Thursday, July 31, 2008

I'll Play - Tag

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word.Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? Monte
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? Godly
5. Your father? leader
6. Your favorite thing? music
7. Your dream last night? forget
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? success
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your hobby? workout
12. Your fear? failing
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Austin
14. What you’re not? touchy
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? health
17. Where you grew up? NOVA
18. The last thing you did? dishwasher
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Favorite gadget? none
21. Your pets? none
22. Your computer? slow
23. Your mood? exhausted
24. Missing someone? yes
25. Your car? works
26. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? Husband
29. Your favorite color? yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? awhile

That was hard. Some answers would have been different but I couldn't think of how to make it one word. If anyone else wants to give it a try be my guest.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Wilderness Adventure

What do King Kong, Marshmallows, and smurfs all have in common? The camping trip that Beckham and I took. Let me explain. A few weeks ago I got an email from a good friend in Chicago. He was bringing a group of guys from the HS youth group I used to work with down to the Smokies to do some camping. Beckham has been asking to sleep in a tent for months (although Julie had thought maybe the playroom or the backyard was a good place to start). So Beckham and I made a trip to Target to buy a sleeping bag, camp food, bug spray and the next thing you know we are in the car heading for Tennessee. Four short hours (roughly 2.3 DVDs in kid time) we arrived in historic Gatlinburg.

Gatlinburg can best be described as a red neck's Vegas. All of the velvet - just no Elvis. I had been when I was about Beckham's age so we had to park and see what had changed in 20 years. Not much - its still a blur of candy stores, t-shirt shops, those bears carved out of huge logs, and the Ripley's Believe it or not (yeah - believe it or not you just paid $17 to see a plastic replica of the bearded lady). Beckham of course was very impressed with the glitz. He was especially taken with the 30 foot King Kong in front of the wax museum. He had never seen King Kong so when I told him the story he said - "that is a very sad story - lets take pictures". Maybe he is heading for a career in journalism.

After we pryed ourselves away from the lights of Gatlinburg it was time to go to the Great Smokie National Park to set up camp for the night. We checked in with the park rangers and found our friends camp site. I had borrowed a 2 man tent from a friend at work. I remember thinking when I picked it up that it seemed really light - tent technology has come a long way. When we unrolled it I discovered that 2 man tent really should be more like a 2 smurf size tent. I think when they size tents they still must be using dimensions from the 1700s when the average height was 5 ft. Even Beckham felt a little cramped in there.

After setting up the 2 smurf size tent we met up with our friends and looked around for animals. We spotted a huge woodpecker and some deer. Then it was time for a traditional camp dinner. Beckham had selected a hot dog main course, fritos on the side, and a Smore for dessert. While he enjoyed the Smore - he quickly became impatient with the process and said "Dad can we just eat the marshmallows out of the bag - this takes too long". Then it was time for stories around the camp fire. And of course that night he insisted that we both sleep at the feet end because that was where the screen was an we could watch for falling stars and bears. We were wedged in there cheek-to-cheek for hours. I had forgotten that feeling the next morning after sleeping on the ground then getting the first waft of bacon on an open fire. It really is a great way to wake up.

In the morning there was a deer walking through our campsite and Beckham was looking to feed him poptarts but the deer didn't seem interested. Then it was time to pack up and do a few little park hikes on the way out. We saw some rapids and few waterfalls. It really is a very scenic park. Beckham especially loved the waterfalls. Although he quickly decided that instead of the ranger hike at 11 - he preferred to go see King Kong again and a McDonalds happy meal. So with that we were off for some fast food and then the four hour trip home for a much needed shower.

Bag of Marshmallows - $1.19
New sleeping bag - $30
2 tanks of gas - $86
Spending two days with Beckham on his first camping trip - priceless

Sunday, July 20, 2008

R&R at "His Way Inn"

This weekend we went to my parents lake house for the weekend. We got there on Thursday night after Monte got off work. Monte's job allows him to work from anywhere there is a phone line, Internet, and cell phone reception. So we have taken advantage of that by going to my parents on Thursday nights to get a jump on the weekend. The kids and I play in the pool on Friday while Monte works and then we still have 2 more days to enjoy the Lake house. It is so peaceful and relaxing there. I love to work out on their back deck over looking the trees and lake. what a great and peaceful way to start the morning.

On Friday we went blueberry picking. There is a farm a mile down the road from my parents. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a ball picking them. According to Beckham there was a contest to see who could pick the most. (you can tell he has a lot of Scott in him). We picked blueberries for a little over an hour. We were having so much fun we would have picked longer but we already had picked 8 pounds!! I'm trying to figure out what to do with all of them. The rest of the day was spent in the pool.

