always wants to cover up with this fuzzy orange blanket (that Tillman happens to love). Usually I come out to get Quinn ready to get dressed to find them snuggling.

Except, one morning recently, I came out to get Quinn and found this.

Yep, that's Quinn, feeding his Cheerios, aka "snack" to Tillman! You can see that Tillman doesn't think this is a bad plan at all.

There's just nothing like the love of your furry best friend!!

My Momma is Amazing!!

2012-02-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

My mom is a crochet wizard! She is always making blankets for someone. She has made blankets big enough for king-size beds, and blankets small enough for my dog Tillman, and her dog Desi (RIP), both of whom weigh in the 10-12 pound range. Her specialty though, is baby blankets. She basically makes a very large Granny square, with a pretty border. If you are in our family, and have had a baby, then somewhere you have a blanket hand-made by my mother. She even makes blankets for other people....meaning they buy the yarn, she makes the blanket, and they give it as a gift to someone else.

She surprised me at Christmas with a present for Baby Jacob...and he hasn't even been born yet!

And then she showed up at Quinn's birthday party with another blanket for Baby Jacob!

She made both blankets in about two weeks, each. And the pictures don't do either of them justice.

(And just in case you are wondering, Quinn also got two baby blankets when he was born....a solid blue one, and an orange and white one.)

So, if you are in need of a blanket, just let me know!! And one of these days, Mom, we've got to take time to teach me this stitch...I just can't figure it out!

Allow me to shed some light.....

2012-02-04T11:42:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got 15 compact fluorescent light bulbs in the mail....FOR FREE!!

Anybody can do this, provided that you use Duke Energy for your home's power needs.

I went to this website from Duke Energy and put in just a few bits of information about our account to see if our home qualified for this program. If you do, Duke Energy tells you how many CFL bulbs you are allowed to get. We were able to get 15 and requested them to all come at once. I ordered them at the end of December, and they arrived in just a couple of weeks!

As you can see, we've already made use of a few of them. Some are the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb, and the others are the equivalent of a 75 watt bulb. They are best to use in lights you leave on for long periods of time, but can be used in any light socket, like a regular bulb.

Not quite sure why this picture rotated, but you can still see how many there are...and look at all the bubble wrap....very carefully packaged!

I had seen this offer advertised on our power bill for a few months but never took the time to look into it. So glad I did, because the bulbs will last a long time, and we've got plenty to use!

Biker Boy

2012-02-04T11:22:00.000-05:00

Buddy and I decided to get Quinn a bike for his birthday. With his birthday falling just 15 days after Christmas, we always try to come up with 2 really nice big present ideas and do one at Christmas and the other for his birthday.

We found him a really nice blue bike and got Spiderman accessories to go with it. Quinn is really in to Spiderman right now, thanks to a little friend at school. So his helmet, elbow/knee pads, and riding gloves have Spiderman on them.

We gave him his bike after church on the day before his birthday, since Monday nights we always spend at the fire station for training, and his party wasn't until Saturday. We didn't even wait to change out of our church clothes....someone was too excited!!

Buddy did the typical "dad" thing and pushed him around the street several times. Quinn definitely has a lot to learn with regard to pedaling, but this is a work in progress!!

He is so proud of his bike, or as he calls it, his "motorcycle"!

Quinn is FOUR!!!!

2012-02-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

On January 9th, my sweet boy turned 4 years old! I can hardly believe that this day has come. He is growing up so much and is doing so well in school. He is just a precious part of my life and makes his daddy and me so proud to be his parents!

This precious little baby......

....is now my big 4-year old boy!!

School Spirit Week

2012-02-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

Quinn's school had their School Spirit Week the second week of January, to coincide with Homecoming on that Friday night. Each day of the week was a different dress-up theme. Quinn got to participate in several of them. I was so excited, because for several years now, my church friends have posted pictures of their kids during Spirit Week...and now Quinn got to have his turn as well.

Monday, January 9th was "Favorite Character Day". I wanted to dress Quinn up in his Woody costume from Halloween, but remembered it was a one piece suit. I figured it would cause to many bathroom issues, so we went with his Spiderman shirt instead.

Tuesday, January 10th was "Sports Team Day". Quinn wore a Clemson basketball jersey. His orange shirt certainly stood out brightly in the sea of Carolina Blue, Duke Blue, and Panther Black-n-Blue! It was also the day he took cupcakes to school to celebrate his 4th birthday, which was the day before. We took football cupcakes on this day so he could celebrate with his K-3 class that meets on Tuesdays.

Wednesday, January 11th was "Pajama Day" but K-3 was allowed to do this on Thursday, the 12th instead. The Thursday theme of "Multiplicity" would have been a bit tough for little kids....dressing the exact same as friends. Quinn's Show-n-Tell day is also on a Thursday, which is why "Bob and Larry" are in the picture with him!

Friday, the 13th, was School Spirit Day, so everyone wore school colors of Red, White, and Blue. The mascot is The Patriot! Didn't get a picture of this day, but Quinn did wear a red shirt. I tried to get him to wear his new school sweatshirt he got from Nana for Christmas, but it's a little big and he wouldn't put it on.

I was so glad Quinn got to participate! We love our school!!

This is hilarious....

2012-01-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

After I posted the previous post, I clicked on my stats to see how people have made it to my blog.

Someone came to my blog by "Googling" this phrase:

"how do rednecks go sledding"

So I googled it too! There were 4 videos posted, and the first website link was for this post!

How hilarious is that!!

***This post was made possible thanks to my brother-in-law Ed who introduced me to Redneck Sledding last year during the Christmas Blizzard-2010***

Behind on blogging, yet again

2012-01-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

This blogging thing is kind of crazy.

When I have nothing to say, or nothing interesting going on....I have all the time in the world to sit and write.

When I have TONS of things to say and TONS of interesting things happening... I have no free time!

Between a busy and demanding school year, life as momma of a high-energy puppy, and being pregnant, I have just not had time to sit down and type out my thoughts. Seeing as how there is always a load of clothes to wash or fold, and dishes that could be cleaned, I just can't justify stopping to sit at the computer.

But I promise I do have some upcoming posts (and pictures) to share!

1. Christmas Recap
2. Quinn's first Spirit Week at school
3. Quinn's 4th birthday
4. Quinn's new bike!
5. Update on our puppy, Dixie
6. Pregnancy update
7. How I got 15 fluorescent light bulbs (the curly ones) for free

Seems like there was one other, but I can't think of it right now....

Rest assured, I'm still alive and well and have things to say....if I can only find the time....

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T12:20:00.000-04:00

Here's Quinn, dressed up as the "high ridin-est, rootin' tootin'-est cowboy hero of all time.....Sheriff Woody!

Some highlights (and low-lights) of our Trick or Treating adventure.

1. Quinn insisted on climbing the stairs of each house and ringing the door bell "by myself Mommy". Although he would alternate which of us got to go halfway with him!

2. He rang the bell or knocked at each house and said Trick or Treat BEFORE they opened the door....every....single....time....

3. He always said "Thank you for da Trick or Treat" as he left each house!

4. One lady said "Bye cowboy" and Quinn tipped his hat at her! Literally lifted it up off his head and sat it back down! Don't know where he learned that!

5. He was so shocked and surprised that everybody that passed said "Hey Woody" to him. He could not believe that people knew what he was supposed to be!

6. At one of the last houses we went to, the kid in front of him got the last piece of candy. Quinn was so upset and didn't understand why he didn't get any, that the other kid's older sister offered Quinn a piece of her candy! Such a sweet girl!

7. The one bad moment of the night was when a teenager at one house deliberately scared Quinn on purpose. He was laying on the grass and would pop up and growl as the kids walked by. His sister said "Don't do it, that's a little kid coming" (meaning Quinn), but he did it anyway. Meanie!

8. Quinn was so cold by the time we got home we put him in a tub of warm water, gave him a bath and put him to bed!

9. First thing he said on Tuesday morning was "Mommy I ready for da Trick or Treat again!"

Cute Conversations with Quinn

2011-10-24T19:01:00.000-04:00

If you are my friend on Facebook, then you have probably already seen these conversations posted as my "status" of the day. But these are so sweet and child-like, that I wanted to record them here, to have that memory written down.

#1 (A fall day driving home from school)
Quinn: Mommy, yook!! Da trees gots colors on dem!
Me: Really? What do you see?
Quinn: I see red and orange and lellow!

#2 (after a long stretch of rainy days)
Quinn: Mommy, somefing happened!
Me: What?
Quinn: All da clouds are gone. It's a sunny day!
Me: Yes it is!

#3 (on a pretty, cloudless morning on the way to school)
Quinn: Mommy, its so purty today.
Me: Yes it is. Do you know who made the day?
Quinn: Uh huh....Mrs. James!

#4 (while asking the blessing over his supper)
God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for my chicken nuggets. Amen.

I know one day, before I know it, he will be big and grown and gone.

But for now, I'm going to hold on as tight as I can to these sweet moments and store them in my heart. I am so blessed to be his mommy!

Bringing Home Dixie

2011-10-19T12:37:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Quinn prays for a dog named Dixie. I also mentioned it was a story for another day.

That day is here.

Dixie is the newest member of our family, thanks to my husband! The story surrounding Dixie's arrival has a story all its own, and quite frankly, is not one I care to get into. Let's just say Dixie was an unexpected surprise!

Dixie was born somewhere at the end of August / first of September, and we were able to pick her up on October 8th. The guy who raised her was one of the guys Buddy worked with in Virginia, and this guy owned both the father and the mother dogs. So we knew they were well taken care of during the pregnancy, birth, and first weeks of life. Dixie is an American Bulldog.

When we arrived at Buddy's co-worker's house, this is what greeted us....11 puppies! (Not all 11 made it into the picture. And Dixie is the 2nd puppy past the metal pole in the fence.)

These are the parents. Mom Dog is Bella, and has the dish in her mouth. Dad Dog is on the right, named Bennett.

Here is Buddy, holding his new puppy for the first time. I love her brindle patch over her eye!

You can see from the angle of her face here, that she only has the patch on one eye. It is really cute, because her eyelashes and whiskers on the brindle side are brown...and on the other side they are white. (PS...I'm not frustrated here, but the sun was in my eyes!)

As you can see, she has adapted well to our family....doesn't take long to fit in with us!

Even Tillman, our 9 year old miniature pinscher, has learned to tolerate Dixie. He still puts her in her place every once and a while though. She is all puppy and he's our "old man", so he's not into playing and things like that. Quinn loves for Dixie to chase him through the house and outside.

Even I have to admit, she's a cutie pie. And she certainly has some funny sleeping positions!

I'll like her even more, just as soon as she learns her "potty breaks" should happen OUTside!

A Big Boy Room for a Big Brother!

2011-10-07T15:17:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday, Quinn moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room! We cleaned out the guest room and painted the walls. His furniture came on Saturday while he was napping....his last time sleeping in the crib.

And let me just insert a disclaimer here. Our three-and-a-half year old has not been sleeping in a full crib all this time. We had taken the front off, so it looked more like a "daybed" with the protective guard so he wouldn't roll out. (Back to the story!)

We got him a bunk-bed style loft. The bottom bunk is separate, so we didn't even set it up for now. Instead of having a ladder, it has 6 little stairs. The other end holding up the bed is the dresser. We liked this feature of having the dresser attached to the bed, since it wouldn't take up valuable play space, as this room isn't all that big. Since the room already had green curtains, I picked out a "camo" bedding set!

My favorite part is the play space under the bed, perfect for his tool bench and toy box! You can just see the corner of a rug that looks like a road, so he can play with his cars. His first words when he saw his new room was "Oh wow Mommy. It's purty!" (That's my little country boy!)

I took these pictures right before we had "lights out". We would always say a prayer before kissing him, but lately Quinn has been really interested in saying his own prayer. It goes something like this:

"Dear Jesus. Tank you for da day. Hep (help) me sweep (sleep) good. Bwess Mommy, Bwess Daddy, Bwess Quinn, Bwess Tillman (our dog), Bwess Dixie (our new puppy...that's another story), Bwess Gwandma and Gwandpa, Bwess Nana and Papa. Hep me sweep good. Amen"

And this was the last little grin I got right before Quinn laid down for his first sleep in his new bed!

He has really done well with this bed. I was afraid of him trying to get down in the night or something, but he goes right to sleep. And the bed is sturdy enough that either Buddy or I can get up there with him and lay down, should he ever need us. He actually likes it when we get up there with him!

And yes, I did have a couple of tears over the idea of my sweet boy no longer needing the baby room!

Now we just need to know what new baby is so we can get the room ready. March will be here before we know it!

My Sweet Husband

2011-10-06T12:27:00.001-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, my parents came up for the day to see us. I asked Mom how my Aunt Linda was doing. Linda is Mom's sister, and over the summer, she was diagnosed with cancer. She was telling me that after a few rounds of chemo, she was beginning to lose her hair and had been for appointments to get a wig and other head covers.

After my parents left, Buddy and I were talking about this. He said, "You know what, I'm due for a haircut too." And he went to the bathroom to cut his hair.

When he came back, he looked like this....

He said, "Well, if Aunt Linda has to lose her hair this weekend, then I will too!"

He shaved his head in her honor! I called and told her about it and seemed really tickled about it.

And he's still as handsome as ever! I love you Buddy!

What we've been up to lately

2011-10-04T16:56:00.000-04:00

I mentioned before that life got busy and I didn't blog as much as normal, especially with keeping up-to-date with different events going on. Well, here's why.

I don't like to advertise on the blog or Facebook when my husband is not at home. But I can happily say he is at home with us again! You see, for the past year, Buddy has been working out of town. His company is a local one, but his project assignments have not been. Last August we found out that him going out of town for a job would be imminent. And mid-September, he left for Atlanta. At first he came home every week, but 6 hours home on Friday and 6 hours back on Sunday made for a tired man! Plus the job got busy, so it turned into every other week. That lasted until right before Thanksgiving.

He was home during the holidays and we got to take a nice, leisurely, snowy Christmas with both sets of parents.

In January, the out of town talk started again. Mid-January, he left for the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia....closer, but still 4 hours away. And once again, his weekly weekends home turned into 2-week stretches. And our weekends consisted of tons of laundry and precious moments together.

And then one glorious day in July, I discovered that our family was about to get a little bit bigger!

Yes, I am pregnant with baby #2!!

But that scared me because I didn't want to be pregnant and my husband out of town. And we found out that a local projet Buddy had been involved with in the past was about to begin building again. So we started praying about it. And the Lord knows best when to answer our prayers, because in mid-August, we found out Buddy had be reassigned....to the LOCAL project!!!

So we have been adjusting to "living together" again....and he got home just in time for my morning sickness to kick in! Praise the Lord he was home because some days I just felt awful all day long.

