Reminiscing........

I got a camera card adapter from SIL for the iPad and loaded a LARGE amount of photos on here. I've picked out some of my favorites for a post.  These first few are from when we went camping at Lake Blackshear a couple years ago. Early morning......my favorite time of day at the lake. It's so quiet, not a lot of movement, just the sound of boats and the smell of bacon cooking. :)

This guy here in the kayak is exactly where I'd like to be right now........quiet, foggy, chilly morning.

My kids (the boys anyway) are actually some of the early risers at the lake...."the early riser gets the fish" as Ben says. I say "if your name is Ben Perry you get the fish!" Period.  When you're good,you're good.

Same foggy morning, I just turned around and took this picture. :)

This was taken at the Agrirama in November 2012

This picture was from Theron's surprise 80th birthday party/family reunion. This is a BIG chuck of the Cook family. He had just found out about two weeks before that he had stage four lung cancer. We really thought this would be the last birthday he'd see. He just had his 81st last October and he's steadily working on his 82nd!

Every time I look at these two pictures I tear up. Rivs great grandma Juanita bought her her first American Girl Doll. Rivers had NO IDEA that she had done this. So Ms. Juanita called us over one nite to bring her over and she FLIPPED OUT when she opens that box and saw that doll inside!!!  I love the look on her face!!!

She was one happy and excited little girl!!! And she loves her dolls!!!  (All 3 of them)

This is one of the days I realized my babies are all grown up. They are all BIG enough to ride the roller coasters at Wild Adventures. I knew this day would come but I remember just like it was yesterday that I had plenty of time to worry about that before it actually happened. :/.  It's come and gone in the blink of an eye.

Here sitting, strapped in these four, black seats is MY. ENTIRE. WORLD. And look at the excitement on those faces!!!  And one barefoot little girl! In December! (2012)

They ALL love roller coasters!!!

Here we are in 2013. Pensacola, Fla. on our way to Orange, Texas.

Navy Museum=amazing!!!

The life sized planes were so pretty and it was neat to think they were actually once flown and protected our country. There was a lot to read but it wasn't easy with three kids that wanted to just get in and fly all of them ! I wondered if my besties husband, Jonathan, got to fly in many of these types of planes since he was in the Navy. They've definitely got to visit that place when they get back out this way.

We also toured the USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. This HUGE battleship was amazing but also depressing. I can't imagine someone being on a ship for as long as those men were and not going absolutely crazy. I'm not claustrophobic but that ship almost made me! 

We were able to go in practically every nook and cranny of this ship. And there were many!

The next day (after we spent the nite in Baton Rouge) we stopped and toured the Tabaso plant. We tried to pack in as much as possible on our trip and make it a learning experience. This was territory NONE of the Perry'S had ever been in!  EVER!

And leave it to Ben to find a fish outta water!

This was one of the strangest sights to me! All I've ever seen are Ga, Tn and Fla (lately). But NEVER LA and MS or TX!!! Texas was my favorite!

And we had to visit the World's Largest Fire Hydrant in Beaumont, Texas!!! 

This was the hi light of Ben's entire trip! He met the man he's gonna one day replace! Hahaha!  I wish I had the money to get him started.  It's his calling. The boy can fish.

They were all three amazed at the size of this engine/motor? I was too actually.

Ben said this is his future transportation.    ;).  I believe it!  This boat wrap was really neat. It looks camo but the "camo" look is actually tiny pictures that were sent in of his fans!

Ben's first local fishing tournament.  MAP had to work so I had to take him to a pond out at our house.....in the heat!  Good grief it was so hot!!! He didn't care!

He is so serious when he fishes. I do love watching him. And he could fish all day whether he catches anything or not (which is very rare).

And he knows where they are. It amazes me. I'd love to be able to send him with one of the pros for a day of fishing. Although they may get their feelings hurt.  :)

And here's my little goat girl!

Basking in the sun. She (unlike my oldest) will smile for anyone!

May 2013. Mexico Beach. As soon as we got there. Ben fishing. 

Me: Ben, it's dark, you can't catch anything if you can't see!!!

Ben:  (see picture)

The moon was absolutely beautiful and was obviously bright enough and made it light enough to fish!

Rounding out the year. October 2013. Blue Ridge, Ga.

The boys fishing in the Toccoa River and boy did they ever! We have a freezer full of trout waiting to be fried up!!!

The only way for me to get a good picture of Jake is if I surprise him!

The boy won't smile or cooperate foe ANYTHING!!!!!!

