Some Blackberry Pickin'

Saturday, we took the kiddos to dad's farm. Fun on the farm! As soon as we arrived at dad's, we went blackberry picking. The girls thought that was the greatest thing to pick a berry and then just simply eat it. We picked enough to make a delicious homemade blackberry cobbler. And good in deed it was. Put a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and your taste buds are complete! Dad is an excellent cook-one of his many hidden talents! He made fried turkey, fried french fries and to squeeze in the greens, we had green peas. Scrumptious! I packed absolutely no toys, because I wanted the girls to only use their imagination and play with nature. However, dad did set up croquet and horse shoes for the girls. They did love that! So fun! Thanks dad and nana Eleanor for good times and family memories...

Groomer Accident...

Yesterday, what thought to be a routine hair cut for our dog, Boomer, turned into surgery. I received a phone call at 2 o'clock in the afternoon from our groomer letting us know that he was ready to be picked up and that they accidentally cut his eye and would probably need the vet to take a look at it. So, I call my vet, whom we have gone to now for 12 years with Boomer, yes that is how old he is, to see if I could immediately bring him in. Sure they said, bring him straight in.

Let me start off by saying, Steve is out of town and has been now since Sunday and it's Thursday. Looooooong week already! Let alone everything else that has happened this week. Why is it, when the spouse is away, trouble is our way?

So, I get to the vet at 2:30pm and waiting on the doctor until 3:45pm to be seen. Thank goodness I only had one of my three children with me, otherwise, I am not sure exactly what would have happened in that vet room! I had no idea the severity of the wound. The vet assured me this needed immediate medical attention today-not tomorrow, but today! What does this mean? We have to put him to sleep and sew up the eye and it will 7pm before he is ready to be picked up. Are you kidding me?

Imagine this, you know where you eye lashes are attached under your eye? That rim up against your eye? That is what is sliced completely in half. Yes, doesn't that make you nausea? I am in tears for my poor little Boomer. Little in deed he is. He is a miniature Maltese and has never weighed over 5lbs. Okay, is he going to survive this and be okay? The vet assured me he is in good health and should be okay!

What would you do if this was your dog? Would you be mad at the groomer? Would you sue? What would you do? The groomer said she would pay for the vet bill when I picked up Boomer at 2pm. I believe she thought, no big deal, maybe $5o dollars she was thinking. Nope! Wrong! Try $504.00 to be exact. My grooming appointment has now cost me $500 when normally I pay $28 dollars. So, I call the groomers back on my way home to wait for Boomer's surgery to be over with and she says "that is way to expensive" "can you take him somewhere else?" Yeah, let me go back and pick him up after I had already been there for two hours to see if somewhere else is cheaper! I don't think so and besides we have been using this vet for twelve years. Crazy I know. I just told her that I would bring her a copy of the bill in the morning.

So, now it is Friday morning. I am praying what to do? Do I get angry? Do I expect her to pay the full amount? What should my feelings be. Besides, I also have to take Boomer back to the vet on Saturday for a recheck and next week to get the stitches out.

Lord, I said, this situation is in your hands. He gave me the verse, Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Isn't that what we teach our children. Now, it's time to act as the Lord has instructed us to do.

So, this morning I go and take her a copy of the bill and said, I forgive you, I do not harbour any hard feelings, and I will accept what ever you feel in your heart to give. I left it as that. So, we'll see. I will for sure let you know if she pays the full amount, a little, or none at all. The Lord teaches us lessons.

"Love your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:31

3 Little Cooks...

My three little girls love to help mommy in the kitchen. I don't know about you, but I spend most of my day in the kitchen. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack...and the "I am thirsty". I have found that if the lights are off in the kitchen, it usually means that the service is "closed". Well, every now and then we have breakfast for dinner. Such a treat! Low maintaince cooking and easy clean up. The girls love to help out in any way! So, I put them to work. Squeeze the syrup in the bowl to heat in the microwave. I just didn't know it actually took three girls to squeeze syrup into a bowl. The other thought one would squeeze out more than the other. Siblings! I never had any so I just get a laugh out of sibling rivalry! To be a little creative, the girls love making smiley faces on their pancakes just like the IHOP does. I also think it's because they get to have chocolate with their dinner. HMMMM....

Growing Pains...

On Saturday, I was able to surprise Stephen with tickets to The Fireproof Conference featuring the all famous, Kirk Cameron, the all knowing, "Mike Seaver" from the hit show Growing Pains. Love that show as a kid! Kirk Cameron has not aged a bit for all you fans! The conference started at 1:00pm and I totally wanted to get there early as the doors were to open at 12:00 noon because it was first come first serve seating. Sure enough, at 11:30am there is a line waiting for the doors to open. I am amazed at the enthusiasm and excitement of everyone egerly awaiting the appearance of Kirk Cameron. Wow, if everyone was this excited on Sunday morning to worship God who always shows up, who always makes an appearance, we would have an amazing love for the Lord. Just picture with me, you arrive to church an hour and a half before the service is to begin, you are standing outside waiting for the church doors to open to get a great seat to worship the Lord? Crazy to think about! Kirk Cameron is a fantastic speaker. His love for the Lord is so passionate as he shares that love through the conference. His focus, husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church. A passage from the Bible he referred to is 1 Peter 3:7. "Likewise, Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." It is so important to be transparent with your spouse in everything, not just the "pick and choose" but in ALL things. In the middle of the conference, we had the priviledge to hear the wonderful Warren Barfield sing. He was great! So great that we bought three of his cd's and had our picture made with him. We were unable to have our picture made with the famous Kirk Cameron as he chose not do any pictures with fans. I am so thankful I was able to attend this wonderful conference.

