I'm tired. Still having trouble sleeping. Was going to finally take my Ambien, as I have yet to try it, but Robert was too tired to listen and be alert. He had been up since 2:00 am and so he crashed hard. Needless to say several different spots in the bed and even my head at the feet and NOTHING! I think the last time I looked, it was 5:30. I did finally doze and woke up around 7:00. I really need to go cut grass and work on the pool. It is still green. My hopes of shock only, did NOT work. Talk to you later!

I want some S'Mores and a GPS

I want a GPS system.Some of my scrapping friends from the net are cachers and it just sounds neat! Nothing fancy, I just want to geocache. I constantly find myself looking at the geocaching websites and always wonder how close I could get to the actual cache, just by knowing the location. I know I need the exact coordinates, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to try. This was on my mind first thing this morning when I woke up, and I don't have a clue why. If you aren't familiar with geocaching, here is a site: http://www.geocaching.com There are even geocaches in our town. Believe it or not!! So anyway, I guess that is it for now. I guess that is all I need- another hobby to take photos of. On a side note, I have been working on our pictures from rafting. Next time I say my whole family rides in one boat. It's a lot of work wading through photos.

I want some smores!!! I have been for days! Ever since our little camping excursion last weekend, possibly even before that. We usually have them for VBS, but haven't this year yet. I figure they will have them tonight. I am also going to make some prailines. WHen I don't know, but I have the stuff for it. I have wanted some of those since we left Savannah! Of course this could be the reason for ym bad dream last night. I had a dream I have gained 12 pounds!!! Now it wouldn't be the end of the world, but since I have lost a bit I certainly do not want to gain anymore. I am racking my brain for someone who has a scale. Anyway, I am really getting off of here for now. See ya later!

Well that was fun!

We had a very busy week last week. We finished the birthday festivities and then our only rests day was Thursday, but we had to prepare for our trip, so we didn't get a rest day. We went to Tennessee on Friday morning to go rafting. It was wonderful! We had 16 people total, most of them being teenagers. We rafted the Ocoee river. It was awesome! Last year we rafted the Nantahala. It was fun, but kind of boring, especially compared to this year. We only rafted the upper part of the Ocoee, but I think next time we are going to try to do the whole thing. That should be fun. What was not fun is that I was scared to death that I was going to be thrown from the raft. I was up front and I have a broken toe and I couldn't get my foot positioned correctly. It was very fun though. My hiney hurt for a few days afterwards and my hip popped out of place, and that wasn't fun, but over all it was a great trip. I must also say that I love summer camp. I think that was the best sleep ever. I have not been to camp in ages. When I did go, we did not have air conditioning. Heck, we didn't even have windows. We had these screened walls that had wood over them that you could raise with rope. That was our air conditioning. We stayed at Coker Creek Village and it is quite a nice facility. We had a hay ride, a hoe down and huge meals every day. Oh, guess what? We saw Scott Steiner at Cracker Barrell. We stalked him pretty much. He was NOT friendly!!!! My brother spoke to him and he was not cordial to say the least. He should have just ordered take out if he was going to be so unfriendly. He kept his sunglasses on the entire time. As if that could hide that you are a buff wrestler. Umm, next time try wearing long sleeves and maybe dye the facial hair. Let's see what else, oh we went to this place up on the mountain where you can see 3 states. I can't remember the name of it, like Buck Bald or something weird like that. Anyway, when we got there it was beautiful!!! What was even more beautiful is that there was another youth group there and they were singing songs and just praising God. They invited us to join them and then everyone had a chance to give their tetimony. That was awesome not only to see the greatness of God and his abilities, but to also be able to share in that with fellow believers and just forget about the world for a while. I just sat and stared at the mountains. I took pictures, of course, but nothing could recapture that feeling of worshipping God and feeling Him so close and so magestic. God truely is an Awesome God!!
I hope seeing the fire in the youth group on the mountain will make our group get a little more serious about their faith. I hope with the new pastor our youth will be able to take a more leadership role in the church and start to become alive!!

