Gone Fishin'

Jason and I fished together in a His/Hers Bass Tournament today at Lake Wylie. Well, Jason did most of the fishing. I just did some casting and acting like I knew how to fish. The day started out terribly. First of all, we were up at 2:30 this morning getting ready, and left at 3:30. You have to LOVE fishing to be able to do that with a positive attitude - and let's just say that my attitude wasn't very positive this morning. We blasted off at 6:00 am, and then just as we drove into a cove to start fishing, here came the rain. At first, it was just a drizzle. I thinkto myself, "I can handle a drizzle. No big deal." Then, the sky opened up and buckets of rain fell. (We were thinking it was supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees today. So, did we pack rain suits? No!) Needless to say, I was drenched - and miserable. I hate to be wet, unless I'm in the shower or swimming. Then there was a breeze. Now, I was wet AND cold. It was bad. After about an hour of silently praying that God would hear my cry and rescue me and send me sunshine, the rain stopped. The sun didn't come out completely until about 10:30-11:00ish. After the sun came out, I was a happy camper. I played with Jason's fishing poles, looked for turtles on the banks, stared out across the lake, got some sun on my legs, and actually had a good time. We only caught 1 fish though - and it was only 1 lb. You can see it in the picture below. It was nice to get away - just Jason and me.

Friday Five

Friday Five - 5 things I plan to do this weekend: 1. Jason has talked me into going to a His/Hers fishing tournament with him tomorrow at Lake Wylie. The last time I went fishing, I caught a good 5 lb bass, and that's no fish tale.

2. I have yet another baby shower to attend on Sunday. I guess I need to have a better attitude about showers. I was very fortunate to have people take time out of their schedules to come to all of mine. I suppose I can do the same for someone else.

3. Continue to walk so I can lose another pound or two; and also track my meals and calories on http://www.thedailyplate.com/. Check it out. It's a great site.

4. Listen to Jason sing to Gavin. This is what Gavin goes to sleep to. It's sung to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me"...

I love Gavin, yes I do. Even when he's full of poo. He's so mean when he is mad. I still love him. I'm his dad. Yes, I love Gavin. Yes, I love Gavin. Yes, I love Gavin. And I will tell him so.

5. Go shopping for some new clothes. All I have right now are t-shirts. I'd like to buy a couple of nice casual, but a little dressy, shirts. I also need to get a bathing suit.

Sunny Sunday Scenes

We have had such a great family day today. The sunshine was beautiful, so we took advantage of it.

• Jason made his wonderful pancakes for us for breakfast. I love them!
• We all went for a walk around the block this morning. Gavin tried out his new sunglasses:

• We went to church together, as usual.
• For lunch, we took a picnic to Lake Cooley. Jason grilled some flankin style ribs, and we also had corn on the cob, apple walnut salad, and some fresh cantaloupe. After we ate, we took Gavin up to the playground. Unfortunately, it didn't have any swings that babies could use, only the big swings. But we had fun anyway:

• After we left, we went shopping. We went to Academy Sports and bought Gavin a float for the swimming pool. And then we went to Lowe's to see Pops and to buy some grass seed.
• Now, we're cooking dinner, and watching the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600.

Jason has been working late a lot this month and we've hardly even seen each other. So, needless to say, we needed today like crazy. It's been so nice.

Dancing to the Beat

Jessie has been dancing at Miss Marion's since she was 4 or 5. She now takes 3 dance classes - Jazz, Ballet, and Hip Hop. She's VERY good at every dance she does.

When she first signed up for hip hop, I was kind of skeptical about it. I've seen other hip hop routines at other recitals and competitions, and the moves and costumes were a little risque for an 11 year old. Mom and I both had reservations about it, but Kelli assured us that Miss Marion kept it clean.

She had a dance recital yesterday at USC-Upstate for all 3 dances; but I was only able to go to the hip hop part. Jessie did such a good job and I was impressed.

Jessie - if you're reading this, I really enjoyed your recital. You did an excellent job and you are a great dancer. I'm so proud of the young lady you've become. I love you.

Wild Wednesday

It has been quite an eventful day today. And I think only mothers would truly appreciate the things I'm going to share with you. However, if you're reading this and you're not a mother, well, just remember that these things are actually part of the blessings of motherhood. Buckle up and hold on tight. Here we go...

