Happy 4th!

What a great day it was for the family! We started by decorating foam hats & "Uncle Sam" door hangers Thursday night. Here's a look at the kids' handy work:



Of course, the decorations were not complete until we applied the ever festive tattoos:



We then loaded up & traveled about 2 hours to a state park with a neat zoo & play park. OK, this was probably not the best idea in the south, in July, in the middle of the day, but we lathered on the sunscreen and grabbed the H20. Here's Joe & the kids enjoying a break at the end of our nature walk where we saw everything from grey wolves, to bison, to lemurs...





The pic above is of the alligator habitat. Even adventurous, daring Micah, knew not to lean or climb on the railing...Thank goodness! Here are some of our prehistoric friends. I wonder what the 2nd guy has been snacking on???





Rebekah & Micah had the chance to climb into a replica of an eagle's nest as well as participate in a "long jump." The jumping area was marked off in different animals by how far they could jump. Rebekah was similar to a mouse, while Micah jumps like a flea. You know how spastic fleas can be! :)





Finally, it was time to head home for the fireworks. We stopped by Loco's for some much needed nourishment. If you haven't tried their Rooster Salad w/ the house dressing....mmmm. Here they are waiting for the fireworks to begin. We did kill some time playing Go Fish, Candy Land, & Slap Jack in the back of Joe's truck.



Here's one of my favorite poses that you can often see Micah in...with his arm around Joe's neck. Priceless.

My, Well Somebody's, Big Redneck Baby Shower

To begin with, let me just say that the family farm is a very special place for my family. My dad & his other 7 siblings were born & raised right here. We love to have lots of get-togethers & celebrations here, but this time was probably one of the most comical.


You might be having a redneck baby shower if ...

The "table" for the gifts is actually a hay trailer loaded with freshly harvested red new potatoes:


Your uncle is seen handing out "appetizers" (a.k.a. new potatoes taken from the trailer, washed in the spigot, grilled with butter & seasonings, plated on fine Chinet, & "served" directly to your mouth from the end of a pocket knife). Think I'm joking???


Need hydrating? We have the freshest, straight from the spring, water around. Shoot, you don't even need a bottle! Heck, you don't even need a cup or glass!


Hot? Flies & gnats gettin' to ya'? Why, we even have a 10hp eee-lectrical air conditioning system w/ built-in pest deterrent capabilities!


Some of your gifts actually come "wrapped" in a farmers' co-op paper bag!


Your decorations include this chair & "cleverly" hidden tool shelf...


And finally...any of your pictures feature farming equipment in the background!


Note: Do NOT reenact a portion of Diary of a Mad Black Woman in front of an audience where only ONE person has seen the movie! Let's just say that the dad-to-be was taking a little too long opening a present & as soon as I said "rip it," the drama demon possessed me. I was full-out Madea in the walk-in closet. For those of you not familiar with Madea...RENT the movies!!! I wish I had a photo of everyone's expression, except for my twisted sister, Tammy, who knew exactly what I was doing.

My Life at 36

I will be turning 36 this next week and many things have changed, some things just this past week.

1. Instead of the fading black & white sonogram pictures of my two precious children, I now have a GLOSSY color photo of my uterus with my procedure circled! An added bonus: My uterus is surrounded and insulated by fluffy mounds of fat. Anyone have the local WW's number? Get ready to see my ticker move over there. I mean, do I really need anymore motivation? That's the picture I need to post on the refrigerator, and my lunch bag, and on my bathroom mirror...you get the idea.

2. Instead of stopping by the local drugstore on a late Friday night with my husband to buy "fun" products, we stopped to buy me some Colace tonight. Please don't ask. Let's just say the painkillers from my surgery did more than we, or I, asked for!

3. Instead of having lots to type, I've forgotten what else I wanted to say.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Discuss.

NVR Forget!

Here is a really cool tribute to 9-11 that my awesome sister-in-law did with some students that she works with! May we "NVR FORGET."

5 Year Olds & Menopause

My oldest sister calls on her way to our family's baby shower for her daughter, Charlotte, who is expecting a baby girl in June. There has been some debate on the baby's name. We started out with Stella, then went to Ava, & now it appears we may be back to Stella. My grandmother, Lord love her, who is in her 80's, is refusing to call the baby Stella. She even wrote the card for "baby Ava." This is nothing new since my other sister has a new baby granddaughter named Lily. When Grannie calls, she asks how "Rose" is doing. Think this is because of senility creeping in? Nope. Just Grannie being Grannie and a little opinionated. Hmmm...I wonder if any of her grandchildren inherited this trait? (Side note: My sisters are 13 & 8 years older than me, so they have a couple of grandkids already.)

Anyway, back to the story. My mom hangs up after telling Cyndee, my oldest sister, not to worry about coming & to just turn around & go home. We all look puzzled and inquire about what's going on. She tells us that Cyndee is feeling really bad & was crying terribly. It seems that she is going thru the "change," & today was NOT a good day. Rebekah then inquires with, "Mama what's the change?" Well, before I could finish with my generic response of "It's something that happens as we get older," Micah, who just turned 5 yesterday, pipes up with "Yeah Bekah, you go to jail & you never get out!"

I think that sums up menopause pretty well, don't you?

Joining the Craze!

Welcome to my sister-in-law, Karen, to the world of blogging! Go check her site out. It's really looking good!

HUGE shout-out to Joe for again pulling a 4.0 this quarter. (And, no, I have NOT done ANY of his work!) He actually pulled an A in college algebra! WOOHOO!!! I am proud of my man, and exhausted too from our crazy schedules.

Here are some pics of Micah from T-ball. Okay, I confess, these are from the fall, but cut me some slack. Teaching full time, raising 2 kids, & a husband back in college has me running in circles. Maybe I'll get the spring ones up by Christmas! :)





Ready for anything!



Check out that pitching arm! Awesome throw, Micah!



Partners in crime, um, I mean best buds!! (That's Micah on the left.)



GOOOO TEAM!




We all know how important stretching is before the big game. It helps as we flip, stand on our heads, & twirl during the game!

And some final pics...Rebekah this time. Loving all things 80's, I truly love these photos of Bek & one of her best friends. Do they remind anyone else of a Benetton ad?



Don't hate us because we're beautiful inside & out!

A Question for the Readers...

As mentioned in my previous post, I have had a bit of an estrogen imbalance resulting in 7 not-so-fun weeks. As of today, I am looking at having an ablation along with a tubal ligation in the very near future. Why is it, my female friends (& male if you have insight into this issue), that at almost 36 years of age, with 2 great kids, & with reasonable certainty that we are done having children, do I have the internal struggle with the decision to make it official??

Yes, I loved being pregnant. Yes, my children are tremendous blessings (even when they make me crazy or at least they exacerbate my existing craziness!). Yes, I love babies, toddlers, & preschoolers. (In fact, 0-5 is probably my favorite age group.) No, I do not think that I want the late night feedings, more laundry, more illnesses to go through, & all the other strains that come with parenting. But...I do miss the sweet smell of a baby's head as they nuzzle close to your neck; the sweet, yet bitter, feelings as they reach new milestones and independence; the excitement & joy over a new little life...these are hard to surrender. I guess if my sentimentality makes it difficult for me to throw away any little thing from Rebekah & Micah, it shouldn't surprise me that being a pack-rat might also spill over into body parts!!!

Seriously, can't you see me in the nursing home one day showing off my gallstones, or what have you, in little mason jars? You know you can... :)