ASU here she comes!

Well, it looks like Jenileigh will be going to Appalachian State University. She applied only there as that was the only place she wanted to go. She got the good news on December 13th. She is so excited. We are too. Boone is one of our favorite places in  North Carolina. She is going to audition in the Spring for their School of Music so I'll let you know how that goes. We heard her sing a solo last night at the high school's Christmas Concert. It was very good. She sang "Grown Up Christmas List" despite the fact that she is not quite grown up.

All the babies are growing up though, and much too fast. Davis will get his license in a few months and I think he has finally accepted this fact. He's not too keen on independence yet...and that's okay with me. There are plenty of years left for that. He is such a caring 16 year old and very conscientious. He truly thinks of others first, which is such a rare quality in anyone.

John has started basketball season and really enjoys running up and down the court. He really seems to like his coaches and looks forward to games which are on Saturdays. Keeps us busy, that one does, both physically and mentally. Ha!

Michael is loving the K! Kindergarten that is. He still thinks it is awesome 4 months in and I see no reason why that should change. He really is reading well and loves doing small math problems, mostly during preaching on Sunday mornings..but hey, whatever keeps him still, as long as it's not his Gameboy right? I must state, however, that I have seen a couple of young boys playing their Gameboys during service which I was surprised by and had to explain to my boys why I wouldn't allow them to do that. That was difficult to do and ended up being a "Just because I said so" conversation.

Tim and I are okay. He is overwhelmed at work, I think. So much going on. He did get to meet Jeff Gordon  and his new wife at the grand opening of the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital.  That was kind of neat, though he felt the honor was a bit wasted on him as he has never once seen a NASCAR event. He did enjoy "Cars" the animated movie, but that is about the extent to which this family has been exposed to "racin'".

I am trying to tidy up and get all the laundry done (yeah right) before we go to Miss. for the holidays. We are renting an RV again and cannot wait for the adventure to begin. It will be so good to see the families. Until next time....

Another parade....

Today was another parade for Jenileigh and Tim. This time I got a little bit better pictures, but still not perfect. I'm not so great at the camera I guess. Her crown stayed on this time! Yaaaay! It was a much smaller parade than the Concord one and I think I liked it better. It was so cute and sweet. John and I sat on Main Street in our beach chairs, sipping hot cocoa and just really enjoyed it. Michael didn't want to go so he stayed home with Davis, who wasn't too keen on going either.

 Also, I threw in a picture of me in the Emergency Room with my dislocated fibula. Oh, did that hurt. It happened Thursday on my way out the door to the garage and I hit the step the wrong way...my body went one way, my lower leg the other. I was in a great deal of pain but I really think I will never go to the ER again. It was not a good experience. The doc was a cold jerk. Let's just say, he didn't even touch the area, only went by xrays and told me to go home and if it got worse see primary care. Well, I still couldn't walk on it and was wheelchaired out to the car. The next time I got out of the car and tried to walk on it the fibula popped back into place and the relief was unbelieveable. I am still sore and very cautious about walking on it but I am much better, no thanks to the ER doc. Grrr!

Davis got his new car about two weeks ago. He was completely humbled and surprised and is so grateful. We figured he needed to practice before he goes for his test in May and the truck is too big and bulky and the other cars have stick shifts. I have been driving the new Corolla and I really like it. It is roomy and smooth. He really likes it. It blends in with the crowd, nothing too flashy, just his style. Sweet boy.

Panthers Lose...whaaa!

The boys were bummed that the Panthers lost. Oh well, maybe next year they'll make it to the Super Bowl again. Today I see the reflexologist so it will be a slow day, but tomorrow I'm supposed to do some Christmas shopping with my friend Stacy. It's about time I got out and about. I am definitely not a fan of the Black Friday shopping. I still think I'm a hermit at heart. However, the weather here has been so near perfect that I can't stay in for long. Hope all is well in all your worlds. God Bless.

Panthers Win!

Yeah! The Panthers won and Tim and Davis were there to see it. They played the Rams which is the team Denzel Washington's son is on. So cool! When the Panthers win you can count on Tim & Davis being in a great mood, and they were. They had some fellow football fans take this photo. They had great seats to boot. What a great Sunday. They also went to early service and got some good preaching in as well. Good times, good times.

