Ali's 12th Birthday Party

We all had an amazing weekend! The weather was great! We went to Oma & Opa's to have the party. Enjoy these pictures that sum up the wonderful day! 

Little Miss got an iPod touch 5th generation from her Dad's family. Needless to say, she is one happy tween.

I think she loves her Oma!

She got a total of $160!!

Wiffleball and Kickball time!

Uncle Kurtis helping Lily through the obstacle course Oma made!

Best. Home. Run. Celebration. Run. Ever. 

lol I love my brother!

I am so thankful that the weather is getting better finally, and we can all start getting together more often. This has probably been the longest winter of my entire life. In more ways than one. So glad to see it go!

Blogtember: Memory To Relive

        

I am linking up with Jenni at Story of My Life for her Blogtember challenge. It's a challenge to blog every day in September with weekends off if wanted. Today's challenge is to write about a memory you would love to relive. The full list is at the bottom of this post if you would like to join in at any time! If you join in, please comment and let me know so I can make sure I don't miss your posts either!

As I think about some memories, there are so, so many that I would love to relive. Out of all the ones that come to mind, there are a lot that have one thing in common...childhood adventures with my cousins at my grandmothers house. We were all there so many times a week when I was a child. We would play hide and seek in the basement, climb in the weeping willow tree out back, explore in my grandmothers costume jewelry box, watch memaw make a quilt (it was her favorite hobby). I have so many memories that I can still remember every detail of her house and neighborhood. It would be so fun to go back and relive these memories because I feel like I could absorb many more details and learn other things that you don't really pay attention to as a child. My Memaw died when I was 10 years old so sadly, most of the neighborhood memories in that location stopped soon after that. My cousins and I did make many more memories in many more locations but those are unanimously our favorites!

Don't forget you are welcome to join in!!

Tuesday, Sept. 3: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

Wednesday, September 4: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? (bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!)

Thursday, September 5: Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered. 

Friday, September 6: A story about a time you were very afraid.

Monday, September 9: Take this short personality test and respond to your results. (at the end, find the detailed profile of your personality account - click "click to view" under "You" and "self awareness and personal growth." You can even google your type and find more info on it!)

Tuesday, September 10: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

Wednesday, September 11: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

Thursday, September 12: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

Friday, September 13: A self portrait

Monday, September 16: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

Tuesday, September 17: A memory you would love to relive.

Wednesday, September 18: Only photos

Thursday, September 19: Creative writing day: write a (very short) fictional story that starts with this sentence: "To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century."

The story does not necessarily need to have a conclusion - you can leave your readers wishing for more!

Friday, September 20: React to this term: comfort. 

Monday, September 23: A "life lately" post. What you're up to, how you're feeling, how you're doing on your goals, etc. Bonus points for great photos!

Tuesday, September 24: Review a book, place, or product.

Wednesday, September 25: Write about a time you screwed up - a mistake you made. 

Thursday, September 26: Go to a coffee shop. Order a favorite drink. Write about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Or write about anything you'd like! Bonus points for including a photo from the coffee shop. (I recommend downloadingOmmwriter and bringing headphones along!) *if you can't make it to a coffee shop, at least leave your usual space and write someplace new.

Friday, September 27: An anonymous letter to your Facebook friends. Be as snarky as you'd like. (but don't include people's real names.) 

Monday, September 30: Share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.

More Weekend Fun!

Well, Sunday we went back over to the in-laws for Mother's Day. We went to my mom's house that morning and spent time with her and then my brother wasn't feeling well so she took him on home. While we were at Oma and Opa's, the guys played some "Around The World" basketball and Opa won!

So, there's these 3 girls. They stole my heart. They call me mommy! I love this picture! They all have great smiles!

 

Ali and Aimee we off in the driveway with the neighbors kids looking for "crystal" rocks, you know, the sparkly white ones lol. So Lily was over with mommy and we were playing with a ball! She came up behind me and was being silly and I was able to snap this amazing picture! I love it!

 

We decided that day to bring both the dogs with us and luckily, Duke and Bonnie were there too so we were able to have all 7 dogs (Misha, Bella, Duke, Bonnie, Tobbie, Winnie and Elvis) there playing! It was so fun! Unbelievably, Brenda was able to catch them all in one picture! It looks like the similar colored dogs are grouped together and then there was Duke! Oscar would have been a perfect match for him!

