February...so far

On February 12, the Board of Education called at 6:40 AM to announce schools were closed due to chance of snow later in the day. My driveway looked like this. But, being in Georgia and the chance of snow meant I had to go to the grocery store...me and everyone else!

By noon we started getting some snow flurries. Again, being from Georgia, where we get snow about once every 10 years, I had to take pictures as soon as it began.
By 4:00, we had this and I was worried that D wasn't going to get home from work. He made it home and said the roads weren't that bad. We lost power about 9:30 that night and didn't get it back until 10:30 Saturday morning. Apparently, there was a wreck that knocked down some power lines.
Saturday morning looked like this and most of the snow was gone by late afternoon. But school functions for that day were still canceled.

So, the next Saturday, E had her "Valentine's Dance".

Then on Monday, a big day for E! After having these for 3+ years...

She now has the most gorgeous smile!

This weekend, we have Junior Miss Eagle, so E has been tanning and using white strips and basically getting ready for that. I'll post pictures on Saturday.

February has been a fun month that has flown by! Z started tennis practice after getting his cast off Feb. 3. E started high school open gym and is still going to training with high school. It is a busy life, but I love being a Mom and having kids that are involved in activies!

My sweet girl!

We have been busy enjoying the last few days of summer. I start back on Wednesday (but will probably go in and work some Monday and Tuesday, without pay...thank you Sonny Perdue). The kids start back on August 3rd.

I wanted to play with the settings on my camera and my sweet girl was more than willing to be my model! These were taken at the river downtown.

Sweet!

Sometimes they fight like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day, they really love each other! Z was laying on the hammock texting his gf and E went outside to talk to him about something. This is how I found them 30 minutes later.

Graduations

Friday was our last day of school. This little lady had her 7th grade awards that morning. I am so proud of her...she got awards for Honor Roll, Beta Club, Exceeding in Math and Language Arts on the CRCT, and the Presidential Excellence Award. She also got some sort of Champs award and Cheerleading awards.

Then we had H's high school graduation that night. The silver means she is an honor graduate! She spends so much time at our house, I feel like she is one of my own and I am so proud of her!

Easter

I love Easter. It is one of my favorite holidays and usually I go all out decorating. This year, for some reason, I did not. I put out the flag, added a couple of bunnies around the house and called it done. On Saturday I was still helping the Easter bunny shop. We finally colored eggs at 9:00 that night. E was all into it and made sure her eggs were brightly colored!

Z multitasked...colored eggs and texted his girlfriend.Later C and his girlfriend colored a couple of eggs.

Easter morning, we made the teenagers get up early to open baskets. They all looked like death when they woke up, but by the time we were ready to leave for church, they looked like this:

This year, E hid the eggs for my cousins' younger kids.

Every year, we would take a picture of all the cousins getting ready to hunt eggs. This year, none of my kids were in that picture. It was bittersweet. I love that they are growing up and becoming more independent, but I can't help it...I miss them getting excited about finding chocolate in a plastic egg.

Let's Play Ball!

My little cheerleading princess is now a softball player! First some background...up until 5 weeks ago, E didn't own a glove, had never touched a softball, and didn't have any idea which end of the bat to hold. Then she decided she wanted to play softball and to our (my) great surprise, she is not half bad. She can hit, she can field, she can run. And she was throwing like a girl, but in the 3 weeks since practices started, her coaches have worked with her and now she can throw pretty well too! We had our first game last night and even though they lost, they looked good playing...see...we fix our hair while the pitcher warms up!

And the parents sit in the stands freezing while cheering them on. Did I mention it was cold? Or that we had snow flurries in April?

One of my favorite guys!

It is a rainy afternoon ~ a good day to curl up with a cup of hot tea and a good book and act like a slug. But first I had to take one of my favorite guys to the dentist and out to lunch. He picked Red Lobster...he has good taste! I enjoyed getting one on one time with him. We rarely get that and so what if he had to miss some school for it to happen? Wow! I just realized the next time he has to go to the dentist, he'll be able to drive himself there!