Saturday was an adventure for our memory bank. We headed out to the Jockey Lot (AKA a flea market) hoping to find treasures. Once we got there (1 hour and 45 minutes later) we were a little disappointed at all the junk. Monte kept saying shopping on the streets in Mexico would have been a step up and he was probably right. By the way, it typically doesn't take almost 2 hours to get there but the Internet had the wrong address which we put in our GPS. We were driving along and all the sudden "Emma" (that's what we call our GPS voice) said, "you have reached your destination" we all looked around, looked at each other and busted out laughing. We were in the middle of no where. There was nothing for miles. We decided to drive down the road where "emma" said was our destination only to come across a sign that said "end of county maintenance" and led to a gravel road. After calling the number for the Jockey Lot we realized the Internet said South 29 and it was supposed to be north 29. North and South make a big difference. Keep in mind the kids are hungry, Ainsley is crying and we had no clue where we were or where we were going. But we got there and did find a golf bag for Monte and some "junk" (I mean treasures) for the kids. The rest of the day was spent in the pool and on the lake.

Sunday was a bit of the same - church, boating, pool then we packed up and headed home. Letting the kids swim for a few hours before leaving is the way to go. They were so exhausted they fell asleep before leaving my parents neighborhood.

We had a great time and I'll post pics if Meggo emails me some (or you can check out her blog and see pics from the weekend.).

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Picture Time

I downloaded my pictures and realized it had been awhile since I had downloaded them which meant the blog doesn't have many recent pics. Here are a few from the past few months.


Beckham's birthday (see I told you it's been awhile)



Beckham and his friends at the baseball game


Air Museum while we were in DC for Amy's wedding


At the School Bus Races




Monday, July 14, 2008

Growing up

The day has finally come - Ainsley got her first hair cut. In the past month my little girl has grown up right before my eyes. It has been a month of monumental events for her. First, she got rid of her paci. We sent it to the paci fairy for another baby to have. In exchange for the paci the "paci fairy" left a white dog that fits in a little pink purse (not a real dog for those of you wondering). Ainsley decided to name the dog "Monkey" - don't ask me why. Her next big step was Potty training. Which went better than I expected. She is definitely strong willed but after a day or two she realized we weren't giving up so she might as well give in and get as many starburst as she could. It's still a work in progress but after the first accident (2 minutes into the training) she has only had one accident at nap time.

Lastly she finally got her first haircut. Many of you know that Ainsley was our little baldie. She was bald until she was 2. Since she never had any I was letting it grow but it finally got to the point of looking almost mullet like so I took her in. I didn't know how it would go but she did great. She was very happy they didn't use the "machine" also known as clippers. Because according to her "that's scary". So our little girl is growing up and she is loving every minute of it.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

School Bus Slobberknocker

If you ask the kids (including Monte) what the highlight of the week was they would tell you the School Bus races. On Tuesday night we went to Lowes Motor speedway for the school bus races. Two hours before the race we thought they might not happen because the heavens opened up and poured rain. Monte was torn between being happy for the rain because we desperately need it due to the drought or sad because the races might be canceled. I have to admit I was a happy - thinking the rain was my way out. After calling the box office 4 or 5 times Monte confirmed that the races were on. So we loaded up the car and headed to the track. I'm glad we went because the kids had a ball. Ainsley was very impressed with the pink bus. She loves pink - it's her favorite color and she'll make sure you know that. It was pretty funny watching these old brightly decorated buses drive around the track crashing into each other. Many times I thought they were going to flip over as the rounded the turns. In the end we got much needed rain and we got to see a great Slobberknocker of a race between the school buses. I'll post pictures once I download them.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Potty or Bust

The battle is on and the lines have been drawn. The day has finally come - we are potty training Ainsley this weekend (it's about time). We told her we weren't buying anymore diapers and when they ran out she had to use the potty. Well, we ran out yesterday so we began the potty boot camp today. In the morning she woke up and we explained what was going to happen (this isn't a new concept she has gone on the potty before and we have talked about it for weeks). We put on her new Tinkerbell panties and not even 3 minutes later she had peed in them. OK, let's try again - you are supposed to try and keep your new panties dry and your pee pee goes in the potty. Let us know when you have to go. Every 15 min I put her on the potty - nothing. I'm pumping her with fluids thinking that will help. You would think by 2:00 she would have to go (can you tell she is a little strong willed - wonder where she gets that). At 1:50 I put her on the potty and told her she had to stay there until she peed. Well, it's 2:40 and she just peed! Yea, success - well maybe just a baby step. After she peed she got up and started balling. Monte asked why she was crying and I whispered - probably because she is so strong willed she is upset she lost this battle. I'm sure there will be many more this weekend. hopefully at the end of the weekend we will have won the war.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

5 yr old POV...

...of heaven. The other week Beckham was looking out the car window and asked "which cloud does God live in?" I chuckled and tried to explain but obviously didn't do a good job because today Beckham said, "Mommy, I love you all the way to the sun." My response (with the competitive spirit I have) I love you all the way to heaven. His response - Well, the sun is further than heaven because heaven is only in the clouds so I love you more. I chuckled again.