Dec. 3, 2008 Wordless Wednesday Nov. 23, 2008 Sunday Afternoon Drive
Last Sunday after church we hopped in the van and just drove. We ended up on the Cherokee Foothills Highway. It was beautiful!
Our first stop was Table Rock Park. It is most famous for it's Table Rock Mountain, but we are looking forward to enjoying the many hiking trails scattered throughout the park. We hope to get back to sample a few of them soon and enjoy some of the many waterfalls to be found.
 You can see Table Rock Mountain behind the boys. It was a beautiful place. A serene lake, full lush forest, a nice open field right by the lake. You could almost imagine a Cherokee village being where we stood.
 The lake was so beautiful. Tim said he could almost imagine what it would be like canoeing around the lake. It was so peaceful.
 Jameson is a tree hugger!
We continued driving and enjoying. After missing a few turns we ended up in Transylvania, North Carolina. Tim then fired me as the map handler and I took over driving. After all the twisting mountain roads I was thankful to be driving as I was getting car sick.
We ended our adventure by driving up Sassafras Mountain. We drove straight up to the end of the road which landed us at the highest point (3507 fr) in South Carolina. The sun was just starting to set so the temperature was dropping rapidly so we didn't hang long. Since the day was so clear we were able to see Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee from where we stood. We also had enough time to run around like crazy chickens all over the top of the summit checking out a few trail heads, before scrambling back into our car and blasting the heat!
 It took a little bravado for the boys to sit here after we saw a Bobcat run off into the woods upon seeing us.
 Jameson loved this grouping of trees. They had grown into a perfect little house. I could imagine hours of play in this home grown fort!
 The boys were so happy when I finally finished taking pictures. You can read the joy on Johnston's face when I announced this would be the final one....until the next great photo opportunity came along which didn't take long.
 We were so happy to be able to visit Sassafras Mountain on such a clear day. The view was so breathtaking! I don't know if we will make it back up there since there is just so much to see and so little time, but it was well worth the frozen noses, fingers and toes!
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Aug. 30, 2008 Where have all the merry-go-rounds gone?
I can't even remember how long it has been since I've seen a merry-go-round at a park. They are a thing of the past that is sadly becoming extinct. Tim and I long to have our boys experience the wonderful experiences of our childhood. Rollerskating, midnight sledding, sailing, dirt biking, the list is very long. One of these experiences from my list is riding on a merry-go-round. A simple thing I know, but how much fun is the thrill of a marry-go-round spinning so fast you can't stand up. Laying on your back and watching the sky swirl around. Giggling as your little body is pulled outward by centrifugal force. Hanging on as if your life depends on it.
Today Tim decided to take us to a park for a picnic. We decided to try a park in a neighboring town for something new. Look what we found!
 Johnston just couldn't get the right speed up, but he sure was trying.
 Daddy took over....
 ....then jumped on for a ride!
 Daddies can get a merry-go-round spinning nice and fast.
 The boys thought the merry-go-round was great fun and I am so glad they experienced this simple childhood pleasure. |
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Aug. 30, 2008 Boys and their treasures!
Boys are a breed of their own aren't they? Worms, nails, cars, marbles, measuring tapes, chalk, the list goes on and on. These are things a mommy can expect to find in the pocket of her sweet boys. I am one of those fortunate mom's and I'm so happy to see what treasures they find. (Free tip: Worms do not survive a trip in the washing machine!) Unfortunately some treasure Johnston finds he can't fit in his pocket.
"Mommy I caught something!" These words always send a little shiver down my spine. Are there going to be spines, hairy legs, scales, warts or worse on said "caught something"? With a smile I always check what creature we are welcoming to our family, since each find is a treasure that can hardly be left to fend for themselves once rescued from their hard life in the wild.
Thursday Johnston caught something from the wild and for once I could truly smile because it was cute, cuddly, soft and furry. When it wasn't scratching and trying to get free that is!
 A wild kitten! This sweetie has been seen around our house since she was born in June. Her parents are wild strays and she was the only kitten from their litter to survive. The boys have tried to catch her many times, but she was to quick. Thursday Johnston put food in the garage and when she went in to eat it he quickly shut the door. This narrowed his chase down to the shelves, bikes, tools and such garage dwellers. As you can see he was very successful.
