Sew Blessed

New Years Eve - A Pyromaniacs Dream

2012-01-01T19:32:00.001-05:00

What is New Years Eve McMichen Style?

It's sitting by a campfire on a cold New Years Eve night.

Playing with fireworks.

     LOTS of fireworks.
          LOTS & LOTS of fireworks.
               And MORE fireworks!

Brothers being silly, having a good time together.

Kids with sparklers....

and me playing with the camera settings trying to get some cool fireworks pictures.

I have no idea how I managed to get this cool picture...Ian's face is in focus, but the rest of the picture had movement. A totally cool accident!

Rusty making his weird newspaper flying things.
(No, his arm is not on fire.) Some of the flaming 'balloons' worked, some didn't, but it's always fun to watch.

Never too old to act like Goobers....

...Keeping their assets warm.

A RARE quiet, still moment for Cole & Alex....

but of course they're playing with fire.

Notice the flammable warning on the packaging. hahaha!

Pretty fireworks!

C is for Cole!

Group sparkler pictures & fun.

My absolute favorite picture of the night....
This is Mason trying to make a heart. His girlfriend, Jessica thought it looked like a 'butt' and told him 'I butt you too, baby!' So much for romance. hahaha!

Alan finally got to shoot off his 120 shot roman candle he got for Christmas!

Wahoo!

2011 was another challenging year,

but when you look back on it ~ it was also full of blessings.

There are ALWAYS blessings.

We just have to open our eyes and see them.

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be a blessed year for us all, too.

Scenes from our Christmas Season 2011

2011-12-26T16:10:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Season 2011 has been a whirlwind of activities...as usual.
Over the last year I've had the privilege of working on new Advent banners for our church. Each Sunday of Advent a different family would come into the Worship Center with a banner, light an Advent candle, do a reading and pray. It was so exciting to see 'my' banners come out so beautiful, and most of all ~ used for the Glory of God. I feel so blessed to have had a part in this part of our services.

Week 1 - with Vincent G.

Week 2 w/ Katie and Monty S.

Week 3

Week 4

Hanging Separately...

And finally, on Christmas Eve, hanging together!

Christmas Day - Blake and Karl played music in the Worship Center lobby as folks came in.

Christmas Eve - Blake playing the alto recorder during the Lord's Supper.

Ian playing bass in the Praise Band on Christmas Morning.

Christmas Eve candlelight - Pastor Kevin.

Our VERY Unique 'Tree'
This year Christmas was bittersweet due to the passing of dear Pops. With everything going on, we never go around to getting a tree. So my solution was to do something different. Behold, the McMichen Christmas 'Tree'...

Yes, it's crazy, funny, unique, silly, quirky, and WAY out of the box. And it made Blake laugh during a time when he truly needed that laughter - therefore, it's perfect for us this year.

From outside our window, thanks to the shape and the lights, our tree actually looked like a regular Christmas tree. Cole was astonished by this view and exclaimed "WOW, it really does look like tree! Now people won't think we're a bunch of rednecks!" hahaha! One of the absolutely funniest moments of the season!

The more I looked at it, the more I liked our unconventional 'tree'. It's bright, cheerful, and makes us happy...isn't that everything you ever need in a Christmas tree!

Christmas Eve Goober Portrait...

I convinced Riley to 'sic' Ian. Riley is not normally allowed on the couch, but he enjoyed this moment. Ian was completely pinned down by the 100 lb beast.

Most people have to worry about their cats getting into their Christmas tree. Cole got into ours....

and got stuck!

Christmas Morning had it's usual fun....

A shirt that was made just for Cole! (I've accused the boy of treating ketchup as a 'tomato smoothie!')

Ian, got a couple of Star Wars shirts...perfect for him.

Blake with his new hat and overalls.

Cole was a little bit excited about his new Warhammer stuff...

Ian was over-the-top excited about Skyrim....despite the insane look on his face, he's really happy and excited.

Riley with our tree.

I made the boys a special gift ~ bacon scarves!

Christmas night...Cole with his Warhammer goodies.

Christmas Night - Ian intently playing Skyrim.

A nice picture of Ian, prepared to go to church and play his bass.

Christmas with the rest of the family....
More nonsense. More fun. A few bittersweet moments, but all in all, a day filled with love, hugs, and family.

Ma with the lovely wooden box Rusty made her.

Pam and Rusty with their Redneck Wineglasses we made them.

Alan with his new Bacon Scarf.

Blake with some new Taz pj pants.

Ian with his new soft, fuzzy blue blankie... maybe now he'll quit stealing mine!

Alex the 'ketchup hound' got a unique surprise from us...a GIANT bottle of ketchup!

Alan with his surprise tire iron.

Nicole has been tormenting Aaron and Alan with hints and clues about their gifts. It has been driving these two crazy! Now they finally get to open it....

And they found 120-shot Roman Candles. Right down their alley!

Rusty with a shirt perfect for him!

Three Uber-Bacon-Goobers!

Flying the Millieum Falcon hover craft. Rusty had it under control, but Pam looks concerned.

Most of us.

Four-eyed Blue-Goober Attack!!!!!

A bittersweet moment when Blake gave Ma the poem he wrote about Pops.
So sweet, but made us all cry.

And, just a few more pictures....
Bacon Scarf in the pan.

Pretty!

Blake & I.

Ian (18) and Cole (13).

By the way, from mid-Christmas morning on, the pictures were taken with my NEW camera. Wahoo!! Blake found the discontinue D3000 that I've been wanting and surprised me. Yes, I'm still doing the happy dance!

The Reason for the Season....

To God be the Glory! Merry Christmas!

In loving memory of Pops

2011-12-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

I've never blogged about a funeral service and honestly, never wanted to... but this was such a special day, filled with blessings and love, I feel it should be preserved.

After a couragious battle with cancer, Blake's dear father, Pops, went home to Jesus on Wednesday, December 7th. While our hearts are heavy, we rejoice that he is no longer sick or in pain. He's home. Things kinda happened fast here at the end, but I look upon that as God's mercy and grace. And today we sent Pops off exactly how he would have wanted it....

Blake's brother, Rusty, works for a cabinet shop and the owner, Leonard, is also a dear friend of Ma and Pops. (They all do SCV rifle aand cannon shoots together.) Pops always told Leonard he wanted him to build him a 'pine box' when the time came. Last Friday Pops asked Leonard if he was ready to build his box. Leonard replied 'no, but he would if had to', meaning he really didn't want Pops to go, but he would honor his request. The minute Leonard got the call on Wednesday morning he dropped everything, went home to a stack of Georgia white pine cut from his own property and personally selected the lumber. Then he stopped all the work in his shop and they set to work to make a 'pine box' for Pops. This pine casket was handcrafted by loving hands in less than 2 days. The guys at the shop felt it an honor to make Pops' final resting place, and Blake and Rusty also helped on the finishing touches. It was so beautiful. Simple, sweet, and absolutely perfect. (Based on the comments and questions asked at the visitation and funeral, Leonard could make a fortune selling these, if he chose to pursue this side-line business out of his cabinet shop!) We propped Pops favorite fishing pole up next to the casket, and scattered his favorite fishing lures on the spray of greenery on top, as well as his SCV cap. On the front and top of the casket a simple cross made of walnut. Tucked inside his coat pocket, was a silly picture he had kept that I took of Dasher, Pops' beloved dog. Clasped in his hand was a sprig of hemlock pine from the tree that grows outside the kitchen where all the little birdies and squirrels gather to eat the seeds he always provided for them. This tree was transplanted from a tiny sprig that Ma brought back from a camping trip to Lake Conasauga, and planted in honor of Ian's birth. Next to the casket was a picture of Pops taken when they visited their friends the McKenzies at Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. In this picture Pops was dressed in a kilt, jauntily leaning against the castle-lodge wall.

Rusty and Blake picked out several songs... Angel Band (from the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack), Do You Know, Wayfaring Stranger, and best of all ~ we exited the chapel to 'McMichen's Reel'...played from an old recording of Clayton McMichen, a famous fiddler from the early 1920-30s, who was kin to Pops. He would have wanted us to carry him out in celebration, with a happy song.

Upon arriving at the cemetary, a piper played for us. Pops loved the pipes, so Ma requested a piper play for us. Amazing Grace, as well as a few other hymns, and finally a lively 'Scotland the Brave'. It gave me chills...in a good way, (although it was also VERY cold and windy out there today!)

Late last night (the night before the funeral), Blake put down these words about his dear Daddy....

~ He Cared ~
He was a gentle man...
Always Caring,
Always Sharing,
His own troubles
   Rarely impairing him.
He cared for us all.

He was a Gentleman.
Always thoughtful...
Rarely boastful,
Life was never
   Doubtful to him,
he cared for us all.

And he was a genteel man...
Respectful of God's Light,
Always and ever so polite,
Life fully knighted him
To care for us all.

He was always there...
Ever in waiting,
Ever permeating
   Our life's urgent call,
Because he cared for us all.
                                            HBMc 12/9/11

All in all, it was a hard day, but also a beautiful day filled with blessings.
It's been a loooooooong day.... filled with tears, sorrow, and heartache but it was also covered with prayers, memories, stories and moments of loving joy. We sent Pops off just how he would have wanted it. And I'm so happy to have known him, and loved him, and been loved by him.   Despite all the pain, I just feel so incredibly blessed.

Having our family, our church family, and friends near and far surround us in their love and support is an awesome experience. Words can not express how folks have made us feel. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, words of comfort and support.   Having this blessing, the Lord's comforting arms around us, and by leaning on each other, we'll carry on...just as Pops would want us to do.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T19:09:00.002-05:00

The sights of Thanksgiving 2011....
(In no particular order.)

Cole with a big ol' Florida Grasshopper-bug! I remember seeing these when I was a kid...I usually encountered them face-to-face when climbing a tree.

Cole, Ian and Levi - sitting on the porch waiting for the dinner bell to ring.

Many a Hancock as passed the time of day on this front porch.
Cole enjoying a quiet moment with his book.

Courtney with her favorite pie! (My Peppermint Chocolate pie tastes just like an Andes Candy. YUM!)

Me, sitting on the porch...the ceiling has ALWAYS been this bright blue.

Blake, after a fun day of golfing with the Neanderthals...their annual Thanksgiving week tradition.

Cole checking out the sandhill cranes at the golf course.

