Mimi and Poppy had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

We've been in GA, ya know, visiting. During our visit, I wanted for us to all take a trip to Mimi and Poppy's farm house in Adel, GA. So, me, Momma, Jessa, Spencer, Cooper, Dunken, and Max met Mimi and Poppy down there for a few days.

The dogs all loaded up - always ready for a trip!

It is the house where Mimi grew up. It is such an awesome place - full of memories. Lucas and I spent many fun visits down there growing up. And I want my kiddos to have good memories of the farm, too. Sadly, we have not been to visit in a while. For real, look at this picture of Jess and Spence taken on the last trip we took down there:

Easter 2006 - Jessa was 2 1/2 and Spencer was 3 months old!

We had such a great time - catching up with family and just talking about the old days. It is so beautiful there.

The farm house

A family pond - gorgeous!

Although, after we were there for about a day, Spencer came to me. He had a serious look on his face. He said, "Mommy, why doesn't Mimi and Poppy's farm have any animals?" OK, point taken, it is not a working farm anymore. And even when it was, it was about crops, not cows and pigs. They did get to pet and feed the cows at Aunt Leta's house, so I guess they got to do something more "farmish."

We also spent one evening "pin curling" our hair. Momma has always talked about one time when Granny (Mimi's mother) pin curled her hair in the same very house. I decided I wanted us to try it on each other. Mom was not thrilled about this idea, but they all went along with me.

During:

All curled up:

The next morning:

May

Me

Jess looked the best - we looked like we belonged on Coffee Talk.

David was relieved to hear that Spencer's hair was not rolled.

The dogs also had a blast. So many smells and noises that they were interested in.

All these two wanted to do was hang out and take it all in.

I know Max looks confused - he sort of always is, God bless him!

He would go out, do his business, and wait at the door to go back in.

He still does not get the whole being a dog outside thing.

We also got some good front porch time in. Hands down, the BEST thing about Adel is the front porch. Swings, rockers, a dark night, and all of us sitting outside listening to the "night noises."

Lucas and I spent many a summer night swinging on that porch. And it was so awesome for me to get to see my kids swinging in the same swing. It was wonderful!

So our trip was much fun! Jessa said as I was packing for us to head back to Atlanta that she thought we should just stay until we ran out of clean clothes because she was not ready to leave yet. I assured her we would come back - and hopefully we will not wait so long before our next trip. . .

Lucas is a lumberjack

And he is more than OK!

Seriously.

(Monty Python, anyone?)

Just look at him go. . .

The day after the tree fell in Momma's yard (that may or may not have made a sound), Lucas aka our favorite Lumberjack came to the rescue. Mom was planning to call a "tree dude" (in case you did not know, that is the official name of the professional people who come to your house and cut up trees that have fallen or take care of other tree related issues that may arise). BUT we could not keep him away. Apparently, people who are of the male persuasion cannot resist the urge to use power tools. EVER.

Getting ready by filling up the chainsaws with the proper gas and oil mixture.

J and S helping him and asking a lot of questions - he is so patient.

They also reminded him about 7 times not to cut off their feet.

He was glad they brought that up, so he could pay special attention to their feet.
He was so awesome!

He had some excellent helpers.

Sunglasses to protect their eyes from debris

Some teamwork to carry a large limb

Please note the little supervisors well out of harms way -

They would point to the spot he should cut next, and then retreat to a safe distance to monitor his progress.

He had 2 chainsaws at his disposal, and yes, he used both of them.

See earlier comment about men and power tools.

How manly!

No kidding, I was way impressed.

Some funnies from the day:

We hauled the wood to the street at Momma's (in the hopes that someone would steal it, to be honest. So far, no takers.)

I had to use Daddy's old van to get it up there because

(1) the wheelbarrow tire was shredded and would not hold air (Mom and I tried)

(2) we do not have a truck (maybe we should)

(3) Mom did not want us to mess up our cars and Daddy does have another newer van

One of 4 trips to "haul" the cut up logs to the street.

I wish I knew how to make paper or I had a mill.

I just know I could build something really cool.
Oh ,and I love to honk the horn. A LOT. Each time I drove a load up or backed up to get more, it involved almost constant honking. I say, safety first, right? Everyone needed to hear me coming.

Luckily, Mom and Lucas find me amusing. . .

David always cringes and pretends not to know me.

The little helpers before we got started.

Nicely dressed.
Spencer petered out pretty early and was back in his Sponge Bob PJ's within about 4 minutes and 43 seconds.

