Sun Fun

It's been a while since I last posted. The motorcycle drama has thankfully died down (at least for now while he saves his money) thanks to the purchase of a wii fit and a very competitive father / son duo. It is considered an early gift in honor of mine and Pete's anniversary coming up next week. Oh, I will most definitely have to post some photographs of my unbalanced guys doing the hula hoop. It is quite comical.

But for now I must share the latest happenings.

It has been a whirlwind of a week. One that included lots of eating out (which contributed to a little set back on the scales this morning), and lots of fun in the sun.

Last Tuesday we visited some friend of ours that live on one of Arkansas' beautiful lakes. We took the boat out and did a little tubing, swimming, and snorkeling.

Although I love water slides and an occasional dip in the pool, I wasn't raised too much around water. We managed to visit the ocean once when I was a kid, and would swim in hotel pools while on family vacations. My dad and brother would go on overnight fishing trips, but my mother has a fear of water so she and I would always find something more exciting to do instead of roughing it with the dudes at the camp.....

like shopping.

hmmmm.....camping, shopping, camping, shopping. There was never really any contest.

In the early years of our marriage, Pete was hard pressed to get me to do anything boat, lake, river or camping related, but hey, I've mellowed with age. I guess I'll try anything once....(well, maybe not anything).

I like it.

I like it a lot...especially the part when we take the boat out in the calm of the evening and just enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of God's creation.

and fish.


haha...yeah, we threw him back.

And the beauty of the sunset. It takes my breath away.

Another day we did one of my favorite things. We floated a river that is also near the lake. It takes us about 4 hours from point A to point B, but I find it very enjoyable and relaxing.....(minus the sunburn).


Friday of last week, Pete and I went to a water park in the big city. Little Ann was with a birthday group and we were invited to tag along. It is something we usually do every year at least once without any kids. I know...it sounds cruel, but I can't seem to get enough of those water slides, and I can really let my hair down and be a kid when I don't have to stress over my kids. I tend to do that, ya know.

I've been in the sun so much recently. I think I'm going to turn into one big freckle.

So tell me...what have you been up to this summer?

Ignorance is Bliss...The Rest of the Story

The movie is called "The Pursuit of Happyness". I haven't seen it in a long time, but if I recall correctly, this man and his son are homeless...sleeping in public restrooms and train stations or wherever else they can find for that matter. He's trying to make ends meet someway, somehow until he makes it big as a stock broker (or something to that affect).

I'm wondering if I somehow got lucky enough (sarcastically spoken) to have slept in the same train station as Will Smith.

You think I'm kidding, don't you.

Upon arriving in the city, we walked around places like this:

We got some of this:

and saw lots of these:

We shopped in some stores such as these:



And although the weather was misty and extremely foggy, we took a ferry boat out to an island to see this:

It was such a breathtaking sight even in the fog. After exiting the subway and coming up right into the middle of Central Park, evening was setting in. Pete wanted me to be able to savor the glitz of Times Square after the sun went down, but Little Ann and I weren't for sure our little feetsy's could take us very much further. It was then that we had the joy of riding in one of these:

all so we could see this:

but as bad as my feet and legs ached from the 100 miles we walked that day, I was happy to be back in Times Square because I got to eat here:

We began to walk the streets in one last attempt at souvenir shopping when we realized it was midnight. I had no idea of the time, but I knew I was feeling every bit of our day settling in my bones. We began our journey back to the train station where we would wait to board a train back to Trenton. This train would, once again, change over to get us back to Philadelphia where our poor little lonely van sat. By the time we finally boarded the first one, it was almost 1 am.

About 15 minutes into our trip back, there were signal problems so we sat idle for another solid hour. I tried to sleep, but there were numerous passengers on the train, and one man sitting close by that was not very happy about the delay and made sure everyone knew it.

Around 3 am, we arrived back in Trenton, NJ, where we were supposed to switch. As soon as we got there, we hurriedly located the little tv screen that told us of all the times for the train's arrivals and departures. I could feel the tears well up in my own tired eyes as I was consoling Little Ann. The train we would need to be on to get us back to Philly would not be leaving until 6 am.

Not good.

And so I rolled up the souvenir tee shirts into pillows, made a make shift bed while Little Ann opened an umbrella to block the light from our eyes...

and slept.

in the train station.

while Pete stood guard.

for hours.

And the moral of the story is.....

