Scrapbooking Saturday

I had a great day! I went to an all day scrapbooking thing at a church and I got 17 pages done!!! Oh, I feel so accomplished! I'm sure I accomplished so much because I didn't have any scrapbooking buddies to talk to, consult with, etc. I certainly missed you guys!!! But I did win a good door prize. And I was at a table with a wonderful lady, Phyl. She is close to 80 and likes to scrapbook. I love how everyone runs to greet me when I come home and then they want to see the books I've worked on. Even Luke said "I wanna see my li-bary book" (meaning his baby book I've been working on.

Jody took the kids. They did a little garage sale-ing. They went to my parents. Hattie got to go to a wedding with my mom and Joy and she keeps talking about all the princesses. Joy had a great idea for my dad and Jody to hand a tire swing, so the boys had a great time with that.

I hope your Saturday was as great as mine!

My new camera!

I am SO excited. Thanks to the tax refund Jody said I could get a new camera! I like my little sony cybershot. Its very portable, but I never come away with pictures that I am in l0ve with, you know?

Well, all that's changed now. I'm so in love with my camera! The pictures come out amazing. No blurring or redeyes. Oh, I LOVE IT. (Do you ever watch Dragon Tales? I like to say "I LOOOOOOOOVE it, like Wheezie). Its a Nikon SLR D40. Got a good deal at Circut City, they gave me their online offer.

Last night Jody and I took Silas and Hattie to the circus in Asheville (about 1 hour from our house). My parents kept Luke and he had a great time getting undivided attention. Silas took in every act at the circus. Hattie was enamored with the sparkly costumes and pretty ladies. We had a great time.

On a funny note, tonight with supper we had potatoes au gratin (from a frozen package, which was delicious) and Silas stabbed a bite with his fork and looked at it and said, "These potatoes are rotten?"

Weekend Pics

Lukey and DD making smores


Daddy chillin' at the park

A VERY RARE family picture, compliments of DD

I just think this is a funny "what???" face that Pa makes a lot

Silas LOVED cooking over the fire.

Sticky Lukey!

Camping

Jody's parents arrived safely on Thursday. Friday morning we spent time getting stuff together for camping. Then after lunch Jody, his dad and my dad left to fish and hoped to find a campsite for Friday night. We planned on meeting them in the morning.

Then Saturday morning my mother-in-law, Judi, got a call from her sister-in-law that Jody's uncle had died. He has been battling cancer for several months and he died in his sleep. It was sad news, but not completely unexpected. So, Jerry and Judi had to leave to go back to Georgia.

We were so sad to see them leave! But the viewing and graveside funeral were right away.

But...
We had a GREAT time camping! The kids were amazing. Well behaved, slept good, played hard...

We ate frito pie (Jody's mom and I made the chile before hand), smores, sandwiches, hotdogs, and (thanks to Kristin!!!) the yummy campfire crescent rolls.

Jody got in the freezing cold pool with the kids, we played mini-golf, the guys fished, played on the playground, and we had some fabulous icecream at a local place (there is ALWAYS icecream on any trip with my mom).

I got some good pics with my parents camera and I think I'll be able to put them on tonight or in the morning. Check back.

Can't wait to do it again!!

Points to Ponder Today

1. Why do dog sniff around before they go to the bathroom? My parents JUST picked up Yoyo, the chihuahua. We were dog-sitting while they were away. They are technically dog-sitting until my Grama can take care of Yoyo again. And let me just say I am NOT ready for a pet that requires much work. Taking the dog out, feeding, making sure she doesn't bite one of the kids that is bothering her, etc. But the sniffing around for 5 minutes before choosing the perfect place to pee was too much for me early in the mornings.
2. What is it with the Backyardigans? Luke is completely mesmerized by them. He's typically not interested in more than 10 minutes of TV, but that's not the case with the Backyardigans. Its like hypnotic to him.
3. Why do visitors bring out the WILD THINGS in my kids? Jody's parents met us at Monterey's (a great local Mexican restaurant) and the kids went nuts! Loud, showing off, drawing lots of attention to our family. Whew.
4. Is it just me or when you get on the phone do the kids just act BAD? Man, mine do. They'll be fine and I'll think, ooh, I can make that call. And as SOON as the person on the other end says hello, someone comes running to me screaming and/or crying. Or fighting. I guess that's a good time to fight.
5. How can a short, simple errand turn into the never ending story? We went to the post office and this lady got to boxes of little birds. One was chickens and the other was either guinea fowl or turkey. Silas has always been in love with guinea fowl. Don't ask. When he realized you could buy your own, he was determined. Then when he realized he could not buy that ladies birds, his world came crashing down and he cried for like and hour. The postal worker was cracking up because Silas was SOBBING. I think it took us 20 minutes to get out of there.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell after our camping experience. Hopefully pics to share too.

