TBT–Family cruise

I think this was our first (forced family fun) cruise, way back in August 2002.  We were on the Splendor of the Seas, and of course, went to the Bahamas…for three whole nights.  The wee girls did well.  Boy, were they little!  Amy and Jason were still pretty much newlyweds, and Brian was a bachelor.

Fast forward to December 2011…with more cruisers:

MM is working on putting together a Christmas cruise for the gang.  Hey, we need to get some more shirts!  These kids have grown, plus we now have (niece) Madison to tag along with us.

Anyone want to join us for our Forced Family Fun?  It is guaranteed not to be dull.

Goodbye, April…we are happy to see your cold and dampness go away.

Have yourselves a ginger peachy Thursday, y’all!  We sure will.

Sunny Mayberry Monday

 

The recent rains have raised our lake levels nicely,  azaleas are popping out everywhere as the dogwood blooms disappear, the sun is shining…but it was 43 when I got up this morning, despite the calendar indicating the waning days of March.  That is too chilly to sit on the deck, Peaches.

I went on a Lady Slipper patrol yesterday afternoon, discovering 3 more lovelies beside the driveway, plus 4 more blooming out by the road.  They make me happy.

Earlier I discovered my single slipper from last year here by our home is now a triplet!

I need now to get excited about climbing up there and pulling away those dead limbs…maybe when it warms up a bit.

We have perhaps unleashed a little disharmony with that birthday steel drum.  Haley said Macey was downstairs playing scales on it first thing Sunday morning.  She and Logan are now thinking more insulation is needed in the basement ceiling (with no reflection on her musical ability, of course!).  That girl will have the drum all figured out, and playing real songs on it in absolutely no time.  She has rhythm all the way down to her tapping toes.

Hello Monday.  And laundry.  And working tunes blasting away for my own working pleasure.

It’s just another Monday in paradise, y’all!

Musical Macey

Macey loved the genuine Caribbean small steel drum we got her in Antigua. Loved it!



Of course she had to have immediate help (?) by her cousins, then real help from sister Ansley.



Needless to say, it was a rocking good evening with the clan, complete with pot roast dinner and triple chocolate cake, cappuccino trifle, coffee ice cream...

Life is mighty fine here in Mayberry.

Happy sunny Sunday, mon!

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Mah-ve-lous Macey!

This beautiful, talented, smart, lovable, funny young lady is 14 today.

Are we proud grandparents?  You bet.  I held her mama’s hand during all those wicked contractions, praying for a safe delivery for both.  Then, I got to set her free by cutting the umbilical cord.  What a tremendous honor for me to get to do both.  Logan was busy encouraging and holding Haley through each contraction, so don’t think he wasn’t working.  He was.  We were a team, and Macey was our reward then…………..and still.

This girl has always loved music, and loves to dance, and is rarely sitting still.

Happy birthday, honey girl.  Grumps and I love you to the moon and back!  Smooches…

Happy Earth Day!

Look what I just found...Lady Slippers, beside our driveway. Maybe Spring will stay around a little longer. Hello, Sunshine! We need you.

Get moving and get outside, Peaches. Your Mother is calling you!

Oh, and Happy Administrative Professionals Day! I think I will take myself out to lunch today, and invite MM to join me.

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Proud parent reporting…

Young Harris College honored our own yesterday at their annual Honors Award Ceremony.  “The Division of Education has selected you to receive the ‘Exceptional Education Partnership Award’.  We would like to recognize your leadership on the Master Educator Program committee, as well as your superb work in supervising teacher candidates.”

This was just another feather in her educational cap.  Yep, we’re pretty proud of this gal…and her siblings.  God has blessed us mighty well.

Ansley and friends had a FABulous time at the prom, well, except for the lingering achy dancing feet part.  That’s the price one pays for having fun (and wearing killer shoes)…right, girls?  Right!

