My Thrills for Thursday

The other night I tried to make Tomato Pie. I got the recipe from Meredith. It tasted absolutely delicious! I don't think I dried off enough of the liquid from the tomotoes, though, because it was kind of runny. It didn't matter - it was the hit of the night. Thanks Meredith for the recipe. I'll definitely make it again! I was watching Gavin as he was scribbling with the pen. I noticed his fingers were holding the pen like normal people do - he didn't have his whole hand and fingers clasped around it.

Gavin's birthday is coming up and the theme is going to be puppy dogs. I twisted the art teacher's arm into making the party favor bags for me. She drew the dog's face, then made the ears out of black felt, and then put wiggly eyes on him. The child's name will be written on the bone. Pretty cool, huh?

10 on Tuesday

Ten things I’m thankful for today:

1. I have a job to go to. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of being home this summer, and I really don’t want to be back at school, I’m thankful that I have a job waiting on me. So many recent graduates and others are searching for teaching positions and can’t find one because no one is hiring. I am thankful I don’t have to worry about that.
2. I love our family feasts. When we all get together at Mom’s house, it’s a complete circus. When all 12 of us are there sitting around one table, it gets loud and crowded, and the chaos drives me nuts. (Sometimes I think I need medication, seriously.) But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Being with my family and laughing with each other is the one of the best memories I get to relive often.
3. I thank God for giving me a new day each day to live. He could very easily decide my time is up, but He gives me breath and allows me to hear that dreaded alarm clock each morning.
4. I’m thankful for good fitting blue jeans, especially my Lee jeans that say “instantly slims you”. Anything that says that has my vote immediately!
5. I’m thankful for the evenings when Jason comes home in time for dinner. I love to cook dinner and sit together as a family as we eat. It doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but when it does, I love that time.
6. I’m thankful I have the memories of my great grandmother, Mama Pye. She died when she was 95 and was very wise. She made all of my Sunday dresses when I was little, and made my security blanket that I used all the way into high school, and I even took it with me to North Greenville. It has such great sentimental value.
7. I’m thankful that we have enough money to pay for our bills each month. I hear and read about people all the time struggling to make ends meet. I thank God that he has provided Jason and me with enough money to take care of our finances.
8. I’m thankful I married a husband who is such a hard worker. Jason is a perfectionist and takes his job seriously. He won’t leave until his work is done. I know I can count on him to provide for our family.
9. I’m thankful for friends who set an example for the way Christian women should act. They don’t know it, but they challenge me to be better than I am now, just through their actions and words. I’m thankful God placed them in my path.
10. And of course, I’m thankful for my Gavin. He may have hit the Terrible Twos and be absolutely wild, but I love that boy more than I thought I ever had room in my heart for. God gave me a healthy and easy pregnancy with him, and he was born perfect. I thank God for His protection from the very beginning and His continued protection around Gavin each day.

Outdoor Weekend Adventure

*Warning: This post is long. Summer vacation is coming to an end. So for one last hoorah before I have to return to school this Thursday, we decided to go camping with Paul, Kelli, and the kids, and Mom and Dad. I've never been camping like this before, so this was a new experience for me. (Although I had a really good time, I will always love the comfort of my own bed, my own toilet, and my own shower more.) Here are some pictures from our trip to Unicoi State Park in Georgia. But I have to explain the first 2 pictures so you'll understand why I'm posting them: Paul and Kelli take the kids all the time and do camping adventures and explore new places. Paul is quite the adventurer. He loves to go off the beaten path to see where roads lead and see different sights. There is no such thing as a straight drive to the destination. You can always count on many stops. So, our first stop was in Fair Play, near where Paul grew up. He took us to the cemetery where his grandparents are buried. After leaving the cemetery we wound thru all kinds of roads and crossed a lake for a hydroelectric power plant...Lake Burton. According to Paul's GPS, he found a street that circled the whole lake, so we decided to take the small road to see this lake. Now, before I continue, you need to imagine what we looked like...a large older model of a Chevy Suburban loaded down with 7 people, a bike rack on the tail, and pulling a pop-up camper; then following that Suburban was a big Toyota truck loaded down with everything in the bed, and also pulling another pop-up camper. It was like a train - kind of resembled the Clampants? As we go down the small road, it becomes a one lane gravel road with a steep cliff on one side. Jason had a bad feeling about it, but we followed anyway. The one lane road ended and there was no where to go. Thankfully, there was a house at the very end, so we were VERY fortunate that Jason could barely turn our train around and pull back down where Paul and Kelli's Suburban got stuck. They had to pull into someone's driveway, unhook everything, turn the car around, and then hook everything back up again before we could make our way out. Everyone thought it was funny, except me of course, because that's not what I call fun. When we got back down to the main road, we noticed the sign said "Dead End" but we didn't know it at the beginning because the whole sign had been turned the opposite direction. You really had to be there to experience the full effect, but this is the best I can explain it.