Golfing Goobers!!!!! All we need now is the Dancing Gopher from Caddie Shack!

Ian...who finished the first draft of his novel while we are visiting FL. A change of scenary must be good for the creative soul.

Mama, Wilbur, and David....with their Thanksgiving meal aftermath.

Blake's artsy photo of some moss early in the morning.

Mama with her hairiest grandchild...Riley. He just snuggled up to her, sat down and smiled for the camera.

Mama with some of her grandkids....Levi, Courtney, Ian, Cole....and Riley.

Levi, Mama, and David.

Cole, Blake, Me, Ian...and Riley, of course.

Gary, Courtney and Carol with Mama.

Connie and Johnnie with Mama.

And me, with my dear big brothers, Gary, Johnnie, David, and Mama.

The Hancock Family Thanksgiving annual photo.

I'm so thankful for my family.

Unto Us A Child Is Born!

2011-11-05T16:33:00.005-04:00

The Advent Banners for FBCLS are finally done. Wahoo!
This definitely was a looong term project. I mentioned it in my 'Goals' post back in January, and started collecting the fabrics. Over the last several months I've enlarged the pattern & drafted it onto the fusible. and I'm so happy to say that it's finally finished as of yesterday...November 4th. It wasn't a HARD project, but at times, very tedious. My favorite part about it are the fabrics. The bright fabrics just really sing! I love it.

I have to give a HUGE thanks to Sherry H. and Vickie T. for helping with the cutting out of all those pieces. We had a lot of fun at our impromptu Saturday night 'cutting party'! AND a SUPER-GIANT Thank You to Pam for helping me during our marathon assembly day yesterday. Our brains work well together, and together we got 'er done in our "Shake an' Bake" style of quilting/crafting & sewing.... 'I helped!'.

UPDATE - Dec. 21st.... Each Sunday of Advent a different banner has been brought in by the family who does the Advent Reading/Candle lighting. Its really been lovely seeing the banners displayed in our Worship Center. But they were displayed separately - not as a group. BUT on Christmas Eve our congregation will finally see them assembled together into one and here's a sneak peak....

I am thrilled beyond words to have these banners in our church.
I had fun making them, but to God be the glory!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-04T22:17:00.002-04:00

Our Halloween was pretty low-key this year. The boys are getting older, I didn't have a lot of time to invest in sewing major costumes, and money is tight as usual...so the boys pretty much came up with their own costumes. Easy on the wallet, and easy for everyone involved.

Ian is Leonard, a nerdy character from the tv show 'Big Bang Theory". He greased his hair back, wore an old pair of Blake's glasses (with no lenses), and imitated Leonard's nasally voice perfectly. He even had the fidgeting mannerisms. Good job Ian! (BBT is one of the boys' absolute favorite shows.)

Cole is a weird Redneck Goober. Sometimes he turned the beard around to hang behind his head & had a 'mullet' look going. All in all - a fun, easy costume. No major hassles to make or wear. Wahoo!

Alex is a Ninja! Pam did a GREAT job of using just t-shirts on this outfit. The 'mask' is a t-shirt with the sleeves tied behind his head. The grey 'vest' is a t-shirt with the sleeves tucked up. A little red fabric - sash. And a little red ribbon adds some nice color highlights to the costume.

Bella Comes to Visit

2011-11-04T21:38:00.002-04:00

Bella has come to visit us.

Bella is a tiny little dog...that doesn't know she's a dog. Riley is handling this visit like...well, like Riley handles everything. He's says 'Okay. That's cool. Just love me and feed me, and I deal with it.' He's shared his toys ...but she has torn a few of them up. (Rude guest doggie!) And he's shared his bed....she sneaked up there. And he's even given her a bed. But Bella still doesn't know she's a dog.

Bella had the pleasure of being with us on Halloween....
Can you find her in the picture? Usually Riley ends up in the Halloween picture with Ian and Cole, but not this year.

Bella feels safe and secure...if she's in Blake's arms.

Every time he leaves the house, she worries, whines, frets, runs around frantically, and howls. Despite trying to comfort and calm her, she howls...and we laugh because it sounds like Riley on helium! (See the video on Facebook. It's hysterical...Ian and Bella howling!)

Bella is tiny. Technically, She's a miniature dachshund. That means even in the little-dog world, she's short! I actually measured her legs....and

I don't think she's really a wienie dog...I think she's a COCKTAIL Wienie Cheesedoodle!

Bella likes to play. If it makes a squeaky sound, shes on top of it. She doesn't run, she ZOOMS! Like "Speedy Gonzales" - she instantly arrives.

While Bella is here, she's had to learn a few lessons...
* Dogs do not sleep on the bed with people.
* Dogs are not allowed on the furniture.
And most of all...
* DOG DO NOT GET ON THE TABLE and STEAL FOOD!!! BIG no-no. I bopped her little hiney for that tonight and hurt her feelings. Here she is hiding in Bobbin's 'cat box'. Bobbin usually sleeps here...but has temporarily abandoned it due to Bella-contamination issues.

Bella's visit has taught us a few things like...
* We are not little dog people. We like BIG dogs. If I trip over Riley and fall down on him, he pads my fall and doesn't get hurt. (Yes, this has happened...more than once!) I wouldn't want to see that happen with Bella. *Shudder!*
* Camping with a big dog gives you a safe, secure feeling. Riley's deep serious bark could warn away bears, coyotes, and wild hogs. Bella = bait. 'Nuff said.
* Riley's easy going ways and good manners have us completely spoiled.
He knows the rules and fits in. He's a dog and knows his place, but
also is completely loved and adored by our family.
* Visitors are nice, but they need to learn the household rules...
and NOT leave 'doggie doodles' on the carpet!

So whiles she's here, we'll love her and take good care of her, try to teach her some manners and most of all - educate her that she is a D-O-G DOG.

Catching 'Monias!

2011-09-01T22:03:00.000-04:00

Instructions for cheap, easy, silly and challenging fun...

* Take one 13 yr old boy with a very silly, crazy, weird streak in him.

* Add 1 large bowl full of ice and water.

* Toss in 1 grape .... just to see if it will float.

* Then tell him to go bobbing for that one little grape in the bottom of the bowl.

Result ~ Messy, wet, cold fun and one CCCCCCCold faced Cole! It was so funny watching him try & catch that grape in the bottom of the ice-water bowl. I think we have a new Yuck Night game. And his face was all but frozen! Cole said he was so cold he was going to catch 'monia....which relates back to an old family joke from when he was about 3 yrs old & afraid of the 'wild monias' in a local pond after we told him that he'd catch pneumonia if he went swimming in that pond in the winter. Silly kid thought 'monias' were a scary fish with big teeth!

Seriously - this was not easy. You try it!!!

The End of Summer already????

2011-08-06T14:18:00.017-04:00

Despite the fact it's only August, and the heat is still oppressive & the humidity makes us miserable, we've reached the end of our summer. Here's some pictures of our summer fun....

The 4th of July was a pleasant day off. The cookout & homemade ice cream at ma & pop's were fun. Later, we went to the fireworks display in D'ville...but unfortunately a huge thunderstorm rolled in, and the fireworks were postponed.
Blake & Cole 'pouting' because of the canceled fireworks. Oh well...

Cole turned 13th on July 6th! I can't believe my baby is now officially a teen... and is CONTANTLY hungry and growing like a weed!!! (Lord help us!) We spent his big day at Mountasia playing mini-golf - which he won AND got the only hole in one, enjoying the go-carts, bumper-boats and then later that evening the Youth had Old Fogey Night...where Cole fit right in.
Yes, Ian gave Cole catsup for his birthday. (We've accused Cole of loving catsup so much he'd drink it like a tomato-smoothy.)
And Cole's favorite way to start the day...with a 'bacon birthday' candle.

It's been a BUMPER year for blackberries. Blake picked these in the lower yard, where his old garden spot was. The freezer is FULL of blackberries just waiting for him to have time to make jelly.

Last weekend we had the 5th annual YUCK NIGHT for the Youth at FBCLS. This year's event was just a nasty, gross, and yucky as we've come to expect. The kids had a blast! Ian had the Senior priviledge of helping prepare and plan some of the games...and thoroughly enjoyed being 'Trivia Master' on his event. (The pictures got out of order... oops!) The games were: egg drop into your partner's cup...which is held in their mouth; Cake Face - partners switch places & they have to decorate a 'cake', complete with batter, marshmallows & sprinkles on their partner's face; Balogna Snowflakes...fold/eat/bite into a snowflake...Jonah's looked like a zombie!; Musical Chairs with the looser having 'cat yack' piled, smeared & smooshed all over their head. YUCK!; Team Trivia-loosers have smashed tater-goo splatted into their face.; Hurricane - classic water toss; and finally a little cleaning up via the slip & slide.

And last, but not least, Cole started back to school on August 4th. Wahoo - 8th Grade!! As you can see, he was NOT happy about this. BUT, when I picked him up after school, he was pleased with all his classes and teachers. His last year of Middle School looks to be a pretty good one. (This is the first time I've ever taken our traditional back to school picture with just one kid. It felt pretty weird...but Ian hopes to start school at GA Highlands in Jan. Wahoo!)

Tell me how you REALLY feel about going back to school, Cole!

The Lifecycle of Our guest, Mega Moth

2011-08-06T12:43:00.023-04:00

On May 21st, while at Cornerstone Bapt. Church for Cole's end of year band concert, Ian spotted this Polyphemus moth on the sidewalk near an entrance. Fearing the kids would freakout over this size of the moth and harm her, we moved her to the bushes & went inside for the concert. After the concert, she was still on the bush...so we brought her home to see if she would lay eggs & we could watch & photograph the whole cycle of moth/egg/caterpillars/cocoon/moth. (We had done once before w/ a Polyphemus moth...pre-digital camera days.) Here are the pictures of our guest moth and the life cycle....

May 21st - Moth began laying eggs.

About 1 week later all those eggs (and there was a BUNCH of them!) started hatching. The caterpillars were wee tiny, but started growing immediately.
We fed them maple leaves.

3 days after hatching.

6 days.

11+ days.

<

3 weeks.

By this time, the container was getting pretty crowded, so we released all but 3 of the caterpillars into the maple tree. Those little guys knew exactly what to do...climb UP towards the leaves.

<

July 12th - only 3 left & they were HUGE!

Everything goes better on a Ritz!

" Don't ya just love the little green filled ones? " Name that movie!?!

The caterpillars made their cocoons on July 15, 16th & 17th. It's amazing how those BIG caterpillars tucked themselves into these relatively small cocoons.

Last night, August 5th, our first moth emerged from the 1st cocoon. He was beautiful! We know it's a he because his antenae are all extra feathery. (Female antenna are rather plain.) We immediately released our new moth outside. After drying off & gaining strength he fluttered off into the night...in search of date with a lady moth. And the cycle will begin again. (As the other 2 cocoons hatch, I'll add more pictures as needed.)

UPDATE: August 8th.... our last 2 moths emerged from their cocoons over night. We discovered a brand new male and female moth this morning. We released them outside where they dried off, gained strength and fluttered away. Hopefully they will meet up with other polphymus moths and the life cycle will continue on.

Here's a couple more pictures.

The female moth (note her plain - nonfluffy antenna) - size compared to Blake's hand.

The 'owl eyes' - a defense against birds or other big bugs. The 'eye's scare away a potential enemy that might be thinking about making the moth a tasty snack.

Cocoon - post moth emerging. A remarkably small container and hole for such a large moth.

The Advenures of SuperVan, C-Money and SUPER BEANS!

2011-06-23T17:12:00.012-04:00

The Adventures of SuperVan and C-Money as they save VBS from the clutches of Evil Ian!

Just another normal day at VBS for SuperVan....

C-Money says "I think someone needs rescuing! Up, UP and AWAY!" Soaring to the rescue....is C-Money! Defender of the Faith and Protector of VBS!

WHAT is Evil Ian pondering? It doesn't look good from here...

SuperVan trying to influence Ian. Feel the Faith, Ian, feel the Faith!

Oh no...SuperVan is distracted by thoughts of that SuperModel he once saved...

Turn your back on evil, SuperVan, turn your back before it's too late!

SuperVan Points the Way!

The struggle is SUPER Human!!

C-Money and SuperVan wrestling with Ian. Can they turn him away from his evil ways?????????

Good Triumphs over evil. Ian is now SuperBeans! C-Money & SuperVan have turned him towards the Light.

But yet another source of trouble has reared its fuzzy little head.... is it SuperSquirrel or his evil twin the Mutant Ninja Squirrel?????

It IS the evil mutant lightsaber squirrels! It's up to C-Money to rescue Katie from the evil squirrels' lightsaber battle!

SuperVan and C-Money ride off into TimesSquare....looking for more folks to rescue from themselves.

Even Super Heros know the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Scenes from Summer 2011

2011-06-23T16:14:00.014-04:00

It's been pretty quiet around here lately...just not a whole lot to blog about, but here are some pictures worth sharing...

My butterfly bush...my mothers day present.

Bee Balm blooming the our herb bed. I'm still not use to seeing lavender beebalm. In the mountains where we go camping it's scarlet-red.

Blackberries....growing like crazy in Blake's garden spot. Since he hasn't planted a veggie garden for a couple of years, the blackberries have moved in & made themselves at home. Blake has been busy picking the mulberries & blackberries, which he'll make into jelly.

A vase full of hydrangias just says 'summer'! A friend cut these from the hydrangias planted around her house. She had enough for half a dozen bouquets!

My absolute favorite yard flower, and the loveliest smelling flower in the world, my gardenias.

VBS nonsense from Ian, Coleman and Van...AKA SuperBeans, C-Money, and SuperVan ~ defenders of VBS!! I ended up with a whole storyline/series of photos of these 3 goobers and their cape-wearing super hero antics on Facebook. So much fun!

The drink of choice on a hot summer day....or any day!

The Flamingo Flocking is back & going strong at FBCLS!

Thistle - thorny, but so pretty when you stop & really look at them. (Photo taken on a golf course my a friend using our camera.)

Sunflowers...they came up underneath the bird feeder...'planted' by the squirrels, and just too pretty to pull up.

Someone broke into my van while I was at work & stole my good totebag - which had my Sunday school literature and good bible in it. (Yes, I was parked at the church!) So I made myself a new totebag - just my little way of dealing with the stress & saying HA to the thieves.

And best of all...
my Honey-Bunny Blake...we just celebrated our 26th Anniversary.

The Class of 2011

2011-05-28T15:58:00.017-04:00

May 2011 has been a whirlwind of events! Ian being a Senior has brought a whole new meaning 'the end of the school year.' His last HS band concert, parties to plan and attend, school & church events and finally the big event...graduation.

Here's some memories we want to preserve.

Last LSHS Band Concert. During a Copeland piece, Ian had the priviledge of a solo. A proud moment for us.

Here's Ian with his band director, Mr. McConnell, and his 'brother & sister' Nate and Ashley.

Band has been a BIG part of our lives for the last 4+ years. Its going to be strange next year not going to every Friday night football game. (We have a 1 yr gap before Cole will be in the HS band.) We're going to miss folks, but still plan to do some photography & attend some of the games.

The parents of the FBCLS seniors had a fabulous idea this year. Instead of the traditional 'Senior Breakfast', we opted to have a combined Grad party for the Youth who were fixing to graduate. 6 families joined forces and had a wonderful drop-in reception for our kids. Lots of family & friends came, and we all had a delightful time together. The parents of next year's seniors are already planning to do this for their kids...a new tradition is born! Youth Pastor Danny offering some words of wisdom & encouragement.

Van, Jonah, Luke & Ian.

Ian's table.

Cole thinking about his future?

Ian with Pastor Kevin....they both LOVE mountain dew!

Each grad had a personal table to decorate with their own pictures & momentos. Ian had his trumpet & bass, as well as LOTS of pictures. Everything was great! We're so blessed by our church family!

Graduate Sunday at FBCLS is a special day. Each grad is honored with a moment in front of their church family. Youth Pastor Danny did a fabulous job on this! He recorded each grad's voice stating their name, and future intentions, which was played while the grad walked up the ailse, and a series of their pictures was presented on the big screens. So sweet to see baby pictures, youth event pictures and special event pictures of each grad's life. Then Danny offered a special blessing, and the church promised to continue to pray for and encourage these grads - just as they promised when the grad was a baby being dedicated in front of these same folks.

Top row:Brandon, Taylor, Rachel, Nia. Bottom Row: Alyssa, Katie, Valerie, Ian.

CELEBRATE!!

This was the first moment I saw Ian in his cap & gown ~ and I melted into a puddle of tears. I was completely overwhelmed by it all - love, pride,... and a little sadness to see his childhood come to an end. This caught me totally by surprise...but now I know why parents cry at weddings & graduations.

Finally, May 27th arrived...Graduation Day! We were so blessed to have beautiful weather. (The night before had terrible storms!) The entire stadium was filled to the brim with happy, smiling, elated families ~ so proud of their grad. When Ian's name was called & he walked across that stage we all WAHOO'd!!! & rejoiced at the top of our lungs for him. It was an awesome night filled with happiness and pride.

Before the ceremony.

Shaking Dr. Ervin's hand.
Smiling for the photographer.
Wahoo - I got it!
Now let's get out of here!!

WAHOO!!!

Beans and Refried!

With his cousin, Alex.
It just wouldn't be a McMichen family picture unless Cole got in there with 'the Face'! (Once a picklehead, always a picklehead.)

Congratulations, Ian. You are an awesome young man with your whole future ahead of you. May it be filled with love, laughter, joy, enthusiasm and a passion for your work. One day we want to look at a book with your name on the cover - author, Ian McMichen. You truly are a gift from God, and may He bless you throughout your days ahead.

April 24, 2011

2011-04-25T20:43:00.010-04:00

Two special things happened on April 24th.... Easter and Ian's 18th birthday!

Here's a some pictures of both occasions.

Can you tell we woke Ian up & insisted he start the day off with a birthday card?

Happy Birthday Ian! We love you!!!

And now for the annual family Easter picture. It's like working with rabid neanderthal monkeys trying to get these guys to pose for a nice picture! But here's the best I do...

And our annual Easter Egg hunt at Ma's house. Alex and Cole are the only 2 participants. They complained we hid the eggs too hard! But in my opinion, it's hard to catch the Easter eggs when you're running full speed. Egg hunting requires more stealth than speed.

Definitely no easter eggs up there, Cole!
(I told you it's like working with monkeys!)

Just call me Donna McPrairie!

2011-03-05T17:17:00.010-05:00

I don't know why, but some 'old fashioned', old timey ways of doing things just fascinate me. In my grandmothers' day, these were normal every day chores, not things done for the joy & novelty of it. But I love to make things from 'scratch', like baking my own bread, and now I've added something new to my bag of tricks...BUTTER.

No, I don't have a cow, nor access to a cow, but on a whim, I bought some heavy whipping cream at a fair price at Sams. (I haven't figured out the price of cream = amount of butter you get vs the price of store bought butter, but some things you just do for the learning process, and joy of doing it.) I don't have a churn - but I do have a mixer...and together, it gets the job done nicely. If the mixer goes on the blink, all you need is a jar with a lid and willing arms to shake the stuffing out of it. Mama told me that's how her family made butter. Fresh cream will churn into butter much faster/easier than store bought, pasturized cream, but sometimes you just work with the things at hand. Letting the cream sit on the counter & come to room temperature will speed things along...which I learned the hard way after using cream straight of the fridge.

Here's the process from beginning to end.

Heavy cream poured into the mixer & 'churning' on low.

It's beginning to change - looks foamy & slightly thicker.

Getting thicker!

This is the whipped cream stage. Keep going! You're getting closer!

Then it changes into a grainy looking almost-buttery stage, and it's looking more yellow now. But your not there yet...so keep on churning.

Then the MAGIC happens. All of a sudden the thick buttery looking stuff seizes together & the butter milk is separated out. You can hear it change to a sloshy-wet sound.

Using a spoon, smoosh the butter together & squeeze out as much of the buttermilk as you can. Pour off the buttermilk into a container if you want to use this for baking. Keep on squeezing out the liquids from the butter. (According to my research, if you leave it in the butter will go bad sooner.) Now pour some ice cold water into the bowl & 'wash' the butter. Just keep on kneading it around to get all the buttermilk out. Pour out the milky colored water. Repeat this until the water is almost clear. It's not a hard as it sounds. Add some salt & knead it in - this is a preservative and adds flavor.

Pack the butter into a container & keep it sealed in the 'fridge. You can also freeze some for later use.

Now spread some fresh butter onto some fresh bread - inhale the splendid sights & smells of your accomplishment, and most of all... enjoy!

That's How I Roll....

2011-01-30T13:58:00.014-05:00

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” James Beard (1903-1985)

Cold weather brings out the baker in me, so making breads & rolls has been my weekly Friday 'thing' to do. It amazes me how tossing together simple basic ingredients ~ all normal every day items found in just about every kitchen ~ results in something most folks totally take for granted & don't really think about...bread. There's nothing like the taste, touch & smell of homemade bread. It's beautiful. And there is a satisfaction of knowing you took that water/milk, flour, sugar or honey, salt, butter, and added that magical ingredient ~ yeast and made it into that simple little thing called 'Our Daily Bread'.

"I am going to learn to make bread to-morrow. So you may imagine me with my sleeves rolled up, mixing flour, milk, saleratus, etc., with a deal of grace. I advise you if you don't know how to make the staff of life to learn with dispatch."
Emily Dickinson, American poet (1830-1886)

Here's some pictures of my adventures in Bread Baking....

My Yeast Runneth Over!
I usually 'proof' or soften the yeast by putting it into some warm water & adding a little bit of sugar. If it bubbles & grows, your good to go. Modern yeast is pretty reliable, so this step may not be essential, but it's still pretty cool to see it change from a grainy teaspoon full of nothing into this...

(I usually don't let it bubble up this much, but I walked away for a few minutes & returned to this!)

Mixing...I use my standup mixer, but usually end up kneading it by hand at the end. In my opinion, at some point in the process, breadmaking should be hands-on.

All kneaded & ready to rise.

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet

Garlic Knots - surprisingly easy to make & quite yummy. I love the texture of this dough.

Cheese Bread - easy, easy, easy! Here it is ready to be baked.

And, after its baked.

Pizza - I've been using the same pizza dough recipe for 20
+ years. It's basic, easy, and just plain good. I've tried other recipes, but just keep coming back to this one.

Cinnamon Bread - still my favorite to make & eat. A slice of cinnamon bread toast is the BEST way to start my day. The aroma that comes from this bread as it's baking is totally beyond words.
"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight..."
M. F. K. Fisher

Honey Rolls - this is a new favorite of ours. I've been making them in large batches, but tossing most of them into the freezer to bake as we need/want them. Sure beats anything that Pillsbury Doughboy ever baked! I made a batch this morning, at Ian's request, for Youth Breakfast Sunday. Having Ian's best friend telling me 'they were really really really really really good! I ate 5 of them!' makes my heart smile. AND, as far as teenagers... If you bake for them, they will come! =)

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."John 6:35 (KJV)

ICE AGE!

2011-01-14T23:45:00.016-05:00

Considering we live in the South, you'd think winter would be pretty mild, boring, & dull. Everything a blah, boring winter-color. The temperatures cool, but nothing brutal, and no excitement. Well that changed big time last Sunday! It started snowing really hard, and then a load of sleet & freezing rain was dumped on top of the 5+" of snow we got.

This is Bobbin, on the porch railing, begging to come into the house because it was snowing all over her. She DID NOT like it!

Even the birds were having a hard time coping. Blake put out plenty of birdseed, but I saw birds slipping & sliding around. They couldn't grip & would loose their balance...a very funny sight!

A little squirrel trying to keep warm & out of the wind.

School ended up being canceled (one day at a time) the entire week. What started out as a WAHOO ~ No School or Work Celebration slowly turned into Cabin Fever. Everyone wanted to get out & go somewhere...but we couldn't. The entire area has been completely encased in ICE. And not just a little ice.... A LOT of ICE. The roads are a nightmare. The tv news has had non-stop coverage of the chaos to the point we're sick of it. Enough! Yes, it's snowy & icy. Yes, GA doesn't have many snow-plows. Yes, it's inconvenient...but pull up your big girl panties & deal with it, people. It's mother nature...you can't change it! So just sit back - enjoy the view, appreciate the down-time and chill.
Georgia Snow Plow

I missed 3 days of work, and VERY cautiously went in on Thursday & Friday. Upon arriving at work, I discovered an 'ice skating rink', sidewalk-slide, and beautiful icicles with the long awaited sun shining on them.. No matter how bad things seem, there's always something beautiful...if you look. Here's are some pictures from around FBCLS.

The Neanderthals finally got out of the house Friday afternoon. They went up to FBCLS to try & use their neanderthal skills to bust up the ice on the sidewalk. It was a tough job - but I think it will make a difference, & be a bit safer on Sunday.
Skating Rink!

It's now Saturday morning...almost a full week of this "Snowmageadon", as the weatherman calls it, and the melt down is finally in motion ~ slow motion, but finally in motion. (Altho' I just heard the weatherman say there might me some more freezing rain soon!) According to local folklore, if snow stays on the ground for 3 days, we'll get more before winter is over. It that's true...we're doomed!

Goals

2011-01-03T20:40:00.010-05:00

Our Pastor had a fantastic sermon on Sunday about making the most from your New Year. One of the main points was simply having goals.

His outline made it simple as A B C D...
Assume Responsibilty for my life. Gal. 6:5.
Believe that I can change. Phil. 4:13
Clarify What I really want - What's important? Job 34:3-4, I Cor.10:23
Don't Wait to begin. Eccl. 11:4 Do it NOW!

He challenged us to make SMART Goals....
Specific Motivational Attainable Relevent Trackable = SMART Goals.

And he reminded us that 'life must be enjoyed under imperfect circumstances'. If we wait for the perfect time, we'll never take that first step out the door.

So with all this in mind I found it very ironic that I had already decided that I would make some goals for the new year. I truly want to accomplish somethings and by putting them in writing - I'm hoping that will make me more accountable for them.

My GOALS for 2011 are:

1. Spend a lot less time in Walmart! ...or any other stores. 'Nuff said.

2. Find time to practice & play music together more often. Either flutes, hammered dulcimers, guitar, or mountain dulcimer...or any combination of the above. Blake & I are blessed by our musical abilities, we need to share that blessing more often. He's been playing in church more regularly, but I just haven't made time for it. Soooo - I want to return this blessing from the Lord but playing for Him more often.

3. Quilts! I have so many projects in my head, as well as numerous UFOs (UnFinished Objects) in boxes that I want to work on. I need to work on these projects - they relax my mind and feed my soul. So, I've made a list of the quilting projects that I want to work on this year. They may all not get done, but if I make some progress ~ ANY PROGRESS!~ on them, then the goal has been met. I WANT to sew, so I will make it a priority instead of making it something to procrastinate about with the best of intentions.

PROJECT LIST: (In no particular order...)

Work on the Feathered Star Medallion Quilt thats been sitting too long. I have the center done - but need to keep going. It's a long term project inspired by a quilt I saw on a calendar. So I have no pattern...just work out each 'layer' as I go. I'm up to the first appliqued floral level...and need to go for it!

Quilt the Celtic Stained Glass - it's ready to be quilting. It's sandwiched together & pinned, all the quilting designs are marked (assuming the marks haved disappeared with the humidity!) so I just need just sit down & do it! I could do this in one day if I concentrated & kept myself motivated.

Put together the Amish block exchange I did with the LallyQuilters. The blocks are done, I just need to assemble them. I've designed a setting on EQ with lots a Flying Geese...just go for it & learn how to make those geese fly!

Various others - Nativity Wallhanging, Plaid Stars, Monster-Alien quilt for Cole, figure out the The Ocean Waves Cross I want to make for my office, the Celtic knot bracelets for next year's Christmas gifts AND the 3D folded fabric star for next year's gifts.

And my #1 one - a labor of love in 2011 is for the Church...make the new Advent Banners!
Wahoo - I've always wanted to make this pattern, now I have the 'go ahead' blessing from our minister of music. I showed him a picture of it as a suggestion for the cover of our Christmas Eve bulletin. He REALLY liked the design, & got all excited about the possiblity of it being our Advent banners....so I offered to make it. So no more thinking & dreaming about this one. It's time to order the pattern, shop for fabric, gather a team of ladies who want to help, and DO IT! This one is a GO for 2011!! WAHOOO!

Merry Christmas 2010 and Happy New Year, too!

2011-01-03T19:46:00.009-05:00

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Merry Christmas!
Our Christmas celebration this year was fun. We started out the day MUCH too early thanks to 2 boys who shall remain nameless,... who just couldn't sleep & HAD to get up. These 2 nameless children have spent most of their Christmas break sleeping in until noon, but not on Christmas morning! Despite having a hard time going to sleep on Christmas Eve, they bounced into our bedroom and dragged us out of bed & demanded that the fun should begin! So, being the good but sleepy parents that we are, but finally let them enter into the livingroom so they could see their loot.

Among the goodies - Ian got a new MP3 player & some funny Cookie Monster undies, and Cole got a massive Nerf gun that is bigger than he is. And they both got several video games as requested. Cole also got something unexpected - 'Big Lenny' the giant crappy he caught back in the spring finally came back from the taxidermist. We didn't tell him, or wrap it up - we just hung it on the wall & waited for him to notice it. It took awhile, but when he finally spotted it - he was pretty impressed. He was also quite surprised with his bacon themed gifts.... Cole being silly, had put 'bacon' down on his Christmas list. So I found a bacon wallet, bacon bandaids, and a book all about bacon for him! Too FunnY!!!

The best Christmas surprise arrived around noon...it started snowing! The Atlanta area hasn't had a white Christmas since the 1880s, so this was quite the Christmas present for everyone. The flakes were huge & fluffy - so pretty to just sit by a window & watch it fall.

New Years was a little bit quieter than usual this year. No special reason...we just were all in a mellower mood I guess. The kids played with their sparklers & some small fireworks, and the adults sat around the campfire chatting & laughing. It was so quiet & mellow that Blake fell asleep in his chair! But all in all it was a pleasant evening.

Rusty made his weird burnt paper flying things....
Its starts out with newspaper twisted & poofed into a bubble. He lights the 4 corners & it burns up...but then if all goes as planned, something really cool happens - it takes flight! It is the coolest looking thing you've ever seen!! (And according to Rusty, in his wilder teenage years, he use to launch them while night-fishing from underneath a local road's bridge. I can just imagine the stories that driver of a car that was passing by still tells about the night he was a 'burning hot UFO'!!! )

We spotted this big ol' barred owl in Pops' driveway as we were arriving for New Years Eve dinner...and finally got a fairly good picture of him.

