My life is organized CHAOS!

Day 3 Beauty of Fall

2009-11-08T22:46:00.000-05:00

The Beauty of Fall, this is my most favorite time of the year. I am so grateful for all the wonderful colors of the rainbow. Also, for the amazingly vibrant colors of the fall foliage that is all around. There's not much here in South Georgia where I live, so I get to travel to see the beauty, but enjoy it nonetheless.

In the scriptures it says when God created the Earth, in Genesis 1:11-19 it says:

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

At this time of year all of nature is changing. I love to see all the new and different changes going on around me. It is crazy to think that this year is beginning to come to a close. It has gone by so fast, but also there are days, when I feel like it is slithering by like a snail. My life has gone through many changes over the past year and a half. I am grateful for the change, it has been a long, difficult road. But also very rewarding. I have proven a lot of things to myself and I have learned a lot about myself too. I thank my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ for standing beside me and holding me up when I was not able to stand on my own. They have never let me down. They will never walk away from us, we are the ones who turn away. My life has been so blessed during this change. Thank you!

The photos in this post are taken from two different areas. These first ones are from North Alabama, Birmingham area and north of there. I love the red of those maple trees, at the temple with the Angel Moroni trumpeting over top. Glorious and so beautiful.

I absolutely love the contrast of the colorful leaves in the trees against the vivid blue of the sky. I could lay down in the grass and look up at the sky and the leaves for many hours. Enjoying all of Gods beautiful creations all around us. If we don't take the time to smell the flowers, and slow down a bit in our busy lives. We will miss out on some of the most wonderful things, the Lord has blessed us with on this earth. I try took at everything I pass by. Especially sunrises and sunsets. I keep my camera with me almost at all times, because you never know when there is going to be something worth capturing on film.

This is out windshield as I traveled to Hamilton back from an afternoon at the Birmingham Temple. I love the hills we are driving in, and the pink in the sunset. This sunset, is probably one of the most vibrant I have EVER seen. The sky was clear, but the colors were amazing. Gods paintbrush was everywhere. And we were traveling west, so we got to see it for much longer.

As the sun set further, the pink turned into a firey orange. I was in awe by how bright the orange was. And sorry this photo does not do justice to how it looked in person. I mean we looked from one end of the horizon to the other side and it was this beautiful rainbow of color all the way across the sky. Thank you Heavenly Father for wonderful and amazing works of art across the sky each morning and evening.

This is one of the landscape as we traveled up the interstate. I love the hills. This part of the country is in the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range. Its absolutely amazing up here. I think if I could picture what heaven looks like, this is it. I grew up in the mountains of Utah, and they are wonderful too. But I think I fell in love with this area, it is so pretty. Brings back many memories of my childhood.

The rest of the photos are from Dauset Trails in Jackson, GA. A park outside of Macon. We had a single adult hiking actitvity last fall in November. It was really pretty there too.

I love how the steps are covered with the fallen leaves, it just makes the whole scene look that much more inviting to me, and so peaceful.

I love the gold color of those leaves, as the other against the brightness of the blue in the sky.

This one is right on the edge of a small lake, but the red is amazing on the trees.

Nature is the art of God. ~ Dante

Day 2-- Tender Mercies

2009-09-23T10:07:00.000-04:00

(1 Nephi 8:8) And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.

I have been writing this post for a few weeks now. I am very grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that have been bestowed upon me over these past few weeks, but also over this past year and a half. There have been so many wonderful things that have happened to the boys and I, that were out of my control, too many to list, so I will only speak of a few from the past few weeks. I need to thank my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all of it. I know all comes from them. And if we are worthy, we will receive the things we need in our lives.

Some of what I have been dealing with, has been the result of being a single parent, having a home based business, and also the economic times we live in. I have been somewhat overwhelmed lately, with a lull in my daycare. A few months ago, I was turning business away because I did not have the space to care for them, but as of today, I am very open for the next few months. I have one full time infant boy, and two part times toddler girls. Until the end of October I will be this way, then I will have two more newborn babies to start. And another to start sometime at the beginning of next year.

So over these past two months, I have really had to look over my budget and try to cut and trim as much as I could to make ends meet, which is already very tight. It has been very stressful...and unfortunately some things have come up that have made it even tighter. I had to put 4 new tires on my van, and then a week later I had to put a brand new battery in the van also.

Then we had a class at Enrichment Night about budgeting and also using coupons to cut our grocery spending. I have always loved to use coupons, but have not been able to afford to go out and buy the newspaper. So I have been relying on the ones that come in the mail mostly, and my gracious neighbor for giving me his newspaper last year (maybe I can get his again this year when he's done). The lady who taught the class said she has been able to cut her grocery bill from $150 a week, to almost $30 a week, with the use of store, manufacturer, competitor and coupons on the containers. There is a store here that will double coupons on a specific day up to a certain amount, and another that will take competitor coupons, so I hope I can use this for my benefit in the future to help lower my spending even more than I already do. I am really good at budgeting, and knowing how to make it all work, being a single parent and also a stay-at-home mom. It can be trying, but well worth the effort as I have seen in the past.

Thanks to Tender Mercies of the Lord, I was given an upgrade to a higher priced safer set on my tires for the lower price as the ones I intended to purchase. And wonderful faithful priesthood holder friends of mine, I have a new battery in my van. Also the Relief Society Presidency was in tune with the Spirit to know that the members of their ward needed to learn of new methods to cut excess spending, ways to save, and get out of debt.

I am so eternally grateful for the gospel in my life, and for the blessings I receive for being a member of it. My testimony has grown so much over the past 19 months. I have always had a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but lately it has been strengthened immensely.

I also believe in the power of prayer. As I was sitting on my porch emotionally distraught over my situation with my van battery, because it would only happen on a day when I had many errands to run, and a first soccer practice to get too. As I sat, I prayed to my Heavenly Father to allow me to be the recipient of a tender mercy, because I did not know how I was going to get all that I needed to get done accomplished, without the use of my vehicle. And thanks to the wonderful members that listened to the Spirit to take the time out of their busy lives to help me accomplish all that I needed to.

I have tremendous faith in the Lord that He will protect and provide me with all that I need to sustain my life and my children's lives, but sometimes we fall short, and that is what the Atonement of Jesus Christ is for. When we repent of our shortcomings, we can be more blessed by this gospel and the tender mercies that are available. When we are living our lives as righteously as possibly and following the teachings of our leaders and our Prophet, we will be blessed beyond what we can ever magine.

There is a pretty bad flu bug going around right now, H1N1. And there are schools that are closing due to the number of children affected. In one week at Chandler's school they sent home 60 kids in one day and I think 30 another day, due to symptoms. Chandler was sent home one day for a fever, which I found out later was very slight, not even a whole degree above normal. Within 2 hours and without medication, he was just fine. I am blessed that my children have not gotten ill with this or any other sickness that may be going around. That is also a blessing. I pray every day that my children will continue to grow strong and healthy and be able to stay in school, and learn as much as they possibly can. It's exciting to see the new things that Chandler, Owen & Hayden come home to tell or sing (Hayden) to me. Hayden is learning his colors in English and in Spanish, and he is only in Pre-K. Awesome!!

We find happiness in the midst of the trial of our faith. The Lord manifests Himself to us through His tender mercies, which we find along the road of happiness. We see with increased clarity His hand in our lives. -I don't remember where I found this or who said it.

David Bednar said in a talk from May 2005, titled "The Tender Mercies of The Lord"
"Recall how the Savior instructed His Apostles that He would not leave them comfortless. Not only would He send “another Comforter” (John 14:16), even the Holy Ghost, but the Savior said that He would come to them (see John 14:18). Let me suggest that one of the ways whereby the Savior comes to each of us is through His abundant and tender mercies. For instance, as you and I face challenges and tests in our lives, the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord."

"...life is good if we live in such a way to make it so. Believing, desiring, deciding, and choosing correctly are the simple actions that define an increase in happiness and an increase in the inner assurance that transcends this life." -Benjamín De Hoyos

I truly believe that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know who I am, they know my strengths and also my weaknesses. I know that they hear and answer my prayers. I know that we are all recipeients of the Tender Mercies of the Lord on a daily basis, and we may not see them when they happen, but as we reflect on our lives we will rellize that we are blessed, and we are loved. I am very grateful for all trials that I have to endure in my life, they help me to grow mentally, physically and spiritually. I have to say that I do not enjoy all of them, so are very stressful, but there is purpose in everything, and that is part of the test of why we are hear on this earth. We will take all that we have learned with us into the next life.

Do you see the Tender Mercies of the Lord in your life? I hope you do, and if you don't...take the time to sit, ponder and contemplate your life, and all that you are blessed with. It's amazing all that HE gives us. I am so grateful for the ones in my life, big or small.

Love to all,

Remembering 9-11-2001

2009-09-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

Today I am sitting at home remembering what I was doing on the morning of Sep. 11, 2001, and how it changed my life.

I was at home recovering from the birth of Owen 9 days prior to that day. Chandler was sitting in front of the television watching Bear in the Big Blue House, and I recieved a phone call telling me to turn on the news, that the Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by an airplane.

So I immediately changed the channel to the local news channel, (which by the way Chandler didn't like at all). And the T.V. did not change channels again for almost 3 days as we watched how the events unfolded. I watched as the second tower was hit by the next airplane, and then also as both towers fell to the ground. It was a devastating thing to watch, and very emotional. I have never witnessed anything like this in my lifetime.

