Nurses and life

Amy and Will are good nurses for Katie. They fetch whatever she needs: pillows, tylenol, iced tea or whatever. Amy follows her back and forth to the "indoor plumbing room". They are happy to give up piano or guitar practice so that they don't disturb her (ok, it probably wouldn't bother her but they did it anyway). Will is helping Amy and I clean the kitchen after dinner everyday. they are really stepping up to the plate and being helpers for Greg and I.

We are continuing school to keep up with our routine. However, I have noticed my oldest pupil sleeping through some of her classes. She is so far ahead in school that a few naps won't hurt and she did just have surgery 5 days ago. Its pretty funny to walk in and see her flaked out. Hershey loves having a sofa mate all the time.

Greg put a ceiling fan up in the "sewing room" which is Katie's temp bedroom. We have been wanting one for a couple of years and this was the perfect time. He also put up a new shower head in our bathroom with a hand held attachment. These things are great for Katie and we all get to enjoy them too!'

Tomorrow we are going to debate class. Her topic is "are inflatables dangerous?". Great topic and very timely. She and I came up with it sitting in the hospital. Yesterday, we had fun with the pros and cons. On Thursday, we have another dr.s appt. Time to clean the leg again. Friday is the last science class for all 3 kiddies. So it will be a busy couple of days.

Totally different subject.....Greg got us pool chemicals and now its not green anymore. Yeah!!! It looks pretty good. We are ready for homeschool PE class. And just lazying around and having races....they will probably all beat me this year. But a mama's gotta try.

Another version of "The Story"

OK, my mom knows the REAL story. Never mind that she was 400 miles away, she is a granny and she knows.....

Katie was ballet dancing and a jealous Tonya Harding took out her ankle with a hockey stick. Tonya took up ballet when she was thrown out of ice skating.

Mom doesn't believe that Juan Valdez came into the house because Hershey would have killed him...ok, maybe not killed but barked herself hoarse and nipped at his ankles.

We decided to get out of the house and go eat lunch at our favorite Mexican Rest. today. The lunch was awesome. Katie got in the place ok and enjoyed lunch. Amy and Will got to the car and opened the doors for us. I closely followed Katie out to the car. We don't know what happened but when she got to the car, she lost her balance, we both screamed and I managed to keep her from hitting the ground. Greg was paying and heard us scream and ran out the door (dropping his wallet), and we got her in the car. Neither of us has a clue what happened, we were right at the open door. I guess she just twisted and lost her balance. and yes, he did get his wallet back.

The excitement in the parking lot convinced her to go home and take a pain pill. Learning how to drive a motorized wheel chair at Kroger will wait for another day!

BEFORE and AFTER (the real story!)

Yea, we are having 5 minutes of fun now!!!

That wasn't the real story!

Here's what really happened:

Juan Valdez, the leader of the Columbian Coffee Cartel ambushed Katie and kidnapped her for using Community Coffee. As he was speeding away with the coffee and Katie, she reached into the front seat of the Ford SUV and grabbed the steering wheel away from the coffee henchmen and caused the vehicle to rotate and spin in a tremendous crash up over the guardrail and down the side of the interstate. As the SUV came to a halt on its side, Katie began smelling gas, the car kind, not the pull my finger kind. She knew she had to extract herself quickly, but her ankle had caught in the car seat strap. (Juan may be the unscrupulous leader of an international coffee cartel, but he still has to take the kids to daycare!). Anyway, in her effort to get away from the dripping gasoline and the crumbled SUV, she realized her ankle had broken in the SUV crash and rollover. Unfortunately for Juan, he did not survive the crash and abduction.

Trimalleoler Fracture (Mandatdonlukgood)

This is a picture of the big scar in the making. The other side of Katie's leg looks like this, only half as long. The Doctor's name for the fracture is Trimalleoler. The latin is mandatdonlukgood.

It is also known as a Harvey Fracture. Katie was well taken care of at the doctor's and surgeons. Now we just wait for her to heal. I know our regular readers (all 4 of you) have already heard what happened. Let me tell you the real story.

