Shirley Goodness

Expanding our palates!

2012-01-30T22:49:00.001-05:00

This year I am trying to expand our palates and find some new recipes in the process! A few years back I took my Southern Living 2001 recipe book and cooked through the months. Not every single recipe, but most of them. From that experience we now have several recipes that our family really enjoys. So I am doing it again this year with my 2008 book. January has gone by pretty good. We had some good short ribs; some different macaroni and cheese recipes; several chicken dishes; some not so good roasted sweet potatoes; and our recipe for tonight...Peanut-Broccoli Stur-Fry! Nathan, who now has planned to go to culinary school, has been asking to have tofu. He saw it on Iron Chef and thought it looked good. I think it looks like a block of cream cheese. But we ventured into the vegetarian world tonight. This stir fry involved tofu! I have never even thought of wanting to eat tofu, even when Nathan asked for it. But it was tasty! I was impressed that it tasted just like going to a Thai restaurant. I will say this, however, the more I ate the stir fry, the less I wanted to eat the tofu. Maybe it was the thought of tofu, or not. But I would make it again; maybe with chicken though :)

Camden even ate the tofu that I called chicken for him

We didn't tell Dave what he was eating at first and he thought it was chicken. He said that he would have figured it out, but Nathan couldn't keep the secret for very long!

A tribute to letters

2012-01-29T20:43:00.001-05:00

I started spring cleaning this January. My thought was that why not clean during the cold months when I you don't want to go outdoors so that you are finished by the nice spring weather. Well, if you are in Charleston, you know that it feels like spring most days this year! Hard to work inside!

I haven't gotten too far, but I have the frig and kitchen done, and almost have finished my bedroom. The biggest task in the bedroom was that I cleaned under my bed. Moving a king size mattress is not easy. Dave and I almost got buried underneath!! Dusty boxes have been cleaned and I explored a box that Nathan and Camden will never have...a box of letters! When I used to go away to camp, the big thing was to get people's addresses. I guess now you just get email addreses! Or phone numbers to text each other. Long distance charges are a thing of the past! Or just look each other up on Facebook! Well I wanted to share a tidbit of my letter past. A letter that was actually from two crazy guys who lived close enough together to visit after camp. A Tim/Roddy letter where each of them could only write 3 lines before the other took over. And although I think it is sad that my boys won't have letters, I have to also be glad for technology that lets me not have to only have letters to remember people with. I am now friends again with many of my letters friends through FB! Maybe I should start saving emails in my cyber box to be able to read in the future! And hopefully saved emails will show up better than my old letters!! <

Spoiler alert!

2012-01-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

I am adding some blessings today and ending with a reference to the Courageous movie. If you have not seen it, don't read on!

But first, my blessing #2. I am blessed to have a husband who has a job that allows me to be a mommy on the boys' day off from school. We visited the new park at Shem Creek. Well, it is really a long boardwalk/dock, but a very pretty view!

Blessing #3: Being able to teach Camden and the other Cubbies that they are a promise from God.

Blessing #4: Parents that live close enough for me to meet them halfway and give them Camden for the weekend. (Dave and Nathan were at a Father-Son weekend and I had the house to myself!)

Blessing #5: Being able to dance with my energetic son. We went to Moe's to eat after dinner with a gift card I received for Christmas (thanks Kathy!). Camden got up and started dancing to the music. He then wanted me to dance with him. I remembered the scene in "Courageous" in which the dad did not dance with his daughter and then she died not long after that. One regret he had was that he did not dance with his daughter. So I danced in Moe's. No, I did not get up, but I did dance in my seat and Camden was happy!

Blessings!

2012-01-15T15:37:00.001-05:00

I went to a ladie's luncheon in December at our church where our pastor's wife talked about counting your blessings. Specifically 1000 blessings. I made a plan to do so, but got sidetracked with all the blessings of Christmas! So I am starting today. I am not even going to say this will be a daily thing. But I hope that it will cause me to focus on all the things in life that do bless me. So here is number one: listening to my boys (all three) laugh and giggle (Dave doesn't giggle!) in the morning while wrestling.

Camden's Mater tent

2012-01-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

The Christmas present Camden used the most last year was his Toy Story tent. He decided he would sleep in it all the time! When he started sleeping without pullups, this stopped, however, since I have a plastic cover on his mattress, but not on his carpet. This Christmas he recieved a 4 foot cardboard Mater that you can color and play in.

Well he calls it his Mater tent and says it is to sleep in. Well, he fits!

So here it is to many nights of not sleeping on his bed, but in his tent! I guess that makes for one less bed to make and less sheets to wash!! So thanks Jenn and family! Your gifts have been a hit for two years in a row!

Well, this picture has nothing to do with Mater! It was just cute...shows what happens when Camden delves into his dress-up clothes box!

Birthdays!

2012-01-12T09:57:00.000-05:00

Today is my niece Ashton's birthday. She was my first niece and I have been told she is a lot like me! Lucky her! Since her birthday is so close to Christmas, we generally give her her present at Christmas time. This year, however, we gave it to her at Thanksgiving. My mom and I took the boys to Memphis for Thanksgiving in 2011. While there, Jennifer mentioned that Ashton wanted a room makeover for her birthday. So I decided that her present from us would be to paint her room. She had definite ideas of what colors she wanted and didn't want. She wanted lime green and purple. Not mint green; not hunter green; not sage; lime! So we gave her lime green walls. The coloring of the pictures looks more yellowish than it turned out. And although we were skeptical about the brightness of her walls, it looked very nice for an 11 year old's room. I can't wait to see how she and her mom accessorize with purple!

Everyone loves to paint when they are young!!

What is also special about this birthday is that it is Nathan's spiritual birthday. Five years ago on January 12, in the back seat of the car, Nathan started asking serious questions about asking Christ to be his Savior. At home that night in his room, he accepted Christ as his Savior. So happy birthday Nathan and Ashton!!! You two are the best cousins!!!

Has anyone seen Cars 2?

2012-01-10T23:48:00.001-05:00

And I don't mean seen the movie, but seen our copy of the movie! We had a great Christmas. Very busy and crazy and wonderful. My sister's family and our parents all came down here for Christmas. That makes 11 people in our house. (And I am very glad that this time, unlike last time this happened, we had two working bathrooms!). But as you can imagine, the hurricane named NathanAshtonDeclanCamdenJosiah left quite a trail of confusion. In all the confusion, Dave rescued one gift before it was thrown out, but we somehow lost our Cars 2 movie. In my mind, I know I put it in Camden's room on Christmas day, but I have looked all over that room, and it is nowwhere to be found. The question was at first, what to do about it. I have given up on finding it in our house and thought maybe the boys would forget about it (it was Camden's gift). This may have worked except I had Camden write a thank-you card to his Gramps and Granny. And guess what they gave him? Cars 2! "Camden, write your name on this thank-you card." "OK. What did they give me?" "Um, well, that movie we can't find." Oops! Now he keeps asking for it. He told me that it must have been taken away on the trailer to the trash. And when we buy a new Cars 2, we shouldn't leave it outside so that it gets taken away by the trailer to the trash.I guess I need to head to Target.

Our new pets!

2011-12-23T16:39:00.001-05:00

Nathan has been asking for a dog for a long time, and we have been putting him off with excuses like, "wait until after vacation". Well, that started several vacations ago! We are just enjoying the freedom of not having a dog to take care of, especially when we go out of town. But we know the day will come when we will give in and get the boy his dog! To put this off a little longer, however, we did give in a let him get a Leopard Gecko.

To me this is easier than a dog and a lot nicer than a rat! The things kids come to like through science class! He asked for it for Christmas, but it was too late to be put on the Santa list. So we allowed him to buy his gecko with Christmas money he gets from his Aunt and Uncle in CA.

Since Nathan needed room to put his gecko tank, the fish tank was moved to Camden's room. Because it is now his fish tank, he got to redocorate it with a castle and a crab and one new fish with his Christmas money.

It has been an exciting animal filled week at the Shirley house! Thanks Aunt Alice and Uncle Bob!!!

Joseph

2011-12-14T00:29:00.000-05:00

I did something out of my comfort zone this year...I agreed to play the part of Mary in our church's Christmas program. I am not sure how I did with my role, but it turned out to be fun. It also made me think about Mary and her role in the Christmas story. She usually has a big part, especially when she has to hold a real baby and make sure he doesn't cry! And she is honored in many ways, even to the point of worship by some. But tonight I was reading a devotion on Joseph and it gave me pause. Mary did find favor with God and she did accept her responsibility, but after she was pregnant, she really had no choice. But Joseph, he had a choice. Granted when an angel appears to you, it probably is hard to say no! But still, he married a girl that most people thought had cheated on him. He did so because God told him to. He had to have been a strong, godly man. My prayer this night is that my two sons will grow up to trust God and follow God no matter what, just like Joseph.

Elizabeth and Mary

The whole cast, including Joseph!

40 years of magic!!

2011-12-05T23:14:00.005-05:00

1971 was a great year!!! Intel produced the first microprocessor chip, Disney World opened, Liberty University was founded, and I was born! What an awesome year to come into the world! You always feel like the year you were born was special, but while we were at Disney on our non-Disney, Disney-like vacation, I was bombarded with how special this year was! Forty years of magic was everywhere! I almost bought a t-shirt with this on it, but didn't really feel like advertising my age. But I did buy a notebook, and a magnet, and bought a pin from Nathan that someone traded him. Oh, and a Christmas ornament!

Other years were noted throughtout our hotel (we stayed at the pop century hotel), but none can compare!

One thing that was neat about the hotel was all of the items that reminded you of different centuries. I especially liked the 70's and 80's.

The Big Wheel...hands down, the best toy I ever had!!

I tried to win one of these phones on the Mickey Mouse Club...my name was never drawn :(

My parents still have their 8 track player!!

The Rubik's cube...I never solved that thing...may have moved the stickers around, but never solved it!

My Walkman looked like this! Can you imagine running with one of those today!

I remember when these were the new thing compared to floppy discs!

Two children of the 70's!

Feeling Behind!

2011-11-30T21:49:00.009-05:00

I am feeling behind tonight! It is Nov.30 (Oh, yeah, Happy Birthday Dave!!) and I am seeing Christmas lights everywhere and trees in houses and thinking of how the next two weekends are busy and I am getting overwhelmed!!! Why? It is not even December 1! Why do I need to have it all done today?

Well, I don't; but I would like to get the decorating done so I can enjoy it. And I found my book "Why Nativity" already, so maybe I can start that tomorrow and be on time with it. In reality, however, I should probably start at the end so that I could possibly meet in the middle and have read it all!

But since I am behind in what I have wanted to blog since our October trip, I think I will try to start on finishing that!

We took our trip to Florida on Nathan's birthday weekend and his present was a trip to Blizzard Beach! And a special breakfast with Donald and Goofy and Minnie before our Beach day.

Breakfast was fun, but Blizzard Beach was our destination. Nathan was so excited to go on the 12 story drop of a water slide...and somehow he talked me into going also! I am not too fond of heights, so I had to lay down with my eyes closed and push myself off the edge without looking. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking; even the second time I did it! The only thing open on the way down was my mouth due to my screaming!

Dave and Nathan braved the very intimidating water slide!

The day was lots of fun, especially on the non-wedgie causing slides! Camden could do most everything; and Dave could do all the slides without getting motion sickness! So it was a super fun family day!

We ended our day with another trip to Downtown Disney and dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant. The salmon was delicious!! Just like last year!!!

But I can't end my post without saying a real Happy Birthday to Dave! It is not as big a birthday celebration as last year; only 41 this year! But he is still a pretty awesome 41 year old...one who can still go flying down a 12 story water slide!! Love you Dave!

Happy Birthday Camden!

2011-11-12T21:18:00.009-05:00

My baby boy has turned 5 and I don't know how it happened so fast! I am a week behind in telling him Happy Birthday and am so behind in computer work in general because the motherboard on my computer has been acting up! But it is working tonight, so I am determined to get at least one post up tonight!

So this is the post of Camden's birthday present. We took him to Legoland in Florida! This was what Camden had been talking about for months; ever since he started looking at Nathan's Lego magazine this summer. So we decided to take him to Legoland the day after it opened! Although it was a little more expensive than we thought it would be, we had a great day.

The park is geared toward kids up to age 12 and Camden could go on every ride but one. So it was fun to be able to take the whole family on all the rides. Well, except for when Dave couldn't go on rides due to his motion sickness problem.

So here are pictures from Camden's birthday present. I am glad he shared it with us...and if my computer keeps acting right, I will have pictures from his party soon!

Camden loved all the rides!!

My two treasures!

The lego safari!

The lego version of San Fran's crookedest road...

and the Golden Gate Bridge

Camden was eager to meet the pirate!

Dave and Nathan were worn out after a long day!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

2011-10-20T23:52:00.010-04:00

My firstborn turned 11 this past Saturday, October 15. I think 11 sounds so much older than 10! He is still my sensitive, caring and giving son, but he is also the boy that is beginning to get embarrassed when I hug him in public! He is also the boy who is very excited that some restaurants will no longer let him order off the kids' menu!

For his birthday this year we took a trip to Florida. In order to have some snacks on the trip, we of course had to get some cookies. I just want to say a big thanks to Stephanie at Cookie Capers. She outdid herself with the creativity in making these one of a kind cookies. They are as tasty as they are beautiful. And Nathan absolutely loved his baseball jersey cookie! I enjoyed the hamburger and fries myself. I am not good at links, but check Cookie Capers out on Facebook if you want some awesome cookies!!

For our vacation, we didn't go to Disney, but it certainly felt like it, sort of. We stayed at a Disney hotel and went to a Disney waterpark and went to Downtown Disney a lot. His actual present was the waterpark day and breakfast with Donald.

But on his actual birthday, we were not in Orlando. We started out the day with pancakes at the hotel in Silver Springs.

Amy and Camden sharing an orange juice moment!

I told Nathan I would make him pancakes for his birthday...all I did was push a button on the pancake machine and they came out!

Nathan opening his card...who's that silly boy in the spotlight!

From there we began our adventure into the natural springs at Juniper Springs state park. We took the nature hike (instead of the 3-5 hr. canoe ride with a 4 and 11 yr old)...

Pictures do not do justice to how clear this water was! The brownish spots is where the springs were bubbling up.

...and then took a dip in the natural pool that is 72 degrees year round. Chilly!! We all jumped in though, although some stayed longer than others!! Even though it was very cold, it was refreshing!

If you look close, you can see them shivering!

Not the clearest picture, but a good shot of Dave diving!

Nathan about to dive in !

After drying off, we got on our way to our final stop...Orlando! After checking in, we ventured Downtown Disney for a birthday dinner at The Rainforest Cafe! Nathan said it was the best thing ever to eat there!

Nathan getting his birthday ice cream and having the staff sing Happy Birthday to him!

He had an awesome actual birthday, and a great trip to Florida. More stories to follow!

The dunking booth

2011-10-10T22:06:00.003-04:00

I had the chance to do something I have always wanted to do this past weekend. I got to sit in a dunking booth! I had volunteered to work at a fair for Lowcountry Orphan Relief. This is an organization that collects goods to give out to orphans and children in foster care. At the fair, I signed up for various booths like the jumpcastle, bobbing for apples and popcorn. But the dunking booth looked too enticing. As I was walking by, I commented that I wanted to sit in the booth. The cold guy sitting in the booth took me up on my offer! I climbed into the booth hot due to the pounding sun, but once I came out of the water the first time, I really felt the cool breeze!

