These Days...

Through the years I have taken several of these "face-to-face" pictures of our girls. This time they just couldn't get quite as close as usual.

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I had a wonderful time at the baby shower Elisa (left) gave Shannon (right) Saturday. I love getting together for these type of events. It's a great chance to see people we just don't get to see often enough. Also a chance for good conversation and a lot of laughs with friends and loved ones.

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Aside from the heat, this summer is going well. We have a fairly quiet week followedy by two weeks of Vacation Bible School. The first week with our church, Freedom Fellowship where I'll be doing crafts with the kids. The second week will be with the church where the kids participate in AWANA during the school year. When that one's finished it will be time for baby Kaitlyn to be here. We get to enjoy her for a few weeks before our vacation. When we get back we'll just have a couple of weeks before baby Zach is due! This year at least, summer looks good!

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Back to the pets... Had I written yesterday I might have mentioned we think Mischief might be pregnant again. Since I'm writing this today, however, we think maybe she was pregnant and maybe she had her kittens today. The little bulge she had yesterday is gone. I was also summoned to the back yard this morning by the high-pitched and continued yelps from my dog. Mischief was attacking Izzie! I brought Izzie in for a few hours and sent her back out. Within minutes the same thing was happening. Kenneth took Izzie out when he got home and again the attack began. So...we're thinking maybe Mischief had kittens and is being protective. We'll see how this plays out. Of course having Kit-Kat and Izzie in the house together for such long periods of time is like having another set of siblings picking at each other all day!

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Happy July! Remember our flag and its history. Embrace the freedoms our independence affords.

Just Regular Summer Days...

Isn't it amazing...if it weren't for bumps in the road we'd never know how smooth a ride we really have. We've been dealing with some bumps recently but the ride is still smooth!

• What appeared to be health concerns with one of our daughters turned out to be just fine!
• Health issues I've been dealing with appear to be different from what we originally thought. While not resolved, I'm very relieved at the results so far.
• Our oldest son is shaking things up - seems he may change colleges. We're back to filling out applications, requesting transcripts and all that good stuff. One disappointment came last week when he found out he didn't get in to his first choice Florida school. He's trying one other and still considering staying at Erskine. We'll see where this particular journey takes him.
• This is an exciting time in my MK business. We have new products out, new quarterly catalog and all sorts of good stuff. As a person who loves change, this is like having Christmas 4 or 5 times a year.
• I am so thankful for Vacation Bible School programs. We just finished one last week and the kids had a wonderful time. I would like to see more middle and high school programs (both the programs and the kids participating in them).
• The baby countdown has begun. Shannon's little one is due 4 weeks from today. She has a scheduled c-section for July 21st so we should be holding a precious new grandbaby no later than 4-weeks from now; maybe a little sooner. Elisa's just beginning her last trimester and her little one will be here before we know it, too. Lots of excitement around here these days!
• Just in case anyone's wondering... I'm happy to report that Mischief, Izzie and Kit-Kat are all home and doing well. Kit-Kat is an inside kitten and is great fun. Izzie spends most of her time outside in our fenced yard. She generally comes in at night to sleep. Finally, Mischief has remained home and acts as if nothing ever happened. She's still an outside cat but will most likely come in soon. We're hoping for another litter of kittens but if not, that's ok, too.

Gettin' Ready For the Weekend!

Yep, getting ready for the weekend. Letting the burdens of the week fall away.

Need to take a break, take a breath. Monday's gonna be here soon enough.

Plenty going on, lots of stresses all around. No words to explain it all, just sorting it all out.

I'm taking a rest for the weekend cause Monday's gonna be here...soon enough.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime!

We moved to the SC upstate in '96. It took us until 2007 to visit Myrtle Beach, or, as it's known here..."the beach." That was kind of a milestone considering "the beach" to us was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I'm kind of liking this whole "goin' to the beach" thing. We just took a quick 3-day getaway last week and it was a lot of fun. We did stay a bit more in the North Myrtle Beach and Cherry Grove Beach area but still spent time in Myrtle Beach proper.

