A Visit to SC

About two weekends ago, we made a trip to SC to see the family. We've been very fortunate (for now) that both sets of our parents live within 15 minutes of each other. Buddy's parents will be moving out near where his sister Kristel lives in NC, so once the new year gets here, our house will actually be the midpoint. Anyway, on this trip, Quinn got to see Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandma Margaret, Nana and Papa!

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Now this first picture was taken about a month ago by my dad. The house in the picture was originally my great-grandparents' house. My parents and I moved there after Grandma and Papa passed away. I think I was about 6 years old. We lived there until I was a Junior in high school. Anyway, my parents now live with my grandma, and this picture is made from her house, looking up at our old house. It was so nice growing up next door to Grandma. I also remember when my dad planted that tree. Now look how big and beautiful it has become. By the time we got there, all the leaves were gone.



On Saturday morning, my mom and I took Quinn outside to play. We walked up to see the horses. One thing I forgot to mention is that the street my parents and grandma live on is all family. All of my grandma's sisters live on this street. In fact, my Papa owned all the land, and this was their farm when my grandma was growing up. My cousin Glenn, lives on the street too, and these are his horses. We tried to get "Rusty" to come closer to the fence so we could pet her, but this is as close as she got. Quinn is trying to call her, and was even making a clicking sound with his mouth, like I was, to try to get her closer. It was really cute.



Then we went over to our old house to play in those leaves. The people who are currently living in the house actually have it for sale, so no one was home. They told Mom that Quinn was welcome to play on their play set too.



I've mentioned so many times before how much Quinn loves to slide. He was actually able to climb to the top and slide down without any help.



Gosh, I love this boy! Can't you see how much fun he had? The slide was so slick there were times he actually slid across the grass!



It was such a beautiful day, as you can see. Check out that blue sky! I couldn't help but stop and have some fun myself. And of course, there's the slide master climbing up for another turn.



After sliding and running around, it was pretty close to lunchtime. So we took a break and Quinn took a nap. When he woke up, we wandered down to my parents' backyard. There tons of old oak trees back here, and the leaves made that perfect crunching sound. We only have a couple of trees in our yard, and their leaves don't crunch, so this was probably Quinn's first time with lots and lots of leaves.



He was pretty impressed with the big trees in the backyard. I'm not sure if he's trying to figure out how to climb it or knock it down!



At some point, my mom threw leaves at him, and then the fun began! With all the movement and leaves being thrown, this is the best shot I got of Quinn throwing leaves. Oh, he and his Grandma had so much fun!



We invited Buddy's parents over for supper, so we could see Nana and Papa. My dad made his specialty....Chicken Bog. For my NC friends, this is nothing like Chicken Stew, so please don't be confused. Here it is. It's chicken, smoked sausage, rice, and lots of spices. This is one of those recipes that if I tell you, I'd have to kill you. The recipe comes from where my dad grew up in SC, what we call the "lower part of the state". It has become a family favorite, and when I say family, I mean every member of my family! Trust me, I cannot think of a single person who has not tasted this and immediately loved it and wanted more!



It was a fun weekend with my parents, and a nice visit with Buddy's parents. I will miss these times with all of us together once they move. I have been so blessed to have a family where we all get along. Buddy and my parents get along great. I fit in perfectly with Buddy's parents and sisters. In fact, I'm considered a "fourth daughter"!! It was a great time. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come down for a visit!

Are you the Mother of the Year?

This is the question of the day.....and a way to tell you about a new blog!


Are you the Mother of the Year?


My cousin's wife Ashley has created a fun, new, Mommy blog. She is a first time mom, with an outside-of-the-home career. She knows, like all of us moms do, how crazily busy life can be when you've got a house to clean, laundry to wash, diaper bags to pack, bottles to make, and on and on. She knows that we will sometimes have the moments in life where we jump for joy and realize that yes, we are the best mothers out there. And sometimes we will have the moments where we want to go back to the bed, crawl under the covers, and wait for the next day to begin.