1. Jason called me this morning after I got to school to let me know that Gavin crawled across the living room floor to him. Hooray! Gavin has been doing the army crawl on his belly for several weeks now - he looks so funny, because he can really bust a move when he wants to get somewhere. He looks like a lizard moving across the floor. He's been getting up on his knees, but can't seem to put one in front of the other; but this morning he did! (This is the good part of the day.)
2. Also, this morning, while Jason was changing Gavin's morning poop, in the middle of whiping him, Gavin reached down and grabbed the side of his diaper - the velcro part - and pulled it on top of himself - poop and all. Jason said that there were only 4 wipes left in the container and Gavin had poop all over his chest and tummy, and all over Jason's arm. (Hee, hee! I wish I had've seen this.)
3. As for the curse of the full moon that I posted about, I believe I made the wrong assumption. As I've said before, Gavin has had a rough few days. I've noticed that he's been tugging on one of his ears - mom noticed too - but see, Gavin has big ears, and he's always doing that. So, I didn't think anything of it. Kelli called me this morning and said that Gavin wouldn't let her come near his ear, so she made a doctor's appointment and took him to get checked for me. When they undressed him and took his diaper off, he peed all over Kelli. (That's my boy.) Dr. Priggie saw the bruises that Gavin has all over his body - the one on his head, the one on his side, the ones EVERYWHERE; and did a blood platlet (sp?) test to make sure the bruises were ok. She said she got to see first hand why Gavin has all those bruises all over him...he's a handful. Then...on to the ears. She checked them and said his ears were good (Praise the Lord!), but she found something. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS????? She found one of Jason's chest hairs down inside Gavin's ear!!!!!! How ridiculous is that!!!! She said that explains Gavin messing with his ear and being fussy - it was simply getting on his nerves.
4. And last but not least...I hung out at Kelli's this afternoon because Jason's working late - and I had no better place to be. Gavin was playing the Exersaucer and started fussing. When I picked him up, I felt something warm on my hands. I looked at my fingers and saw poop all over them - even under my fingernails. I rushed to change him, all the while wrestling with him because he can't sit still. After we were done, I picked him up, and then he threw up all over me...the carrots he had for lunch. So, I've been pooped on and puked on, all in one day. And guess what, I still have on the same shirt.

Curse of the Full Moon

Are there any other children out there who are affected by the full moon? Last night was the night from...um...another place. I went to church at WBC to watch Jessie and Jacob in the children's musical. I was called out of the program to get Gavin from the nursery. When I walked out of the santuary doors, I could hear Gavin screaming all the way down the hallway. From then on, Jason and I wrestled with him all night. I gave him Tylenol, thinking that maybe his gums were hurting. After that didn't work, I gave him some gas drops, thinking that maybe his tummy was hurting. Nothing worked. It even got to the point that Jason took Gavin outside, at night, and walked him down the street to calm him down. He wore himself out crying, and finally gave up and went to sleep. This morning was good, until his morning nap time. It lasted all of 20 minutes. After I realized he wasn't going to go back to sleep, we got ready because I had errands to take care of. He slept in the car for about 10 minutes. After that, he was a handful. He usually loves to ride in the buggy when we go shopping, but he would have nothing to do with it today. He slept in my arms for another 20 minutes - I was holding him and trying to push a buggy load of stuff at the same time. My arm was about to fall off. He was bad the rest of the afternoon. Nothing could make him happy. What has happened to my baby? When I looked outside tonight, and saw the moon rising....I realized - it's a full moon. There's my explanation. Please let the phase of the moon change SOON! Has anyone else seen a difference in their children the past couple of days?

Need for Speed

Jason's boss gave him 2 tickets to go here last night:

Lowe's Motor Speedway - Charlotte

As if my weekly entertainment of WWE Raw wasn't redneck enough, Jason and I went to the NASCAR All-Star Race last night. Jason has never been to a race, but I have back in high school. I was so excited for Jason.

We thought we'd never get there. I had a baby shower to go to yesterday afternoon, plus we had to get Gavin to Jason's mom's house. Needless to say, we left late. Jason's boss left the tickets for him on his desk at work, so we had to stop and get them. Jason ran in, printed out directions, and walked out without the tickets. We were a good 20 minutes down the road before he realized he left them. We had to turn around and go back. So, that made us even more late. As we were listening to the traffic report on the radio, it said that cars were backed up for 4 miles. This was 5:30ish, and the race started at 7:00. But alas! By the time we got to the exit, the roads were completely clear...not a traffic jam in sight. We pulled right into a parking area like it was nothing. We had to walk about a mile or so to the track, but we got through the gate just in time. The only thing we missed was the introductions of the drivers.

Right before we left, I thought to myself, "You know, my camera batteries are probably about to die." But did I do anything? No. And what do you know...the batteries died. So, I was only able to get a few pictures before it went out on me.

Check out the man sitting beside me. He was actually sitting in our seat, but we didn't ask him to move. He had a beer and a cigarette in his hand the whole time! I think he took off about 10 years of my life with his second-hand smoke. There was a breeze blowing just my way, so I got to inhale the smoke all night. He was a die hard Kasey Kahne fan. He yelled from the minute the race started - "Go Kasey! Get 'em Kasey Kahne!" ...as if Kasey could actually hear him. It was so annoying. But other than that, we really enjoyed the time away; and we especially enjoyed laughing at all the drunk people.

Belated Ten on Tuesday

I wasn't able to post last night, so here is my Ten on Tuesday post. Ten things that are on my mind this week:

1. There are too many baby showers and wedding showers this time of year. I've got 4 of them within the next 2 weeks.
2. I wish Jason would finish all his projects at work, so that he won't have to work late every night. I can't tell you the last time I cooked dinner and we sat down and ate together - before 9:00 at night. And I'm tired of being a single parent.
3. I'm thankful for my home - it keeps us cool, it keeps us warm, and it keeps us dry. We have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this home, so it means a lot. But I'm ready to have a bigger home. We're already busting at the seams.
4. I wish I could feel more rested. I am so exhausted everyday. I go nonstop until I put Gavin to bed, and even then, I'm still working - trying to repack the diaper bag, getting my clothes and lunch ready for school, straightening the kitchen...and the list keeps going.
5. I need to start childproofing my home. Gavin is becoming more mobile - not crawling yet, but almost - and he's into EVERYTHING. He's already scooted over to our DVD stand and managed to pull off every single DVD before pulling the stand over on top of himself. (Don't worry, it's a small lightweight stand. He didn't get hurt. But I did take a picture of him before rescuing him.)
6. I wish Jason would hurry up and finish tiling the sunroom floor. This was supposed to take only 2 days, according to the man at Lowe's. Jason started it back in February...it's still not finished. I can't have company over for dinner because everything from the sunroom is in the kitchen and dining room. It's going to look really good when he's finished; plus, it'll add value to our house.
7. I can't wait to work on my scrapbook again (but I don't know when that'll be). I like to do 1-page layouts, instead of the normal 2-pagers. It's hard for me to find good layouts because most people do 2. I found a really great website that shows layout sketches. I've gone through my pictures and already sketched the layouts on post-it notes. All I have to do now is decide what paper and embellishments I want to use. I want to find more 1-page layouts. http://www.wittyliving.com/crafts/scrapbooking/layouts/scrapbooking-sketch.html
8. I'm still fuming over Monday night WWE Raw. A few weeks ago at Backlash, Randy Orton jumped in the ring when he wasn't tagged in and kicked John Cena in the head. Cena hasn't wrestled since. So, this past Monday, the "manager" called a match between Cena and Orton. Cena was skeptical because his past few matches haven't been fair, but the manager said he promised he would keep it a fair fight. Just when I thought Cena had the match under his belt, the manager through another wrench into the game, and Cena got pinned. I'm thinking of writing WWE and complaining. It's not fair. They've been playing dirty with John Cena's matches. It's time for him to win again. :)
9. I'm looking forward to school being out. We have 3 full weeks left - that's including this week. Then we have a couple of 1/2 days. It's coming fast, and I can't wait. I'm looking forward to the little outings I can have with Gavin. Plus, he gets to play in Kelli's swimming pool.
10. I had 3 people within a couple of weeks ask if I was pregnant. That's all I'm going to say about that one.

Blessed

"Her children rise up, and call her blessed..." Proverbs 31:28

I have always celebrated Mother's Day for Mom and Kelli. But this year, today took on a whole new meaning...I am a mother.

Me and my sweet little boy

Mom with Ray, Kelli, and me

Kelli with Jessie, Jacob, & Karis

Jason's mom, Annette, with Little Tim, Jason, & Amy Jason's sister, Amy, with Parker & Harrison (For those of you who went to high school with me, this is Jeff Tuck's wife and sons.) My grandmother, Mary, with mom and my Aunt Debbie (my other aunt, Luann, lives in KY)

We have a lot to be thankful for...we are blessed.

Happy Mother's Day.

Love, Kristi

Cleveland Park

I just love my Mondays home with Gavin. Today, Gavin, Kelli, Karis, and I went to Cleveland Park in Spartanburg to play. It was so nice. There were only a few families there, so Karis had free reign over the playground. Gavin loved it simply because he was outside. He LOVES to be outside. Here are some pictures from our playdate.

Friday Family Field Trip

This afternoon, Gavin, Mom, Kelli and the kids, and I went to Beechwood Farms to their strawberry patch. I highly recommend this place for a great little outing. You can pick strawberries for $7.50 (a full basket), or you can buy ones that are already picked for $10 (but why would anyone do that?). If you're interested, don't google or mapquest the directions. We went around the world to get there; and when I realized where we were...I could've gotten us there in 1/2 the time.

Directions: Take Hwy 290 in Greer toward Travelers Rest. Follow 290 all the way till in bottoms out at Hwy 25. Take a right, but get in the left lane. Go a couple hundred feet/yards (whatever) and turn left onto White Horse Road Ext. Follow it out until it ends beside Ingles on Hwy 276 (Geer Hwy). Take a right at that red light. Drive a couple of miles and watch for the Beechwood Farms sign on the right.

Here are a few pictures from our trip: