Life is like a piece of cake.....

Well, Bailey took her cake decorating class on Thursday! She had such a good time and loved the class. She got to not only decorate a cake, but they decorated cookies and another dessert as well. She brought home this cake she made. She wanted to save it for the 4th of July, but we had to explain to her it wouldn't taste very good if we saved it until then....we didn't think it would look too good either. She brought home 7 different decorating tips and now says she is gonna make cakes for her summer job. LOL! She was so funny about the cake too. She and her daddy went back and forth about how big of a piece of cake he could have. In the end, he wound up with a one sixth piece...those were her words.
We went to see the movie Wall-e together on Friday, and met up with our friends, Susan and Jay and their children Christopher and Sara Michael. It was a very good movie, and actually had a very interesting message that I am sure most children didn't catch on to, but boy I sure did. I would recommend it to those of you with children.
Sarah arrived home today from her choir tour. She had a good time, and is glad she did it! The middle picture is of the group that went the day they left. Not the greatest of shots, but what do you want for a cell phone camera. The other is a picture of her on the ride home. She is tired and ready for bed as I type this. She still has to perform tomorrow morning for both of our church services, so the tour isn't done until tomorrow at noonish......she just gets to sleep in her own bed tonight instead of a hotel room.
Well, I guess that is all the updates for now. My dad and Sharon are arriving tomorrow, so we should have a fun week hanging out together.
Hope you all have a good rest of the weekend!

Our Beach Weekend

We are back from the beach! We had a great time on St. Simon's Island with Betsy, Rick and Andy. These are our dearest friends who live in Texas now, so our time seeing them is very limited and precious when we get to see them. Betsy and I pretty much raised our children together since Sarah was about 2 1/2. We have seen and gone through tons together, and she is such a support system for me. I miss not seeing her everyday like we used to, but we pick up right where we left off when we are together. We had a great time this weekend just like we expected. The kids decided to rent beach bikes to cruise down the shore. They had a great time on them, but they are both complaining that their thighs are killing them today! I got a little bit of sun on the beach in places where I missed the sunscreen application, but by golly the kids didn't get burned! See how I sacrifice for them.....LOL

Todd and Rick have always had a tradition of conducting a "taste test" on various things. We have done the Dunkin' Donuts vs. Krispy Kremes, the new Lay's potato chips vs. the old, and of course the men always have a taste test on different liquors. This trip they did a taste test on Crown Royal XR vs. Crown Royal Cask No. 16.....with the latter being the winner. It was an expensive taste test this time, but the men would agree it was well worth it.

We hung out at the pool as well as the beach and just caught up on things! We ate some yummy food while we were there too. The kids posed for a shot at a restaurant called Mullets that we ate at last night. It was a really fun weekend all together.

I know it seems like I am not posting as often lately, but the summer has gotten a bit crazier than I anticipated. Todd and I have been very busy and consumed with the prospect of putting our house on the market and either moving to another home here in Tifton, or finding out if we are destined to be in Oconee......they keep dangling it in front of us, but will not give specifics which is driving both of us nuts. The summer is coming to a close for us very soon and we have to make some major decisions in a few short weeks. Needless to say, this has consumed our every waking moment, and I have not had the time to just play on the computer like I normally do. I will keep you updated as to what happens with us!

Sarah is leaving for her youth choir tour to North Carolina tomorrow morning(Wednesday). They will be gone until Sunday. They are singing for a church and two children's homes. They are going to also have a fun day at Carrowinds Amusement park too. Please keep her and all of the other youth in your prayers for safe travel.

Bailey is taking a cake decorating class on Thursday as well as her piano lesson, so she will have a few things to do to keep her occupied while Sarah is gone.

My father and Sharon are arriving here on Sunday, so we will have a good time visiting with them as well. Hopefully we will have a nice 4th of July celebration too. We are taking my dad on a train ride to Plains, Ga while he is here. It should be a fun time.

I guess that is all for now. I hope you all are doing well. Hugs to everyone.

Off to the Blueberry Patch

We went blueberry picking yesterday with Aubrey, who was one of my students in my class, and her sister, Lauren, and their mom. Aubrey has been wanting me to come to her house to see her bike since school has let out. Every week at church, she asks me if I am coming over to see it. So her mom called me this week and invited us to go blueberry picking and then come over to their house to let the girls go swimming afterward. My girls had a good time, and we picked a gallon of blueberries and blackberries as well. We had left to go picking at like 8:15 in the morning, and then we went swimming for a little while afterward, but it got very hot, very early in the day. We headed home to relax a bit as it was our first day after VBS was over. Later in the evening, Bailey and I made homemade blackberry ice cream. It was so yummy. We froze most of the blueberries, but not all of them. We kept some out to enjoy in some pancakes for Sunday morning. Just thought I would share a few pictures for now. Hope you all have a good weekend.