Oh one thing that was so funny- my brother and I were both on the rafting trip together. He organized it, and did a great job btw. Anyway, so it was our sister's birthday Saturday. Well of course we had to call her since we oculdn't convince her to join us, well there was NO CELL PHONE RECEPTION ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THERE!! So what did we do? We called her COLLECT!!! It was so funny. Of course she did not accept the charges. We simply said, collect call from, "Happy Birthday." Then we heard, click! Later we did have a bit of service on Robbie's work phone so we called her to explain.

I have found that I love books. Books of every kind. When I was teaching, that was one of the higlights of my day- reading to the children. I think my favorite kind are kids books, but I like the ones with a lesson to them. I joined a book club and have ordered some Paula Deen cookbooks lol, hey they were only a quarter a piece. I also ordered a cleaning book and a Dr. Seuss book. It has 13 stories from Dr. Seuss in it. I cannot wait to get it. I was starting my wish list and all that I was adding was cookbooks and children's books. I really had to refrain from getting all of my nieces books for every upcoming occassion. I don't quite think they love books like I do. Although the should, because everyone else in my family loves books. Oh well. I really should go to the library more, but I don't. I get too over my head when I read a book. I can't put it down. I remember even in school putting my book inside a textbook to keep reading. I guess I am on a reading fast because the last books I have read were the Left Behind series. I caught up on those and had to wiat for the new ones to be written, so I had to stop all together because I couldn't wait that long. Now I need to go back and reread them, because I don't know where I stopped. So, one of my service projects with Junior Service League this year is Knight Enloe. I was NOT happy about this. I do not like Roanoke City Schools and I certainly did NOT want to volunteer there. At least it is at the elementary school and my niece goes there. That will be nice to spend some time at her school. I don't have much experience with KES since I went there, so maybe it will be fun. Maybe I will get to read to the kids. lol

So our pool is green!!! It was beautiful, now it's not! Apparently we had a storm here while we were in Tennessee. A cup blew into the skimmer. Not sure how that happened, since the lid was supposed to be on there, but it did. water could not filter and water that sits still in the sunshine turns green! So, we have to clean it again. Ugh! A bit of shock should do the trick. I guess that is about all the I have to ramble about for now. Until next time- Ciao!

Oh, I forgot...

I wanted to show everyone Courtney Bug's 4-wheeler. IT is so darn cute, but not near as cute as she is on it! I love to watch her ride it. She was driving around the yard the other day and she would go over a little raised area in the yard and it looked so cool. My yard was looking hot! I had Cassi's car and Courtney's 4-Wheeler side by side. Both too cool vehicles. ;) Here's a pic, it's not very good, but I will have to take some better ones and repost. It is very sharp. It is pink with pink rims and flames on it. Too cool. It even has an alarm. I tried to act l,ike I was stealing it and the alarm sounded. Too neat, Huh!

I'm baaaaack...

and exhausted. I have been going sooooo much lately, well really forever, but not sleeping and bouncing off the walls aqt the samed time really tires a person. I have meds to slow me down, but I don't think they work. lol I have some sleeping meds too, but I have been scared to try it because I have had so much to do and I didn't want to be dragging, well couldn't be dragging because I had things to get done. Anyway, Cassi drove to the ball field tonight and did great. She drove home after the game, but Robbie rode with her since it was night time. We are going to Tennessee tomorrow rafting for the weekend. It is going to be fun. I hope I get more excited though. I get excited, then it goes. I just think how tired I am now and how much tired that is going to make me. I plan on sleeping like a baby Monday. It will never happen, but it is a good plan. Just enough to keep me going a little longer. I could fall asleep right now and it would be wonderful. Oh well, time is just wasting as I sit here staring at the screen. I guess I should go for now and pack for tomorrow. Not sure when I will be able to blog again. Good night all! Loves and kisses.

Cassi got her license!!

