Summer ends and School Begins

Since the Light's summer has come to a closure I thought I would share some of our last adventures. We had a wonderful summer and I am in some ways very sad. There were many freedoms I enjoyed such as no alarm clocks, no worries of a structured school day, no schedules to maintain, no strict bedtimes, tons of sleepovers and absolutely all the sun and water we could stand!!!! The one thing I will not miss is the heat. I am looking forward to the evening meals on our front porch looking out and feeling the sweet breeze blow. We have some learning to do, wonderful school projects, field trips, dance recitals, ball games, and somewhere along the way we will squeeze in gymnastics. So the bussiness begins and alarm clocks are set. It's time to bring all things in order including 6:30 a.m. workouts......ugh!!! School is called to order and I'm not really seeing much of a recess.
I am posting some of my last moments of summer that I treasure. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

We had a mommy and kids night, with an extra kid involved while Jeff was out of town last weekend. We went to Disney's Rockin' Road Trip show. It was wonderful and I have to admit there were times that I just became emotional watching my children's faces light up. They were mesmerized and captured into a fairytale world and for a moment I was as well. In the very first scene Trever not taking his eyes off the stage, said to me "see Mommy, I told you they were all real." Tears just filled my eyes as I watched his eyes sparkle. When Cinderella walked out Abbie couldn't hold back the smile and she just glowed with joy. Okay, I know this is all a little mushy, but people, it was a moment. Disney captures you and there is just no way out at times. It was a wonderful evening spent with my fabulous babies.

One of my favorite trips this summer was the trip Abbie and I made to Sylva, NC. We did miss our Trever and Jeff, but this was a mother and daughter trip that I will never forget. It was breathtaking at times to see God's beauty and for the first time I realized why Amy feels the way she does about the mountains. There was one moment while we were visiting Panthertown when Abbie said to me "mommy, I don't know why, but sometimes I just get tears in my eyes while I'm looking at all of it." I found her many times very quiet and still, but yet smiling. She was so happy to see her dear friends Chloe and Alma and I have to admit that my face lit up when I saw them too. I laughed hysterically when I saw Amy because she had these God awful bright green rimmed glasses on and that's how she greeted me. To answer your question, yes, she did it on purpose. They are real glasses that she ordered and didn't look at all like what she thought she had ordered. It was a funny moment and it reminded me of why she's in my life and the joy she brings.

When Brent and Tiffany arrived we went and visited this beautiful place called Panthertown. We took a long hike up to a waterfall. We actually were able to jump into the fall and swim, and walk on top of the water fall. Along the walk on top of the fall there were many pools of water that the girls would get into and swim. In those same pools of water Amy would seem to slip into them unplanned. She scared me the first time, but by the 3rd slip I was just laughing my butt off and there was one time I literally thought she would curse me for laughing, but I just could not help it. Brent was never able to capture one fall on the video camera, but he did manage to do his normal shaking of the head and add a little "hmm" in there. By the 4th fall he was asking questions like "Amy, what's the deal?" Her reply was "Brent, I don't know."

This was on top of the water fall and I will forever cherish this picture and moment. It was perfectly quiet. Not even the sound of water moving and it was a place I could have just curled up with her, held her tight, and never let go.

This is such a sweet picture, but I'm quite sure the conversation had something to do with bugs. haha

Okay, I know I have no make-up on and my hair is pulled back in bobby pins, but this day was the funnest day of the whole week and this picture will always remind me of how much we laughed so I'm dropping down my guard and posting the picture anyways. Keep your negative thoughts to yourself. This was the day we went tubing in Deep Creek and it is also the day that I paid four dollars to nearly die. Seriously people, it was crazy!!! I hit more rocks than I can even count. I flipped over only two times, but one of those two times I could not get from under water because the current was so strong and I just hung onto my tube while it drug me over rocks. I really did at one point think I paid four dollars to go to heaven and I'm sure somewhere in there I asked Jesus into my heart and to forgive me of all of my sins just in case I wasn't saved and didn't realize it. However, I did not meet Jesus that day as we all know. I eventually surfaced and thanked God almighty that I was back on my tube. Then, Brent started laughing at me. Surprise, surprise!!! After our hour long fun, torturous, funny, and life-threatening tubing trip we met back up with Amy, Chloe, and Abbie at the calm waters. I talked Amy into going on the trip with Brent, Alma, and Tiffany. Yeah, you read it right them crazy loons did it again!!! Amy stayed off her tube more than on and eventually got out of the creek and started walking. When she caught up with the rest of the gang waiting in the creek for her she yelled out "SUCKERS!!!" Such a Corky Jones moment and it was priceless. I'm still laughing about this day. It was fun and Abbie even got to go on a more calming tube ride.

The girls also got to go Jem mining and they found lots of Jewels (also known as rocks....hahaha).

Amy really wanted to take us to her all-time favorite restaurant Nick and Nate's. I must say, I am not a pizza fan, but it was delicious.

I have no pictures of Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Deidra, but we spent a lot of time together playing Kinasta and me and Dee were quite the team. Mrs. Smith made me laugh and cry at times. She brought so many memories back about growing up around my Grandmama from the way she cooked to the way she giggled. We truly feel blessed that she allowed us to come and stay in her home. It was a special gift that we will always remember!!