It started last Thursday as I was out of town. You may not know that I've started drinking coffee for breakfast. My sister swears it gets her thru the day without having to hit the rum, so I thought I would give it a try. We picked Community Coffee with Chickory, the New Orleans Blend. That was the start of Katie's troubles. She was preparing the coffee in the maker on Thursday so I could have it ready the next time I wanted some. As she was counting the tablespoons of the New Orleans blend a treible crash starteled her. It was Juan Valdez breaking in thru the garage. He snatched the coffee from her. In his effort to get away, he didn't notice that Katie's shoe string got snared in his lead for the donkey. Well what a sight they must have made gallopping on a donkey down Thorngate with stolen coffee and Katie hopping behind trying to free herself. Well, they made it to the stop sign, and the donkey lurched to a halt. (it was a God fearing legalistic donkey. Juan could have learned a thing or two from his donkey). Anyway, Katie gave one last tremendous thrust pirroette (ballet move) and kicked Juan in the back of the head and killed him deader than Memphis' chances to win a national championship. Unfortunately, she sustained a trimalleoler fracture in her effort to escape the clutches of Juan Valdez and his legalistic donkey. The good news is she was able to rescue my coffee. The bad news is Juan's wife, Juanitta is sueing Katie for causing the death of her husband.

Field Trip & Dr. Diagnosis

Our field trip on Thursday was to a place called "Pump It Up". Basically it is a huge building filled with lots of inflatables. We all met at 9 to go in together (to get the discount). I took 3 pictures of the kids going down the giant slide. As I was taking the 4th picture of some friends...Amy came to get me and tell me Katie had been hurt. She jumped down in an inflatable and her right foot gave way under her. In Katie's own words....hit hurts, and I heard it snap. OK, I am not a doctor but I could diagnose this. And her ankle was swelling alot by then. One of the moms with our group was a nurse and she said get her to the doctor. Within 5 minutes, we were headed out the door with lots of help. And lots of pictures (we suspect this will end up in the yearbook). Amy and Will stayed to play with their friends and another mom brought them home.

Greg was about an hour away at a management training seminar for the state and we couldn't get him on the phone. As I was going to our dr.'s office, Katie texted him from my phone. We got to the dr. (Praise the Lord for good friends that are also your family dr.), I went in the back door to hunt for one of my favorite nurses to help me get Katie in. We got her to the room and the dr.'s first words out of his mouth were "this does not look good". Well, ok maybe I could be a dr. I figured that out. My other favorite nurse came to get her for x-rays. We got her there on a rolling office chair. The x-rays showed 3 or 4 breaks. The small bone that runs between her knee and ankle is broken in 2 places. The impact also broke the edge of the growth plate off the other side of the ankle. The dr. sent us to an orthopedic surgeon right away. As we were driving there, Greg called. He had not gotten the text. I told him everything that was going on and he decided to leave the seminar and drive home (yeah, Daddy!). The surgeon decided to take care of this asap. So our next stop was the hospital.

Greg got there in time to go through admissions with us and wait for the surgery. They did not find anything new when they did more x-rays or the surgery. They put 4 screws and a plate on her ankle to help with the healing. We got her back in the room about 2 hours after she left us. She did great with the hospital recovery and drank a coke and then later ate some Teddy Grahams. So she was really glad to get the IV out of her hand.

When we got home, dinner was waiting on us. Thanks to one of the homeschool moms in our group (she was the nurse that told me to get Katie to the dr.). She cooked lots of food which fed the 5 of us plus Allen, James and Andy. Amy and Will got the sewing stuff put up and then the big boys moved a bed downstairs for Katie. She cannot put any weight on her foot for the next 6 weeks. Then she will have physical therapy. It is a plus that she is a dancer (ballet) and it will be a form of therapy for her. However, I am not thinking she will be able to be in the recital in 10 or so weeks. Our family doctor said it was the worst break he has seen in his office. The surgeon said this is extremely unusual in someone her age. He also said she has very good muscle tone and strong bones. All of the staff were very nice and explained everything to us and to Katie before they did anything.

Side note: when we got to the hospital there was a little, elderly lady sitting in a wheel chair close to Katie. She kept trying to get Katies attention (she could not speak coherently). Finally the little lady lifted her hands toward heaven and closed her eyes. We are sure she was praying for Katie. I had been getting many phone calls from the homeschool group and Greg and when I could I went over to the little lady. I never could figure out what she said but I told her Katie was 16 and fell and broke her ankle. Then they came and took us to admissions.