Almost Thanksgiving

Here we are, a few days from Thanksgiving and my house is a big ol mess! I am trying to get organized...but I fail miserably. We had a busy weekend, Jen was in the Concord Christmas Parade representing Mount Pleasant as Miss Mt. Pleasant High School and she rode atop my Mini Cooper with Daddy driving. It was fun and we got to catch up with so many old friends from our years of living in the big city of Concord. Now that we are in the county, we seem to have lost touch. It was a long day, and besides Jen's crown not wanting to stay on (She finally had to slide it onto the Mini's antennae) and the fact that my pictures turned out blurry for some reason, the parade was so very nice. However, our ride home was not so nice. I had Jen, Dave, and Mike with me in the Avalanche and as I was just cruising through a very, very green light ( I have two witnesses) an older man pulled across my path. I slammed on the brakes with both feet and I missed his jeep, but he was pulling a trailer with a four wheeler on it and we hit that. As you can see from the photos, it messed the truck up pretty bad. No one was hurt, thank God, and we had to wait and hour and a half for the police to finally get to us but all is well now, except for my jangled nerves, and stiff legs from the force of pushing so hard on the brakes, but I guess I'm okay. All the way home last night I was on edge, expecting cars to jump out at me at any moment. Yikes! I hate having a wreck! It turns out, the man who pulled in front of me lives very close by. Small world. Well, that's all for today. Hope all is well with everyone out there!

Autumn...My Favorite Time of Year, at least til Spring!

So much time has passed since the last entry. How sad that I can't keep up with it any better than this. On the other hand, nice to be so busy I guess.

Where to begin....School has started of course, and we are seeing the final public school year of our dear daughter. She is facing this whole big wide world and it is scary. We are not sure where she is going to college, though chances are it will be very close by. She isn't ready to fly the coop for too far away.

Dear Son #1 is a sophomore and is anticipating getting his liscence in the spring. He's in no hurry. I don't blame him. If I had had a sister to drive me around everywhere I never would have gotten mine. LOL.

Dear Son #2 is in 4th grade and has lots of homework. We literally have to stand over him to make him get it done. Not at all a self motivator. What happened with that one? He actually does very well on tests though, so he retains what he hears, he's just not into the nuts and bolts of it all.

And then there is DS#3. Kindergarten is awesome! That is what he says when you ask him. He has two teachers who share one position. One of them is just precious. The other, not into warm fuzzies. I think she would make a better 5th grade teacher, but I suppose it is a good balance as he must wean away from the warm fuzzy types after the loving preschool he had.

We made our annual fall trip to Blowing Rock and it was beautiful. It was rainy our first day there but gorgeous leaf viewing occurred after that. DD walked the campus at Appalachian State just to get a feel for it. She may apply. Who knows?

Two October birthdays were celebrated, one turned 16 the other 6. What a range of ages we have. It makes for some wild times, some fun times and some stressful times. I guess that is what makes the family machine roll along. Until next time...

so far i've failed miserabley

I was hoping to be a better eblogger blogger but so far...not so good. But I will press forward. So much is happening here in the fall. Hard to slow down and catch my breath. Maybe I can show with pictures rather than so many words what we've been up to. Here goes....first of all....we have discovered how tasty Sushi is. We have discovered a cool sushi bar with a revloving bar. Too cool. They also serve delish Japanese food as well. Yum!

Welcome to my new Blog!

I thought I'd give blogger a try. I have one on another server which is really the only thing that keeps me with them. I am hoping that this one works out and I can have free access from now on!

Charleston-Faith Hill and Tim McGraw

Guess where I got to go? Charleston to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill! My dear friend, Deb, was given that as a gift for Mother's Day and she asked me to go with her! We had so much fun! I didn't realize how much I enjoyed Faith and Tim. LOL! We ate well and managed to squeeze a little shopping in as well. Back to normal life. I knitted a coffee cup dishcloth on the drive home. That is about all the knitting I have time for now a days. Kids are out of school and the busy-ness of summer is at hand!!

Prom

Another Prom has come and gone. Oh the drama! I hope boy proms are easier than being on the girl's side. Anyway, Jen looked so pretty and seemed to have fun, regardless of the drama. Here she is with Mayra, her friend through thick and thin. Also, note the tractor in the background of the last picture, typical Mount Pleasant. Ha!

Great Grayson Week

Yesterday Michael and I spent some time at Deb and Grayson's house. Deb and I had reflexology appointments and Michael entertained us while I held and fed Baby Grayson. Ooooooh...we just love him. He is the sweetest. He really is a very happy child. I also had the opportunity to babysit him on Weds. It was a great Grayson week!

I took some photos earlier in the week of our mini magnolia tree and the labs playing around outside. Check em out.

Pouty Michael

Michael had a bad day at school this day and refused to smile for the photographer. He can't even remember why he was so upset. The teachers say it was because he wanted to sit on the purple piece of carpet for story time and he didn't get to. This is unusual as he is normally cheerful and compliant. I think he still looks sweet though. The picture makes me want to tickle him and make him laugh.