Typical tourists, we took in a show, ate at a local ice-cream shop, played miniature golf and had breakfast at a biscuit shack and a pancake house. We even shopped at the neon-rich souvenir stores. We did, however, refrain from bringing home a hermit crab (much to Christopher's disappointment). Abbey brought home shells and Ken and Christopher "got freaked out" at Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium. I'm pleased to say we did avoid sunburn. That's one thing that can ruin a vacation in a hurry.

We get a longer beach break in August when we head to Florida. No, not Fort Lauderdale, but a bit north of there in Jensen Beach. That's the vacation I look forward to all year!

While summer is still officially a few days away, we got an early start. Here's hoping this summer will be warm and breezy and sunburn-free!

Here's To Adventures...

This has been a great day! If it wasn't for the fact that my beloved Florida Marlins lost to the Atlanta Braves, it would've been near perfect!

For starters, today is my father's 76th birthday. "Happy Birthday, Dad!"

I still have all my pets at home. My oldest son is home AND employed. My mother-in-law is back home and hosting a sleepover for our two youngest kids. Matthew's test results came back blessedly normal and Shannon text-messaged me that the baby's crib is up and sporting pink sheets! Life is good! And all of that is in addition to our "Atlanta adventure."

In the course of the day we

• Enjoyed this adventure with our daughter Elisa and her husband, Rob. It was Rob who got the baseball tickets and invited us to join them (great seats too!)



• Traveled to Atlanta as passengers in our daughter and son-in-law's new Murano. That was a switch for us. I told Elisa we'd be glad to sit in the back as long as she didn't reach back and pinch me if I started acting up!



• Stopped on the way to stock up on travel essentials; soda, chips, chocolate, candy, and beef jerky.



• Arrived at our destination safe and sound, received warm chocolate-chip cookies, and spent some chill-time with Rob and Elisa before...



• Traveled to Turner Field via a taxi with a cracked windshield and with the windows down on a 90+ degree afternoon on the freeway. Our quoted $20 trip turned out to be $30. It's a shame we didn't get the travel advice from the hotel shuttle-bus driver before we called the taxi!



• Enjoyed stadium hot dogs, soda, cotton candy, peanuts, and beer from a plastic bottle (that was a first for me).



• Watched the first pitch of the game result in a home run for our Marlins



• Watched as Chipper Jones hit his 400th career home run (only the 3rd switch-hitter to do so).



• Enjoyed the 7th inning stretch and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"



• Stayed in our seats until it was time for "the fat lady to sing" and the final out was made.



• Made a stop at the souvenir booth for Elisa and Rob to choose an item for the baby's nursery (Atlanta Braves pennant).



• Opted for further "adventure" by taking the advice of the hotel's airport shuttle-bus driver by using public transportation to get back to the hotel. This consisted of riding a city bus to "5-points" where we then picked up the subway train to the airport. Once at the airport we took the hotel shuttle bus back to the hotel. On the subway, a drunk, white, baseball fan started something with a very gay, young, black man. Next thing we knew there was a razor brought out and some raised voices. Fortunately the drunk man got off at one of those "just-in-time" moments like you might see on television. Everything settled down after that and we continued on our way. So, for a mere $1.75 per person (as opposed to $7.50 for the taxi) we got transportation, drama, subway experience, and adventure!

Wow! We're back in our room now, showered, and cooled off from the air-conditioner. No wonder I'm tired. I think I better call it a night. After all, we still have to make it back home tomorrow!

Answered Prayers...

Happy, Happy, Happy!
Yes, I'm a happy mom this evening. Darrell arrived home, safe and sound from his Florida adventure. He had a great time! He also just found out he has a job for the summer driving an airport shuttle van for a local hotel.

Correction...
Oops...a slight correction to yesterday's post about my friend, Wanda. She actually had her surgery last Friday. Slipped that one right in on me. It appears all went well (yay!) and after just a few hours she was recovering in the comfort of home. I know she's pretty miserable now but before long she'll be back on the go again...most likely sooner than she should be. Big hug, Wanda!

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Mysterious Ways... I don't think I mentioned it before but when we got Kit-Kat, we thought we were getting two kittens. The family that had the kittens decided to keep one after their cat, the mama, was killed in their back yard by a wild dog. We were disappointed but happily came home with just Kit-Kat. Experience had taught us that we have a closer human-pet relationship with a single animal than with two or more. During the last 10 days Kit-Kat has settled in comfortably. Everyone here loves her! Except... Mischief.

