Simple Pleasures

My parents were never really big coffee drinkers.  I don't even remember there being a coffee pot in the house until I was grown.  So it is no wonder that I've not drank much of it myself.  However, the past couple months I've found that I am really enjoying my evening cup of coffee!  

Simple Pleasures

A Drive In The Country

No matter how old I get, I am always amazed at the beauty  FALL brings!  There is just something magical about seeing the leaves change colors.  I was so excited today when I saw this tree!  I forgot how much I love taking a drive in the country. . . I plan on doing this more often.  Happy Fall Y'all! 

You'd best make this last!

I know I've told this story before, but it's worth repeating - especially since I keep thinking about it this morning! ;)

When Josh and I were little and lived in East Tennessee, Mom and Dad would drive "home" every other weekend so we could go to church and spend time with our family.  As kids, the ride to and from Greeneville was LOOOONNGGG!!  Back in those days there was no tv or ipad to keep us entertained.  Momma and Daddy would make sure that we had snacks to eat and something to keep us busy in the backseat.

Well - all of you know that I LOVE my sweets!  I would gobble up all of my candy  and Josh would still have most of his left.  One day, after I finished my candy, I begged him to give me some of his.  I guess Daddy got tired of hearing me beg so he told Josh to share.  (Here comes the good part!)  Josh wasn't happy at all about having to give me some of his candy!  He handed me just a little bit and said. . ."You'd best make this last!"  Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!  He was only 5 or 6 years old and I can still remember him saying this SOOOOOOO seriously!

Today is my last day of Fall Break and I can just hear Josh saying to me. . . "You'd best make this last!"  

Music City

We decided to be tourists today!  Since we have our own personal tour guide - Kellye Mayhew - we put her in the driver seat and headed to Nashville.  We took the kids to The Country Music Hall of Fame.  Of course, Andy LOVED it, and I think the girls enjoyed it too! ;) 

We stopped for lunch at The Pharmacy.  

Then we were off to see how much we knew about country music!

Ice cream?  Of course! :)

We ended the day with a few minutes at the park.

We had a great day!  

Gotta figure it out!

Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's because I'm home this week - whatever the reason - I'm missing the days of being a stay at home mom and  making our house a home.  I suppose I could waller (is that a word?) in self pity or I could figure out a way to be a single mother that works full time AND find a way to make our home, well, homier! Yeah, that's a word - right? ;)

My job seems to consume so much of my time.  Not that I'm complaining - I get to work for God on a daily basis and that is AWESOME!  I just want to find a way to do the best job I can at work AND focus on making my home more comfortable.  There must be a way. . .just gotta figure it out!

Made me think of Ma and Pa

Tonight's dinner was simple. . .sausage/biscuit with fried taters. ;)  This was something I ate at my Ma and Pa's house many times, so of course I thought of them.  If only I had some sliced tomatoes. . .

Make a Joyful Noise

What I could see today

Isn't it funny how we all have our "very own pew" at church and that's where we insist on sitting every  service?  I have sat with my parents for as long as I can remember.  During my teen years I thought I was too cool to sit with them, but that eventually changed and I reclaimed my seat right next to them.  Andy thinks that he MUST sit right between his Grangran and Grandad!  It's not even up for discussion! :)

Well, today, I sat behind Mom and Dad.  (We had service at the Rec Building since it was retreat weekend and our seating arrangements were a little off.)  We had an amazing service both last night and this morning and the power of God was evident.  Sitting behind my mother I could see her hand raised high in the air praising our great YHWH YHWSH.  Precious memories - that's all I have to say.  

Youth Retreat 2012

Every year since I was 12 years old I've attended our Youth Retreat at church.  It's a special weekend set aside to focus on growing closer to God.  The retreat has always been a special time for me and now I'm sharing this time with Andy.  We broke up into groups according to age - Andy was in the youngest group this weekend and I was in the oldest group!  :)  Each of the groups were asked to participate in the devotional this morning and it was so sweet to watch Andy, Gracie, and their buddies read scripture and talk of what it meant to them.  This evening at the final service, Andy played his guitar with the musicians.  My heart swelled with pride - a good pride that my son spent the day learning how to be a better servant of God and use his talent in the service to praise Him!

The younger kids were chilling between classes on the deck.

Yes, I got up during the service to get a picture of Andy playing
in his first retreat.  I hope there are many more to come! 

Kevin helping Andy practice before the service.  

This picture makes me wanna cry! 

Finally. . .

I may not be the smartest person in the world. . . but sometimes stubborness pays off! :)  I tried to download a new template for this blog earlier this week and somehow I totally messed it up!  Talk about frustrated!!!  I have sat and stared at my computer every night trying to figure out a way to fix it.  (Yes, I know that "fix" isn't the correct word to use here!)  Well, I FINALLY  fixed it today!  Yayyyyyyyyyy!  See there Daddy, being stubborn has its advantages! ;) 

Alone in the quiet. . .

