About Time to Update!

This blog is certainly overdue for an update again. I have been knee-deep in outgrown clothes, trying to get one step ahead on organizing for the fall. The weather has been especially helpful, because it is never easy to get motivated to clean out closets when it is sweltering outside.

It has been a beautiful summer in Tennessee. It has been a very different summer, weather-wise. We have had our sweltering moments, but we have not had the 10-day runs of temperatures over 100 like we have in years past. In fact, in the afternoon, sometimes it feels like a fall day.

Tim and the kids and I had a ball this week getting out in the yard and playing Frisbee! All 6 of us were out there, spread over the front yard, throwing it as far ,as we could. Our Frisbee was not the greatest, and we decided it was such fun, that we simply have to go invest in a better one for future afternoons of fun. Hannah did a great job of retrieving all the badly thrown discs, and Sarah was funny putting her "lefty" slant on things. I cannot get used to having a left-hander in the family. My dad and grandfather were lefties, but for some reason that never seemed strange. When it is a child, it suddenly seems strange! Go figure!

However, the next day, as I was going about my chores, I noticed that I had a lot of pain under my right arm. I kind of got worried, because we have been watching some swollen lymph nodes in that area, as well as a spot on the right side of the mammogram. So, you know how the mind starts wandering, and the worrying begins. It took me a full hour to remember that I had been outside acting like a kid playing Frisbee for an hour, and I was paying for it. I told Tim that it was really sad to be so out of shape that Frisbee challenged you!

Tim is still going strong with his low-carb diet. He had really started to slow on his loss, which is around 100 pounds gone now, so he adjusted his carb intake yet again so that he could start the downward trend again. Instead of picking up a low-carb bowl at Hardees in the morning, he got a scale and is weighing anything he is not sure of, and he is tracking every carb. It is a lot of work, but I know the payoff will be great for him.

I think we are going to have to start walking religiously. I need it, and I believe it will take him to a new level with his weight loss. The kids will be happy to break out the bikes and come along. And then there are the two Wal-Mart Mutts in the back yard who need to be walked.

The weather is certainly conducive right now for late-afternoon family interaction. I simply have never seen weather like we have had in Tennessee this year. The drought has been terrible, but I believe that these times have a purpose in the cycle of nature. We have had some drenching rains and even a little thunder and lightning this week. This is the first year in many, many years that I do not recall piling mattresses in the hall nearly every week because of a tornado warning. We just have not had the bad storms at all this year.

Well, it is back to the clothes-sorting for me. It will soon be time to start the home-schooling again, and I would like to have a lot of these little sorting chores out of the way so that I can devote my energies to teaching. It is hard to believe that Sarah is a second-grader, Micah is an eighth-grader, and Hannah is ready to start reading and writing. I think Sam and Dan are set with their college preparation for this year, although a few things with Sam are still up in the air, and we won't have some final answers until 8/15!

Lastly, please keep my grandfather in Sarasota, FL in your prayers. He is not doing well at all at this time. He has a blockage in his bladder, and for some reason, they do not think he could withstand surgery. He had a valve put in his heart back in 1976 or so that was only supposed to last 10 years. It is still there and was going fine. But he is 87 now, and everything, including his mind, is failing. It's so hard when they say they cannot do any more. My dad, an only child, is very sad right now.

Pappaw Carl with Sam and Micah a few years back....

Cuteness in Black and White

Will My Life Ever Be Boring and Mundane Again?

I remember thinking in March and April that I surely could not wait until summer, because it had to get less busy than those months were. I am still waiting for a time when there are not 20 things hanging out there on my "to do" list. It has been an exceptionally busy year for us, and I am craving that snow storm that isolates us from all society for about a week.

When last I blogged, we just got back from a week-long trip to Texas. Tim had to go there on business, and I decided at the last moment to go with him...mainly because they told him to get a rental car, and we had the room to go. The drive out there took somewhere around 20 hours total, I think. You have to consider that two little girls with bladders the size of a pecan were in the back seat. I thought they would sleep like I used to on road trips, but NOOOOOOOOO! We did fire up the video players, and they had a good time watching dvd's back there. We discovered the Redbox thing at McDonald's--where you can rent a movie for a night for $1 and turn it in anywhere they have a Redbox. We picked a few kids movies up along the way and turned them back in when they finished them. It surely is a lot cheaper than the conventional way of renting movies.

One of the highlights of our trip was a stop at a barbecue place where they had a river out back. We got some cute pictures of the girls feeding the turtles. You can see them here:



When we got back, it seemed like we moved straight into 4th of July celebrations. Since the 4th fell on a Wednesday, it seemed like everyone picked a different day of the week in the days leading up to the 4th to celebrate.