 Here she is on day two enjoying the bed the boys made for her in their room. Cats are so easy to train with a litter box. It took all of five minutes! I wish dogs were so easy. She is still a little hand shy sometimes, but is very loving and enjoys to be held.
 Johnston knows we can't keep the sweet thing. With our upcoming move and all things that are part of said move, we just don't have room in our family for another pet at this time. I told the boys that their job is to spend time with her, love on her and get her ready for a wonderful new family. They are doing a great job loving on her poor thing. We sure will miss her when she goes! |
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Aug. 27, 2008 Careful where you walk...
or you might step on one of these beauties!
 We found this built into the side of a hill.
 We took a few pictures and left them in peace. |
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Aug. 23, 2008 Geocaching anyone?
Geocaching....what? That's what I thought when I first heard the word. After doing a little research I realized Geocaching was going to be something we would have to add to our school schedule. You are probably a little skeptical just as I was, so you should really check it out for yourself. I would hate for you to blame me for missing out on this great family activity! www.geocaching.com
Tim took the boys on their first geocaching trip yesterday. To say they were excited would be a major understatement. They typed in our zip code and chose to go to the closest cache by our house which was a little over 5 miles away.
 Johnston is holding the official Jeffries Geocaching field book. He worked very hard decrypting this clue that went to the cache they were going to search for.
Zhgvarref jnyx gur cynax gura ybbx hc naq jngpu gur funexf fjvz. Lb Ub, Lb Ub! N cvengr'f yvsr sbe zr.
Lb Ub, Lb Ub! N cvengr'f yvsr sbe zr.
Jr xvaqyr naq pune, vasynzr naq vtavgr.
Qevax hc zr 'rnegvrf, Lb Ub!
Jr ohea hc gur pvgl, jr'er ernyyl n sevtug.
Qevax hc zr 'rnegvrf, Lb Ub (Decrypted Hints)
I won't give away the clue or how to decrypt it. You'll have to do the work yourself!
 Jameson was very excited about being on an adventure with his daddy and brother.
 Due to a massive hornets nest they couldn't get the cache. They still had a great time hiking and exploring a new area though. They will try again this winter when it's cold and no hornets are around.
After the boys went to bed we got on the computer to find other places we could find caches. We were very excited to see that there are two located up where we camp. One is about a half mile from our campsite and another one located on the Appalachian Trail at the top of the mountain where we camp. Tim and Johnston have been planning to do a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail so this will be an added bonus I guess. |
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Aug. 18, 2008 Grandma turned 90!
It was wonderful celebrating grandma's 90th birthday this past Friday. She was so happy to have all five of her children there to be with her on such a special day. Actually with our two boys in the group there were four generations at our party. It was a wonderful weekend and we are so happy to have been able to be a part of it. |
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Aug. 14, 2008 Quick camping trip!
Monday afternoon Tim decided we should go for a quick camping trip. He didn't have to ask us twice. Three hours later we were on our way. We hadn't been able to go camping since Tim started school so we were very excited to get up to our special spot.
With views like this who can resist camping here?
We arrived Monday night with just enough time to check out our camp site and then get everything ready for the night. Our idea of a quick camping trip is to skip the tent and lay all the seats in our van down and crash in the back. This cuts hours of set up and prep time down to maybe 30 minutes.
Tuesday we woke up very early....thank you boys.....built up our fire and enjoyed our traditional quick camping breakfast. Fresh fruit, yogurt, bacon cooked over the fire, donuts and chocolate milk. (Usually hot cocoa, but in our excitement we forgot our cooking ware) Tim and I enjoyed the fire while the boys ran around exploring the area around out campsite. We didn't get much time to enjoy the fire as the boys were anxious to get the inner tubes in the water.
Johnston and Jameson checking things out.
Johnston getting his tube ready.
The water was freezing! (It wasn't even 10am! Craziness!)
We couldn't keep Coalette out of the water. She was in doggie heaven!
Jameson did so well sitting on the side of the tube without falling off.
These guys are such awesome kids!
Johnston enjoyed the challenge of rock climbing up and down the creek bed.
This is the creek bed right beside our campsite. Johnston and Tim climbed up to the first waterfall and then came back a "safer" way for the rest of us to climb up.
