Thursday, October 20, 2011

Summer 2011, better late than never...


Here some mementos of our summer vacations this year now that I have them on the computer.

We went here and there, all over the eastern states. As soon as school let out, we headed to the beach, to WV, MD, and everywhere in between!

First stop was my mom and dad's house at the beach...

My mom is looking beautiful as she regrows her hair now that her chemo is backing down:




Rory became a "maji" at Magic Quest...



He caught a minnow in the waves:


We hung out at the pier...



The boys fished with their PaPa...


And caught a shark!!!


Arden was an awesome buggie boarder...



Rory too...


We took a state park class on the nesting turtles...


And just played...




Then we went to the lake with Grammy and DadDad...





















Visited my Granny Eva...




And made it home to Asheville.



Somewhere along the way, Rory learned to catch a chicken!


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Cub Scout PopCorn Sales...

I know that many of you were in the Scouts, wether it be Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, etc. You know the value of the scouting experience, and you also know the cost... well to offset the cost, there are fundraisers, and for our pack the only one is the Fall Pop Corn Sales.

Over 70% of the proceeds from the popcorn sales goes straight to our scout pack and dens. It helps pay for things like Space Camp, Summer Camps, the badges, and all the costs through the year. These popcorn fundraisers are what make cub scouts affordable for everyone, and prevents our Pack from having dues.

That being said, you should click here and order a few boxes of popcorn or other goodies from Rory... if you don't like popcorn, you can order popcorn for our military troops over seas!

Here are a few shots of our den marketing this awesome fundraiser:





Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sleeping Piggy...

Today Rory's class did a rendition of Sleeping Beauty which they both wrote and starred in! His part was the King, and if I do say so myself, he was a show stopper! After reading Charlotte's Web, the children fell in love with pigs, so the play was based around pigs for the characters rather than humans. It was cute and creative!




Tuesday, October 11, 2011

7 Months Old...

My little Evie Bean is 7 months old! Can you believe how fast this has passed?! In the past week she has cut a tooth, and pulled herself to standing. I can't believe how big she is already.


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Happy Birthday Jedi...

Happy Birthday to G! We all had a great time at his StarWars themed celebration!







Saturday, October 1, 2011

Fall has arrived...

Fall has arrived here in WNC. The first of the leaves are changing and falling, and the first cold spell of the season has arrived.

Changes are all around us, and it is a joy to sit back and watch the world change around us.

To some the change of the season can be a sad thing, but to me, it is wonderful. It is the beginning to the cooler weather, to the restful nights, to the smells and activities that the season holds. I love camping and sitting in the foggy mornings with a cup of tea, taking in the peace and beauty.

The only down side is that the season and the colors don't last long enough.






Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The WNC State Fair...

What can I say? We went, spent a gazillion dollars, ate fair food, rode rides, and puked...










 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

My Cub Scout...

I can't believe we are already at this point. It doesn't seem like he should be old enough for this, but somehow, he is.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Puppy Love...

Check out this precious puppy (and super cute family)! I'm glad I already have dogs, and kids, or I would want more!






Saturday, September 3, 2011

LAAF

LAAF by lm_gittings
LAAF, a photo by lm_gittings on Flickr.
I need to edit this one, but this is my little fairy queen at LAAF today <3

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The worse the wedding, the better the marriage...

Right?

So, believe it or not, it is true, I am actually old enough to have been married for 8 years, and to have 4 children... HOLY CRAP when did that happen?

Today marks 8 years of marriage for Cute Hubs and I. It really has been quite the journey, and an interesting ride. Any plans we had are long gone, nothing is what we expected, but it has turned out better than we could have imagined (I think!).

Things got off on a really rocky start for our marriage, looking back it was humorous, but at the time, it was just overwhelming!

Carl and I chose Valley Falls State Park for our wedding. Since we are both fairly low-key people and we weren't looking for a big wedding, it was perfect. We planned on getting married at the water, rented both pavilions, and were excited that the children were going to have a playground to play on while the adults enjoyed time together...

Well, if you know ANYTHING about us, you know that nothing we ever do goes as planned. It really is true that God laughs whenever we make plans for something.

About 5 days prior to the wedding, I find out that the caterer decided not to do our wedding... the best thing was, he never told me! I found out because he wouldn't return calls, nice huh? So I rushed around, found a buffet restaurant that was in my budget, and fixed all of that. I figured, that was the worst of what would happen and we were all set.

Wrong.

Two days prior to our wedding I got a phone call from someone who 'claimed' to be the park ranger about a horrible storm that had ravaged the park, knocking down hundred year old trees on the the playgrounds, killing the electric grid, and leaving the park a disaster. I assumed it was a friend of ours, Dave K., who is known for his practical jokes... so I made a crude comment, hung up the phone, and made a mental note to try to figure out how to screw with Dave the next chance I got... Well then the phone rang again... it really was the Ranger, and the park was really a disaster! But being the people we are, we decided it was not a big deal, the prison workers were cleaning it up, and really, we didn't need electric for a day-time wedding.

We had a wonderful cook-out style rehearsal dinner with Carl's parents and our friends and family the night before the wedding. It was great, even my Granny and GrandPa from Illinois were there, which was quite the trek! Things were fairly uneventful, other than a cheese shortage, which went undetected by almost everyone, and we all had a great time.

The next morning came with heavy fog, and a forecast of rain... I went to the salon to have my hair done, and then went to my In-Laws' house (which is a half mile from the park) to dress. I got to spend some really special time with Frank (my mother-in-law's father) that morning. I had been sitting with him daily for months and really become close with him.

Then, as I sat there, it began to rain.

It rained the hardest I have ever seen it rain, and I am not kidding. Finally it stopped, or so we thought, and then it began again. I was so glad I had rented both pavilions! There was no way with all that rain, that a wedding standing on the side of a waterfall was going to happen.

I was driven into the park, the rain had stopped and then I noticed that only one pavilion was set up, that the buffet tables had been pushed apart to allow for the flowered arch...  My Aunt (the florist) came running to me, dripping wet, in her 'work' clothes offering to move it all back out to the water edge, and explaining what had happened.

She had set everything up riverside when the first rain came, so she quickly moved it all to the second pavilion, where the rain all of a sudden caused a small mudslide into said pavilion, rendering it unusable for the wedding ceremony or for the meal afterward! Our only option at that time (since it was pouring rain) was to move it into the dining pavilion and make the best of it...

My poor aunt was so wet, and tired, that I told her she had better not move anything, it was perfect, and would be fine! So, my dad walked me to see my soon-to-be husband, and all of 4 minutes (maybe 5?) later, Carl's father had finished the ceremony, and we turned to our guests (who were sitting at their meal spots) and said, "Well, now we are married... Let's eat!"

It did clear up for some pictures, and really, what mattered was that all of the people we love were there to be with us and celebrate our love for one another... but man, that day was a disaster!

Now here we are, 8 years and 4 children later, and stronger than ever. I guess "The worse the wedding, the better the marriage" is true... because our wedding couldn't have been much worse, and our marriage couldn't be much better.

I love you Cute Hubs. I can't wait for the next 8 years of our lives, and to see where they take us.