It was a lot of fun, although a little scary not knowing when you might fall. I also was concerned about my contacts which are semi-hard and not meant for wearing in the water. But I and my contacts survived. I even was able to meet a really nice teenage girl. I was taunting her that she couldn't hit the target and I was wrong! She dunked me several times! And had a lot of fun doing it. When I worked the apple bobbing booth afterwards, she came over to tease me. She was very nice and even showed me the proper way to bob for an apple! But what really impressed me was how she helped her little brother also get an apple.

It was a very fun day and I was glad I was able to volunteer. A great way to spend a Saturday.

I love my job!

2011-09-28T22:51:00.002-04:00

I do love my job, or should I say jobs!! Well, I love most of them! Right now I can say I do not love ironing or emptying the dishwasher. But I love being a mom, a wife, a speech-language pathologist, a volunteer at the boys' school, a Cubbies' director, and well, that is all I can think of at this time.

Tonight was Super Heroes Night at AWANA. The 3 and 4 year olds had so much fun dressing up, and so did my leaders! I got to come as my favorite super hero--Wonder Woman of course! I did change her name, however, to Cubbie Women!! I have to say that I have a great group of leaders! They all dressed up and made the night so much fun for the kids. The olders clubs focused on how Jesus is the real Super Hero, and since our lesson was about creation, we were able to talk about how only God can create, therefore, He is a super hero! It was an awesome night. My only regret is that I didn't get the red boots for my costume!!

Our younger group of clubbers

Super girl and Bat girl!

Our very active older group of clubbers!

Free Card!!

2011-09-20T22:45:00.002-04:00

I love pictures and I love getting free cards whenever I can! I especially love the card on the previous post because it was made just in time to get to Dave's Grandpa only a little late for his birthday. If you go onto Shutterfly, you can get a free card too and only have to pay for it to be shipped to that special birthday person in your life...the one you always forget about until the last minute!!!

I don't know if you can view the entire card, but I thought I was really clever in how I made the back. Whenver Dave's Grandpa receives a card from someone, he always looks at the back of it to see if it a Hallmark. So I thought I would have some fun with him. I wrote, Shirleymark...when you care enough to send the best!, on the back. I sure hope he still has the habit of reading the back of cards!!

5x7 Folded Card

2011-09-20T22:40:00.001-04:00

Sunny And Bright Birthday Card

Click here to browse Shutterfly's modern graduation invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

More recipes

2011-09-16T23:33:00.002-04:00

Well, I have not pulled out the camera during dinner this week, but we have had some yummy meals. I must admit that it is nice to not have to do a lot of cooking each night, but I wish I could somehow have a once a month dish washing plan!! Also, I kind of miss eating out! Dave is saving me tonight, though. He is taking me out to eat without the kids! Yeah!!

But I thought I would share some more favorites. We have eaten chicken and rice twice now and love it! Poulet de France (or chicken and stuffing) was good also, although more of a meal to provide sustenance and not too much palatal pleasure. Taco pie was not the biggest hit in our family; maybe because I forgot to add the extras like cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes... And we also had a very yummy chicken tetrazinni. I think that is it. With Nathan and Camden both in ball and AWANA's started, it has been tricky to eat at home this week even with meals prepared!

Chicken Tetrazinni

1 16 oz package spaghetti (use half)
1 1/4 cups chopped onion (or onion powder for me)
3 tbsp margarine (not needed unless you use a real onion)
1 cup chopped green bell pepper (omitted at my house)
5 1/2 cups cooked, diced chicken
4 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of milk
salt and pepper to taste

Break spaghetti in half and cook as directed on package until al dente; drain. (Saute onions in margarine) Or throughly mix some onion powder and all the remaining ingredients with spaghetti in a large bowl. (Using your hands works well if spaghetti is not too hot) Put spaghetti mixture in 2 containers and freeze.

Te prepare, thaw tetrazinni and put in a baking dish. Bake uncovered in preheated 350 degree oven until bubbly, about 30-40 minutes.

Poulet De France

1 12 oz package seasoned bread stuffing (6 cups)
2 tbsp melted margarine
2 cups chicken broth (I strained our chicken broth through cheese cloth from where we cooked the chicken and it worked well)
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 cups finely chopped onion (or onion powder)
1/4 cup minced chives (we omitted this time)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery (normally is blend my celery, but omitted this time)
1/2 cup light mayo
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup grated mild cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, mix stuffing, melted margarine, and 1 1/4 cups broth. Mix chicken, 3/4 cup broth, onion, chives, celery, mayo and salt in another bowl.

Spread half the stuffing in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish treated with nonstick spray. Spread chicken mixture over stuffing. Cover with remaining stuffing. Whisk eggs, milk and soup in a large bowl. Pour sauce evenly over stuffing. Cover dish with foil and freeze. Put cheese in small freezer bag and attach it to dish. **

To prepare for serving, thaw grated cheese and chicken dish. Bake covered in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese, and continue to bake uncovered for 10 minutes.

**If you take it out of the freezer before it freezes too hard, you can cut it in half and put it in separate freezer bags. One half is enough for our family and it helps with freezer space.

Chicken and rice

2 (1 1/4 lb) roasted chickens (we used about 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken)
1 small onion minced (or onion powder of course!)
1/2 cup light mayo
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts (omitted)
1 (14 1/2 oz can chicken broth
1 (6.2 oz) package long-grain and wild rice mix, cooked

Remove chicken from bones and chop chicken. Stir together chicken and remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into 2 lightly greased 8 inch square baking dishes. Wrap in aluminum foil. (or divide into 2 gallon freezer bags).

For serving, thaw and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until throughly heated. This serves 4, but without any leftovers in my family and sometimes with asking for more than I have. When the boys get older, I will have to serve both dishes at one time!!

The first recipe came from my Once-a-Month Cooking cookbook, but the last came from Southern Living's 2001 cookbook.

Reflections

2011-09-12T22:54:00.002-04:00

This past weekend has been a weekend of reflecting. Beginning with the sirens invading our neighborhood; Nathan and his friend Ben riding their bikes through the police cars and thinking there must have been a big robbery; thinking I should FB Amanda to find out what was happening on her street; to putting all the pieces together and figuring out that it was Amanda who was found dead in her house. It seems unreal. A girl whom I taught in SS and tutored in her home. Well, at least I tried, as her mom pointed out tonight at the funeral home. Amanda definitely wanted to do things her way.

What I keep thinking about, other than the obvious of how hard this must be for her mom and the fact that Amanda herself was a mom to two little girls who now have no parents (since the husband/dad took Amanda's life), is how much we don't know people. I knew Amanda when she was younger and later became her "friend" on FB. It seemed like she was doing good with her life. She was married, something that her neighbors were not sure of, and her girls were her life. This much was very clear by any posts she had on FB. But how much do we know our neighbors and what should I be doing to show love to my neighbors?

I also keep thinking about how evil is really real. I have a kid I see for therapy who lives in the projects. His mom was telling me that there had been a shooting there the other night. Of course this is horrible, but in today's world, our attitudes about these actions have been desensitized and we don't think too much of it. But what I really wanted to tell the mom was, "Yeah, that happened in my neighborhood too." Evil can happen and does happen anywhere.

But at the end of my reflections is a prayer for Amanda's mom and family and especially for her two little girls. And thankfulness that Amanda was saved and is now in heaven with her father. And also a prayer of thanksgiving for my husband who loves me and would not physically hurt me. And lots of extra hugs for my two boys who have their parents by the grace of God. Rest in peace Amanda.

Cooking Party

2011-09-04T22:47:00.006-04:00

My friend Becky and I recently had a cooking party. Our goal was to make food that was relatively easy, good to eat, and something our kids would also eat. Neither of us like chunks in our food, so we worked well together. We cooked 14 different recipes and stuck them in the freezer! Due to popular demand (this is for you Shannon), I have taken pictures of the first two meals we have eaten. There were no pictures taken while cooking...we were too busy cooking and too messy to get the camera out. But we had a lot of fun cooking together. Well at least hanging out together! And now we don't have to do major cooking for the next, well, 14+ days. And so far, the food has been very good!

So here are the first two meals with recipes. These two recipes came from my old cookbook, Once-A-Month Cooking.

French Stew

3 lbs beef stew meat
1 10 3/4 oz can beef consomme
3 large peeled and sliced carrots (we used baby carrots, half bag)
1 16 oz can whole green beans, drained
1 8 1/2 oz can whole onions, drained (I omitted)
1 16 oz can small peas, drained
1 16 oz can peeled tomatoes
1 cup water
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup tapioca
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup fine, dry bread crumbs
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients in a large covered pot. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hrs or in a large crockpot 8-10 hrs on low (I used the oven). Allow to cool, and put in freezer container.

To prepare for serving, thaw stew and heat until bubbly.

We ate ours over rice.

Well,I am no food photographer and this may not look to appetizing, but it tasted good! Did I mention that both the boys ate the carrots!

Joes to go

1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup finely chopped onion (or onion powder as I use)
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt (or a little less garlic powder as I use)
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 brown sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 8-oz tomato sauce

Cook and stir ground beef and onion; drain. Add garlic, pepper, chili sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, mustard and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. simmer uncovered 10 minutes,stirring occasionally. Cool and freeze.

To serve, thaw; heat until sauce is bubbly and serve on warmed buns.

Nathan's favorite, sloppy joes...he says I always make the best sloppy joes!

Dave enduring pictures while eating his food!

Bible Bee 2011

2011-09-03T22:14:00.009-04:00

Nathan participated in an event this summer called the Bible Bee. We joined the competition without much knowledge of what all it entailed and were immediately overwhelmed! There are two tracks in the competition-the local only (called Timothy) track and the National track. In order to make it to the National finals, you have to participate in the National track to begin with and this means learning more verses. Nathan, of course, being a competitor, wanted to go with the National track. We signed him up for that, but since he will turn 11 before the National competion in November, he was not in the primary division, but the junior. After receiving the stack of verses he had to learn, I easily talked him into changing to the Timothy track. To compare the two, Timothy track needed to learn on average 6 Bible passages a week for 12 weeks while the National track needed to learn 20. (And a passage is between 1-4 verses in the Timothy track.)

In addition to learning Bible verses, we also had a daily Bible study in I Peter. To me it was similar to a Precept type study, but not as indepth since it was for kids. It did, though, take a lot of time and catch up days due to Nathan being gone at different camps.

I was very proud of Nathan for doing this. He was the one who wanted to participate to begin with, but he did want to quit. Although I was for him changing his track, I didn't think it would be a good thing for him to quit. So he stuck it out. I was especially proud of him when he stuck to learning his verses and doing his Bible study when he found out that he was the only one in his age division, so he had won before he started. But the goal of a Bible Bee is not just to win, but to learn God's word. And he did! He had 10 minutes to recite 25 verses picked from the stack of verses he needed to learn. He had not learned every verse, so he had to pass on 6 verses. But of the ones he said, he only missed on average, less then one point per verse. And at least two of those points was from not saying the reference.

In the local bee, he did win first place, and last as the Pastor pointed out! But when we were able to see his scores compared to the rest of the nation, it sounded a lot better. He was 42 out of 255!! So yeah for Nathan! He did great!

The winners from Charleston Baptist!! Grace Jackson also won first place!

Our local Bible Bee participants

First Day of School

2011-08-22T22:59:00.003-04:00

Well the first day of school is over and it was a success! This is the first year that Nathan and Camden are in the same school! Camden began his K4 year dressed in the same uniform as Nathan and he was very excited about this! Although he was a little anxious when we got to the door of his room, he went to his seat and started his day. I was able to spy on him at his very short recess (they had a half of a half day!) and he was running and playing on the playground.

Camden in his new classroom. He doesn't look too excited yet!

Lately we have been talking about telling lies and what it means to tell a lie and even getting in trouble for telling lies. When Camden came home from school today the one thing he did tell me was that he did not tell a lie at school!

Nathan had a good day also. He started 5th grade today and likes his class. He took his book report in on time (unlike me who forgot to take Camden's emergency card!), talked about what was going to happen this year, and got out at noon. When talking about his day, well, he didn't say much! I guess he is growing up!

I really didn't try to match the boys!

So hear it to a great year!!

A Fresh New Look

2011-08-13T23:59:00.007-04:00

Well the cabinets are basically finished! Yeah! There are some touch up things that need to be fixed. Some paint that needs to be added and molding that needs to be changed, but to walk into my kitchen now is like a breath of fresh air! Everything looks new and clean and light. I just want to open and close all the drawers and doors that used to clunk into and out of place and leave trails of sawdust in their wake. I now have lots of nice looking, empty cabinets...yes, my kitchen contents are still in the living room! It is now my turn to do the work!

Our old kitchen before the work began.

The beginning of the job; taking off the old doors.

The first weekend of work left us with all the outside exposed surfaces covered in new laminate.

Then the doors!! Yeah!

Now to open those doors and put stuff away! Better get to work!

New Cabinets!

2011-08-04T22:52:00.003-04:00

After painting our kitchen blue this past year and getting a new table and hutch set, I have been anxious to do something with our cabinets. We have always talked of ripping out the cabinets, pulling up the floor and replacing the entire kitchen. But that would take lots of time and money. So we decided to forego the expense, save money for braces and tuition, and take a less expensive route for making our kitchen look awesome!! Cabinet refacing I think is the official name for the process. Friday morning is the start day. So tonight is the posting of pre- nice cabinet pictures.

The worn out edges of our cabinets.

The remnant of a sticker that I could not get off. Along with holes in the wood.

Very old fashioned cabinets!

Say good-bye to the cabinets! Updates as soon as possible!

Kool-aid

2011-07-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

When all is said and done, happiness is all about being able to make kool-aid!!

Signs of Summer

2011-07-24T15:41:00.002-04:00

I know it is summer at my house when there are beach towels and bathing suits hanging all over the bathrooms waiting to dry out so they can be used the next day!

Camp AJ

2011-07-17T17:01:00.011-04:00

For the fourth summer, Nathan has attended the most anticipated camp of the year, Grammie Camp! My sister and I invented this for our family's version of a week at the grandparents. Both Nathan and his cousin Ashton have been able to make so many good memories of their Grammie and Grandaddy and have been able to develop their friendship. Since they first went to Grammie Camp when they were 7, they made the rule that you had to be 7 to go to Grammie Camp. Well, Ashton's younger brother is 6 this year, so this was their last year with just the two of them. And in 3 years, the youngest 2 cousins will get to go. Can you say a free week for me and Jennifer!!! All the kids at Grammie Camp!! I am not too excited yet, but we have started making tentative plans!

But this year, the plan was for her to come to Charleston after dropping Ashton off in Columbia and spend the week here with me. Since this also meant 3 boys here (one 6 yr old and two 4 yr olds), we decided to make our own camp...Camp AJ, for Amy Jennifer. It was a lot of fun! Tiring, but a lot of fun. Since it started out as a whirlwind (I stopped in Columbia on the way home from Atlanta and then drove her to Charleston at 10 at night), I will summarize in a whirlwind of a sentence!! Pictures to follow.

