Catching Up

I never got around to posting anything about our visit to the lake on the 4th of July. I had a lot of pictures to show, but have condensed it to three in view of time. For some reason it takes me a long while to post pictures here.

Here is Elizabeth on "Big Bertha", the innertube, with her cousins Olivia and Aiden. Their Mom Karen is my first cousin, and her husband is Mike. They live in San Antonio, Texas, and were at Karen's parents lake house (my Aunt and Uncle's) at Lake Oconee for a long summer visit.


Karen, her brother Bob, BB and I were close growing up. Sure, they lived in Atlanta then, which is an hour away, but our family finds all kind of occasions to get together. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, sunny days, rainy days... you get the picture.

FYI... one thing I miss about my job as a flight attendant are the nice layovers. (Notice I said nice layovers... there is a difference. I'll save that for another post one day) I always loved my nice layovers in San Antonio, as I got to spend time with my family!

Elizabeth loved riding the innertube - loved it. She cried when it was time to get out... Cub wasn't so sure to start out with, and then decided he wanted to give it a try. So here we are, Cub and Mommy, taking our turn.



He didn't like it. He wanted back in the "big boat" pretty quickly...

Another thing this family does well is talk, and eat. It was supposed to be a sandwich fixin' kind of lunch/supper, but that never really happens with all these cooks around. Look at the counter on the right... it goes on from there too! Food for days, and the yummiest caramel cake you will ever taste.


We had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone... the kids always love being with their cousins, and playing together with the toys from the "toy closet" at the lake house. There are toys for days in there, and the kids know it well!

It's Time!

Oh boy... Diddy just called me to let me know.

The corn is ready for picking, shucking, silking, creaming, blanching, bagging and freezing. And, of course, eating. I can not wait to get some of the first batch... there is nothing like fresh corn from the field, creamed or on the cob.

We eat it like it is ice cream here...

Diddy was on his way in from a late night at work, and decided to check the corn in the fields as he drove down their driveway. Sure enough, it's show time yall! You may think I am playing it up, but I kid you not - sometime in the next few days we will have ourselves a "party" of sorts. Probably a few of them... Our entire family gets involved, like it or not, and gets a job. I usually silk, blanch and bag it. Our kids play with all the worms we pull from the shucks, get real muddy from the Georgia red clay we have here, and see who can eat the most corn... uncooked at that.

I am not surprised to get the call tonight... I knew it was about ready, as it usually falls the very same time each year, depending on when planted of course. For the past few years it has been the same weekend as the kids birthday party. It just makes the whole process that much more crazy, and is only par for the course.

My brother Billy (otherwise known as Uncle BB, the Rock Star here at our house) and Uncle Milton are the ones to thank for planting it all, and so here is a BIG THANK YOU!

I will be sure to have the camera, as some of my favorite pictures happen at corn picking time. Tall tales get told, sweet tea and beer get passed around according to preference, and bags and bags and bags of "gold" are stored away in all our freezers for the year ahead.

Come winter, as the corn is cooking on the stove and the aroma fills the kitchen, I always remember these sweet summer days, and the family gathering together to make it all happen.

And, the red dirt from the fields in the kids clothes, big fat worms that my kids will deem as their new pets, and endless barrels of corn to silk.

Precious memories are made of this.

The Family Reunion

We survived the trip to Tallahassee, but it sure did take us forever to get there. I never in my life dreamed we'd make it Friday night... the kids were tired and fussing with each other (and me!), the Suburban (though large) was cramped with all us in there, and we decided to stop in Dawson for supper at a Huddle House.

Oh my word was that a long wait! There was only one waitress, bless her heart, and one cook... bless his too. There weren't really that many folks in the restaurant, but it was a lifetime before she even got our drink order. EJ was sulking because, well, she's 5 remember? And Cub was pretending to be Buzz - trying to get up on top of the booth and fly from the top, all the while loudly announcing he was going to "infinity and beyond!"

I would have gladly boarded any spaceship available at that time myself.

We made it to the hotel, and it was late. The kids had gotten about a 5 minute snooze just as we pulled into the city limits of Tallahassee, so of course they were now wide awake.


The next morning we got up early and went to the pool, then the hotel's continental breakfast, went back up and got dressed, re -packed the bags and took off for the reunion. I was exhausted from it all by the time we got to the event center, but it was great to see everyone. There were a lot of family I had not seen in many years, some I don't think I have ever met before, and EJ and Cub were the hit of the show. EJ drew pictures for her cousins, and Cub charmed them with his flying skills...

This is a picture of our branch of the family tree... not nearly everyone was able to make the trip this year, but the three siblings all made it with their significant others. On the front row is my Aunt Runelle (Momma's sister), with Uncle Gene behind her. Then my Momma, Betty, with my Daddy, Bill, behind her. EJ is in her lap. Then there is me, with Cub in my lap, and my Uncle Melvin (Momma's brother) behind me. His wife, my Aunt Sarah , is sitting next to me. My Grandmother died last May, or she would have been there if physically able.... she loved her family more than anything. Well, except Jesus of course!