Sounds of lightening and thunder woke us up this morning.  We are sooo calling UNCLE after a week of rain, and hereby request that Mother Nature divert it to California, where it is needed.  Thankyouverymuch for your consideration.  Carry on.

It’s just another (wet) Monday in Paradise.  Watch where you step, y’all!

Ansley, prom night

How did my first grandchild get old enough to go to the prom?!

Check out this stunning dress:

She is wearing silver sequined heels that are at least a mile high.  They are only good for looking good and getting her to the prom, where they will be promptly discarded for dancing.  Smart gal.

Ansley and her well behaved friends before dinner:

Ansley with suddenly goofy friends:

Giiirlss just wanna have funnnn!  And so they all did, I am sure.

Be safe.  None of you can be replaced.

Grumps and I were quite happy we didn’t have to stay awake for you to get home.  We happily passed that baton on to your Mom and Dad…

It’s only fair!

My Macey!

My Macey, so named by Alex when he was small, made her solo debut (to Dancing Queen) last night at the UCMS chorus concert. We are so very proud of her and all the kids. Lil Haley is second from L on that back row of seated gals.

Macey also played the small drum (sitting on the floor) in an earlier song. There was a lot of talent in that stage. Kudos to the teacher and all the kids...and to the community and school support.

We have sunshine this morning! Wow, we've missed you all week. Srsly. It will be short lived, according to the forecast, but we will take any ray we can get.

It's time to get some tunes on and get moving. Have yourselves a ginger peachy day, y'all! Happy Friday.


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TBT–Daredevil Amy…and the birthday gal

 

Our Amy has always been a bit of an adventurous gal.  Family friend Wayne saw her sitting on the parade route and asked if she wanted to ride.  Duh…of course!  Y’all might remember she is the one with the broken arm in last week’s photo.  That happened on our trampoline, jumping with much older cuzn Sean.  Her other cuzn ratted her out, stating that she kept asking Sean to “bounce me higher.”  So he did.  Her landing was not as planned, resulting in a trip to the hospital.  Oh the fun…NOT.

Her own sons will probably be paying her (and Jason) back.  Jason was an even worse daredevil, so the rumors go.  Heaven help us all!

We have had rain here in paradise all week, so I have been busy with (boring) laundry and paperwork, and not blogging.  There hasn’t been much of excitement going on anyway, except…

Sweet friend Joy had a birthday on Tuesday, and since birthdays warrant a birthday season, she is still celebrating…as she should.  Here she is having Christmas tea with her precious Eva:

So life is good but soggy here in Mayberry, with more rain expected later today.  That sure messes up my daily walking plans.  Laps inside the house get pretty boring.  I have managed to make my daily 5K goal pretty much every day except for the two days we were traveling back home.  That’s not too shabby.

Get up and get moving, y’all!

Hard workin man!

MM is installing a hitch on the Prius, which should be a simple job, right? Hmmm.

Being the Good Wife, I delivered a cold container of tea to him outside the front door where he has been working on this project for some while.

Apparently all is not going as it should. There was a, um, colorful reference made...to the hitch...that rhymed with the item. MM is quite the poet...not.

He will git-er-done and all will be right in Mechanic Man's world.

I wisely left granddog Barkley to supervise the project while I go contemplate a dinner menu. The division of duties works perfectly in this household. Blue jobs and pink jobs.

We are happy, happy...and the sun is shining here in Mayberry!

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Birthday treat!

My sweet hubby presented me with tickets to a Celtic Woman concert for my birthday back in December. The awesome concert was last night in Chattanooga.




There are mostly new performers in the group, but still a whole lotta talent was on stage. At least the violin player is still the same. MM is right partial to her. We saw the original group perform in FL, probably on their first US tour 10 years ago.

The bag piper was mighty easy on the eyes. There is something verra special about a guy in a kilt...and if he is playing an instrument, oh my stars! He was good. Verra good.