All the excitement is finally over. No more weekly visits to the DMV only to be told that we didn't have the right papers, the time or something. On the other hand, Cassi is a licensed driver. ACK!!!!!!!! So we got her insurance today. We couldn't get her tag today, but that is ok, the dealer tag is good for 30 days. Right now she is driving on the road in front of our house. She has never drove before by herself except to pull the truck around or something, but now she is ON THE ROAD! The REAL ROAD! BY HERSELF!! Yes I am screaming!! Can you believe it? I can't!!! NOt only is she on the road by herself, but she is in HER CAR! The 5 speed. She wants to practice driving kisses around because she said she is going to the ball field in it tonight. When she took her test she came in and said, "I passed! Two idiots almost hit me!" Then the man stopped and said, "I was in the turning lane." He then flashed some badge. I said, "Was that one of the idiots? to which she smiled and said, "Yes!" So we go in the office to actually get the license in our hand and the Trooper is now ranting about the "Idiot". Apparently he thought that he was in the turning lane, only he was in both the turning and the "go straight" lane as Cassi put it. So the DMV lady says, "The two worst drivers in the world. Young people and Old people." She was furious with that man. When I told her what he said and then flashed his badge, which no one could recognize and really didn't care one way or the other, she said, "I don't care. If you can't drive, you shouldn't have a license!" Thankfully he didn't hit Cassi and thankfully that she was not at fault. Cassi got some points taken off, but most of them were for being too cautious... that was funny, but at least it puts me in a nice frame of mind. I'm scared to death for that girl, but that is why we have insurance, just as long as she is ok, the car can be replaced. So, I guess I am going to step back on the porch and video her some more and swelter in the heat. At times like this, I wish the pool was in the front yard, so I could relax, get cooled off and take pics all at one time. I will post more later. There is still more excitement to come!!

Cassi's last surprise

I know I promised no more surprises, but there was one more surprise. We all gathered at her favorite restaurant tonight. Whene veryone arrived, Cassi, Sam, Carrie and Angel were all checking out a car that was in the parking lot. When we left the restaurant, there was a big purple bow on that car. It was Cassi's!!!!!! She was so excited. She has named it Kisses. lol This is one love girl. So many people put extra special touches into that car to make it custom for her. Many did not know her and have yet to meet her. That is just how blessed we are. There are still good people left in the world. Everyone loved the car. Mama was so afraid that she wasn't going like it, so she was relieved to see the joy on her face. I tell ya, I don't think Cassi could take any more surprises this week. When we got there we all ordered and ate, I think we didn't even taste our food because we were all so excited. I almost forgot to pay, but glad that I realized before I started picking up my bags. When everyone finally finished, she was brought a cake and we all sang Sam, Carrie and I shared the fried ice cream, while the girls ate some of the cake. The other adults didn't have anything, as they went to prepare the car for the big reveal. Robbie, Cassi and Angel have not made it home yet. I know they are out hot rodding. When I called to check on them to make sure they had stopped for gas, they had taken the interstate home. All of the girls played in the car for a while. Uncle Brad offered to pimp it up some more for her, but it would take a week. She said it was fine just like it was. Of course, she still has to learn to drive it. It's a 5 speed. That just makes it cooler though. I asked her if she wanted me to take a picture of her by the car, well that one picture turned into like 20. She even wanted her photo taken with the headlights. So I agreed. When she moved to the back of the car, I said enough was enough and we could do more later. Well I hear the motor revving in the driveway now, so I guess I will close this post. Enjoy the pics. I'm not sure if she likes the car. What do you think?

It has been a long week!! I can finally blog!

Today is Cassi's 17th birthday. Courtney's 7th birth was Friday. Cassi had her party Friday night. Nathan was able to make it AND she got a cell phone. It was all a surprise! Courtney had her party Saturday, she got a 4-wheeler. Happy Birthday to both of you!!! I love you so much! She was surprised! Wheew! That was a lot of secrets to hold in! I couldn't blog becuase unfortuntely my whole family reads my blog. Well a lot of them anyway and I was so afraid something would slip. I can finally let it all out. It is over! The other thing was Cassi's mom came to vivist her from Germany and today was the day she arriving. That was another huge secret. So now can you see why I was about to explode. I haven't slept in days, because I was so excited. I usually don't sleep well anyway, but this made it worse and it was a good kind of not sleeping. I just love it when my girls are all happy.

On another note, Bree took a fall off the 4-wheeler and had to go to the hospital. She has some loose teeth and some scrapes and brusies, but she is one tough cookie. They all looked so darn cute on the 4-wheeler and my brother said that everytime Courtney makes a lap on it she stops and says, "Thank you so much Daddy!"

Everyone is relaxing now for a bit now. Some are in the pool and others are talking, but I think everyone is just glad to be together. Robbie is takinga test and he will be home. His instructors are letting him make up his tests since it is such a special occassion.He has not seen his sister in 21 years! I told him hopefully they would understand. They usually require a death certificate in order to make up a test. Thankfully they understood. He is taking a math test today and his business law test Wednesday.

I think it is like 104 today. It is hot!I have on a dang sweater. It is a summer sweater mind you, but a sweater none the less. Whewwwww! It has been perfect swimming weather lately, but I have not had a chance to get in the pool. Maybe soon!

Courtney isn't feeling well. Her throat ahs been hurting her since Saturday and last night at church her tummy was hurting then she ran a fever last night. I hope that she gets better soon. I don't like it when my girls aren't feeling well.

I guess is enough for now. I am calling to check the progress of Robbie's test. I will blog more later.
She'Na

Tomorrow is Courtney's Birthday

This has been one busy week. I fear, well I know, it is only just the beginning. Courtney's birthday is tomorrow. Her party is Saturday. I have to go get her gift, have an idea what I want, but not sure if I can find it. Hopefully we will be able to locate it somewhere. I also have so much to do for this weekend. I hate putting things off until the alst minute, but I do work better under pressure and sometimes last minute is all the time that you get. We are going to try again today to get the girl's licenses. Maybe, just maybe. Cass has a ball game tonight, then I think she is going to my sisters. Courtney stayed the night last night. She ate 3 pieces of pickled cauliflower. 3 PIECES!!! Granted, they were small pieces, but even still, she tried it. I was very proud of her. This is the picky eater! I figured she would puke everywhere, especially on the last piece because it was bigger, and more sour. She didn't. A word to the wise: DO NOT EAT HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP AND WALNUT COOKIES WITH CAULIFLOWER OR AT ANYTIME CLOSE TO IT. I remember when I was a kid I wanted a pickled egg and a gingerbread man. My Aunt Gwen warned me that I would get sick. I ate them anyway, thankfully I didn't get sick. However, last night was a different story. All I can say is UGHHHH!!! Oh well, I guess we need to go sit in the hall of the courthouse for most of the day. Maybe they won't be too crowded. See ya later!

Happy Late Anniversary Sissy and Brad!! I am so sorry

I never got to wish them well wishes in print. Now, it has been a few days since I last blogged, a lot has been going on.

First of all, Cassi did not get to take her drivers test. We didn't take the custody papers with us. We didn't need them for the permit test, so why in the world would we need them for the driver's test. Guess what?!?! We did! So we will try again next week. I think she was disappointed, but a little relieved at the same time. My mother kidnapped my that afternoon and we had a delicious lunch at Applebee's. It was yummy. Then we went to visit my sister and just sat on her proch with us girls talking. It was so nice. We need to do it more often. I usually see my mom every day, but lately I have been doing good to see her once a week. I was missing her so much. We didn't talk about anything really, just picked at mama like we always do. Thankfully she didn't get mad at us. The girls were gone to my cousins house for the night, so it was just Mama's girls there. The only thing that could have made it better was having my brother there too, but I don't think he gets into our silliness much. We kept saying we were leaving, but ended up just moving closer to the car. Finally we left around midnight. Oh, I was stretching my arm and plowed it right into a cactus. It was not fun and I had all sorts of prickleys in my hand and fingers. They didn't hurt after they were in there much so I left for a few secs because I knew the pain would come after I pulled them out of my hand. And it did! Saturday, I took Cassi to babysit Cami and Brett. She had a ball. Robert had to go to the office to work on somethings, so I went with him. Well actually I met him there hours later to help. He let me sleep in after I took Cassi to Lori's. I helped and then we came home. We pretty much had a lazy day the rest of the afternoon. Not a frequent thing for us to do, but it was fun. Today I got an anniversary card from Pastor Frank and Ms. Jo and my secret pal. That was a special surprise. We had a pastor come to preach today who is the prospect for our pastoral position. He has a 3 week old baby. Too precious! Things are pretty quiet around here today. We haven't been home from church long. We had dinner on the grounds after preaching. Yummy as always! Mrs. Sue's grape salad is da bomb! It is better than my recipe and actually healthy for you! I love it! Unfortunately, it was all gone. I am just working on some pictures and updating my website. I really need to build a "real one", but haven't yet. Maybe soon. We will see. I bet it would help my business, but until I do word of mouth works for now. Hopefully I will get some senior bookings soon. I'm going back to my photos now. Check ya later!

Much needed update

Ok, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
First our Savannah trip-
It was totally awesome!! We had wonderful food, Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady and Sons was absolutely delicious and the staff was so friendly. Our waitress was Kathryn and she was just as excited as we were. She was totally awesome! We need to write them about her. Very good service! We did a tour so we were able to make reservations and did not have to wait in line. Their biscuits are the best! I don't even like biscuits, but these were so big and fluffy and light and just yummy!
I brought my dessert home to the girls and Kathryn gave us extra so that we would have enough. The girls loved it and thought they were big shots eating a famous persons cake. Last night out dinner was totally recipes of Paula's. They were recipes that I have, but just different versions, and mine just weren't as yummy anymore as I wanted them to be, but man oh man have they officially been replaced. Everything was made from scratch. I even friend chicken and even touched it. Totally unlike me, then I even had a bite of it. Of course it was boneless and skinless, but still a major deal. Casey and Cassi attempted to make dessert, it didn't quite turn out, but they attempted and what ever it was that they came up with tasted pretty good, despite their failure to read directoins thoroughly. Back to our Savannah stay, we stayed in the hotel part of the time and a bed and breakfast the rest. It was an awesome experience. Our hotel was free because we received points when RObert was in North Carolina for business. Our room was huge and very nice. The bed and breakfast was just a nice pleasant luxurious experience. It was our first B&B visit, but it is something we could certainly get used to more often. Love the decorating of the room and the colors. I have been online all day searching for their bedding. Hmm, what else... We went on a river boat dancing cruise. That was nice. We didn't dance though, I just enjoyed the ride and being on the water. One of the cooleost things about Savannah was on River Street at night there would be all sorts of musicians. They were so talented. There was even a magician one night. I wish I would have had my video camera, these people could certainly make it big time in the industry.Of course the prailines on the river were delish! Before I left several friends had said to have a prailine for them, let's just say I have had enough pralines for them for a lifetime probably. I had losts 20 pounds prior to my visit, but I fear that number may have gone down significantly since my visit south. They were giving out free samples and the samples were huge. Robert doesn't like original pralines, so I would get him to get a sample too and give me his. I couldn't resist. I have not really been much of a sugar person for a while, but I have made up for it. They were warm and fresh and irresistable. I promise that we did more than eat on our trip, but well eating is a big part of the south, so it's in my blood. We did work it all off I assure you. I was so excited that I couldn't get anywhere fast enough. I would just run ahead ready to snap pics. There are so many squares and we walked so much, so the some of the fat and sugar had to come off from sweating. We stayed an extra night and would have kept staying over and over, but Robert had to work and I have become accustomed to electricity and roof over my head, so I guess it was a good thing we came back home. We got the girls from Mama's when we got home. We cooked hot dogs for the 4th, but didn't shoot any fireworks. We usually go all out, but we were tired! So we just grilled the dogs in the oven. Today, we went to get Casey and Cassi's license. We are going back first thing in the morning, because the computers crashed today. Oh! We went to take pictures of Casey today. It was fun and spur of the moment.You can view the pics at www.creativeimpressions.photoreflect.com Click on C Brown and there she is. They are all untouched and straight out of the camera, so the good and the bad are on there. I haven't had time to play with them yet. She got her glasses and looks so darn cute. Of course she does not think so. She and Cassi are trying to decide what to do for their birthday, but aren't having much luck. We took all the girls home today. I sure am going to miss them. Bree cried because she didn't want to go because as she said, "We have so much fun." That was sweet. I told them they could come back soon, but I have a full day tomorrow and they do not like to run errands. Courtney's birthday is coming up soon. She is having a skating party, I think. She wants me to paint her room like and ocean or a water slide. She probably won't be getting either of those from me. The painting her mom and dad probably wouldn't go for and the slide, well too many birthdays here at once for that chunk of change. She really is very grateful for anything that she gets. She makes you want to get her stuff because she is so appreciative and dramatic. Even just simple things. When they ate the cake from Paula's restaurant, she said, "My mom and dad must take me there." I have brought her a big gumball before from a trip and she just gushes like it is made out of gold, her reply is usually, " Oh Sissy! You didn't have to do that. Thank you. You shouldn't have done this. I love it. Thank you so much!" Her version is much more dramatic and sincere though. I guess that is enough for now, I have "talked" your head off long enough. I need to get some rest so we can get those girls up early for their license. If the rain holds off. Cassi is trying for her drivers license and Casey is trying for her permit. I think they both will do just great, if they will relax. We shall see. We drove the route today and will practice tomorrow before hadn if time permits. Until next time... See ya~
G'nite