I was concerned that there would be more attacks in different parts of the country. At that time we lived in a very small town in Texas, about 80 miles East of Houston, and I wondered if because Houston was a big city, it was a target. Which I later found out it wasn't. I also, was worried about my mom, who just the day before had flown into Boston for a work conference. We couldn't get a hold of her due to all the phone lines being tied up. When we did hear from her, she was doing fine, but would not be returning home at the time expected. She had to stay until the airports started flying again.

It's very sad to see attacks like this going on today. I am thankful that no one in my family was hurt during these attacks. And send out my condolences to all those that have suffered pain or loss from the terrible event 8 years ago today.

Let us take a moment today to thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings we have. I want to thank him myself. I am grateful for everything that I have here as I live upon this earth. I am thankful for my earthly parents, I love you so much, you are a great example to me. I love my brother and sister and their families, thank you for all that you for me and the boys, we are very appreciative. I love all my extended family and all my friends also. I have had some struggles, and am truly grateful for you standing by me, supporting me, letting me cry on your shoulder, for uplifting me, and showing me that my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me and know who I am. My faith has grown so much. I am so blessed.

Amy Kay :)

Back in school...finally!

2009-08-31T08:05:00.014-04:00

2009-2010 school year has begun in Thomasville, Georgia

Ok, I am so sorry everyone, I have been awful at blogging. Blogging on the blogger site has been so slow, that I have not been in the mood to sit and wait for all the photos to upload, because all of you that know me, know that I LOVE to take photos and usually have lots to put up. So I downloaded Windows Live writer thinking that would help me load pics faster...well I was wrong. I am sure it works fine for everyone else. But for me, it won't let me publish to my blog. It gives me an error message that says I am forbidden. I don't know so now I am back to posting on the blogger site, until I find another program to do my posts with, that will not take so long.

Well, here is our first day of school pictures. Yes, I am late, we have been in school for a month now. Wow...I will put a post next that is of ours (and mine) adventures over the summer. The boys were busy, and I was very busy. I did a lot of traveling this summer, to experience lots of LDS Single Adult Activities. I totally enjoyed gallivanting all over the area making new friends, and trying new activities. Re-inventing myself, and finding things that I like to do.

Chandler (10) 5th grade-Thomas County Middle School, Owen (7)2nd grade-Garrison Pilcher Elementary, Hayden (4) Pre-K-Hand-in-Hand Primary School. All ready for school.

Chandler showing off his new outfit and backpack, he loves his new shirt, with the guitar on the front and the necks on the back.

Monday morning Aug 3, 2009 was the boys first day of school for the 2009-10 school year. Here is Owen showing off his new outfit and backpack.

Hayden says “thumbs up”, he is ready to go. He had to put on his helmet so he wouldn’t forget it. His class gets to ride trikes, so they have to have a helmet.

Every year the boys gets new shoes, so here are the ones they got this year.

Chandler making sure he has all his last minute items in his backpack so that he doesn't forget anything important. Owen and Hayden are all ready to go, showing me their cute smiles. :)

Hayden is waiting by the door. He is so ready to go. He is excited he finally gets to ride the bus with “the brothers”. He used to cry last year when "the brothers" would get to go get on the bus and he couldn't yet. So this is his year!

All three boys waiting on the front deck for their dad and I.

Down the steps, here we go… out the door at 6:45 am to get to the bus stop a few minutes early just in case the bus earlier than normal, since it's the first day.

Owen and Hayden walking toward the bus stop. Chandler was lagging a little behind.

There they go, all three of my boys together. Wow, I have anticipated this day for a long time, but now that it is finally here, I am not sure I am ready.

Chandler, me, Owen and Hayden waiting for the bus to come. I am excited and sad at the same time. I haven’t been away from Hayden like this before.

This is their old bus that they rode last year, but because of overcrowding, they got moved to another bus. The bus driver honked and waved as she drove by.

Here is a stair step photo of them. They all smiled so good, aren’t they so cute. I can’t believe they are growing up so fast.

Chandler, Owen and Hayden.

Here comes the bus up the road.

Hayden watching as the bus comes up the road to our stop. He is the first to get on the bus because he is the smallest. He's so cute standing there waiting to patiently for it to stop.

Hayden showed no hesitation, he just marches himself onto that bus, he waved bye and was gone. I think he is ready for this next step.

My boys are all on the bus ready to go to school... I was getting a little teary, but I didn't cry...(posted after, I cried the second day, because I didn't walk them to the bus stop. And I watched as Hayden proudly walked down the road to the bus stop. He was so excited, and felt so big. I shed a few tears that day).

Owen waving goodbye.

This is the bus from my front porch, leaving our neighborhood, on the way to school.

And of course I had to get photos of them getting off the bus. I was waiting, and some of my parents came to pick up their kids…so I asked them to wait for a minute so I could get at least Hayden getting off the bus since it was his first day.

Owen was first off the bus…

Then came Hayden…

...And finally Chandler.

My three boys walking home from the bus stop.

That is so nice that they stayed together. I am sure that won't last long. Everything to them becomes a race or competition (that's a Watson thing), so I am sure they will be running home from the bus stop soon enough.

They said they all had a good day. They each gave me a high five when they met me on the driveway. But I couldn’t get much more information out of them than that. They said they forgot…yeah right. Well, when I asked Hayden about lunch, he said he didn’t eat. So I looked at the menu and asked the different items if he ate them, and he said no, except for the milk. He said he drank chocolate milk. :) My boy, has to have his chocolate. I love them so much, well I hope he eats at least a little bit.

So I guess the first day of school went pretty good. And so begins the next chapter of their lives....

My first Gratitude Post of 100

2009-08-07T09:38:00.009-04:00

I am so sorry to everyone for not being better about posting to my blog. I have gotten into Facebook, I have been busy with the boys and traveling this summer, and so this blog has just become part of the back burner.

I asked my friend Michelle to make me a gratitude button so that I could do "100 Days of Gratitude" posts like she does. And so today is Day #1 for me.

I am grateful for my Heavenly Father. I have to publicly thank my Him for all that He has given me. I would have nothing without him and my older brother Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the love He has for me. I know that He knows me personally, and that He knows all my wants and needs. I am blessed by His love on a daily basis. I see the hand of the Lord in my life each and every day. Through my recent life changing trials I have learned to lean on Him so much more. I always knew He was there, but now I can't get through my day without feeling of His love. I feel His love in so many different ways. Through the eyes of my children when they say good morning, give me a kiss & hug and that they love me, through my daily prayers, scripture study, the beautiful sunrise I get to experience while waiting for my boys to get on the bus in the mornings, the amazingly radiant sunsets that glow through my kitchen window every evening. We would have nothing without Him.

Here is a sunrise on the left, and a sunset on the right. Both taken from my front porch and back deck. I have seen some of the most vibrant, colorful and breathtaking sunsets from the courtesy of my own home. I love to see them, and look forward to seeing many more in the future. So when I visit a new place I try to experience the sunrise and set there, to see if they are as beautiful as at my house. :) Again, thank you Heavenly Father for blessing my life with so many things. I will post about a lot of them through out these gratitude posts.

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues" (Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992, 54).

April 2009 LDS Single Adult Conference in Destin Florida

2009-04-29T10:31:00.053-04:00

This beautiful sunrise is the view from my hotel in Destin, FL, The Emerald Grande. Also it was the location for the LDS Gulf Coast Single Adult Conference I attended this past weekend.

Last weekend I was in beautiful Destin, FL for an LDS single Adult Conference, It was amazing! It was beautiful, spiritual and tons of fun. I made so many new friends and enjoyed re-connecting with the friends there that I already knew. I took almost 300 pictures of the things my friends and I did, so there will be a bunch on here. But not all of them. :) It's going to be hard for me to decide which ones I want to upload. WARNING VERY LONG POST!!! GORGEOUS PHOTOS AT THE BOTTOM, PLEASE READ ENTIRE POST. :)

This is the back of the hotel where you can see the two towers, east on the left and west on the right. My condo was on the 10th floor in the West Tower.

If you count down 2 balconies ours is 1 more below that on the left side of the photo. I think there were 12 floors in the hotel. The view was just amazing, I could see so far.

This view of the pool and Captains deck is from my friend David's condo. The Captains deck, in the back by the lighthouse is where we had the dance on Friday night.

This was the fabulous view out a window of the ballroom where the classes were Saturday morning. It was so hard to sit and concentrate on what was being said when the beach was right out the windows. The classes were wonderful, uplifting & spiritual. I took many things from them and will incorporate them into to my life. :)

The park where we ate our lunch.

My wonderful friend David took this picture of me. He dared me to jump into the water from the wall we were sitting on. So I did! Then he said, "Now swim." So I dove right into the water. It was refreshing. I said not to dare me because if he did I would do it! It was gorgeous outside and the water felt great. I jumped in the bay in my clothes, it was so much fun! Too bad I was by myself. Everyone else should have joined me.

This is the group that went on our parasailing trip. Left to right there is Lynn, Connie, Maxon, Rhonda, Doug, Amy-me, Vladimir, David & Nicole. We were the Fearless 9. This is the before shot we wanted. If we didn't return they would know who to notify. HAHA :) We all made it back safe and alive!

This is Doug posing on the bow of the boat. Our hotel is in the background, and the bridge over to Okaloosa Island. The open water was so pretty.

This is my friends Rhonda and Maxon on the boat ready to go parasailing.

This is David in his GQ pose on the bow. We all took turns being silly with a beautiful background. I was telling him to work the camera, so I snapped some great shots. It was fun, I almost felt like a professional photographer. I actually had that thought. It would be cool to be hired to take the photos for trips like this, or videos. I could make some good money doing that during the summer months.