Park Time...

This morning we went to the park with our neighbors, Mandy and her sweet little boys, Hutton and Colton. It was pleasant now that we are having a cool snap. Very unusual for us, but nice. I decided to dress the girls the same, nothing really new, but I thought this way I will be able to recognize them with all the kiddos at the park. Well, amazingly, hardly any kids! The kids love the park just as much as they love the play set in the back yard. Sometimes, I wonder why do we go to the park? Maybe, it is just the "getting out" of the house and playing on a new and different play set? The kids had a great time.

Gymbugs

This week we did a Gymbugs class at my best friends studio. The theme was Disney Camp Rock. It was a three day camp, each day four hours. My girls thought it was the best thing going. The first day was Camp Rock, which they love, the second day, High School Musical, which they can not get enough of, and Hannah Montana, not big fans, but love her music. (we are not allowed to watch the show, but can listen to her music)The last day, the class put on a show for the parents of everything they have learned, except for my sweet Emma, she was way too shy to perform (she sat and watched!). Their favorite, the "new" roger rabbit-the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown. Gotta love dance! I am exhausted from all their ENERGY!!!

8 o'clock

What happens at our house at eight o'clock in the morning? Certainly not sleep! It's outside to the swing set and cooking with outside ingredients...except no picking flowers...only if it has fallen onto the ground are we able to use. When you have three girls, you are for sure guaranteed a birthday party. Yes, we had a birthday party too early this morning. With all the singing, I had to remind them, we do have neighbors that do sleep! Sleep vs. Play? Play is always the answer....

What Would Jesus Do?

I love life...Life is truly a gift from our precious Lord. Even though I am in my early thirties and have three wonderful little girls, I have realized just how short life really is. We are only given a short amount of time to experience life here on earth until we share it in the presence of our Lord. Each day in all circumstances, I try to think with my heart, "what would Jesus do?" how would He handle the situation, react to a situation, answer a question, be that friend (even to a stranger), be a mother, a daughter, a wife...Because it is Him who lives inside me. It is not that of my selfish ways, it is of Him. The bible tells us what is ours is His. Everything we have, is His! We are never to keep or hoard for ourselves, but rather give and in return He will turn around and bless you. He always does! Well, I have to share with you something that happened over the weekend. We again were cooking out in Cades Cove with the family and a man walked up as we were eating and asked if we had any lighter fluid? No, only charcoal. So, he walked away. Then, I immediately used my heart and said, "what would Jesus do?" he has this big family to feed and no fire to do it. So, I turned to Steve and said, lets give him the rest of our bag of charcoal to see if that would help start his fire. Sure enough, Steve ran after him to give him the charcoal. Then, just a few minutes later, we heard clapping and cheering! Obviously, the bag of charcoal worked. Then, another stranger came up with a whole half of a watermelon and said, would like to have this half of watermelon, we cannot finish it. Yes, Jesus blessed us with a half of watermelon! Thank you Jesus, it was delicious! Jesus always blesses you in return for giving....even if it's just charcoal...

Who's Got Talent?

Drum roll please...It's Friday and Mimi and PawPaw came to visit along with uncle Brad and grandma. With the week I have had, unfortunately, I did not cook. So, off to Mr. Gattis Pizza. A favorite hang out of mine growing up. It was "the place" to be after football games. Now, in return, I get to take my kiddos there and their favorite believe it or not is the chocolate pudding. Who would ever guess? Well, PawPaw gave each of the girls a quarter to use in the candy machines after dinner. So, to play a little, we wanted to see who had talent? It looks like everyone won...

Ouchie....

Ouchie is the name of the game at my home. Our poor sweet Lydia has had the ouchie since Sunday. Severe abdominal pain and cramping. Thinking and hoping that she could go to the potty but cannot. Her colon is all stopped up, disgusting I know, but ever so true. We had been to the doctor three times in 12 days and now it was time to make our deput into Children's Hospital. Yes, the xray informed us of lots of poo in the colon. What to do? What to do? Enema is the solution! Twice as a matter of fact! An hour between each to let nature run its course. Whew! They even had to put a sign on the potty door that read "out of order" for our use only! They knew we would be making lots of poo breaks. Bless her bones! Bless her bones! Actually, bless our nostrils! Whew! Unfortunately, we were not able to get it all out-we have to work on it at home with laxatives. WHEW once again! Constipation is not fun.......

