Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom, Chris' uncle, was kind enough to play the game of Sorry with J........which means he is now J.'s hero......the back to school cash gift was a real winner too!!!! J. had never met him and as I put him to bed the first night of his visit............J. said, "from the minute Uncle Tom opened his mouth, I knew I liked him".................where does he get this stuff!

Cav Man

Today was the first football game of the season for the Virginia Cavaliers...............I am really not a fan, but do love the beginning when Cav Man comes out and the fireworks and the videos of him conquering the other teams mascot before the game.......Chris has season tickets and he likes me to go, but I prefer he and the boys go and I stay home to a quiet house.

Rainy Days

We started out with rain at the end of Spring...............and then had over a 2 month dry spell. Well, as we enter hurricane season, we are getting the remnants of "Faye" and have had over 3 days now of slow steady rain. It stormed a little the first night, but for the most part it is just pretty steady...................we need it...............and it's great to sleep in too....

A Daughter

I wonder if a stranger were to look at this blog if they would even know I had a daughter..............she is quite elusive, staying in her room with her books and her computer and music...........she doesn't like boy noise..........and we have a ton of it. She also hates me taking her picture. She also goes through spurts of being a hermit in her room and then very social. Last weekend she left for school Friday morning and spent both nights of the weekend out........and then called from the gym last night wanting to spend the night with her friend...I was caught off guard and said, "ok, but let's not make a habit of this on school nights"..............she was thrilled. She loves this girl and her Mom and really she is such a good kid.............causes us no problems..........I said yes, and maybe shouldn't have. She is such a perfectionist and worries about school, so to hear her being so cheery made me say yes. When she gets home I am making her let me take a picture and I am posting it...that's her payment for getting to spend the night out on a Wednesday.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mother's birthday................so Happy Birthday Mom!!
I love this picture of her and J. reading a book when he was a baby.

T.

Does that leg look broken to you?

Broken Bones

T. came home a week and a half ago from a football scrimmage with what the high school athletic trainer called a "strained muscle". Well, it hasn't gotten better and he continues to be quite miserable so today he went to the orthopedists and he has..............are you ready for this???????? He has a broken leg.........it's never boring around here........

Entertaining

Chris is playing Uno with J. You can't play enough games or answer enough questions with this kid. We lose our patience with him way to easily and then feel guilty....................he is sweet, but 8 years old is still quite a handful. He had a friend over yesterday and they were both so irritating we sent the friend home. I am hoping this is a stage to grow out of.............I really don't remember this with the other two.....even still, nobody hugs better than this child.......

A REAL Watermelon

This is what a real watermelon looks like.............my children disagree. I bought this today at the farmer's market and the kids complained because it isn't small and seedless. Chris told them I would get the seeds out for them......wrong!!!!! My Aunt Lucille would have....and she would have used a melon baller and they would have been perfect..............but I don't have the skill or the patience........if they are hungry....they'll figure it out...

Watching the Olympics

Watching the Olympics.............and a little bit of brotherly wrestling to go with it.

Real Life

We found this funny napkin......S.L.U.T.S. stands for Southern Ladies Under Tremendous Stress


In an effort to capture a year in our lives in pictures, I don't want to look back on this blog and think everything was always so very hunky dory...............because it's pretty damn stressful much of the time.........(sorry Mom for the language, but nothing else really suited) I really want to be real and if I have to look back at this and think, gosh, things were easier back then, than I am not in reality...................which frankly, I would rather not always be in, but hey, what are you gonna do......anyway, we have nice lives, don't get me wrong.......but T and his injuries, college,lacrosse girlfriend.........what a roller coaster.....my job (stressful, which is why I am up at 4 this morning) and then just everyday stuff with kids and a house.............it's a ton.....but I think the hardest thing for me is just my own inner turmoil of am I doing all of this correctly. Singer Sara Evans says in her song about us all being in heaven, "Freedom from myself will be the sweetest release of all"and Bible Study Leader Beth Moore asks whose song are you singing all day long? Metaphorically speaking that is........I wake up each day trying to sing God's song, of trusting Him, trying to be kind and loving..........blah, blah, blah..................by day's end my song isn't so positive........but I guess that is what Paul is talking about when he says in Philippians 3:13-14, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." So, I will start the day again, with God's help...........and the 3 page report I just finished for work!!!!!!!!

Nuts!

Found this on my camera, she made cookies and a cake for the football team dinner tonight.........she did it to help me out............maybe she went crazy with all that baking..........

First Day of School

First day of school, but T.'s very last first day of school other than of course college......where does the time go.......

Last Day of Summer (school starts tomorrow)

Kids are not very happy about school starting tomorrow and I must say I dread the drudgery of it all, but we need a little bit of structure around here.............and I am hoping my food bill reflects children not being here all day long..................Chris didn't plant these sun flowers by his pond, but the birdfeeders and the birds had other ideas....

Talks and Cigars

This is the nightly scene...............I wish the cigar was NOT part of the routine.

Everybody is Home

Chris' mom was here today and everybody had a nice visit. As you can see by the crutches, T. got hurt right off the bat in the football scrimmage Fri. night..............has a muscle strain is my best guess. We enjoyed dinner, except for E. who was busy working on her summer reading papers..........T. doesn't seem as motivated to get those done.......I have to say I think I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher a hundred times this weekend......As my kids get older, I wonder why I didn't train them a little better to help out...........but to be honest, getting them to help is a job in itself...........We finished the night watching the Olympics..........I tried to stay up for all the gymnastics, but couldn't do it.

