Waverly and Kendall were Grand Marshalls

Friday was Mt. Paran Christian School's Homecoming Parade. Waverly and Kendall had the privilege of being the Student Grand Marshalls in the parade. A wonderful mom from Mt. Paran (and our church) won the position in an auction. She turned the opportunity over to Waverly and Kendall for their service with A Fresh Hope. It was so neat that Kendall was recognized. She does so much of the grunt work for A Fresh Hope but is very behind scenes. She stuffed back packs for hours and hours this summer. Waverly and Kendall got to ride on the back of a car and wave at everyone on the parade route. They seemed to be okay until they reached their own classes. They were then embarrassed a little but still smiling from ear to ear. It is neat to be in a school with graes K-12 where the younger students get to participate in the spirit type of activities. All high school grades created the neatest floats. Fun day!

Pumpkin Patch...

Isn't fall fun? Going to the pumpkin patches, picking out a pumpkin, hay rides, etc. I have been to Bert's Pumpkin Patch 7 times if you count each Pre-K field trip, each Kindergarten field trip and once as a family (we may have gone twice as a family). It is a great little place. I could probably give the speech on the hay ride if they needed a sub one day. This year.. we had every intention of going to a nice pumpkin patch, enjoying a fall day, drinking cider, going through a corn maze.

So.. off we go.. each kid had the joy of looking through all the pumpkins to pick the very special pumpkin for Halloween 2008. Skip helps find 'great' pumpkins as usual by placing each prospect gently on the ground. My kids have specific taste in Pumpkins. Kendall and I like the short fat pumpkins. Waverly and Skip usually go for the tall, thinner pumpkins. Grant is a wild card. You never know what he will pick.
Here are a few photos of our kids picking out their pumpkins.....








Our fall has been busy coupled with the fact that Skip and I have mono and not quite the energy needed to do a 'real' pumpkin patch. Our pumpkin patch this year involved a different flair (and I don't mean the Facebook flair). We didn't quite stroll through a corn maze. It was maze of stuff, isles of goods and carts of groceries but not necessarily a corn maze. We didn't ride on a hay ride or drink hot cider. But.. we have 3 pumpkins that have been hollowed out ready for the cutting tomorrow night.
Here is a photo of our pumpkin patch destination (wouldn't Dave Ramsey be thrilled- check out the price of those pumpkins):

Christmas Party

Hey friends.. Skip and I have decided we are not going to have our annual Christmas Party this year. It has turned into a wonderful tradition and are sad about skipping it this year. Skip and I both have mono and have been warned by the MD that we need to take it easy this holiday season (yea right). We are going to AL and FL during Thanksgiving. Waverly's foundation, A Fresh Hope, is having a Christmas event on 12-21-08. Squeezing a Christmas party seemed like too much this year. We hope to see you all at our party in 2009.

Our mini-vacation! AHHHHHH

Skip and I try to get away together each year, ALONE. We started this in 2002 after Grant was born. Our first year with Grant was trying to be mild. That year, we went to Puerto Rico. The following year, we went on a cruise only to find out Grant got sick when we were gone. We went straight from the airport to pick Grant up at Grammy's house then straight Scottish Rite to have him admitted. After a week long cruise then a week at Scottish Rite, we needed a vacation. The next year, we headed to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Incredible resort! I highly recommend it. The next year, it was London for Skip's 40th birthday. Last year was Dominican Republic for my 40th birthday.

This year...... take a guess... Helen, GA. Yep, the north GA mountains. See, Dave Ramsey is starting to have an effect. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. We had as much fun as any of the other 'more distant' destinations. We stayed in an incredible cabin with a wonderful view. We watched a lot of movies, basically chick flicks (P.S. I love you, 13 going on 30, Legally Blonde) Skip was very patient but I think he was thrilled to watch the Auburn v LSU game Saturday night. Great game.. wish Auburn would've pulled through.

Saturday, we went to Helen to eat. Well, while enjoying a nice Oktober Fest beverage and German meal, we met Squirrel and her family. Squirrel is a Harley Rider who was in Helen for a benefit ride. Great lady but boy can she talk. Here is a photo of me and squirrel.

Helen is a bit more colorful than I remembered from my younger days. We saw Hermann Munster riding in the back of a car:

As we were walking to our car, guess who we ran into,? Yep, it was squirrel riding off into the sunset.

It was a great weekend! Thanks Mom and Dad for keeping the kids.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

College football has started. I can't wait to get to Auburn for a game. My dad and Grant went to the game last week. I think we will go to the Auburn v TN game and the Auburn v. UGA game. Grant is all into the games. He had to wear his Brad Lester jersey today and we had to get the shakers out. I almost watched most of the UGA game with him. For those that know me, that was a HUGE task on my part. I am trying to be more supportive for my dear husband's sake (he is a UGA grad). I can't say I actively cheered but I did not critize once... not even once. That is like a Italian Catholic from Boston sitting through a Mississippi Southern Baptist sermon without one snicker, snub, doubt or comment(or vice versa). I was very proud of myself. Actually, it is about time I grew up a little. I told my husband a few months ago that I would be more supportive of UGA. I can't say that I would be okay with one of my kids going there because that is probably more than I can swallow.... I mean ever! My Mom would probably have a fit. But I can watch a game on a Saturday. I promise to never bark (not real lady-like if you ask me)! I promise that I will not sing Auburn songs over the UGA band even though they ARE Auburn songs. I promise to not cheer when the other team scores.

PLAY BALL....................

