Separate dates with the girls!

 Andy found amazing tickets online for a USC baseball game.  Unfortunately Caroline had soccer practice.  So he and Mags headed to the game and had a wonderful time.  It was a perfect day for baseball.  After I picked Caroline up from soccer practice and took her friends home, we decided to use a buy one, get one free coupon for dinner at Freddy's.  We enjoyed laughing and chatting and a yummy dinner I didn't have to prepare or clean up! :-)

Lunch at the Club

 

Last week while on Winter Intercession, Granny and Mr. Archie came to visit.  No visit is complete without a trip to Sam's for all the things we truly don't need right?  The girls and I were super excited that Granny and Mr. Archie treated us to a pizza lunch at the club.  It was so GOOD!!!

Yucky Fall

 Earlier this week while we were camping, Maggie was riding her razor to the beach.  She got tripped up and fell directly onto the handle of her razor.  She lost her breath...first time that ever happened to her and scared her silly.  Over the next few days the bruise turned many colors...we felt so very sorry for her but so very thankful it wasn't any worse!!

Youth Retreat

Caroline attended her first overnight youth retreat last night.  It was a quick 24 hours and she was definitely on the fence about going.  However, she had a wonderful time!!  She was sad it went so quickly!  They played games, danced, walked on the beach and just enjoyed hanging out with friends. I am so thankful for Mrs. Laurie Beth who took pictures and sent to us since the kids weren't allowed to have their phones on the trip.  They weren't sure how they would survive without their phones on the ride or without music to fall asleep at night BUT they survived!

 

Who is this cutie???

Who is this adorable cutie???  Somehow our precious little one has grown up and looks more and more like a young lady everyday.  We have really tough moments where we don't see eye to eye.  I know nothing most of the time.  But then every once and a while, we connect like old times.  We share laughs!  I listen to stories after school from class and soccer practice.  We shop at Goodwill or listen to each others music, which the other doesn't like! :-)  These days aren't easy and we make mistakes but we're all learning and growing together!  I'm thankful to be her momma!
 

Caroline cooks!!

I planned to cook quiche for dinner.  My family wasn't as excited about my plan.  Caroline said if we would stop by the grocery store, she would fix spaghetti for dinner.  So we gladly stopped and got her everything she needed.  It was such a treat to have her prepare dinner for us!!
 

Sleepovers, breakfast and field trips!

 Caroline and her friend McCall signed up for a field study on Winter Intercession!  They also wanted to eat breakfast at Waffle House.  So McCall spent the night with us and we headed out super early for breakfast.  We all enjoyed breakfast!  Worth getting up early.  We dropped the girls off at school and set out to do a million errands.  Thankful for the early start and sweet friends!!

A beautiful sunrise!

Sunday night we all discussed what we wanted to do on Monday before we left.  I wanted to see the sunrise.  Mags wanted to play on the playground.  Caroline wanted to go on a trail but didn't want to get up to early.  Andy said he had done everything he wanted to do...

So yesterday I got up quietly, got dressed and made my coffee for the beach.  Mags said "Wait up, I want to go to!"  She quickly got dressed and off we went.  I couldn't get over the view from the boardwalk.  The sunrise took a little longer than Maggie would have preferred...I told her that good things were worth the wait.  And boy was this sunrise worth the wait!!!!

I have a favorite praise and worship song that came to mind.  The song "Gratitude" by Brandon Lake has some of the prettiest lyrics.  This morning, as I watched the sunrise, the following lyrics came to mind over and over...

"So I'll throw up my hands.  I'll praise you again and again.  "Cause all that I have left is a Hallelujah, Hallelujah!"
 

Camping at Huntington Beach State Park

We started Winter Intercession with an amazing trip to Huntington Beach State Park.  This was our longest trip yet.  5 days, 4 nights!  Caroline has soccer practice and then the parent meeting afterwards.  Maggie and Andy headed down early and got things set up for us.  This was the first time Andy has set up on his own!  They did great!!

The weather was perfect. We all got to enjoy our favorite things.  The beach, naps, trails, bike rides, time at the playground, etc.  The extra time really allowed us to settle in and enjoy!  We were all so relaxed and thankful for our time away!!

 

A camping first!

 Most state parks don't have full hook ups.  Typically with most of our camping trips only being 2-3 days, it's not an issue.  However, with a 5 day 4 night stay, we had to carry and use our poop trailer.  It was actually easier than we thought and thankfully we didn't get poop on us during either empty...

Pirate Voyage

Andy and I went to the Dixie Stampede and loved it.  Ever since it became Pirate's Voyage, he has wanted to take the girls.  It's a rather expensive night so we've never had the extra money to go.  This year for Christmas momma and Archie gave us money to use however we would like.  So we decided that while we were at the beach, we would make reservations for the show.  The girls absolutely loved it.  Andy and I preferred the original Dixie Stampeded show the best but it was a fun experience.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 The family that we carpool with are currently struggling with the stomach bug.  Since we didn't have to take anyone to school, Andy and I treated the girls to breakfast at Chick Fil A.  I mean who can turn down heart shaped biscuits???  It was a fun treat for all of us!!  Tonight we are going out to dinner with Mr. Ron and Mrs. Peggy.  I don't know that we have ever gone out for dinner on Valentine's.  It should be fun and such a treat!!

25 years of service

 Cheers to 25 years of service with CSX for Andy.  He has experienced lots of hotel life, working odd hours, moving away from home, and navigating difficult company changes but he never gave up.  He always put our family first and did what he needed to do to make sure we were taken care of.  We are so proud of him and blessed to call him ours!  (CSX is blessed to have him!!)