GGS,
Here is the outdoor kitchen.....it's under a pool cabana thing......The green thing is the Big Green Egg..........................I call it the "Man Kitchen"

Still Little

J. is 8 and growing up so quickly, but in many ways he is still a little guy...............In the past 2 days he has said the funniest things.......He asked if my friend was better from his "lomonia"......(pneumonia) and today as I cut his finger and toenails in the tub, he said he felt like he was having a panicure.........(pedicure). He is trying to help out so much more around here.........cleaning the dishes and even making brownies......hope that keeps up.

Backyard

We live in our backyard. It really is where some of our best talks with each other, the kids, and friends come from. Even in the winter, Chris will get his fire pit going and we all head outside. Chris will wait for T. to come through the back gate from football or wrestling or lacrosse and I think that is when they have their best talks..................We have wonderful teak rockers that my mother in law gave us a few years ago and we live in them, not sure why Chris isn't in one in this picture............sometimes he has to move away from where the rest of us are sitting because of his gosh awful cigars......One of T.'s childhood friends has moved to the beach and wanted to come live with us this year and finish his senior year with T. He told his Mom that living here would be great because all we do is sit out back and talk............well, that's not ALL we do, but it's definitely important to us. Especially now that Chris has his outdoor kitchen.............all we need is a bathroom........

Cute Haircut

I think her new haircut really shows off her eyes.

Black Eyed Susan Vine

This is one of my favorite plants, but it needs lots of water............... we had a bunch of rain at the beginning of the summer, but not so much now. The nights have already gotten cooler and we have flung open all the windows.........love the breezes.............school starts in a week.. I always have mixed emotions about that, but hoping my food bill goes down with kids being in school and not home eating all day. We stayed up very late last night watching the olympics......so fun to FINALLY see my big kids get into it.

Wide Receivers

2 wide receivers...................see the one with ice taped to his shin splints?

Football Season

This child told me this morning that he had only 9 hours till his first football practice of the season..........his first time ever playing TACKLE football............he has always in the past played flag, which I like................and then he got these.........and was told they would practice 4 nights this week...........and his team is called the Black Knights.......just like the High School team his brother plays on and is Captain for.................he is the happiest child on earth...........

Bored Boy

This is J. being bored................keeping him occupied is a full time job. Both his camps for the summer are over and he has this whole week to be home doing nothing before school starts.....and I have to work.............not sure I planned this one well. E. and I went to see Mamma Mia today..............go see it if you haven't. It's just very fun.

Company

Living so far away from family and friends you grew up with means that you are lucky if even your own Mother and Sister come to see you...........which they did in June..........but I can count on one hand how many friends have made it out here. Debbie and I went to college together and were in each other's weddings..............I have MANY fun memories with her and was so thrilled when her sweet family was here a few weeks ago. I may have even posted how J. cried when they left...............you can see from the picture above how he bonded with her kids..........and they were so kind to play a little lacrosse...........with our obsessed family.....Debbie even got a goal!!! and by the pics. she sent.........I am so glad I got a haircut this week!!!!!!!!

Watermelon

I can't keep this kid in watermelon......he loves it.............I could buy one a day. Today is J.'s last day of camp, so I took the older two downtown for dumplings and crepes and to wander...........it was no nice.......The roses in the picture are from Chris and the pink flowers are from my oldest son for my birthday..................he came in with them after football practice last night.........very sweet.....and appreciated. Great day here with a nice breeze.........we are going to grill pizza tonight....off to make the dough.

I am 44 today.

and I got a new haircut........short, but I really like it..............you can't tell much from this picture, but it's the best I could do for all of you who kept saying to post a picture of my haircut...I like how it looks a little messy and sticks out at the bottom...............and how easy it is and that the color is all cut off............well almost, maybe an inch left..............OH! My daughter came down and hugged me and said Happy Birthday, my boys had to be reminded..........even the big one....

Changes

The kids went to UVA to take pictures since the other Em left for college this morning.........High drama......We will all miss her.

VMI

Today we visited, at the invitation of the Lacrosse Coach, Virginia Military Institute, a division 1 program in Lexington, VA.
T. and Coach Shirks on our VMI Golf Cart tour of the campus.........or post.

This is the Barracks where the cadets live, the saying printed above their heads is by Stonewall Jackson, a former teacher at VMI. It says, "You may be whatever you resolve to be". All the paperwork we received says "don't be ordinary" on it..........Below is the former Chapel...It is gorgeous.

VMI

This picture reflects the Civil War when the cadets had to run to the Virginia border to defend the Confederacy. 10 cadets died and T. will have to memorize their names during the "rat line"............if he goes there, I hope he goes there..............Chris and I LOVED it and think it is an incredible fit for T........too tired to think about it now.....full day, but a great one!

More Summer Scenes........and more than one post a day

I think my new camera is making me post more............I usually just post once a day, but we took 113 pictures yesterday............I am sure we will cool off, but for now we like our new toy. I do wish my friend Gretchen was here for a little tutorial on photoshop and my camera settings.......I am still reading and googling.........so much to learn. Don't expect great pictures just yet.