We celebrated with the family on Saturday night. Mom and Dad live just behind the stadium where the fireworks are shot in their city, so we usually just pull chairs up in the yard and watch from home. They told us the show was set to start at 9:30, so we were still doing dishes when we heard the bangs start at 9 p.m. In all the chaos to move the entire family out into the yard before we missed the whole thing, Mom's dog got out, and ran straight for the busy road (probably to get away from the noise of the fireworks.) She got hit by a car, but fortunately, the damage was not too severe. She mostly got scrapes on her legs. She has been staying with my brother and sister-in-law, because Mom has been trying to get rid of her dogs for a while now so that she is not so burdened with their care. Well, when my brother's kids heard the dog had been hit, they just started sobbing. It was pretty much downhill from there. I did not really get to see the rest of the fireworks, though a few stayed out there and took some pictures. Sissy, the dog, turned out to be o.k., and she stayed a couple of days with Mom until she could go home.

Tuesday night, we went to the home of some people we worship with for the annual potluck and fireworks show. It was really great! The food and the fireworks were spectacular, and the candles they put out seemed to keep the mosquitoes at bay. The fireworks were wonderful for a backyard show, and the kids were deeply impressed!

Wednesday, the 4th was my ninth anniversary and, of course, Independence Day! We had a leisurely day at home with the kids, resting from the night before and readying ourselves for our classes at church. After church, I urged Tim to drive me into Nashville to see the "big show" up there. We were not sure we could make it by the time it started, but we decided to try. There was no place to park on the streets, and lots of the streets were blocked, so travel was just about at an impasse.

Finally, we found a parking garage that was charging the outrageous price of $10 to park, and we ended up having to go four levels down to find a spot. That turned out to be a huge mistake, for when we came out of there, we could not get to the top. We sat there for about an hour waiting for the line of traffic to move. Then, we spent another 2 hours just trying to get back on the interstate to Gravyville!

On the positive side, the fireworks were splendid and memorable in Nashville! We took lots of pictures, and although the lights are somewhat distorted, I thought it made for some interesting pictures!



Now, we are back to reality-land again, with the usual doctors' and dentists' appointments that everyone has scheduled. The ENT guy is wanting to roto-rooter my nasal passage so that I can breathe better, and I just cannot decide if I want another surgery now or what. Yes, I need to breathe better, but no, I do not want to go through the surgery. I don't do well with surgeries. They are always worse for me for some reason, and my poor kids are left to fend for themselves while I recover! So I have a lot to think and pray about.

Well, that is the update for now, dear three readers! I hope you are having as pleasant a summer weather-wise as we are having. Usually, Tennessee is hot and humid to the point of getting unbearable this time of the year, but for some reason, it has been a bearable summer. We have had lots of cool, overcast days. We need some rain, but on the positive side, we have not had to pay to have the yard mowed as often! :)

Stay well and happy until next time....

Nine Years, And There Are Still Fireworks!

Look how little my 3 guys were in 1998--especially Micah!

Then...nine years ago...and now!

Today, Tim and I mark our nine year anniversary! Wow! Where have nine years gone? Many of you shared the day with us in 1998! It was one of the best days of our lives, we agree! So much has happened in both of our lives since that day, and we have been so richly blessed! Possibly one of the greatest blessings has been the addition of two beautiful girls (much to my surprise) to our family! I really thought I was done after I birthed the 3 boys! We have a wonderful mix of kids now who have no idea what a "step" brother or sister is. I adore the way they love each other, and I would not trade a big family for anything!I never thought I would get any of the "pink" variety, but God had other plans!

4 Out of 5--still at home and growing up!

Wedding bells a ringing soon for kiddo numero uno?

To my wonderful, patient, loving husband--Happy Anniversary, honey-baby-sugarpie (inside joke!) Thanks for putting up with me all these years, and I pray we have many more happy and fruitful years together. It is wonderful to have you by my side as we walk through this life. My favorite thing about you is your zeal for the Lord, and I love worshiping with you by my side! I admire your faith (because you found your own faith through study) and your uncompromising stand for the truth! Thank you for helping me raise my boys (and now the girls, too) in the Lord!

If the Lord wills that we continue to live and work on this earth, I look forward to the possible addition of a daughter-in-law in the foreseeable future and the joys that union will bring! (Grandbabies, etc. hint, hint!)

Our anniversary remains a special day, accented by all the lovely fireworks this time of year! (It surely is nice for folks to do this every year for us!) I'll never forget watching our first fireworks show together, as the whole of New York City was lit with the most beautiful display you have ever seen!

I love this man!

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy 4th! Leave the shooting of fireworks to the professionals as much as possible, and don't open any 4th of July email messages this year, as there is a terrible worm going around! Hopefully, we will all get to July 5th safe and sound.