Full Speed Ahead!

 Again I say, I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post!  Guess you can see we've been busy. Just as Thanksgiving rolls around, so does the hustle and bustle for us.  We get our house decorated for Christmas, finish off our homeschool group for the year, then it's time for Ben's birthday and all the family gatherings....next thing you know, BAM! it's January 1st! Where does the time go?

MAP and I have a 13 year anni comin up and I am so proud of us for what we have done in those 13 years.  In those 13 years, we had 3 kids, celebrated 48 birthdays in our little family, taken some 5 dozen or so trips, called for an ambulance 3 times, buried 1 dog and numerous cats....anyway, you get the picture.....we've survived! This picture was taken at my best friends wedding.....the absolute BEST picture we have EVER taken!!!!! I LOVE IT!!! 

Here are the babes wrapping up the summer with a little competetive hay bale jumping  ; )

This is a fall festival that we went to at the park in Sylvester. It was hosted by my aunt and uncle's church. There were all sorts of games and bouncy things for the kids to have fun with.

Uncle Robert cookin up some meats...sausage and deer, dogs and burgers.

The babes are in the middle here at the cake/cupcake walk. Almost everyone had a chance to get something b/c they were handing out single cupcakes...and they were good! A lot of them were homemade.

Don't these look so pretty? I think they were strawberry.

This is a funny picture b/c little does he know but the one in the green there is about to get the crap beat out of him by that pretty little blue eyed sweetie......

See? told ya! Out of six tries, he knocked her down once......what can I say, I taught her right! And she was quiet happy about it as you can see.

I found this here little pretty at wal-mart. I actually went to Lowes and bought a variety of colors. These really help me get through the winter when I look out and everything else is dead. I just can't understand how these delicate little beauties can survive even the harshest winters...including being covered by SNOW!!!

Even bigger selection of colors......so pretty

We even got a call one morning from my sister in law that got a call from my brother sayin the Barnum and Bailey circus train was comin through Cordele headed our way.  I told the kids and we jumped in the car and headed off to an old dirt road not far from home......and within 30 minutes, the train was barreling down the tracks headed our way!!!

Hopefully it won't be two more months before another post rolls in!

Number 4 :)

Yeah yeah, I know this was taken on our campin' trip to the lake a week ago and I really like it so I decided I'd save it and use it for my 4th week photo. ONE WHOLE MONTH OF MY GOAL!!! YAY!!

I know it's crazy but even after all of these family photos, I still have trouble getting the self timer right! and Jake almost got cut out of this shot! Ben and I had the craziest looks on our faces but we were havin' FUN!

Family Photo number 3!!!

This is my second favorite. Ben and Rivers always race to the camera after it snaps to see if we got a good picture and she got a little snap happy this time. She beat the bell and took off before it snapped completely! I love it because she is so excited and she knows that she beat Ben to it...this time   :)

Fall Campin' at the Lake

Well, I thought I was gonna get to post a few more times before now but even while we were at the lake, there was a lot goin on......well, actually the kids were here and there and everywhere! Even at the lake I'm that "paranoid freak of a mom". Unless they were on their bikes all three together ridin' the loop, either Michael or I were right on their trails   :)  and let me tell you, they didn't slow down!!!

Of all the campgrounds I've been to, this is the prettiest to me....the others we go to are at the beach and they don't have to be pretty cause you don't stay at the campground whilst you are at the beach!!! Anywho, all you want to do at this one is just sit around the campfire...unless of course if you are a kid and then all you wanna do is run around everywhere and make your mama crazy wonderin where you are!

but of course ridin bikes really fast around the curve we stayed on is really fun too!!!

even the little miss got in on the fast action!

and the fact that they make them wear helmets makes me feel a little better...especially when they are racin around with all the other 100's of kids that are there.....and especially since we had just taken a trip tp the e.r. the nite before because one of the seats in my car locked down on Ben's fingers and almost chopped them off!!! The only thing he was worried about while we were tryin to free his fingers was that he may not get to go camping and fishing at the lake!!! I promised him right then that even if they were broken we would still go!!! Luckily and by the grace of God they were fine and we ended up leaving the hospital before we were even seen!!!

This was our lunch after MAP got there on Friday. The kids were excited b/c he took off 1/2 a day from work. So we picnicked even though it said DON'T.....cause that's how we roll   :)

As you can easily see, Ben's fingers were fine! And it happened to be his right "reeling in" hand/fingers that got smashed.  

and just FYI, this is the BEST SALSA I HAVE AND WILL EVER HAVE EATEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE (yeah, it is worth alllll caps!!!) so go get you some!!! look for it on the mexican food isle. SO GOOD!!!

little miss "camera hog"

and just so you all don't think I really just overlook all the rules (like picnicking where it says DON'T), this is what the other side of that sign read   :)  that picnicking spot was just for us campers   :)

They even moved the playground at the campground, and added a few new things like this twirly bird of a thingamajig? You could make it spin all by yourself but after Rivs got off, MAP and I gave Jake a little spin   :) he was beggin for mercy!!! hahaha!