Where shall we go?

Finally something worth posting..................

We could not really decide what we wanted to do for vacation this year so we decided to just leave and make decisions about any adventures to take along the way. We were able to stay with my parents and spend time with them. They were so excited to have us in their house, well, I should say they were excited to hear little voices amongst them.
Our children had the priviledge of seeing an amazing light show 4th of July and we had some wonderful food. Trever felt the need to "dress up" for 4th of July and you can see from the picture he has quite the imagination. I think we
laughed all day at him. We also got to experience some beach time at St. Andrews state park in Panama City. It is the beach that my parents would take me to as a child every weekend. The water was so beautiful and the waves were HUGE. The kids loved it and didn't mind being pulled under everytime a wave came crashing up on them. I to enjoyed the waves. Jeff was not so crazy about the waves, but did enjoy his lounge chair. I don't think he ever moved. Maybe that's why he turned as red as a lobster.
His favorite part of the trip was the caverns. I thought I would have to drag him out of the tight-fit caves. I did love watching him mesmerized by it all and the sound of Trever's awwww's brought smiles to my face. Abbie was her typical quiet self holding on to her Granda's hand for dear life. At the end of the tour she commented on how amazing it all was.
We had a wonderful time of adventure, rest, and relaxation. I guess the lack of planning worked in our favor this time.

Our next adventure this summer will be a mother/daughter trip to Sylva, NC. Abbie misses her playmates and I miss my dear friend Amy. We are so excited!!! Please don't feel sorry for Jeff. Afterall, he travels all winter long (hunting camp, remember?). Trever will be joining my parents for the week with some fishing trips and many other adventures. He's so excited.

Put the toilet seat up, please!!

I've always wondered what life would be like having a boy and a girl. My dream has always been that they will be the best of friends, stand up for one another, Trever would treat his sister like a princess always and understand her emotions and drama. I'm learning on a daily basis that they do love each other and they are the best of friends and that they are going to argue at least once a day. This past Friday I experienced an argument I did not see coming, but found myself laughing as it was going on and on and on and on.
I heard Abbie scream "Trever!!!" from their bathroom. He went running to her as though he was ready to rescue her. He had no idea that she was quite upset with him. He asked "what's wrong sissy?" This is where the argument begin.

Abbie: "Trever you need to put the toilet seat up when you go pottie. You got the whole seat wet."

Trever: "Oh sissy, it's not a big deal."

Abbie: "Yes it is because I have to sit on it."

Trever: "Just wipe it off." ---He says it as though she's being so dramatic over nothing. I kept thinking I really should get involved but I just could not stop laughing and I new Abbie was not a happy camper.

Abbie: "That's rude Trever and Daddy told you put the seat up and then down."

Trever: "Whatever..."

Abbie: "Don't roll your eyes at Trever!"

Trever: "Mommy, Abbie's yelling at me."

Abbie: "well he went pottie and got it on the seat. Daddy told him not to do that. Now I have to clean it off."

I did finally regain composer and entered the bathroom to remind them that we should speak kindly to one another and told Abbie a gentle reminder of the rules is sometimes required and Trever just forgot. She apologized for raising her voice and then asked "Mommy, can I just have my own bathroom?" I just started laughing and reminded her that she is only 6 years old and their was no need to add another bathroom just yet. Maybe the future will be Jeff and Trever sharing a bathroom and Abbie can share a bathroom with me. Of coarse the "Ladies of the house" will need the master bathroom. I do have to say over the 10 years I've been married to Jeff I've never had to remind him to put the seat up and then down. His Momma raised him right.

So, Jeanne, Jenny, and Dawn I would like to give you a heads up of one of the small dramatic moments you will deal with in your household. Good luck Girlies. We should have all considered three bathrooms during the construction of our homes.

Good family fun and Good eats part 2

Happy Father's day Jeff!!! Thanks for being such a good daddy. Our children are truly blessed to have you and so am I.

Happy Father's day daddy!!! You have truly loved me unconditionally and I couldn't ask for a better daddy. I love you so much.

Thanks mom for a great weekend. You always make our times together so special!!

So as you can see from the earlier post today we had plenty to eat and some slip and slide fun as well. Later on in the day we played a round of blockus and then took afternoon naps. The evening was winding down and my Grandmother had said all of her goodbyes. I was just getting the kids in their jammies when the phone rang........................it was Grandmama calling to say she'd hit a deer. We all hopped in the car to go see and these were the comments from the children:

Alana: "Oh no I hope Grandmama is okay and I hope it wasn't a baby deer."

Abbie: "Well, I wonder if daddy and Grandpa will clean it so we can eat it for dinner."

Trever:"That's crazy. We can't eat a dead deer."

Alana: "Maybe we can have it for lunch tomorrow."

Abbie: "No, we have to freeze it first."

Trever: "We can't eat a deer. That means we are their predators."

Granda and Jennifer: We just laughed hysterically. We were speechless.

Now for those of you concerned about the deer, it was a doe, she was not pregnant and did not have milk. There is no need to call PETA. She ran out in front of the car. The police were called to write a report for my Grandmother's car and there will be no buzzards eating up the deer because the police gave permission for the Light's to have the deer. You can figure out the rest.

This was the most interesting birthday yet.

Good family time and Good eats, what else is there?