All in all, 2010 was a good, but challenging year. The economy still stinks - but our Faith in the Lord providing for our needs has carried us through. We are blessed to be together, healthy, and have our home. I am blessed beyond words to have a job I love and be able to serve the Lord while doing it. Blake would much rather be working - but having this unexpected blessing of time off has given him something precious...time with the boys. So, while the $ situation could definitely be better...it could always be worse, so we'll take each day as it comes & continue to count our blessings...because when you get right down to it, God has really & truly just blessed our socks off.

Our Christmas 'Card'

2010-12-17T18:43:00.008-05:00

I usually start taking pictures of the boys in the fall, keeping an eye out for the 'perfect Christmas card picture' to enclose with the Christmas cards I mail out. Most of these cards are sent to family...especially my elderly Aunts. Well, life has been such a whirlwind, the right picture of either the boys or all 4 of us just never happened. I had planned to attempt to take a picture of the boys this weekend as we (FINALLY) decorated our tree. But honestly, trying to get a decent picture of them together is like working with rabid neanderthal monkeys hyped up on mega doses of mountain dew. They just won't, don't, and can't cooperate with me on a posed picture. One or the other is always making a face...COLE!, or about to slug the other one...Ian! Or Riley tries to get into the picture at the wrong moment,(although, in Riley's defense, he usually IS the most cooperative one in the bunch!) or someone sneezes - COLE!, or someone poots & everyone flees the room. Anyway....I woke up this morning with an inspired idea. We just had our portraits taken by Olan Mills for the new Church Directory. Why not use these photos!!?? Not the expensive little wallet sized ones you can order from them, but instead insert the photos into Photoshop from the cd Olan Mills gave us! Wahoo! Thank you, Lord, for the inspired ideas!
Soooo, here's our 'official' Christmas card for this year....

Speaking of our new Church Directory...here it is, and guess who did the cover photo!?! Yup...I'm a 'published photographer!' WAHOO! I also had the great privilege of taking most of the candid photos within the directory.

The significance of this photo is that is was taken IN Lithia Springs about a week or so after the horrible flood in 2009. I was at a LSHS football game (which was playing on a Monday night to make up for the game canceled by the flood), and I looked up and there is was... across the sky looking towards the Church, this beautiful rainbow! It was so moving to see it after the week before's tragic flooding. Even after all the terrible things that had happened - everyone just stood there in awe of it. God was sending us a simple message...He's still in control and there's always Hope.
For the directory I photoshopped a picture I took of our steeple onto the back of the cover photo. It's in the right place...but you can't really see FBCLS from the high school stadium, but I thought it needed to be there. I'm tickled silly with the results, and feel so blessed to have been trusted with the job.

Fa-la-la-la-laaaaa....

2010-12-10T22:39:00.012-05:00

It's Christmas Concert Season around here.

Last night, LSHS's band had their concert. Wonderful!!! They played the traditional "Sleigh Ride", and a couple other tunes, but my favorite was the medley of Christmas songs that included a brief, but oh so beautiful solo by Ian! "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" never sounded better.

Tonight was Cole's Turner Middle School's concert. This was the first time Cole got to dress up in concert attire. I think he looks pretty spiffy! (For some silly reason he didn't enjoy it.)

In between sections of the concert - 6th grade finished/7th & 8th grade coming on - Cole's band director, Chris Willis (who is a fraternity brother of Blake's AND plays in the Westside Winds with Blake) had made arrangements for Blake & Karl to play. They played "Christmas Time is Here", from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, & then Karl played 'O Holy Night.' It was fabulous! They got a well deserved standing ovation! Here's Blake & Karl playing, and Blake, Cole, Chris and Karl.

AND finally, last weekend our church presented "Two from Galilee"...a Broadway style musical drama of how Mary & Joseph were in love, came together, and eventually traveled to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. It was FABULOUS!! Kerry, our music minister, has worked himself half insane getting things ready. It was quite a journey for him. There were soooo many talented people involved - on stage and behind the scenes...it came together in a blessed way that only God can do and was awesome. Blake played in the orchestra with the Westside Winds. I had the privilege of doing a little sewing, and photographing everything. Here's just a few of the photos... (I took over 1000 pictures between the dress rehearsal & the 2 performances. It's so hard to choose which ones to share!) The absolute best part of the show was the Magi, played by 3 of our ministers. They hammed it up perfectly! It completely stole the show. Kudos to Kevin, Danny & Mike!

Now all we have left to do is for Blake & I to get a piece ready for Christmas Eve....YIKES! I haven't played the dulcimer since LAST Christmas Eve!!

Florida Is....

2010-12-04T11:45:00.014-05:00

Thanksgiving with loved ones...

We had 63 folks there this year. While it's great to see everyone, it's also sad to see how many dear folks are now gone. But, we remember them with love and many happy memories from Thanksgivings past.

Good times with goofy people your related to.... Sometimes, Ian gives me a 'look' and is the spittin' image of his Uncle David!

And Riley...just happy to be on a road trip with his family!

Weird roadside tourist attractions....This one had everything from fresh oranges, to rockcandy, to ice cream, to an old timey saloon, an Elvis, a dinosaur museum, a REALLy weird display of 'modern art' AND a 'zoo'.
A friendly goat.
Ian with a sheep who later turned into a 'butt head'!

The boys were terrified that the llama would spit on them. The llama was happy...so long as they kept feeding it fruit.

Cole liked the Coatimundi.

A weird tree face!

A very friendly kitty at the zoo....but rather odd to see him amongst the wildlife.

Mmm?!
A lemur with those beautiful eyes.

Beautiful images of....
Country Dirt Roads

Giant Spiders with hairy knees

Dead Orange Tree in the early morning fog

The early morning fog across a pasture

A Sunset

And where is all began for Blake & I ~ Blanton Methodist Church, established 90+ years ago. We were married there June 9, 1985.

For me, Florida is Thanksgiving, ...and so much more.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:08:00.007-04:00

Some pictures of our halloween fun....

Alex the Dragon.

Alan was Buddy Holly.

Cole the Troll 'Harry Buttgrump'.

Inspired by the Monty Python song, Ian was a Lumberjack...but he looked so much like Paul Bunyon, I had to turn Riley into Babe the Big Blue Ox-retriever!

While at FBCLS's Trunk or Treat, Ian tucked his candy bag into his hat...which made him look like a garden gnome!

A VERY hairy smooch from my boys.

Do I need a trim or what!?!?!!

Another fun-filled halloween....although this one was a lot hairier than most!

Behold!.... The Cinnamon Bread

2010-10-23T20:02:00.021-04:00

I've been enjoying baking bread now for awhile. It's fun & easy, it makes the house smell heavenly when it's baking, and the boys LOVE IT....what more can a mama ask for?!, and it's TOTALLY YUMMY! Lately, I've been making CINNAMON Bread & it's really been a hit. I'm using Pioneer Woman's recipe.
Here's a my cinnamon bread... beginning to end.

Ingredients are pretty basic & simple. (Not all are pictured.) Milk, butter, sugar, eggs, yeast, salt & flour. The one element I've added - a mixture of regular white sugar & some granulated brown sugar. This added a little different element that we really like.

(I've skipped a few steps/photos, but Pioneer Woman.com has the recipe.)

Add enough flour to mixture until it comes together & then let the mixer knead it.

Add more flour as needed...

Now, just for fun, do a little kneading by hand... the old fashioned way, to bring it to the right texture.

When it's nice & smooth, it's time to let it rise. Plop it into an oiled bowl & put into a warm place...like the oven. This will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Now the dough should have doubled in size.

Roll it out onto a counter, baking sheet or whatever workspace you have.

Pour melted butter on it.

Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar all over.

The next step can be messy...roll the dough towards you, sealing the butter-sugar-cinnamon inside.

The most difficult step for me - getting the rolled up dough into the baking pan.

Put into the oven to rise again for about an hour.

After the 2nd rise - it's ALMOST time to bake! The dough should again be doubled in size.

Brush the top with an egg/milk wash.

Isn't this pretty!?!

Bake the bread for about 40 minutes. (If the top is getting too dark, put aluminum foil on top to shield it.) Bread is done when the inside temperature is 200 degrees.

Enjoy the WONDERFUL scent of the bread baking. It's absolutely mouth watering!

Set aside to cool.

Even though it tempting to slice into immediately, I've learned it's better wait until it's cooled...or else it will fall apart like this loaf from a couple weeks ago. Oh well...it still tasted WONDERFUL!

Behold, the bread...almost makes it worth getting out of a warm cozy bed to have some freshly toasted!

Our Other Band Member

2010-10-10T12:35:00.010-04:00

All my blogging lately has been about Ian & the HS band, but we have another very active band member around here...Cole. He's in the TMS pep band. They go to most of the middle school games & are learning how play all those fun songs in the stands & to be crazy-fun just like the HS kids. They haven't quite got all the crazy dancing, singing, yelling down...but give 'em a break. Their games are on Saturday mornings! It's easy to be wild & crazy on Friday nights, but most of us are rather subdued & quiet on Saturday mornings.

By the way - The TMS Indians Football team has done VERY well this season. (A first for TMS!) They're headed for the playoffs! WAHOO!

This past Saturday's game the TMS band director (who is also Blake's Phi Mu Alpha fraternity brother), invited his TMS alumi/HS kids to join the middle school kids. So for once - Ian & Cole were playing in the same band. Ian had a lot of fun trying to teach the youngin's the ropes of HS band. AND just for kicks, Blake & I brought our piccolos & joined in too. The one & only time our entire family playing in the same band. How cool is that!!!

Here's some pictures from Cole's Pep Band season....

He just LOVES having me take his picture.

I wanted ONE good picture of the boys together in the same band.

ONE!

This is the cooperation I got....

But my favorite picture of the day kept reminding me of someone else...

Then it hit me ~ Cole looked like the muppet character ZOOT!

Just some favorite pictures of the band this season...

2010-10-04T20:32:00.010-04:00

Beans, Band and Bazinga!

2010-09-13T17:24:00.012-04:00

Ian, aka 'Beans' senior year has been full of fun, so far. The football team is currently 2-0, which is a first for LSHS! The previous years records were 1-9, and 1-9, so we're just not use to winning. Therefore, the band kids have been rockin' & rollin' in the stands. The energy, enthusiasm, and adrenaline have been running high. Here's a few pictures of the fun....
Our first game Lithia Springs vs Haralson Co.