In the midst of all this, the roofer called checking to see if the ins. had sent us the rest of the roof payment. I told him what was going on and that I would call him tomorrow. He is coming in a few minutes and asked if he could pray for Katie when he got here.

How awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is on many prayer lists in several states and we are so thankful for our Christian friends!

Laundry Soap

We made our first batch of laundry soap on Feb. 3 and we ran out today (March 25). We have done 136 loads of laundry (probably a few more than that, the boys weren't as diligent as marking the sheet). So that mean is cost us..................drumroll........................ .0057 cents per load to wash clothes. Thats 1/2 of a penny. Really cheap and it cleaned the clothes well too!!!!!

Actually, given the change I collected after Waiter Boy did his laundry. It cost us nothing per load except for the water.

I found a homemade fabric softener also that we have been using. Its not as cheap per load but its about 1/4 of the price of the cheapest, on sale, with coupons Downey that I have ever bought.

The Fed Ex man delivered my new clothesline yesterday. So once the pollen and the rain are over, we will be regularly hanging our clothes up outside. It really helps keep the heat down in the house in the Miss. summer not to run the clothes dryer all day.

Lots of things I would rather spend money on....we need to buy pool chemicals...don't know any homemade recipes for that item.

Christmas

See the side bar...275 days till Christmas...are you ready? Do you know who you need to buy or make gifts for? Do you have a budget or a Christmas Savings Plan? Do you already have any gifts purchased for Christmas 2009? If so, don't forget where you stash your gifts.

We shop all year long. We have purchased gifts for 5 nephews and 2 neices (and I know where they are). We know what we are doing for all the grandparents and aunts and uncles.

I don't have a clue what I am doing for Greg. And we have no idea what we are doing for our 7 blessings. We will have to wait on the kids till closer to the season...they have been known to change their minds. Katie and Amy always want a bag full of girlie stuff: nail polish, bubble bath, scented bath gel and lotion, cutesy pens and pencils, note pads, etc. So I look for these all year long.

I have also figured out what I am giving my neices and nephews for their birthdays for the rest of the year.

Have you panicked yet? You really don't need to. I usually plan for the next Christmas on Dec. 26, but thats just me. I don't like leaving things till the last minute. And I would much rather spend December decorating gingerbread houses or watching Christmas videos with my kids than shopping and standing in line for the month. Not to mention being involved with our church's Christmas program.

I love the holidays and everything about them...music, decorations, lights, cards, food, movies, and my snowman sweaters! And all our children are here to visit.

Our Weekend

Oh my! We had a very busy weekend! Saturday morning started out at Chick Fil A - chicken biscuits, hash browns and sweet tea! So yummy! Then we hit Lowe's. Well, I guess we didn't really hit it...we pulled our van into the parking lot, parked in a space and then walked into the garden department. Whoo Hoo, spring is here. There were sooooo many flowers and trees and stuff to look at. Katie and Amy picked out peach trees and we are going to go back and get a couple and see how they do. I picked out some Leeland Cypress trees to plant on the street side of our backyard fence, to block more of the pool view from the street. We will be purchasing these in the next month. We bought some paving cement blocks to build a driveway in our side yard for the RV. And we bought some mulch for the corner flower bed by the street.

Greg, Will, and James started working on the paving stones. I got busy on the weeding the flower bed (more weeds than flowers when I started). Katie and Amy worked on 2 other flower beds. The boys had to make another run to Lowe's to buy the rest of the blocks and more mulch. They dug blocks of sod up to place the blocks in the yard. The sod blocks went to bald spots in the yard.

By the end of Saturday (actually the end of our energy), the corner flower bed was completely weeded. I layed newspaper down before we put the mulch out, hopefully this will cut down on some of the weeds. The girls helped alot with this. My bender-overer (back and legs) decided I had done enough. I scooped mulch into their buckets and they spread it for me. We still ran out of mulch, but what is done looks great!

Sunday, we were bums and skipped church. We called in all the troops (James, Allen and Andy) to help with the rest of the paving blocks. Greg got the yard cut and I weed whacked. It looks so good. Now the neighbors can't give directions to their house by saying, turn at the corner by the house with the weed in the yard!!!!!!