Her new blog is a place for you to come and share your funny, slightly embarassing, I-can't-believe-I-did-that moments. All you have to do is email her your Mother of the Year moment, and she posts it to the blog. You read these posts and realize, hey, I'm not the only one! I've been reading these since she started the blog a few weeks ago, and I actually laugh out loud over some of these posts. She also highlights "moms in the news", with different news stories that involve mothers from all over. Then at the end of the week, she does a poll to see who is the "Mother of the Week". Maybe it will be you!

If you need a laugh, or just proof that others have done those crazy things too, then be sure to check out Ashley's blog: I am Mommy of the Year

Halloween 2009

Here are a few fall pictures to share. We tried to make it to the pumpkin patch, like we did last year. Unfortunately, it was super cold, and my camera died after about three pictures, but I did manage to get a few decent ones.

I'm not sure what he was trying to say here, but he was checking out both the pumpkins and all the cars driving by.

This was the last picture I was able to get that day, but what a good one! It's just so classic.

Tonight we took Quinn to a few neighbors' houses for Trick-or-Treating. We also went to a Trunk-or-Treat at a church near our house. Our fire station does a lot of community service with this church, so we decided to go...plus it helped us stay out of the rain. ***(Side note....it rained almost every Halloween of my childhood....go figure.)***

Here he is in his costume. He's a Saint Bernard, complete with a barrel for under his chin!

Not sure why he looks so serious here....and excuse the red-eyes. Couldn't make it go away.

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but I did have fun dressing Quinn up and visiting some of our neighbors. Tonight he had his first taste of candy....M&M's from his treat bag. He had a sugar rush you wouldn't believe. We were letting him stay up a little later to compensate for the time change. He was using the couch like a trampoline and jumping all over and giggling like crazy. Then he crashed!

We had a fun evening together as a family! Quinn walked the whole time and wouldn't let us help him with his bucket. He insisted on carrying it by himself. Mr. Independent! Last year at this time, he was just beginning to pull up on things and preferred crawling.

Trick-or-Treat, everyone!

The Law of the Garbage Truck

I don't normally post two things in one day, but after receiving this email today, I couldn't help but post it here. I have been guilty of this, and maybe you have too. But after reading about the Law of the Garbage Truck, I definitely have a new look on life. Enjoy!!

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a great, garbage-free day!

Red Ribbon Week 2009

This week in our school we are celebrating Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon Week is our nation's oldest and largest drug prevention program. It is generally acknowledged during the last week of October and is spent sharing ways to help our communities stay drug free. I learned a little more about this program this year, and wondered how many of you knew the history behind Red Ribbon Week.

In the mid-1980's Special Agent Kiki Camarena, of the Drug Enforcement Administration, was working undercover to expose a multi-billion dollar drug cartel coming out of Mexico. S.A. Camarena was originally from Mexico, having moved to the United States as a young boy. He wanted to make a difference and eventually worked his way through education to become a police officer, and later begin working for DEA. He was extremely close to cracking this case when he was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Mexican drug traffickers.

Not long after, one of his high school friends, along with a Congressman from California, began Camarena Clubs, which educated children about being drug-free. These children made pledges to stay drug-free. The pledges were given to First Lady Nancy Reagan, who then began the "Just Say No" clubs in elementary schools. The first official Red Ribbon Week was held in October of 1988. (For perspective, I was in 4th grade, and was a proud member of the Just Say No club at my school.)

My school is participating in several of the Red Ribbon activities. Tomorrow is Wear Red day, and we have a guest speaker coming to the school. One of our county sheriffs is coming to speak to the children about being drug free, general safety tips, and Halloween safety, given that this holiday is a few days away.

I hope you will help me in encouraging your family and friends to stay DRUG FREE!!

A Hero's Final Goodbye

About two weeks ago a city policeman in our town was shot in the line of duty. Yesterday was his funeral and it was the major news story of the day. I had no idea that I would get to witness a part of his service.

