Trouble!

A couple of weeks ago, Spencer and IV moved up into 4 wheelers from their little motorcycles (that they had majorly outgrown!)  They have riding gear and have been taught how to ride safely----but evidently they weren't 100% sure where the property line stopped nor did they bother to ask.  They ended up making a path down the property line into the neighbors land.  And that neighbor is the type to make a big deal.   Keep in mind, that we live in the county and everyone down in our "neighborhood" has at least 5 acres of land--so it isn't like they did donuts in a flower bed.  BUT--- they DID mess up a section of her yard at the property line.  Boppa got the supplies and Jimmy got out the tractor and the boys had some manual labor cut out for them to repair and reseed.  Spencer came home exhausted and filthy. I am fairly certain they don't want to be landscapers when they grow up!

Mom, I miss the blog.

Spencer said, "Mom.  I miss the blog."

Well okay buddy-- let's fire this bad boy back up!

We had a busy weekend but managed to find time to go to the local Bush Hill festival. Years ago, we went to the festival and I would pay stupid amounts of money so Spencer could ride all the kiddie rides. This year I paid stupid amounts of money for Spencer to eat.  That kid had a fresh-squeezed lemonade, a smoked chicken sandwich, a funnel cake, a snow-cone....and would have kept eating!

The people watching was hilarious. I think a man would adjust himself while standing in front of the Queen of England. Normally, I ignore it--but when a man adjusts his sackage, then reaches out--with the same hand-- to give me a sweaty ball scented flier about his church...yeah I'm gonna have to pass on that one. Gross.

We also went apple picking this weekend and then I made a big batch of apple butter! Yummy! I love apple picking but I am terrified of snakes---and snakes LOVE a dadburn apple tree.  Luckily I got 10 pounds  of apples for $7.50 and not one snake was seen!

Last weekend, we took the boys to see the Blue Man Group.  They LOVED IT!  I have seen them twice in Vegas, but this was a first for Will, Spencer and Joe.  It was definitely one of our best family outings!

Spencer went camping with Jimmy, Melissa, IV and Boppa on Labor Day weekend.  He had so much fun he forgot to call and check in with his momma the entire weekend  :boooo:  Brat!

Spencer stared 7th grade last month.  I know what you're thinking...how can Spencer be in 7th grade when his Mom is so young... hahahahahah   :heavy sigh:

March 2013

March was filled with mild weather, lots of soccer and some happy celebrations.

Happy Birthday Hyena!

IV celebrated his 11th birthday with a fun party at Creekside Park:

The weekend before IV's birthday, we took him out to celebrate.  IV chose Five Guys Burgers for dinner, he had LOTS of time to play at Celebration Station (where he did quite well winning tickets) then we came home and made ice cream sundaes and played Apples to Apples-- a FUN filled night that might become a birthday tradition!
P.S.  IV is allergic to peanuts (not an airborne allergy) so the eating peanuts picture was staged to send to III and Lucy as a joke! :-)

Kristin came to visit!

My friend, Kristin, and her son Timmy stopped in NC on their way to FL to spend a day with us.  We had a great time just hanging out, shopping, and giving Timmy his first Krispy Kreme!! 

Saying Goodbye to JJ

Sadly, March also brought sadness.  Our dear family friend (and Spencer's Godmother) Joyce Johnson passed away suddenly from a heart attack on March 10. She was having "indigestion", nausea, sweats and pain. She presented to the hospital with these symptoms and was immediately evaluated for gallbladder issues. We have known for MANY YEARS that heart attack symptoms in women look like this yet many (like Joyce) still go undiagnosed until it is too late-- even at the ER. We miss JJ greatly. Spencer is still processing her death and is as hurt and confused as the rest of us. RIP dear friend.

 

North Carolina State Band Festival

Spencer had his FIRST ever band competition March 14. They got an over all rating of Excellent and scores of 2 Excellents and 1 Superior.  Even though they had to be at school at 6:30 am to make the trip to Wingate University, Spencer jumped out of bed with energy and excitement.  He came home with LOTS of stories and --for a kid who hates shopping-- he LOVED being at Concord Mills for shopping and lunch on his own. 

Year 2 of Infinity!

And of course, March brings our Anniversary celebration!  Happy 2 years to us!  Can you believe I forgot to get a picture of the two of us together? We celebrated with a traditional Irish lunch at his mother's church, a nice dinner out and gift exchanges-- I got a Larimar pin and he got a certificate to pick out a Case knife for his collection.  We will take our anniversary trip next month (when it is a bit warmer) to the Blue Ridge mountains-- I BETTER remember to get a picture then!

NO!!!

We hosted a tea for my friend Stacy's baby shower.  It was beautiful-- filled with traditional scones, devonshire cream, tea sandwiches, lovely shades of pink sprinkled everywhere....And although my heart was all about welcoming Stacy's baby...my head was TOTALLY planning the photos since the setting was so pretty. 
I was expecting pictures like this

But no.  Something crazy happened to my camera and all my pictures look like this:

 

I am terribly disappointed.  But the good news is that other people were taking pictures as well--so Stacy will still have photos.  And the tea was LOVELY-- the food was incredibly tasty and we all had so much fun. 