Jessa stuck it out longer. And when it was time for a break, she requested some lemonade since it was "such a hot day." When I told her we did not have any, I offered her several other options. She sighed and rejected all of my suggestions. She finally said, "I guess I prefer water, you know, it is healthier." Point taken.

During one trip from the middle of the yard to the street with a load of wood, Jessa was riding in the van with me. She said, " Mommy, could you turn on the air? It is sweltering out here today."

Here are the helpers and the lumberjack for our last trip down the driveway to park the van. Yes, there was honking:

Rednecks hanging out the back of a van seems to be a theme for us this summer. . .

Note the Spongebob PJ's on Spencer

And here I am with Lucas - we are posing by the fruits of our day of labor.

We all worked hard, but it was a FUN day.

I cannot think of anyone I would rather cut up and haul away a dead pine tree that fell in Momma's front yard with than my sweet brother.

**AND Momma even paid us, but we would have done it for free. . .

If a tree falls. . .

. . . in my Momma's front yard while we are all at Cracker Barrel, and no one is here to hear it, does it make a sound??"

So we went to Cracker Barrel (we have gone there a lot lately. . .) for supper. Nikki loves Cracker Barrel, and they do not have them in Hawaii. Of course, the kids love it, too :>). Mimi and Poppy came to Momma's, and we all went together. We had a lovely supper. We shopped. We headed home close to 2 hours later. We found this:

What?!? Mom knew that the tree was dead, but she had not had a chance to do anything about it. We were SO lucky. If it had fallen a little to the left, it would have crashed into the living room!

The kids were thrilled. I guess they love when Mother Nature places an outdoor play area in their laps.

Jessa loved to balance on it.

Spencer loved to let his newly purchased at Cracker Barrel panda bear balance on it.

Such fun!

I e-mailed a picture of the carnage to Daddy, Lucas, and David. Within minutes, Daddy called. Then Lucas. AND sweet Lucas was planning to come and see Nikki before she leaves this weekend anyway, so he offered to cut it up for us! Yay! Momma is tickled. He admitted that it had more to do with a good excuse to use a chain saw!!

Lemonade, anyone?

Aren't Lemonade Stands like a rite of passage in childhood?

Well, my kiddos decided that Monday was the day for their first attempt.

We are in GA now. We drove all day on Tuesday, so Monday was the big preparation day. I always like to start the trip with a clean and organized car (it only lasts about 10 miles, but I like things to at least start well!). Jessa asked me as we were in the garage working on getting organized if she and Spencer could go to houses and "sell stuff." I think that she got the idea because some of their new neighbor buddies went door to door selling cherries over the weekend. I told her I did not think that was a good idea (I do not want people to cringe when they see my children at their door begging for spare change. . .). I said that maybe they could sell something at the house while I was in the garage. Jessa's face lit up and she said, "Lemonade!"

So we set them up a stand. We got a plastic garage shelf as a "table" and some chairs. They colored some signs. Jessa wanted to charge $1 per glass. I told her that was a little steep, and cousin Nikki made a "Donations Only" sign. I made some Country Time, and they were all set.

Jessa's sign on the left, Spencer's on the right.

Both signs have a line of customers - You've got to admire their optimism.

What serious business people.
The only problem: we live on a circle on the very last straight in the whole housing area. This means there is not a whole lot of traffic. After about 1 minute and 30 seconds, Jessa was already bored!

But they stuck with it. I bought a cup, but I had to pretend to not be their mother. Then Nikki bought a cup:

Nikki enjoying a $2 cup of lemonade.
The first REAL customer was the UPS man! Bless his heart, he gave them a whole dollar! Once some neighborhood kids were outside, Jessa started screaming "FREE LEMONADE!" This drummed up some business. Before long, we had to make a new jug. Our next door neighbor is a Priest, and he stopped by for a cup. We even had a car stop and give them a $5 bill!! I tried to give it back, but they ran to the car and said they wanted to do it! So sweet!

We had a long day with busier times than others. They finally ended up in the backyard playing with some new friends. I heard someone come to the front door and yell, "I want some lemonade." I ran to get the kids, and they found a VERY important customer.

He may be an important Army Officer, but he is just their BAY.
They gave him 2 very full cups to take back to work with him.

They ended up making $14.31 - not bad for an afternoon of "work," huh? I have a feeling this was not our last afternoon of hanging out and selling our wares.

I'll gladly make more lemonade any day for these two sweet faces.

Happy 5th of July!

