Remembering

Yesterday, Maggie, Lincoln and I went to my Mom's to spend the day. It turned out to be an interesting day to say the least. Maggie was cleaning off a bookshelf for Mom so she could earn some spending money for her youth trip that's this weekend. In doing so, she found a book that my Mom is supposed to fill out about herself and her past and give to her granddaughter (maggie). Well, that's right up Maggie's alley. She started asking questions about family from long ago and went up to me...what a good laugh we all had remembering. It reminded me how precious family is again. I'm glad Maggie is taking an interest in this kind of thing. One day, I'll be doing one of these books for one of my grandchildren. What a scary thought...

Today I got in the mood to update my calendar from now until the rest of the year. Since both of the children will be in school this fall I had to put in both of their schedules. It got me to thinking...I can't believe I have an 8th grader and one going into kindergarten. So of course, I went back and started looking at pictures from just a couple of years ago and I can't believe how much they've both grown. Where has the time gone? I posted some pictures on the side bar just to remind me that time goes by so quick and to enjoy each day.

This fall will bring many new challenges to our family...both kids in school with slightly different schedules, a husband that drives to Nashville everyday to work and I will be working again at Belle Aire Preschool 2 days a week in addition to our music responsibilities. WOW !!! Believe it or not I have given up a few things this summer and I feel good about it.

Next...

The 'events' of the summer are slowly coming to an end for our family, but of course school will start in about 2 weeks and I can't believe that my baby will be going to Kindergarten and Maggie will be an 8th grader. Be sure there will be postings about all that drama.

Vacation Days 4, 5 & 6

Saturday was a lazy day for us. We slept late, took our time about getting ready and slowly made our way to Madisonville, KY to see our friends, Roy, Carla, Mia and Ava Duke. They pastor the Lone Star Pentecostal Church in Madisonville. They have a great bunch of people. It didn't take us long to get there but of course, we had to stop along the way for Lincoln to use the bathroom. Having boys are a great thing - the side of the road was a convenient and scenic place to stop.

A scenic "Johnny on the spot"

Madisonville is a neat little town and we had fun visiting with our friends and going to a fish fry on Saturday night and church on Sunday morning. And as is par for the course, Lincoln started running a fever on Saturday afternoon, but his friend, Mia was very sympathetic towards him and even took a nap with him because she felt like she had a fever too. How funny...

We came home on Sunday afternoon and went to our church and enjoyed the music from a different view, from the pew. It was great. Our vacation ended on Monday with another lazy day. Eddie had taken the day off so he could rest before returning back to work. It was a nice ending to an adventurous trip. Here are some pictures of the kids and their friends, Mia & Ava.

Friends forever, Mia & Lincoln

The foursome: Mia, Lincoln, Maggie & Ava

Ava, trying not to smile

Vacation Day #3

If there were any more hours in the day we could have used them today. We got up extremely early and left St. Louis headed for Santa Claus, IND and Holiday World. We had a wondeful time and were completely worn out at the end of the day, as you can see. We had a great experience today and plan on taking it a bit easy tomorrow. Enjoy the pics again...see you tomorrow. Maggie & Eddie Lincoln on the airplane...look at his face Me and my honey The 3 stooges Lincoln & Santa Lincoln & I on the antique cars Maggie & Eddie speeding down the track They couldn't stand it anymore

Free Fall ride...listen to the laughter

Vacation Day #2

Can you say, "Oh, my goodness!!!" What a day we had at the St Louis zoo. It is truly a beautiful place. We spent 8 hours here on Thursday and were thoroughly exhausted when we got back to the hotel.

I took so many pictures, but here are just a few of our day. Hope you enjoy them. Friday we will be on our way to Holiday World in Santa Clause, IND. What a great name for a place. Maybe we'll see Santa - I want to put my order in early.

Enjoy the pics...see you tomorrow.

Mom & baby elephant
Sea Lion brothers
Maggie at the Children's Zoo
Who's the real goat here?
Maggie & Lincoln w/ the hippos
My good-looking boys
The girls and yes, she's taller than me
Lincoln & Maggie with the SeaLion statues
The new baby giraffe
Up close & personal

Vacation Day #1

Today we began our 'little' vacation. We started the day at Donut Country for breakfast and then went to the hospital on the way out of town to visit a friend. Of course, we had to stop and fill up the van with gas...$70 and I think it would have taken more. We stopped for lunch at the Kentucky Dam State Park . We had a great picnic lunch at the marina, played some frisbee and even went down to the water's edge to put our feet in. The water was a little 'unsanitary' and it didn't last long. At the picnic area The view of the Marina Eddie & I enjoying the day Maggie & Lincoln, not too sure of the unsanitary water

Then on to St. Louis and the Residence Inn. Lincoln had to go swimming immediately and he's quite a fish as you can see from the pictures and videos. After cleaning up, we walked to the Galleria and had dinner and then rode the Metrolink to Forest Park. We walked around the park, played on the playground and saw the Missouri History Museum. The park is a really beautiful place. Enjoy the pictures and can't wait for tomorrow...