I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was to be without him for so long. And you can imagine how much it broke my heart to hear Quinn say, "Mommy, I want Daddy." So many people prayed for us during this time, and those prayers lifted me up daily. Because I never thought I could do this. At times, I felt so alone. But my God is a good God, and my God is an On-Time God. And He knew the best time to answer my prayers. Almost a year to the day, Buddy came home.

And Baby #2 should be here at the end of March. Happy Spring Break for me!

Official First Day of School

2011-10-03T17:00:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I'm only about a month and a half behind on posting this. Oh well. Life has gotten extremely busy in several ways over the past few weeks. Here it is though, finally!

The post before this was Quinn's first day at the daycare at our church. One week later, he had his first "official" day of school. His K-3 class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he is in the daycare the other days. So on Tuesday, August 23rd, I took him to school for the very first time. Luckily for me, it was the day of my school's Open House, so I didn't have to be at school as early as usual. I was so happy that I was able to walk him to class that first time.

Here he is in front of our house, wearing his new "Pack Pack" and a great first day smile.

As soon as we walked into the room, he saw all the toys his teacher had laid out for the kids to play with. He had never been in this room before so everything was new and exciting. He got right down to exploring.

While Quinn was checking everything out, I took a few shots of the room.

This is his teacher, Mrs.James.

His hook for his book bag.

His name on the door. Oh, if only it had been an orange paw!

I said my final goodbye and got a hug and kiss, so I could slip out of the room before the tears began to fall. Just before I walked out, I looked back for one last look....and this is what he was doing.

He was playing.

Not crying.

Not begging me to stay.

He was happy. He was having fun. And he felt comfortable there.

How could I cry when my boy wasn't? And was ready to be at school?

And so far, everyday has been a fun day for him. Mrs. James says he does well in her group and that makes me happy! I hope he will always love school!

Testing, Testing....1, 2, 3?

2011-10-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

Um, hello out there?

Is anyone out there? Have you given up on me?

I have a slew of new posts I want to share with you all, and I hope to post them very soon.

Quinn's first Official day of school
Exciting News
Quinn's Big Boy Room
Something sweet my husband did

Here's hoping some of you are still out there....my sweet readers!

A new school year = A new school!!

2011-08-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

It was a bittersweet morning at our house today.

The start of a new school year always leaves me a little melancholy.

I love my job as a teacher and I love the beginning of the school year as I prepare for the new group of students I will have.

I hate giving up my lazy summer days and precious time spent with Quinn. I know I should count myself lucky, that while I can't be a stay-at-home mom, I have the luxury of having the summer at home. What other job could give me that benefit?

While I don't go back to school for another day, I made the choice to go ahead and send Quinn to daycare today, just so he has a couple days to get used to a new school.

I am so excited that Quinn will be attending the school at our church! They have a preschool program for ages 3 and 4, and then the school serves 5-K up to 12th grade. Lord willing, Quinn will be a student here for the next 15 years!

You will have to humor this Momma who is sending a baby to school for the first time, as I will probably have a similar post next week related to his official "first day of school". But here are a couple of cute, smiley, backpack pictures to enjoy!

Dear Quinn,
I hope you enjoy your new school. You told me this morning you were ready for "church school" and you were so excited to carry your new backpack and lunch box. You sang your favorite Casting Crowns song in the car on the way to school today. I am so proud of you! You already know your letters, your numbers, your colors, and your shapes! You are so smart already! I can't wait to watch as you learn new things at school....things you could never learn at your old daycare. You will get to learn about Jesus, and Bible Stories about other important people. You will learn Bible Verses and songs to praise Jesus with. I am so blessed to be your Mommy. You make my life so happy! I love you so much!!
Love,
Mommy

No picture to prove it, but trust me...

2011-07-25T21:58:00.001-04:00

Quinn hasn't used his paci in a month! And I mean not at all.

Not to sleep with.

Not for nap time.

Not because he had been crying and needed it for comfort.

Not because he was bored and had nothing better to do.

And this from a boy who has been known to hold 4 of them at one time!! I actually saw him get two in his mouth and one in each hand. Usually he had three though, and would interchange them. He would also take the one in his mouth and twirl it every few seconds or so. He loved his "na-na" so much and I've been dreading this time of elimination.

When we got Quinn packed up and ready to go to my parents for his summer trip, I slipped one of his pacis to my mom to put in her pocket, with instructions to only use it if necessary. He used it in the car but once they got to their house, Mom took it away. At bedtime, he didn't ask for it and she didn't think to offer it. The next day, he didn't ask for it in the morning or at nap, but he did ask for it at bedtime. On the third day, he didn't ask for it all, and it continued throughout the trip. Even when I went down to their house to pick him up, I thought my being there would "remind" him to ask for it....but NO!

I brought him home and wouldn't you know, we had been in the house about 15 minutes and Quinn said "Mommy, I need my na-na."

Uh oh.

I quickly replied, "You can't have it. We left it at Grandma's house."

Quinn said, "Na-na at Grandma's? Ok Mommy."

That's it? That's all it took?

We should have left it there at Christmas!!

For no reason at all

2011-07-22T20:02:00.000-04:00

That's the best reason to get flowers, I think.

I always tell Buddy not to buy me flowers on Valentine's Day due to the jacked up prices.
I don't want them on my birthday or our anniversary because that seems so "expected" and I'm a low-key kind of girl.

But I've always said, If you are going to ever give me flowers, just do it because you love me!

Well, I guess he loves me because I got these today!

A dozen sterling roses! (aka...lavender roses). I've got such a wonderful husband and I love him so very much!

HollyWILD

2011-07-07T18:02:00.000-04:00

Quinn went to my parents' house for his annual summer trip to Camp Grandma and Grandpa. I went down to pick him up a day early so we could all go on an adventure together. We visited Hollywild Animal Park, which is located about 15 minutes from my parents. I went there several times as a child, but haven't been in probably 25 years! Here are some pictures from our visit.
This is the sign at the entrance. Hollywild started out as a small petting-zoo in the 40s, added more animals in the 70s, and then changed the name to Hollywild in the 80s. Why the name change? Many of their animals have been featured in movies, TV shows and commercials!

They have many animals that just wander around, like this flock (herd??) of geese that Quinn decided to follow.

Quinn was happy to see this zebra, mixed in with several goats. One of the neatest things about this place is you can buy bags of animal chow and feed the different animals. One thing our guide mentioned (which I already knew) was that the stripes of a donkey are like our fingerprints....no two donkeys have the same pattern!

My dad made friends with this "ze-donk"....a cross between a zebra and a donkey. It has the body and head of a donkey, but you could see the black and white zebra stripes on his legs. The body had faint brown on grey stripes.This little fella was ready for eating and almost made off with my dad's fingers!

We took a bus ride around the park so we could feed the animals. You can see another bus behind ours. These deer are from Europe. Unlike our deer, these deer keep their spots as adults.

This little baby buffalo wasn't quite two days old. It is standing beside its mother.

These are Watusi cattle from Africa. Their horns are really sensitive and we were told not to touch them...but who would want to? Those horns are huge and dangerous!

This is Tank the Rhino. He is one of the super stars at Hollywild. He was featured in a Land Rover commercial. Our guide said that Tank totaled 7 Land Rovers before the director thought that the vehicle had been destroyed appropriately. I bet that was an expensive commercial because Land Rovers aren't cheap!

I said earlier that there were lots of animals wandering around. I probably saw at least 10 peacocks strutting their stuff. One was solid white, but most of them looked like this guy. And I say guy, because in the animal world, the males are the colorful ones! I tried to "flirt" with this one in hopes he would open up, but he didn't. Look at how long the tail feathers are! He would have been gorgeous!

And what trip to the zoo isn't complete without a picture of a Tiger? You know this Clemson fan can't pass that up!

The only animal I didn't get a picture of was a black panther who is used for a lot of Carolina Panther Football promotions. It was pretty hot and he must have been in the shade. I never saw him.

This visit to Hollywild was a lot of fun. Thanks Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa)!

Another Beautiful Sight in the Sky

2011-07-04T21:01:00.000-04:00

Tonight there was a thunderstorm and lots of rain. The sky was really dark and for it to be 6 or 7pm, it seemed more like night time. At about 8:15pm, I noticed the sky seemed much brighter. I went outside expecting to see a beautiful sunset. Instead I saw this.

Quinn had never seen a real rainbow before so I brought him outside to see it. He said "Mommy, dat's a pretty rainbow."

Thank you Lord, for sending such a beautiful sight on this day, the 4th of July. Our true freedom is found in You, Lord, and in You alone!

VBS 2011: Nights 4 and 5

2011-06-27T07:08:00.000-04:00

The last two nights of VBS started out the way each one had, so I don't have any pictures of that part.

On night 4, the craft was making a cowboy hat. You could paint it with glue and then add decorations.

Here is Quinn, waiting on instructions from his buddy Johnathan. Or as Quinn would say, "Johna". Please notice Quinn ALREADY has the glitter bottle in his hands!

Johnathan had barely gotten the hat painted in glue when Quinn did this. Notice the grins of the other worker and even the other child.....

And here's a close up the hat. You can clearly see why my friend Kim, who is our Pastor's wife, dubbed Quinn "The Rhinestone Cowboy"! And every little bit of that glitter stayed put!

On the last night of VBS I was able to sneak away and get a picture of the registration area. The College and Career class did a great job of decorating the entrance area as well as the stage. With the theme being "Gold Rush", the designed the downstairs area to look like a gold mine. You can't see (and pictures inside didn't turn out), but on the walls are the Bible Verses of the week stuck to the walls with glow-in-the-dark stickers. There was also some black lights to light the way, and a wheelbarrow full of "gold nuggets" and other gems. The floor was laid out to look like train tacks.

Here's a closeup of the poster on the wall. The CC Class thought of everything...down to the little details. The three men in the picture are Pastor Ken on the left, Pastor Josh (youth pastor) in the middle, and Pastor Bailey (asst Pastor) on the right.

On the last night of VBS, the boys won the Penny War! The girls did win 3 nights to 2, though. I'm still waiting to hear how much money was raised. I did hear that this year's buckets are bigger than last year's buckets! A couple of the 6th grade boys brought whole boxes of pennies. I think I heard someone say that a box of pennies was $25 worth. There's 2 boxes on top and I think another box was dumped inside the bucket.

The last craft of the week was one that the craft workers had been prepping for all week. One night they painted the bottles, one night they painted the hats. But finally on the last night we got to put together the cutest craft ever.

A juice bottle painted green....add a cowboy hat, a bandanna, some arms, facial features, and a star....

And you get a Cactus Cowboy piggy bank! Too cute!

Overall, I think Quinn had a great time at VBS. He talked about it throughout the week. He didn't always sit still like the other kids did, but he did enjoy the different events. I am so thankful for all the workers who gave up their evenings to work with these children. It was worth all the sacrifice to know that several children came to know the Lord as their personal Saviour thanks to what they heard at VBS! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Show me YOUR happy face!

2011-06-24T06:56:00.000-04:00

Quinn got a MagnaDoodle from his Aunt Kristel for his first Christmas. I would have to say this is one of his most used gifts. He loves to draw on his "doodle".

One day this week he drew the following picture.

Pretty cute, huh?

Do you see what I see?

2011-06-24T06:50:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday night at VBS, I noticed some of the teenage girls that were helping Quinn's group all looking up at the sky and pointing. I looked up too and saw this.

Do you see the heart? Reminds me of these verses:

Jeremiah 31:3 "And the Lord appeared to us from afar saying I have loved you with an everlasting love..."

Psalm 19:1 "The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hand."

VBS 2011: Night 2 and 3

2011-06-22T13:59:00.002-04:00

Here is a recap of Nights 2 and 3 from VBS.

All day on Monday, Quinn asked if we were going to see the "Bible Show"? I think he's getting Bible School and Puppet Show confused, but basically, that's what we are doing. The little children are getting God's Word through puppets. When I asked Quinn what we do at Bible School, here is what he told me:

"See da cowboy with da orange Bible": One of the puppets wears a cowboy hat, and when we do the pledges, he holds an orange Bible.

"Put my corns (coins) in da blue bucket": The boys put their pennies for the Penny War offering in a blue bucket.

This is the puppet that starts the program each night and is also the one who has the orange Bible.

Each night the children have to help Mr. Sizemore "wake up" Kodiak the Bear. Then they read the night's verse to help Kodiak learn his verse. Kodiak seems to have some memory issues, as he always begins to quote the verse from the night before, but quickly quotes the correct verse for some candy! Quinn calls Kodiak "my bear".

After teaching Kodiak his verse, the 3 year olds go to craft time. Monday night's craft was making bandannas. Each child got a plain white one and decorated them using paint and rubber stamps with various western images, like a cowboy hat, cactus, wagon, wolf, etc. Quinn enjoyed painting the stamps. His new buddy, Jonathan, is helping him. Jonathan is one of the teens helping with Quinn's group.

I caught this picture of Quinn on Tuesday night (VBS #3). He is watching for Kodiak and other puppets to pop their heads up from behind the back drop. Quinn and many of the other little kids thinks this is hilarious. When any of them catch a glimpse, they all begin to squeal with excitement.

Because Quinn is in the youngest VBS class, his group is always called up first to drop pennies in the buckets for the penny war. The girls dominated the first two nights, but finally on Tuesday night, the boys won! Both buckets are overflowing with pennies! I've heard that VBS typically raises upwards of $1000 in pennies in one week!

Tuesday night's craft was cow print sheriff vests. We tied the vests together with yarn and then created a sheriff's badge to attach to the vest.

Somehow the 3 year olds always get done with their craft before the schedule allows. And we can't go back to the sanctuary because the older students are still having their Bible Time. So the teens have been taking the 3s on a walk to go see the school buses! Sounds kind of funny, but the kids love it! They even open the door and the kids climb in the bus and sit in the seats. Quinn pretended to drive it! Hey, if he can "drive" a fire truck, he can "drive" a bus!

During the Bible time on Tuesday night, the puppets had 2 special guests...Amazon monkeys! I think these guys may have been used in a previous VBS unit, and are also going with the group to New Zealand. Mr. Hartman asked the kids if they had any questions for the monkeys. Quinn saw all the children raising their hands to ask questions and he raised his too and said "My Turn!" Mr. Hartman handed him the microphone and I thought to myself...oh my, what in the world is he going to say?

Quinn's question was "Can dey sing?" And so the Monkeys sang Jesus Loves Me! So I took a picture while they were singing in response to Quinn's question.

Quinn is remembering and understanding more than I thought he would about Bible School. He hasn't quoted any verses and he doesn't always sit still, but he does seem to be enjoying all the aspects of VBS. I am so glad I get to experience this with him each night. 2 more nights to go....can't wait to see what is in store!

The Pledge may be different.....but Jesus is still the same.