HAHA! Here it is! Family Photo number TWO!!!

You never know where you'll see us next! I had a great idea for this week but I couldn't find anyone to cooperate! Man, I don't realize just how big my hair is til I see it in pictures......higher the hair, the closer to God, I like to say! There will be another post or two before next weeks photo.......we are goin' campin'!!!

Fall Goodness : ) and an angel....

Well, I couldn't stand it any longer! This morning I got up and made some ooey, gooey, yummy goodness!

Don't tell anyone but these are not the four hour recipe I was talking about last post....but they are just as good if I do say so myself!!!

They may be hard to spot but they are in there amongst all that yummy icing.

And this here is what they look like on the inside....they aren't as neat as I would have like for this picture but they were just packed so tight and "cozily" in that skillet that I had a hard time gettin them out....but I did......and we ate....and they were YUM!

My goodness gracious....like I have said before, food this good should be illegal!

and I couldn't help but add one more picture that'll make you smile  :)

It kinda gets me teary eyed . Some people think that you should get kids to quit suckin their thumb for different reasons: it'll mess up their teeth or habit forming....yadda yadda yadda....that's what braces are for and how many adults do you see walkin aroiund suckin their thumb? But I know the day she stops sucking her thumb, she is no longer my wee bitty baby  :(

She is my angel though......as long as she's sleeping anyway  :)

Happy Day!

CRAVINGS!!!!!!!

Why is it that this time of year I get the worst craving for these two things!!!???

I am sitting here posting this and hoping that my husband will not argue when I tell him I want to go to Starbucks for one of these when we go to Tifton....

I mean, I don't have to have one everyday.....or even every week for that matter but right now I am seriously lickin my chops........this is the first one I'll buy this year that my best friend won't be with me :(     but I'm still so happy that she is too!!!

and really, who  in their right mind could turn down something this ooey, gooey, doughy and delicious?

I just discovered a new oxymoron on pinterest today...."healthy cinnamon rolls" which I think can be translated into "don't even bother"

and p.s. the ingredients for Suetta Bechtel's Cinamon Rolls (out of my Amish cookbook) are on my shopping list for today!!! YAY!!! and FYI, these babies take 4 hours to make!!! so go ahead and start slappin ya mama in advance  :)

Normal?

BTW: this was supposed to be posted last week!? have no idea what happened!

NORMAL: adj. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; regular; natural....Dare I say        things are getting back to that? May Be!

Today we got 'em up got 'em goin' and got our school work on! We have been on hold for about a week and a half with all of the things we had goin on and on top of weddin-ing, two of the babes got sick and MAP got staph!!! Talk about a full plate! BUT, I am woman and I totally tackled all of it!!! The babes are well (as of now) and MAP's foot/toes are on the road to recovery without amputation, hallelujah! And in the midst of it all, Jake pulled another tooth.....and tried to pull another one over on the tooth fairy.....by hiding it on top of his "Tony" cabinet...she totally only left him two dollars for all the effort she had to put into reaching the tooth  :)

family photo numero uno!!!

YAY!!! WE DID IT!!!

FAMILY PHOTO NUMBER ONE!!!

OF FIFTY-TWO!!???

OH DEAR!

.....and yeah, I did wait til the last minute of the end of week number one to take this.

May be midnite next week until we get used to doin it  :)

ta-ta.

(yeah, I know the pictures are uneven!? do I care? no.)

love  <3

Goals.......

Goals.....I like goals.....well, as long as they're "do-able". Goals are like plans, right? I like plans, although I have finally realized that after you "get God", YOUR plans don't matter so I'm gonna call my plans "goals".

I had a pretty neat idea the other day to take one family picture EVERY single week for an entire year. Not gonna matter where we are, what we look like (? not too sure of this one) just whenever I think, "Hey, time to take our family picture"......I'm practicing my self timer on my camera...not really swift at it so whatever it looks like is gonna go.....hopefully everyone will be in the picture. The last time I did this was at Easter this year and I had to sit it on the lid of the garbage can outside and it ended taking a picture of the lid of the can and cutting off two of the kids' feet!

She's Married!!!

Well, she did it! She married her prince charming and I do believe seeing how giddy she was the night before and the day of the wedding, that he was worth the wait!!!

She was probably the most beautiful bride I have ever seen! And even at our age (which is NOT that old, we actually joke about it), she was ROCKIN that straples wedding dress!!!