I stayed at school a little later than usual for a Friday. I always drive home the same way, and I was a little surprised to see a few police cars and a firetruck parked on the bridge that I drive on to get to the interstate. I didn't put it together until I got on the interstate, and just up ahead, I could see traffic coming from the other direction had stopped. I could see tons of blue lights. I looked back at the bridge and could see that there were several policemen and firefighters, in full dress uniform, standing on the bridge, facing in the direction of the stopped traffic. That's when I realized....this was the funeral motorcade for the fallen officer.

I immediately pulled onto the emergency lane and watched. For several minutes, I saw just a few random cars drive by. I guess these were the last cars to get out of the way so the funeral procession could begin. I had never seen one of these before, except the brief footage they would show on TV.

First came a single police car, with blue lights flashing. Then there were at least 30-40 policemen on motorcycles, riding in pairs, with blue lights flashing. Then came the funeral hearse, a white one, carrying the body of this fallen officer. Then were several family cars, also white. After that began an endless parade of police cars. I counted at least 150 before I lost count. They all had their blue lights flashing. As I watched, more and more cars pulled over, on both sides of the interstate. People who parked on the grassy median even got out of their cars, hands on their hearts. Some cars almost came to a stop in the middle of the interstate. I've never seen anything like this. It was very somber, very moving, and ingrained in my mind forever.

I am so glad that I worked later on Friday. I was able to witness a part of this final goodbye for a local hero. A man who was simply doing his job, protecting the citizens of my town. We should pray for the policemen, firefighters, emergency service workers, and military men and women who are daily putting their lives on the line for us citizens.

A Child-Like Faith

In the past few weeks, I have heard about several people at my church whose children have gotten saved. One lady talked about her daughter's profession of faith on Facebook. A friend, and fellow blogger, wrote the sweetest post of how her daughter and nephew got saved in the car while driving to the beach. It's always sweet to hear of children coming to know the Lord at such an early age.

But then there's the people who question "Did they truly get saved? They are too young to understand." Even Jesus Himself said in the book of Matthew that "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 20:2-4)

All this talk about children getting saved has made me think back to my own salvation. I never had one of those "life-defining moments" like you hear some people tell of when they got saved. I have heard of people giving testimony after testimony of how they had drifted into a life of drugs, or alcohol, or abuse, or some other horrible lifestyle, and how someone brought the Gospel to them in such a way that they realized they needed Jesus in their life. And how their lives changed so dramatically afterwards.

Salvation didn't come that way to me. I was brought up in a Christian home, by parents who brought me to church every time the doors were open. I was that little girl standing up on the pew during the songs. I remember going to Sunday School and VBS and revival services. I had wonderful teachers in Sunday School and Sunday Night groups and on Wednesday night services too. It was at summer church camp where I met Jesus, on a warm summer evening after bedtime devotions with our counselor. I don't remember her name, except that everybody called her "Glo". I remember this because the "song of the week" was "Footprints of Jesus", and a line in the song says, "Foot prints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow.." I was only 9 years old.

I remember sitting on the front porch of the cabin with Glo, praying and telling Jesus that I was a sinner and that I wanted Him to be the Lord of my life. I remember going down to the front of my church the following Sunday, with another girl who also got saved at camp. I remember Pastor Thompson praying with me and all the people of the church shaking my hand. I remember a big cinder block in the bottom of the baptistry for me to stand on so I would be above the water.

I am so thankful that I was able to come to know Jesus at an early age--that I did not have to live through the things that some people had to. I am thankful for loving, Christian parents who taught me the Gospel. I am thankful for a heritage of Christian Grandparents and Great-Grandparents. I pray that Buddy and I can be the example to Quinn that he needs, and that he, too, can come to know Jesus at an early age. We've been praying with him at night since the first night he was in this world and we always pray that he will one day come to know the Lord as his personal Saviour.

All we need is the faith of a child....