2011-06-22T07:39:00.000-04:00

Since my previous post, I have had several people ask me about the Christian flag pledge I said at the church I grew up in.

It went like this:

"I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag, and to the Saviour for whose Kingdom it stands. One brotherhood, uniting all Christians in service and love."

I am learning the version used at our church, because this is the one Quinn will use when he starts going to school there, and it goes like this:

"I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag, and to the Saviour for whose Kingdom it stands. One Saviour, crucified, risen and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe."

It was a little surprising for me on the first night of VBS when I began to say what I thought was "The Pledge" and realized there was more than one version. So I do what I do anytime I have a question...I "googled" it. And this is what I found.

I may have said one pledge, you may have said a different version, but Jesus is still the same. And Praise the Lord that He never changes!

VBS 2011: Gold Rush...Searching for the "Rock of Ages"

2011-06-20T06:44:00.001-04:00

Quinn is finally old enough to go to Vacation Bible School at our church! Tonight (Sunday) was the first night of VBS. Our theme this year is "Gold Rush....Searching for the Rock of Ages."

The Bible verse for tonight was John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

The stage of the sanctuary was set up to look like an Old West town.

The fence area was where the puppets would come up and interact with the children. One of the puppets, shown here, kind of scared Quinn a little bit, but thankfully I got him settled down and we were able to enjoy the rest of the time.

One thing I found comforting was that first part of Bible School was saying the pledges to the American Flag, Christian Flag and the Bible. The only thing was that the pledge to the Christian Flag that I grew up saying was NOT the same pledge that was said last night! I'm not sure what that's about. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church, and this church is an Independent Baptist....but the flag is the same.

(Perhaps some of my church friends who read the blog can chime in here!!)

The buckets at the front of the stage were for the kids to place their offering in each night. Apparently the church is famous for having a "Penny War" between the boys and the girls. Each year the money is designated to go towards a certain missions group or need within the church. This year, the money will be given to our College/Career class for the upcoming missions trip to New Zealand.

The church was smart to have plenty of pennies on hand for kids to swap their dollars, quarters, etc. They had set up a booth called the "Gold Exchange" and had boxes and boxes of rolled up pennies. Quinn was so excited to put his "corns" (coins) in the "blue bucket"! Because Quinn is in the youngest age group, he got to go first! Unfortunately the girls won the first penny war.

The first activity was Craft Time. Two of the ladies in charge of Crafts are sisters and friends of mine, and having read both of their blogs, I know how creative they can be! Tonight's craft was a horse. Take a white tube sock, paint the toe area brown for the nose, attach a couple of googly eyes, and add some brown yarn for a mane. Attach it to a paint stick and voila...a horse! Quinn was really proud of his horse!

After craft time we went back to the sanctuary for singing, story time, and more puppets. When we got back to our seats, he said "Mommy, I not scared now. We watch da movie again?" He meant...more puppets please? He really watched during the puppets, and I wonder if it reminded him of when we went to see Veggie Tales?

The song tonight was Jesus Loves Me, and Quinn sang along to every word! He enjoyed Mrs. Pam's story and was super excited when more puppets came out to tell the story of Jonah! That's one of his favorite stories, again, thanks to Veggie Tales!

After this was snack time (grilled cheese, chips, and a cupcake.) Then it was down to the gym for game time. The game workers tried to adapt some of their games so the little ones could play but that proved to be a little difficult. Quinn is pushing 3 and a half, but a couple of the little girls in his group won't be 3 until the fall, so getting them to understand "rules" for a game was pretty hard. So in the end, the kids just ran around the gym, which was perfectly fine with Quinn!

We had a great time and can't wait to see what tonight holds for us at VBS!

And you know what happens when Quinn finds a big box.....

2011-05-22T20:16:00.000-04:00

You know how much Quinn loves big boxes.

So imagine the smile we got when he saw how big the box was that our new stove came in. It took up the whole living room! And boy did Quinn have fun with it.

And these pictures speak for themselves. (But I will apologize for the quality. We have a window in our front door, and there is a sun glare coming through the window in some of these...)

We will do anything to make this boy smile....even if it means buying a new stove just so Quinn has a box to play in! And yes, I'm the mean ole mommy who has already taken the box apart....but seriously, it was too big to keep in the house any longer. Trust me though, Quinn got plenty of fun out of it!

My 200th post = A New Stove

2011-05-22T20:06:00.000-04:00

A week or so ago, I realized that some of the eyes on my stove were not working properly. I would turn on the eye and it would heat up and all, only to begin to shut off in the middle of me cooking. This just seemed like a fire hazard waiting to happen. I mean, it just wouldn't be right for the fire department to come to our house....the station that would be first on the scene is the station we volunteer at!

So Buddy decided that I should have a new stove / oven as my late Mother's Day/early Birthday present. I checked all the local department stores that sell appliances and found the one I liked; then compared stores to see where I could get the best price for what I wanted. We ended up at Home Depot on Friday afternoon with the perfect stove in mind, only to be told "We don't keep these in stock...it will be 3-5 business days." Ugh. But the saleslady was nice enough to check in the back "just in case" and low and behold found ONE stove on the top of a big shelf in the back room....and it had a sales flyer attached to the box advertising it for $50 less than the sign on the sales floor said! Woo Hoo!!

By Friday night, I was cooking supper on my new stove.

It is so nice, with the smooth top! I no longer have to worry about pulling the eyes out and cleaning/changing those little catch pans anymore! The only catch is I have to use a special cleanser on the stove top.

The oven is much bigger than the one I had before and I love that the door has a window into the oven. I didn't have that before.

And the best part is that we didn't have to wait for any delivery people so show up or install it. Buddy was able to do all that himself. Thanks sweetie for a gift I will use for many many years to come!

Quinn's Artwork

2011-05-22T19:49:00.000-04:00

Although Quinn turned 3 back in January, he did not get to move up to the 3-year-old class at daycare until April. One reason was that the class was full and he had to wait until some kids turned 4 and moved out. The main reason was that he wasn't potty-trained yet. That is all behind us now though. Well, let me just say he is a champ at #1, but can't seem to get the rest in the toilet. Here's hoping we can get a handle on that part before he starts preschool.

I just realized...you were expecting a post about Quinn's art work, not his potty abilities. Sorry I got a little side tracked. Anyway, in his 3 year old class, he has been doing more arts and crafts than he did in the 2s. I took a picture of his latest projects to share.

The first one is a cute little bird that he made. Quinn put the feathers on himself!

The next one is the card he made me for Mother's Day. Mrs.Tina, his new teacher, told me he did the stem, leaves, and the flower decorating himself. He showed her where he wanted everything to go.

I am so looking forward to when he starts school this fall and all the little projects he will bring home!

Sliding Into Some Fun Times

2011-05-14T19:30:00.001-04:00

We decided last weekend to get Quinn a swing set for the back yard. He had a swing hanging from our big walnut tree, but it's one you use for babies and little toddlers, the kind you strap them in to. Quinn is much too big for that. Our yard isn't that big, so the wooden ones are just too much for our yard. I found a good deal on one with a big slide and a few swings, so we got that.

One of the many things I love about my husband is how good he is with tools and completing projects. He is manly enough to come up with ideas in his head and build them (for example, the sandbox), but he is smart enough to know when he should consult the instructions (the crib, the swing).

Here are a couple of pictures of the swing set in its stages of completion.

Quinn's absolute favorite thing is to slide down the sliding board, so needless to say, it was the first thing he tried out when we brought him outside to play.

Quinn has learned a new way to swing at school...on his tummy. And he wasted no time in showing us this cool move.

After a few minutes of tummy swinging, he looked up at me and said "Mommy would you push me....pwease?!?"

I think the only way we could have had any more fun was if the swings would hold the weight of an adult...because I love to swing.

I love this boy and can't wait for the hours of fun we will have this summer playing on the new swings and slide!

Easter 2011

2011-05-13T19:48:00.000-04:00

A belated Happy Easter from my precious little Quinn.

Not sure why he loves to run under the tree when it is time to take a picture. Next year, he won't be able to stand under this tree. :-(

What a little man....so handsome!

Mommy and Quinn....who is not looking at the camera.....

First Time Dyeing Eggs

2011-05-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

This year I decided that ~~Quinn was old enough~~ I was brave enough for us to dye eggs for Easter. One thing I learned....do not wait until the night before Easter to buy your egg dyeing kit. If you do, you will be stuck with only the 99 cent version of dye kits, which is just regular colors...nothing fancy, nothing sparkly, nothing! We did have fun though, and next year I will buy my fun kit early!

As you can see, Quinn was super excited to be dyeing eggs.

He had a lot of fun placing the eggs in the different colors. We let him pick which color he wanted to do and then he placed the egg himself. Yes, it made a mess, and yes, he knocked over a color or two, and yes, we had a blast!

For a three year old, dyeing eggs is fun.....waiting....not so much....

The final product. We did have fun, and Quinn had fun playing with his color eggs for a few days!

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-13T19:03:00.000-04:00

On April 16th, our Sunday School class at church had the annual Easter Egg hunt. Our class is made up of all married couples. Most couples have kids already, some are expecting children over the next few months, and some couples are enjoying life as "just the two of us" right now. Our class is so good to plan events for the whole family, and this is one of the best ones we do. Unfortunately, this year, it was scheduled to pour rain all weekend (which it did...this was the weekend of the NC tornadoes!), so we had to have the egg hunt inside the gym of our church.

Here are a couple of pictures of the egg hunt.
Quinn managed to find a huge pile of eggs inside this stack of chairs.

On the search for more eggs....

After all the eggs were found, Quinn sat down and examined his loot and counting his eggs. I was impressed that he got all the way to 15 before he started skipping numbers!

He came home with a whole bucket full of eggs! Way to go Quinn!! This was much better than last year when he forgot to hunt eggs and made a bee-line for the swing set and sliding board!

And to think, we almost left early due to a certain little boy throwing a tantrum.......but that's another story!

Heaven Is For Real!

2011-04-25T06:52:00.001-04:00

I went to Barnes and Noble on Saturday with Buddy and Quinn. While I was looking for a couple of books to get Quinn for Easter, I noticed a book on the shelf called Heaven is For Real. I have read other books about people who say they had been to Heaven and came back, as a result of a car accident, coma, etc. This one struck me as different because the person who went to Heaven was an almost 4-year old boy. Being the mother of a boy practically the same age, it definitely caught my eye. I had to have this book.

I started reading it in the afternoon, and read off and on the rest of the day, finishing the book about 9pm. I could not put this book down. Without giving too much away, the main plot of the book is that a young boy gets super sick from undiagnosed appendicitis and has to have an operation. During his operation he goes to Heaven. A few months later, in conversations with his parents (his father is a pastor) he begins to reveal things about Heaven, Jesus, and God that no child would have learned in a Sunday School Class. At first his parents aren't sure what to think, until he begins to reveal things about his family that happened years before he was born. He describes family members they way they looked in their younger days.

The part of the book that hit home the most for me was when Colton (the little boy) tells his parents he has two sisters. They say, "No, son, you only have one." And he tells them, "But what about the baby that died in Mommy's tummy? I met her in Heaven." You see, his mother had lost a baby before Colton was born, and he met his sister! His mother had miscarried at 2 months, and didn't even know if the baby was a boy or a girl. This was the part that made me cry, because I instantly thought of my own little Heaven baby. I may not know what he or she would have looked like here on earth, but that baby will know who I am!

I've always wondered what Heaven will be like. What will we wear? Who all will I see there? I mean, I know certain family members and friends who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, but who will I see that I didn't know was a Christian. Will there be animals there? What will Jesus and God look like? What will it be like to have understanding about things that we don't understand here on Earth?

This book was an incredible read and has definitely given me another reason to look forward to Heaven! I highly recommend this book. If you believe that Heaven will be your home, it will increase your excitement!

If I could save time in a bottle.....

2011-04-24T09:05:00.001-04:00

That song was popular back in 1976....the same year my parents got married! Momma always said she wanted to have this song sung at their wedding but for some reason she didn't.

I had the best parents a girl could ever have! It was always just the three of us and I never doubted for a minute how much my parents loved me and how much they loved each other. I am so thankful to have had Christian parents. They made sure I was in church, and that influence on me was just one of the many reasons I accepted Christ at such an early age. They were always supportive of anything I wanted to do, including when Buddy and I had to move away shortly after we got married. I have enjoyed seeing them become grandparents to Quinn.

HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

This picture is from March 2008, but was the only one recent one I have of them together....

Sharing Songs for Easter....part four

2011-04-23T21:04:00.001-04:00

Another song I love to hear, no matter when I hear it is "Arise my Love" by NewSong. The
first time I heard this song was when the interpretive movement team at my church performed to this song. They would dress like mimes (without the white faces)...all black with white gloves. They "acted" out the song while using sign language. The youth pastor dressed in all white with white gloves and was the part of God in the song. I can't describe this and do it justice, but anytime I hear this song, I can see the performance in my head.

"Arise My Love" by NewSong
Not a word was heard at the tomb that day.
Just shuffling of soldiers feet as they guarded the grave.
One day, two days, three days had past.
Could it be that Jesus breathed His last?

Could it be that His Father had forsaken him?
Turned his back on his son despising our sin.
All hell seemed to whisper 'Just forget Him, He's dead.'
Then the Father looked down to his son and he said..

Arise, My love. Arise, My love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting; No more suffering

Arise...Arise...my love.

The Earth trembled and the tomb began to shake,
and like lightening from Heaven the stone was rolled away.
And as dead man the guards they all stood there in fright
As the power of love displayed its might

Then suddenly a melody filled the air
Riding wings of wind, it was everywhere
The words all creation had been longing to hear
The sweet sound of victory, so loud and clear.

Arise, my love. Arise, my love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you.
No more death's sting no more suffering
Arise...arise....

Sin, where are your shackles?
Death, where is your sting?
Hell; has been defeated.
The grave could not hold the king!!

Arise, My love. Arise, My love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting; No more suffering
Arise....Arise....Arise

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you: The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again!" Luke 24: 5b-7

Sharing Songs for Easter...part three

2011-04-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

I didn't get a chance to post my song for Friday, so I'm going to do that now.

I mentioned before how much I like the group Casting Crowns. Well, on that CD I bought, there was another song that I thought was fitting for the Easter season. This song is called "Glorious Day". It was a Glorious Day when Jesus rose from the grave, and it will be an even more Glorious Day when He returns to take us Home!

Glorious Day by Casting Crowns

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises

One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

Living, He loved me

Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

Living, He loved me

Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

Living, He loved me

Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

Sharing Songs for Easter....part two

2011-04-21T18:54:00.000-04:00

I am a fan of the group Casting Crowns and recently bought their newest CD. Granted, this CD has been out for a while. Track #11 is a song called Blessed Redeemer. I did some research and discovered this song was originally written in 1920 by a lady named Avis M. Christiansen.