VBS Week

Well we are in full swing of Vacation Bible School at church. We started yesterday and the kids are having a blast. Sarah is helping with music and dancing, and I am working in the craft area....imagine that. Bailey just gets to have fun! I put two pictures in here of the girls, however they aren't the best pictures in the world. They turned out kinda dark. The one of Sarah at the top is from our "gleaning" we did the other day. We thought we were doing green beans, but we did green peppers instead. It was fun and we got it all done pretty quickly. The VBS pictures were taken this morning. Sarah and two of the other youth were leading in the kids in a dance during our opening this morning. Bailey was all excited cuz she was asked to hold the Bible this morning during the opening activities as well. That picture really came out dark, but I didn't know it until I came home and put them on the computer. Bailey looks forward to going to VBS every morning.....they get to do crafts, recreation, music, drama, classroom time, and snack. It runs from 9 to 12 every morning.

Then today we got to start taking our tests for our accelerated reader books at the AR center for the summer reading program. The girls read and take a test to see if they understood the book basically, and then they are rewarded points for the test results. At the end of the summer they turn their points in for prizes. I like it because it really encourages them to read. Sarah actually is taking American Literature this coming school year so her upcoming teacher is requiring the kids to get in at least 20 points over the summer that will be counted as their first major grade of the class. She wasn't too happy to be forced to read only AR books, but she already has 9 points from just reading 1 book, and she picked up another book that is worth 15 today at the library so she will be done with the requirement, just by finishing this book. Each book is worth a certain number of points based on the length and difficulty of the book. Not every book at the library is an AR book, so the kids have to find books that are AR....which basically means there is a test in the computer system for that particular book.

Bailey LOVED her art class last week. The teacher was fantastic, and Bailey learned so much. We hated to see the week end. She also started her piano lessons last week as well. She goes on Thursdays and she loved that as well. Her teacher's name is Ms. Nettie Hatcher. She is very sweet, and I think this may be a good match for Bailey.

Sarah had a great week last week as well. It was Youth Week at church and they had lots of activities for the kids. She loved Messy Olympics, where she got disgustingly messy with all kinds of food etc. They had a lock-in as well, which she had fun at and got little to no sleep. They got to "kidnap" the younger incoming youth early in the morning which Sarah thought was so fun.

Well, I guess that kinda sums up what we have been up to the past few days. I haven't had a chance to post much as Todd and I have had a lot going on, so bear with me over the next few weeks. Hope you have a great week!

She's home

Well, Sarah made it home safe, and I have to say I am so glad she is home. She walked in the door, and I got choked up. I think she got a few inches taller, and turned into a full fledged teenager/high schooler while she was gone. My immediate thought when I saw her was, "holy cow, she is a beautiful young woman. What the heck happened while she was gone. I am not ready for this..." After my initial reaction, I started to tear up. I really have been thinking that parenthood is such an emotional roller coaster. I feel frustration at times, anger, happiness, pride, and just shear fear too! I feel her slipping away a tiny piece at a time, and I think this is God's way of preparing me for the final flight. I have reflected so much on how my dad must have felt when I left, and although at the time I was so wrapped up in "being in love" that I didn't even account for his feelings, I now feel so bad that I didn't acknowledge those feelings. I know that it is the cycle of life and the same thing happened to him when he left to marry my mom, but oh man, you know the cycle of life sucks when you are on the receiving end. My babies haven't even left yet and I hurt, I am dreading the day it really happens. So for those of you who have young ones, cherish the moments with them because it literally feels like yesterday I was holding them in my arms and rocking them to sleep. And for my dad, I am so sorry I didn't acknowledge your feelings way back when. I love you.

Well, enough of my sappy self, the pictures are just a few snapshots she took while in Daytona. The top one is where her and Anna went on a shopping frenzy to try and find the "perfect hat". The second is her "beach art". The third is of Anna's grandparents and the girls. The girls took the Head's out for their anniversary dinner. I thought that was sweet they thought to do that for them. Sarah said it was kinda her way of saying thank you to them as well. And the last picture is of Sarah on the way home, looking tan but exhausted.

Bailey is taking her art classes at ABAC college this week. She is really enjoying them and has made a bunch of neat things. She really likes her teacher as well. She is starting piano lessons tomorrow. She is very excited about that too. Her Papa and Nana Cook bought her a gently used keyboard for her birthday for her to practice on, so we will see how it goes. I don't think she is grasping the "you have to practice" part very well yet, but she is about to find out. At least this week she has had things to keep her busy.

Sarah, Bailey and I are going to our church tonight for a "gleaning"......I had never heard of it before, but I guess when you live in agricultural South Georgia, you learn quickly what it is. They are bringing a truck load of green beans to the church and we all will "bag" them into individual bags that will be handed out to the homeless/food pantries/soup kitchen in town. We are hoping the truck is a pick up and not a dump truck or worse a semi. They said the last gleaning they did took 53 people two hours to complete it and it was green peppers.....beans are a lot smaller than peppers so this should be interesting.

Well, I guess that is all for now. My laundry dryer is calling me....literally, so I better go fold the clothes. Have a great week.