Now...off to google how to fix my Nikon!

 

Love in February

Valentine's Day was more like Valentine's week for us.  Not because of extravagance or anything but because we love an excuse to indulge in fun.

We have had lots of celebratory dinners out with family and friends, flowers and chocolates, we had a couples massage.... ahhhh! Wonderful!

We took the boys to the GTCC Observatory last weekend.  What a fun, FREE family outing.  I think our favorite part was looking at the craters on the moon-- the stars and planets were fun, but the moon was the most interesting.

During the tour at the Observatory, we encountered  twelve year old, genius twins.  Seriously-- they were taking the SAT the next morning and heading to college next year.  At first we thought they were just weird, hyper, unruly kids....but then they started correcting the astrophysicist leading the tour. Their scout leader told us about their "unique" intelligence-- WILD!

Our Valentine's gift to each other was a couples massage.  This was Will's first massage so he was a little anxious.  He took a xanax ...and 3 Gas Ex tablets to ensure it was a pleasant experience for everyone involved--haha!
 He LOVED the massage--and fell asleep three times (snores!). 
But, I need to tell y'all about the little prank I pulled on Will.
I had told him that he needs to be naked for the massage but they will keep everything covered except the area they are working on.  As I joke, when we went from the serenity room to the massage room I kept my panties on.  When we both dropped our robes to get on the tables, he saw I was still wearing my panties and he was nekkid he gasped and spat "I thought you said I had to be naked!!" I pretended to grimace and said, "Eww!  You dirty pervert!  Did you think I was serious?"  He jumped for his robe and was headed out the door to go get this undies when I stopped him and told him I was joking and we would both be naked.  He was NOT amused.  I, however; laughed so hard I nearly had an asthma attack. Ahhhh...my funny Valentine!

He makes me Waff and Waff

People often tell me I am the happiest they have ever seen me.  And it is true, Will makes me EXTREMELY happy.  But this post isn't about how wonderfully loving he is...it's about how he makes me laugh. 
He cracks me up ALL of the time, but the funniest moments are when he doesn't mean to make a joke.  Here is a great "for example":
This weekend, we went for sushi and then walked to a store next to the sushi place shopping for new toys for our dogs. (Wow--could we have a more middle-class, white evening out??--ha ha!)
The girl at the checkout had a very unfortunate situation with her teeth.  They weren't just a little messed up, I am certain she could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence. Bless her heart.
And what does my husband do???  He says "OOH I like your braces!" 
The poor girl just stood there. 
Dumbfounded and blushed. 
Evidently, Will had seen a glimmer of spit or something in the 4 inch gap between her teeth and thought she had a sparkly invisilgn or something.  Who knows.
She stammered something about needing braces and saving up for them.  I was so embarrassed--but at the same time, this was so typical.  Will is the nicest person in the world (unless he is driving) and would NEVER say anything to hurt anyone's feelings--but he often talks without thinking.  And that's when he makes me loller the most. 
No woman wants wrinkles---but I bet I die with the deepest laugh lines in history!

Hoarders...Spice edition

I love to cook.  And somehow, my spice cabinet spilled into two more cabinets.  Probably because I keep buying and upgrading without throwing anything out.  Once I discovered Penzy's, I stopped buying grocery store spices but failed to purge. 
Well, today was purge day.  It took a little over an hour and 2 trash bags...but I did it!
Most of my spices were from 2008-2010 that needed to be thrown away but check out Mr. Celery Seed.

Yep.  1997.  Is Astor even in business any more?  Shame on me!
Here is what I ended up throwing away/recycling:

 

I still have a full cabinet plus a shelf of spices left.  You can't expect a spice addict to go cold, unseasoned turkey, right???



Resuscitated!

I decided to stop blogging last year.  I don't really know why-- I guess it felt repetitive with facebook-I have no idea. But seriously, I pick 2012 to stop blogging?  The year we go on a Bahamas cruise in March, Hawaii in June and a mission trip to Romania in October??? I will probably NEVER have such an exciting year again in my life and THIS was the year I stopped writing...geesh!!!

Well, I'm back heifers!

Today is Friday of a long weekend.  I have a TON of stuff to get done at work; however, I just finished my lunch and decided to take 10 minutes to resuscitate my blog. 

We got snow last night for the first time in two years.  Spencer was so excited he set out his "snow clothes" as soon as the forecast was official.  Since the boys didn't have school today, IV spent the night so he and Spencer could play all day.  By 9 am they were suited up like an Aspen vacation (IV's words not mine) and dragging sleds across the front yard.
By 10:30 am they came back in...cold..wet...hungry...with lots of red, snowball rashes across their faces ready for dry clothes, hot cocoa and comfy chairs at the Xbox.