Blessed Redeemer
Up Calvary's mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn
Facing for sinners, death on the cross
That He might save them from endless loss

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

"Father, forgive them," my Savior prayed
Even while His lifeblood flowed fast away
Praying for sinners while in such woe
No one but Jesus ever loved so

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
Dying for me

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

Oh, how I love Him, Savior and Friend
How can my praises ever find end?
Through years unnumbered on Heaven's shore
My songs shall praise Him forevermore

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him....

Sharing Songs for Easter.....part one

2011-04-20T19:00:00.001-04:00

This Sunday is Easter Sunday.....Resurrection Sunday. I am so excited to worship with my church family about the fact that Jesus conquered death when He rose from the grave.

So in the next few days to come, I plan to share some of my favorite songs that mean a lot to me, but especially at this time of year.
The song I want to share today is "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin.

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise

I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise

I will rise

"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

Step Challenge: Week Two Stats

2011-04-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

The second week of my Step Challenge did not go as well as my first. I'll be honest and say that a few evenings I got lazy. Partly because there were 3 out of 5 days at school I was in meetings until at least 4:30, one day until 5. By the time I picked up Quinn, got home, cooked supper and cleaned up, I was honestly ready to SIT down for a while, and the last thing I felt like doing was more steps! Unfortunately, between that and SITTING in those meetings, I did not get as many steps. Oh well.

For those who want to help keep me accountable, here's my stats from last week.

Monday: 10,604 steps

Tuesday: 8,968 steps (meeting until 5pm)

Wednesday: 8,193 steps (meeting before school AND a meeting after school until 4:30)

Thursday: 9,564 steps (parent conference after school)

Friday: 9301 steps

Saturday: 10, 464 steps (yay for Easter Egg hunt to get my steps caught up...plus I did some Wii games!)

Sunday: 9512 steps

Weekly Total: 66, 586 steps

Divide by 2000 to get mileage : 33.29 miles

Some of you may say...why are you upset....this is more steps and more miles than last week.
Last week the challenge started on Tuesday, so I didn't have a Monday to use like I did this time.

I just hope all the other people participating are "playing fair". Yes there is a pot of money on the line, but it's not worth cheating over. We are adults after all.

"Try a Cake Pop....it will change your life!"

2011-04-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

That's what I was told this past Christmas at our family's gathering when I asked what a cake pop was. My aunt had made them for a couple of years, but I had somehow missed out on this wonderful treat. I of course tried one and instantly fell in love with a cake pop!

Fast foward to last month when it seems like all of a sudden, everywhere I went people were talking about cake pop this and cake pop that. I finally asked my aunt to share with me the wonderfulness that is cake-pop-making. She sent me some pretty simple instructions that made me feel confident. She also sent me to this cake pop website which made me feel like I should be in the remedial cake pop class. I quickly closed that website, went back to my aunt's instructions, and the rest was easy-peasy!

Here is my simple way of making cake pops. Enjoy!
(These instructions are the ones I used from my dear, sweet Aunt Louanne!)

First get a box cake mix...any flavor you want. And bake it per the instructions on the box. It doesn't have to look good because you are just going to crumble it up later.

Pour it into any size pan/pans that you have. I used my 9x13 pan, but you could use anything. Like I said, we are just going to crumble it, so it doesn't matter if you cook this in one pan or ten!

Once you are done baking your cake, let it cool COMPLETELY! I baked my cake while Quinn was napping. I didn't do the rest of the steps until after supper.

Next you want to add 1/2 to 2/3 of a can of frosting to your cake. You would want to choose a complimentary frosting flavor. For example, I made a strawberry cake, so I chose a vanilla frosting. I wanted cream cheese, but they were out of that one. Using your hands (because a spoon just doesn't do the job) you want to mix the cake crumbles and the icing. You are about to get M E S S Y, but it's totally worth it. Mix it all up until it looks like the picture below.

Next you want to lay a strip of wax paper onto a cookie sheet. Then take the cake mixture and begin to shape it into small balls. I would say mine were about 1 inch in diameter.

Then you want to add your sticks. I used the sucker sticks from Walmart. These are found in the same section with candy molds, wedding supplies, etc. I bought the long ones and had Buddy cut them in half for me. Next time, I will look for shorter sticks. After you put the sticks in, take the cake balls and put them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. My aunt leaves them in overnight. I did 30 minutes, but I think I should have left them longer, as some of the sticks didn't stay put.

You will also need some candy melts (also found in that same section of Walmart.) I used the white chocolate melts, but there are a variety of colors. I have heard that using food coloring isn't the best way to change colors as the consistency messes up. Apparently you should either mix the colors of chocolate melts or by the small color melts to change the color. (I've heard those are sold at stores like AC Moore).

You need to melt this according to the package direction, but buy more than you think you will need, so when you dip the cake balls, they go completely under. Mine did not, so that's why you can see the cake showing through.

Dip your cake pops while the chocolate is completely melted and still warm. As soon as you pull them out, roll them in sprinkles, candy pieces, cookie pieces, etc. I used blue sprinkles, yellow sprinkles, and some just plain. Also lay another strip of wax paper on your counter. Set the cake pops on this, and the chocolate coating will harden in a few minutes.

Meet the cake pops!

Things I learned during my first attempt:

1. Buy shorter sticks....or even use thick toothpicks.

2. Let them stay in the freezer longer, as some of my cake pops lost their sticks.

3. Use a deeper bowl so the cake pop is completely submerged in the chocolate.

I really enjoyed making these. It was a really easy process, although I can see things I will do differently next time.

Thank you Aunt Louanne for "changing my life"!!

Step Challenge: Week 1 Stats

2011-04-11T15:44:00.001-04:00

My blog friend Beth suggested I post my steps on the blog for each week, so here you go.

The step challenge started on Tuesday. I had 10,515 steps.

Wednesday: 11,529 steps

Thursday: 10,624 steps

Friday: 11,087 steps

Saturday: 9,444 steps. (You would think Saturday would have more steps than during the week, but I had a lot of laundry to catch up on, and then in the evening, we had some bad storms roll through, so there went the after-dinner walk.)

Sunday: 7,538 steps (Not as happy with this number either. Hard to get steps in while you are seated in the pew at church for a couple of hours.And I'll be honest...for those of you who know me...Sundays are hard days for me right now, anyway.)

That is a total of 60,737 steps. We were told to divide by 2000 to indicate the number of miles. So my total mileage last week was 30.3 miles!
So there you go...my stats for week one of the Step Challenge.

School Step Challenge

2011-04-10T06:44:00.000-04:00

**This was originally written earlier this week, but I had some issues with publishing.....**

The PE teacher at my school had another cool idea this year. And this one did not involve duct tape!

She won a grant that she applied for that allowed her to get several really nice pedometers to use with students. But before she lets the kids use them, she asked teachers to compete in a step challenge.

For the next 4 weeks, there are about 20 or so us who are wearing pedometers from the minute we get up until the minute we go to bed. We are recording our steps each day and then adding them up for the week. At the end of the week we convert our steps to miles. At the end of the 4 weeks, the teacher who took the most steps wins.....bragging rights, plus a small pot of money! We each pitched in $5 to compete. I can't remember how many are in this challenge, but I know the pot is over $100!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day of the challenge. I had to spend the day home from school with Quinn who was feeling a little under the weather. I managed to get in 10,515 steps though! We did have to run an errand in the afternoon and then went for a walk around the block after supper. I'm not to that number yet today, but there is still time.

I have also started using our Wii game unit again. I have the Wii Fit Plus and board, and Buddy got me the Biggest Loser game for Christmas. Here's hoping between these two games combined with the Step Challenge, I can even drop a few pounds. The numbers have definitely gotten to a point where I am frustrated with myself, so any time the scale goes down is a good thing.

If you know me in real life, I ask you to ask me about my steps. I would appreciate the encouragement and accountability!

Get your tissues out because my boy's a heartbreaker!

2011-03-10T19:15:00.004-05:00

If you are a Facebook friend or family member (which is 98% of who reads this blog...if any of you readers are still out there), then you have already seen these pictures. However, since this blog is my version of a scrapbook, I will regret it one day if I don't post these pictures.

The daycare had their picture people come out again this past week. Last year they came and brought the miniature Harley. This year's theme was more of an "old-time" look with costumes. I'm glad Quinn's a boy, because what they brought for the girls was not as cute. Anyway.

I love this one the best. You can't beat a close up of his big blue eyes and sweet smile.

Little baseball boy.

When I look at this one, all I hear is "Larry the Cucumber"'s quote from the Veggie Tale video. The one where he plays Minnesota Cuke and the search for Noah's Umbrella.

"It's called a fedora!"

Thank you Lord for letting me be the Mommy of this precious child!

Precious Morning Memories

2011-03-02T15:22:00.002-05:00

I have a little song I sing to Quinn in the morning. I made it up when he was about 3-4 days old and I sing it to him almost every day. It goes like this:

Good Morning! Good Morning!
Good Morning to you!
Good Morning Quinn!
Mommy loves you!

And he loves it. In fact, most mornings he will say "Sing again" or "More mommy".

Today when I sang it to him, he said "I sing it".

And then we sang it together.

I thought my heart would burst! Have I told you how much I love this sweet boy?

A Little Potty Talk

2011-03-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

Potty training is something I don't know that much about. So when the daycare told me Quinn would start being potty trained in the 2 year old room, I was skeptical at best. I had read different articles that said things like this:

Don't push it....wait for your child to show interest.
All kids are different and will learn at different rates.
The average boy is potty trained between 33-36 months of age.

But at Quinn's daycare, potty training starts in the 2 year old room. And I wasn't the least bit surprised when they told me for about 3-4 months that he "just doesn't seem interested" in going to the bathroom. I knew that!

I figured things would click over my summer break from school, but of course, it did not. As a matter of fact, he often would cry and beg me not to make him sit on the potty. So I quit pushing him. When school started back in the fall, I figured a little peer pressure would help him on this quest....NOT!!

Quinn has been very content to just go in his diaper and not tell me anything. The few times he went I truly think were flukes. We tried M & M's for rewards...could take it or leave it. We tried stickers of "Go Go" (Diego) and "Dori" (Dora) and "WoodyandBuzz" (he refers to them as one name).....couldn't care less.

Around Christmas break, many of his little friends moved on up to the 3's because they were completely trained. Did that inspire, encourage, convince him to go potty? Absolutely Not!

So in January, one of his teachers Miss Michelle, who Quinn calls "Shell" decided Quinn would be her "project". She has stayed on his case about going to the bathroom for over two months now....and I think it is working! He tells all his teachers when he has to go and most of the time he makes it! He is (finally) telling Buddy and me when he has to go while we are at home. We are giving out candies like crazy around here! I think we are finally on track!

Now, if we could only improve his, ahem, aim.....

Heaven is just a little bit sweeter now

2011-02-09T20:44:00.004-05:00

This past week we said Goodbye to Buddy's grandmother. She had been dealing with several health issues and went home to be with the Lord on February 1st. I am so thankful that we were able to visit her during our Christmas travels this year. The services were very sweet and simple, just as Gammie was. The worst part of it I guess was the unfortunate weather...super cold, rainy/sleet, and in the mountains. But we just wore lots of layers and did the best we could.

Have you noticed how much funerals are similar to family reunions?

You see family members you haven't seen in a long time.

There's a lot of food.

You hear the phrase "Do you remember the time.......?" a lot!

Here's a picture of Buddy and Gammie, taken Christmas 2009.

Gammie was such a sweet lady and I am so proud to have married into her family. When we were dating, Buddy took me to her house many times. She and PaPa were always so welcoming to me. I know Heaven is just a little bit sweeter now that she is there!

I may be a teacher, but sometimes the kids teach ME!

2011-01-20T07:31:00.007-05:00

Yesterday after school let out, I got paged to come to the main office. I always get a pit in my stomach when I hear this message....just like when I was a student. You just never know what is going to happen when you get called to the office.

When I got there, I saw a young man talking with one of our secretaries. Although I haven't seen him in several years, I knew immediately who it was.

His name is Zach and I'll never forget the first day I saw him when he was in 4th grade. It was the middle of the school year and I could tell he must be a "new kid" because I didn't recognize him. But I couldn't help but notice he was wearing a CLEMSON sweatshirt. Hardly anyone in this area of NC wears Clemson so he stood out to me immediately. I pulled him aside and said, "I love your shirt. I went to Clemson for college." He was extremely surprised by this and said he had just moved to NC from SC and his entire family was Clemson fans!

The next school year, he ended up in my 5th grade class. We would chat about Clemson football on Monday mornings. I just remember him as being a really good kid. He was polite, hard working and willing to do anything I asked him to do without complaining. He was never the best student I had academically, but he worked harder than just about anybody.

The year I taught Zach was the same year I had joined the fire department. I was going to my EMT classes at night and would talk to my students about the importance of studying, doing homework, etc, because I had to do all that too. I would share stories from my classes and what was happening at the department. Zach would ask questions just like the other kids did. Towards the end of my EMT class, my instructor came to my class and taught all the students CPR!

Well, yesterday Zach came to visit me. I haven't seen him since May 2007, when his class "graduated" from elementary school. He came by to tell me that he had joined his local volunteer fire department! He had joined a few weeks ago, but was getting his fire gear, helmet, etc that night and wanted me to know!

My job as a teacher is to help students learn what they need to know for academics, but I also feel as though I am to help teach them life skills, social skills, and how to make a difference in the world. I teach them math facts, history, and how to be a better reader. I teach them how to deal with tough situations and how to make smart, wise choices. I teach them to think about others and what they are going through, rather than think of themselves first.

Yesterday taught ME that my students do LISTEN and LEARN!

Tasty Tuesday-----Daddy's Hot Chocolate

2011-01-18T06:30:00.002-05:00

(Daddy and Quinn 1/8/10)

Today's Tasty Tuesday is a recipe I think we could all enjoy on our next cold, rainy, and/or snowy day.

Daddy's Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups water
1 can (13 oz) evaporated milk
2 cups milk

Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt in a large dutch oven; mix well.

Slowly stir in water. Bring to a boil.

Add milk. Cook until heated thoroughly.

Yields: 2 and 1/2 quarts.

This recipe can be easily doubled if you need a larger amount.

Has it really been 3 years?

2011-01-14T06:49:00.000-05:00

It is so hard to believe that in just 3 short years, my son has gone from this.....

1/9/08

March 2008

1/9/09

July 2009

.....to this! 1/9/2011. Three years.....such a short time, yet it seems so long.

Dear Quinn,

You just had your 3rd birthday a few days ago. It seems like only yesterday I was at the hospital waiting for you to make your entrance into the world. You amaze me every day with all the new things you know. I am so proud of you for knowing your colors, shapes, numbers and letters already! You are such a smart boy! You love to have fun and play...especially the slides or swings. It was fun taking you swimming this summer for the first time. I love that you have such a sweet spirit and how caring you are. You love to give me hugs and kisses...snuggle time is the best. You love to go to church and Sunday School.