We went to the pool; we went to the beach; we went out to eat every day!; we ate at home some; we went to Target; we went to the waterpark; we went out on the boat; we walked the bridge and went to the park; we made train cakes and sunshine cookies; we attended a play at Pattison's Camp; we made photo books and tie-dyed t-shirts; we played with the water rocket and slip and slide; we went to the beach again; we went to the pool again; and the boys played hard everyday with all of Camden's toys! The toys were very happy to be played with!!

Playing with the water rocket!

Playing at the beach

The campers and their train cakes that looked like cars!

Playing at the playground

Camp Counselors Jennifer and Amy

Declan, Josiah, and Camden: the AJ campers! And yes, we all wore our tie-dye shirts together out in public!!

Making our photo albums.

More beach time!

Sunshine cookies!

Always have to have a silly picture!

Having fun on the boat!

We all had a blast! Just enough fun to have a good time, but not enough to make the boys want to come back to AJ camp instead of moving on to Grammie Camp!!

Tic tac toe

2011-07-06T22:21:00.004-04:00

Last week was Vacation Bible School at our church and the theme was Pandamania, or God is About You. Nathan and Camden both were able to attend the night session while I was a helper. Camden is actually a year too young to go to the real VBS, but since he was the only 4 year old in the preschool section and the only other child was only one year old, they moved him up to the rising K5 group. He was a little anxious at first, but started to really enjoy all the excitement.

Being the youngest, he spent a lot of time following along with what all the other kids were doing. He especially liked raising his hand to answer questions. But he didn't really know the answers! The first time someone called on him, he answered "Tic tac toe!". Of course this produced laughter and he liked that. So he kept answering questions with "Tic tac toe" all week. What is really funny about this is that he doesn't even know about the game tic, tac, toe.

I was on the story telling team this year and the guy working with me egged him on one night by calling on him. Of course he answered "Tic tac toe". By the fourth night, all the kids in his group were answering "Tic tac toe". That night our story was about Peter and the persecuted church. We walked around the church grounds pretending to hide from Roman soldiers and then had our story in the secret hide-out. After the "tic tac toe" answer, George decided to turn that into our code to use when we saw Roman soldiers. This was our code for saying "God loves you".

Camden and Nathan both learned at VBS this year, and even though some of the stories were over Camden's head, he did come away from VBS knowing that God loves him; that God is wild about him. He came away knowing about "tic, tac, toe". So next time you are out to dinner and playing the simple game of tic, tac, toe on your child's menu, remember...God loves you!!! Tic, tac, toe!!!

Baseball

2011-06-28T23:52:00.000-04:00

I have had this post in my head for several weeks now and am finally getting around to writing it out. I think if I could have some device in my head that wrote what I thought (or at least what I purposefully put in a blog thought area of my brain), I would have a lot more posts :) But alas, I am stuck with typing!

But on to my topic...baseball! This was the season I was looking forward to and dreading. After years of Nathan having ball practice and games all on Saturdays, we moved to weeknight games a few seasons ago. But then it became Camden's turn to play t-ball and we had to give up our Saturdays again! And I couldn't help but look to the future of having games all the time and constantly being at the ball field and driving one boy to one field and the other to another, and, well you get the picture.

Of course it is fun to watch your child play ball. Nathan has really gotten better this year. He had started pitching in the fall on another team, but when he was was put on this team for the spring, the coach had his pitchers already. But Nathan got the courage up to ask him for a chance to pitch and was given that chance. Not to go on and on, but at the Championship game, Nathan was the most consistent pitcher and didn't let anyone score on his watch. He either struck them out or threw them out. It was nerve racking to watch, but he did great. And did I mention the Championship game?!?! They won! Last spring he was also on a winning team, but the team was so good, and Nathan was one of the youngest, and it didn't seem like he did much. But this year, he was a major contributor to the winning season!!

Nathan putting on his pitching serious face

Playing third

So I have my one son that will keep us busy with ball for many seasons; but will Camden follow in his footsteps? Well he hasn't yet! He was all excited about playing t-ball, but I think he thought it was for one game. He didn't realize that you had to keep going back. And for him, this actually meant the first practice. By the first game he was really over it. He would stand at the fence and ask me if it was time to go home. But he did improve and finally started standing on the field. He tried to go for a few balls, but usually a girl got it first! Oh well! He also learned that you run to first base first and not after the ball that you hit toward the pitcher. At practice he led many astray in this running pattern! He did like his trophy at the end and now that the season is over, he says he wants to play again. He really likes wearing his uniform shirt and hat! I think, though, we will try soccer in the fall. He likes to run so maybe that will be the sport for him...or maybe not! You never know with Camden.

Yes, that is the way you run!

Nathan was a big help in getting Camden to stay on the field

Getting a hit

Finally getting to run home

His one time playing first...he got to get the ball!

Camden and his friend Benjamin..they always have fun together!

Are we done yet?!? Well, almost!

Must I say it...The End!

Camden's new room

2011-06-15T23:58:00.002-04:00

Tonight has not gone as I had it planned in my mind, but it has gone much better! I had plans on straightening up my pictures so that I can move on to 2010, but our friend and his son came by to help Dave move our new hutch into the kitchen. Of course I had to supervise that happen! Around 10:30 when he left and Dave was talking to our neighbor walking his dog, a car stopped in front of our house and friends of ours from about 10 years ago were driving through their old haunts and caught us outside (hi Patty since I know you are reading this!). We spent about 30 minuttes catching up with them and had a great chat.

So since I had a very surprising and wonderful evening, I thought I would sit down and blog while Dave is putting my hutch together. You would think I would show you the hutch, but that will have to wait. I want to talk about Camden's new room.

Last year my spring cleaning started in the spring, but didn't end until the fall. This was due to painting, peeling wallpaper, more painting, etc. This year I have smaller plans that centered on cleaning the boys' closets and getting rid of stuff! In the process we revamped Camden's room. Gone is the toddler bed! He was not too keen on that to begin with, but has started enjoying the extra space in his room.

Camden's new bed ensemble. Same color scheme and animal theme, but bigger boy looking.

I love the sheets!

We brought the toybox down from upstairs and he had to keep his tent up!

Look how neat the inside of the toy box is...well at least how it was when I took the picture!

His closet is also neater than it used to be!

So with the boys closets cleaned out and toys given away, my spring cleaning is done. But wait, I have a new hutch! I have to rearrange my kitchen! And why not redo the cabinets while we are at it!!! This could go on well into the fall!

Camden

2011-05-31T23:46:00.000-04:00

Camden is our silly child and he will tell you that. As every child is different, he is not his brother! Camden talked late compared to Nathan (which is probably just normal!), but when he started, he hasn't stopped. When Nathan was his age we were amazed at his intelligence because he has such a good memory and could tell you facts of any subject that he was interested in that week (we went through several topics from sharks to NASCAR). Nathan was also easy to teach his memory verses to in Cubbies. Camden on the other hand would rather be building something. When I am working with him on learning a verse, I will say part, have him repeat, say another part, have him repeat, and so forth. Then I will say the first part in hopes that he will say the whole verse. For example, me: God loved us; Camden: God loved us; me: finish it; Camden: finish it. Sigh. He has improved, but his skills are in other areas.

He can put together very hard puzzles for his age and loves to build things. He also is good at adding numbers. And his ability at writing and coloring is much higher than Nathan's was at his age. But his talking is what I want to put down in this post for me to remember.

He can come up with the craziest things. He loves opposites. He likes to say things that are the opposite of what he feels or what he knows. There is one song that we have on a CD called the sharing song. It goes something like this..."It's more fun to share with everyone." But he sings "It's more fun to take from everyone." He also had been saying "Mommy's stinkio". This was to the tune of "Something Beautiful". If I gave him the eye in time he would stop after saying "Mommy's...", pause and meekly say "...beautiful". He really is a stinker!

At his preschool this year there are two 3-K teachers. He likes to tease his teacher all the time. He first started when he would tell her that he wanted to be in the other teacher's class (I really think this was prompted by the little girl he liked being in the other class!). Then she said that every time she leaves the room, just to stand in the hallway, he announces to the class that "we don't have a teacher!" and the whole class gets to acting silly. I think class clown would be an apt description! He started taking CD's to school on Fridays. This was without me knowing about it, but apparently the teacher didn't mind. At their Easter party, he had slipped one in his bag (Veggietales Sing the Eighties) and while the kids were sitting there eating their party food, Camden puts the CD in, turns up the volume and starts to dance! And other kids start too! All I have to say about that is, that was the most fun preschool party that I have attended! (And for a video of him dancing in church preschool, check out my Facebook where my friend Tara posted a video of him!)

Other things that he says a lot include "I will not" whenever I tell him not to do anything. He is a fairly obedient child!

And in keeping with the opposite theme, he told my mom once that he wanted to miss her. He has also told me and Dave that. But then I heard him on the phone with her telling her in his sweet voice, "I don't want to keep missing you".

The last thing I am going to include in this post (one that I have been working on since the middle of May), is that he has started quoting movies. I have had several patients whose parents tell me that their child can recite some entire movie. My thought to that is, how much have the been watching it!?! I guess I have to eat my words/thoughts (didn't speak it out loud!). Camden can do the same for his movie of the week or month. Especially after a Toy Story marathon in the car on the way to Memphis! He especially likes Toy Story 2. He will randomly say "I was a yoyo" or "My biscuits are burning." Of course saying the latter quote right after he tooted may have been accurate! But my favorite is his imitation of Mrs. Potato Head packing Mr. Potato Head in the outtakes during the credits of Toy Story 2. He even sounds like her! So I videotaped it...enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-05-18T22:10:00.003-04:00

I want to say Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! We married 18 years ago on May 16. Yes I am a little late in this anniversary wish! We were able to go away again on our anniversay weekend, and it has been busy since we came back. May always is!

Our weekend was in Waynesville, NC. I bought a deal on Living Social a while back, and we used it. We left on Friday, dropped the boys in Columbia with my parents, and drove to the mountains. We had no plans except a massage on Saturday. That night we decided to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway before dinner. This was the one place I was going to take pictures. But as you may can tell, there were no pictures taken. At the first overlook, Dave noticed the van was dripping. He then discovered that the radiator was leaking! We were not really in the picture mood after that!

Dave, my mechanic-minded husband, was able to get us down the mountains to the first auto part store listed on the GPS. It was also across from a Firestone service center. They gave us an estimate and told us to come back in the morning. To make a long story short, Dave decided he could stop the leak temporarily (it was at the top), and we drove home praying and with our eyes on the temperature gauge. He replaced it today and saved us about $300! What memories! And I am very glad we did not have to spend the night on the parkway because of an exploded radiator!!

Easter Finery

2011-05-06T21:11:00.007-04:00

As the habit of many, we always have to take Easter pictures; and this year was before and after church! Most of the pics were taken before church so we wouldn't have to worry about kids staying clean and tucked in...Camden especially had many problems staying tucked in! But here is how we looked on Easter; at least for a little while!

Camden couldn't resist the hair!

We stopped at the iris garden on the way home from church

Alabama

2011-05-04T22:14:00.011-04:00

In Nathan's study of states we are almost finished with Alabama. We picked this state since we were driving through there in order to get to Memphis for Easter. Our exploration of the state involved the Huntsville Space Center and a hotel in Anniston. In all of our talk of Alabama, we cannot help but remember how devastating the tornadoes were to them recently. It was a little sobering to think that we had just driven through many of the places hit hard. In fact a friend of ours from church is right now in Huntsville serving food to people through the Southern Baptist Mission Board.

Mom and the boys at the lunar landing

While we were in Huntsville, however, we were focused on space. There were huge rockets and space shuttles and everyone's favorite, Space Shot! This was a drop ride that first shot you up like a space ship. It was actually very scary the first time when you went straight up! There was also a mini space shot that Camden really liked. In addition to seeing all the huge space ships, it was also neat to read about the beginning of the space program and especially about the moon landing. Mom really was into reading about it since she remembered it. I think it would have been cool to have been able to sit in front of the TV just like every other American while I watched the moon landing! There are so few things now that everyone watches that bring us together as a nation. It must have been a proud day to be an American!

There was a moon landing the day after I was born!!

The Space Shot! Must have been before we went up because I am still smiling!

Camden on the mini space shot. It was hard to take a picture of him at the top because it kept bouncing him!

Nathan on the climbing wall

Playing with rockets!

So our Alabama experience ends tomorrow with our Alabama meal. It will be real easy since their food is very similar to SC food! We are doing fried chicken, grits, fried green tomatoes and cornbread! Hopefully we won't have a heart attack after eating dinner! But we should be okay as long as we don't break any of Alabama's laws...operating a vehicle while blindfolded and flicking boogers into the wind!

My future barber!

2011-04-26T21:01:00.004-04:00

Camden may have his career lined up! He loves to cut! At the beginning of school his teacher told us to work on his cutting, so I bought a book that has lots of cutting activities. His skills have improved and he really enjoys cutting. He also enjoys pretending to cut hair; but last week he actually cut his own hair! He had been placing my niece's dolls in her hair dresser chair and playing barber, but then he and his cousin Josiah found real scissors. Uh, oh! they come running out all happy about their adventure, while I screamed in horror at the sight of him holding a clump of his hair in his hand!

Fortunately you cannot tell where he cut...he did a good job I guess! But we have had a firm talk about what you do and not do with scissors!

Road Trip!

2011-04-20T22:32:00.009-04:00

It is Spring Break and the perfect time for a road trip! It began with my sister asking us to come to Memphis for Easter, and the kids begging to go, so we decided to make it a little interesting. Mom wanted to come to, so we waited until she got off work today, Wednesday, at noon, and then hit the road. Our destination for tonight was Chattanooga. But first we had to stop in Atlanta for a snack at the Varsity. Their orange slushes, Varsity Orange or Squirt One, are really good. We also had strings (french fries), ring one (onion rings), a hot dog (hot dog with chili and mustard) and a naked dog (self explanatory).

We then got back on the road and made our way to Chattanooga. Nathan had been there before and had had a really fun time in their waterway beside the aquarium. So bathing suits on, we walked up to the waterway only to find that it was dry for the season! Oh well! Camden at least found a puddle to jump in. So it was off to dinner at the Mellow Mushroom and Ben and Jerry's.

The dry waterway

Grammie, Nathan and Camden by the river

Camden always seems to find the water!

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the bathroom sign!?!

Can't finish a night without ice cream!

Now the boys are in bed and I am relaxing! One more stop tomorrow at the Huntsville Space Center before we make our way to Memphis!

My Garden

2011-03-26T23:15:00.005-04:00

The other week I went to the grocery store just for a tomato and some other produce. After paying over $2 for one tomato, I decided to make sure my garden actually produces this year! For the past few years I have planted a few plants, but have not had much to show for it. Last year I harvested maybe 4 tomatoes and then just had a green bush growing. I also did not get any eggplant last year (after getting several the year before), and my cucumbers were bitter.

So I am determined to feed my family from my yard this year. In fact, I have been telling Nathan that we are all becoming vegans by the end of the summer! Well we would be very skinny vegans if we only ate the veggies I grow, but I do plan to have more vegetables on our plate this year.

So I had Dave build me a box. The dirt in our yard is full of clay, so my thought is that is we added good dirt in the box, then this would help our produce grow better. I don't know if this will actually work, but the box looks really nice!

And then I started a commpost pile. I have a coworker that has been telling me how to do this, so hopefully I will have lots of good dirt soon to fertilize my garden. At least it has been more fun putting bannana peels and eggshells outside in my bin instead of in the trash. In fact, I look for opportunities to peel and chop vegetables and fruit!