Waiting on the MetroLink
Missouri History Museum
Maggie & Lincoln in front of the museum
At the park on the seasaw

Ready to go...

I know it's been a week since my last post. Michele, you probably thought I dropped off the wagon. It's just been a busy week. Camp Meeting was over on Friday night and I think we slept off and on the entire weekend. It was wonderful.

Something even more wonderful happened on Sunday night...My little buddy, Lincoln got the Holy Ghost for the first time. He prayed in the altar for over an hour. Some very special people prayed with him, including some of his little friends. It was the most precious thing...I'll never forget the look on his face. What a great God we serve. He had a ball calling all his family letting them know about it.

This week we have been getting ready for our 'little' vacation as Lincoln calls it. We leave in the morning for the St.Louis Zoo and then on to Holiday World and then to visit some friends on the weekend. We are all very excited about this trip. And don't worry, I'll do a post everyday of our adventures.

Monday...again

It's Monday again and another busy day for me. This week I'm getting ready for our Tennessee District Camp meeting in Nashville. We only go to camp meeting when it's in Nashville every other year. It's a time that I get to see some friends that I don't get to see on a regular basis. I'm coordinating the music for the services - so just taking care of some last minute details today.
It's been a lazy day for the kids - we went to the library and to Wal-Mart to get some rationings for the rest of the week. We watched a movie and took a nap. Tonight we will have a nice dinner at home and finish shooting our fireworks that we got this weekend.
Hope everyone has a great week.

Celebration #2

The celebration continues...One day wasn't enough to celebrate the birthday of our country and being with family. I'm so thankful that both mine and Eddie's families are close enough to spend time with. Family is very important to me and I love being with them.

We began the day running a few errands before going up to Nashville. Once we got to Mom & Dad's, we met up with my brother, Brennan and his wife, Pam at the cemetery where 3 of my grandparents are buried. It was a year ago on July 4th that my grandfather died. It was nice to spend some time remembering...

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at Mom & Dads, talking, eating and of course, playing. My Granny and 2 of my Great-aunts came to lunch. My kids were so tired when we got home, but they perked up when we told them we were going to shoot off a few fireworks. At the end of the day, we all collapsed from exhaustion. But it was a good tired and another memory made.


Maggie, Brennan, Dad & Lincoln at the cemetery
The Chef
The Sisters: Granny, Faye and Lucille
Eddie, Lincoln & Maggie
Brennan, Pam & KoKo

Happy Birthday, USA !!!

Wow...what a day we had on the 4th. And the weekend isn't over yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and get a jump on my postings for this weekend so I don't have to do it all at one time.
Yesterday began with a bang. I was at Wal-mart at 6:45am getting some groceries for the day. I know what you're thinking, but I didn't want to be there with everybody else in Murfreesboro a few hours later. After I got home, put the groceries up, we had breakfast and Eddie, Lincoln and myself went for a walk on the Greenway (Maggie was still with the Raymond Sloan family on her way home). Actually, Lincoln went for a ride, he rode in the wagon. The Greenway runs along part of the Stones River and there is a little path that runs off the walkway that leads to a creek...we had to go.
Eddie's family: Joyce (mom), Mike, Debbie, Crystal & Cayla; Raymond, Michele, Steven & Laure; Chris, Sarah, Marley & Ember all came over to our house for a July 4th cookout. We put up a tent outside and sat under the sycamore tree most of the day just talking and letting the kids play basketball, swing, sidewalk chalk, etc...It was a great day! Mike's family lives in Cape Coral, FL so we don't get to see them very often so it was great to be with them before they go home today. All the kids are growing up so quickly and time is passing us by with much speed. So enjoy the time you have with your family.
Lincoln & cousin Marley
Raymond (Eddie's brother) and cousin Ember
Maggie, Lauren & Steven

We ended the day by going to Manchester to visit some friends, Mark & Darla Sain and their boys. They had a cookout, we played volleyball and of course, we had a fireworks display. It was too dark to get pictures of alot of stuff, but I did get one picture of Lincoln riding a 4-wheeler with Mark. He had a blast!