This is the newest addition to the Hickman family!  Abree Estelle. That hair still blows my mind! She was born on November 5, 2013, weighing in at 9lbs 12ozs!!! OMG!!!  I wuv her!

Happy 2014!!!!!!   And PS. I'm not going back to proofread this!  Ain't nobody got time for that!!!

Blue Ridge, Ga 2013

These are some of the pictures from our trip to Blue Ridge in October 2013. We visited Mercier Apple Orchard and got some of the best apples ever. While we were in the mountains I cooked some of the most delicious meals ever. One of the desserts included an apple crisp that I used some of our freshly picked apples for! It was so good! We had never been to an apple orchard and this one was HUGE! They also had a store/gift shop/bakery and they sell 1.5 MILLION Apple pies (not including cherry, peach and sweet potato either!!!) just Apple!!!!  1.5 MILLION every year!!! That's a lot of pies!!! We bought probably 24-35+. They are so yummy. Cherry and peach are my favorite though. :)

While we were in the mountains I decided I was gonna try to take some pictures of my babies. It was supposed to be cooler being it was up in the mountains and all but notsomuch! I promised if they'd be good and cooperate and just give me ONE good picture I'd be done.....they gave me several. :) I think they were secretly having a good time :) especially the little lady!

They really liked this old barn. They said it reminded them of the "little house on the prairie" days.

Jake thinks he is too old to be taking pictures with his kid brother and sister these days. 

He acts like he doesn't want to do it but he is actually proud when he takes a good picture. This is one of my favorites because I didn't tell them to pose like this. They really do love each other no matter what the daily blood curdling screams and tattletaling may make you think. ;)

Rivers is my little supermodel wannabe. She'll pose for pictures all day long. Even in a tree hanging over the water with a snake slithering under her boots. :) no joke!

She is growing up way too fast. I remember when she was 14  months old we were worried that she'd never walk and now she's practically grown! 

This is the wobbly bridge we went to that wasn't far from our cabin. We hope to go back this spring and float down the Toccoa from the bridge to our cabin.

Ben is trying to find some babies of course :)

Here are Rivs and momma hanging off the second story of the cabin.

Another picture from the apple orchard. Daddy decided he'd eat one right off the tree.

We also went to the Ga Mountain Fair in Hiawassee. It was very neat. They had outdoor shows and arts and crafts and lots of country singing. My babes sat for six straight hours watching people sing! They actually enjoyed it......I know, they're strange like that!

2 years and 15. ;)

It's been two years since I've posted on this blog and 15 that I've been married.  I had to go back and check because I didn't believe it myself.  My computer screen got broken and when I finally got it fixed I had gotten so used to my phone that I didn't care to use my computer.......anyway, here I am. Back again. Many things happened in 2 years. Hopefully I can remember them all. I'll start with most recent and go backwards as I remember......
       Jake is just now getting his cast off from a broken arm that happened in November 2013.
       Christy and Jonathan had baby Abree on November 5th 2013!!!
       Theron has survived 2 months longer than the doctor expected when he was first diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer back in October 2013.
       I finally am on medication that has my migraines under control....migraine free since July 2013!!!!
       Had a hysterectomy in April (best thing I've EVER done for myself....and my family) also had carpal and cubital tunnel surgery on both my hands and elbows this year.....whew!
       And now for the fun part,  we took a road trip to TEXAS!!! We took two days to get there so we could sightsee on the way out and break up the days. We stopped in Pensacola, Fla at the airplane museum (awesome!) and then we went to Mobile, Al and toured the USS Alabama Battleship. That was pretty neat, too. After that we drove to New Orleans.....one of my favorite places ever. We only stayed for a few hours but I'd love to go back for a few days and go on some tours. We then headed to Baton Rouge, spent the nite there, and stopped at the Tobasco plant in La the next day. When we got to Texas we headed straight to the weigh-in at the BassMasters Elite Tournament. My Benjamin was on cloud 9!!! He and Jake even made the front page of the paper because Ben was holding a sign near the front row that read "I'm the NEXT Kevin VanDam" he was amazed at alllll the huge bass that those guys brought to the stage.  We did all kinds of fun things while we were out there, saw different stuff, ate different foods. We  left around 8 on Sunday nite and started driving home and drove til about 1 and then finished it up the next day. It was a loooooooooong trip home.
        I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff.....probably some really BIG stuff but my brain is still trying to recover from the holidays. I'll try to pick up from here. I love reading back over my posts from the very beginning and I hate I didn't have any posts and pictures from the past two years. A lot has happened.   <3 p="">