Spring Weather

Despite the fact that we are 8 days away from Spring it sure feels like it's here now. We went to a local park for tennnis lessons for John and playtime for Michael. The kids even got to swim. It is going to get cooler later this week but hopefully only for a short time. Sunday morning we got up and saw a bunch of spooky fog hovering over us. I got a couple of good pictures of it. Michael has a fever today, so no school. I'm at home all day, probably tackling laundry for most of it. Well, gotta run do many things. Until next time.....

March Roars In....

Another month has flown by. At this rate, Jenileigh will be off to college before we know it. It is a beautiful, sunny day but windy and chilly. Tim and I had a nice overnight date night last night and we had a yummy dinner at Adam's. Wow! We rarely eat steak but last night we indulged. Then this morning we had breakfast in the room. I forgot to take pix of the breakfast but I saved the roses that were on the table. Notice we had four roses...one per child. Cool, huh? Tim and I feel like we had a mini vacation. So nice. Looking foward to the next one. :)

Super Grayson

Hello all. February is upon us and only now has NC decided to get cold. I had just about decided I wouldn't get to wear heavy sweaters anymore this winter. Many of our plants and trees had begun to bud and wham! a blast of cold. Who knows what our yard will look like come spring/summer.

We had the Benjamins over to watch the Super Bowl and eat Taco Soup. Grayson was adorable as always. He watched the kids play and Tim wrestle with the boys on the floor. I think he couldn't wait to join them. What a sweetie pie. We had not gotten together with them for Tim's and my birthday yet so they even brought a birthday cake. Yum!

Here at the end of January...

Today is the last day of January.

Jen turned 17 yesterday.

I cannot believe it. She suddenly seems so grown up. Unreal.

We have had a busy January. It was hard to get back into the routine of school after winter break but it wasn't long before the new semester was upon us and report cards came home. Everyone did well, some struggled here and there but for the most part we were pleased. Jen took the SAT this past Sat. It will be a while before we get results. Davis is playing basketball and swim team just ended. Jen goes to states this weekend so she still has swim practice after school. John is enjoying cub scouts on Wednesdays. When he and Michael aren't fighting they generally have fun playing outside as the weather has been so mild this winter. It has been pretty windy though.

Tim has to go back to work today after a four day weekend in which we just did stuff around the house. Yesterday Tim washed all the cars, including my new little min cooper. I love that little car....I could put it in my pocket....and it is great on gas. With Jen driving, I do so much less driving around with all four kids so I could use a smaller car. It's mostly Michael and me in the mini. It is a convertible so I can put the top down, which I've done several days this winter....can't believe it...not a bit of snow. I guess we could still have some, but it seems unlikely.

We watched our Carolina Panthers win win win in the playoffs and then lose the championship game which would have put us in the Super Bowl. Bummer! Tim had blown up our Panther Man and put blue lights in all the outside lights. We were in the spirit! Now we will have to watch the Seahawks vs. the whoevers. I guess we can look forward to the food anyways. I plan to cook Taco Soup and various appetizers. I can always look forward to good eats! :)  By the way, have you heard that someone is trying to patent the sideways smiley? How crazy, we will have to pay to use it? Well, then what about the ? or the ! I think I'll try to patent those....please!

On the knitting front, I've done several scarves this winter as gifts and not taken any pictures. Smart huh? I am working on a Panther's scarf for Tim. I'm pretty happy with it. Since it won't be leaving this house, I should be able to get a photo on here.

Until next time....

New Year New Cold

Today is a bit of a bummer as I have a nasty head cold. I missed out on a concert last night due to feeling so cruddy. Davis stayed home to study but Tim, Jen and Jess went to see Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith. Tim had seen Aerosmith in the 70's and he said they were so much better last night than they were then. Just goes to show you how much getting off drugs can help. (Aerosmith, not Tim he he) They were energetic and they very much enjoyed it. I was all achy and stuffy and felt so yuk I didn't want to drag myself around that new coliseum and sit there and blech. Anyway, sounds like Davy and I missed a good one.

Our Christmas trip to Miss. was nice. It seems so long ago now. I have been knitting a bit but not as much as I'd like to but I never do seem to be able to accomplish much anymore. We are supposed to get some violent storms today. I would imagine so with this crazy nearly 70° temperatures we've been having. Kids are out of school Monday and Tuesday but poor Jen has to have her wisdom teeth out Monday morning. I know she can't be looking forward to that. It is necessary though as her bottom teeth are definitely shifting and messing up her perfect teeth.

Well, I better go eat some chicken soup. I feel so out of sorts as I haven't had a cold in years it seems. Hope all is well with everyone. Unitl next time.....