Baby #4

Well...there he or she is! ISn't that awesome? Man, I loved seeing that little baby on the screen moving around. All the little toes and fingers were there. It was amazing!

I am 14+ weeks along, which makes my due date November 19th. My birthday is the 16th, so I'm really hoping to avoid that day, mainly because I don't want my kid to have to share a birthday with mom, you know?

Bargains

Man I LOVE a bargain, thanks to my mom. She instilled in us the value of heading straight to the clearance rack. Most of you know that my husband loves garage sales and classifieds.

In Bismarck we used bisman. Now we use craigslist.

Jody drove all the way out to Simpsonville last night to buy this family's camping stuff. They haven't camped in a while, but boy did they used to!

For $140, we got

• 1 coleman sleeping bag
• 2 coleman lanterns
• 1coleman stove
• a webber grill
• a thermarest mat
• an aero bed
• tons of camping cookware (pots, pans, tools...)
• metal skewers for marshmallows and hotdogs
• a 10 gallon drink cooler
• a port-a-potty
• a propane tank
  
• a fryer/eye thing
• a camping toaster
• an electric eye
• other misc things

Isn't that awesome?? We are getting SO excited about this trip. PLUS both my parents and Jody's parents are coming with us!!!

Does anyone have any good meal/snack suggestions? We are planning on hotdogs, of course. And maybe fish, if the fishermen are productive. And of course smores. But does anyone have any other good ideas?

Our Weekend

We had such a fun weekend!

Friday we did some stuff around the house then we went to my parents to feed the cats. After naps we went downtown to the Greek Festival. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS supper. Gyros, fried greek cheese, greek pizza, calamari and baklava sundae! Then there was something else going on downtown. Free cupcakes, military vehicles to explore and balloons. (Why do kids love balloons so much??)

Then Saturday we went to a few garage sales and our favorite park (Herdklotz of course). Then we needed to stop by Home Depot before heading home. Well, we ran into a GREAT surprise! Home Depot was having a demo day. There were free hot dogs, popcorn and sodas. A FREE jumping castle entertained my kids to no end. We had avoided them at the Greek Festival because it was SO expensive.

Sunday we had a great time at our church. We had a nice time eating lunch with some new friends. Then we went back to church for the Children's Musical "The Slingshot Heard 'Round the World". Silas watched it with us and he really enjoyed it. He ran up front afterward to get autographs.

This morning the internet came back (it was out all weekend). And we are already planning a camping trip for this coming Memorial Day weekend.

Did Memorial Day sneak up on you too? I can't believe its already here!

Power Outage

The strangest thing happened last night...out power went out!

Oh the memories!!

When we lived in Uganda the power went out every night.

I actually wasn't even here. Jody came home in time from Columbia for me to go to a Ladies Night Out with some gals from church. I had a great time! Jody was the one left with no power and 3 kids. Hattie told me that taking a bath in the dark was scary!

We LOVE Fridays in the summer because Jody's off, so we are expecting a great day.

Gatti Town

When Jody and I got married we held the rehearsal dinner at Gatti Town. Its like a Chucky Cheese kind of place. Pizza/Pasta/Salad Bar Buffet. Then there's games, bumper cars and a carousel.

Well, today, Jody called and asked if we had any plans. I told him we didn't. And he said someone gave him some coupons and cash for us to go! WOW! Then to top it off, it was FREE carousel rides. We had the best time!

Hattie and Luke were content to ride the carousel. I think I rode it 6 times with them. Silas was thrilled to have Daddy's attention and money to play games with.

What a super treat!! (My favorite part was NO dishes to do!)

Happy Mother's Day...and other random things

We had a great, relaxing Mother's Day. Hope you all did too!

I'm so thankful for my mom and my mother-in-law(MIL). They've both really helped me with this big move to SC. Judi (my MIL) flew up to Bismarck to help with the end of the packing. I was SO relieved. Plus, I was pregnant and didn't realize it...no wonder I was so tired! And my mom has really helped me unpack and organize and keep the kids for me.

I can always count on them to be supportive of our decisions.

I'm very blessed to have a good relationship with my MIL. Really I am. I know it. She's always interested in what I have to say and she thinks I'm brilliant and a great cook...boy do I have her fooled!

My mom is so strong. She never quits. Whatever she has her hands on works. And she is obsessed with vacuums. She owns 5 or 6 currently. Oh and, she's going to be mad that I said this, but she dropped her phone in a toilet today. ROFL!!!

Ok, in other news, real quick:

1. Silas LOVED the last Cubbies' meeting tonight at church and he's already majorly looking forward to Sparks in the fall
2. We watched the movie "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?" DPlum recommended it and I had read some good reviews and we really liked it!
   