Spring Break

We had our first Spring Break this week ~ we'll have another one the week of Easter. Z had Driver's Ed. so I didn't get to sleep in. As a matter of fact, we had to be up earlier since the school he was taking it at was 25 minutes away. His high school is 5 minutes away. This was the classroom portion ~ he will do the driving portion in June. E and I spent a lot of the week trying to stimulate the economy. Last Saturday we went to Kennesaw. The phone man's brother is getting married and E is going to be a junior bridesmaid, so went to David's Bridal and then shopping at Town Center. She made out really good. I came home with nothing. Then Wednesday we went to the mall in our town and I got her a few more things. Last year she could wear kid's size 8. Now she is in size 12 or an adult extra small in tee shirts. She is so excited that she can now wear Hollister!


I spent some time this week sewing too. E's Easter dress is black and white. C is wearing a black and white striped polo and Z is wearing a solid black polo. I couldn't find a dress I liked, so I took this














And made this.

Paint!

We are finally all feeling better. Although Z has to stay on his meds another week. I hate staph infections. It is leaving scars on his legs.

Last night, my baby read her optimism speech at the board of education. She didn't win district, but that is okay. I was very proud of her for winning her school. She was one of two 7th graders there ~ all the others were in 8th grade. It was a very good experience for her.

Today E has cheerleading tryouts. I think I may more nervous than she is. I'll definitely be praying at 4:00 today.

So, this is what I have been doing this week. Painting and redoing E's room. So different from the white walls with purple and pink Hello Kitty. But, I really, really like this color. Next, we are doing lime green trim and adding white shelving all around the top of the room. We are also getting her a white chest to put her tv and dvd player on. I also covered her lamp shade.

Spring...please come soon

We are all still sick. E is feeling better from the strep (the rapid strep came back negative but the one they sent off came back positive), but now has a cold. Z has a staph infection on his leg (assuming he got it wrestling) and is on antibiotics and a strong cream, plus has to use this special wash on his leg 3 times a day. He got a shot too which he said HURT. And he has a stuffed up nose and cough. C is starting to show signs of a cold. I spent my Monday bleaching everything in this house. I am ready for spring and opened windows ~ but no tornadoes thank you very much.

On the plus side, yesterday while I was in Walmart getting Z's meds, I found all sorts of cute marked down Valentine's stuff that I just had to have! A heart wreath for $1.25, picture frames for E for a dollar, little candle holders for 50 cents. It was a good bargain day!

Today, I finally feel good enough to actually cook something I can taste. I am thinking garlic chicken and potatoes. And maybe a dessert...something with cream cheese since I have some in the fridge.

School dance

Last night E went to her middle school Valentine's Dance. She says the dance was lame. Maybe because her parents chaperoned? LOL

She wanted fake nails...we did the press on nails. She wanted her hair done. We compromised and I spent 2 hours and a can of Got 2 b Glued hairspray curling her straight hair.

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We have had gorgeous weather today. Makes me want summertime and flip flops! The phone man took Z to play a little tennis...he starts tennis practice tomorrow. I have to take him to get a physical in the morning. Somehow he 'missed' the one the school does.

I baked cupcakes today for Z. Since wrestling season is over, he can eat again!

Prices!

This week is crazy. Z has had wrestling practice everyday. E had a private tumbling lesson on Monday, cheerleading practice on Wednesday and she is cheering two basketball games this afternoon. I only see C in the mornings for about 15 minutes before he leaves for school, and then about 30 minutes in the afternoon before he goes to work.

I went to the grocery store after dropping the kids off at school. I am shocked at the price of groceries! And I use coupons and comparison shop too! We used to eat out 3-4 times a week. I was also shocked at our credit card bill last month and saw how much we spent eating out. Granted, we did go to Gatlinburg, but still, it was ridiculous how much we spent on eating out. So, we are eating at home and I am looking for easy, economical recipes. The phone man has high BP, so I am looking for heart healthy recipes too. Today, I have a batch of chex mix in the oven (figure the kidlets can snack on that instead of cookies) and I am using my friend Rachel's recipe to make some homemade gatorade type drink mix. E made homemade brownies last night. From scratch. We are usually so busy, I buy the premade ones at Sams or we use a box mix. These are good, but a little more cake like than we like. Anyone have a good brownie recipe to share?