This is the new Mr. and Mrs. on the back of her surprise entrance for the guests...LOVE!!!

I thought this cake was gonna be the end of me. I was so afraid it was gonna be in the floor when we got up the morning of the wedding.....everything was perfect! It was a first for me   :) and it was soooooo goooooooood!

After the wedding, they lit a HUGE bon fire together and the bride had made up these neat little individual s'mores for all her guests. AWESOME!!!

This is a more closer look at the cake...did I mention how good it was!?

Here's the bride and her parents before the wedding. Everybody looked so good!

This was the outside in front of the plantation house.

This was the food table arrangment I whipped together. It was so tall. The whole place is HUGE...and beautiful!!!



September ALREADY!!!

I CAN NOT believe it's already September!!! And as if the summer hasn't flown by, I hate to see what September has in store!!! Actually I'm excited to see what September has in store. My very best friend in the whole world, that has been by my side pretty much since birth, is getting married. Her Mr. Right finally came along   :)  We always knew he would but sometimes the wait is tough, long and boring but so worth it!!!

Aren't they just the cutest couple? Reminds me of when my hubby and I were newlys  :)

I guess that's why I'm so excited because I know what's ahead of them because I've been down that road and know what they have to look foreard to....I know it sounds impossible but it only gets better!!!

She wanted to do some engagment photos but for some reason time has been flying by and she didn't have a photographer so I took them.......It was so much fun and we had some crazy off the wall backdrops but I think they turned out perfectly!!! Although, it does help when you've got ppl that will go along with your crazy ideas and trust that they'll turn out! :)

Can't wait to take some before and after the wedding and bring them home to play around with!
Did I mention this will be my first ever wedding cake also!?
Oh my dear!!!
It's gonna be so great!

Well yankee doodle dandee! Isn't he just about the cutes thing this side of the Mason Dixon line!!!???  I love him so much and love to cuddle with him AND I can't wait til the cold weather gets here because I hope his mama will let me get him from daycare and bring him to my house so we can snuggle!!! Precious I say!!!

This here is a picture of are awesome dog Rosie (actually map's 4th child).

The mother cat to these babies decided she didn't want them so she sorta gave them up.....and Rosie took over the mothering role complete with nursing them. God works in strange but neat ways sometimes, see, Rosie has never had babies and we don't really know if she can but she was able to nurse them   :)

We keep wondering, when the kittens get bigger, if they'll chase other cats or rabbits and bark!?  :)

Now on to probably my most favorite trip this summer. My best friend of 34 years is about to get married next month and I know it's crazy but we have never been on any kind of a trip together. We have talked many times about how we need to take a scalloping trip (she goes with her parents quiet often) so we knew since she was getting married and moving to Texas! yes, I said Texas, that we had to go through with this trip...and we did.... it was me, map, Jake, Ben, Rivers, Christy, her mom and her dad.

This is the two of us in the canal heading out to the big waters   :)

and baby girl.....we all had a blast!!!

here we have the snorkeling queen  :) another story to come later....

I think this weekend Ben was as close to heaven as you can get here on earth!!! 

We were not really excited about this picture because we were having to actually STAND IN THE GRASS!!! not one of our favorite things...at all!!!

FYI: when you find big beautiful conch shells like these whilst you are scalloping, leave them in the ocean......we found out that it is illegal to take them!? Really, it is!!! 

and here we are the 2011 Scallop Dive Team of Keaton Beach, Fla....there is a story about the one with the goggles and sunglasses. I looked over one time when we had gotten to the deeper water and she was flailing in the water so much that I actually had thoughts that a shark had her by the head and was trying with all it's might to take her down......come to find out she was trying with all her might to get to the bottom....she had spotted a scallop!!! Never quiet got down there to it  :(  I had several struggles gettin into the boat and one time I got a little giggly with my hubby tryin to shove me up in it and then him pinchin in certain areas that I ended up takin on about 2 gallons of water in about  0.5 seconds flat....GAME OVER!!!

I do believe if we'd have had someone filmin' our litle expedition we'd have been about $20,000 richer!!!

There's always next year!!! and we are already looking forward to it!!!

Again, Ben in heaven! This is what  his future looks like!!!

and here's the bounty!!! I think we got our limit of 10 gallons!

Again, in the more shallow waters that we hated but we were gonna do whatever we had to to find those scallops....and we did eventually!

Priss said it was naptime...and she was right....had it not been so bumpy I'd have been right there with her!

This is Ms. Betty. She was our shark watcher outter for, lunch lady, scallop getter, photographer and most important, head counter!!! Best deck hand EVER!!!

Smiley boy and Jake  :)

Map, also in heaven  :) boy did we ever cover some water that weekend!!!