OK, here I am in my model pose. We had a blast sitting up on the bow of that boat, the wind was blowing as we watched our friends sail 800 feet up in the air.

They were telling me to work it, and I kept laughing while I was trying to pose, so this is one of my laughing really hard.

This is Vladimir doing GQ his posing. He looked deep in thought.

Here I am in all my get-up ready to go parasailing. David is sitting next to me and Nicole is behind me. They put us in these harnesses and life jackets, so they can attach us to the bar that holds the parachute. And we were given specific instructions on how to sit with the harness on, so that we don't get hurt.

Doug and I are all hooked to the bar, and the parachute. We were getting some last instructions and then we were ready to fly!

Oh my heck, here we go! Oh Wow, what a rush!!! I felt my stomach go right to my feet. The boat kept getting farther and farther away. And we were going higher and higher. Oh wow, is all I can say. It was absolutely breathtaking up there. We could see for miles. It was so quiet up there, just us and the air. As we were up there we noticed something in the water, and it was the tide going out, it was cool to be able to tell when that was happening.

I took something special up to throw off into the water, as part of a release for the rest of my life. I give myself to Him, and to whatever He wants me to do with my life, and who He wants me to be with. When the time is right He will send him to me, I promise to be patient and allow the Lord to work in my life more than He already is.

Here we go higher and higher...

And even higher still... 800 feet up in the sky over the bay in Destin.

Here we come ready for our dip into the ocean. Oh is it going to be cold? I don't know if we should do it...Oh why not DO IT! DIP US! :)

In we go! It wasn't so cold, it was nice. I was still a little wet from my jump into the bay earlier.

It was so fun, I was kicking the water as we were lifted again into the air. Now when we were out of the water it was a little cool, since we were wet and the wind was blowing.

We are now out of the dip, and back in to the air. I wanted to go back into the water, it was so nice, and refreshing.

We made it back, almost there and we are still alive. YEAH! What an awesome experience. I can't wait to do this again. SOON!!!

I am not sure what I was laughing about. But we had so much fun up there, it was great. Doug is from Las Vegas. He is moving to this area next year to work, and so he came to the conference to check it out here.

This is David and Rhonda, and it was funny a jet took off, and passed above them while they were floating in the air. After they came back we were joking that the air plane was going to hit them. But of course it wasn't going to, it was so much higher that they were. It was just a fun joke.

This is Nicole and Maxon. Nicole looks like she is freaking out. I am not sure if she wants to go through with this.

They went up too, and this was a neat picture with the sailboat under them.

This is Vladimir and Connie. Off they go too! Up, up and away!

Vlad and Connie are really high. I zoomed all the way out so I could get this cool perspective of the distance.

I really liked this sailboat. It looked almost like it was going to tip over, but I know that is just how they turn. That would be fun to ride on one of them sometime.

They played some really great music while we were on the boat, so Rhonda and I got up and danced for everyone!

Here I am again, more dancing. Vladimir is also enjoying the music.

While we were on our way back to the dock, I decided to get up on the bow of the boat and pretend like I was on the Titanic. I put my arms out and yelled, "I am the King of the world!" The wind was blowing really hard since we were driving pretty fast, and it felt great!

You can see the wind is blowing my swim suit strap in the air. I was laughing as Rhonda was taking my picture. I was having an absolute blast!

As we were walking back to the hotel, we saw these pelicans hunting around for stray fish from the fishing boats. We walked right past all the places where the deep sea fishing trips were back with all their catch. We saw some really big fish, but also some really gross leftovers after they cut them up.

This is the private beach for our hotel. The hotel is in the background, and on the other side of the rise behind the umbrellas is a little inlet that separates the hotel from the beach. We laid in the sun for about 20 minutes and just enjoyed the quiet and the warmth.

I love to take pictures of the water. It wasn't very nice looking today, but I like the waves. I like to take the ones right as the wave is breaking.

I drew this heart in the sand at the beach. I was going to put a name in it, but as I was getting ready to do it, the water started to take it away, so I had to click the picture. This has a significance to me. As I was leaving on Sunday I felt like I left my heart in Destin. I felt as if I was leaving my home. I have never experienced anything like this before! I didn't want to leave. It is such a beautiful place, and I had such a wonderful time, I didn't want to leave. I have some memories of this trip and conference that will be with me forever! I hopefully will be back to this area very soon.

One of the men that spoke to us on Saturday at the classes said to come get sand in our toes, and make sure to come back again. So here is the sand in my toes, and I will DEFINITELY be back! I fell in love with this place this weekend. I want to move here, not necessarily to live on the beach, but I want to live closer than I do now. Right now I am 3.5 hours from here, which is a small distance, but the distance will not keep me away. My first time to Destin was in October 2008, and I never knew this place was even here. A wonderful part of Florida, gorgeous white sandy beaches, and beautiful blue water (most of the time, but not right now with all the rain we've been getting).

Here I am posing in front of our hotel on the beach. I am not good at striking a pose, so this is it. :)

Rhonda snapped this one while I was playing with my hair. I almost took it down, but it was so windy, I didn't. Oh and we were trying to keep the port-a-potty hidden, and it looks like I missed, and it's right on the side of my head. We were having so much fun.

My wonderful friend Rhonda, posing for me in front of the hotel. The workers were getting everything packed up so the umbrellas weren't open. We had some fun with them too.

This is Cheryl, one of our room mates. We spent time together during the afternoon, and she came with us to the beach.

After we got back from the beach, we got ready for dinner and the dance. We had dinner at the SanDestin Church building, and the dance and activities were there too. Dinner was great! Thank you to all who provided food for us for this conference. This is some of the dance photos. This one has Vladimir in it on the right.

David and I were taking pictures of each other, and so here is one of each. I got his during the day...

And he got mine on the beach at the bonfire on Saturday night.

David took this picture of Kay, Debbie and me at the beach. Debbie, David and I were playing in the water, running up and down the beach. Then running into the surf, and having a great time at the beach in the dark. The stars were so bright, and as we were sitting listening to some of the devotional David and I both saw a shooting star at the same time. It was so amazingly beautiful out there. It was a new moon so there was no moonlight out. The spirit was so strong as testimonies were being said.
A gentleman that was out on the beach with his family came up and spoke to us a little bit, it was great. Also, some of the others in our conference got up and bore their testimonies, since the testimony meeting wouldn't be long enough for everyone to get up. We had a bonfire on the beach and I have never seen anything like it, it was so awesome!

The sun has set over Destin at the close of a wonderful day. I had a great time here, and can't wait to return again. Looking forward to the next time I can come back and visit the beauty of these beaches. Au Revoir, Destin till next time! :)

The wonderful sunset picture was taken by my great friend David.

Some of the other pictures in this post were done by Rhonda Wolverton and David Simmons, well and me of course. I wanted to give credit where it is due. These two others are very good photographers, and took photos of me when I couldn't take them of myself.

Out of touch!

2009-04-20T15:42:00.002-04:00

I am so sorry everyone! My life has been so crazy that there are some things that just have to go on the back burner. Unfortunately, one of those items was my blog. I am going to try to better about writing on this again. We are just as busy as we have ever been. The boys just got done with Spring break, and are now back to the grind stone and taking tests this week. Chandler scored third highest in the whole state of Georgia, on a DAR short story assignment he took in January, which is awesome! Owen is also doing great in school. His teacher calls to give me updates, and says he is a great student. Hayden is playing T-ball, and I will post pictures very soon of his first game and season. It will be ending shortly, and I am hoping for a sports break in the summer.

I want to have a relaxed summer, although I am going to be starting college again, so I don't know how relaxed it will be. We are planning a vacation this summer to fly out and visit my family in New Mexico. We haven't been out there in a few years so it's time, and I found some great rates on airline tickets, so I am going to venture across the country with 3 kids all by myself. I am actually excited about going. It will be fun, and we will get to see most of the family.

I have two performances this week. One with the Institute choir I am a member of on Wednesday, and a solo at that one. I am singing 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives', a version done at an EFY in 2000. And also I have the opportunity to sing in a trio at a singles conference I am attending at the beach in Destin, FL. I am excited about this conference we are going to have a blast. we have plans to go parasailing and also ride on some seadoos. I will hopefully have pictures to post of that too soon.

I am still the choir director for my ward here. We just sang for Easter, and will sing for Mother's Day coming up. I am the Enrichment leader still and the R.S. newsletter person. The boys are doing good, Chandler is in the scouting program and enjoying it. They are getting ready for the Pinewood Derby race in the next few weeks.

Hayden has been registered for Pre-K and will start in the fall. He is so excited to get to ride the school bus with his brothers, and go to big boy school. I am excited for him to get to go to school too. Every time we pass by the schools he says that's where he is going to go to kindergarten, but has to go to Pre-K first. It's really cute to listen to him.

Well, this is a short update on us. I will try to get some pictures on here very soon. I hope all is well with all, of you and leave me comment love and let us know how you all are doing.

Love to all,
Amy and the boys

Thomasville, GA Tornado Feb 19, 2009 Destruction

2009-02-19T20:55:00.006-05:00

I am so sorry to everyone for falling very behind on my blogging. My life has just taken over and so my blogging has taken a back burner to it all. I am so sorry, I hope you all will forgive me! I am so unbelievably busy, it's crazy. Well, and I have also fallen to the facebook addiction! It is a crazy time sucker, and I don't spend a lot of time there, but I have found many friends from high school, and so I chat with some, etc.