If you're from the South and you know nothing about trains...or train stations....or anything else about the city you should probably either do your research or stay home.

Because I'll be the first to tell you, when your stuck in a train station in the middle of the night, you're anything but happy.

Last But NOT Least - Proud Moments Part IV

Wow. This post was originally planned for Friday, but as you can see, it didn't happen. My Friday was filled with an end of the year awards assembly for Little Ann, the first day of my weekend yard sale with friends, and a high school graduation in the big city for another graduate on Pete's side of our family. It was a late night. Saturday was more of the same, and Sunday...well, Sunday brought rain and who can resist a nap on a rainy Sunday? And today, I know it's Memorial Day. I pay my tribute to our soldiers...past and present.

And so now, here is my post.

Even though I'm a little behind schedule, I don't want to make light of this proud moment by any means. It is probably one of the proudest moments I have ever experienced aside from the day my Big Dan was born. It's been a little over a week since this special day, but the memory is still so fresh and lingers in my mind as I attempt to adjust to the fact that my little boy is not so little anymore.

He graduated.

My heart was just overflowing with all kinds of emotions the moment he put on this attire. I can't even explain it. I wanted to cry, but I held back tears. Mainly because I had so many people already at my house and it was hectic trying to snap photographs and get there early enough to get good seats. I couldn't grasp the moment then like I had done the night before. I sat for hours watching a slide show of my favorite photographs from days gone by. I watched it a hundred times, and I admit...I sat there feeling sorry for myself for some time, but I needed it. I was able to get most of my emotion under control before the actual ceremony.

What can I say? I love this boy so much. And I am so proud of him for what he is and more importantly what he is to become.


We had a wonderful celebration with family and friends at our home afterwards. It was a night I will always remember. I am so proud.

Prayer Warriors...We Need You!

I lost both set of my grandparents early in age. My mom's parents passed away when I was 8 and 16, but I managed to keep my dad's around for a little longer. My paternal grandmother died from lymphoma 2 weeks before Big Dan was born. It was an extremely hard time and my grandfather died from complications from a surgical procedure just 8 months later. I was 20. I miss them, but I know I will see them again one day. All 4 of them.

But Pete....he's been so blessed to have both of his grandmothers around for such a long time. Although he lost his maternal grandmother 2 years ago, it's been hard to keep the other one down. She is 88 and has hung with the best of them....until now. She fell off a ladder back around Christmas and has since been in and out of the hospital having 2 back surgeries giving her no relief. It seems that the pain is too much for her to bear, yet the medication makes her too ill for an appetite. She has just given up. Hospice is taking over tomorrow. My prayer is that God will either use His Almighty power to heal her, or He will scoop her up in His loving arms and bring her home. Her 70 pound body is absolutely pitiful and I can't stand to see and hear of any more suffering.

Please remember her when you pray.

Bummer

If I were on top of things, I would've known that today called for 90% chance of rain and storms. Then I would've been able to prepare myself physically and mentally for a state tournament game that might be a little wet or not happen at all. Fortunately I have a husband that is pretty keen on things like that. He's always prepared for everything....nothing gets by him. Unfortunately, he was on a trip and I didn't get the memo.

I took my Little Ann to a play date and headed towards town where the game would be played. As I meandered out, I noticed the day did seem a little dreary. As I headed toward town, the sprinkles began to fall. The closer I got, the harder it came down. Just as I was inside the city limits, my mother called to tell me there were tornado warnings for the county that I lived in and also the one I was in. Great..

Then I heard them....something that we have never been fortunate enough to have in our little po dunk town.....tornado sirens. I've never heard them before and I panicked. As I pulled into the parking lot of the field I saw people, heads covered, running to their vehicles, but I needed Big Dan. I needed him with me, but I couldn't find him. No answer on the cell. I called the girlfriend. No answer. I called again and again. No answer. It was chaos in the street and I kept driving around looking and looking...no kids. Pete was still on a train, but told me I should find shelter under the nearest bank awning. I I just wanted to get home.

Finally I heard from Big Dan. He and the girlfriend were laughing at the distressed look on my face as I frantically searched through faces to find them...when all along they were right beside me. Big Dan says they were standing right near my van. I never saw them, but I did realize I was going the wrong way down the street so I sped off to turn around and get out of the way of oncoming traffic. I guess that's when they gave up on me letting them in and headed on to get in the girlfriends vehicle. What can I say. Storms cause me to lose my mind.