Our trip home was less eventful than the way down. We avoided the infamous Huddle House, and in turn went to one of our favorite places, Cracker Barrel. The kids were still fussing, but hey, who could blame them really? It is a long ride for kids, regardless. We watched two Veggie Tales movies, and began Return to Neverland twice before I think I dosed off. The kids kept awake the entire way home!

One interesting thing we did do on the way home was stop at Mack's Melon Market... we got a great watermelon to eat this weekend. The kids loved the kids swing sets, and they had sunflowers in their field too!

Look at those huge watermelons!

Just Because...

My husband took these pictures on Sunday... this hummingbird loves my pink petunias! I have two baskets of them on our back porch, and Geoff was quick with the camera when he got these shots.

On the Road Again

We are headed out for another little adventure this afternoon. I am not prepared, and before I can get us all ready, we are going to the city park with the Mom's Club I am in... I signed up to be the craft coordinator for the summer, and so last night I came up with something I hope the kids will enjoy.

For those of you who may not know me, I am a procrastinator... I do my best work the later it gets. Some things never change!

Then, after the park, we'll grab some lunch, go home and I will furiously pack a bag or two! We are headed out to Tallahassee, Florida and a large family reunion, on my Momma's side.

There will be my parents, Aunt and Uncle, two kids in car seats and myself in a Suburban, charging down the road this afternoon... my husband has a busy day tomorrow with church activities and some tractor pull preparation (plus looking out for the puppies!), so he won't make the trip this go round.

It will be a quick little jaunt, as we will be back late Saturday night... so, I leave you with these pictures of Buzz and Jesse until then. They are getting the potty training business better now we changed our strategy, thank goodness!

Yall have a great weekend!

Froggy and Our Princess

Last night I went over to pick the kids up from Momma and Diddy's. When I walked in the door, I was greeted with a big grin from Cub, as he yells "MOMMY!", followed by a huge hug. He is always so sweet - he'd only been there an hour or two, but he doesn't care... he treats it like it has been forever, every time!

Elizabeth held up a container. I knew it must have some new pet in there, but there was just no telling what it might be this time. She loves animals - all kinds. We just got over the loss of her "newest" pet wormy who mysteriously disappeared from it's home, a pink insect house, that stays on our porch. It never ceases to amaze me how such a girly girl can also love slimy worms and the like. But, I guess she comes by the "loves animals" part honestly... it's the "girly girl" part I wonder about.

Anyway, in this tin container was a cute little frog... a very jumpy one at that. We got it home successfully, and after introducing Froggy to Daddy, they transfered him to the pink insect house. Then Daddy stuffed in leaves for him to use as cover.

All was fine last night. This morning, first thing, she went to the porch to check on Froggy.

"What will he eat?" she asked, as we watched him jump, jump jump...

I tried to explain to her that frogs need insects to eat, and that he liked water. I also suggested that it was great to have him as her pet, but he might be very happy out in our rock garden. With all the million other froggys... who talk to each other every. single. night.

She pondered this for awhile, cried a bucket of tears, and determined all by herself that she was gonna "let Froggy go".

Somehow, through those lingering tears, she transfered him back to the container she caught him in, and we walked over to Froggy's new home.

(Just overlook the unsightly black lining/low water in our little lily pond... we are in a drought, and besides, the pond has a leak somewhere! We fill it back up for special occasions...)

Froggy was a bit resistant at first, surprisingly, as he sat there on the container handle... maybe he was deciding his next move. He was probably unsure of what to do with all the silly humans watching him so closely. Oh, and one little princess was trying to hold back tears again as well...


He eventually jumped and began to swim, free at last. I sighed a breath of fresh air as we had made it through yet another animal saga. Princess Elizabeth was pacified with the fact that Froggy was happy, close by and with his friends. And, she can see the rock garden from her bedroom window.


Here he is, sunning himself on that green leaf... I am so proud of our sweet girl for making such a difficult decision, all by herself. She loved that frog more than I can tell you, though she'd only had him less than a day. That's just the way it is for her. I was really prepared to go find insects to feed the frog. But, after learning he'd possibly be happier in the pond, where he could find insects and play in the water, she listened to her heart and decided to let him go.

What a beautiful morning it has been!

Just a Few More...

Okay, so I lied. I didn't mean to, it just happened that way!
I was done with sunflower pictures, I really was... for the year anyway.
Until yesterday. Yesterday was a test of my patience here at the house... no naps for the kiddos and lots of "boredom".
So, what does any self sacrificing Mommy do in that situation?
I picked out some clothes, got the kids dressed, grabbed our camera and went outside to see what we could find.
At the moment, sunflower fields are what we find, along with corn just about ready for eating...
I also got some pictures of the kids in the field between our house, Momma and Daddy's and BB and Reynie's. I'll share some of those along the way too, but I always love the sunflower ones best.
Even when my son moves so fast he is usually blurry, it just reminds me how active he is. And when EJ gets moody and doesn't want her picture taken... well, she's 5 now. She knows it, as she reminds me hourly. I just move on, and then she usually forgets her little mood, and joins back in the fun.