Here is my first update, and I will try to get all my stuff on here that needs to be. Christmas, New Years, birthdays, my temple trip-and my second one that will be in a few weeks.
Love to all,
Amy and the boys :)

This morning was a very scary experience for us here in Thomasville. We were all sleeping soundly in our beds, and I was awakened by Chandler yelling at me from across the house, "There's a tornado warning for Thomasville!!!" So I jumped out of bed, and ran to his room. Then I went and turned on the tv, but of course due to the heavy rain the satellite was not coming very good. Then I turned on the regular radio, because for some reason my weather radio has disappeared. Anyway, finally WCTV came in long enough for me to see that yes there was a tornado warning for us, and even down to our street. And that had me concerned because we live in a mobile home and from my experiences living in Oklahoma, in my opinion tornadoes aim for mobile homes. So I got down on my knees with Chandler and we prayed for safety from the storm and that our home would not have any damage from this. After we prayed I told Chandler about a part in my patriarchal blessing. First I told him that this is a very important blessing that you receive when you are 16, and will help you in your life. Then I told him that in mine it says that I will live long enough to see my children grow into adults. And I told him that I have total Faith in the Lord that it isn't our time to go yet, and that the Lord will protect us from this storm. I knew we would be ok, but it was hard to help Chandler understand, he's only 10. He really wanted us to go somewhere other than here. He wanted us to go to his school, or into the shop or the van whatever. I tried to explain to him that it was 2 am in the morning and that no one would be at his school. That we could go into my closet, the most inner room of our house if we needed too. And I watched and waited for almost 3 hours until the worst was over. I finally got Chandler to go back and lay down, since he had to get up for school at 6. I went back to bed at 3:15 am, and had to get up with them at 6 am. So my day has been a long one.When I got up this morning, I looked outside and the stars were out and there was not a cloud in the sky. It didn't look like the wrath of Mother Nature had been here only a few hours prior to that. After the boys got on the bus I turned on the same channel WCTV and they were showing that there were 4 confirmed tornadoes last night and that at least 1 came through Thomasville. Then I turned on the weather.com website and they had a broadcast live from Thomasville on their site. The tornado had ripped through a mobile home park on the other side of town, and destroyed 50 homes. So far I have only heard of two fatalities, one was an older man who had a heart attack, not sure about the other.
After all the kids were picked up I took the boys around to see some of the destruction from this tornado, an F2 with winds of 125 miles per hour as per the National Weather Service. Chandler likes to watch the Storm Chaser shows and so he wants to see the actual tornado but since it was at like 1:15 am it was pitch black outside, and we weren't close enough to see it. Anyway, there was a ton of traffic. Everyone was out to see what was going on. There were even police guiding the traffic because it was so heavy. Plus there were so many utility trucks that everything was bottle necked. We drove around for a bit, then got out of the van at my friend Melanie's house. It was amazing how much destruction there was. And it was interesting about Melanie's house, there were trees down all over but none on the house. Except the one that was in the front, but it didn't do much damage. It looked like someone had thrashed around the woods behind their house, but left the house alone. And some of the houses were not touched, when the next door house was torn apart. Crazy, weird!

Hayden playing on a swing set, that was overturned by the tornado. Among all the destruction, he still wanted to play.

The sun setting over all the fallen trees. What an eerie site.

A tree laying on this house.

Another sunset shot of the mangled trees.

Melanie's back yard where the trees fell on the fence.

Some insulation from the piece of the room that was in her yard.

These are two of my biggest helpers. We were visiting my friend Melanie, and they were picking up extra branches that they could find and putting them on the piles that were in each yard. It was so cute. They said they want to do service too. It made me feel good, I am instilling in them great qualities to be selfless and do service for others.

The second house has a tree through the back of it, but I couldn't get a very clear shot of it, through all the debris.

This is into a neighbors yard, some of the trees are just tangled and falling over, if not snapped at the middle.

See all the trees snapped off right at the middle, it was amazing to see. Some at the roots others in the middle.

A piece of some one's siding hung in a tree, way up in the top of one of the pine trees. Hmmm, how is that going to come down?

This is a tree right in the middle of Melanie's neighbor's yard. She had one like this in her yard but it was on top of their house. They had cut it down before we got there. And also she had 1/4 of a roof from 4 doors down in her front yard too.

A bunch of trees down in front of the Brookwood school.

Here's another tree broke off right in the middle.

More trees, just mangled and broken. Excuse the mirror, I was driving and trying to lean over Owen and take these pictures, so they are not perfect.

Trees all over this house. It was so devastating to see. Power lines and phone lines down all over too.

This is the front of that house, so many trees on it, that is awful. And surprisingly no one was injured.

Totally uprooted tree in that front yard.

Seeing this damage brought back many vivid memories of living in Oklahoma. I can remember when the tornado came through Catoosa, my junior year of high school. It actually happened on Prom night. We (the students and their dates) usually go to Tulsa (30 minutes away, bigger city more dining options) for dinner, then come back to Claremore for Prom, but this time I decided to stay in Claremore, which I didn't know why at the time, but now do know I was being prompted by the Spirit. I went with a friend of mine I worked with. Well, a little while after we got there, we noticed that there were not very many people there, and then little by little people started showing up in jeans and t-shirts. So they all explained that there was a tornado and that most of them were caught in it because it came straight down the highway as they were returning from dinner. Some of the stories were very scary, and something I am glad I didn't experience. There was a lot of destruction from this tornado. I can't remember how big it was, but it did a lot of damage. I looked online and it said it was an F4 (the biggest is an F5) & it ran for 6 miles, and had a swath of 250 yards.

I just want to publicly thank my Heavenly Father for keeping my boys and me safe during this storm that we had. We have many blessings to be thankful for.

Happy 10th Birthday Chandler

2009-01-28T13:36:00.003-05:00

Today my oldest son Chandler turns 10. I am so proud of him. He has been a wonderful blessing in my life. He is doing great in school, and is a big help around the house. Chandler is in the 4th grade, he is in the grifted program here they call EXPLO, and doing tremendously. I will go more into that on another post. He is doing well in cub scouts. He enjoys playing basketball and vidoe games. He loves to put together his bionicles, transformers, and bakugan are his favorite toys.

Chandler you were born on Jan 28, which happens to be my birthday too. I was so excited to be your mom, and I couldn't wait for you to get here. You are great with your brothers, and you help me out when I ask, thank you.

Chandler I want you to know that I love you and am so glad to have you as a son. You are a great example to me, and to your brothers. You are growing up into a nice young man. I love you always, mom :)

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY CHANDLER!!!

Birth of Jesus - Mary Did You Know?

2008-12-22T12:41:00.004-05:00

My friend Linda has this video on her blog, and I really enjoyed it, so I am adding it to mine, so that you all can see a wonderful video of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Most of you know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I want to tell you that I know my Savior lives, and I know that he died on the cross for all of us. We need to remember the reason for this wonderful CHRISTmas season. Please take a moment this week to remember what Jesus Christ did for you. And let's not forget the reason we celebrate this month. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Have You...

2008-12-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

I saw this on my friend Leah's blog, and I think it also looked like fun, so I want to play too!

PUT THE THINGS YOU'VE DONE IN BOLD.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors ("ancestors" really needs to be better defined here)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (when I was younger)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing/repelling
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (not something I wanted or want to do again)
47. Had your portrait painted/sketched
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (I've auditioned for one before)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (I have two-home daycare and photography)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70.Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (someday I will)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (more than once)
86.Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish count, right?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (gave heimlich to a small child once, that was choking, very scary experience).
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby. (3 wonderful boys)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (my divorce, and an accident my son and ex-husband were in in 2007 that caused Owen to be in ICU for a day).
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day.
101. Fallen in Love

It says that I'm supposed to tag 10 people. But like my friend Leah, I don't want to, so if you would like to participate, please do, and leave me a comment and let me know so I can see what you have and haven't done. Thanks. Hugs, Amy ;)

Holiday Spirit

2008-12-19T13:59:00.007-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Watson's.

pictured: Hayden (3), Chandler (9), Amy & Owen (7).

I've been really trying to get into the holiday spirit lately. I put my tree and decorations up early this year due to some out of town traveling that I was doing around Thanksgiving. That is when I usually put them up. But the weather here in southern Georgia has been unseasonably warm. I mean my bushes are blooming again, and they should be in hibernation right now.

Anyway, so I wanted to post my holiday home decor for you to see. Also, I have a very cool video of an acapella group singing a version of "the 12 days of Christmas" that I really love. There are many songs by "Straight No Chasers on Youtube.com. GO check them out, they are amazing. And a Christmas light display to music that is on my sidebar, just remember to pause the music that I have on there.

My garland over the kitchen door, and the wreath and lights in the kitchen. I love to decorate for holidays, no matter which one.

My Christmas tree, decorated with sentimental ornaments. I only put ornaments on there that the boys bring home from school, or that we make here at home. I like to make at least one new ornament each year to put on there.

My mantle where we took the picture of me and the boys. All that is missing is the fire, I'll have to get that picture when it gets a little colder outside.

My bookshelf with all my houses, and my nativity set. I love my houses, I have a Wal-mart from working there, and a movie theater too.

Chocolate cake mix cookies with peppermint pieces inside.

Pretzel rods with caramel, then chocolate, and sprinkles on top. The sweet and salty combination of the caramel, chocolate & crunch and salt of the pretzel. Love these! Thanks Lora for bringing these to me last year, I will forever make them now.

Brownies with Andes mints on top.

Mrs. Claus' Peppermint Fudge. I've never made fudge before, and it turned out OK.

Praline Squares, oh my heck, these are so good. Even though they have no chocolate, they are heavenly.