I drove like a crazy lady all the way home with my husband, my mother and my friend who had Little Ann (all taking cover in their bathtub) keeping me updated on weather conditions. I got home to a dark, empty house that remained that way for two hours.

I admit it...I am a big chicken. I hate storms....especially the ones that generate tornadoes. I am so relieved the worst is over, the power is back on, Pete is on his way home with supper, and Little Ann is safe and sound with mama.. I guess Big Dan will be home at curfew, but at least I know he's safe.

It's been an exciting day (if you can call it that), but I'm totally bummed out we didn't get to play ball today. We won last night in the first round of the state playoffs so we've got 2 more rounds to go before the championship game this weekend. Hope we get to make it up soon! Rain, rain....Go away!

Some Mid Week "Things"...

There's been lots going on in the house of Scrapper Mom recently. Lots of things requiring my computer scrap savvy brain...such as it is. Starting over the weekend, this is what I'm talking about:

- One book report over "The Long Winter". Ready for Little Ann to audition for her part in the Accelerated Reading pageant on the 30th. We're talking 3-4 minutes that had to be memorized. Not even notecards....and complete with costume. CHECK.

She did this on Monday and I must brag. She was the only one in the class that made a perfect score and was first pick for the pageant!!

- Next up for Little Ann was the power point she had to put together for yesterday's 4-H presentation. Community Service is a good thing. CHECK.

- I've been scrap happy for the past few days because Big Dan's last 5 spreads for his Senior Scrapbook are due tomorrow. This time he had to design a cover and back for the binder. The essay was on his best childhood memory which of course would be the 500 years he's played baseball. We..correction..I spent hours sorting through old baseball pics for the accompanying collage. CHECK.

- District Tournament started this past week. All pushed back a day because of rain. I drove 5 hours yesterday (round trip) for the game which we won. We play again tonight for the Championship. And I suppose I'll be driving to watch again.

- Pete's job did change a little. Not too detrimental at the moment. As a railroader, there is so much strange lingo that it took me years to learn to comprehend. All I can say right now is he got "bumped" off the "extra board" and is now working a "regular job" which gives him pretty standard off days instead of a few hours off between trips. There. Did you get all that? I said all that to say that he has been a little stir crazy with the warm weather and off days. So much that he and Little Ann began "PROJECT TREE HOUSE". I think it's supposed to resemble "American Girl..Kit's". The first day they worked on it brought a little tumble backwards into the mud in which he thought he broke his ankle. Now Little Ann is stressed that her clumsy daddy is going to really hurt himself during this endeavor and she wants him to stop. Aw...now that's sweet. How is it that some of us get so much clumsier with age? (Love ya honey).

- The Seniors have 10 more days of school. I have hung in there. No tears yet (well, recent ones), but I know they're a comin'!! As soon as this tournament is over we are going to have to squeeze graduation invitations in somewhere between Regional and State...and I'm trying to plan the "after party".

No doubt it's been and will be a wild ride around here for a little while. Say a little prayer for us....(and my dad who is having a skin cancer removed today and sent off for biopsy).

Happy Hump Day, my friends!

A Spring Break Post (in Pictures)

and maybe just a little writing...(just because I like to talk so much).

MONDAY:

Yeah, I guess it wasn't hard to figure out that we spent the entire day on Monday shopping and eating. Not a bad deal.

TUESDAY:



It took me the entire week to do all the laundry, but you can stick a fork in me...cause I'm DONE!

WEDNESDAY:






THURSDAY:


This shot doesn't reflect the "before", but notice the neatly labeled bags and tub...winter clothes, summer clothes. You know the drill...we do this twice a year, but we didn't work hard all day long. Our evening was full of pampering.....






FRIDAY:


I've tried not to talk too much, but I've just got to share captions for these next few pictures from tonight...

My handsome 1st baseman...

snagging that ball hit right to him.....He's OUT!!!


Runner headed to 2nd base....hmmmm...my handsome 1st baseman throws it to 2nd baseman..


And he's OUT!!! And yes, that would mean my handsome 1st baseman got a DOUBLE PLAY!! Go Big Dan!


All kids gone can only mean one thing. Hubby and I get a night to ourselves. Yum. I ate so much I felt like such a sinner. (You know...the gluttony thing. lol)

Hope everyone had a wonderful week...Back to work on Monday.