Coalette swimming in the pool beside our campsite.
Thumbaleena had a blast camping with us for the first time. She wasn't the best at swimming, but she climbed the rocks and hills like a mountain goat.
I ran out of battery power right before we hiked up to the set of falls that are beside our campsite. It was beautiful up there. The first falls we came to had a pool about 40 feet by 10 feet. The water was about 4' at the deepest part. We had to slide down a rock face to the pool and crawl up carefully to get out.
The second part of the climb meant crossing the creek above the first falls, scaling a rock face with a rope and other adventurous things. This was definitely something Jameson and I did not want to tackle so we stayed behind to play in the pool while our guys braved on. Tim told me later that Johnston did great going up the rock face, but coming down was a little tricky. I'm so proud of him for doing it though. I look forward to the day that Jameson and I will be able to tackle the next stage of the creek hike.
We hiked, tubed, explored, and completely wore ourselves out. We would love to get one more overnight trip in, but if we don't we are so thankful to have gotten one fun filled, adventure packed camping trip in this summer. |
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Aug. 13, 2008 Wordless Wednesday - Almost Aug. 10, 2008 Summer's Ending
School starts at our house on September 1st so we are enjoying our last remaining days of summer. We've been making sure to get as many hours of pool time in each day that we can. The boys have been clocking endless hours outside building, gathering, exploring, riding bikes, skating, and anything else they can come up with.
I ended up watching three little girls this summer which was CRAZY! Girls are way different then little boys! I had a blast though and enjoyed a couple months of dolls, braids, and playing girly stuff. We played so hard each day that all the kids crashed after lunch each day giving me a much needed break.
 BreeLynn (left) and Sahvana
 Jordyn
To top off our summer with the grandest of events was Tim's graduation from Georgia Tech. I can't believe we've made it through two years of him being gone 5 days a week. He graduated on Wednesday the 29th of July and to celebrate we drove down to Florida to spend four days at my parents. I am so proud of Tim for not only returning to school 20+ years after he started the first time, but for being on the den's list each semester. He worked so hard to keep his grades up, but he worked even harder to make sure that the boys and I had as much time with him as possible. On a funny note he did enjoy all the ribbing he got for his age. All his study partners were born the year he started GT the first time around back in '85. He is an amazing guy and I am so blessed to be married to him.
 Just a cute picture of Jameson eating lunch. With the added kids at the table his booster seat got booted to the floor for meals. Good thing I keep a clean floor!
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Jun. 25, 2008 Wordless Wednesday! Jun. 19, 2008 One busy day!
Our day started two hours earlier then usual with the arrival of Sahvana at 6:00AM! Even with the two extra hours we didn't get everything in that I had planned. I guess there is always tomorrow.
We did get our summer school hour in.
 Jameson always builds (does his schoolwork... ) with our Math-U-See blocks while Johnston does his math pages. He thought putting the unit blocks on his fingers was quite amazing and wanted his picture taken.
We finished morning jobs, breakfast, and school quickly so we could escape outdoors while it was still cool.
 We drew a chalk town for the boys cars. They loved it! I drew a park, playground, lake, hospital, some office buildings...Johnston drew a military base. Boys are so funny!
While I cleaned up the lunch dishes my helpers tackled their jobs.
 Johnston washed the fronts of the stove, dishwasher, and fridge. He thanks me every time I let him use a spray bottle. It seems the spray bottle makes whatever job he's doing his favorite! By all means....spray on my boy!
Sahvana washed the glass on the door in our kitchen and wiped all the chairs down.
The spray bottle really puts a smile on their faces! (Sahvana's spray bottle was on the table, but she was so excited to use it!)
I didn't get pictures of our trampoline fun, skating, bike races, water sponge fight, or playing with our Thomas the Train toys. You'll just have to take my word for it that serious fun was had by all! |
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Jun. 18, 2008 Wordless Wednesday! Jun. 17, 2008 What an adventure...
...a child's imagination is! I wake up every day not knowing who or what they will want to be. This weekend cowboys galloped through our house, yesterday the Marines arrived, and today it seems Peter Pan is here visiting.
This was Peter Pan's first visit to our humble abode, so we had to come up with a quick costume. Let's just say I'm not the craftiest person in the world, but Johnston seemed to be pleased with what we came up with.