I will try to get the recipes on here soon. Probably all in one post. My blue plate special posts have taken a back burner to my life lately, so I'm sorry. I also need to get my candied yams recipe on here from Thanksgiving, sorry I haven't done that yet Linda. I'm working on it. Maybe next week I can get all of them on here.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All. Love the Amy Watson Family.

Amy, Chandler, Owen and Hayden Watson

Secret Santa Shindig

2008-12-18T17:02:00.005-05:00

My Secret Santa Shindig package arrived!!! YEAH!

I was so excited to hear the horn from my post man yesterday. I'm sorry I haven't gotten this posted until now. I went out and accepted my package, and it was from my secret Santa. I entered a secret Santa swap that a blogger friend of mine Kori was having. I had a blast getting my package ready for my swap partner. Kori has an great blog, if you don't know her click on over and check her out. She is a great lady, and has a great family too.

All my AWESOME goodies!

The package I received was from Pam. I love everything that she sent. I have been wanting a new purse, with a matching makeup bag, and this one is so me. It has turquoise and brown, and even a black stripe so I can wear black or brown shoes with it. :) I'm trying to be in style, knowing that you are supposed to match your bag and shoes. Really great Turquoise and brown scrapbook paper, and some flowers to match, a beautiful turquoise necklace, that I immediately put on, some chocolates for me, and some Santa's for my boys, and a great card. THANK YOU THANK YOU PAM! You made great choices to send to me. I love it all!

Merry Christmas to all!

My purse and makeup bag. I've carried it around with me already, and am getting great compliments. It's a beautiful bag, I love the handle, the stripes & plaid, and the polka dot ribbon too. Well, I just like the whole thing. It is perfectly me.

Great scrapbook paper, now I need to find some pictures of me that will go with the paper. Hmmm, maybe I can get my kids to take some of me with my new bag and necklace on. Yeah, that sounds good. :)

Very lovely necklace and Russell Stover chocolates. Just enough chocolate for me to get a good taste, and not to much so that I don't fall off the weight loss wagon. I am doing great. I am up to 38 lbs of weight loss! GO ME!!

Chandler won the Spelling Bee!!!

2008-12-17T15:35:00.005-05:00

Chandler being awarded a Dictionary and Thesaurus for winning the Cross Creek 2008 4th Grade Spelling Bee.

Mrs Thompson, Chandler receiving prize after winning the spelling bee, I don't know the lady's name handing the prize to Chandler.

I have been waiting on these pictures from the school spelling bee, so that I could post them. The one time I forget my camera, is the time that one of my boys does something really great! So I had to rely on one of the teachers, thanks Mrs. Hester, and Ronnell for emailing them to me. (and side note, a few days later I was looking for my camera and realized it had been in the van the whole time. So I could have gone and gotten it, if I'd remembered it was there).

Anyway, so I had a friend of mine Kathy come and sit with the kids I watch so that I could go watch Chandler be in the spelling bee. He was chosen from his class because he won the bee in his homeroom class. I remember being in spelling bees as a child, but I never won one. And Chandler got out on his first word last year (calender he spelled it, correctly spelled calendar). Which I made him spell to me before he left for school that day. That word actually went to a boy next to Chandler and he got out on it too.

For the winning words Chandler had to first spell design (the other boy spelled it desighn), and then salmon. And Mrs. Ament the word caller said she didn't say the "l" on purpose because she was taught not to say it if it is silent. And so Chandler got both words spelled correctly, and that made him the 4th grade winner at Cross Creek Elementary School. Now, he and the 3rd grade winner will go on to the County bee, in January and we'll see where he goes from there.

Also, a quick bit on Wednesday Dec 17, 2008, Chandler was in the Geography bee also, and he came in 3rd place. And he says he knew the right answer for the question he missed, but accidentally said the wrong answer. I wasn't able to attend the geography bee, maybe if he's in it next I'll be able to go then.

Congratulations Chandler!!!

Here are some pics of Chandler at the spelling bee. Mrs. Hester says she is sorry that they are blurry, she wasn't the one who took the pictures, someone else did.

Amy, Chandler & Matt

Back row: Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Ament, Amy, Ronnell

Front Row: I don't know, Chandler, Matt

December LDS Institute final choir performance

2008-12-08T10:20:00.006-05:00

December 3, 2008 was our final fall semester concert for the choir I am in. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to participate in this wonderful LDS Institute choir, in Tallahassee this past semester. I haven't sang in a choir other than the one that I direct in a few years. So when I was asked if I would like to be a member of this one I jumped at the opportunity.

We are practicing before our last concert.

I noticed that at the beginning of this year till about August I was not having very good luck with my voice, and was worried that I was losing it, or that possibly I was getting more nodules (spelling) on my vocal chords. I had Laryngoscopy, and thank goodness there was no cancer.

But ever since I have been singing in this choir, I have had no problems, and my voice even feels like it is getting stronger. So I know that I made the right decision to become a member. I don't have any recordings of me singing, I'd like to get one in the future to post here, so the pictures will have to do. Happy Holidays everyone!

I don't have all the names, so I'll have to update that at a later date.

Wonderful Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T16:50:00.006-05:00

I am sorry I am late again. I've been traveling these last few weekends, so now it's time to update. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was able to share it with some very close friends in my ward here in Thomasville.

Ethan was playing football with all of us after we ate. We had a good time in the yard. Derren Jones, Dave Browne, and Ethan playing with the ball.

Stefanie and Ethan are walking one of the poodles, (I'm so awful I can't get their names straight, sorry Linda). Then the next is mine and Linda's shadows on our walk we took in the early evening. It was so nice outside, we enjoyed nature for a bit. And Ethan and his beautiful grin. He is such a cutie.

Ethan, Danny & Dave are coming back to join us for our walk.

Stef, Dave, two poodles, Danny and Ethan enjoying our evening stroll.

This really awesome tree was along the road, and I had to stop and take a picture. I love how the tree looks like it is on fire. That is just so cool! The trees don't change much here, but when they finally do, they are absolutely gorgeous.

Mother and daughter, Linda and Stefanie. So cute, you are great friends. I love you guys. Thanks for inviting me to enjoy Thanksgiving with you. I had a wonderful time.

Derren Jones and two of his daughters. And I'm bad again I don't remember their names. They were having fun with their dad and the dogs. They both have beautiful smiles. We played some games too, and that was fun. Those girls were crazy, but so much fun.

Dauset Trails-Jackson, Georgia

2008-11-19T09:19:00.020-05:00

The single Adults in our stake went on a hike to a place called Dauset Trails in Jackson, Georgia. About 3 hours from my house. I wanted to go, it sounded like so much fun. I was hoping the boys would have a good time also. I invited my friend Rhonda, and she invited her friend Dennis and his daughter Payton to go too. Dennis lives outside of Atlanta so it wasn't as far of a drive for him as it was for us. But Rhonda lives in Destin which is 3 hours west of me, so her day was really long with traveling.

The weather was absolutely perfect. Blue sky, wind blowing the colorful leaves off the trees. The company was great. We had a wonderful time. I have been excited about going to SA activities, and hoping to have good time. There were 12 of us there at the hike, half kids, half adults, although only one guy. Sad, but fun because he flirted with me most of the time. And I enjoyed flirting back.

Back row: Dennis, Amy, Rhonda, Ruby, Lari & Paige.

Front: Payton, Chandler Samantha, Lucas, Hayden & Owen.

Chandler is laughing at me, because we were playing hide and seek around a tree, and I was trying to take his picture. Well, I caught him, and this was his face. I really like the genuine laugh. He has such a beautiful smile.

Owen climbed almost every tree he could. He has this new love to climb trees. So most of the pictures I have of him today are climbing trees.

This is the beautiful foliage that was surrounding us. It was absolutely amazing. Some of the trees like the one on the bottom looked like they were on fire. And the contrast between the reds, oranges, and the blue sky was really gorgeous too. This middle photo is a blue bottle tree that was on the scavenger hunt that the kids did during the hike. They had fun checking each thing that they found.

Left: Paige, she is our Stake Single Adult Rep. She was in charge of this hike.

Middle: Payton and Dennis-Rhonda's friends from Atlanta area. And my new friends too.

Bottom: Rhonda, my friend from Destin posing by a bird house tree. She has a beautiful smile.

Left: Payton swinging around a tree. Middle: Hayden picking up leaves and throwing them into the pond. He has so much fun finding leaves. Bottom: Paige showing Payton, Chandler & Owen something on the scavenger hunt.

There was a bench on the trail that looked really inviting, so Rhonda told Dennis and I to sit on it, so she could take a picture. Well, it turned into a bunch of pictures. The First one she took she said it would simulate our first date and so both of us were on opposite sides of the bench. The the one on the left is our second date-closer holding hands, and the right is the third date, and I was saying oh no get away from me, and then the others we were back sitting next to one another again, and Rhonda said we were back together again. It was absolutely hilarious. We had so much fun goofing off. Every time I look at this set of pictures I just crack up. I didn't put all of them on here, I thought these two were good, and the hands up is the funniest one.

Left: A beautiful Bald Eagle. The boys were sad because it's wing was clipped, but they understood that would keep it in captivity.

Right: Lari, Ruby and Samantha walking down the trail. I wanted to take a picture of the pretty leaves, and it was funny Lari put her arms up at just the right moment to look like she was showing off the tree. I really liked that, but I'm not sure what she was talking about.

Back Bear and a Buffalo. It was really hard trying to get in between the gates and fences to get pictures of the animals.

Here is one of the otters looking right at me. I really tried to get through the fence, but it blurred so I thought it framed him in a cool way. The Bobcat cat had two fences, one wasn't as tall as the other. But he jumped from the ground to that pedestal, and it was probably a few feet up. So he must be a pretty good jumper.