And I have my own sunshine for rainy days!

So that is my summer plan. Eat more veggies!!!

The Real Thing!

2011-03-21T20:55:00.002-04:00

Well, after trying to make a black and white, I have been craving one! So Saturday night my sister and I go on the hunt for one around 9:00. We first went to the Publix bakery in Columbia where we found out that they had some the night before, but not that night. So off to Panera bread, but they were closed. We settled for red velvet cupcakes at Publix. (yes, we went back!) The next day I was heading home to Charleston so we stopped at Atlanta Bread where Nathan said he used to get black and white cookies. But alas, they only had shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate on one half. Nathan was satisfied, but I could only satisfied with a chocolate croissant (which was yummy!). But finally, Monday afternoon on my Publix run, I spot black and whites in the deli!! What joy! About the time Nathan was to have his, he turned on Unwrapped and guess what they were talking about? Black and whites!!!

After watching the show and eating our cookies, I found out that they were reportedly first made at a bakery called Zora. And they are not really a cookie, but a cake. And you have to ice the white side first because that is how grandad did it! And they were invented because a mom had two children and one liked chocolate and one liked vanilla. Of course our cookies were not authentic because you are supposed to use NYC tap water. Maybe that was my real problem! Oh, well, authentic or not, they were delicious! And if you want to try one, try the Sam Rittenburg Publix, but don't ask me to make one!

I am no pastry chef!

2011-03-05T16:34:00.002-05:00

I like to try new things and sometimes I find out I am good at them and other times I find out that I am not so good! That is what I found out last night when I tried to make black and white cookies. The recipe seemed so easy; at least until the icing Part. Although that was not hard, it was very time consuming to ice, 2x, 3 dozen cookies. Nathan and Dave were watching a movie aNd Nathan was very anxious to get a cookie. I finally finished them and although they were really brown and white cookies, I thought they turned out okay. I took one in to each of the guys and then went back to get mine. On return I found Nathan had not finished his and although Dave had, his review was not too positive. I did finish all of mine, if for no other reason than I had spent so much time on them I was going to enjoy it!! Well, at least the icing tasted good. The cookies were not disgusting, but certainly a little on the blah side. I think I am going to blame it on the fact that I only used plain flour and not cake and plain flour. Or on the fact that I am not a pastry chef. It always looks so fun on TV!

But I will say that my blue cheese sauce and homemade potato chips were superb!!! I only wish I had more potatos to cook up tonight!

May We Never Forget

2011-02-13T22:25:00.009-05:00

Every trip to NYC should include a visit to Ground Zero. I have now been three times now and have seen changes each time. It is a sobering trip, but something needed in order to remember. To remember the awful tragedy that took place on September 11, 2001. I remember I was home with Nathan who was not yet one. He must have been taking a nap, because I was watching Seventh Heaven. I remember that Dad called and said to turn on the TV because a plane had just flown into the WTC. I remember that I turned to the news, thought "that is awful and how could an accident like this happen?" I turned back to my show that was almost over because I didn't think it was anything but an accident. For whatever reason I can't remember, I didn't finish Seventh Heaven, but turned back to the news instead. At that time, I finally realized that it was not an accident. That a group of hate filled people had attacked our country and killed many innocent Americans. Our lives were changed forever that day.

So that is why Jennifer and I decided to go the the WTC Tribute Tour. This is a tour led by people who have been affected personally by 9/11. Our guide was named Howie and he lives about 4 miles from Ground Zero. We also had two other men who talked with us. One was a guard at the WTC and had just left his shift that morning before the attack. The other man lives within view of the site and was in his apartment when the second plane flew over it before hitting the second building. It was a moving tour that focused on what happened on September 11 and how the buildings themselves collapsed. We also learned how and when the memorial will be finished. They are planning on finishing the memorial by September 11, 2011 for the 10 year anniversary. With all the political hemming and hawing that has taken place around the construction, it was good to see it finally happening and to see the patriotic spirits of our guides. Howie called the halfway completed tower the Freedom Tower even though he said that is not it's official name. He also said that it will be a little higher than the original Twin Towers and that "we are going to build it back and build it higher." He was a true New Yorker who was loves his town and his country and doesn't want any terrorist to break his spirit. He also has to go for a physical every year to keep check on any possible problems caused by the poisonous products that were in the air after the buildings collapsed. That is something I had not thought about. I knew that when Dave and I had visited the site in Feb 2002, it was very dirty and dusty looking. Howie explained that FEMA had sent people 2 times to clean his apartment because things like copier toner and other office products, in addition to building dust and debris were in the air after the attack.

The memorial they are building will be in the footprints of the Twin Towers. They are planning two waterfalls over the perimeters of the footprints with the water cascading over the names of all the victims in NYC, the Pentagaon, and in Pennsylvania. There will be lots of trees around and it will be a peaceful place of reflection. It sounds like a fitting memorial and it will be right beside the new Freedom Tower that is halfway finished in terms of height. I definitely plan on visiting this memorial the next time I am in NYC. The rest I can only say with the pictures.

The firefighter's memorial and our guide Howie. He works for a cummunications company and helped get power back on in the city after the attacks.

The building on the right is completed and I think he said about 80% filled with working office space. The tower on the left is the Freedom Tower and the height it is now is about half of what it will be when completed. He said the memorial will be completed by Sept. 11, but I don't know if that included the building.

It is hard to see in this picture online, but behind the red crane is the footprint of Tower 2 that collapsed. To it's left, behind the building is where Tower 1 was. That building on the left is the halfway completed Freedom Tower.

This is a memorial that American Express built to remember the workers who were in the AE office in the WTC. Eleven men and women died in their office. This has a quartz in the middle of a pool that has eleven sides. Above it, eleven water holes randomly drip drops of water into the pool to make ripples.

Our Final NYC day

2011-02-12T16:15:00.007-05:00

Our last day in NCY was rainy. We both had our rain boots though, so we got on the subway and headed downtown to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. (We had planned on doing this on Friday, but due to our sleeping in, we didn't have time.) Our glimpse, however, was obstructed by the fog, so we hopped onto the ferry and rode out to get an up close look at her. We were able to walk around the statue, and then on the way back, we got to stop at Ellis Island. It was a wet and breezy trip, but a good time.

Many of the subway stops had nice tilework that told you the name of the stop.

The ferry ride

This display was neat because is shows the flag on one side, and the people who make up our nation on the other.

After our boat ride, we went to Canal Street and walked to Chinatown. We did not stop to buy any knock off purses (mainly because we had no room in our bags for them!), but I did buy a $5 umbrella that broke within 5 minutes! We also stopped at an authentic Chinese restaurant to get an eggroll appetizer. Right beside the ducks was where we waited while they cooked them!

The menu was in Chinese...glad they understood "eggroll" in English!

Jennifer beside the ducks! We had the opportunity to order duck later at our dinner, but somehow it was not too appealing!

For the entree, we went to Little Italy and ate at Da Nico. We had a hard time deciding where to eat with all the men standing outside their places wooing us with promises of homemade pasta while blowing kisses! We enjoyed our lunch and even heard the men in the back talking what we assumed was Italian and saying "Forget about it". It was fun.

A walk through Soho was the most crowded of our entire trip, so we decided to head uptown to Macy's. It really is a huge store and the wooden escalators were fun to ride on.

Shopping in Macy's!

Shopping at Times Square to get our last minute gifts included a turn on the Toys-R-Us ferris wheel. A store with it's own ferris wheel is definitely unique! Too bad we had to ride the Nickelodeon car with Sponge Bob and Rugrats!

Superman in a super big store!

Riding the ferris wheel!

We both love Castle!

We bought giant Hershey bars at the Hershey store!

We had our last dinner at a Yum Yum's Thai restaurant. It was, well, yummy! Then to our final show, Mary Poppins. It was, well, supercal..., sorry, didn't learn how to spell that!

We ended our evening with cheesecake at Carnegie Deli. Although we didn't get one, we couldn't help staring at other people's sandwiches. They were at least 6 inches tall full of corned beef! The cheesecake was better than the first night's and Jennifer was finally satisfied with her dessert!! A chocolate torte cheesecake! It was to die for! And a great way to end an awesome trip! Thanks Jenn for going with me. And thanks Dave and Rob for watching the kids for us to be able to play! Can't wait until you turn 40 Jennifer!

Happy Birthday!

2011-02-11T20:40:00.011-05:00

Last Friday I celebrated my 40th birthday with my sister in NYC. It started out by us getting to sleep in! We slept until 9:00! Which meant that we got a late start. After a filling breakfast at Junior's, we took the subway to downtown Manhattan and made our way to Ground Zero. We were able to take a tour of Ground Zero, but I am going to put that in a separate post.

They had grits in NYC, but we didn't trust them to cook them right!

Jennifer found Jack Bauer!

After our tour, we hurried uptown to make our reservation at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain restaurant. It was undoubtedly the best meal we had on our trip. We shared the Kentucky Hot Brown, a Gala apple salad, and hot potato chips with blue cheese sauce. There were no leftovers!

A walk was needed after our lunch, so we headed to Central Park. Apart from the shows, this was probably my favorite part of the trip. The park was still covered with snow except for the sidewalks, so it was a beautiful scene. And the weather was great! No rain on this day. Just a brisk sunny day. We found Strawberry Fields and lots of places you would see in movies or TV shows. It was a fun walk.

"I'll be there for you"...the fountain from Friends

Strawberry Fields...I am not into the Beatles, but thought the Imagine circle was neat!

The former restaurant Tavern on the Green that is now a visitor center

The Alice in Wonderland statue

Heading back to our hotel in order to change for the show, we stopped at FAO Schwarz. We even got to see two people play a song with their feet on the big piano.

The piano from the movie Big

The Godiva storefront with a desk made totally of chocolate!

We hurried to change in order to get something to eat before the show at 8:00. We found a fancy grocery store that also had a cafe. Dinner was quick but tasty because we were on our way to see Wicked! This play was an interesting twist on how the Wicked Witch of the West became "wicked".

Our restaurant for the evening!

Ready to see our first Broadway play of the weekend at the Gershwin Theatre

But the evening would not be complete without dessert after the show. We went to Roxy and both ordered cheesecake.

Mine was plain and good, but Jenn ordered some toffee version and was not as pleased. She was not having good luck with desserts on this trip! But at least we had one more day to change this...

My trip to the Big Apple

2011-02-10T20:58:00.010-05:00

Well it has been a week and I am now able to make the time to remember and think about my birthday trip to NYC. I keep thinking that last week I was doing "_____" at this time. Well, literally, last week I was ice skating at this time!

But to start at the beginning, Catherine Bell! You think that you might see someone famous in a big city, but I got to sit two rows in front of someone we spent years watching on JAG, who now lives in the Old Village in Mt. Pleasant (I overheard her conversation!), and stars in Army Wives. But even though my bag sat beside hers, I never talked to her. Sigh.

Well everything went smoothly on the trip up. I met Jenn without a problem; we made it into town without a problem; and started our evening around 5. This meant dinner! We found an awesome pizza joint and split a pizza and antipasta salad. Everything was delicious. No complaints in the food department thus far!

John's Pizzeria

We stopped in Times Square to look around after dinner. What is so cool about things in NYC is that everything is so big and so bright! The M&M store makes me want to eat M&M's just because! And everything is so tall! I felt like Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember when she got hit by the car because she was looking up! Fortunately I did not get hit by a car, but I almost ran into many things because I was looking up!

The Statue of Liberty M&M style

Another giant M&M!

Times Square in front to the sign for Wicked

Since we both have always thought it would be really cool to skate in Rockefeller Center, we headed there. The walk wasn't too bad and we got there in time to skate for about an hour before they closed for 30 min to resurface the ice. It was around 8:30 by then and we had had enough skating for the night. So off to Serendipity 3 for dessert. We both have seen Serendipity and liked the movie, so this seemed reasonable.

The ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center

Getting around NYC isn't too hard because all the streets are numbered, but sometimes I do get turned around and a little surprised with where I am. Like that night when we ran into Central Park when I didn't think we were supposed to! But we made it to Serendipity and got seated right away. (You tend to not have as many crowds when you visit places in the middle of winter!). I ordered a caramel sundae that was divine. Jennifer got the "famous" frozen hot chocolate. She was glad she tried it, but was not too impressed.

The decor was very cute inside!

The best caramel topping!

Jennifer's frozen hot chocolate

Well we decided that the hotel was too far away to walk back to at 10:00 at night, so we got on the subway. But it was only 10:00, so we decided instead to take the sub to the Empire State Building. We were very happy to run into 2 nice Jewish young men who instructed us to "get off here" before we missed our stop!

View from the top!

We paid our fee and rode the elevator to the 86th floor. It was a great view and I braved my fear of heights. Well almost! I did tend to stand behind the higher walls when looking over. After walking around the top of the tower several times, we made our way down and walked back to our home for the weekend. Everything seems so close in Manhattan on paper, but when you start walking, things are not as close! By the time we got back to our room, I did something I usually don't do. I fell asleep right away the first night in a strange place. And I didn't wake until 9:00 the next morning! But that is another day...

Cubbie's Trip to NYC

2011-02-09T23:04:00.005-05:00

I am still trying to find the time to sit down and blog about my awesome NYC trip, but my responsibilities are getting in the way! But one responsibility, my job in Cubbies, helped me get some pictures together as a treat for the Cubbies this Wednesday night. Last week, the children were told that Cubbie went to NYC with Mrs. Amy, so I decided to take him. He had a great time!

BTW, in the picture where Cubbie is sitting by my luggage, the blue bag to the left belongs to Catherine Bell!

Loving Friends!

2011-02-07T21:05:00.003-05:00

I am so anxious to blog about my NYC trip, but I can't start that without first writing about the loving welcome I received on my return to Charleston. No it is not the nice hugs I received at the airport from my guys; or the almost, but not so clean house I came home to. It was my front yard with two big signs declaring that I am getting old! There was also lots of forks in my yard and some TP draping my car and trees. I think there was only one roll of TP used. Since I got home so late, (and yes, I did miss my plane in JFK for some unknown reason that I will blame on my tiredness and the heat of the airport) I left everything out to be picked up the next day. Well this morning I was very tired and did not want to get out of bed. I was laying there thinking how I wanted to stay and how the rain sounded so nice and was good for sleeping and...on no, the TP is getting wet! One thing I can say about my loving friends is thank goodness they are frugal and did not want to waste more than one roll of TP on my yard!

New York...here I come!

2011-01-31T22:32:00.002-05:00

I am leaving for NYC this Thursday morning, rain or snow! I am celebrating my 40th birthday by meeting my sister in the Big Apple for a weekend of good food and good shows and lots of walking to see all the sights! I am so excited!! The problem now is how to stuff all my stuff in this one suitcase!

Family Time

2011-01-30T22:47:00.003-05:00

I love having family time, mainly because I love my family!! I grew up with a family that valued time together and we are trying in our family to do the same. But last weekend I received a rare treat that makes me value my family even more. I had the whole weekend to myself! Dave and Nathan went on a father-son retreat and Camden got to spend the weekend at my parents. I spent the weekend scrapbooking, watching sappy movies while scrapbooking, and ordering take-out. Who knew you could order Outback cheese fries online, pull into their parking lot, and they will bring it out to your car without you getting out! It was lovely!