Today and tomorrow are one of those rare times that Andy has no school but I have to work.  He loves it because  he gets to spend  lots of time with Grangran and Grandad!  It makes my heart happy to know that even during these pre-teen years he WANTS to be with them.  Through all of our cRaZy ups and downs the past eight years, Mom and Dad have been a true and steady constant for him (well, for me too I guess).

 You would think that after all these years I would be used to it when he is gone. . .  he goes to visit his dad every other weekend.  For some reason, this house has seemed extra quite tonight.  I usually have music playing in the background but my radio has died.  *Good excuse to buy a new one, right!?*  What I'm trying to say is that it is SO QUIET!!  I can hear the crickets outside!  Shh. . .  can you hear em? ;)

Teaching Fun!!

There are days that I'm certain I'm having more fun than my students!  This is the stuff that memories are made of. . .

We are reading a novel in class (our second novel unit for the year) called Gooney Bird Greene.  It's about an eccentric young second grader that always tells "absolutely true stories".  *wink, wink 

 She dresses in some cRaZy outfits so I thought I would come as character to school today.  Well, at least part of the day!

This is how my night went last night!  I sat on the floor and made a pink tutu and a polka dotted shirt!

Drum roll please. . .  The finished product! 



The book is all about writing and telling good stories.  Students are learning that stories need a good beginning, middle, and end.  We are also finding out how to develop an excellent character.  Yesterday, we talked about adding suspense to our stories.  What a fun way to be a better writer!

In addition to a huge writing project that will go along with the novel unit, we are keeping a record of the ridiculous outfits that Gooney wears each day.  I bet you didn't know that I was NOT an artist!!  :)

 Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm having too much fun with this one! 

Family time

This weekend was the one time a year that I get to spend quality time with my extended family.  It is a shame that life gets so busy that we have to literally mark a time on the calendar to see each other.  I wish more of us could go but I understand that busy schedules get in the way. Life is short and I treasure the times I have with my family.

My dad is the baby of the family and they all love to pick on him.  I love to see him with his brothers and sister.  One of my sweetest memories from the weekend was looking over and seeing Daddy sitting close to his one and only sister having a conversation.  (What I would give to have just one more moment of precious conversation with Josh!!)  They sat and talked for a long time and I loved seeing them smile.

We had meals together, had time to catch up, and even played a friendly game of Skip-bo.  Yeah, I think Jay won, but it was my hand that he finished! :)  Andy played a little guitar for them and, of course, I was was proud of him.  Thanks to Kellye, our kids were able to cover Ronnie with Silly String! :)  The grand kids and great-grand kids had a blast running and laughing on the porches.  It was so fun to watch them have a good time!

So, cousins, here is what I want to say to you. . .  I love you all very much and I plan on making sure that we get to spend more time together!  I will host a "Thanksgiving" meal for us at my house and expect ALL of you to come!!  This gathering is just for us, our parents can have their own gathering.  We'll talk and iron out the details, but I want us to have a special meal together.  We can do this maybe the weekend before Thanksgiving - what do you think?!  Well, I'm not asking - I'm telling you this is what we are going to do!! :) 

I wish I had taken more pictures - something I will make a better effort at next time, but here is my favorite pic from the weekend!  I love these little fellas and miss their granddaddy VERY much! 

The Color Run

This having fun thing - yeah, it's great!  I'm so glad that I have come to a point in my life that I can allow myself to do silly things and enjoy time with great friends.  Of course, most of the silly things that I end up doing is because of Jen, but that's another story all together! :)

We have been planning this mini trip to Alabama for months.  The Color Run is said to the be most fun 5K in America.  Now, we did this race in the pouring down rain.  I'm not talking about sprinkling rain, I'm talking about a really good rain!!  Do you think this stopped us from having fun?  NO!!!!!  There wasn't much running (we all know I walk/jog anyway) but we stuck together and laughed the whole time.  I'm pretty sure that Suttle even did a little slip and slide at one color stop! :)

When we, and the other nine thousand people there, decided to leave we were faced with a challenge.  The field we all parked in was solid mud!  Let's just say that my new, white Hyundai can mud quite well.  I hope to get my hands on the video of Harrison and Suttle pushing the car as I inched our way through lots and lots of mud leaving our racing friends behind.

The car ride there and back was just as fun as the actual race! (Sandy, since I love you so very much, I won't insert the video of your solo here!  You can thank me later.)  We laughed, sang, and danced our way down the interstate.  We even talked about our next adventure - details to come soon.

Pre race dinner at Olive Garden

Before the race in our adorable tu tu's! 

After the race - yeah, we were a little painted! 

We never go ANYWHERE with Jen that we don't make new friends!!!

My race number and painted tu tu.

Smart cookies with trash bags on so we don't ruin my car!

Just a recap!