Baby It's Cold Outside!

It is a brisk 10 degrees outside ~ with a wind advisory until noon. And it is not supposed to get get above freezing today. Did someone forget I live in the deep south? A place of heat and humidity. A place where I do not need to own a jacket or coat. Did someone forget that? Luckily, Z and E do not have any after school activities going on today. Z was especially glad to not have to run today. C doesn't have classes today either so I am glad he is not having to walk across campus in this cold.

I am spending today inside. I will continue to work on E's room so we can get it ready to paint. It is a bittersweet moment. We are totally redoing her room to make it more of a teenagers room. No more Hello Kitty. No more rainbows. No more pink fluff. She boxed up so many things that defined her being a little girl. Bittersweet. I know she is growing up, but she'll always be my baby.

Runaway!

I have not felt like doing anything these past couple of days.

I had a horrible day on Sunday...my dog (who is like my child) was missing for 3 hours. We have a pasture behind our house and I guess she decided that she needed to check it out! The guys in our family had gone to the movies. I called my parents and they came over to help me look for her. I cried my eyes out for 2 of those 3 hours. It probably didn't help that I had just finished reading Marley and Me. After it had gotten dark, Z went outside and called for her and she just bounced right up acting like she had been there all along.

Then I got some bad news that effected E. I won't go into detail, but she is not doing competitive cheerleading anymore. I will say, the coaches at that gym are jerks. At first she was ecstatic as she had been begging us to let her quit. Now, she goes from not caring to being sad. And that breaks my heart. She is still cheering at her school and that is what she truly enjoys anyway.

Evacuation!

Yesterday, it rained all day...and by rain, I mean 5" in about 5 hours. I think we broke a record. My poor dog was afraid to go out.


16 or so months ago, we were worried we would run out of water ~ our state was in a severe drought. We were praying for rain. Prayers were answered and we did not run out water, and it has been damp/wet ever since. Now I am praying for sunshine. Sometimes, I can't be satisfied.

Z had a wrestling match after school and E had her all star cheerleading team practice. I took E to Meema and Grandpa's so they could take her to practice and I went to the wrestling match. E's practice got canceled. She practices in a metal gym. It was a good call. Back to the wrestling match...We had to evacuate the gym for a tornado warning. C wrestled 5 years, and this is Z's 5th year wrestling. I have spent a lot of time in a gym with stinky guys. And I have washed a lot of smelly guy things. I have never had to evacuate a gym before. The one time I forget my camera...Anyway, after an hour sitting in the hall of the school, they let us continue the match. I would like to say our team won, but I would be lying.

Taxi, taxi

Last day of winter break...and I have spent it playing taxi with the kids. E spent the night with a friend last night, so I picked up her and the friend and took them to the mall. Z went too and got a haircut. The referee at his last match told him he had to have a haircut before he could wrestle again. We grabbed some lunch while we were out and then came home for a few minutes before I took Z to the high school for wrestling practice. E's friend has basketball practice at 5:00, so I will drop her off at the middle school when I pick Z up. E has a tumbling lesson at 8:00.

I do love carting my kids and their friends around though! I get to overhear the best conversations and get a glimpse of my kids' lives outside of home.

I have mixed feelings about winter break being over...I love the laid back feeling of not having a real schedule, but I know the kids are getting bored. I also need to get a few things done and it is harder when everyone is here.

Follow the instructions

Sometimes it helps to follow the instructions...E's phone had a button pop off. I spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone with AT&T and the Palm people. Finally, after threatening to leave AT&T (even though they sign hubby's paycheck), I was under the impression that they would send her a new phone. I saw the follow up email in my in box and last night decided to read it. I had to send her phone in for repair. Oh. I would rather be shot in the head than have to go to the post office. Anyway, this morning I take myself to the post office and mail her phone to the repair guys. It wasn't as bad as I remember...maybe because it is yucky outside and no one in their right mind would be out today. Luckily, C got a new phone for Christmas, so E is using his old phone until hers is repaired.