Mischief?

Yes, Mischief.

Last evening God answered my prayer and Mischief casually strolled into the back yard. It was almost like she'd never been gone. I was wary and cautious. After all, we'd had a false-sighting once and it was like losing her all over again. It didn't take but a moment, though, for all of us to know with certainty that it was indeed our Mischief.

I was happy but still nervous. I didn't know if she'd still be here this morning, but thankfully, she was.

A little over a day has passed now and Mischief has been in the house with us a lot more than what was usual. I believe she'll be more of an inside cat now, after all we've been through. It will have to be a slow transition, though, and even then she may still want outside time.

Kit-Kat is also in the house.

Mischief and Kit-Kat have been introduced and it's amazing how they seem to speak the same language; hissing and spitting and such. They haven't exactly hit-it-off the best. I'm optimistic, though, that before long we'll find them inseparable. I just hope it's from friendship and not because one has its claws dug into the other one's flesh!

I guess I still can't believe she's back. I owe the neighbors an apology for the terrible thoughts I had about them. We'll never know for certain where the cat's been all these long weeks. We suspect she may have accidentally been trapped at our next-door neighbor's. They've been doing a lot of work on the property getting it ready to go on the market. They were working under the house yesterday just before Mischief came home. Could be she was stuck in their a previous time and their work yesterday allowed her to get out. Overall she looks well. Nothing a bath won't fix. Whatever the circumstance, we're just happy she's home. Seems I have my two cats after all.

Hope you're having a great week!

Monday, Monday

Please keep my friend, Wanda, in your prayers. She’s facing gallbladder surgery this week.

Wanda, this one’s for you…

Hang In There
Hello, my friend; You’re on my mind,

Because you're somehow ailing,

But your response to any challenge

Has always been unfailing.
So I’m confident you’ll win again;

Hang in there, and you’ll see;

You’ll be back on top in no time,

Tackling life courageously.
By Joanna Fuchs
www.poemsource.com

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I've had a few ideas for the blog floating around my head. I don't know why but I just couldn't get the creative juices flowing this morning. So instead you get a general recap of recent day-in-day-out life events (translation...boring).

I don't know where the week went! Can't believe it's been over a week since I've written anything. I guess we just enjoyed having a slower-paced week than usual. I've been fortunate to have time with my older girls recently. This is such an exciting time in their lives. That, in turn, makes it an exciting time in ours.

Some noteworthy events from last week...

Darrell's week in Florida turned into 2-weeks. He comes home tomorrow evening.

Christopher and Abbey had awards night at AWANA last week. Abbey was recognized for finishing book 1, Sunday School and club attendance. Christopher received the "Clubber of the Year" award along with recognitions for finishing his book, and attendance. It was a fun evening.

Shannon spent Thursday with us; she had a Dr. appt. here in Greer. Assuming the baby agrees, Shan's C-Section is scheduled for July 21st.

Kit-Kat had her first vet appointment Thursday. She didn't like it at all. Really.

Speaking of Kit-Kat, she loves to play and sleep. She particularly likes to sleep on people. As I type this she's sound asleep on my chest. She's a sweet kitten who's settling right in with us.

Elisa had a Dr. appt. on Friday. I met her there and was able to hear the baby's heart beat. Even after 5 of my own it's still an incredible experience. God's miracle of life!

Saturday we went to Rob and Elisa's. They've been working in the nursery and it's adorable! Freshly painted and with a wallpaper border to match the bedding and "MVP" sports theme of the room. Rob had put the crib up Friday night. They've done a beautiful job. I sure am getting anxious for these grandbabies!

Our church had a catered BBQ dinner and meeting for Vacation Bible School volunteers last night. I'm excited as a volunteer and for the kids. They're going to have a blast! Our VBS is held outdoors at beautiful Lake Robinson in mid-July. Please start praying now that we can be rain-free that week.

This week has Darrell flying in Tuesday evening. Wednesday my mother-in-law is coming home from Florida. To split the driving up I'm meeting my sister-in-law, Carol, in Brunswick, GA. Thursday Ken and I are going to Atlanta with Rob and Elisa for a Braves vs Marlins game. We'll stay over in Atlanta and head home Friday. Go Marlins!!!

Have a great week ... Really!