100 Things About ME!!!!!!

1. I have naturally curly hair that I am TOTALLY in. love. with!
2. It took me a long time to know that I ALWAYS spelled the word "especally"  WRONG!!! I kept forgetting the "i".
3. I have been married 13 years and plan to be married (to the same man) for another 13 and then another 13 after that!
4. I have had the same best friend since birth...no lie....we have NEVER been in a fight.
5. I have 3 beautiful children that I am in love with
6. I had all three of them by c-section b/c they were HUGE....10.7, 9.something and then 9.
7. Both of my boys have the same middle name.  ALAN. After their dad. My SIL thinks that's wierd.
8. My little girl is named after my mama and my best friend......
9. I get off track easily. See #7 & #8...not about me!
10. I secretly love the fact that my moma and I fight like cats and dogs sometimes...ALOT....and we are over it and on the next topic with our next breath.
11. I am going to TEXAS next week....to visit my best friend.
12. I have never been on a LARGE plane.....
13. Next week I am flyin to TEXAS on a large plane
14. I only drink FLAVORED coffee
15. I don't hate anyone...
16. I don't care much for some
17. I have one brother.......
18. and he has an AWESOME wife which gives me an awesome SIL
19. and they gave me a beautiful, sweet, cute, cuddly, heartstealing nephew
20. I love myself....ALOT
21. I can wear really high wedges but not really high heels.
22. My daddy can do anything.
23. Alabama is the fartherest west I have ever been
24. but I am going to TEXAS next week!!!
25. I have been to OHIO.
26. I love the beach and the salt water is my favorite.
27. I am one of the greatest cooks EVER! Period. Just ask anyone that knows me. My moma is the the other. Period. Just ask anyone that knows her. 
28. I can also do floral design...and I rock that too!
29. I have a new camera that I am TRYIN to rock, also.
30. I love to quilt.
31. and crochet
32. and sew
33. I homeschool my kids.
34. I love to go camping.
35. I can not stand bone chillin cold weather!
36. I love the hot summers
37. but I hate the gnats (which makes #15 somewhat untrue) but those are things so #15 IS true!
38. I believe Whitney Houston went to heaven
39. I believe in God.
40. I actually enjoy going to church....and I pay attention when I am there.
41. I have never been drunk.
42. I say "I don't drink" but I occasionally drink wine (like once every 6 months) and some ppl have blown that straight to H*** and back!
43. I AM NOT an animal lover........but I do like cats.....b/c they don't jump on you and lick you!
44. Peaches are my favorite.....
45. and strawberries....
46. and bananas
47. I make a mean pound cake that was renamed a "ton cake" by my best freind.
48. I went scalloping for the first time last year.
49. I have a great big, wonderful but scary, crazy family and I wouldn't trade any of them for anything....even Sandra!
50. My favorite color is purple
51. and grey
52. and pink
53. and blue
54. and green.
55. I really like the Olive Garden
56. I have worn the same Merle Norman makeup since high school.
57. I have 11 chicken that finally started laying eggs.......but only four of them!
58. My favorite car is a mini van.
59. I am very "choosy" about my friends.
60. I DO NOT LIKE DRAMA and I don't tolerate it very well!
61. I worry more than I should.
62. I love livin in the south.
63. I don't care that I'm not and never will be rich......not on this earth anyway.
64. I told my kids that I am santa clause and they didn't believe me!
65. But said it's okay if I'm the tooth fairy as long as I leave money.
66. I love love love good, thick buttermilk. YUM!
67. I would love to go back and live in the "olden days".
68. I have recurring dreams about alligators.
69. I have 63 blueberry bushes in my backyard.
70. I am somewhat addicted to PINTREST
71. and I have made several things from there.
72. I hated high school.
73. Sweet Tea is my most absolute favorite drink...In. The. World. It's my alcohol!
74. and sometimes I like Mt. Dew. In a can. Early in the morning.
75. Or an ice cold Pepsi. In a can.
76. I eat meat but the thoughts of a slaughterhouse make me cringe.
77. I like to visit the city but could not live there.
78. I learned a long time ago to not say NEVER.
79. I got a stronger faith in God after I had kids.
80. I am only ticklish on each side of my spine........BAD!
81. I am stuck on grey t-shirts
82. and black capris.
83. Crocs are pretty much all I wear in the summer.
84. and, I'm going to TEXAS next week!!!!
85. When I first met my husband, I said I would NEVER marry anyone like him.
86. I also broke up with a guy once b/c he said his wife would stay home and have babies......I also said I would NEVER do that.....
87. Did I mention I said a long time ago that I would NEVER homeschool my kids?  I said that too.
88. I listen to allllll kinds of music.
89. I don't like mexican food.
90. I almost always only wear a wedding band...I'm not big on jewelry.
91. I have BAD grey hair!
92. I am 34 and 11/12ths years old.  I'd rather be old than dead.
93. I love to laugh.....and I snort when I laugh hard.....and that makes me laugh harder and that makes me honk like a goose!
94. I think I'm funny.
95. I have only had ONE cavity in my life! and that's good b/c I get anxious about goin to the dentist.
96. I am not a late sleeper.
97. I don't mind cleaning toilets.
98. I LOVE a clean house! Especially if all the clothes are done!
99. I make my own laundry soap.
100. Shopping is not my favorite thing to do.