The rest of the trip was great. Once we got settled in and the campers set up, we were able to relax.

The Breakfast Man

We went to Brasstown Bald - the highest point in Georgia. This picture was taken at the bottom of the mountain. I forgot my camera in the truck, so I didn't get any pictures at the very top. I could have kicked myself for that.

Gavin's enjoying his ice cream push-up after we got back off the mountain.

We also went to a place called Anna Ruby Falls. The men decided to be brave and hike the 5 mile trail to the falls. It only took them 2 hours. The women drove to the top to meet them when they were finished.

I thought this picture was cool. Even though we drove to the top, we still had to park and walk about 1/2 mile to actually reach the water falls. This tree was on the trail. It's growing out of the rock.

After we got back from Anna Ruby Falls, we cleaned up and rode into Helen, GA to visit the shops.

2 cool guys

Some other lovely highlights from our trip: Kelli was stung by a yellow jacket, an animal ate thru our bags of bread while we were out sight seeing, Gavin fell out of a buggie at a nearby Walmart, I slammed my ankle in the door of the shuttle bus that took us to the top of a mountain and I said a bad word in front of the other guests on the bus when it happened, and a deer walked up near to our campsite...about 20-30 feet away. What else? Ohh, so many more things.

But like I said, I really enjoyed the trip, but there is NOTHING better than the blessing and comfort of my own home. Home sweet home.

Shipwreck Cove

We had the best morning this morning. My friend Kelly and I took our kids to Shipwreck Cove to play in the water. I've heard the hooplah about it all summer, but hadn't gone...until today. It was sooo much fun, (except for 3 daycare centers being there), and perfect for Gavin. The water was the perfect depth for him to splash around in, but still be safe. And to give some props to Kelly...I love how she schedules her activities with the kids. When she first told me that we would meet at the park at 9:45 am, I thought she was crazy. Waterpark @ 9:45? But it was perfect. The kids were worn out in 2 hours (plenty of time for me as well), ate lunch, and came home for a nap! Perfect timing! She's also told me that they do their outside play first thing in the morning and get it out of the way before it gets too hot. Too smart, Kelly. I have so much more to learn about managing playtime. Anyway, here are some pictures from our super fun morning. Thanks Kel - I had a great time.

Lake Lure

Kelli and I took the kids to Lake Lure to play on the "beach". I wish we had gone there earlier in the summer. It was perfect for Gavin. He was able to play in the sand and dirt, which of course he loved more than anything else there, and he was able to get out into the water without being knocked down by any waves. After we played in the lake for a while, we went over to the water park area where the kids played under the water fountains. We were only there for 3 hours, but that was plenty of time to wear the kids out so that they'd take a LONG nap.

Yes, I'm letting my child drink a soda. Shame on me.

Happy Birthday, Jason

Jason turned 28 yesterday (yeah, he's a young pup). He gets 3 birthday celebrations. First, we celebrated with his Mom, and his sister and her family at Olive Garden on Sunday evening.

Amy, Jeff, Parker, and Harrison

Jason with his Mom and Amy

Then, we celebrated last night with his Dad and Robin. I cooked Jason a special birthday dinner: stuffed pasta, salad, and garlic bread. I set the table and everything! We used cloth napkins and I even pulled out my goblets! We did it up right. (Considering we usually just eat out of paper plates and use an assortment of mismatched plastic cups)

Jason and his Dad

Gavin is helping Jason eat his cake.

Then, on Thursday evening, we'll celebrate his birthday with my family at 5 Guys Burgers on Pelham Road. I LOVE that place. (I picked it for him.) He's pretty lucky to have a week-long birthday celelbration, huh?

I was only gone for 20 minutes...

I went for a walk around the block last night, and came back home to this craziness:

Yes, it's a diaper - but at least it was a clean one. I have to give credit for this to the daddy.

Tonight, after dinner, the clouds were just amazing. I thought this was so pretty and couldn't help but take a picture. It was so much better in person. It was really cool how the sun's rays came thru the break in the clouds - this picture just doesn't do it justice.

Happy Sunday evening. Hope you have a great start to your week.