3. We are babysitting the chihuahua, YoYo, while my parents are away for almost 2 weeks. She's a very smart dog, but I'm reminded why we are kid people and not pet people at this point in our lives
4. Speaking of pets, Jody found a turtle on the side of the road this weekend. So, HENRY is currently in a box on the porch and is a major concern for the kids. WHY??
5. Garage saling yesterday yielded great fruit. A razor scooter $2, baby cradle with mattress and little toy $10, little tykes car you peddle with your feet $10, a loot of little's pet shop $5, and a big box of LEGOS thrown in for free.

I think thats it.

Holiday??

Seriously you are NOT going to believe this!

I left the house this morning at about 8:45. Jody has Friday's off in the summer, so he was going to watch the kids while I got my haircut. I also thought I'd get my SC driver's license.

I went to the place where I thought the DMV was, just to find out I was wrong. (No big surprise there, I have a poor sense of direction and a terrible memory when it comes to getting back to a place) I asked this guy and he said he was going that way and I could follow him.

I knew I was pushing it time-wise. You never know how long to allot at the DMV!

So, I decided to follow the guy and just try and remember how to get there.

Well when I got there there was only 2 other cars in the parking lot. I thought, ooh, this is my lucky day, I may be able to get in and out in 30mins! I kind of skipping up to the door. But when I went to open it it was locked. I tried the other door, also locked. Then I saw the sign.

Closed due to the Confederate's Memorial Day
Will reopen at normal business hours on Monday.

WHAT??? WHAT???

Ok. I know we are in the south. And don't get me wrong, I love the south. The people are so friendly and helpful. The weather's great. The pride in their heritage is wonderful. But come on...Confederate Memorial Day??

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering if there was a hidden camera around.

Needless to say, I arrived in plenty of time for my haircut, which was much needed and I'm very pleased with it!

May 7,2000

Today is our anniversary! 8 years ago today we were married here in Tigerville. We had a great day. Chick Fil A breakfast biscuits! A wonderful meal at Stacks Peppermill! We saw the movie "Expelled" and it was AWESOME. Its a documentary that makes a case for intelligent design. I totally recommend it! My husband is the BEST.

If I had it to do all over again, no doubt I'd pick Jody Ben! We've had a fabulous 8 years. We were trying to think about each anniversary we've had. Look at this list we came up with:

1st - We had some extra visitors hang out, real late, and watch our video with us.
2nd - Jody made a banner that went across the entire living room that said Happy Anniversary
3rd - Silas was a new baby
4th - We were in Uganda and went to a local restaurant and spent about $4 on our entire meal
5th - We celebrated at home in Uganda, forgoing the local restaurant this time (tired of BEANS in Uganda)
6th - We were relieved that Jody didn't have to have a biopsy surgery so we celebrated as a family in South Africa at a seafood place
7th - Last year, we can't remember where we went, but the Hamiltons babysat in Bismarck
8th - Today, see above.

How bout that pic? Who are those two young kids? And, as Hattie asks, "is that my daddy Jody with hair??

Cubbies

Last night we went to church. Our church does AWANA. I'm very excited about it, but I had decided we'd wait till the fall to start. Silas will be in Sparks, Hattie in Cubbies and Lukey in Puggles.

But we went last night because Jody and I had a meeting. When we picked Silas up he said, "I was in Cubbies! I have one more week of Cubbies and then I'll be in Sparks." He's also asked me more than once today when he goes back to Cubbies. Needless to say he LOVED it.

I guess it because he's kind of bored. I mean, I'm not providing tons of stimulation these days. Not only am I waking up tired, but I still have random organizing things to do around here on top of daily chores. We go to the park, the library...but he's not in school and we haven't made any friends to just play with. Poor Silas. Today he asked me if we could please invite Emma over. I told him she lives too far away now (in Bismarck!). He said that we could just her enough time to get here.

I felt very bad.

So, the internet is back up (shout out to Erin!) and I've been looking online for activities to do. I think I must be crazy because I thought I had seen that there was a pre-school soccer program in May. I thought it would be great for Hattie and Silas. But I CAN NOT find it anywhere. I must have dreamed it up!?

I think we'll sign up for swimming lessons and maybe a summer camp or 2. I don't know.

At least we have Cubbies to look forward to next week.

In the Dark

Isn't it strange how dependent we become on technology?

Like cell phones. Besides my super friend Stacy, who just at Christmas got a track phone, most everyone I know and don't know are dependent on cell phones to be connected to the WORLD. In fact, a survey was taken at North Greenville University this past semester (that's where my husband works now). All the resident students (about 1500, I think) only 6 did not have cell phones. I imagine those students are international ones! As a result, they are not having land lines in the dorms anymore.

What about the internet? That's how I look up phone numbers (who uses a phone book anymore? Don't answer that, Stacy) And webkins, for goodness sake! I'm pitiful.

Our internet is out and I feel like I'm in the dark! I can't look up anything!! I can't do my blog or check my email.

We picked a bunch of strawberries and I wanted to look up some suggestions on how to freeze them.

We came to my parents to eat supper, that's how I'm on right now. Hopefully our problem will be resolved on Monday.