 

These are the necklaces I made for Mother's Day presents! From left to right they are: Darla, Mom, Brenda and myself! I loved them so much I had to make myself one of course! They have their children's birthstone colors in them! Everyone loved them! I added the little signature charms at the back of the necklace. I think I will start using those anytime I make a necklace. The feather is like it belongs to the momma bird that the nest and eggs belong to. And it can be like an owl feather also! And birds live in TREES!!! LOL

This is also some shots of what some electronics went through this past week/weekend. Ali put her phone in her backpack next to a metal hair barrette and that's what happened. Scratches all over it. Then Aimee dropped her iPod on the concrete at Oma and Opa's and it shattered. Sigh....there goes $100 to get it fixed unless I can get Press F1 to do it cheaper, and I think they do it for around $80.

 

That wraps up the weekend!

Something As Simple As Cutting Grass

Early today Aimee's softball practice was cancelled which meant that since it's a Thursday, we officially didn't have anywhere we had to run off to after work and school! That's rare considering this is our usual after work and school activities every week:

Monday- Chiropractor and Ali Softball
Tuesday- Aimee Softball
Wednesday- Chiropractor and Ali Softball
Thursday-Aimee Softball
Friday-Chiropractor and Girls Scouts

Don't get me wrong, I love having activities to do and LOVE watching the girls' softball games and seeing them create memories like those that I didn't get to do as a child. It's just nice to know that I can get some things done around the house because more often than not, I have to try to squeeze that stuff in on the weekends in between the errands and things we have to do during those days. I can only imagine what it will be like when Lily starts sports! So, while Aimee was doing homework and Ali was helping by doing the dishes, I went out and decided I was going to cut the grass. Simple. Except that I was going to use our new riding mower and that is usually my husbands job. I realized that the last time I used a riding mower was 13 or 14 years ago. It brought back so many nice memories about growing up in the country and spending the summers and at my Aunt and Uncles house in Payneville and he would always let me cut their HUGE yard with the riding mower while he took care of other things outside like fixing the deck and things like that. I remember getting on there and really enjoying it and knowing that it felt nice to help out in any way I could. My Uncle Mark was the only real father figure I had in my life and the bond we had is what I can imagine a daughter having towards her father. I truly love him. As I got older and had Ali and got married, sadly my time there drifted farther and farther apart until it got to where I go years without seeing them and sometimes that long without talking to them. It makes me extremely sad and ashamed that I have let that family life fall through the cracks. Most of it was because I was a naïve teenager and didn't fully realize the consequences of my actions. I fully believe that everything happens for a reason. I live my life by that. God doesn't let one door close without having another one ready to open. Of course I think about them from time to time and I even called them a few months ago and left a message but didn't hear back. It's great that I know that I can show up there any time and would receive beyond warm welcome, but I guess the excuse of being busy and having a family of my own now keeps me from being able to get up there anytime without planning it. So sitting there on that riding mower this evening, it hit me like a ton of bricks how much I really, really miss them. They are getting older now and I have taken them for granted. My cousins and aunts and uncles all used to be so close. There was never a holiday or birthday that went by that we didn't all get together. Those were such fun times that I cherish! Its amazing how the simplest thing, like the enjoyment of cutting grass, can make you really stop and think about how things should be. Right then and there I decided that this weekend I am going to take my girls and go see them. My hubby is more than welcome to come along of course but if he doesn't feel like it, I am still hitting the road and we are going, whatever it takes. I already know I am going to have lots of tears because I feel the need to tell them how sorry I am that I let things happen the way they did and that was needed to happen to make me fully appreciate everything they did for me growing up. After all, my Aunt Julie is the one who taught me to make spaghetti, properly hang clothes on a line and told me stories of her wild and crazy younger days for hours and hours and taught me Solitaire in the days before electronics and crazy schedules. I can't wait to get there! That place is definitely Holy Ground from my childhood.



Mark and Julie when they first started dating, still one of my all time favorite photos

 

 

Here they are several years later. Mark was always the comedian and acting like he didn't want her touching him lol.