 I made a Peter Pan hat our of construction paper. Ignoring the staples I think it turned out pretty good.
 We rummaged around and found Johnston's green sweats, brown belt, and pirate sword. Add our marvelous Pan hat and we have Peter Pan!
 Johnston wanted to have a Captain Hook outfit as well so he grabbed a red shirt, black shorts, and he made this hook sword!
 Johnston was in craft mode so he made a flag for the Lost Boy's tent that we set up as well.
What a blessing my boys are to me. They make each day such a wonderful adventure! I have no idea what adventures tomorrow holds, but I sure have enjoyed being "Wendy" today.
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Jun. 11, 2008 A day full of blessings!
Tuesday, we were blessed with the presence of our dear friends the Shaw's. To say it was a full day would be an understatement.
We got to work as soon as they arrived. Pressure washing the outside of the house, drive way, and back patio - done! Washed down inside walls, kitchen cabinets, windows, and baseboards - done! Add to that fellowship, food, and water fun and it's a glorious day!
Here are a few pictures of our day.
There were blocks to occupy the youngest of the group (and some olders too!)
Braden "amusing" Jameson...or himself. To bad you can't see the smile on Jameson's face.
Braden giving our monstrous yard a little attention.
Kendrick put a few miles on our bigwheel.
Skylar worked so hard on our walls and paid such close attention to little details.
Who could pass up this sweet face? Mendell seems to be enjoying herself while three of her older siblings help me get carrots ready for dinner.
We were all tuckered out at the end of the day!
Much thanks to the Shaw family and all their hard work. We are so thankful that God put them in our lives. I can't wait until our next get together. |
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We final got around to putting the pool up last weekend. We decided to go with a slightly bigger pool this summer so we got the 3ft by 12ft pool. As soon as the water hit the inside of the pool our guys were in it.
 With and without swim trunks!
I really enjoy having our own pool at the house. It cuts down on travel time during the week. It makes the few trips we take to the local swimming places a special treat. It gives us something (active in Georgia heat) to do as a family when daddy gets home from work (or school).
I love pool season! |
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Apr. 20, 2008 A blue ribbon
Jameson found a blue ribbon in my goodwill pile. He found many uses for this ribbon, but the one that tickled me the most was when he asked me to put it on his head. He thought he was quite cute!
When I told him he looked a little like a girl he informed me that he was not a girl. He was a boy! Phew!
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Apr. 20, 2008 Destination Greenville!
Saturday morning Johnston got Jameson up, changed his diaper and got him dressed. They had a mission. They packed up their tent and climbed in their car with one place on their minds.
Destination Greenville, SC!
I'm happy to see that Johnston is driving carefully with his eyes shut. Jameson thinking of his own safety fastens his seatbelt. |
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Apr. 20, 2008 Moments to cherish!
Great-grandma and Jameson curled up under a blanket Friday. They took this opportunity to watch a movie together. It was so precious seeing them cuddled up tight! Great-grandma sure loves that boy and that boy sure loves her!
Jameson fought bravely to stay awake during the movie. He was more then ready to head off to bed after it was over though.
I'm so thankful that God has allowed for us to have this special time with Grandma. We will always cherish these moments and hold them close to our hearts! We love you Grandma! |
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Apr. 20, 2008 Thank God for little men!
Thursday I decided to take down the bed in the guest room as it is becoming the boys new room. This is usually Tim's domain, but with him in school I knew I would have to wait until the end of this semester. So I called Johnston in and asked his advice. (Picture him standing a little taller and prouder!) He informed me that he knew just what we needed and where the tools were. Within a few minutes he was back with the exact tools needed for the job and he was more then willing to have me "help" him. Sigh....tis wonderful to be taken care of so well while daddy is away.
Jameson was not to be left out of his manly duties. He was the keeper of the nuts and bolts!
After all our hard work we rewarded ourselves by making a massive tent. It turned out fabulous! The boys have so enjoyed playing and sleeping in it this weekend.
Memories of their grand adventures: Priceless!!!!
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The Good, The Bad, and The Funny! 
I'm blessed to be married to my best friend for going on 9 years and to be a SAHM of two wonderful boys. My prayer is that God will bless every person who visits my blog.
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