The pool is full of little pollen pod thingies that have fallen from the trees. So, we have got to get it cleaned up. I've swept it a couple of times but it is time for some chemical intervention. water is really not supposed to be that color.

To completely change the subject...
I got an invitation to join AARP today. It quite distresses me to know that in 6 months, I am eligible to join. Donna, you are going to turn 50 this year, what are you going to do next....I am going to Disney World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About 16 days after my birthday. Mom is going to be 70 in a couple of weeks and she is going to Disney with us. We are celebrating at the "Happiest Place on Earth". Maybe we will find her a King Charming. I've already got my Prince!

What a week!

Ever had one of those weeks. You know, when Friday gets finished about all you have strength left to do is blend your favorite adult beverage and collapse on the sofa. Monday was the day we found an error in our computer programming that worked out fine, but could have just as easily worked out with several of us looking for new income opportunities. Tuesday, while completely minding my own business some #@$%&* jerk couldn't understand that you stay in line on the interstate when you are merging with oncoming traffic, you don't pass then get pissed when the safe driver doesn't get out of your way. She didn't know how to drive, but she did know how to complain to my boss. (The dangers of putting your business on the side of your truck!) I suppose the real blessing is that I just shook my head at her and said bless her heart instead of using one of the few sign language symbols that I know. Wednesday and Thursday were used up sitting in a conference gaining vast sums of somewhat useless knowledge, but hey, I did make it to 100% of the event. The hardest part was walking by the brownies with chocolate icing during the breaks because I am sticking to my portion control life change. The worst part was I saved room for a small brownie on the last day and wouldn't you know it, they showed up with fresh cut veggies and lite ranch. ARGH! Now Friday has arrived. It started with a visit to the Doc and a scheduled MRI for next week. I am afraid my career opportunities in Major League Baseball are almost finished. It only hurts when I move my arm.

Here's hoping your week was better! and to the lady in the little brown car, you can kiss my .......

IRS

I read this letter to IRS this morning. Think it'll work for this guy? What a great imagination!!!


Dear IRS,

I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost. I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing licence tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle licence registration tax, capital gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't recall but I have run out of space and money. When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest. P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Ed Barnett
Wichita Falls

Getting a New Roof

We now have a new roof. It is completely done. Hershey (our vicious guard dog) can now rest easy. She has been in a panic for days. People in and out of the yard and shingles flying off the roof. When we took her out on the leash she had 2 choices... 1. bark and act tough for the workmen 2. go to the bathroom and then bark and act tough. Potty usually won.

When the workers were on the back side of the house, they tossed the shingles over the side. Unfortunately, they tossed them onto my clothes line which is now mangled and un-useable. So, the roofing company is buying me a new clothes line. I am very thankful that no shingles landed on my blueberry bushes. When they were starting to work on the cabana roof, I went out and talked to the foreman and showed them where to toss the shingles. And they listened!

I am very thankful that it is finished. Greg missed the whole thing. He will be back tomorrow night.

The kids went to a "Hunters Safety Course" at the County Extension Office. The class lasted from 8am - 4:30pm. They all passed and will get the safety card. Which means Will can now do the Archery for 4H and compete when he is ready. Katie and Amy went along for the ride and they are certified too. None of us hunt but we do have some guns so the safety class was a good thing...and it was free (gotta love that).

When I picked them up, I got to talk to the Home Economist for the county and reminded her that I wanted to know about the next food preservation classes. I have been telling her since Sept. that I wanted to do this. Just so happens, she planned classes and set dates last week and we are signed up now. Amy, Katie and I are going to learn how to make jelly, can food and freeze food. We will have a class each month...April, May and June. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are limiting the class to 8 people and we are #'s 4, 5, and 6. Good thing I remembered to bug her, I mean ask again! Now, if the weather will just even out so we can plant the garden.

Tomorrow morning we are going to enjoy the peace and quiet with no roofers banging overhead. After lunch we are hitting the stores again. Borders is having a Teacher Appreciation Sale and giving a good discount. We love books and are excited about going to check out everything.