I had some nice me time, and just about the time I started missing my boys, they returned. Dave and Nathan got home first, then Nathan and I drove to meet my parents and retrieve Camden. We decided to meet at the Francis Beidler Forest since I had a pass to get in for free for all of us. After exploring the swamp, we inquired about a restaurant nearby where we could get supper together before heading home. Seeing that we were in Harleyville, the choices were slim. The restaurant they recommended was actually in a gas station right by 95. Although the food was decent, it was still a gas station. Dad went up to pay and I told him that he wasn't paying for ours, to which my mom replied "Happy Birthday. In case we don't see you again before your birthday, this is your birthday dinner." Yeah!

Our family has many such memories. Growing up we were sometimes "forced" to have family time. Especially when we were in high school and didn't always want to hang out with our parents. My dad at that time owned a ServiceMaster business and would often have contracts that involved cleaning businesses after hours. One family night involved all of us cleaning a church together. That may be a fun memory now, but at the time we, my sister and I, were not too excited. That was a little like a birthday dinner at a gas station! But my parents did not disappoint and came down the next Sunday to go on a birthday lunch at Carabba's. Much better atmosphere! And another good family memory!

Charlestowne Landing

2011-01-11T23:01:00.004-05:00

We bought a tourist in your own town pass this year which gives us an opportunity to visit lots of different places in Charleston during the month of January. Camden and I visited Charlestowne Landing one afternoon after I picked him up from preschool. We had a great time looking at the animals, and then taking the walk to see the "pirate" ship. Although it really wasn't a pirate ship, that is what Camden called it since he is really into the Veggietales pirate movie right now. It is always fun to explore places and learn about our history, but the most fun I had today was walking beside my four year old and holding his little hand in mine.

Getting close to a black bear.

What a big Indian head!

Hanging out on the "pirate" ship

This is what happens to little boys who are too cute!

Who knew there were oranges in SC!?!

The last day of Chirstmas

2011-01-07T22:57:00.008-05:00

Our last Christmas celebration was in Memphis, TN, the week after Christmas. Since Dave had no more vacation time, I drove the boys to Memphis with my mom and we spent the week there with my sister's family. The kids had a blast playing with their new toys. Paper jam guitars introduced them to KISS and pillow pets and snuggies kept them comfie at night.

Camden and Josiah had great fun together!

My sister, me and my mom

Camden and Ashton

Declan

I want to rock and roll all night...

We also had fun eating BBQ, fried chicken, catfish, and fondue. We went shopping with and without the kids (Ann Taylor with them is not too fun though!). And of course we had to take them to get their picture taken! (This is getting easier at least as they get older.)

Mom with all of her grandchildren

Ashton and Nathan
Our after picture taking picture taking!! It is an addiction!

We also went to the zoo to go ice skating. And since it is not an ice skating rink with a few animals around it, as the lady at the front gate told us, and we had to pay zoo admission, we walked around the zoo in the rain to see whatever animals were out.

Camden's new favorite pose!

All in all we had a fun filled week! It was a great way to finish out the Christmas time of year!

How to make a long trip longer!

2011-01-04T22:16:00.007-05:00

Just add snow!

I live in Charleston, SC and I do not see snow much. I grew up seeing snow a few times a year, most years, but have lived here for 15+ years so I am in snow withdrawal. So the day after Christmas, when snow was forecasted in Charleston, I hit the road with Nathan and Camden to make the long 12 hour drive to Memphis.

We were about 30 minutes out of Charleston when the snow started! We stopped at the first rest stop we could in order to see the flurries because I thought that would be the best we could see.

But then the snow kept coming! It was great! So we stopped again...

and again...

and we even stopped on the side of the road to make snow angels. The snow was not a problem for the roads, but the trees on the sides of the roads kept getting prettier with leftover snow from the previous day.

And then I noticed the signs for Spartanburg!! I am not supposed to go to Spartanburg! I am supposed to take 20 from Columbia. I was so distracted by the snow that I totally drove past my exit without thinking. I knew how to get to Atlanta from there, but I had added 1.5 hours to the trip! But we saw snow!! And lots of it! The trip was long, but the snow made it fun. On the way home we made it in 12 hours, but with the rain, it seemed longer. I would take the snow any day!!

A Shirley Christmas

2010-12-25T23:57:00.007-05:00

Our Christmas is much like most people's with lots of traditions we adhere to each year. But in addition to traditions, I also like to try new things and maybe through this, start new traditions.

One thing we like to do is do something special on Christmas Eve. This year we were fortunate that Dave was off on Christmas Eve so he could be involved! So we went to see the 4-D Polar Express Experience. I would highly recommend this! It was really neat. That night we went to our church's candlelight service and then tried something new for dinner; we went out to Outback! I really liked this new venture!

Going home after dinner we read the Night before Christmas; did our Advent activities; and got the kids to bed. We did not and never will break the tradition of waiting until Christmas morning to open our presents. Nathan wants to open one gift on Christmas, but this will not be happening. The boys get PJ's, but that is it! No gifts until after Santa visits.

So after the boys got in bed and were asleep, we got busy getting ready for Santa. First there is the scavenger hunt throughout the house looking for hidden, well, objects. Then the last minute wrapping (thank goodness that Santa does not wrap his gifts!). And the putting together of things. Then off to bed to await the arrival of Mr. Claus. This year he forgot to read the instructions on Nathan's gift which said his Pocket Rocket had to charge 18 hours before riding it for the first time! Uh-oh!

The next morning we got to sleep until about 7:30 before Nathan woke us up. He is not allowed down the hallway until we check and make sure Santa really came and turn on the tree and get the cameras ready! Nathan isn't too thrilled about this rule either! But we are not going to miss the excitement that will all too soon be gone as the years go by.

The boys waiting to go into the living room

The toys that made Camden much more excited than his bike!

The bike that made Nathan yell with joy!

Finally paying attention to his big boy bike!

Dave gave Amy an Ipod

Amy gave Dave a GPS

Present opening involved one new thing. We have always talked about the true meaning of Christmas, but this year we bought a present for Jesus. We bought him a chicken! (World Vision gifts)

Nathan is my giver in the family. Camden may grow up to be as giving, but for now, it is all Nathan. He wrote a list of all the gifts he wanted to buy or make for people and made sure all the family members were covered. (didn't matter that we drew names; he had to also get everyone something!) He made Camden a blanket; gave Dave a Wii fishing game; and gave me a set of books.

He also gave me a little figurine of Big Baby from Toy Story. This was a joke, but Camden had other ideas. We have a Precious Moments nativity set that is missing a Baby Jesus. Not anymore! Now we have a scary looking Jesus with a tattoo! Real nice!

Camden learning to ride his bike

This year we went to Dave's parents for lunch and gift exchange. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and I had fun not having to cook dinner!

Dave with his mom and brother

Nathan and Camden with their cousins

Nathan made his Gramma a blanket also
It was a fun Christmas! Now to get to bed so I can drive to Memphis to celebrate one more Christmas with my sister's family!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

And visions of sugerplums...

2010-12-22T15:58:00.002-05:00

danced in his head!

On the first day of Christmas...

2010-12-21T23:18:00.010-05:00

We celebrated Christmas early this year. Well we started at least. Since my parents have moved to Columbia a few years ago, we have been able to see them on Christmas day every year. This year, however, they are going to Memphis to be with my sister's family on Christmas day. So we went to Columbia to have Christmas with them last weekend. It was a fast trip, but full of fun. We opened gifts, went out to eat, and went to see the zoo lights. I can get Dave to go to these since he can walk and not get car sick!

Camden always enjoys playing with my old Fisher-Price castle!

Nathan got a ripstick!

Nathan drew Dad a picture for his Christmas present

Nathan made Mom a blanket-he had her fooled into thinking that he could only make two this year and that she was not one of them. She was surprised!

Amy gave Dad a digital picture keychain-the perfect gift for a grandad!!

Columbia Zoo light fun!

Our blue kitchen!

2010-12-18T16:57:00.003-05:00

We seem to always be in the middle of a project at our house, and this time it turned out to be bigger than planned. Several months ago (well during the summer sometime!), I got so tired of the wallpaper in my kitchen I started peeling it off the wall behind my sink. This was actually motivated by the ants that seemed to be finding a way into my kitchen from behind my sink. I figured if we caulked real good, they couldn't get in and if I am caulking, why not take wallpaper off just on the wall behind my sink and just paint that wall. I stopped this in order to help with the finishing touches on our bathroom. Then when I got back to the project, I decided to go ahead and take the wallpaper off the entire kitchen and paint the whole thing. (We have grand plans to replace cabinets, but have to wait for that)

Well this went well (especially since my friend Becky came over to help pull it all down), until I pulled the paper off of the wall under my bay window that had apparently leaked in the past. Black, mildew, holes, yuck! This was about 2 weeks before Camden's birthday party which was to be at our house! The only thing I wanted was for the black walls to be removed. The rest would look like a project in process.

This happened and by Thankssgiving the wall was replaced. Then came the dreaded drywall work! Dave HATES to drywall! But he did it, right in the middle of Christmas decorating weekend! Needless to say, I did not do much decorating near the kitchen or else it would have been covered in a layer of drywall dust. That stuff goes everywhere! But Dave finished his dreaded work and then the fun of picking a color was upon us. I had tacked color swatches to the walls to help us get an idea of what to paint. I wanted blue to begin with, but Dave was adament about not having a baby blue kitchen. Also, we had to have it coordinate with our tan and rust red living room. Why doesn's blue go with red and tan I kept asking. And finally, he realized that a greyish blue was not baby blue and he could live with that!

Yeah! I have my blue kitchen! (Well only half so far!) Now what to with those cabinets...

2010 Christmas Pictures

2010-12-13T22:53:00.006-05:00

Nathan and Camden willingly submitted to our annual Christmas picture taking session. They actually were very nice about it and even suggested some poses. Nathan wanted to sit on the mantle and Camden wanted to lay on the floor in front of the tree. It was quick and fun and here are the results.

Well, only one at a time can look good!

That's a sneaky look!

Really, one more picture!

I told the boys to look at each other...Camden listens well!

Finally, they both are smiling good at the same time!

Sweet brothers!

Sitting with the Christmas village

The End

Thanks to my sons' choir teachers

2010-12-12T22:23:00.002-05:00

I want to thank my children's choir teachers for all they do. It was awesome to see both of them sing in the Christmas play at church tonight. With all the wiggling and the yawning, I am surprised the teachers could get any singing out of the kids at all. But the kids sang and even if I couldn't hear them from the stage, I have heard them at home singing their songs again and again. But what was really great about this years' songs, was Nathan's solo. We went to our neighbor's Christmas drop-in and Nathan, being the usual talker, ended up telling one of the grandmothers about his solo. The next thing I knew, the lady was quieting everyone and announcing that there was a performance. Then with all eyes on him, Nathan sweetly sang "You can know Him". I was so proud of him because it was hard to sing in front of people that were not expecting a Christian song. But he was able to do so because he was given the opportunity to sing a solo in the church's Christmas program. So thanks to the ladies who take time each week to teach my children songs about Christ. You are truly appreciated!

On turning 40...

2010-12-11T22:44:00.004-05:00

and I do not mean me!! It seems strange to think that I am married to someone who is 40! For so long 40 has been a long time away...but not anymore. I want to repeat, I am not 40; that will not happen until next year! But since Dave has reached this milestone, it has me thinking. Looking back on my life, I remember when my mom turned 40; I was almost out of high school! I am nearing 40, and I have a 4 year old at home. Something is not right here. That is one reason I am in denial. And I have enjoyed my 30's. I became a mom at 29, but it has been in my 30's, that I really had the job. And in my 30's, I feel like I have kind of found myself in a sense. I no longer was a young chick out of college trying to make my mark in life. I had matured in a good way in terms of styles and preferences. I learned how to dress in a way that makes me feel good about myself. I started working out regularly and have reaped the physical rewards of feeling better. I even started being able to fix my hair without perms or having it terribly flat. I learned to accept the body I was given and maintain it. I branched out and learned new things like quilting. I have been living in the same town for this entire decade, which is a miracle for me, so I have made some good friendships. Overall, life in my 30's has been good.

But all good things must come to an end; or so they say! So I celebrated Dave turning 40 by sending him on a guys' fishing trip. Who cared that there was sleet and snow coming down on them while they were fishing? Who cared that they had to stand in freezing cold water to fly fish in December? Who cared that they had to thaw their fishing lines in the water? Not Dave! Not when he caught the biggest fish of his life! So to him I say "Happy Birthday!" You are the best and deserve to have a grand weekend to celebrate your life. Here is to the next decade of your life. May it be as fun and may you not forget that I am still in my 30's and you are married to a younger woman!?!

More Fall Fun!

2010-11-30T00:19:00.005-05:00

Well, Fall is almost finished! My fall began with Nathan's birthday in October and ends with Dave's on November 30. After that, the pumpkins get thrown out and the Christmas decorations get hauled down from the attic.

In the busyness of this Fall, we did have fun, though! After Nathan's birthday, Fall festivals and Halloween took center stage. Camden had a Fall festival at his preschool complete with a pinata (yes, very fallish) and a hay ride.

Camden loves to have his picture taken!!

He also got to dress up in his Halloween costume at school and he went as a cowboy. Why a cowboy? Well, he is into Toy Story and Woody (although he wanted to be Mr. Potato Head or Buzz), but Nathan was a cowboy at his age, so Camden gets to wear his costume!

For the church Fall Festival, however, he switched to another of Nathan's old costumes, a lion. Nathan was supposed to come up with his own super hero costume, so he decided to go as a hero who saved animals from poachers. Thus the reason we sent Camden as a lion who needed protection.

But as usual on Oct. 31 in Charleston, it was too hot for an animal costume! And there were horse rides at the festival! So we changed into his cowboy costume! If for nothing other than the picture!

And what Fall would be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch! I love the pumpkin patch. It is so much fun finding the right pumpkin (that is a task I leave up to the boys, so the right pumpkin is not always the nicest looking!) and running through the hay maze. This year, they did more crawling through the cracks than finding their way out of the maze! We also took a hay ride out to the cow fields. They gave us food to feed the cows, but I thought Camden would be scared of them. The driver told him to not be because they were just like bigger dogs. My only reply to that is that he is terrified of dogs! But to my surprise, Camden had a great time with the cows. He was more into putting the food on the rail and watching them get it with their super long tongues, but he was right near them. Nathan of course let the cows eat out of his hand. We had fun, even if the cows made your hands feel icky!!

Our last night of fun before Camden's birthday, was Nathan's school Fall Fundraiser. I was not in charge this year, but 2nd in command and in charge of the carnival. We had a successful fundraiser (almost $8000! and a smartboard on the way!), and the kids seemed to have a good time at the carnival. I was glad to be involved, glad it is over, and was happy to arrive at Camden's birthday party with my sanity intact.

Apple bobbing was very popular with those who wanted to get wet!

Now to make it through Dave's big 40!

Fall Recap...part one

2010-11-21T14:05:00.008-05:00

Fall is a great time of year! The weather is not as hot and sometimes a little cool! I get to wear jeans and people are no longer exposed to my white legs! What could be better than that.

It is, though, a busy time of year for me. I have two birthday parties and Nathan's school fundraiser and life just flies by. So I am starting a recap series that will hopefully be finished before Thanksgiving!