Paige, Ruby and Lari taking a break while the kids stop and play.

Amy and Rhonda posing by the pond and the water. Rhonda is a great friend, and I am glad I met her, and have gotten to hang out with her.

Amy and Dennis. I took this with my camera. I tried like 3 times to get it zoomed out enough, but this was the best shot out of all of them. And it's not too bad. We were having so much fun. We kept stopping to take pictures at different places along the trails.

Dennis and Rhonda, my two new friends. We really had a great time all of us hanging out together. I hope we get to do this more often. Even the kids got along, and had fun together.

Payton and Owen looking into the water.

Group shot on this harvest set up they had at the entrance to the park. And two Alligators in the Reptile room. All I got to see was the Alligators and one turtle, because as soon as I saw the snakes I could feel my heart start to race. I had to get out, it was a strange feeling. I don't like snakes and it was not fun being in a closed room with them even though they were in cases. I just couldn't stay in there.

This is Payton doing cartwheels. There was a big field across from the harvest set up, so we let the kids run around for about 30 minutes hoping to tire them out for they ride home. Well, it didn't work except for Hayden.

Amy doing cartwheels too. We were trying to see who could do the most. I think I got to 7 in a row, but can't remember. I do remember that I couldn't stand up straight for a good 5 minutes. But it was so much fun playing with them, and doing cartwheels.

Then we played tag. There were a few groups playing, and that was fun. The space was so open that we just ran and ran.

Owen and I were playing tag, and I almost caught him, but he turned just as I was about to tag him. It was fun to play like that. And the wind in my face was great too.

I can't wait till we can get to back again. This was a very fun activity. And now that I know where this place is, I know we will visit there again. Maybe next time in the spring, when the trees are blooming.

Frugal Queen Strikes again!

2008-11-11T18:08:00.009-05:00

Warning!!!! A little bragging about frugality ahead!!!

I found an AWESOME deal this weekend, I just have to tell you about it. I went to some garage sales with my friend Melanie, her mom and aunt Saturday morning. I was hoping I would be able to find some things for the boys, and I did find a few things.

Anyway, we came to this one sale, and I wasn't really looking until I spotted this bag. It looked like a camera bag, and I thought it was just the bag. I almost didn't go look at it, because I already have one. Well, I decided to look at it anyway, and inside was a camera and a lens. At first I thought maybe the girl would say they weren't for sale and I would apologize for looking at her personal camera, but then she said the whole set for $30. It was a Canon rebel s (film) camera, and lens 35-80mm, and another lens that is a Can0n telephoto 75-300mm. I seriously had to pick my jaw up off the ground. She said it needed new batteries but she had gone to digital and wanted to get rid of this one, and that it still worked. I checked online and saw that telephoto lens alone was listed anywhere from $219-369. And I got it for $25. I have thought it would be cool to have a film one and a digital one, and now I do.

I didn't have my camera with me, it was in my van, so I asked the lady to hold it for me so I could go get some money and my camera. I really wanted the lens to fit my camera, because I have been wanting to get a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens. And I was thinking that if it didn't fit I might not buy it. I really like my digital better than film because I can print at home, and put them on my computer, where film I can't, and I can't proof what I take either.

I went back over there and tried the lens with my camera and it was a PERFECT FIT!! I was so excited. I happily paid her the money and she wished me luck with them. And later after I got home I realized that each of the lenses had filter lenses on them too. And then my friend Kathy had two more filters that she purchased and didn't fit her camera, and they fit mine so she gave them to me too. So all of the above in that picture were $25.

I feel so blessed today. Things that would have cost my hundreds of dollars didn't. I really tried to sleep in today, but for some reason my body was awake at 7, and so I called Melanie to see where they were going and when. I think I was being told I needed to go.

So I am now writing to show some of the new things I have been taking pictures of with my new lens. I went to the lake to walk the other day, and I followed this bird (I think it's a Heron, but not sure) around for probably 45 minutes. He was searching for food so I was hoping to get a shot of him with a fish in his mouth. And finally I did, two! :) I took more of the bird and they are down further.

Then tonight (Tuesday) I took one of the moon rising out my front door, and some of the beautiful orange sunset.

Out my back door, God's works of art are so beautiful.

This is taken from my front porch as the moon was rising, and the sun above was setting. I like the pink clouds, with the darkening blue sky and white moon. It looks full, but not for another two days. I am going to try to get a photo of it when it is full. I was excited I got this shot because with the heavier lens my hand shakes a little and I don't have a stabilizer on my camera. But it looked great.

I am excited to have this lens, and this is my Christmas present to myself. I need to put it away till Christmas, but I'm not sure that I can. hehehe

Anyway, here are some shots of what I took photos of this weekend.

In this first one, he actually looked at me. And this next one it looks like he was posing for me. His beak is such a pretty orange color against the dark water.

I was purposely trying to get close enough to watch him take flight, and finally he did.

I love this one with the greenery and the bird just on the edge of the water. And the reflection in the water with this one. It almost looks like two birds there, but it's only one.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. HHMMM, what can I take pictures of next. I need something to focus on that is far away. Like a sporting event...I'll have to try to get to one soon. More later...

Sorry I'm slacking (an update)

2008-11-07T10:45:00.005-05:00

I'm sorry everyone I've been a slacker this week. And I posted a whole bunch in one day last week. I've been really busy, and now that it's Friday, I am totally exhausted. I need to get my recipe up, but probably won't till this evening after the boys go to see their dad.

I had an interesting experience this week, that I actually thought might make a good post. On Wednesdays I pick up Chandler from scouts, then I take the boys to spend a few hours with their dad while I go to choir practice. Well, I had about an hour and a half of free time after I dropped them off, so I decided I would go walk around Lake Ella for some exercise. It was a nice evening and there were a lot of people walking/running. I walk and only jog some because I have asthma (I got in 2004 while pregnant with Hayden). Which is sad because I was a track runner in high school.

Anyway, back to the story. After I walked around the lake twice, I knew I needed to get something to eat, and then get to choir. So I got in the van, turned the key, it started then immediately went off. So I thought this was a fluke, and tried again, same outcome. Then I started think, "Oh, my heck, I've got 45 minutes to get dinner and get across town to choir, now what am I going to do?" I didn't know who else to call, so I called Matt. I explained the situation to him, and he said it could be my battery or various other things. He said to take it to AutoZone and have them check the battery. All I could think was I don't have the money to fix anything right now. So with him on the phone I started it again and held my foot on the gas peddle hoping it would stay started since I was revving the engine. IT DID!! So I drive straight over to AutoZone, and had them check my battery. It checked out fine. The guy there told me that it could be a kink in the line, a bubble, or any number of other things. But since the battery checked out fine, there was nothing else he could do.

So, then I was back on my way to try to get to choir practice. I stopped at a drive-thru for a quick little cheeseburger, then got to choir without a problem. I was really hoping not to have any more problems because I live an hour away from Tallahassee, and I don't want to get stuck in the middle of the cell dead zone with 3 kids in the dark. :(

Well, choir went well, and then I was able to start my van and go pick up the boys. Everything else was fine. We got home ok, and I prayed the whole way, that I wouldn't get stuck in the middle of nowhere. And to date, have had no problems since. I don't know what happened, maybe it was just something to remind me that my van is old, which I know, and that sooner or later it's going to need to be replaced, hopefully later...no budget for that right now!

Another thing that was truly the FRUGAL Queen coming out in me. I fed 3 boys and me dinner for $3.09. HAHAHAHA I am so good. I LOVE LOVE LOVE coupons. I clip them my neighbor graciously gives me his papers when he is finished, I also print them from the internet, and I love it when the boys read enough or have perfect attendance that they get food coupons from school. Chandler had been asking if he could use his Pizza Hut coupon that he brought home from the BOOK it program at his school. If they read a certain number of books in a month they receive a coupon to go to Pizza Hut and get a personal pan pizza for free. And Owen had a coupon from Papa John's for the same kind of pizza but for perfect attendance. Yes, that meant I had to go to 2 different places, but I didn't mind, the 3 boys got to eat the pizza they love, and I got mostly free food too. I had another Papa John's coupon that I used for Hayden. And then I used a Chick-Fil-A coupon (thanks Melanie for the calendar) for 4 free chicken strips with the purchase of a med. drink. I could have paid less, but they have this great new shake, I had to try. Peppermint, chocolate chip, and OOOHHH, it is so good, it was hard to for to keep the boys from drinking all of it. I don't get much that is just mine, they were even asking for my chicken strips after finishing their pizzas. Anyways, 3 personal pan pizzas, 4 chicken strips, 1 water, and 1 shake fed all 4 of us for $3.09. I am so proud of my frugal self. :)

This weekend I will post Halloween. I am sorry I have been slacking so much.

Hugs to all,

Blue Plate Special

2008-10-30T16:44:00.005-04:00

Ok, I am late getting this on, but when you see the other posts, you will understand maybe why I am late. CRAZY. BUSY!

So this is my new favorite cookies. Yes I love cookies, so it won't be my favorite long, but for right now it is a small piece of heaven. This recipe is very simple, and the cookies are moist and chewy.

OH YUMMM!

Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies

Ingredients:
One box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 egg
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. water
1 package Reese's Peanut Butter chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first 4 ingredients together, then fold in the peanut butter chips. Place spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Cook for 8-10 minutes, let cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

YUMMMMM! They are so good warm, with a cold cup of milk.
Enjoy

Chandler plays Quizbowl

2008-10-30T14:57:00.008-04:00

Chandler getting ready to play Quizbowl in his Cross Creek elementary shirt.