I don't know if you will remember all this as you get older....but I will. You have stolen Mommy's heart! I am so blessed to be your Mommy. I pray for you every day. I pray that you will grow up to be the man that God would have you to be. And I pray for you to accept the Lord as your Saviour at an early age.

Your daddy and I love you so much Quinn! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Love Mommy

Redneck Sledding

2011-01-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

In Eastern NC, the land is as flat as it can be, yet these people still want to go sledding when it snows. And when it snows 8-10 inches in one day, you really feel the need to be out in the snow playing and sledding.

I can hear you asking "But how can you go sledding if the land is flat?"

Let me show you!

My nephew calls this "Redneck Sledding"...I call it resourceful!

First of all, you get all bundled up in snow gear. Or if you're like me, you have none, so you borrow your brother-in-law's hunting suit. Ed's hunting suit was last year's hunting suit....the one he wore BEFORE he lost about 100 pounds. So if it was too big for him, you can imagine how huge it was on me....but I will admit, it did serve it's purpose...I was warm and DRY!

I have never worn so much camo in my life!

Then you take a 4-wheeler and a rope. You tie the top of a trash can to the rope. Then you sit on the trash can lid, while the 4-wheeler slings you around the yard.

It can be a little problematic, if you are as tall as Buddy, but if you want to have fun, you make yourself fit.

And just before it's over, you take a victory lap on the 4-wheeler yourself!

A Snowy Vacation

2011-01-13T14:30:00.003-05:00

Christmas break was just what we needed. Being a teacher, I had 2 weeks off, of course, but Buddy usually has to schedule vacation days at this time. However, due to a lot of out-of-town work this fall, he had not been able to use his days, so he took a week and a half off at Christmas! Just what we all needed...some overdue family time!

We spent Christmas Eve and the day before with my family. We left on Christmas Day and chased a snow storm halfway to Buddy's parents' house. The snow caught up with us on the 26th, and dumped 8-10 inches of snow on eastern NC.

Quinn is always amazed to see the snow fall. He always holds out his hands and exclaims "Yook Mommy...it snow-in!"

My attempt at nature photography. But notice how much snow is already on the tree limbs...and there was still hours and hours of snow that fell after I took this picture!

Patriotic Snow!

Self portrait fun! Amazingly, at this point, the snow wasn't sticking to the roads yet!

Quinn shares his name with his dad and his papa. They all have a family name, with Papa being the Third, Buddy being the Fourth, and Quinn being the Fifth. (Quinn = Five!) If you don't know what their real name is, ask me sometime. It's quite the mouthful!

A snowy walk is fun until you face-plant in the snow. Quinn didn't want to walk in it too much after this.

(And there is sweet little Charlie dog....remember him?)

My little family in the snow. We had SNOW much fun on our Christmas break!

Meeting Blue

2011-01-12T13:40:00.004-05:00

If you know my son Quinn, you know he has 3 loves....besides his fabulous Mommy, of course!

1. Veggie Tales

2. His Penguin, Paddy

3. Blues Clues

I have been looking for a Blues Clues toy for him for MONTHS. Of course, with Blues Clues not being a current show ( it quit production of new episodes in 2006), it is really hard to find things like this in stores. We've even checked antique stores. Sometimes you can find a video or a book, but as for plush toys, we've only seen them online....until last week!

One of my co-workers has a ton of stuffed animals and other trinkets decorating his classroom. I had to stop by his room one day last week to deal with a student issue and I noticed he had a Blue toy sitting on his shelf. I've never noticed it before and so I asked him jokingly "How much do you want for that Blues Clues toy?" Then I explained Quinn's love for all things Blue and Mr. P said, "Just take it...his joy is payment enough!"

I was so pleased to present Quinn with his very own Blue.

He has carried Blue all over the house and on several trips in the car. Blue has been with us to Walmart and to the fire station. Here's hoping we never lose Blue, because I doubt I'll ever find another one.

And in case you are wondering, yes, Blue brought along a Handy Dandy Notebook complete with a green crayon!

Tasty Tuesday.....Cheesy Ranch Dip

2011-01-11T13:15:00.002-05:00

I am a little frustrated today because I have a ton of pictures I want to download off my camera and I can't get the computer to recognize my card. Pictures of Christmas, snow, and Quinn's birthday.....hopefully these posts will come soon.

Today's Tasty Tuesday is a quick dip for crackers, veggies, etc.

Cheesy Ranch Dip

1 packet Ranch DIP mix (not dressing mix)

1 and a half cups of shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 - 3/4 cup bacon pieces

16 oz sour cream

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and stir well.

**You can chill this an hour or so before eating for the best taste, but you can also serve it immediately**

**Tastes even better the 2nd day....if there's any left!

Tasty Tuesday!

2011-01-04T16:49:00.006-05:00

So I decided to add a new feature to my blog each week. I am going to call it Tasty Tuesday and each week I am going to post a recipe that I have loved for years, or a recipe that I have recently discovered. When possible, I will try to include pictures as well. I would love to know if you try any (or all) of these recipes, and I hope to learn how to do a "linky" where others can link up and add their recipes as well. (If anyone knows how to do this, fill me in!)

This week's Tasty Tuesday is a recipe that Buddy's grandmother made for us when we visited her over Christmas.

Parmesan Potatoes

4-6 red potatoes, washed and thinly sliced

1 small onion, sliced into rings

3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, melted

1/3 cup (or more) of Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 tablespoons garlic powder

Layer potatoes and onion in the bottom of a small casserole dish.

Drizzle melted butter over the potatoes and onions.

Combine cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle over potatoes and onions.

Bake uncovered at 450 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

**I used more than the 1/3 cup of cheese.....the cheesier the better!**

No I have not dropped off the face of the Earth.

2011-01-04T15:27:00.003-05:00

I am still alive, I am still here. Life gets busy around the holidays and we did A LOT of traveling for Christmas this year. I will post updates and pictures soon.

"Snow" much fun for a Saturday

2010-12-14T15:30:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, we had snow fall on December 4th....in NC of all places. I cannot remember a snow this early. Granted, we only got a heavy dusting, but still it was SNOW! Early snow! We had been out and about earlier in the day and as we got home the snow began to fall. When Quinn woke up from his nap 2 hours later, this is what we had.

He was super excited to be outside playing in the snow. He told me "Mommy, snow cold...Brrrr!", complete with shivering noise and hugging himself.
(And this precious child will NOT wear a hat or a hood....at all!)

He was simply amazed watching the white flakes fall from the sky.

Contemplating the next plan with Daddy. I think this is when we decided to go for a walk around the block.

And we found every puddle along the way. Because what good is a walk in the rain/snow without jumping into puddles?

And as we made the last turn before heading back to our house, I couldn't help but stand amazed at the beauty of the trees, all covered in snow. I wouldn't necessarily marvel at these trees on a normal day, but on a snow day, they are gorgeous!

Looks like he's off to explore his Winter Wonderland!

Here's hoping for many more beautiful snow days this winter!

Unbe-LEAF-able Fun!

2010-12-09T06:46:00.000-05:00

On Thanksgiving morning, Buddy, Quinn, my dad, AKA: Grandpa, and I went on a walk through "the woods". When I was a kid, my cousins and I called the tree-lined area that separated my grandma's yard from their grandma's yard "the woods". We would meet in "the woods" because it was halfway. There used to be a lot more trees, but over the years, we had to cut some down as they began to die.

My dad had asked his yard-guy not to pick up the leaves, so a certain little boy could play in them. Quinn was super excited to see all the leaves.

Quinn and Grandpa immediately began to play in the leaves.

Quinn being attacked by leaves.

Then we went walking through the woods.

Quinn had fun finding sticks and playing with them. He picked this one up and slammed it down shouting "Hi-Ya!"

At the far end of the woods we stopped to pay our respects to our sweet Desi girl.

We had such a fun time playing in the woods! The smile says it all!

Why we went shopping on Black Friday

2010-12-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house in SC this year. It was a nice change of pace for me, since I've done the cooking at my house for about 4 years in a row. The only thing I had to tackle was the traffic between here and there....that's a post for itself!

Buddy and I got up super early on Friday morning and we waited outside the local Home Depot store, in hopes of getting a $28 shop-vac, and an air compressor kit.

We ended up with a way to keep Quinn entertained....

First you tell Grandpa to "get in da box".

Then Grandpa realizes he can't bend the way he used to and asks the almost 3 year old to help him "get in da box".

Then you look at Grandpa and say "My Turn!"

And then you "get in da box" with Grandpa!

Fun Times....and I'm so thankful I got up at 4:30....that smile is totally worth it!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T05:15:00.002-04:00

My son is too cute, and I'm not "Lion"! (ha ha)

Curly Hair

2010-10-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

I just have to say.....I LOVE THIS BOY!!!!

We've let his hair grow out and all his little boy curls came back!

I love this precious child so much. Thank you Lord for letting me be Quinn's mommy!

A Night Out with Veggie Tales

2010-10-14T19:37:00.010-04:00

On Wednesday evening, Quinn and I got to have our first "Mother-Son" date. We went out to see Veggie Tales Live, that was being held at a local church. I only just heard about this show a few days ago. A guy I used to go to church with in SC posted on Facebook that he had taken his son to see it (they live in Kentucky). I looked the show up online and was quite surprised to see that a show would be here in town. I was thrilled that tickets were still available! I even got brave and drove into downtown and bought tickets early...only $10 each! (My trip into downtown would be a post all its own...I hate driving in downtown with all the one way streets. I always get turned around and this trip was no exception.)

What is a Veggie Tale, you might be asking. Well, it is a Christian cartoon series, featuring vegetables as the characters. Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber get letters from children with various problems and they give the child advice based on a Bible Story....only these Bible Stories are a little twisted. For example, Moses and the Exodus turns into "Mo and the Big Exit"....set in the Wild Wild West. Mo gets the Israelites away from Pharoah aka "The Mayor" by crossing Death Valley, California. God allows it to snow in the desert. The show always ends with a Bible Verse and the famous phrase "God made you special...and He loves you very much!"

Quinn loves Veggie Tales.....I mean he L-O-V-E-S them.

Here are Quinn and I before the show started. We even got to sit with some friends from church. As we walked through the parking lot, we saw Kim and Claire, our pastor's wife and daughter. Even though they were attending the show with some of Claire's friends, they asked us to sit with them too. Kim took our picture. I'm not sure who was more excited...me or Quinn.

Each episode is interrupted with a silly song sung by Larry the Cucumber and various other characters. So this performance was supposed to be "The Silly Song Countdown", but various characters wanted to do songs other than Silly Songs. The show teaches that you should share with your friends, so each character ends up singing the song they wanted to do. And in the midst of all this they did 3 songs from the 80s.

Here are two characters: Bob the Tomato and Junior Asparagus. Junior is supposed to be a young vegetable, while the others appear to be "full-grown"....(adults).

Here is Larry the Cucumber singing "The Song of the Cebu".

These are "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."

This is a scene from the song "Endangered Love"...where Larry is in love with Barbara Manatee, a character from his favorite soap opera. Larry utters the famous line "I'll take you to the ball Barbara Manatee!" ( I also found out this is Pastor's favorite Silly Song!)

This is some of the characters performing that 80's hit "Walking on Sunshine".

And the #1 Silly Song of all time...."The Hairbrush Song". Larry gets out of the shower and realizes he can't find his hairbrush.

"Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where oh where oh where oh where..........is my hairbrush?"

And in The Hairbrush Song, Junior asks the most important question of all....

"Why do you need a hairbrush? You don't have any hair!"

Quinn had the best time at this show. He pretty much looked like this throughout the entire thing. As each song would end, he would scream and shout and clap his hands. Then he would turn to me and say "Again Mommy?" And I would say, Yes they will sing again.

Pure joy....clapping for his Veggie Friends.

And the grand finale was the Veggie Tales Theme Song.

"If you like to talk to tomatoes....if a squash can make you smile...if you like to waltz with potatoes...up and down the produce aisle.....Have we got a show for you!"

The only thing that would have made this even more fun was if Buddy could have gone with us to the show. If you know us in real life, then you know why Buddy wasn't there. He insisted that we go on without him, since this was a one night event.

Quinn had a great time, dancing in the aisles to the songs. He especially seemed to like the 80's song "FootLoose". That's when he really showed some great dance moves! I think I even saw him try to breakdance for a second! He absolutely loved everything about the show. I was a little nervous, since he had never been to a show, but he didn't seem scared of the characters at all.

I also have to say the people working the character costumes must have really practiced. The mouths moved in time to the words of the songs. The eyes moved up and down to help indicate feelings.. It was really well done and the dancers were great at engaging the audience. I would go see this show again for sure!

Quinn, I know you probably won't remember this day when you are older, but I will! I will always remember your big smile and the look of excitement on your face! I hope you always remember that God made YOU special and He loves you very much. And I love you very much too! Love Mommy

2 Years of Blogging

2010-09-26T18:50:00.004-04:00

I missed my "Blog-a-versary" by a few days. I can't believe I've been writing about my life for 2 years now. I looked back over a lot of my posts as I thought about this one. There are some things that, if it were not for this blog, I would not remember them at all! I am just not a scrapbook kind of girl, but I love to write out my thoughts.

I looked back at last year's anniversary post and re-lived all those memories too! Fun times.

I thought I would do another Top-Ten list for year two of blogging. But first I wanted to re-live my favorite post since last September. It seems funny now, but getting locked outside on the coldest night of the year is not something I will forget any time soon.

These were the posts that had the most comments from the past year of blogging. How many of these do you remember?

#10: The Cutest Biker Boy Ever......click here.

#9: "Handy" Buddy's latest project.....click here.

#8: Quinn, the St. Bernard.....click here

#7: When our best friends moved....click here.

#6: Quinn and Tillman....click here.

#5: The "infamous" KNIFE....click here.

#4: Quinn is just as clumsy as his Momma....click here.

#3: The day I needed stitches....click here.

#2: My "Heaven" baby....click here.

#1: An Update....click here. (This just doesn't seem like the kind of post I would have ever expected to get the most comments. It really was not meant to be a significant post when I wrote it. Oh well... you just never know.)

Looking back, the month of March was pretty crazy around here. I wrote six posts in March, and 4 of them are in the Top-Ten. Interesting.

I hope you had fun remembering the past year with me! I would love to hear from some of my "silent" readers....you know who you are! You read, but you never comment! Let today be the day you come out of hiding....I would love to know who is reading!

Thanks for continuing to read my blog....because This Is My Life!

I Will Sing of Your Love Forever

2010-09-17T14:39:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I haven't written on my blog in over a month. The start of this school year has been really tough on me for many reasons and I've not been in a writing mood. But last night, something happened that just lifted my spirits and touched my heart.