Our precious nephew's, Levi Gilcrease, little league team made it to the World Series. Levi probably doesn't want me calling him precious but he is such a great kid. My brother-in-law, Doug, is one of the coaches. The Doug Gilcreases are very athletic. Mom- Stephanie- had a full ride tennis scholarship at Michigan. Dad-Doug- had a full ride at Auburn for baseball and then went to the Kansas City Royals. He now is the chaplain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Levi's team, Southeast, plays today at 2:00 on ESPN.
Here is a link to the schedule:
http://www.littleleague.org/series/2008divisions/llbb/series.htm



Here is Levi (see isn't he precious):


Doug looks a lot like Skip, doens't he?


Cheer for the boys!!!!!! GO LEVI!

Game 1, Southeast 10 Midwest 0
Southeast plays again on Sunday. Here is a photo from ESPN of Levi.


Southeast lost Sunday to Hawaii. They won last night against the Northeast 8-2.
They play again Thursday night, 8:00 ESPN.

Great pitching Levi!

Check out this awesome photo from the Tampa newspaper of Levi catching a potential homer.

Pool Party

Our wonderful friends and neighbors.. the Dennehys have a pool in their back yard. They will have us over to swim. I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact my children sit in our yard looking pitiful and hot. Donna will make incredible munchies and sweet tea.

Most moms sit under the cabana sipping iced tea (not your regular sweet tea- I know I mentioned sweet tea earlier but it is so good- it deserves several highlights), chatting, and watching the kids swim. Not my pal Angela.... she gets into the pool and organizes cannon ball contests, belly flop contests, etc. The kids love it!!!

Here are a few photos from a recent pool party.. How fun!!!!!

July 4th- Panana City Beach

We spent this July 4th week at my dad and step mom's condo in Panama City. We go to the condo at least 4-5 times a year. So often.. my kids feel like they should be included in decorating changes, pool policy changes or anything related to Panama City in general. My dad has this place set up perfectly for us.. all with a twin and double beds in one room, kids videos, craft supplies, candy, etc. You name it.. he does it for them. It even has wireless- great for Skip and I.

This year was particularly crowded at the beach. We did go see WALL-E. My kids loved it.. I thought it was on the same scale as Curious George. Skip and I argued over who would take the kid to the bathroom. There is very little adult humor which we have grown accustomed to in Pixar movies.

I did put my kids through misery by making them dress up and go to St. Andrews park for photos. They were cooperative until they realized that they could not just run around in the water (which did not stop Grant).

My kids found a part of the ocean with a shallow end. They thought this was great fun and 'how come' we don't go there more. Hello.. we have a beach right outside the condo!
By looking at this photo.. you would never know the directions it took to do this..
Don't want like a soldier, walk normal, stop running, no look that way, Grant.. quit swinging your hands, Slow down. They just look like sweet angels.

PLAY BALL!!!!!!!!

Atlanta Braves

A good friend gave us tickets to the Braves Game. Kendall and Waverly were in Tampa this week visiting their cousins so we took Grant to the game. Grant is a huge sports fan.... he can watch hours of fast pitch softball on ESPN. He loves anything sports. This sports thing started when he visited my mom over Christmas and she had to do her football picks for the Warrenton, GA news paper. No, my mom is not a gambler but she is somewhat of a local celebrity by winning the picks for the 2007/2008 football season. That was it.. Grant was hooked when he returned.

We got to the game early which was so much fun.....We are usually the ones squeezing in our seats during the bottom of the 2nd. We never knew you could actually park in walking distance and that there are activities before the game. We went up to the Coke bottle and the new Chick-Fil-A cow (very cute but why did they have to go to Italy to get it?). We went through the museum, watched the teams at batting practice and shopped a little all in plenty of time to get to our seats within 1 hour of game time.

The Braves lost 10 - 1 which was a bit of a disappointment but we had a blast. Chipper Jones is Grant's favorite. Our seats were on the 3rd base side right near Chipper. Baseball, Diet Coke, hot dogs, summer weather and a pysched little sports fan. Perfect!

Club Med (aka Girl Scout Camp)

Well... I went to Girl Scout camp when I was little. No... I did not get my toe nails painted and cucumbers gently placed on my eyes while I laid back in relaxation. I had to sleep in a tent with bugs (a platform tent to be exact). I thought that was a fancy type of tent before I showed up to camp. Platform simply means a tent that is a foot high. Big deal... bugs can crawl and air conditioning didn't exist.

Kendall and Waverly left Sunday to go to Girl Scout camp at Camp Meriwether about 1 1/2 hours south. They will come home tomorrow. It is only a 5 day camp but I have missed them terribly. They are staying in a new air conditioned cabin with adequate storage for each camper. They each had a friend or two going to camp with them so loneliness should not be a problem. We are able to e-mail them each day. I have sent them both about 5 e-mails a day. Addict...
They are not able to e-mail us back but can send snail mail. I guess it would be hard to get an e-mail such as this:
Dear Mom...... I hate camp. They are so mean here. I have to scrub all the toilets this morning. They are only feeding us bread and water. Please come get me. Hope to survive this prison camp. I love you and promise to never complain at home again if you will only come get me. Love, desperate camper

We are able to see photos that are posted throughout the day. I have snagged some of them for a slide show. It is hard not to see the photos and judge the manner in which your daughter is grooming and dressing... I carefully packaged shorts and shirts in a ziploc to help with matching clothes. I can tell you that my children did not seem to care about the careful clothes placement one single bit. I think Kendall wore 4 outfits her first 24 hours if the photos on the web are an accurate indicator. I guess the important thing is that they are having fun, growing up a little, making friends, blah blah blah.. . Not that they are not brushing their hair, wearing mismatched clothes and have only written one short note since they have been gone. We will the girls up tomorrow. We miss them terribly (even Grant after day 2). We are bracing for the tired grumpiness tomorrow on the way home and will try to keep the 'it's wonderful to see you' feeling through that adjustment period.