Greg will be home tomorrow night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granny

Granny is here...let the spoiling begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom got here yesterday afternoon for a "spring break" visit with us. Greg had to go to Atlanta for some work meetings, so she is here to keep us company and help us get into trouble while he is gone. We spent the day going to Belks, Penneys, Shoe store, Hobby Lobby, and Target. She bought the kiddos clothes for their birthdays (yeah for Grannies). Katie and Amy look gorgeous in their new dresses (and way too grown up). There are lots of cute dresses in the stores and they had fun trying on different stuff. Katie tried on one dress that was black (think cocktail type dress) and she was so beautiful in it but this was definately not a church dress...its still at Penneys. Amy's first dress she tried on was the one we bought. I am really having a hard time with my almost 13 year old looking so old. Will got some new shorts and new swim trunks (both of which he really needed). Having 4 older brothers, he is blessed with lots of hand me downs but now he is taller than 2 of them so that doesn't work real well. He has handed down some of his clothes and loves to say "oh, that was mine, but now its too short for me"!!!!!!

Hobby Lobby was fun. We all had 40% off coupons so everyone picked out their item and we all got in different lines. I bought my neice a Christmas gift to add to my stash. Now, I have to remember to write down what I bought and remember where I put it!!!! We are trying to spread out our gift buying since we have 7 kids and 7 neices and nephews to buy for. Then onto Target for some dull stuff like wipes and scotch guard.

Afterwards, we went to Cheddars and ate dinner. Allen (#4 son) was our waiter. The food is so yummy and the portions are huge (Amy and Granny shared a dinner and Katie and I shared a dinner). Andy and James came after work and met us for dinner.

Then onto the homeschool Mom's meeting for me tonight. The kids babysat for Granny to keep her out of trouble. Its a hard job but somebody has got to do it!

Oh, this morning we were jolted awake by the sound of footsteps on our roof...we are getting a new roof. It is hard to sleep while folks are banging around over your head. Praise the Lord, that our homeowners cov. is paying for the roof (we have hail damage from all the heavy wind and tornados in the area in the last year.)

So we ran away from home and found excuses to be gone all day. Don't know where we are going tomorrow but we will come up with something!

Goodnight all!

Free Tomato Seeds

Go to "www.helpgrowyourownsoup.com" and click on the red barn. This is a Campbells Soup website, you can click on the spade to donate seeds to FFA and then request a pack for seeds for your own home...all for free! There is a limit of one seed pack per household. You can go back everyday and click on the spade for the donation seeds.

I have never grown tomato plants from a seed, but for FREE I am willing to try.

Schooling your Children

This week Greg and I were listening to "talk radio". This radio station was interviewing the State School Superintendent. This man is the highest paid school super. in the country. Our state is ranked 49th for reading and math literacy for elementary grades and ranked 50th for reading and math literacy for 8th grade. Now remember, he is paid the most and the state is ranked at the bottom of the ladder. The interview was about accepting "stimulus package money" for Charter Schools. The super. has said that he hasn't seen any reports that charter schools work so he is not interested in them. Could a charter school be any worse than the 49th or 50th ranking...could we get any worse? OK, I guess we could be 50th for both. Then he went on to say that "he would be for anything that worked" (direct quote). Yeah, right, uh huh!

As parents in the United States, we have the right to educate our children however we choose. We can send them to public schools and there are some great teachers in the school system. I think the kids that do the best in the public schools are the average to above average learners. they fit in and go with the flow. We can send them to a private school, many advantages here...smaller classes, not as many politics as public school, and depending on the school-a Christian based education. Charter schools-I don't know alot about this, but from the interview I think this would be under the same policies and rules as the public school, but there must be some advantage to a charter school. Or Homeschool-every advantage here. No one will love, care for your children like you will. Parents have a very vested interest in their own children succeeding and learning.

I truly believe that it is up to each parent to decide what is best for their own children. I am very thankful that we live in a country where we have these choices available. What is best for my family, may not be best for your family. And your choice, may not be best for my family. There are pluses and minuses for each of the diffent schooling opportunities.

Battleship Park in Mobile

This was a fun outing. When we arrived and saw the school buses full of kids we were just a bit worried. It is definately no fun "touring" with unruly children, but we managed to avoid them. We did the battleship first, when we saw they were starting with the submarine (yeah). It was cool to wander all over this ship and explore. Thanks to a helpful worker who was cleaning on the ship, we found out how to climb up under and into one of the big guns on the deck....this was great. All 5 of us climbed up in the "control room" behind the big guns to look at the instruments, sit in the firing seats, and imagine the tremendous noise they must have experienced when the guns fired. (see the picture to the left of the 3 guns) We climbed and climbed many stairs to the different levels of the decks....narrow, shallow, steep stairs. And once you get up there...you have to climb back down. Funny, the doorways and stairs don't look that small and steep when you watch NCIS or JAG on tv.