Quinn got a DVD of praise and worship music for babies on his first birthday. I have since bought him another and when he isn't watching VeggieTales or Blues Clues, he will sometimes ask to watch Baby Praise. He brought me the DVD last night and said "My turn?" (his way of asking to do something). So we put it in and started listening. I've heard this DVD so many times that I've got all the songs memorized, although many of the are songs we sing at church anyway.

I was washing dishes and cleaning up and singing along. Quinn again said "My turn?" The next thing I knew, he was trying to sing along! He couldn't get all the words, but I clearly heard him sing "Holy Holy Holy....I see you". It was the sweetest sound I've heard in a long time! To hear my two year old singing songs of Praise to our Lord is something that just blesses my heart! He's been coming home from church singing songs from Sunday School as well.

I may not be the perfect mother, but this is one area I always want to do a good job in, and that is making sure that my child is being raised in a Christian home. When Quinn was about 3 months old, we were driving in the car and I had a local Top-40 station on the radio. This was what I had listened to forever and thought nothing of it. But that day, a song came on and I caught myself really listening to the lyrics. I felt the Lord telling me that this was not the things Quinn needed to hear, regardless of his age. I flipped until I found our local Christian station and that's where the dial has stayed.

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, Open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see you....I want to see you.
To see you high and lifted up, Shining in the light of your glory
Pour out your power and love as we sing Holy Holy Holy.
Holy Holy Holy....Holy Holy Holy....Holy Holy Holy....I want to see you

Quinn, my prayer for you is that you always want the eyes of your heart opened. I pray you always have a sweet spirit and a love for the Lord! I am so blessed to be your mother.

"I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations." Psalm 89:1

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day." Psalm 96:1-2

And here's a couple of cute pictures of Quinn I haven't shared with you all yet.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

2010-08-18T17:06:00.006-04:00

This past Saturday, August 14, 2010, our family had to say goodbye to a special friend. My parents had to put down our toy poodle, Desi. I say "our" because she was technically my dog.

The summer when I was 15, I baby-sat for the son of one of Mom's co-workers. He was an only child too, and I think we just fell in love with each other. He was about 8 years old and was like the little brother I never had. Even after that summer, I would keep up with him, since our moms worked together. The next summer, as I was turning 16, they gave me the coolest present....first pick from a litter of toy poodle puppies. They had a female and had decided to breed her. Instead of keeping the first pick, they gave it to me for my birthday. I still remember going to their house when the puppies were just 2 weeks old and making my "pick". How I told them apart, I'll never know, since they were such tiny balls of black fluff. But I managed to choose one and we tied a red ribbon around her neck so we would know which one she was. A few weeks later I brought her home.

Desi was instantly part of the family! And in keeping with the true, girly poodle impression, when she got her hair cut, she came home with ribbons on her ears and painted toe nails to match! She and I were best pals! When the time came for me to go to college, she of course stayed at home but was ever so happy to see me when I would come home for the weekend or holidays. Momma always teased me that when I finally moved out, I was taking Desi too. However, when I got married and was moving out, Desi stayed with my parents. They became so attached to her that they were not willing to give her up too! So while she was "mine", she ended up being my parents' dog.

As she got older, her health got bad, as happens to most of us. We learned about a year or two ago that she had developed a heart murmur, so I knew that the time was coming closer. She had several times in the past year when we all thought this was the end for her, but she would bounce back. However, this past week was just too much suffering for her, so Mom and Dad had to make the tough decision to have her put to sleep. I had already told them that whatever decision they made, I was agreeable with. So while I was expecting to get a phone call one day soon, I was still shocked on Saturday morning when Mom called to tell me that Desi was no longer here. My dad stayed with her until she fell asleep, and then he buried her out at the edge of our yard, where he had buried my cat.

Desi was the sweetest dog and she was part of our lives for 15 wonderful years. We will miss her dearly, but she will always be in our hearts.

Quinn's visit to Nana and Papa's

2010-08-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hi everybody....it's Quinn again! This time I'm going to tell you about my trip to visit Nana and Papa. They are Daddy's parents. They came to see us last Saturday because Daddy's birthday was soon. When they went back home, I went with them, and Nana brought me home after a few days. I got to go to their new church and visit some of my family.

Nana knows how much I love my Magna Doodle so she made sure that Mommy packed it.

This is my cousin David. He is only 3 months older than me. He's a lot of fun. He has a big brother named Trey and a big sister named Rebecca. He only lives a few minutes from Nana and Papa. Sometimes he stays with Nana and Papa for the whole day. When he goes to school, Nana gets to pick him up too.

On Monday, it was just me and Nana and Trey. Nana took us to a park so I could play. We tried to go see some animals at the nature center but the doors were locked. Nana said they were closed on Mondays but she didn't know it. It was ok because I love playgrounds. There is one right behind Nana's house too, but this one is much bigger. Look how big the slides are!

I really liked playing with Trey. He is a big boy. He just had a birthday and he was 12! Not many 12 year olds would want to play with a little guy like me, but Trey is used to it because of David. Nana thought it was funny that I tried to do everything Trey was doing. It was like having a big brother of my own!

There was this big pile of little rocks and shells and stuff. Nana said you could sift through it and find cool rocks or shells. I preferred to run to the top of the pile and then jump down! Maybe next time we can bring a shovel or sifter and try to find treasures.

We also found some dinosaur bones. Nana told me that this was another kind of animal that God made but they aren't alive anymore. She also said that someone found his bones in the ground and laid them out so we could see what it probably looked like. I don't know much more about dinosaurs, but I know they can ROAR!

On Tuesday, Nana was really brave and let me and David play together at her house all day! Trey came over too and he helped Nana watch us. When David got to Nana's, we shared a waffle breakfast!

Nana has a little park behind her house. There is a playground and a place to walk around a track and also this water place. It is so cool because the water comes out of the ground and splashes you. When we went to Nana's house in June, they water park was being built, but now you can play. It was so much fun!

Dear Nana and Papa,

Thank you for letting me come to your house for a few days. It was my first time staying with you without Mommy and Daddy. I had so much fun at your house and I want to come every summer too! I love you!

Love, Quinn

Quinn's trip to SC

2010-08-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone....it's Quinn. Mommy said I could tell you all about my trip to SC. Remember when Mommy told you about Great-Grandma's birthday? She is 90! That's a lot of birthdays. Anyways Mommy and Daddy went home after the party and I got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Grandma. Grandma and Grandpa had to do a lot of things in the garden, but we still had a lot of fun.

This is me and my Great-Grandma. I wasn't really in the mood to take pictures with her at her party, but when we got home, I was happy to sit in her lap and cuddle with her.

The next day, I showed her how to draw on my MagnaDoodle. She thought it was really cool and she said they didn't have that when she was a little girl! I like this toy a lot. I can draw and when I fill up the screen, I can erase and start over! I like to use this to draw the clues when I watch Blues Clues.

After awhile I got tired of drawing and just wanted to sit with her. I think she just wanted to sit with me too.

Mommy doesn't like this picture. She thinks its proof that I got spoiled while I was at Grandma's house. Mommy says she would never have been allowed to make such a mess and then sit in the basket. Mommy forgets that Great-Grandma didn't have this basket when she was a little girl, so who knows. But, I probably shouldn't have pulled all the books off the shelf. (Don't tell Mommy but everyone laughed when I did it, so it must have been ok!)

Later in the day, we had to have a watermelon break. Watermelon is sooooo yummy, but kind of messy. Don't worry about that little butter knife I have. I would never cut my hand like Mommy did!

I love my Great-Grandma. She is so special!

Grandma was so surprised when she walked in the living room and saw me and Grandpa wrestling on the floor. See, Mommy doesn't have any brothers or sisters, so Grandpa never had any little boys to rough-house with. He can't play as rough as me and Daddy do, cause Grandpa's heart has a special part in it, but we still had fun!

See, I even turned him into my very own Grandpa-Horse!

When I got done wrestling Grandpa, I found his hat and his shoes. I put them on and everyone thought I was so cute. And I guess I am kind of cute!

Then I had to take a break to color some pictures. I love to color in my coloring book. Mommy is proud of me! She says I have never colored on the walls like some kids do. Why is she knocking on the wooden table? She's so silly!

One day I was standing near the window and I heard a knock on it. When I looked outside, it looked like a monster was outside......

But it was just my Grandpa. Isn't he silly too?!? I guess that's where Mommy gets it.

Dear Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Grandma,

Thank you so much for letting me come to your house for a few days! I had so much fun with you. I hope we can do this every summer! I love you.

Love, Quinn

Summer is Swimming Away!

2010-07-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

I made the mistake of looking at a calendar the other day. That's when I realized that I have only 2 and a half weeks of summer vacation before I return to work on August 16th! Where has the summer gone? And it's not like we've really done anything this summer. We didn't take a big trip, but we did have a weekend with each set of grandparents.

Today was a fun day. My friend Kim from church (who is also our pastor's wife) and her daughter Claire invited us to their pool. From what I've read on Kim's blog and saw today, Claire is a little fish! She can swim a short distance, isn't afraid to put her face in the water, and even jumped off the diving board. So I was a little concerned on how Quinn would act in the pool, considering he won't even sit down in the bathtub anymore!

Here he is...first time in a pool!

I left his swim vest from last year's beach trip at home, but Kim let me use Claire's "puddle jumper" floaty swim thing. Swimmies sure have improved since I was a kid. He put his arms in the "swimmies" and then the flat part fastened around his tummy and back. He was a little apprehensive at first but by the end of the day, he was enjoying the water. I only wish I had gotten pictures of us in the big pool, but all the adults were in the water too.

Quinn proves he is man enough to play ball with a pink Disney Princess ball!

My little guppy.....he's not quite a fish yet, but if we could get him in the water more, he probably would be!

We took a picnic break for lunch. I heard Claire say "I will sit by Quinn." She wanted Quinn's bread, and he wanted a "Dorie" plate. (He calls Dora the Explorer, Dorie).

Momma and Quinn having fun at the pool.

I'm quite proud to say that at 2 and 1/2, Quinn already knows all his letters, numbers, shapes, and colors! So he had to take a swim break to tell me all the letters on the No Diving sign.

Then he got right back in for more splashing fun!

This was such a fun outing! Thanks so much to Kim and Claire for inviting us to join them. I truly think if I could get Quinn in the water more often, he would become a little fish too! And it works wonders for getting him to sleep early. He didn't get a nap today, and it took 10 minutes for him to fall asleep tonight! I think that's a record!

Family Pictures

2010-07-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I told you about my Grandmother's 90th birthday and I mentioned we had pictures made. When my parents brought Quinn home from their house (more on that later), they brought me a CD with all the pictures on it. My only regret from this day is that we didn't have more made of just my little group of the family (me, Buddy, Quinn, my parents). Quinn was in a "two-year-old-mood" and would NOT cooperate at all for the pictures.

And before anyone asks, let me just say that all us ladies are wearing purple, and all the guys are wearing orange. We truly are a Clemson Family!

Here I am with my Grandmother. I absolutely love this picture!

Here is the only shot we got with Quinn being somewhat happy.

Here are the four grandchildren....all girls! I'm the oldest, then Ellen (with curls). Ten years after I was born, we added Rebecca (on the right) and then Hannah (the youngest, and tallest!)

I guess you could say these ladies are the closest thing I ever had to having sisters!

The last time we had pictures made together like this was at my wedding....and the girls were wearing purple that day too!

Here's Grandmother and her girls! We are recreating the first picture we ever had made with all of us. Hannah was only a few months old and Grandma held her. Being the oldest, I got to hold Rebecca (who was about 18 months) and Ellen sat beside me. (Yes, Hannah is sitting on Grandma's lap, but she is doing it gently!)

This is of Grandmother and her three children. My mom is on the left. Her sister, my Aunt Linda (Ellen's mother) is on the right. My Uncle Jim (Rebecca and Hannah's dad) is beside Grandmother. And if you know me in real life, this is the Uncle Jim we've been praying for!

And here's the whole group.....Lucky 13! Let me introduce you to everyone else. My Dad is sitting on Grandma's left. Uncle Roy (Aunt Linda's Hubby and another Clemson Grad!) is behind Grandma. Uncle Jim's wife, my Aunt Louanne is behind him. And if you notice, Quinn is pitching a fit! I told you he wouldn't cooperate!

It was so fun to get together with the whole group! This usually only happens for sure at Christmas. Every so often it happens in the summer, but typically someone isn't able to be there. With Aunt Linda and family in Ohio, us in NC, and Rebecca and Hannah still in college, it is hard to get together during the year.

I love my family!!

90 years is a milestone!!

2010-07-12T07:15:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday, we celebrated the birthday of a wonderful lady. My Grandmother, my last living grandparent, turned 90!! Back when she turned 85, we threw her a big party and invited all the relatives and friends and had a big time. This year, she only wanted the immediate family with her...something that typically only happens at Christmas (and sometimes in the summer). Back at Christmas we discussed the plans and knew that we should all show up in SC for that special weekend.

We had dinner at a nice restaurant, one we would probably not go to on a usual day. My aunt's friend came to the restaurant and took pictures of all of us out in the garden. We took pictures of each family, some of just us granddaughters, and some of the whole group. Of course, Quinn in his 2-year-old fashion, would not cooperate for pictures. We did get a couple of him running through the shots. As soon as I get these pictures, I'll do a post on that.

I decided that for Grandmother's 90th birthday, I would find out her secret to life. 90 years is a long time to be alive. She's had really good health up until the last few months where she has had a few complications. She has now lived longer than her parents did, and is currently the oldest member of our family....on both her mother's side and her father's side.

Here are Grandmother's 9 tips for living a long, happy, successful life....one tip for each decade of life!

1. Walk with the Lord. Grandmother reads her Bible and prays everyday.

2. Go to church. Grandmother was a member of the same church for 88 years. It was a small mill-village church that closed 2 years ago. It was a Methodist church not far from where she lives and her parents brought her there as soon as she was born.

3. Find true love and keep it forever! Grandmother married her high-school sweetheart and she was married to him for 42 years. She stood by him as he served our country in WWII and was gone to the Pacific. She stood by him as he was sick and was there with him when he passed away in 1982. She never loved another man. (Click here to see old pictures of them.)

4. Be loving, Godly parents. Grandmother was raised by Godly parents and she brought what she learned from watching her own parents into her marriage. She and my grandfather were also loving and Godly!

5. Work hard everyday. Grandmother worked hard around the home, raising her three children and keeping a lovely home. Later on she worked hard to keep her home a place her granddaughters would love to come to. I can remember seeing Grandmother working in the yard, in the garden, and around the house. She was always busy!

6. Exercise and be active. Grandmother was always doing something. One thing I will always remember is her and her sisters driving to the Y several times a week to do water aerobics. They only stopped going a few years ago, after her sisters' health prevented them from driving as much. (Grandma never learned to drive!)