Upon arrival here, we took a drive up Lookout Mountain for a beautiful view of downtown Chattanooga. Next up was a stop at the towing museum, a total guy thing. Apparently tow trucks are still produced here. I hope to never need one. I opted to instead sit and read a book while MM checked out all the trucks and wheels.

A free shuttle ride down to the IMAX theatre was a winner--the feature was on whales and was quite informative as well as entertaining.

Dinner at an Irish Pub was a winner. Plus, we avoided traffic by leaving our car parked there and walking the few blocks to the auditorium.

Birthday season is now officially over. Thanks, honey. This was a winner.

Life is verra good, y'all! And rain is washing away a ton of pollen this morning. Hallelujah to that.

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TBT–my girls

 

Haley loved, loved holding baby Amy and helping me.

And then they got bigger…and became ballerinas, despite the trampoline and a broken wing:

And still today, they are the best of friends:

Gosh, I love my girls.  I am a blessed Mom (Dad shares that love, but this is girl talk today).  Yay, Girl Power!

Have yourselves a ginger peachy day, y’all (boys included)!

Toosday thoughts

 

Well, I can tell ya that going back and forth getting everything out of the moho, clean, and then put back in place sure makes a gal park her tiara for awhile.

I am gaining ground, but slowly.  After all, there is no deadline (except in my head) to get finished.

Easter Sunday brought sunshine, a beautiful service (with our new lady priest), and a fabulous Easter Feast afterward.  Logan got a photo of his girls and me (Moho Man got detained somewhere inside the parish hall):

Yep, that sunshine was bright, making us all squinty eyed, and we haven’t seen the sun since.  Sprinkles of rain have been happening off and on, with more to come…just when I want to wash the quilt and hang it out to dry.  Bummer.  Plan B:  use dryer.

And just for the record, Haley was wearing heels, and I had on flats.  I am still shorter than she is, but not THAT much. 

Life is good here in Mayberry.  Have yourselves a ginger peachy day.  We will try!

Happy Easter!

 

From our hearts to yours…Happy Easter Day!

Saturday in Paradise

The morning began with a snuggle with Madison:



And now I'm gonna tackle these tomatoes and jalapeños to marinate overnight. I'm taking them to church tomorrow for the Easter Feast after the service.



MM and I are slowly making progress on getting everything back in place and controlling the chaos. That means all is crazy normal around here! We love it. Spring is slowly arriving.

And KC is loving the top tube on the new kitty tower and is snoozing in it right now. I see two ear tops out one end. He's happy. And I'm happy he is not in the kitchen (annoying) helping.

Did I mention it is good to be home?

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Good Friday to everyone…

 

“The cross was two pieces of dead wood; and a helpless, unresisting Man was nailed to it; yet it was mightier than the world, and triumphed, and will ever triumph over it.”
                                                 – Augustus William Hare

And this is the reason why life is good.

Have a blessed day…

Home, sweet home!

 

By mid-afternoon Tuesday we were pretty much stowed and ready to roll, all except for the truly last-minute stuff.  So we left; drove late; stopped at Sam’s (waved to you, Barb!), then split up just south of Atlanta.

MM found another tire rim for the Prius (that I was driving), so being the good wife, I drove (through lots more traffic) to Tucker to pick us said rim.  Now we have four (matching) rims.  I can hear the applause.

The Prius handled well and got a top fuel indicator of 51.2 MPG.  Comfort level was pretty good for the seat; not great for steering wheel to seat position ratio for legs/arms.  By 12 hours in the saddle, I was getting pretty well accustomed to everything.

KC was so happy to be home and outside that he didn’t come inside until almost 7 this morning!  Bad boy.  He needs to remember his dark thirty curfew is still in effect.  Hopefully, he was out running off a bit of his winter storage.

Missy checked the outside a couple of times, but inside is where that smart girl wants to stay.

Our three wee kiddos promptly came a visiting as soon as they got home for school.  Love, love that!  Soccer games for them this afternoon, followed by pizza with the whole family.

Welcome home to us, even with the heat on this morning!

This is how we roll..