When we saw the school group approaching the battleship, we quickly decided to go to the submarine. Greg opted not to go into the submarine, but the kids and I went anyway. Talk about tiny doorways and getting over the thresholds between each section. I had to have some kid help getting my leg over the threshold a couple of times. My goodness what close quarters, there was definately no place for a sailor to go if he needed to be alone and collect his thoughts. Everthing was compact and close together, you didn't have to worry about packing too much...there is no place to put it. They did try out a bunk and declared they weren't too uncomfortable. I cannot imagine being in the sub and knowing I was fathoms under the sea, especially if someone was firing torpedoes at us and trying to destroy us. Did they "standard issue" valium for these guys?

It was a fun field trip for all of us!

Will's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our youngest son is now 15 years old. Getting to know Will these last 3 1/2 years (since Greg and I have been married) has been so much fun. Will has the biggest brown eyes and incredibly long eyelashes. He has been blessed with a "heart of gold" and the amazing ability to make friends with anyone. In a typical teenage boy fashion, he can out-eat any of us and not gain an ounce. I have been through this phenomenon with James and Allen and it still astounds me. He is still getting taller and taller and has passed James and Andy in height. I think his goal is to pass Allen but he has got a number of inches to go to accomplish that goal. He likes to help in the kitchen and loves to help Dad with anything. He is a wonderful, Christian young man and we are so proud of all that he is!

He started celebrating his birthday on Saturday when Dad took us out to eat a yummy seafood dinner. Monday (his real birthday) started with a yummy egg and bacon breakfast in the RV in Gulf Shores. Then we went to Battleship Park in Mobile to tour the battleship and submarine. Dinner was at home...Dad made chicken and vegie stir fry for us to chow down on. (The kids have told Greg that stir-fry is his "specialty dish", just in case Greg is ever on H's Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey) He wants apple crisp for his birthday dessert and its coming on Sat. when we have a cookout.

Redneck Riviera

Somebody put this anchor in our way!

If my sister can go on a cruise, then I can afford a weekend get away on the Riviera, The Redneck Riviera. We took a trip to LA! Lower Alabama for the uninitiated.

It is the beach within reach. We have always wanted to go to spring break, so here we are. It is Will's birthday weekend. We are celebrating with tours of Fort Morgan, a civil war fort guarding Mobile Bay. We took a long walk on the beach, looking for shells, and trying to avoid the jelly fish washed up on the shore. The waves were kickin' but we were chickin' to get in them cause it is still the first part of March and the water is COLD! We found a good oyster bar for dinner, and now it is back to the RV for a good long rest. Tomorrow is Bellengrath Gardens, and Monday is the USS Alabama.

Happy Birthday Katie Lynn

Happy Birthday Miss Katie Lynn (yeah, I know her middle name is not officially Lynn but she inherited it since its mine and Amy's middle name)

Katie is a very diligent homeschool student. She knows what to do and gets it done...and makes great grades in the process. She loves to cook and be creative in the kitchen. Reading, arts and crafts, and music are among her favorite things. She has beautiful curly hair and big brown eyes. She is a beautiful, Christian young lady and I am proud to call her my daughter.

Check out the pictures. My favorite is the blue tongue picture. She picked out the cupcakes with the tongue=staining icing.

We started out the day with opening some birthday envelopes from parents and grandparents and a cutesy flowered nightshirt from Aunt Brenda. Then we went shopping. New sandals and a new shirt were found. Then on to CiCi's pizza for lunch. Afterwards, we walked around our new JC Penney's that just opened yesterday. Last night was Tossed Salad with Popcorn Chicken and cheddar garlic biscuits (think Red Lobster biscuits). Then more gifts and those yummy cupcakes.

It was very cold here yesterday, with wind and misty nastiness. This morning we woke up and found out is snowed last night. It was just a dusting here but then I talked to my mom this afternoon and she had 2-3 inches on the ground! Where is that pesky groundhog when you want to wring his neck?