And our second game against Cedartown.

The guys of the 'Combat Wombats' (the name they gave themselves when they played paintball together), were having a blast doing a 'kick line' - what they lack in grace, skill and coordination is fully made up for in their over the top enthusiasm, and they bellow BAZINGA at the end of every fight song ~ it's hysterical. I love watching them just totally enjoying the feeling of winning. WAHOO!

Ian has also been playing bass with the FBCLS Youth Band. While he doesn't necessarily appreciate us taking his picture, he has been enjoying himself.

Back to Band and Back to School

2010-08-20T17:12:00.009-04:00

It's an illusion around here that summer is time off for June, July AND August. School actually starts at the beginning of August...when it's hot, muggy, humid and just plain horrible weather. And because school starts so stinkin' early, that means band camp is at the end of July...when it's hot, muggy, humid and just plain horrible weather for being outside. Add in the fact that our band kids have to march on the asphalt parking lot AND the A/Cs in the school were not working yet, and you have a recipe for sweat, sweat and more sweat. Whew! It was an incredibly hot week!! Here's a few pictures of Ian's senior year of band camp....

Poor Tim's legs were the worst sunburn I'd seen in ages!

I love this shirt!

Our trumpets performing on the last day of camp. It was so hot they had to move the show into the gym.

Our WICKED show shirts!

And here are our annual First Day of School Pictures of Ian and Cole.

Cole is smack in the middle of Middle School...7th grade. He's doing well, so far, and seems to have fallen back into the routine easily...except for first thing in the morning when he just can't wake up! He says 'It's just TOOO early!' He's really excited about playing in the Pep Band for the football games this year. That means extra work for Blake & I.... I'll be photographing the High School Band's events on Friday nights, and then Blake will accompany the middle school band on Saturday mornings. So it's going to be a BUSY fall!! (Cole's band director, Mr. W.is a old fraternity brother of Blake's. We keep trying to get Cole to call him 'Uncle Chris' since Chris is his daddy's 'brother', but Cole just doesn't see the humor in that!)

Ian is proud to be a senior! He's never been overly fond of school, but there actually seems to be a spring in his step, and a little more enthusiasm for life lately. He likes most of his classes, is enjoying band despite the challenges of the heat, has fully embraced the privilege of 'lording over the freshmen', and he has decided to try out for the Scholar Bowl Team. THAT's a first for Ian - to actually go for something voluntarily!! Wahoo! All in all - Ian is awesome. Let hope he continues to enjoy his senior year & has a blast. Wahoo for the class of 2011!

YUCK Night 2010

2010-08-03T20:07:00.022-04:00

Last night was the FBCLS U-Turn Student Ministry Yuck Night. This year the recent grads who are leaving the Youth were in charge of everything, and boy did they have some evil minds that came up with some horrible, revolting, disgusting, gross games.

The games started out with the simple but effective 'Hurricane' bucket of water toss relay. Everybody gets good & wet.

Then, the slimy, slippery crack the egg-into-a-cup. Some folks had a face-full, other's had partners with good aim.

Next, we make 'biscuits'....a plate full of flour with one M&M hidden in there somewhere. A big PUFF of air can be quite effective.

Now its time to get seriously groddy... bobbing for apples in baked beans.
YUCK!!!

Then we play 'Redneck Paintball'! Dip a marshmallow into the goo and throw it at another team's targetman. This quickly turned into a free-for-all food fight. There was green mayo, blue mashed potatoes, red spaghetti sauce, as well as those apples/baked beans flying every where!

Now for something DIFFERENT! Drink the 'radioactive goop'...which was tonic water and oyster juice. It really glowed under the black lights!!! It smelled HORRIBLE! But according to the kids 'didn't taste that bad.' Hmmm...I still think I'll pass on that refreshment.

How about a little mystery snack...fed to you by a blindfolded friend. (Chocolate pudding w/ oreos & gummys.) Messy, messy!

Finally - the most revolting, nasty smelling, putrid looking game of all...find the raisin in a diaper full of chocolate sauce & diced spam. THIS WAS AWFUL!!!!

After a cook-out, it was finally time to clean up via a babywash slip-n-slide. Wahoo!!!

Bless her heart, Katie has such a blissful look on her face...like she's saying 'cleanse me, Lord, cleanse me!' hahahaha!!!

Events like these are proof that a bunch of teens can have a blast and still keep it 'clean'. No drugs, alcohol, dirty dancing, potty-mouths or high speed thrills were needed for our kids to have an memorable time together. I think that's just awesome! FBCLS U-Turn Student Ministry Rocks! Thank you, Danny & 2010 Seniors! And next year Ian will have the privilege of helping plan Yuck Night! *Bwhahahaha ~ Insert EVIL LAUGH!*

Happy Birthday Cole, Happy Birthday America!

2010-07-06T21:35:00.011-04:00

July brings to fun things ~ Independence Day on July 4th, and Cole's birthday on July 6th.

On the 4th we had lots of fun with some left-over fireworks...what they were leftover from, who knows? Either last New Years or last 4th of July... But either way, we were glad to have 'em. We didn't have any of the great big impressive stuff - but we had fun with the sparklers & stuff. And it's always fun to take pictures of the sparklers.

Our neighbors had some of the really BIG fireworks, though. So, we ended up abandoning our stuff & standing at the front gate watching them light up their stuff. Their yard is small & has lots of trees, so they had the brilliant (?) plan to launch in the most open, flat spot available to them...right next to the road. It was really much too close to the road & approaching cars often swerved away from the action - but boy, did they put on a show. We laughed...how bizarre is it for us to sit at our gate & enjoy watching the neighbors break the law with their pyrotechnic show-by-the-road... and photograph it!?! Here's a collage of the ones I caught on film.

Today is Cole's 12th birthday. I can hardly believe our baby is 12! He's such a great kid and a delight to our family. He's growing like kudzu lately, too. He's constantly hungry and has even been dreaming about Wendy's bacon burgers. Cole really doesn't care for cake, so I didn't make him a birthday cake, but he wanted bacon for breakfast this morning...so I stuck a candle in with his birthday breakfast & we sang! Now that's REDNECK!!
This afternoon he wanted to go see the movie 'The Last Air Bender' & then eat out at his favorite place...Pizza Hut. WAHOO!! Happy Birthday Cole!!!! We love you!!!!

Carpe Quiltem

2010-06-26T21:59:00.014-04:00

Carpe Quiltem.... seize the quilt!

The Lallyquilters have the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Each lady in the quilting group has gifts, knowledge and stories to share, all this enriching, delighting, and touching the hearts & minds of the group. Recently, we decided to make a difference in something that affects almost all of us. Each and every one of us has been touched by cancer in one way or another - either a personal battle, or a loved one or friend has had to deal with the dreaded 'big C'. Sometimes these battles have happy ending, other times, the disease is just too strong. Using our gifts - our quilting skills - we decided to make a raffle quilt that will help Conquer Cancer ...all of the proceeds from the raffle will be given to cancer research. In a small, but personal way, we are helping stop cancer.

Each lady who contributed picked a 'cancer awareness ribbon color'...pink for breast cancer, etc, and made an Ohio Star block. Then she mailed the block to Dondy in PA. Dondy collected the blocks & assembled the quilt top, back, and presentation bag using these special blocks. Her attention to detail, arrangement of the blocks, pressing, and fabulous workmanship was amazing! Upon completing this portion of the quilt, Dondy then mailed it to me. My job was to quilt it. So for the past couple of weekends I've been totally focused on that...and in my happy place, because I'm been quilting like crazy! In addition to quilting 'in the ditch' on each individual block, I also quilted a little Celtic motif between each block top/bottom/side, and then an expanded version of this Celtic motif all along the outer border.

Here are some pictures of the quilt's sojourn at my house....

The next step on this quilt's journey is back to PA, this time to Valerie, who will prepare it for the raffle which will take place in Ontario Canada at the Fergus Scottish Festival & Games in mid-August. Valerie will help us publicize the quilt, handle the raffle tickets. When we have a winner - I'll add additional information & pictures but for now, the Lallyquilters have worked together, encouraged each other, and supported this very special project together...Carpe Quiltem!

AUGUST 20 UPDATE - the raffle raised almost $900.00!!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!!

June 2010 - Our 25th Anniversary in "Mayberry"

2010-06-12T16:42:00.010-04:00

Mount Airy North Carolina is the home of the real "Mayberry". It's a charming little town that has embraced it's claim to fame - the Andy Griffith Show. It's old main street has lots of quaint shops, Opie's Candy Store, The Bluebird Diner, Floyd's Barber Shop, and Snappy Lunch...and yes, I found a quilt shop.

Further down the street is the 'Old Court House', and Wally's Service Station - home to the old squad car rides. Tucked behind Wally's is the Darlin place...complete with a still. The folks in Mayberry are just as kind and friendly as the folks old in the old tv show....Southern hospitality as it's best. We had a fun day there enjoying the scenary, small-town atmosphere, and just being together on our anniversary.

Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

2010-06-12T15:47:00.020-04:00

We went camping for our 25th anniversary in Stone Mtn State Park NC. We've never been there, and didn't know much about it, but picked it based on it's proximity to Mount Airy NC, and it's remote campground. It turned out to be a very nice place. The campground wasn't crowded - always a plus - and it was quiet & peaceful. Our camp site was next to a gurgling creek, and had a nice view of the little valley we were in. While we would have like to have had more shade, we made our own shade with an old tarp we always take along 'just in case.'

Hiking in the park was fun. Beautiful forests, and well maintained trails are always a good thing. (Even tho' the signs were not always clear!) There was a 200' waterfall tumbling down the mountain ~ quite a sight. Blake was the only one brave enough to hike around the entire mountain. (Yeah, the rest of us are wimps.) There was also an old homestead in a meadow beneath Stone Mountain. Rock climbers were scaling the granite walls - what a challenge! I think they were crazy!

We spent some time next to a creek where the boys played. They mostly skipped rocks & just splashed...but Cole always finds a way to totally immerse himself in any body of water.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is beautiful. Every twist and turn of the road brings another stunning view of the mountains, valleys and forests. While the weather that day was a bit dreary, it's still pretty hard to mess up a fabulous scenic overlook of the mountains.