7. Have good nutrition. Grandmother made many meals from scratch and grew fresh vegetables in her garden. Sure, she enjoys a bit of chocolate or something sweet every now and then...who doesn't? And we tease her about putting butter on her biscuits! But she typically is a healthy eater!

8. Never smoke or drink alcohol. This one needs no explanation.

9. Be surrounded by loving family and friends. Grandmother has always loved being with her family. She and her sisters were very close.....so close that all four of them lived next door to each other their entire lives! Our extended family (the kids and grand kids of her brothers and sisters) is as close as most people are with just their siblings.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful example to live up to. I am so glad I was able to be there for her big, special day! Grandma, thank you for everything you've done for me over the years. You will never know how much you mean to me!

(one of my favorite pictures of Grandma...holding her great-grandson for the first time!)

Kid's Clothes for $0.38

2010-07-08T17:13:00.003-04:00

When I told my Momma about my latest "deal", she called me "The last of the big spenders". I just call myself smart!

I got Quinn 4 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts for only 38 cents today! Yes, that's right....38 cents!

There is a thrift store not far from my house that I've gotten bargains from before. They are always running incredible deals, especially around holidays. Back in January, for MLK Day, everything was 50% off, so I got Quinn 8 pairs of jeans for $7.50. On some other holiday (maybe St. Patrick's Day), they had all kids' clothes for $0.99 each. I got him a bunch of summer stuff then.

I've recently found out that this store has a "recycling program". Basically you bring in a bag of clothes, books, knick-knacks, etc, and they look over everything. Then for whatever they keep, they give you up to a $5 coupon. Today I took some things of Quinn's that I didn't want to keep (and that haven't sold in the past few consignment sales), some maternity clothes I found in the back of my closet and a few other things to this store. They gave me the $5 coupon. The "sale" of the day was anything on a blue tag was 50% off. Everything in that picture was on a blue tag except the green shirt. A couple of things were regularly priced at 99 cents and those came up half off too! With tax, my total was $5.38. I used the $5 I earned, and paid them a whopping 38 cents to bring these clothes home!

I only wish they had places like this when I was younger. Momma says maybe there were and she just didn't know about them. I have her to thank for my love of finding bargains. She used to let me clip all the coupons on Sunday. I can remember doing this as far back as I can remember! I did it for my grandma too.

Anyways, I just had to share this bargain!

Update on the Hodge Family

2010-07-08T06:56:00.004-04:00

It has been a really long time since I updated on my friends, The Hodge Family. Since December of 2009, their family has really been through a lot. When I last wrote, they were finishing up their second trimester of language school in Costa Rica and celebrating their first Christmas away from family (and in a foreign country).

Their Spanish speaking abilities have much improved, to the point where they were both leading Bible Studies in Spanish. The kids were doing well in their schools too. Amanda has been dealing with medical issues with her pancreas and had three surgeries while they were in Costa Rica. Back in March, her medical needs became so advanced that the International Mission Board, and the family, decided her best course of action was to come back to the USA to get medical treatment here. Their missionary journey was put on a type of "medical leave". She had another surgery at MUSC (in Charleston, SC) and has since been home in Greenville, SC recuperating. She still is not having the recovery they have been been praying for.

This week was the last week of their medical leave and they had to decide if they were going to ask for another medical extension from the IMB. At this point, they should have already been serving in Argentina!

Michael wrote a post on their blog this week, and I think his own words say it better than I ever could.

In 2007 we set out to be obedient to His call on our lives. In July 2010, we sit here in the marvelous mystery of His plan for our lives, to share the news that we will not be seeking medical clearance in order to return to the field. We will not be filling the position reserved for us in Cordoba, Argentina. Rather we will remain close to this area in South Carolina where her doctors are located, and we will continue to seek out answers to her ongoing pain. After many tear-filled nights and much prayer we now see this chapter in our ministry closing. It is a difficult place to be in many ways.

To read Michael's full article, click here.

I know the Hodges would appreciate your prayers for them, as I'm sure this has been a very difficult time for them. I can't imagine what it must feel like, to have sold their cars, their home, and packed everything else up, to move to another country to learn a language so they can go reach people for Christ. But, God has a plan in all of this. All that they have dealt with regarding Amanda's health, has been part of God's plan. They were obedient to the Lord, and when He said "Go!", they went.

They will now be serving with a church in Greenville. Buddy's parents used to live near this part of town, and there is a HIGH Hispanic population in that area. Their Spanish skills that they have learned will definitely be put to good use. Please pray for the Hodges as they once again transition into this new chapter of their lives. Pray that God will continue to use them, and that they will continue to be obedient to them. Most importantly, pray for Amanda's healing and recovery in regard to her health.

As always, you can continue to follow their story by reading their blog, here or you can click it on my sidebar.

Fun Friday--Free Wipes!

2010-06-25T13:59:00.004-04:00

One thing I love about being home in the summer (in addition to being with the sweetest boy in the world), is that I have more time to work my coupons and deals.

Earlier this week I had read on MoneySavingMom that Walmart had Pampers Wipes on sale for $1.97 each. I had several $2.00 off coupons for these exact wipes, so I went to Walmart to get some. I had to deal with a cashier who wasn't too pleased with my wanting to use coupons. I was buying 2 packs of diapers and 3 packs of wipes, and I had a coupon for each one. The cashier and her supervisor tried to tell me that I couldn't buy them all together because the coupon said "one per purchase." I pleasantly pointed out that the coupon did say "one per purchase" NOT one per transaction. The cashiers seemed a little bummed out that I was right and they reluctantly allowed me to use all 5. I politely thanked them and wished them both a good day!

So I got 3 packs of wipes at $1.97 each. I used three $2.00 off coupons, which actually rang up as $2.00 off. I earned $0.09 of overage that went toward the cost of the diapers. These wipes were FREE!!

Doesn't get much better than that!

A visit to Nana and Papa's

2010-06-24T07:51:00.005-04:00

Buddy's parents (Nana and Papa) have recently "retired" and moved to the same town as Buddy's sister, Quinn's Aunt Kristel. I wrote about her here and here. His parents moved down back in the early spring and stayed with Kristel for a few weeks until they could find a place to live. We haven't been down to Kristel's since last fall, and due to Buddy's work schedule we haven't had a chance to go down this spring. A few weeks ago Buddy mentioned he wanted to go see his parents, so I thought that would be a good Father's Day present for him.

Here is Nana and Papa's new/old house. This house was definitely built a long time ago, judging by the way the door knobs and locks on the bedroom doors looked. But it is quite cozy and they really seem to enjoy it. Check out that nice front porch, and off to the right is a screened in porch as well. You can barely see the sidewalk in front of the house (left bottom of picture), and that sidewalk leads right into downtown. And coming out of the screened porch is Nana and Charlie.

Their backyard property line ends about 50 feet from a town park. The park has a baseball field, walking trail, and this cool playground! You can't really tell in this picture, but behind the playground, they are building a water park, where water squirts up out of the ground as you walk around. Quinn loved this playground, as you could probably guess. You can see two kids in the picture. Quinn is on the far left in orange, and his cousin David is in the middle in blue.

Quinn was able to climb up into the playground, and to the top of this twisty slide. He had so much fun sliding down. I think this was his first time on a twisty slide, so that really made him happy!

It looked like so much fun that even I had to give it a try. (So did Buddy, but the picture was too blurry to post!) The young man behind me is Kristel's oldest son, Trey. He is a super big brother, and is helping Nana and Papa this summer by cutting their grass for them.

We had a lot of fun at Nana and Papa's this weekend. We mostly just hung out with them and went into "town" to a few stores. But mostly this trip gave Buddy a chance to relax and recuperate after several months of busy times at work. Don't you think he looks relaxed and happy?

A "Yarn" of a story.....

2010-06-24T07:32:00.003-04:00

I've added a couple of new hobbies to my interests lately....crocheting and knitting.

My mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law (as well as some aunts and even students in my class this year) all know how to knit, crochet, or both. I've sat on the sidelines watching as their fingers did dances with needles and yarn, wondering "how do they do that?" For some reason, though, I never asked for lessons or help.

My grandmother used to crochet stuffed animals for me when I was a little girl. She also made images of each holiday (hearts, clover, bunnies, flags, pumpkins, etc), glued safety pins on them, and made them for my teachers each year. She and my mom tag-teamed and made blankets, hats, sweaters, and booties for Quinn while I was pregnant. My mom crocheted huge blankets for many family members over the years...even the dogs! My aunt knit me a scarf one year for Christmas. Buddy's mom has made blankets, and is currently knitting dish cloths as "remember me gifts" for ladies at the church they are leaving, since they just moved.

The students in my class this year and last learned to knit from a few teachers and this year started a knitting club. I can't tell you how dumb it made me feel to watch 10 and 11 year olds pick up knitting needles and immediately "figure it out"....and within a few days, would show me a completed project. One girl caught on so quickly, she has adult friends of her mom paying her to knit or crochet things for them!

I decided 2010 was the year I learn something new. I had mentioned to Buddy that I wanted to learn to crochet, so to make me stay true to my word, Quinn "picked out" a learn-to-crochet kit and some yarn as one of my Christmas presents. Then over my time at Mom's during the Christmas holiday, I had her teach me to crochet. I will freely admit that this was difficult for me. I just couldn't catch on, and yes, I even threw my crochet needle across the room (several times)! Finally it clicked and I was able to complete a project in April. I made a scarf, which I can't use until it gets cold again. But I started and completed a project!

This past weekend we went to see Buddy's parents at their new house and his mom showed me her knitting projects she had been working on. She is making dishcloth sets, like I said before. All of them had hearts on them somehow, whether the hearts were made by making little holes, or making the heart by using different kinds of stitches. She casually asked did I want to learn to knit. So I learned to knit this weekend too. Working two needles is a little more complicated than working one needle, but I am catching on.

The problem: I need to learn different kinds of stitches. For crochet, I can "chain" and do the "single crochet". For knitting, I can "cast on", and do the "knit" stitch. Another big problem for me with knitting is that I keep slipping stitches off the end of the needle. I don't have that problem with crochet, thanks to the hook on the end. I am trying to knit a dishcloth (no hearts, just plain), but I've had to start over about five times, since I don't know how to fix my mistake when the stitches slip off.

Hopefully, I can continue to figure out how to do this. My only regret is that I wish I had learned how to do this before now. Later, I will post some pictures of the projects my family has made me over the years....you'll see I have a lot to learn!

This is why I am a teacher!

2010-06-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

My birthday this year was on a Sunday. The next day we were not in school because of Memorial day. On Tuesday morning, I was in my classroom when one of my students came in. Now I know as teachers, we aren't supposed to have "favorites", but I don't know how I will ever get this child out of my heart. We will call her "B". She is the student I wrote about who is a refugee from Burma. I have watched this child grow from a scared little girl who was plucked from such terrible living conditions, to a confident, highly-motivated child who wants so badly to learn as much as she can.

She came in on this Tuesday morning and brought me a birthday present. She must have spent all weekend thinking of what to do. She took several sheets of paper that felt like scrapbook paper ( I assume she may have gotten this at church). She used the paper to make a gift bag and attached a fake orange flower to the front. Inside the bag were little things she probably had at her house, like a fresh pencil and some candy. But the best part was the note she WROTE me in ENGLISH!!

This is her note....just as she wrote it:

"Happy Brithday. I hope you have a great summer. you'r My best teacher. next year I was to teacher you agin. I will miss you. I praying for you family. have a great day and you have good student next year. JESUS LOVE YOU! Thank you and I love you. "B". "

Now, I know there are a lot of mistakes in this letter, but it brought me to tears. When I first met this child, she could not speak any English at all. She couldn't work a water fountain, and didn't know to lock the bathroom stall door. I spent her first week at school walking around with labels all over me so she could learn words like "shirt", "pants", "teacher", etc. By the time August came around and school started back, I could tell that someone at her church had helped her over the summer. In October, she read a book to me. (Granted, it was a Kindergarten level book, but she read it!). In November, we had a conversation where she said more than Yes or No, or nodded her head. She ended the year making B's and C's and was in the top 3 for reading points. ( We do a program where the kids read a book, take a test on the computer, and earn points.) For her to be able to write this letter in English, with only a few mistakes, shows how much she has learned in her first year in America.

I was actually sad when this school year ended...mostly because I know she will not be with me next year. I knew I became a teacher because I wanted to help children learn as much as they can. I truly believe that every child can learn. Last year we had 3 teachers in 5th grade, and "B" could have been put in anyone's class. It is no mistake that she was placed into my class. God showed me a lot about myself this year, through the eyes of this special child. And, because she told me she was a Christian, I know I will see her in Heaven one day! I hope she will come back to visit me through the years. I can't wait to see how much she will learn as she grows up!

Crazy Eights

2010-06-04T17:00:00.000-04:00

Do you remember Ashley? She married my cousin, Adam, and I wrote a post about how Adam ran the NYC Marathon one November. She tagged me in her most recent post, so being the good cousin that I am, I am going to be joining her in a game called "Crazy Eights". Basically, you put 8 answers down to the questions that follow.

8 TV Shows that I watch.
1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. Days of our Lives
4. Biggest Loser
5. Law and Order: SVU
6. Whatever Buddy has on the Discovery Channel or History Channel
7. 19 Kids and Counting
8. Quinn's favorite--Blues Clues or "Go Go" (that's what he calls Go Diego Go)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Olive Garden
2. Red Lobster
3. Cities ( a local restaurant)
4. Grand China (a yummy restaurant back home in SC)
5. Anything Mexican
6. Chick-fil-A
7. O'Charleys
8. Malay (local Chinese restaurant)

8 Things I look forward to
1. Heaven
2. The day Quinn accepts Christ as his Saviour
3. Summer vacation
4. Spending time with my two boys.
5. Having another child if the Lord allows it
6. Watching Quinn as he learns new things
7. Reading the newest book by my favorite author
8. Church on Sunday

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Administered the Science End of Grade test to my 5th graders
2. Folded 2 loads of clothes
3. Prepared 19 pork chops, 12 chicken breasts, and 9 pounds of ground beef for the freezer after we did our yearly "stock up" from Sam's.
4. Snuggled with Quinn until he fell asleep.
5. Watched a little TV
6. Fell asleep on the couch after Buddy and Quinn went to sleep.
7. Got a sweet birthday gift from one of my students (post to come soon)
8. Watched Quinn draw me pictures on his MagnaDoodle.