Toto and Journey

 These two enjoyed an awesome night cashing in on Caroline's Christmas present.  She wanted to go to a concert but everyone she wanted to hear wasn't touring in the US.  Go figure.  Andy and I thought this would be a fun concert.  She wasn't so sure about it so I told her I would gladly go...she didn't like that idea.  So off they went.  I got little sneak peaks of the night.  Once they were on the way home she called to tell me it was amazing!!  She told me she would tell me all about it if I stayed awake.  So I stayed awake until midnight when they came home.  Guess what??  She said "I'm too tired to talk...I'll tell you all about it in the morning!"  Well her daddy was excited enough for both of them to tell me all about it.  Talk about being jealous...they had an amazing night and the videos they took were fabulous!!! 

Of course, this morning, she had lots to say!  She it now a huge fan of Toto, Journey and concerts!!  I'm so glad they had a wonderful time!!  I only wish Santa had brought 3 tickets!!

Mother daughter date night

Tonight is the annual Daddy/Daughter dance.  Caroline received 2 tickets to see Journey and Toto in concert so Andy and the girls couldn't attend the dance.  So many of Maggie's friends went and she was so disappointed that they couldn't go.  However I tried to build it up that we would have a wonderful night together.  I told her we would go to dinner wherever she wanted to go.  We had to go to Sam's first and then dinner.  She asked if we could get fancy??  I was already in my comfy clothes, the last thing I wanted to do was dress up.  However, we did and off we went.  Mags was thrilled to get to wear my high heals.  Once we got to Sam's she decided she wanted to eat there.  So we shared pizza and frozen yogurt.  She was one happy girl, twirling and enjoying pizza.  It was a great night!!
 

Curriculum Night at Mags School

Tonight Maggie and I enjoyed Curriculum Night at her school.  Daddy was picking up Caroline and her friends from soccer practice as the very same time.  I enjoyed Maggie complete lessons from her daily schedule.  She is working hard and making progress everyday!! 

 

Christmas Cactus

I was given this Christmas Cactus for Christmas December 2021.  It was gorgeous when I received it.  I have babied it ever since.  Sadly it didn't bloom this Christmas.  A few weeks ago, I noticed a tiny speck of pink.  That tiny speck formed a rather large bud.  We have all been watching and anticipating what would happen.  Today it's almost at it's peak and I am in love!!  I'm so excited.  We have noticed another small speck so it will be interesting to see if it turns into a bud...
 

Oh Mags!

 Oh the way to school, we were behind a car with a very large monogram on the back glass.

Mags: You should get a mammogram for your car!

Me and Caroline: bust out laughing...

One Happy Girl!

 A few weeks ago Maggie found some super cute 'gummy bear' earrings.  She couldn't wait for her 6 weeks to be over so that she could take out the original earrings and put in her new dangling ones.  Technically tomorrow is 6 weeks but I told her we would do them today.  She wasn't sure that was ok since it wasn't the rule but she went along with it.  She is SO proud of her new earrings!

Date Night!!!!!!!!!

 I had to leave momma's around 2:00 because I had a hot date with my hubby!  We were double dating with our friends Hugh and Laurie Beth.  Y'all we truly can't remember the last time we went ono a date...it was fun to have a reason to shower and get dressed up on a Saturday night.  We are so thankful for Caroline babysitting for us.  We enjoyed shopping at Sam's and Target without any complaints or drama!  It was heavenly!!!!  I enjoyed every single minute!  We are going to try to do a better job of making time for just the two of us a priority! 

Saturday at Momma's

Earlier this year my brother discovered termites in a shed that my daddy build some 50 years ago.  They worked on it last week and planned to work again this weekend.  So I left around 7 AM this morning to help.  It was COLD!!!  Like 32 degrees when we got started.  We were all bundled in many layers.  We did a few things while finished breakfast.  Then we went inside to enjoy al delicious bacon, egg and cheese sandwich!  We grew up on egg sandwiches for breakfast.  Momma would often make them, wrap them in a napkin and send us out the door.  Only on the weekends did we get the bacon for our sandwich.  My momma in the kitchen feeding an army is her love language.  She has always prepared big meals in case we had an extra person pop in for dinner.  She cooks the bacon just like I like it and puts it under the 'regular' bacon so that nobody gets my 'soft' bacon.  I love my momma!!!!!!!!

After breakfast we got started with the big job.  Removing all the termite infested boards.  Bob and Jake used the sledge hammer to get them down while Archie, Jessica, Emma and I moved them to the burn pile.  In the middle of all of this, my sweet momma brought us hot chocolate with marshmallows.  I don't think hot chocolate has ever tasted so go as it did when it was 40 degrees outside.  Once all the old boards were removed, Bob and Jake worked on replacing the studs while Archie treated the cinder blocks for termite tunnels.  By this time, it was lunch time.  We went in for pilau.  It was so good!  Bob made it Friday night and it heated up nicely!  

 After lunch, we went back.  At this point it was just a two person job.  Alston helped Bob while the rest of us began to clean out one side of the shed.  We had two loads ready for the dump...many items that should have been trashed a long time ago...we made a lot of progress but have a lot more to do.  It was a fun morning.  I enjoy a good day of manual labor!

Bowl A Thon

 Caroline had a blast with friends at the FBT youth bowl a thon.  Her sweet friend McCall invited Caroline and 6 others to join them.  McCall's parents picked up and dropped off.  It was wonderful!  I thought it was hilarious that Caroline thought it was a great idea to send me pictures at 3:30 in the am.  Doesn't she know I am not one who is awake at 3:30 AM!!!  But I did enjoy seeing that she was having a great time!  Mr. Davy brought her home at 6:12.  She said "I love you, I had fun, I'll tell you about it when I wake up!  I can't wait!!!!!

UPDATE:  She had a great time.  She had lots of laughs.  She realized that all nighters are hard.  It was a fun treat to see our neighbor Braedan there.  She can't wait for next time.