Around camp we spend a lot of time reading, just sitting around, playing games, and just generally enjoying being together and as well as being lazy. Blake found some blueberries while on our waterfall hike - he enjoyed them in his pancakes.

Blake discovered a GIGANTIC apple tree in the campground. It was absolutely HUGE! We think the little valley where we camped must have been an old homestead - and this apple tree left over from the original farm. We've never seen such a huge apple tree.

Happy Anniversary....

Sunset

2010-06-12T15:37:00.003-04:00

On our 25th Anniversary, the Lord blessed us with an especially pretty sunset. While we know He didn't do this just for us...it's a gift we'll gratefully accept anyway. It's was a lovely way to end a lovely day.

Proof of God's Sense of Humor...

2010-06-12T15:13:00.005-04:00

The Fireflies at Stone Mtn State Park NC were incredible!!!! They were the highlight of our evenings. Unlike Georgia fireflies with their slow lazy flights, these lightning bugs were zooming through the air quite fast, and didn't stay near the ground...they were from ground level all the way up just above the trees! And they blinked at a different rate from our GA fireflies - quite bright & fast. It looked like a Disney lightshow in the woods. A totally amazing, God given show. WOW!
We tried to photogragh them...it's hard to do, but you can see the light green lights in these pictures. (Click on the picture for a close up, better view.)

I've always said that fireflies are proof that God has a sense of humor....how else can we explain a critter with a blinky bottom!

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

Robert Frost

Oh Deer, Oh Deer!

2010-06-12T14:18:00.013-04:00

Our camping trip to Stone Mtn State Park, NC included an abundance of deer sightings. When I say 'abundance', I mean abundance! Cole started counting the deer upon our arrival on Monday. By the time we left on Friday morning he had counted 154 deer! Now we don't know if that was the same 10-15 deer over & over, but there sure were a lot of deer in the park. They were quite mellow around people, but still wary enough to be wild. Blake & Ian saw a beautiful 6 point buck (with his antlers in velvet)...but didn't have a camera with them. One deer was very obviously pregnant, and quite bold about begging for handouts. We did our best to obey the park rules about not feeding the wildlife...but did toss some apples out one evening for the deer's enjoyment.

Cole & I walked up to a meadow near our camp & watched the deer. They came out into the meadow every evening before dark. After awhile, they got spooked & ran off. All except one doe who ran in the other direction. So Cole & I strolled over towards the direction she had headed. She was acting kind of weird & very concerned about us sitting on a picnic table watching her. Then we heard it...'meh, mehhhh!' She had a baby fawn hiding in the grass right in front of us! (It was just beyond the pine branch sticking out in the picture.) We saw the grass wiggle & watched the grass 'trail' wiggle all the way back to it's mama, calling to her all the way. It was so new & tiny we couldn't even see it above the grass. I really wanted to see the baby - but it's was pretty cool to hear it.

On Thursday Cole & I were driving back towards our camp after a hike. He spotted another deer just off the road & we stopped to admire her...then Cole realized she wasn't alone. She had her fawn with her! We finally got to see the new baby!!! It was the most precious little thing, all wobbly and bouncing around. We were so excited to see it. We have never seen a new fawn before. We could have stood there all day just watching it, but Mama Deer finally walked away further back into the woods with the fawn bouncing along behind her. What a blessing to see! One of the highlights of our entire trip.
Can you see the fawn!?!

Misc. Nonsense from our Trip

2010-06-12T14:01:00.014-04:00

The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take pictures of just any old thing you see, even when it's silly, or stupid, or just plain HUH? You can take a picture just for the fun of it. Here's some of the ??? pictures from our trip to NC.

Ian took a bunch of glowsticks & put them on his bike. Made for some fun pictures & cool ride-bys in the campground!

This Hawg passed us as we were driving home...we got a kick our of the little hawg riding with him. I guess some bikers have a silly side.

Seriously! WHO DESIGNED THIS THING! THAT'S JUST BAD!!!! So where's the giant Preparation H??

The proximity of this "Fatz" sign with the giant peach butt... What this on purpose???

The boys got a kick out of Chief's Wings & Firewater....one of their Sunday School leaders is Chief! FIREwater + our friend the Fire Chief = lots of laughs.

Cole has a future business waiting for him!

I didn't know I had a barber shop!

What a bull!!

Happy 17th to Ian!

2010-05-07T22:28:00.011-04:00

WOW! It's really hard to believe Ian is 17 years old. But April 24th, 1993 he joined our family, and we've survived a whole 17 years together! Wahoo! This year was a bit unusual for his birthday...the band trip to Disney was during his birthday, so we celebrated a week early.

Cole made Ian a card. He really worried that Mr. Teen-Attitude would just blow it off & not like it. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Cole's reaction is priceless!

Here's a few more pictures of the birthday fun which included bowling with the family & his friend, Van.

Does this picture say 'I'm 17 & own the world' or what!!?!?!

And some pictures really just defy description...

Flamingo Fun

2010-05-07T21:13:00.005-04:00

Our U-TURN student ministries just started a new fund raiser....they are 'Flamingo Flocking' yards. You can buy a flock and send them to a friend's yard...done in secret, during the night. What a surprise to wake up to! OR you can buy 'Flamingo Insurance' - in hopes of preventing your yard from being flocked. Either way - it's lots of fun. (All the funds raised go towards summer youth camp at the beach.)

Cole had lots of fun playing with the flamingos...until they attacked!!!!!!

And I had a little Photoshop fun, too! =)

Backyard Critters

2010-04-16T16:25:00.013-04:00

Some of our Backyard Critters....

Humming bird

Barred Owl (Comes to Pop's backyard every morning to check out the squirrel buffet.)

Beautiful Blissful-Roxanne Butterfly - native to Colorado, can be found by following the sounds of giggles, glee and extreme silliness, known to be very musical and sometimes chooses to dance instead of fly.

Common Yard Apes...relaxing in their natural habitat.Be careful - they are dangerous. Often eat you out of house & home.

Rare Blue Flying Goober... only seen near trampolines... on Easter.

Rare Ian-Stinker - hasn't been seen in many years. Suspected of changing his appearance,by shedding his skunk-like skin and evolving into another kind of stinker...a teenager.

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-08T21:01:00.011-04:00

Spring Break is in full swing. Instead of camping, this year we've opted for a Spring Break at home...but have plenty of fun. We started off the first evening of the break with a Friday night movie...the new "Clash of the Titans" - a pretty good remake of the classic. The boys gave it 2 thumbs up.

Then Easter.... It was really a lovely day. Unlike the past several Easters, this one was quite warm. The kids had a great time playing on the trampoline. Cole & Alex were rather sluggish when they finally hunted the Easters eggs because it had progressed from warm to just plain hot!

The warm weather has brought out the flowers AND all the song birds. The gold finch colors are getting brighter every day. I took these pictures from our kitchen window.

Wednesday we all went to West Point Lake for a day of fishing. Blake had gone last Saturday & caught a whole ice chest full of crappie. We were hoping for the same kind of luck on Wednesday. The first fish of the day was mine. Wahoo! And the trend continued! While Blake & Cole caught a few, for whatever reason - the fishing luck was with me that day. I haven't been fishing in years....I usually send Blake & the boys & stay home to sew, but Wednesday I caught bass, bream, and crappie! Wahoo! Towards the end of the day Blake got a bit too comfortable in his chair and fell asleep. The only thing that woke him up was a catfish tugging on his line!! Cole made friends with a Canadian goose. The goose was too wild (these lake geese are not like geese at parks) to take the food directly from Cole's hand, but it did finally did get pretty close. Ian doesn't really care for fishing, but he enjoyed the beautiful day - he's happy anytime he has his MP3 and some Chex Mix!

The one down side, but really amazing side of spring break was the pollen. The official pollen count on Wednesday was around 5000+. (A count of 100 is considered extremely high.) The air was so thick with the pollen you could actually SEE clouds of it floating across the lake every time the wind blew. It was like campfire smoke swirling around in the wind. It covered everything - even spider webs. I bet spiders HATE springtime. I told Cole to thump the pine blossoms to see what happens...PUFF! The edges of the lake were covered with the floating ick. Wherever it collected in the little inlets it was actually decaying...a sickly smell, EXACTLY like a dumpster! ICK!!! It was awful!

Today we made a special trip to Carrollton just for Ian. He took the test, passed and now has a Learners Permit to drive! Wahoo!!! Congratulations Ian! We're proud of you. Afterwards we stopped at what use to be our favorite Restaurant, The Lazy Donkey. It changed hands recently & just hasn't been the same old Donkey...so we call it the Jackass Palace now! But it was still a good meal & great way to celebrate Ian's accomplishment. Consider yourselves warned....he'll be on the roads!!!

We have a couple more days of break - Friday, Saturday & Sunday.... no special plans. A little bit of lazin' around, MAYBE a little housework, and a little more fun all sound good to me!

Signs of Spring 2010

2010-04-02T13:05:00.008-04:00

Today is BEAUTIFUL!! The sky is brilliant blue and the sun is shining, the temperature is mild, the flower blossoms are popping out, and the birds are twitterpated. It's just so stinkin' pretty we HAD to go outside with the camera...or should I say cameras!!

This morning we played 'dualing cameras'. Blake had one camera - with the big 200mm lens, and I had the other - with the 'regular' lens. Both of us took pictures of the various flowers in the yard...violets, clover, dandelions, and our peach blossoms. Here's a sampling of the results. Can you tell who took the picture???

(Hint - right click on the picture...the properties 'name' of the picture has a "B" or a "D" to identify who took the picture, but a couple pictures don't have this ID, they were Blake's.)

Enjoy....

This is my favorite sign of spring....Blake taking flower pictures!

Our Lucky Day

2010-03-16T20:54:00.012-04:00

Lately, it's feels like every day is our 'lucky' day!

Cole & Blake went fishing. On the first day they caught nothing. The only fish they brought home were the greasie fastfood kind. BUT the next day they went back and Cole came home with this....

Cole thought he was hung on a stump, but that 'stump' starting fighting & wahoo ~ what a whopper! We estimate this crappie to be 2+ lbs, and it measured 15" long. I'm not sure who got the most thrill out of it - Cole, or Blake...or me!