8 Things I like about Winter
1. Christmas
2. Quinn's Birthday
3. Snow Days
4. watching snow fall
5. homemade soup
6. snuggling under a blanket
7. thick socks
8. scarves

8 things I am Passionate about
1. Jesus
2. Buddy
3. Quinn
4. our families
5. being a mom
6. teaching children
7. church
8. reading

8 words/phrases I use often
1. Oh my word
2. Seriously?!
3. Really?
4. I love you!
5. Stop it Tillman (when the dog barks for no reason)
6. Be quiet! ( to my class...the loudest one I've ever had!)
7. Quinny Quinn
8. Are you kidding me?

8 things I've learned from my past
1. God will take care of me and my family.
2. My mom was right.
3. I never knew being a mom would be so hard, yet so easy.
4. Using sharp knives is not in my best interest.
5. Blind dates can end up being the best date ever!
6. Going through 12+ hours of labor plus having an emergency surgery was worth it!
7. God puts people into our lives for a reason!
8. You can never out-give God!

8 Places I want to visit/see
1. Hawaii
2. England
3. Ireland
4. Australia
5. The Grand Canyon
6. The Statue of Liberty
7. Germany (again)
8. African Safari

8 things I need/want
1. new pair of sneakers
2. some new makeup
3. a maid
4. to eat a meal at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, GA
5. a new wardrobe
6. to be better and more consistent with my devotions
7. a magic wand so I don't have to pack up my classroom in a couple of weeks
8. more free time to spend with my family.

Now Ashley tagged 8 other people. I'm not going to do that, but if you feel like joining in, I'd love to hear your responses.

How I Saved Our Family $1000 This Week....

2010-05-14T21:39:00.003-04:00

I knew that title would get your attention!

(The other possibility was "Why Dave Ramsey Would Be Proud of Me. I figured the first one would get more attention.)

I was able to save our family $1000 this week, all thanks to the fine art of realizing "No" is not good enough.

A couple of weeks ago, Buddy noticed that my car was leaking something that appeared to be oil, but wasn't. It was coming from a part of my car that he couldn't identify, and neither could his dad. To make a long story short, I discovered it was the "front end hydraulic mount" for my engine. I went by the Mazda dealership where we purchased the car (brand new, by the way) back in 2007. I was panicking, since I knew my 36k warranty had technically run out. I'm at 38k, but the 3 years isn't up until August. After speaking with the service guy, I explained to him that my warranty was on the cusp of being over....was there anything he could do to help me. He went in to talk to his supervisor, and low and behold, I had a "Power Train warranty" that covers anything related to the engine, for 5 years, or 60,000 miles! I didn't even realize I had that warranty!

Three days later, while driving around town, we noticed smoke coming from under the hood of my car. A terrible noise was happening as well. The noise stopped as soon as we turned of the air conditioner. We went back to Mazda, only to discover that the air compressor had completely seized, and was shooting sparks. Ugh. I knew this would have been covered under the regular warranty, which I just mentioned had "run out." The service manager was not in, but I got an estimate of over $700 to fix the problem. I called and spoke to her when she returned and explained to her about the warranty issue. Surprisingly, she agreed to pay for the new air compressor, if we would pay for the labor costs. The part was more expensive, so we got a good deal there!

Today, Buddy was using one of his power tools and heard a strange sound. Then the tool quit working properly. He had recently purchased this tool, so we took it tonight back to the store where we bought it. After speaking to the guy in charge of power tools, we found out that there was a "30 day" return policy and of course, we were over by a few days. He said that the store could not exchange it, but we would have to take it to the closest manufacture warranty center, 30 minutes away, to have it fixed. I showed the back of my receipt to the girl at the service counter. The receipt said 90 days to exchange "if unsatisfied for any reason". The 30 day policy did not mention the item we bought. After speaking to the store manager, explaining my frustration over the policy, and explaining that the brand of tool we bought should not have broken down this soon, I asked if there was any way he could help us. He agreed to completely exchange the tool for a brand new one!

So, let me break this down.

Front End Hydraulic Mount.....over $400, covered by a warranty.

New Air Compressor....part cost almost $400, covered by dealer.

Replacement of a power tool.....$250, replaced by store manager.

While I had to pay for labor on my car, all total we saved almost $1000 this week, simply because I wouldn't take NO for an answer. If you know me in real life, you know that confrontation is not my thing. I'm not always assertive, and can actually come across as a little shy in certain situations. I'll be honest, each of these times I "stood my ground", my heart was pounding in my chest the whole time. But I politely explained my situation and each time, the Lord worked out the problem, thus helping my family save money.

And yes, Dave Ramsey would probably be proud of me. But what makes me happiest was how proud my husband was of me. He thanked me several times tonight for talking to the manager and getting his tool replaced. He told me several times over the past week how proud he was of me getting the car taken care of. Having my husband being proud of me makes me one happy girl!

Putting the advertising to the test

2010-05-04T21:00:00.000-04:00

I am not a tree hugger, nor am I a crazy, obsessed "Save the Planet" person. But I do what I can to conserve and recycle. I've always been interested in different ways to recycle and got my family involved in recycling when I was in 5th grade. I read a book about ways kids could save the Earth, and we started recycling paper, plastics, aluminum and glass. Buddy and I still do this, but we have to take the recycling ourselves. We don't live in the city limits, so we don't get recycling pick-up. (And I have to drive over 20 minutes to the recycling center in my county, despite the fact that I live about 5-10 minutes from the recycling center in the neighboring county....go figure.)

Over the weekend, Buddy bought a bag of SunChips. I noticed that the packaging looked a little different than the last time we bought this kind of snack. We looked over the bag and realized they had changed the packaging because they have a new bag that they claim is biodegradable. If you put the empty bag in a compost pile, it will supposedly disintegrate after 13-14 weeks. After we read this, I looked at Buddy and he looked at me. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing.....

Let's try it!

So here I am with the SunChips bag.

We've got a pile of yard clippings from where we cut the grass, so we decided to use that as our "compost" pile. I'm not sure if it will work exactly, but when we scooped some of the clippings out of the way, I was surprised at how much heat was there.

Then we covered the bag up with the clippings. I'm just dying to see if this will actually work! If it does, then I hope other companies will consider using this material for their packaging as well.

The packaging showed (simulated) pictures of what the bag should look like at 3 weeks, 9 weeks, and 13 weeks. We buried the bag on Sunday night (May 2nd). Week 13 just happens to fall on Buddy's birthday (August 1st). I will post updates at week 3, week 9, and week 13. Let's see what happens when we put the advertising to the test! This will be interesting to see what happens.

It's Just Like the Book Says....

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you leave a green marker where your two year old can reach it.....

....he's going to want to color his legs (and your couch) with it.

Ok, so maybe the real book is about giving a mouse a cookie, and something about a glass of milk, but I think my version would be a best-seller! And I've got the pictures to prove it.

"Handy Buddy" is at it again!

2010-04-17T06:39:00.002-04:00

Do you remember what Handy Buddy was up to the last time we saw him? Well, he's at it again, only instead of helping out a co-worker, he decided to make something for Quinn. He had some old scraps of wood, and an idea in his head. What started out looking like this.....

.....turned into THIS!!! A sandbox!

I am simply amazed by my husband's abilities when it comes to working with his hands. Like I've said before, he's built many other things, and never once has he drawn out a sketch or made plans, other than maybe writing down dimensions. He just gets a vision, and starts to saw the wood. I think it took him about two hours or so to creat this. And get this...he calls this relaxing! I myself would get stressed out just drawing the picture.

So after Quinn got up from his nap, we decided to surprise him with the sandbox. I ran out into the backyard, so I could get a picture of his sweet face when he saw it. He was saying "Ooooo Wow!"

Then he RAN to the sandbox to play, smiling the whole time.

And he got right to work with his beach toys. He shoveled sand, and filled his buckets and drove the trucks all over that sandbox.

And I'm not sure who was happier...Quinn, or Buddy.

Can you see the look on Buddy's face? He was so happy that the sandbox turned out, and that Quinn enjoyed it so. Quinn was clapping for joy! I love these two guys so much! I am so blessed to have a husband who is able to do so many tasks....tasks that most people would either go and purchase, or hire someone else to fix. Thank you Lord for a wonderful husband and a precious son!

The Cutest Biker Boy Ever

2010-04-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Every so often, a photography group comes to Quinn's daycare to take "fun" pictures. When he was an infant, they brought one of those miniature ponies and propped him up on the horse. He was dressed in a cowboy hat and chaps! Last year they brought a number block and sat the kids up on the block with the number showing that matched their age. They also come at Christmas time with "Santa" and in the spring with the "Easter Bunny".

For this year's fun picture, they brought a miniature Harley, leather vests and hats.

Have you ever seen a cuter biker boy?

I'm not crazy about motorcycles...I've been on the scene of too many motorcycle accidents with the fire department. But I can't help but love these pictures!

P.S....I've gotten behind on blogging, but stay tuned! Future posts include Quinn's cute Easter outfit, and guess who's back....Handy Buddy! Come back soon to find out what he's been up to!

Memories.....of the way we were

2010-03-31T19:30:00.000-04:00

One day while I was at my parents' house over Christmas, I pulled out a bunch of old pictures and started looking through them. Many of the pictures were ones I had seen before. I love looking at old pictures. Buddy and I had a fun time laughing at pictures of my parents when they were dating and newly married. They got married in 1976, so you can imagine what the clothes and hair styles looked like. Some of the pictures I had seen so many times before, and since I've heard the stories, it's almost like those pictures are "memories" for me. Especially pictures of my Grandpa, my mom's father. He died when I was just a little bit older than Quinn, so I do not remember him at all. Because I've seen pictures and heard stories about him, I feel as though I have memories of him.

There was one box of pictures that we went through that I had never seen before. In this box were a lot of pictures of my grandmother and her sisters. They were all pretty close in age, so there were a ton of pictures of them as young women, looking like 1940's models! But in this box I found some pictures of my grandparents, two of which I had never seen.

This is my Grandpa, taken around 1943 or 1944. My Grandpa joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Shortly after that, he was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, and later to the Pacific. He spent the majority of his time overseas on the island of Okinawa. He drove PT boats, the little ones that take the sailors from the big ship to the mainland. When they were at the naval base, Grandpa was the chauffeur for the Admiral! This is his official Navy portrait.

This is my Grandma. I had never before seen this picture. She didn't remember exactly when this was taken, but I figured it must have been the same time Grandpa had his picture made. The background is the same, and on the back of the pictures, the name of a photography studio is the same. So this is probably also from 1943-1944.

This next picture is another one I had never seen before. This is Grandpa, on what we think is Okinawa Island, although we aren't sure. Grandma said he was on several islands, but was on Okinawa the most. You can see the palm trees in the background as well as some of the military vehicles. I cannot wait to meet this man when I get to Heaven. While I am most looking forward to seeing my Lord, I am also looking forward to seeing Grandpa! I was the only grandchild he ever met in person (another cousin had been born, but he never saw her), and from what they tell me, I was his pride! He was a good man and he loved the Lord. (And yes, he was tall, as you can see from this picture).

This final picture is probably my most favorite of all the old pictures. This picture is another one of my Grandmother. Grandpa carried this picture with him the entire time he was in the war. Grandma and Grandpa grew up together in the same neighborhood, went all through school together, and were high school sweethearts. She told me that they would pass each other love notes in the hallway at school! They were married over 40 years until Grandpa went home to Heaven. But he carried this picture with him every day that he was gone from her! Isn't that sweet?

I love learning about my family from old photographs. I love seeing what family members looked like when they were kids and young adults. I love hearing the stories behind the pictures. It makes me feel close to my family, even the ones I've never met!

We're Making Progress

2010-03-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

We've been making progress around here lately.

My hand is all back to normal. Well, normal plus what will become a nifty new scar. Since the last time I posted, my 5 stitches got infected and made my hand swell. I ended up back at the doctor, who removed my stitches about four days early. He got all the nasty out of my finger but deemed it too infected to re-stitch. Instead, I got antibiotic pills to take for 10 days, and as a bonus parting gift, I got an antibiotic shot! I was all prepared for a shot to the arm, when the nurse turned to me and sweetly said "Honey, I'm going to need you to roll over!" Who knew they put those types of shots in your butt? Other than a scab and a little bit of tenderness, it's pretty much back to normal.

Quinn is making progress too! Potty progress that is. He will still sit on it for me and has even used it a few times. At school, though, he won't go near them! It's a combination of factors I think. For one, the potty at school looks nothing like our potty at home. We've got a cute one that looks like a king's throne and plays a magical tune when you are successful. The potty at school looks like a miniature version of a real toilet. It also doesn't have a back to it, so the kids have to hold themselves up. Unlike at home, where the "throne" has a back to it. Also, the one at home doesn't flush. The ones at school do. So up until this week he wouldn't go near them. One of his teachers is on vacation, so a teacher from another room has been pulled into his for the week. Miss Pam was not only able to get Quinn in the bathroom, but she has gotten him to actually sit on it! So, that's progress.

Quinn is also making progress on his learning. He can name a lot of colors (red, green, yellow, blue, purple, and white). He can name a lot of letters (A, B, C, D, E, G, I, L, M, O, P, Q, R, U, Y, Z). He can name some of his numbers (1, 2, 3, 5, 9). And when I say "name them", I mean when we are walking through the grocery store and he sees a number on a price tag. Or if we are driving down the road and he sees a letter on a sign. Or if I ask him what color my jacket is and he says "purple". His regular teacher Miss Michelle commented on Friday how good he was with his colors, naming some that other kids could not!! That's progress!

And finally, there's been progress on the talking front! Quinn has just started to talk more in the past few weeks. In the back of my mind, I've been afraid of the impact of all the ear infections he has had. Seven or eight in a little less than a year's time had me a little concerned. Since he's had tubes put in back in September, his talking has slowly increased. At his 2-year check up, Quinn's pediatrician didn't seem concerned. The teacher in me knows that early detection of a delay is key to helping improve a child's ability, so you can probably understand how I've been feeling. He has just exploded with words over the past few weeks. I think a lot of it may be that he's now in a class with kids who talk. Some of it may be that it is finally his "time" to talk. Whatever it is, I just praise the Lord for answering a prayer! Sure, there are times when it all sounds like babbling. Other times I can pick out a word or two mixed in with the babbles. And then there are times when I know exactly what he's saying. Either way, I'm just glad he's talking!

Progress...it's a good thing!

The knife I can no longer use

2010-03-06T15:46:00.003-05:00

This post is just for you Heather! You wanted to see the knife, so here it is.

I put a regular knife beside it just so you can get a feel for how big this knife is. And let me assure you, when it's not slicing through fingers, it is a wonderful knife. It's probably the best knife we've ever had....and I'll probably never use it again. I am actually a little scared of it now. This was the second time I cut myself with it, although the first one was fixed with just a band-aid.

And, Andrea, I am NOT going to post pics of my finger! At least the stitches are clear! The doctor's office had ordered the wrong type and were trying to use them up. I have more motion in the finger today, but it is still very tender to the touch and a little bruised. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes!