My Newest Addiction!

I watch and VOTE every week! I am not ashamed!

The Great Eight!!

Happy Anniversary Ryan!!

Love ya!!!

June 23, 2000

(Look at how much hair he has!)

Rising Entomologist?

For whatever reason (and it's certainly not genetic) my son LOVES bugs! This evening he saw me giving a particularly nasty look to a disgusting earwig that was making itself at home on my wall. He calmly said "Mom, ya just gotta stop killing bugs. Let me take care of it. If you see a spider or an earwig, just call me." I laughed a little in spite of the fact that he was completely serious and said "Well, okay, you can start with this one." And with that, he climbed up on the step stool, gently knocked it to the ground, picked it up and took it outside. He later informed that when we are nice to bugs, they will be nice to us and when we try to hurt bugs, they will hurt us. I wasn't sure how to argue with that logic so I just nodded my head and thanked him for "taking care" of the offending earwig situation.

Fare Thee Well...

Friday we said goodbye to the Palmers. They have been great friends to our entire family. I've known Clairon for almost eight years. She is one of the first people I met when I came to Georgia and through the years of pregnancies, new babies, play dates, hours logged at the pool, bike rides(We owe Abel for showing Ryan how to ride in 10 mins) and 6 years of Book Clubbing it, we just became great friends. And as much as I begged and pleaded for her to stay, I can't really be upset that she decided to go ahead and move with her family to Connecticut so her husband can do his residency. In fact I couldn't be happier for them. They've worked hard to earn this next exciting new phase of life. We went and said a final goodbye this past Friday morning before they drove away. It was brief. It was sad. Thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses!! Afterward I went to the grocery store and did two things I'm not proud of- I bought myself Swiss Cake Rolls and a trashy magazine with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the cover (I know, I know, but I just had to read about her latest collapse and I was already in a weakened state...) And then I got just a little choked up while talking to the check out lady about how my good friend just moved away five minutes ago and this was her grocery store too and we used to run into each other here all the time(the sentimental sap strikes again)... So my recommendations to you all and myself for future reference: Do NOT go to the same grocery store where you and your good friend used to shop because you will buy something you regret and you will embarrass yourself in front of the the check out lady. Palmers Take Care! We will miss you:)

Beach Party-Surfin the Word...

AT VBS JUNE 2008!!

Every summer the Methodist Church where Ryan attended(sigh) Preschool sponsors a fabulous week long Vacation Bible School. This was our first time and we LOVED it! Ryan went with his buddy Abel and there were a bunch of other kids he knew from school and church. This years theme was Surfin through the Scriptures a Bible School Beach Party! The kids rocked out every day to "JC and The Son Shine Band"(they couldn't get enough of the drummer JC himself), watched puppet shows and Bible story reenactments, did crafts played games and had a blast! I volunteered for 2 days and was lucky enough to see just how cute this program is. We can't wait til next year! Here are some pictures on Wear Red Day

#1 crafts

#2 with church friends Emry, Kate, Jackson, Caleb, Ryan, Abel

#3 Ryan rocken out with the band (right next to the cute teen inthe short shorts, I didn't plan that for the pic but maybe he did)

#4Ryan with friends watching the puppet show

World's Greatest Book Club? I Think So!

What can I say about my wonderful Book Club??! Its hard to put it into words what a key part of my life it has been for me over the past 6 years. I am proud to say I am one of the few remaining original members. Through the years we've had ladies come and go. But there have been 4 of us who have been there from the start(The Founding 4 picture right: Me, Clairon, Amber, Kelly). Our first meeting was at my good friend Clairons house in September of 2002. Now it is Clairons turn to move. The Book Club will go on but we will really miss her. I'm also sad to say goodbye to Shannon and Sheri. May was their last one too. Because of this group I've read some really good books and made some really great friends. Honestly I don't think you could find a more talented group of women anywhere else. On any given 4th Tuesday of the month I am surrounded by PhDs, lawyers, musicians, PAs, teachers, athletes etc.. Not to mention they can all cook! I mean really, we're talkin good eats!! I could keep going but I think you get the idea. I lucked out in the Book Club department!

Grammy's Visit

Three things Adelaide loves: sucking her finger, her Blankie and GRAMMY!

We had a wonderful time with Grammy!! Thanks to my mom Ryan and I got to go on our fun weekend and the kids were safe and got new toys. We also went to the Campbell's with Grammy for 4 days. Such fun and merriment with cousins. Notice the 2 mess makers caught in the act??!! This time it was sprinkles which made for a much easier clean up than peanut butter or boysenberry jam.

Last Year We Went to Prison

This year we went to Alabama!

For the past 2 Memorial Day Weekends, my mom has come to watch the kids for 2 nights while Ryan and I go off on a romantic getaway... Don't ask me why but last year we went to Andersonville Prison, the largest POW Camp during the Civil War. It was designed to hold around 3000 Yankee soldiers. It wound up holding 10,000. Needless to say, many men died there. Including Ryan's great-great-great grandfather. We even found his grave. It was a memorable experience. But this year as we planned our trip, we thought hmmm-let's not got to a prison- let's go somewhere a little more upbeat. We chose Huntsville Alabama and we had a blast. We visited the US Space and Rocket Center. This place is actually very cool. And on Memorial Day... drum roll... I ran in my first race!!! Yes, that's right, I ran a race! The Cotton Row Run. It's an event the people of Huntsville have been doing since 1980. I saw something about it online when we were planning our trip. I had originally intended to do the 1 mile fun run. But when we got to our hotel on Saturday I found out it was just for kids. So, that left me with the 5k or 10k option. Since I'm only about 2 months into the jogging world I decided on the 5k. Ryan ran with me and we really had a great time. The last mile I told him just to go ahead. I didn't want to cramp his style anymore. Although I am proud to say I only finished 4 mins after him. I was surprised at how much fun it was to be a part of something like this. And I will definitely do one again. Some of my favorite parts about it were- The race watchers cheering for you as you run by, the Boy Scouts handing you water along the way (I took some, dumped it over my head, tossed the cup for dramatic affect and kept right on going , I've always wanted to do that) the energizing music towards the finish line and the police cadets running in time while doing cadence.

In closing I would like to share 5 things I learned while in Alabama. And as an 8 year resident of the fine state of Georgia and a girl raised in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia, I think I can get away with it...

1. The floor of an elevator is an acceptable chewing tobacco spit receptacle

2. The local Shop Rite grocer does not have a spreadable gourmet cheese section-unless you count Velveeta

3. Do not ask where the gourmet cheeses are unless you want to be laughed at as you walk away

4. Shirts in hotel lobbies are optional...
5. Beer apparently tastes better without a shirt while sitting in a hotel lobby