Happy 4th of July!!

Robert and me on Tybee Island.


A water lily at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House- One of Paula Deen's restaurants



The bird that loved to have his picture taken as much as I loved to take them.

We are home from Savannah! We are tired. We have all of our girls and they are going crazy waiting for their surprises, so I won't blog much today. I will post some pics from the trip, hopefully blogger will allow that now, as before I couldn't poast them when I took them. Anyway, I will post more later. Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Happy Anniversary Bubba and Tracy!

It's our second night in Savannah. We had a nice long productive day. We did sleep in this morning, so that was nice. We then went to take our trolley tour. As Bree would say, "We rode the Charlie." It took us all through the historic district and all of the neat photo op sites that I wanted. Robert and I both love history, so it was especially fun. We saw the birthplace and then the home pace of Juliette Low, Girl Scout founder. I have wanted to do that since I was a scout. We had lunch at Huey's. (again) I ordered the chicken salad and it was good, but not as flavorful as I had hoped. I should have gotten fried green tomatoes, but I didn't. They looked delicious though! Maybe tomorrow. ;) We did get the praline cheesecake with praline sauce and had a bite each. It was really good, really rich, but the funny thing was the after taste was really really good. We brought the rest back with us.
The best part of the day was after our tour. We drove around to the squares and the sites that we wanted to see more of from the tour. The best place was the Cathedral of St. John. Man oh man! I am not catholic, but this made me want to be. It was beautiful and I have the photos to prove it. They were closed when we got there, but the man let us go on in since a few people were still in there looking. I am so glad he did. I will definitely be going back there if I had more time. I just can't explain the beauty. The paintings, the statues, everything..... Awesome!!! Robert said I got a little trigger happy there, but little does he know just how well I really restrained myself. I wanted to capture every detail, but I didn't. I just could go on forever. Anyway, I am uploading the 147 pictures that I took today. Hopefully they will all be perfect. We shall see.
After we left the historic district, we went to Tybee Island. We had a nice walk on the beach there. We met a seagull that obviously loved to have his picture taken just as much as I loved to take them. Robert said that when I get home I am going to wonder why I took so many pictures of a bird. It was surprisingly cool there too. It was hot, but the breeze felt wonderful. The sand isn't as pretty as on the gulf, but it was still nice. It also was not very crowded. Tomorrow we will be taking the Paula Deen Tour. That should be interesting. Lunch will be at her newest restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. I will have to take tons of pictures on this tour as well for Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Jo. They love her! I knew I couldn't come to Savannah without doing something Paula Deenish! I think my pictures are finished so I will go and play with those for a while. See y'all tomorrow!

We made it to Savannah! Happy Anniversary to us!!! We left early this morning and the well pump messed up again, so I need a shower badly. We had to go to a service station to brush our teeth and get ready since it was too early to crash someones house. Anyway, we managed and when the rest of the world woke up, we called and got Uncle Ed to fix it again for us. This is just a temporary fix, but at least it will be ok until we get back hopefully. We have had a wonderful time so far. We had a nice lunch at Huey's. It was delish! I finally got my muffie!! I have bee wanting a Muffleta sandwich for ages and I finally got one today. That was the whole reason for us going there. Of course once we were there I started changing my mind and almost got chicken salad instead... we might have to go back to try it. We are going on a dancing cruise tonight. We just got to our room and decided to chill for a bit before heading back out. Oh and we now know where the bad side of town is... actually a few of them. Anyway, I guess I will go for now. See ya later!