First Trip Away

Andrew left this morning on his first trip away from home--to Jekyll Island for a 3-day 5th grade field trip. He was mighty excited when we pulled up to the school this morning at 4:55am and there were three fancy schmancy charter buses waiting to whisk them away. Fortunately, Colonel Mustard is gone with him as a chaperone, or I'd be a mess today.

I hope they have a great time!

Random Picture Fun!

"You know how to use Deodorant?"

"Learnin' to Ride"

"Olaf!"

"Big Bro. Sledding"

Winter 2014

"Waking up to snow!"

"Tough Chick"

"Picnicking"

"Twins???

"Wacky Tacky Day"

"Nacho Libre"

"Daddy Snuggles"

"Dress Up"

"Naked Dress-up"

"New Cub Scout"

"Redneck Dishwashing"

"Church friends"

Waterfalling

Okay, I don't think that's really a word, but I can make stuff up if I want. We headed not to far from home this morning and went in search of some lovely waterfalls. We had a fun adventurous day and found some real gems. There were a few more we wanted to see, but we ran out of time, so we'll have to go back another time.

Crow Creek Falls

Becky Falls.

Panther Falls

Minnehaha Falls.

Angel Falls.

They were all beautiful and we had fun finding them and hiking in the leftover ice and snow.

Good big brother.

Another good big brother.

Our newest hikers. (okay, so they only hiked for about 10 minutes and were packed the rest of the way. Gotta start somewhere, right?)

Rice Monsters and a Snow Day

Deep Thoughts...

The air is filled with excitement and anticipation this morning. Dear Lord, please don't disappoint our red neck children-- they deserve their day in the snow!

The Game of Life...

Yes, I knew what you were expecting when you read the title of this post. You believed I would wax poetic about Life and how it is a game we must all play and yada,yada, yada.

Well, it's true... I am going to do that. For "Life" is a game...we must all play it. If you haven't, you have been deprived of a childhood rite of passage. Nowhere else can you skip college, get bank loans for every whim purchase you ever wanted, throw kids in your car at random (and get $5000 per player gift--Yeah right!), sue people for nothing....and then retire as a millionaire with unlimited access to bank funds.

This afternoon Colonel Mustard and I played" Life" with the kids. I was a little disturbed at how Colonel Mustard played. Why? Because every girl  knows that playing life is like a fortune teller for how your real "grown up" life will be.

Colonel Mustard spins.
Stop.
Get Married.
Colonel Mustard says to Ethan, "Give me my woman!"
Ethan gets a pink person.
Colonel Mustard puts her in the backseat of his car.

I was a little peaved that he threw "me" in the backseat and called "me" woman.

So I got Married.
...and threw my "Man" in the backseat...and expected a quirk about how could I treat him that way.
Instead, I got... a double eyebrow raise and quick smile.
We played on.
I kept collecting kids...I needed a second car...and each time I left "my Man" in the backseat...and I got another double eyebrow raise.
At the end of the game I collected five kids. (Metaphor for "real Life?")

Moral of the story:
Never leave your "man" in the backseat of the car...not even in the "Game" of Life. You will end up with more kids than you bargained for.


5 minutes of your "real life" you can't get back-- You should have known better and stopped at the first paragraph.

Happy New Year

I woke up the morning with purpose--headed straight to the kitchen....ate a piece of cake. Then for good measure I found some soda in the fridge and took a big swig...because I refuse to participate in the lameness that is January. (A bunch of grouchy, hungry rude people walking around in a daze until Valentines).

Now for my own resolution. A REAL resolution to be make myself better--I started yesterday. I will yell less and listen more. I will be the catalyst for change in the way we speak to each other at this house. Pray for me!!!!!