Fire Cracker...Fire Cracker...Boom...Boom...Boom

This fourth of July we spent it with our dear friends, the Bartons, the Webbs, and the Painters. Sweet folks! The Webbs and the Painters cooked delicious BBQ for us all and supplied all the wonderful fireworks. This is our first fourth at home. Normally it is spent in Texas, so this year we were able to spend it with our friends. We got to swim and play on the playground and eat lots of yummy food.

Who is a s'more eater?

Well, of course, I am a s'more eater! It's my favorite! I could secretly eat a whole bunch of them!

Emma, nope! She only loves the chocolate!

Lydia, only loves the marshmallows!

Madelyn, is just like me! Hurray-I have a child who loves them just as much as I do..........

Past Times to Good Times...

As a child, it was routine that we grilled out in Cades Cove, cooked s'mores, and played in the creek. Now, that we are so close to the mountains, my kids too love it! So, off to the mountains we go. We cooked out hot dogs and of course my all time favorite s'mores. A cookout is not the same without s'mores. Mmmmm, I love em'. We also brought, Natchez to play in the creek with the girls. He too loves the cool water! You always have to bring an extra change of clothes for all those slip and slides into the creek. After our wonderful cookout, we decided to drive through the cove. Past times, you were able to run all through the car, hang your head out the window, what ever you could do to see the wildlife, but now, the law is "wear the seat belt", absolutely crazy. You can only go 5mph in the cove. We saw three bear, tons of turkey and tons of deer. So beautiful....

Out to the movies...

I love booking my tickets through Fandango. However, thinking it was Friday I did so because I was not so sure we would be able to buy at the door. Well, after purchasing the tickets, I then realized it was only Thursday and they probably would not be sold out. Oh well! Great movie. I have not laughed out loud so hard through a movie in a long time. I enjoyed every minute of it. It was my treat to take mom to see it with me while Steve was at home with the kids. I totally recommend it to you. I will for sure buy the movie when it comes out!

Peek A Boo Lydia....

Where's Lydia, there she is. Last night, the kids were at church and Lydia had the whole swing set to herself. She loved it! She got to pick any swing she wanted to swing on without any fights. Having three kids, you know what I am talking about. She's my cutie!

A Few More Pics of our favorite place...

All aboard the choo choo train with Nana. You have to sit in the back of the train to avoid all the black smoke. Heads up! We all enjoy everything about the park. I am sure you will see more future pictures of us visiting.

Dollywood Here We Come...

My kids love Dollywood and enjoy every opportunity to go when we have the chance. This was our first outing this year and I expected it to big extremely crowded given that it is the week of the fourth. Nope. Not at all. It was great! We got to first ride the train. The kids love ridding the train and eating the yummy cotton candy. An all time favorite of mine and them! Then, we were able to enjoy to show, Zoomafoo, which is actually a show on t.v. but they come during kids fest to Dollywood. Great show for those of you who are going. Then, we head over to the splash pad where you have got to be careful that you don't run into anyone. They especially love that! Next, it's the rides. We love the rides!

Our Dog Natchez...

Our 7 month old lab puppy is so sweet but loves to chew anything and everything. He is an outside dog and enjoys working in his teeth. We've already replaced outside furniture and have had to put up an underground electric fence so that he can only stay on one side of the yard. Steve bought this dog to hunt with. His little buddy-I mean "big buddy". He trains and works with him daily and does pond swimming everyday in the neighborhood. Of course, he is a family member-aren't all dogs a family member? Well, Steve decided to get him some bones-HUGE BONES! I have never in my life seen such enormous bones. I never knew they made them this large. I tried playing fetch with him, with the bone, and I even had a hard time throwing the bone. Enjoy this silly picture. I just get a laugh seeing him carry this bone around the yard.

Photo Snorkeling in The Cayman's

Photo snorkeling was an experience in itself. I have a fear of the ocean. I just don't want to jump from a boat and you have no idea what's below and you just go explore. Well, this experience was completely different. We were guided by a certified Ritz Carlton instructor from the shore. I was all for that! We swam out to this reef that was actually pretty far out! The water in the Cayman's is crystal clear, almost like pool water if not clearer. Once I put my face in the water, I felt as if I just entered the "fish world". Wow, it was beautiful. The fish that we were able to see amazed me. I loved seeing all the different vibrant colors. The instructor gave each of us a camera to snap at anything and everything you see, then we take our cameras back to this high tech studio to download to a disc along with music. So cool! I will forever remember this adventure.....

Our Getaway to The Grand Cayman Islands...

Steve won a trip through his company to The Grand Cayman Islands based upon sales. As most of you already know, he is in the pharmaceutical business. Top performances equals rewards! An amazing and beautiful place to vacation. Steve had been before as a child and was very excited to go together as a couple. We were able to stay at the wonderful hotel, The Ritz Carlton. Which by the way, is addictive in itself. Everything is at your beck and call. First class completely! I was so excited to go to this beautiful resort that was totally given to us. The Lord surprises you in so many ways, that this vacation was from Him. We were able to enjoy many things together such as a couples massage, photo snorkeling, wonderful five star dinning, kayaking, and the opportunity to just be together with no agenda. I loved every minute of it!