I am actually tired of thinking about things to say about myself....but it was fun....you should try it.  I think if I thought about it, I could name 100 more...maybe next week......after I get back from TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

January 2012

These pictures aren't the best because I hijacked them from my facebook but I didn't want to put another post on here without pictures!  The one below is hilarious!  My favorite boys.  And for the record, my boys decorated their own faces and studmuffins mama did his   :)   Again, I wanna squeeze him! 

and the picture below is Lizard Lick Towing.......Wyatt said "You ain't taking my truck!"

p.s. they didn't drive around with him in there   :)

This was taken on a very cold nite (we've not had many of those at all this year) and the girls were up visiting on the back porch while we were grilling (chicken nonetheless) and they stayed a little too late and had to roost on the baker's rack.  Funny girls!

One Saturday, the boys (map, Jake and Ben) decided to go fishing with Mitchell (map's dad).

I was a little bored so I decided to make a german chocolate cake (from scratch) and get my dad to help me tear out a part of the laundry room so I could add some shelving for storage........halfway through, this is what happened   :(  yeah, I felt like a dog!  He pushed a board AND his finger into a table SAW! Shatterd the bone on the tip and just messed it up pretty bad. Went to the e.r. but there was nothing they could do....just wait.....and let it heal.....Saturday will be 4 weeks and it's still healing.... 

One of the best things about living in the country is that you learn to do really cool stuff at a young age......like learning to drive pa's new tractor    :)

and here's Ben with pa......the beginner   :)

here we have a picture that makes me smile everytime I look at it   :)   I booked my and Map's flight to Texas to go see Christy.  OMG! I can't believe I am FLYING to TEXAS!!!  In March......only 34 days away!  I am SOOOOOO excited...we all are! I have never been on a large plane (but always wanted to), I have never been any further west than the Alabama line, I have never been away from my kids for four days..........my goodness!  This is gonna be another busy and AWESOME year!!!  Did I mention how excited I am!?

also, I'm havin another craving for some homemade cinnamon rolls........

AND SWEET TEA with lemon?

and I forgot to mention how crazy the weather is! I saw a picture on facebook where Calhoun's strawberries are ALREADY being picked!!! They're usually not ready until mid to late March!!!  What's up with that!?

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Boy am I ever happy for December to be outta here!  Now things can get back to normal....if there is such a thing around here.

December was a whirlwind. We finished up our homeschool group for the year by makin ginger bread houses. That nite my mother in law was admitted into the hospital in Ocilla and then later that nite she was taken to Albany to Phoebe Putney. She had become septic and was in and out of it....she couldn't really respond too much and was fightin a tough battle....Michael went to be with her everyday after work for two straight weeks and I tried to go most of those days....she passed away on December 17th...the last people that were with her before she went were her son, daughter and ex husband.....she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.....I truely believe she was waiting on Mitchell (her ex-husband) to come see her.  Their life story is long and bittersweet. Ms. Sue was laid to rest on December 20th and I never thought we were anywhere close to having to say goodbye to any of our parents...so many things about life are so unexpected.

They only sure and expected thing is that she has no more problems that she suffered with (but never complained about) here on earth  :) Ms. Sue had a very strong faith in God and she knew her day was comin and it did :)

In between all of that, we had Ben's 8th!!! birthday and then many of our Christmas gatherings.

Then two days before New Year's Eve, Ben got sick.....and has been sick ever since!!! He has thrown up more the last week than he has his whole life and has gotten dehydrated. We've been doin everything possible to not have to put him in the hospital! It's been aweful and I feel so bad for him but I think maybe we are turning around today  :)  keep your fingers crossed! 

Anyway, Happy New Year!

Confirmed our BEACH reservations for May and July on this COLD BLISTERING day!!!

Now that makes us happy!!!