For us, Nathan's birthday is the beginning of the fall fun. His birthday, October 15, fell on a Friday this year, so he had his party on his actual birthday. That is always fun. He received his presents before going to school. He got a titan necklace, a trip to Medieval Times with me, and a fishing and hunting trip with Dave. He also received a Disney pin from Camden. What a way to start the day! After school, four of his friends came home with him and we took them to an indoor climbing wall that evening. After pizza, we brought them home to spend the night. Since he had a baseball game the next day, I was actually able to set a curfew on talking. The next day after his baseball game, we met Dave's family at Wild Wings for lunch. Then home to crash! What a fun weekend to celebrate 10 years of Nathan in our life.

Camden wasn't too sure about this climbing thing!

Amy got to the top fine, but the jumping down part was a little unnerving!
Dave makes it to the top

Nathan and his friends

The Staley's and Wanner's celebrated with us at Wild Wings.

The next weekend, Nathan and I were able to go to Myrtle Beach one afternoon and stay for the Medieval Times show. It was a lot of fun!

Camden turns 4!!

2010-11-09T22:40:00.004-05:00

Although I am a little late on my birthday post for Camden, I do want to wish him a happy birthday! This year he finally got the concept of his birthday coming up and that he was having a party in our backyard! He was very excited! His birthday came at the end of a very busy month that was full of fundraiser planning (this event was on Nov. 5th-a dinner and carnival and his birthday was on the 6th!). It was hectic, but turned out great. It is such fun to plan a party for a special little boy. He is so full of joy and energy. He loves to laugh and is only beginning to show defiance when he doesn't get his way. He is also very silly! I think he will be the class clown. One little girl in his Cubbies class said that "Camden is silly". It is already happening. But he still fits right between my waist and my neck and it the perfect size for cuddling.
Camden at his preschool birthday-his cupcake had no icing by request! He does not have a sweet tooth!

This year since Toy Story is so big, and that was Camden's first movie in the theatre, we had a Toy Story party. It was complete with a jump castle (we jumped to infinity and beyond-at least until it deflated on the kids!), toy horses so we could ride like the wind, a plinko board for catching the aliens (borrowed from the carnival the night before-being in charge of the carnival has its perks!), and potato head pieces galore to play with. We even planted sweet potato vines in jars decorated with toy story stickers. We had a blast!

Buzz and Woody joined the party! Notice the names on their shoes!Playing Buzz and Woody after the party...Nathan has claimed Camden's present of Buzz wings!

After having such a hectic month of October, it was nice to end the craziness with a fun party to celebrate four years of an amazing little boy!! I love you Camden!

-Mommy

Nathan turns 10!

2010-10-14T22:51:00.006-04:00

Double digits!! Wow! He was so excited tonight that he could not fall asleep! I can't believe that 10 years ago he was born. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl (not our choice, Nathan's!), and were delighted when I delivered a baby boy. Dave said that as soon as he came out, he lifted his head up and looked all around the room. He has not stopped being curious since then. He is truly a special son. Our first, and one that will always keep us on our toes. He is smart and at times a little sassy about this. But he continues to have a sensitive heart that is ready to share and tries to listen to God speaking to him. He loves to play baseball and sword fights, and he thinks that he is ready to shoot a deer with Dave. Since he cries at any sad part of a movie, I am thankful there has been no deer shot. I think that would bring him to tears.

He is definitely growing up, but is still enjoys getting Mickey's autograph and hugging on Eeyore! He also loves his stuffed animals. I am so happy to see how he is growing up, since I cannot stop him! So far, he is turning out to be an awesome young man. I love you Nathan! Happy 10th birthday!!!

Mommy

Nathan's 3rd birthday party

Nathan recently wrote a story for school. It goes like this...

A 13 story tower soars over Disney's Hollywood Studios. The Tower of Terror! Legend says that one cold and stormy Halloween night a streak of lightning struck the Hollywood Tower Hotel! Mysteriously half of the hotel vanished and 5 people freefell in an elevator and they were never seen again.

One night when in Disney we all planned on going on it, but only 4 did. These brave souls were my Mom, my Aunt, my Uncle, and me. When we got in the elevator suddenly the chain broke sending us on a 13 story freefall. I live to tell this story, but some aren't so lucky.

-Nate Shirley

All good things must come to an end...

2010-10-10T23:02:00.009-04:00

And we ended our trip in the same place we began...the Magic Kingdom. It just seemed fitting to finish our grand gathering (you have to have eight people in your party to become one), named Amy's Army, at Mickey's main park. He even has his house there!
Pinnochio
Daisy Duck! Camden's favorite!

First we made sure we went to all the attractions we missed on Monday. So we began in Tomorrowland by getting fastpasses for Space Mountain. While waiting for this, we got to go on Buzz Lightyear's ride, Stitch's ride, and were able to attend the Laugh Floor with Monsters Inc. It was there that Dad got designated "That Guy!" He was constantly being put on the screen during the show and afterward given a sticker that said "I'm that guy." Workers throughout the park kept saying "hey, you're that guy!"
That Guy!
Mom and Nathan
Camden being Goofy like his brother!
The Shirley's in Minnie's house

Lunch was right before we all hit the tracks at the speedway and then on to the Goofy roller coaster. It was from this vantage point that we discovered the teacups were what were behind the fenced in area. Although disappointed we couldn't ride them, we trekked on to see the Presidents (Camden refused to go in since the parade was taking place!), and then on to Splash Mountain again!
Dave and Camden race together!

Camden learned to wave vigorously at every parade!

Our dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace were at 6:00, so we took the train to Main Street and headed there. Throughout the day, Nathan and Declan were trying to trade pins with Disney workers. They had a lot of fun doing this. I had heard that the workers had to trade with you no matter what, and then found out that the pins don't really belong to them; that is why they have to do this.
The two pin collectors!
Rob and Jenn with Tigger
Tigger with the kids...they couldn't stop jumping!
Finally getting to see Piglet!

Everyone's favorite bear!
Eeyore
Amy and Dave with Tigger
Mom and Dad with Tigger

Dinner was again delicious and we got to share it with Pooh and friends. We did have to leave the park right after eating, however, because they were having the Not so scary Mickey's Halloween party. (This is an extra price). It did look a little scary for our group!

Since we were finished early, we just had to go to Downtown Disney one more time. Last minute shopping and Ghirardelli's milkshakes topped our evening off around midnight.Downtown Disney

It was truly a fun trip. Very magical and in a whole other world. Nathan and Camden have been watching Disney movies all week because we realized that they have not seen most of the movies that the rides were based on. Nathan has been playing Star Wars with his lightsaber all week (Camden is catching onto that to; good thing we have three now for all the boys in this house.) Although never having seen The Little Mermaid movie, Camden is always singing "Under the Sea" after seeing the musical! And of course we all want to go back! I guess I had better get back into couponing!!

Animal Kingdom

2010-10-08T21:08:00.009-04:00

Our Thursday began with some very tired people! After getting back to the hotel after midnight, we were a little groggy! But since Animal Kingdom closes at 5, we needed to get started. This was also the day that Nathan and Declan celebrated their birthdays. They both wore their birthday buttons and we gave Nathan his present that morning. We let him start his pin collection with a lanyard and 2 pins. He was set for trading!! He did, however, get tired of everyone telling him Happy Birthday so he took off his birthday button.
The birthday boys

Buggy kids!

When we arrived at the park, we were all excited to take a ride through Mt. Everest. Before Everest,though, we went to a Bug's Life 3-D movie. Last time we tried this, my niece had us leave when the bugs came out and she started screaming! But this time she was ready and with Camden taking off his glasses, we were fine. At least until the bugs crawled under our bottoms. That was a little creepy!
The people who conquered Everest!

Goofy!!
Thumper!
Camden grabbing Thumper's tail!
Brer Bear!
Nathan and Ashton being serenaded by the guitar player...he sang a song with their names in it and said Nathan looked like he was a ballpoint pen!

We ended up loving Everest (all but Dave), and riding it twice. We also really enjoyed the Nemo and Lion King musicals. To end our day, we were able to participate in the Safari Experience. This is something that only Grand Gathering groups can do, so we took our family group to this African dinner. It started with a safari ride and then off to dinner. It was a buffet with, you guessed it, salmon, but with an African twist. I was very happy to have a pot of hummus to myself mainly. We had an African lady guide us through the experience and lead us in the birthday dance. We also got to meet more characters and some live animals. It was a lot of fun.
Mom and Dad at our Safari Experience
Dancing the birthday dance!!

Our dinner table
Dave and Amy at the Safari Experience at Tusker's Restaurant
Our true African hostess with her guests from the Lion King

After leaving the park around 7:00 (early!!), we went back to the hotel to swim and give out birthday presents. Declan got Legos and pins; Nathan received some camouflage clothes, a pin and Aerosmith Mickey. It was a nice evening with a somewhat early bedtime. Had to be ready for our last day!!!Riding at the back of the bus...everyone's favorite spot!!
Jennifer and Rob on the bus ride

Birthday presents
Hanging at the hotel!

Epcot

2010-10-05T22:41:00.008-04:00

On Wednesday we made our way to Epcot. I was looking forward to this day because Epcot is considered to be for us more mature folks! and that I could finally ride Soarin'. The past two times we went to Disney we could not do this for various reasons. But this year we were successful and I rode it two times thanks to extra hours. We all got a front row seat and Camden really enjoyed this ride. He kept leaning over and I was a little nervous since it felt like we were hang gliding over the Golden Gate Bridge. It is now my favorite non-roller coaster ride.
Trying to catch the jumping water in their mouths...Dave taught them this!

Nathan and Camden at the Nemo and friends exhibit
Nathan in front of the birds that won't stop talking!
Everyone's favorite chipmunks-Chip and Dale

But our first ride of the day was the one inside the Epcot Ball! Although not super exciting, this was what Camden had been looking forward to. He has a puzzle with the Epcot ball on it and had been talking about seeing it is for months! So we rode it! And he enjoyed it!
Camden learning to read a map!

We also were able to eat a non-buffet meal (no salmon!) at the Mexican restaurant, San Angel. We had ridden the Mexican water ride before and had thought the inside of the restaurant looked super cool. So we got a table in front of the temple and volcano. And the food was superb!
Dinner at San Angel
Nathan inside the Mexican building
Where did we find these Vikings?!?!?

Nathan trying to be a cool Goofy!
Camden the alien!

Nathan, Ashton and Declan (with Dave and Rob) all participated in a Kim Possible Mission to save the world and their "scavenger hunt" centered in Mexico. They had a great time doing this while the rest of us were walking through the other countries. We saw Tigger and Pooh in England; Belle in France; and just missed Jasmine in Morocco. All the countries had interesting looking restaurants. Next time we need to plan on eating in Epcot every night at a different country!
The two crazy cousins in France!
The girls taking time to pose in England

So after watching the fireworks, we continued to hang out in Epcot (Soarin', Mission Space, Test Track, and shopping) until midnight. Dave took Camden back to the hotel. He was asleep on Dave's shoulder as soon as Dave picked him up!

What a day! And we still did not have time to explore all the country exhibits. Guess we need to go back!

Disney Hollywood Studios

2010-10-04T23:16:00.005-04:00

Our Tuesday in Disney...Hollywood! and a storm!

Hollywood Studios has the best roller coaster and the scariest ride at Disney. And Nathan had to do them both! Rockin Roller Coaster introduced him to Aerosmith (he now has an Aerosmith Mickey) and the Tower of Terror caused me heart failure! It is not enough to drop you...it has to keep you going up and down; with a view! Yikes!
Rock on!!

But we survived and had lots of fun seeing Beauty and the Beast, the Muppets show, and Toy Story Mania. The parade, however, was cut short due to inclement weather. Which in turn cut our day a little short, but allowed us time to shower before dinner. And one note about Hollywood. If you have the opportunity to go to the Drew Carey thing, don't. It is so not worth the time you spend in there.
The kids got whipped into shape by the green Army men!
Dave always finds a pharmacy wherever he goes!
The Jedi training show was rained out, but Nathan still got to meet Darth Vadar!

We had to meet Buzz and Woody! At least the line had various picture spots to stop at and of course take more pictures!!

Lunch was at Pizza Planet! It was there that Camden and Josiah perfected their bump and fall game! It entertained them when they had to wait for the older kids to finish their rides
.

Dinner was at the Grand Floridian with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the wicked stepmother, named Lady Jermaine, and the ugly stepsisters who were quite funny. It was a nice ending to a wet day. And of course we were able to eat our salmon!
Jennifer and me with Anastasia...who knew they had names!

Camden must have thought she really was wicked! In reality, she was very nice and entertaining that night. She wants to marry off her daughters and was questioning mom on how both of her daughters got married already!
Another fun day at the Magical Kingdom!

Disney...at last!

2010-10-03T23:25:00.008-04:00

Well, after saving for almost a year, we finally had our week at Disney! It was AWESOME! My sister's family and my parents went with us and we has a blast! We had a 6 day pass to the parks and 6 days worth of meals and we used every minute of our time there to do all that we could. Although we bought Dave a Grumpy shirt and he did get a little tired at times, he has yet to wear it! I think he is turning into a Disney fanatic!?! In fact, on the day we left, he mentioned "the next time we come..."

Dave about to kiss the hand of the Queen!

What is neat about Disney is that they make everything so special. It is truly magical! But having said that, Dave and Rob (my brother-in-law) thought it would be great to video all the "happy" people talking. Although they didn't do this, we did get some examples. I guess if you keep your children up until 11 or 12 for 3 nights straight, you might say things like this too. One mom was caught telling her child that they couldn't cry because this was the happiest place on earth. We heard lots of children crying at random times during meals, waiting in lines, etc. The funniest thing we heard, however, was one dad telling his child "do not touch her; do not get near her; do you hear me!" We just had to laugh and hope that noone heard us saying similiar things to our well-behaved children!!
3-D movies were lots of fun! At least the glasses were fun to wear; Camden was hesitant about objects flying at him and took off his glasses during the movie!

All that aside, our children did great! Yes, we kept them up to insane hours for 5 days straight, but there were smiles when we finished and tears when we had to leave.

Since we did the dining plan, our week revolved around meals. They were good meals, but I am really tired of salmon! We went to Downtown Disney the first night for dinner and ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express. It was delicious. The salmon was cooked to perfection. Then for the next 5 meals, we had some type of salmon in all but one meal! There was even salmon at the breakfast buffet! At least we got our omega-3's that week!

After going to Hollywood Studios the first night and riding the Tower of Terror and trying to see Fantasmic (our first mistake of the week was waiting until the last minute to go to this and being told it was full!), our first full day began at Chef Mickey's for a 9:50 breakfast. We celebrated my Dad's birthday that day and the kids danced with Goofy to do so. After breakfast, off to the Magic Kingdom.

We took Camden on his first water/log ride, Splash Mountain. He loved it!

Nathan is more into roller coasters now and enjoyed Thunder Mountain the best that day. He didn't care for the Country Bear Jamboree and I have to agree with him on that! We saw the day time parade, the night time parade, and the fireworks. Camden learned that he really likes parades! He and Josiah had to both be carried back to the hotel because they were asleep. It was a great beginning to a great week!

Ready for Disney!!!

2010-09-22T22:11:00.001-04:00

I thnk we need some real mouse ears!!! See you at Disney :)

Baseball...it's electric!

2010-09-22T21:53:00.003-04:00

We are now in the middle of baseball season! It is Nathan's 2nd season in kid pitch and he gets to be the kid pitching this year. He is very excited! He is not on a team full of great players this year in which they will be undefeated like he was last season, but he gets to play harder and be one of the better players. He is still developing his baseball skills, but has pitched a few strikeouts. Of course he also throws some balls when he gets tired; he even hit a player one night!