Boy are we confused! We woke up in the wee hours of the morning on July 4th to the sounds of thunder. It was one heck of a storm!! The whole rest of the day was rainy and dreary and windy and sticky. And it rained and rained. And then later, it rained some more. The yard was wet and muddy. Our fun grilling out afternoon was nearly impossible. And the biggest tragedy was that the fireworks display that we were looking forward to was postponed! Now, we were lucky that the stormy, rainy 4th of July was a Saturday. This made it easy to shift the fireworks fun to Sunday night.

So we celebrated a Happy 5th of July instead.

I love the 4th of July: parties, great food, fireworks, and family. And I love any holiday that encourages patriotism and flag waving!! The past several years, my cousin Nikki has been visiting the mainland from Hawaii. It is always fun to celebrate with her. We also are usually in GA. Daddy ran his 29th consecutive Peachtree Road Race, and many times, David runs with him. (For those of you not from Atlanta, this is the world's largest 10K that is run each year on Peachtree through the streets of Atlanta.) Daddy is the founder of the Overseas Peachtree Road Races; he started one in Kuwait when he was there (he did not want to break his streak!). And since then, the race has grown to several in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Daddy ran 2 races in Kuwait, and then he has been on the starting line on Peachtree Street at Lenox Square each year to start the overseas races via cell phone. We have gone with him several years.

Our first trip to watch him start the Overseas Races: 2006.

Trip number 2, 2007.

Last year, 2008. Haven't they grown? Holy Cow!
This year Daddy started 5! And it should be noted that the Atlanta Track Club donates all the T-shirts and race gear and has it shipped to the loaction of the race. The runners get the same shirt as the 55, 000 in Atlanta. What an awesome way to support our troops!

We were sorry we were not able to be with him this year, but we sure are proud that he is such a devoted Peachtree Runner and race starter!!

So Sunday, we woke up to another overcast day, but no precipitation - whew!
The craziest part of all of this whole postponing the 4th thing, Daddy was in Atlanta to start races, run a race, and celebrate with Momma. BUT he also had time to drive 9 hours back to Scott AFB in time to celebrate the 5th of July with us! He must have felt like it was Groundhog's Day!

We had a delicious supper of kabobs, potatoes, and salad. And while I got dressed, David churned a freezer of homemade vanilla ice cream. We got the ice cream all fixed in to-go cups and headed to the fireworks.

Look at those rednecks jammed in there to see the fireworks!
It was very laid back and easy. We just went to the town where the show was scheduled and found a spot on the side of the road. We all crammed into the back of the van to see the awesome fireworks! Yay family fun and togetherness!

The only thing missing was a soundtrack. David searched for something on the radio, but he could not find anything suitable. So we all sang various patriotic songs. Jessa sang her own made up song, too. It was a disturbing and graphic sort of cautionary tale about getting too close to fireworks. I will not share it with you. You should thank me.

Spencer could not choose his favorite kind. He finally said that they were all his favorite! And he was so worn out, he fell asleep on the way home, bless him!

I took the picture after we were home -

Don't call DFACS, he was safely strapped in until we were home.
Happy 4th of July and also, Happy 5th of July!

God Bless America!

God Bless all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines!

And God Bless all the families who support them!

Birthday Party

Last Tuesday was my D's birthday.
I am so glad he was born!

(and until November, we are the same age. . .)

The kids and I had lots of fun making decorations for him.

He wanted Red Robin (yum!) for his special birthday supper. We were not allowed to tell the waitress. . .

After supper we all gathered at our house to open presents and eat cake. We had lots of fun. I wrapped up some new socks and undershirts for him. He wanted a new I-Pod since his screen is busted on his. Of course, we got him one, but I wanted him to sweat a little! I cracked myself up!

It was more socks! I bought him like 12 pairs!

I even wrapped some in a small box then wrapped that box in a bigger box.

He was totally confused and SO sick of socks!
Here are the party guests:

May and my cousin (aka the sister I never had) Nikki.

Me and Bay

Spencer, who asked if it was time for cake at least 10 times before it was time.

*Note Bay in the background stealing icing. . .

I also did pretty well baking David's favorite cake using his Granny Key's special recipe.

He said it looked and tasted like Granny's! Way to go, me!

I could not resist sharing a few videos.

Jessa and Spencer are in love with sound cards right now. Jessa picked out the "Hamster Dance" song (go figure!), and they danced it up:

Jessa was in rare form partying it up with her Daddy. When we lit the candles, Jessa insisted on singing her own song for her Daddy. It was so cute and funny and sweet all at the same time. Seriously, I was laughing and crying. Bless her little heart!

I love that she included lyrics about the I-Pod!