Saturday morning Oct 25, Chandler had his first practice Quiz bowl game. I think it was only his school Cross Creek and another school named Jerger.

Anna, Maggie, Colin & Chandler. In this round Maggie was the captain, and so she gave the answers. They all took turns being captain, so each could give the answers. On one round there were buzzers, they used to beep in to answer.

This is one of the teams from Jerger school.

I never knew what quiz bowl was, until Chandler came home saying they were having a competition, and he wanted to participate in it. It is kind of like a trivia game. There are 4 players on each team. They have a toss-up question that anyone can answer, then whoever gets that one right, their team gets two bonus questions. If they get a bonus wrong the other team can try to answer correctly and if they do they get the points for the one they got right. They do all kinds of questions, pretty much like a trivial pursuit game, it reminded me of.

Unfortunately they only won one round of the four that they played, but it was just supposed to be a practice. They are going to have more in Jan. and Feb. I think.

Maggie (4th), Colin (3rd), Chandler (4th) & Anna (3rd) were on the Cross Creek Rockers team. On February 7, 2009 they will have the actual competition and Chandler says it will be 3rd grade against 3rd, and 4 &5th against each other.

Blue Door, Before and After

2008-10-30T12:49:00.005-04:00

Last weekend (the weekend before Halloween), the boys were with their dad and the rainy weather canceled my outdoor plans for Friday night, so I went and rented a couple movies from the video store (since I am waiting for my next from Netflix). After I watched one, I had this itch to paint something. Yes at 10:30 pm on a Friday night I was painting my front door, and my coffee table. I would have painted some of the wall, but I had only bought two of the half pints that you can buy at Lowe's, so that I could make sure that is the colors I want to use, AND I have to prep my walls. I live in a mobile home, and the walls are wallboard with tack strips every few feet. Well, I want to take all the tack strips off, put joint compound over the openings and paint the walls, so that it looks less like a mobile home. Plus some of the kids I watch are trying to pull the strips off the wall already.

So I didn't want to do any prep work since that take hours, (pull of tack strip, repair the opening underneath with joint compound, let dry, sand to smooth, start over again if needed)-too long, I wanted results NOW! See the spider web and spider on my ceiling, I love to decorate for the holidays.

BEFORE....

AFTER...

So I pulled out the paint, no prepping required on the door, just a wash cloth to remove fingerprints. I didn't even cover the knobs since I have plans for new non-gold ones, on my "to do" list. And I went to work. It needs a second coat, but I'm not sure if I have enough paint in the small can, it still looks good, and it gave me an idea as to what it will look like on the walls. I absolutely love it!!! I got the color scheme from a rug I found at Home Depot. It's called Mohawk Constellation Rain. It has turquoise, brown and tan shag look to it. I wish I could have carpet like it, but I think it's only rugs. So I went and picked out the turquoise paint, and a chocolate paint to do one wall. The opposite wall of my chocolate brown curtains.

This is the small doorway rug, I want the big 8' x 10' one for my living room.

This is an up close picture, so you can see the shag and the colors better.

My paint colors for my living room are from Lowe's: the turquoise color is: Atlantic Gray-Lowe's American traditions Seaside retreat colors, and the chocolate is: Deep Walnut by Valspar.

My coffee table top painted Walnut. It needs another coat and some polyurethane to make it so the kids don't scratch it. Hopefully I will get to that this weekend.

I don't know how long it will take me to get it done. I don't have much time or money, so it's a slow go right now. But I am doing a little at a time, and each time I accomplish something I get excited to start doing something else. After I get all the paint work done, and I am not watching other kids anymore, I want to get some new furniture. My sofa and love seat are almost 9 years old, and have seen better days. I won't be able to get more until probably the fall of 2009 at least. I have been looking around at what I want, and I found the recliner that I want x2, so that I can put them on either side of my fireplace. It is sold by Ashley Furniture, called the San Marco Recliner. It is chocolate color with tan stitching. Glider rocker, recliner, swivels too, and very comfortable. I sat in one at the store about 6 months ago for an hour, I couldn't get out. I loved it!

San Marco Recliner chair photo taken from a furniture website: www.onewayfurniture.com

And I haven't gotten past that part yet. I want to get a sofa that does not have removable pillows. I am tired of the kids taking them off and fighting with them. But I don't know what kind. Maybe leather (tight, not baggy fluffy, or micro-suede or something like that), maybe with recliners in it, not sure. Still looking for that one...

Owen's last soccer game

2008-10-30T11:53:00.004-04:00

Alright, so my life has gotten away from me for the past week, and I realized it's Thursday, no, now it's Sunday. I haven't done my recipe for the week, and I haven't posted anything on my blog for a week either. So I am going to do a couple posts this weekend, but since this one is about Owen, I want him to have his own post and not combine it with anything else.

Owen started playing soccer for the YMCA here in September. Last Thursday we had his last game, and then they got trophies. It is so cute to see these 6 & 7 year old boys running around all together trying to kick the ball, and get it into the goal. Their fields are small too. The fields we played on were in the outfield of a baseball diamond. There were 3 small soccer fields in this one baseball outfield. It was cute. Anyway, Owen had so much fun playing, he can't wait to do it again next year. He was on the black team And he has said when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, "I want to be a pro soccer player".

I think that is cute. I hope he does what he wants, and is good at it too. If you get to do what you love, it doesn't seem like a job.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the night, and the trophy is at the bottom.

Brayden, Stuart, Austin, Beau, Owen, & Nathan

Brandon wasn't there for the picture.

2008 YMCA Soccer Team Black

Thoamsville, GA

Coach Hopper said a little something about each player before he gave them their trophy. About Owen he said, "This player was the MVP. He would always kick the ball out of bounds the other team would try to score. His name is Owen Watson."

I thought that was really cool that Owen got to be considered the team MVP. He did most of the time when he was near the ball and the other team was trying to score a goal, he would kick the ball out of bounds so that they couldn't get any more points.

MVP Owen Riley Watson

Owen kicking the ball toward the goal. GGGGOOOOO BBBLLLAAACCCKKK!!!!

Wonderful Recipe Wednesday-Name Change!

2008-10-22T11:05:00.005-04:00

I won in a chili cook-off at my ward social this past weekend for my chili recipe. So today you get it for Blue Plate Special (previously Wonderful Recipe Wednesday). These are my ribbons, and I don't have a picture of the actual chili because it was gone in about 15 minutes at the cook-off. It was a hit.

OK, so I have been thinking that I need to change the name of my recipe posts. I was looking through them the other day, and I realized that I always put the recipe onto a blue plate or bowl, so I am going to change the name to: Blue Plate Special.

Isn't that what some places call their best dishes or a dish that is on special? Anyway, I just thought that fit better and rolled off the tongue easier.

OK, so on with today's Blue Plate Special. This is really cool for me. I won 1st and 2nd in a chili cook-off with this recipe this past weekend. I was 1 out of 20 pots of chili. And wanna know what else? I've never made chili before. I have made soups, but never made a chili, so this was even more exciting for me. And I haven't ever used chicken except in chicken noodle soup, so I was experimenting, and apparently it worked quite well. On the ballot you were to write in who you wanted for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. And I had the same number of votes in the 1st and 2nd coloumns, so they gave me both the ribbons. I was totally taken by surprise. I was excited to just have gotten 2nd, but then the drum roll came and they gave 1st to me too. I was pot #8 with 8 votes in each column. HMMM should 8 be my lucky number or something. :)

These are most of the ingredients. I took the picture so I could remember what I had put in it, just in case I won something, and to be able to post it on here.

Amy's Chicken Taco Chili

Ingredients:
I use 6-8 chicken thighs-you can use whatever chicken you like
Mrs. dash, celery salt, Goya Mojo seasoning, black pepper
1 can Chili beans
1 can light kidney beans, mostly drained leave a small amount of liquid
1 can dark kidney beans, mostly drained
1 can black beans, mostly drained
1 can whole kernel yellow corn, all drained
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with zesty green chilies
1 small can diced green chilies
1 Tbls. finely chopped jalapenos, I used my chopper and made them real small
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package ranch dip mix (powder)

Directions:
Put your chicken into a pan and cover with water. Season the water with the spices. Let chicken boil until it will just fall off the bones. While the chicken is cooking, get out your crock pot. Put it on the low heat setting & start adding the beans, corn, diced tomato & the can of sauce, green chilies and jalapenos. Stir it all together and let it start to get warm. When the chicken is done cooking, let it cool enough to be able to handle it, then de-bone the chicken. As you are de-boning it shred it and put it into the crock pot with the other mixture. When you get all those ingredients into the crock pot, add the ranch mix and the taco mix. Let chili cook on low heat for 6 hours, or on high for 3 hours.

We like to add toppings to our chili like shredded cheddar cheese or sour cream. And then we eat it with either tortilla chips, corn chips, depending on what I have on hand.

Happy eating, I hope you enjoy. ;)

I Want To Be-song

2008-10-22T09:45:00.005-04:00

***Pause music in sidebar to listen to this AWESOME video!***
Someone sent me this video and I had to put it on here. I LOVE LOVE the harmony of these guys. Some if not all of these gentlemen are now currently serving missions for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They have beautiful voices and the song is wonderful. I like to just sit, close my eyes and listen to them sing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Have a great Wednesday. My recipe for today will be up later.

Enjoy ;)

Quilt Giveaway!