Camden of course just goes along for the ride. He enjoys playing on the playground during the game. At one playground, the slide it full of static electricity. That makes the evening, well, electric :)

The end of summer :(

2010-09-10T23:26:00.009-04:00

Well, summer ended with Labor Day, and what a summer it has been. Here is briefly, what the Shirleys did the summer of 2010.

Dave worked...and finished a bathroom!!! Yeah! I think he got some fishing time in also, but with the fall approaching, he is making up for lack of outdoor time by hunting and fishing a lot!

Amy worked at Pattison's camp this summer along with seeing her private patients and driving the boys around to all sorts of activities.

And they both have gotten lost in Lost! They started watching it sometime in August and have rapidly moved to season 5 with the end in sight! It has been addicting and admittedly a time stealer! But is was summer :)

Camden has followed Nathan around to all his activities and being dropped off for camps, etc., and has spent a lot of time with his favorite lady Mrs. Donna! He also got to hang out with cousins and grandparents. Especially noted was his cousin and friend Josiah! They are trouble!

Nathan has had a very busy summer. In addition to camps, he also has been able to hang out with cousins and grandparents. Especially fun was his week at Grammie Camp and his weekend with his Papa and Gramma. He also finished (with much coaxing) his summer workbook and learned about 4 different states: North Carolina, Connecticut, Chicago, and Texas. We made foods from these states to taste, and although they weren't all a hit, it was a lot of fun. It was especially fun to take a trip to the NC coast at the beginning of the summer. And just to make the summer more enjoyable, we took a trip to the NC mountains over Labor Day weekend.

Our second trip involved a fly fishing trip for Dave and a friend, so his friend's wife and I tagged along. We went apple picking (actually picked them off of the tree this time), went to an apple festival, and played in the mountain stream. Nathan even got to experience a little whitewater tubing when I let him take a tube from the house we were staying in down a short part of the river. He enjoyed it, but a brief look of fear/panic could be seen on his face when he entered the "rough" waters!

So summer was fun for us. Now it is back to school and more structure and finishing Lost!!

Running to the apple trees

Camden picking apples...he had fun picking and then throwing them into the basket!

Amy climbing in the apple tree for the perfect apple! Most of the ones within reach from the ground were rotten.

Nathan had to get in the tree also. He wore jeans so he could climb a tree and eat an apple!

Amy, Nathan, and Camden

Our friends, the Bowicks

Skipping and throwing rocks

Camden in the freezing water!

Nathan in front of Looking Glass Falls...he was going to swim there, but I think he had had enough of the cold water!

What a fun way to end the summer!! I just love the mountains!

Deep thoughts...real ones this time

2010-08-30T08:38:00.003-04:00

I am warning anyone who may be reading this now that this is not an entertaining post. It may not even be interesting, but is it something I need to work out, so I am writing it. I just finished a study on the book of Hosea. I was supposed to finish it last spring, but I am a little slow. Finally though, I have done it. These are my thoughts on the book and what I have learned, but I am also warning you that I am working through these thoughts and am not claiming to have my theology totally correct in this process.

If you don't know, the book of Hosea is about sin and how Israel played the harlot to her "husband" the Lord God. Hosea was even told to take a wife of harlotry and love her like God loves Israel. Although the book ends with hope-God reveals that Israel will be restored one day-there are a lot of hard lessons before this.

First thing that I have taken away from this book is the severity of sin. God hates it. It is easy to get into, but not so easy to get out of. Again and again, Israel sinned, and finally God had to let them be captured and scattered before they will one day return to Him. In looking at this sin, however, one question keeps arising for me. Is all sin equal? I know that any sin will keep you from heaven and even the tiniest sin forced Christ to die on the cross, so in that sense all sin is equal. But God did not punish Israel for what we would see as "little" sins. He patiently waited for them to turn back to Him, but they instead turned more and more to idolatry which led to sexual sins and even the killing of babies. This soberly reminds me of America as we drift further from God's standards and more into "big" sins. Romans chapter one illustrates this with a list of sexual sins and how people progress from one to another to the point that God turns them "over to the sinful desires of their hearts." In reading on, however, He lists other sins that include gossiping, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience to parents. It also says that God's righteousness decrees that these deserve death. I think the biggest problem with sin not being equal is that is does lead very quickly to pride. I can see where some sins have different consequences (at least here on earth), but need to focus on the fact that God's holiness demands death for all sins.

The next thing that I learned from Hosea is that it is hard to get out of sin. It is easy to say that you sin and if you ask forgiveness God forgives you. While this is true, if there is no repentance involved, God does not hear you. God pleaded with Israel to return to Him and call out to Him, but when they did so falsely, He knew. Hosea 7:13-14 says "I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. And they do not cry to Me from their heart". In 5:6 it says "they will go...to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him: He has withdrawn from them." 5:4 says "their deeds will not allow them to return to their God...for they do not know the Lord" It really hit home that God knows my heart. I can say what I want, but God knows what I mean, probably better than me. If my heart is not right, He will not hear me. Yes salvation and repentance is an "easy" thing to do, but there is a seriousness about it that cannot be forgotten. When Nathan again and again repeats the same act of diosobedience, I finally think, are you really sorry? Why should I believe you? I know I am not anywhere close to responding like God, but the book of Hosea does indicate that God knows when we truly repent. Hosea 5:15 says "I will go away (from Israel) and return to My place until they ackowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

That brings me to my third thought. God does punish people for their sin. I don't know that He requires punishment here on earth for all sin; it seems like people (myself included) get away with lots of things without obvious punishment, but if God punished His beloved, why would He not punish us? Although it is not my duty to punish people (just my own children), God does say the "they sow a wind and they reap a whirlwind." It only makes sense that we receive punishment for our sins and I think we need it to truly point us back to Him. Israel was warned, but she did not listen until she was punished.

Last thought is that we have to know God. How can we know what God wants us to do or how to act if we don't have knowledge of Him. And that knowledge is obtained through spending time in His word. There are so many thinks I need to learn about Him, and as I learn, I need to change to be more like Him. God pointed out in Hosea that Israel sinned because they did not know God. It seems like in church that knowledge of Him would be a given; but would there be so much sin if we spent more time learning what God really expects of us? Do we as church members and Christians really know God?

As somber as this book is, it is important for me to know about. That is why I struggled to the end when I wanted to quit and move on to something more uplifting! If I had, however, I would have missed the ending. And the message that is scattered throughout the book. God loves us and is waiting for us to return to Him. God loved us enough to take us back after we leave Him for sin and use our bodies that belong to Him for wrong deeds. God says in chapter 14, "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them."
You have to get through all the steps, so to speak, to get to that, but He is there all the time waiting for true repentance and a real heart for Him. The last verse of Hosea says this: "Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them."

Oh Lord, help me to be wise and walk in your ways. When I stumble, let me truly turn back to you and you will be there for me. Praise Your marvelous name.

La Nathaniel

2010-08-23T16:18:00.008-04:00

Nathan has always had big ideas. For instance, he sees the Olympics and starts making plans to move to Vancouver for high school in order to train for the luge. He goes to Carowinds and then plans on building his own theme park. He watches Iron Chef and decides he can cook anything; just give him the ingredients. He also made building plans for his own restaurant in our backyard with you know who being the one of the chefs.

But to not kill his dreams too much (as he accuses me of doing when I try to explain to him that a 9 year old cannot realistically raise 7.5 million dollars to finance a theme park), we compromised and let him open up La Nathaniel in our house to serve dinner to Dave and myself. The only catch was he needed a sous chef. Grammie to the rescue!!

Sous chef Grammie with Nathan

Grating the cheese

Chef Nathan

Plating the crab dip

Icing the cookies

After taming the ambitious menu (again, a dream killer), he decided on crab dip to start; salad as the second course; a dinner of lobster macaroni and cheese (which was really good), green beans, and rotisserie chicken; and dessert of iced peanut butter cookies with a mountain of red sprinkles on top! It was a delicious meal. The sous chef did a lot of work (esp clean-up!), but Nathan also did his share. He cleaned up the living room and the iron table on our porch; made decorations; put the salad together; put the dip and crackers on the plate; grated the cheese; cut up/pulled apart the chicken; and iced the cookies. It was a lot of fun to watch and Dave and I enjoyed our date at home.

Out with the burgundy...

2010-08-11T23:39:00.003-04:00

in with the blue! When we married, burgundy and hunter green were the rage. After starting with one set of colors, it is hard to switch without a lot of expense. And we had gotten used to the colors. Our first Christmas tree was all burgundy and green. No other colors allowed, especially red! But times change and so do tastes. Our room is painted a faux suede forest green which I actually still like. But I have been seeing the new blue color schemes in some homes I visit for work. So I found some pillows that had blue, green and brown in them. I was in luck! Then I covered our valances with material that had blue and green in it. After the bathroom was finished, I made a curtain for it and found pictures to replace our burgundy scheme ones. After seeing how well the new pictures went with my bathroom curtain, I then replaced the valance material again! Now we just have to finish the painting in the vanity part of our room and the trim touch ups. Our bedroom is getting a face lift along with the bathroom. I love it and just had to share!

Positive results of movies

2010-08-05T00:09:00.003-04:00

One positive result of good movies is when your kids start playing based on the movie or as a consequence of the movie. I remember in the first grade playing Stars Wars on the playground at school. It was me, my girlfriend and the boys in our class. It was a little tricky since there was only one girl in Stars Wars that either of us wanted to play. We both wanted to be Princess Leia and neither of us wanted to be Luke's aunt. She wasn't very pretty and she died. I think we may have altered the script and made two princesses!

Well my boys are not into Stars Wars at present (even though Camden does find the Darth Vader mask fun to wear), but into Toy Story. Nathan has started pulling out all his old cowboy dress-up clothes and Camden thinks Nathan keeps going off to cowboy camp. We even made a quilt for Woody. He sleeps under it on Nathan's floor while Nathan is in his sleeping bag on the floor also. They have had a good time playing cowboys in the back yard and I just keep enjoying their childhood.

Sunday School

2010-08-01T23:05:00.003-04:00

Dave taught in SS today and he did a great job. He talked about knowing God. How knowledge of God is necessary for spiritual health, but that we can have knowledge without having spiritual health. We discussed how often we will read our Bible and then walk away without praying or meditating and not listening to God at all. What really got my attention was an example a girl gave. She said that it is her pet peeve to go to dinner with her husband when he has his cell phone. He is constantly texting or checking his phone and not paying attention to her (and yes, he has started leaving the phone at home!). She said that is probably how God feels. We are down here going about our lives, busy, busy, busy, and He is trying to talk to us. As Christians we acknowledge He is there, but are not paying Him enough attention to really hear what He is saying. We need to put down our "stuff" and listen to what He has to say. Knowing God, really knowing Him, should be the highest priority in our life. And to know Him, just like getting to know a person, we have to talk to and listen to Him.

A day with Camden

2010-07-30T19:09:00.005-04:00

Friday, July 30, 2010
Nathan leaves to go to Ridgecrest and I get to spend the rest of the day with my favorite 3 year old; and it is National Cheesecake Day. What a day!

After dropping Nathan off to go on his last adventure of the summer, Camden and I go grocery shopping. This is an adventure that I have been neglecting, especially with coupons. But we went today and saved about $70. Not too bad. So we then head downtown to the Children's Museum. (Camden had won a free ticket through the library reading program.) I thought that if we went in the afternoon we would avoid the crowds who need to get home for naps. Well, I was wrong! And there are now camps at the museum. I haven't figured that one out; do the kids stay all day at the museum? And is it more than one day? That would be dreadful. Not the I didn't enjoy spending time with Camden and seeing him enjoy the museum, but after about an hour at our museum, I am ready to go.

Didn't we just finish grocery shopping?!?

Camden picking out his favorite snack...and at Publix no less! Do you have a coupon for that?

Playing on the pirate ship.

Building a tree in the treehouse room

A water pump that really works!

Knowing that next week I get to eat at Queen Anne's Revenge!

Of course we spent more time there than that. But when I was ready to drag Camden away, it started pouring outside. More time in the treehouse for us.

But we finally got away, even in the rain. At least Camden wore his rainboots! He is always prepeared for rain.

Home was our final stop for the evening. And to celebrate national cheesecake day, Camden and I made cheesecake. My mom used to make individual cheesecakes that were awesome. I have made them a few times, but they never turn out the greatest. So Dave still brought home a cheesecake from Publix. What a yummy way to end a nice day spent with a nice boy!

Camden loves to "make"

Which one looks better??

Connecticut!

2010-07-25T22:59:00.005-04:00

Mystic Motor Inn

Well, I found out a few things about CT that I didn't know during our "trip" to the state. It was fun learning about CT since Dave and I went there on our honeymoon. Mystic, CT was our destination and we got to stay at the Mystic Motor Inn; the same inn that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall stayed at when they went on their honeymoon. (at least that is the story!). We ended up in Mystic through Dave listening to me and planning it all out! Yes, we were newlyweds! I had worked as a Day's Inn reservationist one summer during college, and between phone calls, I spent a lot of time looking at descriptions of the cities where the hotels were located. One that I found particularly interesting was Danbury, CT. I can't really remember why Danbury was fascinating, but Dave heard CT and found the quaint little village of Mystic as a destination for us. And yes, we did eat Mystic Pizza even though I had not seen the movie.

A view on the grounds of the Inn. Nice pants!

The Mystic Aquarium. We were so young looking! And we needed a new camera already!

But for Nathan's CT experience, we ate hamburgers (they were supposedly invented at Louie's in CT), apples (lots of orchards in CT), and CT chili on hot dogs (it reminds me of Christmas because of the cinnamon and nutmeg!). (This is the second state to have some special form of hot dogs and I really hope that it does not continue for 47 more!) We also found out that people from CT are called Nutmeggers. The Oak Tree on the CT quarter is famous because a man hid the CT constitution in it when the New England royal governor wanted to take control of their government. And in Devon, CT, it is illegal to walk backwards after sunset.

It was fun to "visit" CT; even relive our visit in '93 through pictures. But now Nathan has decided he wants to go to Yale! I think if that were to happen, we had better stop visiting any place ever again and save it all for the tuition!!

Almost!!

2010-07-20T23:15:00.002-04:00

Life has been busy in the Shirley house this past month. Lots of work; little time to blog. But I had to write about our exciting announcement...our bathroom is SO close to being finished!!! It is a functioning bathroom with just detail and painting work to get done. I even went shopping for new accessories!! I am so excited. So come over for a visit and use our new potty!

Window treatment is in the works. I will be making curtains tomorrow, I hope! Notice the blue trashcan.

Okay, not much work done in this area, but the boy is sure cute! Seriously, we (meaning Dave mainly) will be painting this area tan. But I did get some blue soap dispensers and toothbrush holder. And they were half price. And I got a new rug. I think it is really cool!

Illinois

2010-06-28T23:11:00.002-04:00

Well, on our trek across the USA, we just finished visiting Illinois. At least Chicago! Which is the only place in Illinois that any of us have ever been to. I got to visit the city in high school, but the rest of the family has only been able to visit the airport-and 9 hours is enough time to do it justice!