Ian has had some 'lucky' days lately, too. I'm very proud to say while spending the weekend at D'Now, a local Youth event involving youth from all over the county, he decided to rededicate his life to Jesus. He's been maturing in amazing ways lately - I'm seeing glimpses of the truly awesome man within the growing teen. His whole 'aura' has changed lately - he's laughing more, enjoying life, and has found his joy.God is amazing, and its even more amazing to sit back & watch Him at work on Ian!

Blake and Cole found the first four-leaf clovers of the year today. Cole must have inherited his Daddy's ability to spot those elusive four-leave tokens of luck because he spotted several on his own. I swear, Blake can walk across the yard & say ' There's one. There's another. Here's 3 more' without even slowing down. He just SEES them!

And finally, here's some spring pictures - the birds at Blake's backyard buffet. The first violets of the year, and my annual bouquet of daffodils.

Feeling Flakey

2010-02-19T20:35:00.007-05:00

Blake took some snowflake pictures.

Snowflakes are just too cool for words - pun intended.

So beautiful, and so unique. Click on the picture to enlarge them & see more detail. I cropped in pretty tight on each individual snowflake, so the picture might go grainy, but they are still pretty. And yes, I played with Photoshop on some of them. Mostly just cropping & lighting...Blake did the rest of the magic with the camera. =)

Each one a work of art.

I love it when God feels artistic.

More Snow ~ Wahoo!

2010-02-13T20:23:00.015-05:00

Friday afternoon we were blessed with another snow. (Yes, I know folks up north have been slammed with some unbelieveably massive blizzards, but for us, snow is a blessing! I'd probably feel a lot different about snow if I had to shovel it, but since we don't, I'm always tickled silly when it snows!) School was canceled, and we just waited & watched - hoping for a good one, but worried it would put a damper on a planned dinner with a group from church, but after a call saying the dinner was on, we ventured out.

This is our house as we were leaving. I love how the snow coats & outlines each and every tree branch. Such a pretty sight.

The roads on the way.

Our destination - Sam & Rosco's.

I'm happy to say everyone made it to the dinner & we all had a delightful time together. The trees outside looked like they were in full bloom...with 'snow blossoms'.

The birds were in a frenzy of eating at Blake's Birdy Buffet. There must have been hundreds of visitors there! Blake got a really nice picture of this little downy woodpecker.

Cole & I made some "snow cream". This was the first time for all of us & I'm happy to say it was quite yummy! It would have been better with real cream, but our 2% milk worked well enough.

Bobbin was NOT impressed with the snow. She was completely disgusted with Blake for plopping her out into it. IF looks could kill!!!!

On the other hand, Riley thinks snow is great. He romps, wallows his face in it & plays almost as much as Cole & Ian.

Our local firestation made their own snowman. We think he's pretty cool!

Blake went out early and took some really pretty pictures. The brilliant blue sky behind the snow covered branches are just so lovely. And this single snowflake - shining out in the middle of the snow covered yard. How awesome it that!

This says it all....

2010-01-12T20:25:00.002-05:00

A very accurate description of January so far! The boys have had 2 snow days - last Friday & Monday - due to the icy roads. Even at Mama's house in FL it's been cold. Her heat isn't working right so it's cold inside, too. And they have had sleet & snow in Florida, too. Not good! I noticed there is still quite a bit of ice & snow around in the shady areas. There is an old saying in Georgia 'if snow stays on the ground more than 3 days, we'll get some more snow before winter is over'. It snowed 6 days ago. Hmmm ~ we'll watch and see, and put that theory to test.

So what's all the hub-bub about global warming???? Al Gore, where are you? We could use a little warmth about now!

Snow! January 2010

2010-01-08T17:30:00.006-05:00

Wahoo! It started snowing yesterday. As usual, this created major panic, mayhem, and general chaos is Georgia. Lots of folks race to the grocery store for milk & bread. Personally, I think TP & popcorn would be more essential & useful, but that's just my personal opinion! hahaha We don't get snow often enough to learn how to live with it. So, to us it's fun, it's pretty, and it's a reason to stay home & play! The boys had a snow day off from school ~ which pleased them greatly to say the least. Blake ran outside last night & took some pictures. He even turned our Christmas lights back on just to see how it looked in the snow. But it's also a hazard....the tv news is showing lots of video of cars sliding on the ice and crashing into each other. Just up the way from our back gate 2 cars mixed it up a few minutes ago! So when it snows - we'll just stay home and play ...and I made some bread. (Yum!) Sounds like a good way to spend a cold winter day!

Cloudland Canyon Hike

2010-01-08T16:49:00.014-05:00

Last Saturday we decided to start the New Year off with a nice hike. Cloudland Canyon was calling our name, so off we went. Road Trip! It was REALLY REALLY Cold. The temp. never got out of the teens, and the wild chill was awful. Standing on the edge of the canyon at the point was really a challenge! We look happy in the above picture...but we're shivering like crazy. We didn't stay long at the overlook/point.

So off we went - into the canyon, on the waterfall trail. This is where it got interesting. Blake & I had made this hike almost exactly 25 years ago, in Jan 1985, the winter before we married. I remembered the canyon trail & walls being icy and beautiful. That's what we wanted to show the boys...the ice! The trail was much improved in the last 25 years...because I vividly remember slipping on the ice & almost sliding underneath the railing into the canyon! Now there's boardwalks & better rails in the places that need it. The wall of icicles was so cool. The boys couldn't get enough of playing with the ice.

Eventually, we convinced the boys to keep hiking down the trail towards the falls. They were equally impressed with the ice around the falls. The spray from the falls creates winter ice sculptures all over. It's a 'box canyon'...so the ice is almost surrounding you, with the falls at the end. It was really pretty! The wind wasn't bad down there, but you still had to stay bundled up. Somewhere, Blake & I have a picture of us taken in this exact same spot....25 years ago.

This is how Blake spent most of the day.

More pictures....

The hardest part of a hike for me is going out of the canyon. I'm built like a dashound ...wee, short little legs! So steep climbs and lots of steps just wear me out. I've learned to just go at my own pace - Lord knows I'm not exactly in tip-top shape - and just keep walking, NOT try to walk at the same pace as other long-legged folks. Everyone else goes on ahead of me. Occasionally they wait for me, but most of the time they go on. Riley doesn't mind going at my pace...he often stays with me. It looks like he's saying "are you gonna make it, Mama? Do I need to run for help????"

Could my face be any more red from the cold!

But I finally made it..... but I'm always the Last Hiker Out.

Here Comes 2010!

2010-01-01T16:40:00.009-05:00

Happy New Year!

Here's some pictures of our New Years celebrations....

I attempted to make some homemade pretzels for us to snack on. While the dough itsn't hard to make, it was hard to get them pretzel bites all the same size. You have to boil the pretzel bites before baking them...kinda weird and a hassle if you ask me. But I followed all the directions...and this was the result. A tasty treat...weird looking, but yummy topped with melted butter.

We had loads of great food. Pam made a huge, tasty brisket in her jacuzzi sized slow cooker. Blake made some artichoke dip, pico de gallo, and guacamole dip...all recipes from his new Pioneer Woman cookbook. Wahoo ~ PW Rocks! (Sorry I didn't get any pictures of all that...I was busy w/ the pretzel making stuff.)

Our New Years tradition of hanging around the fire like a much of homeless people in the cold carries on. It was a cool, foggy evening. The wind didn't blow the smoke into our faces, so it was actually quite pleasant around the fire.

Lots of family & friends around always makes for a good time - the laughter & nonsense were flowing quite um, liberally!?! Rusty & Blake up to their usual brotherly antics....as well as dear Bea. (We're so glad Bea & the family always drive out & join the fun!)

Fireworks always adds a smokey but fun element to the evening.

Alex & Cole have been thoroughly 'indoctrinated' into their pyromaniac roots by their dads.
They have one really weird 'firework' called a 'Snake'...you light the little black coin looking thingy & it grows into a long black snake thingy that looks like something unpleasant the cat left for you.

I love taking pictures of the kids playing with sparklers.
Cole & Alex had a great time.

But by the end of the evening, the kids (and I!) were pretty tired. We slept pretty late this morning! I think Cole looks like a mummy in a snuggy!

Tomorrow we're planning to drive up to Cloudland Canyon for some hiking. With the cold, wet weather we're hoping the waterfalls will have some pretty icicles. The next blog post will hopefully have pictures of our day there.

Well, 2010 is officially here. May it bring love, laughter & Joy to us all. May the blessings be plentiful beyond our wildest dreams, and may the Lord's presence in our lives allow us to reach beyond our boundries and let His Light shine in all we do.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T18:47:00.016-05:00

Here's a few photos from our day....

Our Tree

The boys when they first see the goodies Santa brought them.

Let the fun begin!

Blake got the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, a new flute case, and some new camera lenses. The lenses were part of a surprise package that a friend sold to me for practically nothing. We now have 2, yes I said 2 Nikon D50's with all the lenses! Wahoo! (While we don't have a picture of it, I am the proud new owner of a standup mixer. I hope to make lots of bread & goodies with the help of this new toy. I've already made one batch of pizza dough....it kneads stuff we need soooooo well! Wahoo!)

Ian got some Halo undies, and games, and can now say "This is all I need..."

Cole was happy with his Halo toys, book (which he read in 1 day!), and his surprise MP3 player. Now he can be like the big kids & walk around listening to his music...and NOT have to listen to his brother sing.

The picture of the day was Ma & Poppy....we got Ma a 'head massage thingy'...I think Poppy likes it!

The kids ALL got some Silly String. It made for a fun Silly String battle in the front yard at Ma & Pops' place.

Riley got the first present of the day. He's been so excited & anticipating his new 'duck', so we gave it to him first thing Christmas morning. He was such a happy puppy....and he's so easy to please!

With all the hustle & bustle, and business of the Season, sometimes we get crabby & grumpy...especially with the ones closest to us. Recently, after an especially 'challenging' day, I declared a Christmas assignment. We were each assigned to write down 3 things we love about each other. We had to put some thought into it, and really think about what we love and appreciate about the ones closest to us. Christmas Morning, before opening anything, we took time to reflect upon the special meaning of Christmas, and read our 3 reasons to each other. It was really sweet & special. Blake being Blake decided to take a poetic turn with his thoughts.....
(click on the picture to enlarge it)

The day ended on an especially pretty note....

Thank you, Lord, for Christmas, for unexpected blessings & surprises, for boys & their toys, for happy pups, for poems and their inspired writers, and for beautiful sunsets. Merry Christmas!