Interesting things we learned about Illinois--Ronald Reagan was born there-I thought he was born in CA. They do not eat ketchup on their hot dogs in Chicago; only mustard with lots of other things we didn't try like neon green dyed pickle relish. The fire really did start at Mrs. O'Leary's house (she denies that she started it in the barn, but it did begin at their house). Deep dish pizza is not too hard to make with the right recipe that does not involve kneading dough! And Magnolia trees grow in the southern part of IL.

So no trip for this state, but lots of fun finding Illinois/Chicago foods. Since VBS is this week, I think we will just hit the High Seas and visit the USA another time!

Amy

Mud Thoughts

2010-06-21T22:12:00.003-04:00

Nathan and I spent our afternoon digging up crab grass in our backyard and replacing it with sod. He said that boys like to get dirty, and he was right. But since I was also filthy, no pictures of him after he was armpit deep in wet, sloppy, suction- producing mud. But he did unearth some clay in our yard (actually it has a lot of clay in it) and made a note for me. It is nice to be thought about in mud!

Happy Father's Day Dave!

2010-06-20T20:22:00.008-04:00

My children have a great Dad! They are so fortunate to have a father who is interested in what they do, and even though his work schedule doesn't allow him to attend every event they are involved in, he gives of his time as much as he can. Playing ball in the yard; wrestling on the floor; making up silly names for each other; and of course taking the boys fishing!

Each year we (or I at the beginning) make a photo book for Dave. It has as many pictures as I have of the boys and Dave, and then we make up a song to go with the pictures. The songs have been parodies of songs like Yankee Doodle, the Thomas Theme song, and now songs that Nathan picks. This year he wrote the song to the tune of "Love is Here" by Tenth Avenue North. The title is "Daddy's Here".

Daddy's here, Daddy's now, Daddy loves to play with us and we go fishing. Daddy's here, he loves us so. Daddy is always on our side, 'cause Daddy's here. Daddy's here, Daddy's now, Daddy loves us and we play ball. Daddy's here...he rocks! and we build stuff.

Don't try to sing it! But Dave loves his books and I hope he knows how much love we put into making them for him. He deserves to feel special on his special day!

Good-bye NC

2010-06-09T22:53:00.004-04:00

Well, our last day in NC began with Nathan not feeling well; so off to Target to get some meds. I figured it was just being tired and having a cold, so we drove to the USS North Carolina to tour the battleship. But after getting a view of the outside, we decided that Nathan did not feel well enough. So we hit the road and started driving down the coast toward Ft Fisher. Before we reached there, however, we stopped at Carolina Beach State Park to look for Venus flytraps. Having no good ideas of what I was looking for, and Nathan wanting to go back to the car, we had no luck.
One lady told me that the Venus flytrap looked something like this, but was not this...I should have paid more attention in Botany!

So back to the car. No stopping at Fort Fisher, but after another ferry ride, we ate lunch and walked around the little town of Southport. It is an awesome little town with lots of neat stores. I really need to spend more time there.

The Ferry ride

The town of Southport

After leaving Southport, Nathan did feel up to stopping a the Museum of Coastal Carolina in Ocean Isle. It is a small museum, but the boys really loved the touch tank and the fish nibbling on their fingers.
Camden putting together the turtle puzzle
The cool underwater exhibit...Camden's shirt was still wet from the touch tank...more like dunk tank for him!

Enough "education" for the day...we went putt putting next! It was funny watching Camden's "swing" and then his moving of his ball to right near the hole. After hitting it the first time, he would pick it up. Nathan would tell him to put it down. Camden would then put it down right near the hole. Nathan would tell him to put it down at another place, but Camden would reply that he did not want to; he wanted to put it here. I was laughing too much to make him play right! We stopped keeping score!

Well, all good things must come to an end. And we had to really head home with only a stop for dinner in Pawley's Island. It was a fun getaway. And yes, Nathan has already asked for a trip to Colorado to ski when we do the CO book. Maybe...

Amy

Our first full NC day

2010-06-07T21:54:00.010-04:00

Well, our "educational" day started out at 5:45 for me when Camden woke up with a soaking wet diaper. After finally getting him back to sleep, Nathan woke us up at 8. And off we went. Waffles at the hotel fueled us up for our trip to the children's museum. This is what I have found out about children's museums after having been to two in SC, two in NC, one in TN, and one in CA. They are a lot of fun the first time you go to them; the kids like them no matter when you go; and they all pretty much have the same stuff; just with a different and regional twist.

Some type of boat...

an art room (and our drying art work is still there!)...

a place to play doctor, dentist, etc...

an outdoor play area (actually not all have one of these)...

dress-up clothes...

and of course a grocery store!!

But it was fun and the boys would have stayed longer, but we were on a mission. The next stop was a battlefield. I am sure it is in the middle of nowhere, but my directions left us really in the middle of nowhere.

So no battlefield...but we were close to the ferry to Fort Fisher so we took a ferry ride. I think it is so cool to have your car on a boat! After landing, we went to the south most NC Aquarium. This is a really nice aquarium. The boys enjoyed looking at all the fish; although Camden was very apprehensive about sitting close to the scuba diver as he came to the side of the aquarium.

A walk on the beach; dinner at Carolina Beach; a dip in the pool; and Clue rounded out our evening.

One more day and the drive home will conclude our NC field trip.

Amy

NC or bust

2010-06-06T22:38:00.004-04:00

I have done many crazy things in my life, and this is just one of them. I have taken a field trip with the boys to NC. Nathan has been getting these state highlights magazines and I thought it would be fun to focus on one a week (or 2) and learn about that state. Since he had one for NC, I thought it would also be fun to take a "field trip" to NC! (It would really be fun to take a field trip to Colorado, but my couponing money can only go so far!) We only have 2 days, so we drove as far as Wilmington and I am now sitting in a Sleep Inn typing on my blog while my boys sleep.

Today we left Charleston and drove to Calabash for dinner. It was very yummy! We toured the docks and the huge souvenir store. Since Dave and I had just been there recently, it was all quite familiar! After buying a few items (like PJ bottoms since I left mine at home), we hightailed it to Wilmington.

I am not sure why there is an Amish looking buggy in Calabash

Tomorrow I think we will tour Wilmington; a few museums; maybe a boat ride; maybe visit the USS North Carolina. Then drive home Tuesday through Fort Fisher and see the aquarium and fort. We will see what happens in the morning. This is a fun trip, so we will just go as the wind blows!

Musical Beds

2010-06-04T23:44:00.007-04:00

One thing we have managed to do in our family is to keep the boys from sleeping in our bed; but we have not been able to manage to keep them in their own beds! Depending on the night, Nathan and Camden may be sleeping in one of several different places! Nathan has bunk beds, so he has his choice of up or down; this decision is usually made by which bed has clean sheets on it. But since he says his bed is so hard and not comfortable, he will often sleep on his floor (because we have such comfortable floors!).

The comfortable floor where Nathan often chooses to sleep

His bottom bunk that was not an option tonight due to stuff being on it!
Having to sleep in the only spot available...poor guy!

Then Nathan discovered that he really thinks the twin bed in Camden's room is very comfortable. This bed is in Camden's room as an extra bed for when we have a houseful of guests. Usually this is Grammie's bed, but then Camden started putting his bear, Coco, to sleep in this bed, so it became Coco's bed. Nathan was then told he could not sleep in Coco's bed.

Then Camden decided he did not like his bed...a toddler bed. So now he will often sleep in Coco's bed; or if he starts out in his bed, we will check on him and find him in Coco's bed; or he starts out in Coco's bed and ends up in his own bed. It is a little confusing. And distressing for Nathan who is now stuck with only 3 options for sleeping...and of course he has the most uncomfortable bed in the house!
Camden's bed that he has decided he does not like

Sleeping like a baby on Coco's bed

National Running Day

2010-06-03T23:06:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Wednesday, June 2, was National Running Day and to celebrate Camden and I went running of course!! He loves to run and it is so cute. Even when he is running where he is not supposed to (like out of the gym and around the corner and into people!), I don't always have the heart to tell him to stop because he enjoys it so much. Eric Liddell said that "God made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure." I don't think I am as fast as he was or as 90% of my former track team was, but I do run pretty fast. And I enjoy that feeling, at least for a short sprint! I can understand why Eric Liddell said that on two levels. One in the running itself and second in watching Camden run. Just like my Heavenly Father likes to see me enjoying things that He gave me a talent to do, I also enjoy watching my children doing what they do well; and for Camden it is running.

One final thought. I have two sons. One doesn't like walking. The other can't stop talking! What a pleasure to see their differences!

Life is good at the beach!

2010-06-01T23:21:00.008-04:00

I have never been a real beach person (something about sunburn and sand), but I have learned to enjoy relaxing times at the beach, especially evenings. We went out with another family recently to the beach one afternoon/evening to practice surf-fishing...well they fished, I played!

Dave teaching Nathan the finer points of surf-fishing
Nathan bored with fishing, so he started playing!

The most fun was going to the very end of Folly Beach, looking out at Morris Island Lighthouse, where there is a wall that the waves pound up against. It was a free water/splash park! The kids sat underneath as the waves cascaded over the wall and hammered their heads! Lots of fun and laughter!
Morris Island Lighthouse

Nathan, Camden, and Taylor
Camden enjoyed the water!

Disney!

2010-05-26T22:51:00.003-04:00

Well, the deed is done...we are booked for our fabulous Disney vacation! I have been couponing and eating out of the freezer and our money goal is almost met, but in the meantime, we are booked! We (my family, my sister's and our parents) have all been saving money to go to Disney in the fall, and although we aren't quite at our goal, we knew we needed to book our week before the deal was sold out. It was a complete blessing that we only had to put down a $200 deposit and pay the rest in August. I can save the rest before then!

In the meantime, we have been having a blast deciding which restaurants to eat at, what day to go to what park, and how we are going to possibly do it all in 6 days! Last time we only had 3, but with 6 we are having a hard time fitting it all in :) Since we have 11 in our group, we are considered a Grand Gathering and the name given to our group is Amy's Army. I thought the reservationist had a good idea with this name. I have been on the phone with Disney several times already booking dinners and my family has referred to me as their travel agent. But I have enjoyed it and can't wait to go. We are going to have the best time!!! Lots of character dinners, eating at a cool looking Mexican restaurant and getting many autographs from Mickey and friends!

In the meantime, I have to keep my eye on the goal. More couponing; more dinners at home; and lots more saving our pennies!

17 Years!

2010-05-17T22:55:00.003-04:00

I just got back from celebrating with Dave our 17th anniversary and we had a great time! Although May is always a busy month, I was determined that we were going away this year to celebrate on our actual anniversary. I was especially determined not just because we don't get away often, but we got married on a Sunday, and our anniversary was on a Sunday this year. So despite all the busyness of May, we got away to celebrate on May 16.

We went to Ocean Isle, NC and stayed at a small resort with a room on the beach. We kept the window open at night and could hear the surf crashing on the sand. During the day we laid around by the pool and read without having to watch the boys. I also worked on my tan (insert laugh track here) and didn't get too burnt. We drove to Calabash to eat great seafood and went to a movie. On the way home Monday we stopped at the Mystic Day Spa (this name has significance since we honeymooned in Mystic, CT) and we both had awesome massages. Of course when we stopped for lunch I looked like I had not washed my hair for a week since the massage oil was in it! But no one knew me and it was worth it!

And Dave found a perfect description of me on a candle. He made me buy it!

To top the whole weekend off, though, I received wonderful news when we got home. May 16 now is even more special--it is the day that my oldest nephew asked Jesus to be his Savior and now he is a Christian! Marriage is great and children are awesome, but having them come to know Christ when they are young is true joy!

Beautiful Boys

2010-05-02T23:27:00.005-04:00

I have recently re-watched Mr. Holland's Opus. It is without question one of my all time favorite movies. I know the characters in no way give God much thought, but the whole focus of the movie is on priorities and Mr. Holland makes the right choices; even if he doesn't always want to. And even when he has to be taught the right choices when it comes to his deaf son, he gets it right eventually. I think I cry every time the end of the movie happens and he sees that even though he was "only" a teacher and did not do "great" things, he touched the lives of so many people. I have the soundtrack to the movie and will sometimes tear up just listening to his Opus!

I got the soundtrack to the movie for one reason, though, and it is a Beetles song. I am not a Beetles fan. The main thing I know of them is that they all lived in a yellow submarine holding hands; but I really like the song Beautiful Boy that John Lennon wrote for his son. I originally bought it for my beautiful boy Nathan, but have since been blessed with two beautiful boys! The song states that "life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." I interpret that to mean that we can get so busy planning things and making plans for the future that we miss out on life as it happens. That is something for me to remember.

Being all boy!

My beautiful boys having fun

Mr. Holland's life did happen for him while he planned for his songwriting career. During that life he touched the lives of many people, including, eventually, his son. I hope and pray that when I retire, not that you can ever retire from being a mom :), I will be able to look back and see that my life touched others; especially that I am a positive influence on my beautiful boys.

Deep Thoughts

2010-04-10T23:35:00.002-04:00

I had a deep thought this week. Something that really puzzled me. Why do the lights in my bathroom not reveal the clump of hair on my knee that the lights in Sunday School illuminate magnificently! Last week, being Easter and the beginning of the Spring clothes season (yes, I thought about more than clothes on Easter, but that is really too deep for this discussion), I peeled my white legs out of my winter boots and tights (my legs really do look much better when only the shape of them can be seen and not the color!) and braved wearing a knee length dress with heeled sandals. I thought I looked rather nice considering that my legs have been hibernating for several months. But I knew that there are certain spots on my legs that tend to get missed easily by my razor, so I made a special point to examine those areas before leaving for church. To do this involves yoga like postures as I hoist my legs onto the bathroom counter, right underneath 4 bright bulbs. I looked over all areas, knees, ankles, toes, and was satisfied. But then, as I was listening to the SS lesson, I got distracted by the huge clump of hair right below my left knee. I quickly crossed my legs the other way and thankfully see that I had managed to shave that leg better. Needless to say, I spent the rest of class trying to keep that leg behind the other and hoped that no one else saw my missed razor activity.

Yes, my mind can sometimes go deeper than hairy legs, but this week, that is all I can muster! Oh, and in case anyone is interested, it takes about 8 months for a toenail to grow back to almost normal length. It is even painted now!

Amy

Being at the wrong place...

2010-03-21T14:53:00.002-04:00

at the worst time!!

Dave left for TX this morning to go to compounding medicine school to be certified (although he says he knows it all!!), and Nathan had to be at church at 9 for a skit in the 9:30 service. So my morning began by getting up a little earlier than usual for a Sunday; driving Dave to the airport; and then going straight to church. Since we were early for church (that never happens), I got caught by our preschool director (whose job I would never want!). She asked if I could work in the 5 yr old room during the 9:30 hour. I said I could (can't seem to say no), but after Nathan did his skit. So after the skit, I go to the preschool hallway and the look the director has for me makes me think at first she doesn't need me after all-but alas, she doesn't need me in the 5 yr olds, but in the toddlers. As I walk past the teacher holding a child outside of the classroom, the comment is we also have another problem to deal with. Not thinking much about it, I proceed to help keep children off of one another and to stop one girl from crying, and then I learn the other problem-LICE! I am starting to itch again just thinking about it! Even though I probably won't get lice, it is a yucky possibility. All the kids in that room were given notes about how they needed to wash their hair-so I did that and washed the boys' hair-don't know how far those bugs can jump!