2008-10-16T21:23:00.002-04:00

I happened upon another blog from a friend of mine's blog, Camille . This blog is giving away this beautiful quilt, there is a link on my sidebar. Look at those beautiful colors, brown and yellow in the quilt. I am pretty much a fan of anything brown and _____(fill in the blank). Elizabeth at Pigtails and snails has decided to give this quilt away. The deadline is Friday at 7 pm MST (mountain time, so that is 9 pm EST for those of you here in this area with me). So go and check out her site.

My AWESOME beach weekend!!!

2008-10-15T14:03:00.034-04:00

SanDestin Beach RESORT, Destin, Florida

OK, I am so sorry it has taken me a few days to get these pictures up. After I get the boys in bed, I usually look at a few blogs, and then update mine, and write in my online journal. Well, I have been tired from activities and the other night Owen couldn't go to sleep so I laid down with him for a "few minutes" and an hour and a half later when I woke up in the crack between the wall and the bed...I just went to bed. So I am going to try to get most of the pictures uploaded before the kids wake up, and I have to go pick up Chandler, then on to take boys to visit their dad, me to Institute Choir, etc...

I know you want me to get to the GOOD STUFF (the sunrise and sunsets), but remember we need to exercise some PATIENCE...I want to do it in order.

Thursday night I left Tallahassee after dropping the boys off at their dad's to go to Destin at 8:04 pm. Yeah it was late, but I wanted to get there since I was only going to have one day with this wonderful lady, one of my best friends, Tiffany.

Amy and Tiffany

We have been friends since we lived in Beaumont, Texas in October 1999. We have boys the same ages, she has a set of twins that are Chandler's age 9. We used to hang out and scrapbook, and when we only had one car she would let me come hang out at her house when I would come into town for the day, to run errands and grocery shop. We had a blast together. I miss her so much now. She lives in Utah, and is soon going to be moving to Reno, Nevada for a job transfer that her husband just received. We talk over email, phone, etc. I love her and am blessed to know her and call her my friend. She sent me an email saying that she was coming to Destin and wanted me to come and spend the weekend with her. So I checked my calendar and was excited that Matt would have the boys for the weekend, so that helped me know I wanted to go. So I closed my daycare on Friday, and drove down Thursday night. I got to the condo before Tiffany, she was still at her SIL's. So I just walked around the condo area until they got here.

This is the resort I stayed in. We were on the bayside, instead of on the beachside. But we were only 5 minutes from the beach, I didn't mind. It was great! Love you, Tiffany, You're the best!

The Front of our Turnberry condo. Our condo was the bottom on the right. My gray van is parked right in front of my bedroom windows.
This is the back screened porch, which was so great to sit on late at night and scrapbook. I really want to screen my back deck (yeah that is on my LLLOOONNNGGG list of things I want to do to my house).

This is the view from the living room and the screen porch. It is a panoramic, I stitched two photos together, in a really cool program I have. This down here is hole #...#9 on one of the 4, yes for your golfers out there, count them 4 PGA Championshp Golf Courses here at the SanDestin Resort. They are The Raven, Baytowne, The Links, & Burnt Pine. This is the Baytowne Course. And one sad note may be that I don't know how to even hold a club, let alone fall out of bed and play. :) Oh, well, maybe someday I can at least learn how to hold a club or play. I know the Par 5 means you need to be able to hit it and get the ball in the hole in 5 shots, but I don't know what the other numbers down the right side mean.

Ok, so on Friday morning Tiffany got up and went walking. I was really hoping that I would get to do my walking exercise. I knew I could once she left, but it was nice to walk together and talk. We have a lot to talk about with my divorce, and she has had plenty of moves, more children, etc.

So we walked through the Village of Baytowne Wharf, and onto the docks where all the yachts are. It was amazing that I couldn't get some of them in my whole shot, I had to take two shots to get the whole boat. AMAZING!!! It was gorgeous.

Village of Baytowne Wharf at sunrise, pretty and quiet.
Yacht boat docks at sunrise, beautiful.
I thought the boys would like this one since it has a steering wheel way up at the top.
This is the yacht I had to take in two shots. So I stitched them together to make one shot. I really liked that one. It even had a jet ski on top. Now that's my kind of boat. :)

After our walk Tiffany and her sister-in-law took me around and showed me the area. We saw where the church was that I would attend on Sunday. We ate lunch here...One of my new favorites. I love oriental food, and this was FABULOUS!!!

P.F. Chang's! A.M.A.Z.ING! I wish they had one of those here. :( Another great reason to go to Destin again. We each ordered something different since they serve family style, and so we shared all the entrees. We had lettuce wraps as an appetizer, and those I want to learn how to make here at home. I could eat those like every day. Then our entrees were Mu Shu Pork, Mongolian Beef, and Orange Peel Chicken. And for dessert we had a to die for 6 layer chocolate cake with raspberry sauce (made me think of the Bear Lake, UT Raspberry Festival, and the best raspberry shakes I've ever had). I've never had any of them and I really enjoyed the food, it was pleasing to the eyes and the palate. I would have taken pictures but my camera was in my van, and I only went to get it to get this picture of me by the huge horse. I saw it when I was coming into town, and wanted a picture by it even before I knew what restaurant it was.

After we were done with lunch we went and did some shopping (mostly window shopping for me). We went to the biggest Outlet mall in the South. We had a great time. This picture isn't so great because I took it while driving by the outlet mall. There are over 100 stores here.
Silver Sands Outlet Mall, Destin, Florida
We went back to the condo to say goodbye to Tiff's SIL Christine, she had to go to see her son play football. After I was ready to go out and have some more fun...we decided to go find somewhere to eat dinner. We saw a big sign that said The Crab Trap, so we followed the way it pointed and decided to try it. Tiffany wanted to get some fresh seafood, since they don't have that in Utah. That food was great too. I love seafood, and crab is my favorite, especially crab legs. The restaurant was really nice right on the beach. They had big windows that let in the sea breeze, it was nice. The crab was so fresh that it came right out of the shells without much work, usually I have to work at it and use the cracker and the little fork.

After we had dinner, we decided to go see the beach. I hadn't seen it as of yet, and I really wanted to. As we walked down to the waters' edge, I noticed that the sand squeaks as I walked upon it. Also, it was really soft and white. The moon was almost full, so it was nice. We saw a couple out fishing, and catching crab instead of fish. It was neat to watch. (We used to do that in Houston in the Gulf, when we would go fishing). It was a beautiful night.

After I took Tiffany to her cousin's house to go to the airport, I went to the beach to take some sunset pictures and walk along the surf. Here's the pictures you all have been waiting for!!!

I wanted to get some pictures of me on the beach, and at this time of the morning there weren't so many people out there. So I set up my tripod, set the timer, and decided to get one of me walking down the beach. But as I did, the wind blew and my tripod fell over and hit the sand. I ran back, and thank goodness it wasn't too bad. I wiped it off, mostly on the viewfinder. Then I did get this one of me walking. I also took one of me playing in the water. I didn't want to get wet then because I didn't have anything to dry of with, and I didn't know how long I was going to be there at that time.

Sunrise on the beach, such a beautiful thing. The beach was almost deserted, so I could get the shots I wanted. I was wishing I could pause time and just stay like that, calm and beautiful, a little breeze blowing my hair.

I love the feel of the water and the sand in between my toes. I could have stayed there FOREVER!

As I walked along the beach for some exercise I saw these guys catching some fish for lunch. Then I saw where the surf had come up and some little fish got stuck and couldn't get back to the ocean. These people were trying to dig a path for them to get back to the ocean, but every time they would round the corner or the waves would come up, the fish would turn around and swim the other direction. I decided to stop and help them a little. We probably saved 30 little fish. It reminded me of the poem about the man and the starfish that he was throwing back into the water. Someone told him he couldn't save enough of them to make a difference because there were so many, and he tossed another in and said, "it made a difference to that one."

We saved as many as we could. I walked and jogged from where the Hilton was on the beach to the Grand Dunes Hotel. I didn't measure it, so I don't actually know how far I went, but I was tired when I got back. I had taken off my shoes to jog, since it was hard to jog with sand in my shoes, and I really like the feel of the sand in my toes. Although bare foot was rough on my feet too. They were sure sore for the next few hours, but it was so worth it.

After I left the beach I went to go pick up a couple things before I went back to the condo. But then I saw a store where I could get the boys each a shirt. Then it was on the road we went to the Crab Trap on, and so I decided to just start driving down that road to see where it goes. I love to go exploring, and I drove till the road ended. The houses are all so pretty. I will put them in another, since this one is already a mile long. As I was driving I saw some guys walking in tux's and realized there was going to be a wedding on the beach. I had never seen one in person, so I hurried and found a parking spot, and followed where the guys went. It was a small ceremony, but the audience was huge. Almost everyone that was on this public beach had turned their chairs toward the wedding, and was watching. It was very beautiful. I know I'm not going to get married on a beach EVER, but this made me want to have a party on the beach. As I walked along the beach waiting for the wedding to start I saw all these seagulls, and wanted to see if I could get them to fly away. Well, then when I did they started flying toward me. It was funny, but I was screaming a little too. My kids love to do that, so I wanted to have some fun too. This is what they looked like as they were flying away.
This is some of the really neat beach umbrellas that are set out for the hotel guests to use. I liked the green and blue ones.After I left the second beach I decided that I needed to go back to the condo and have lunch and get cleaned up. First I went over to the Beachside of the SanDestin Resort to get some pictures from the top of the Luau condo building. On the 20th floor was an observation deck. At first I didn't want to go out onto the deck because all I could see was water and it gave my senses a bit of a weird feeling, but it was cool once I got myself out there. Absolutely beautiful scenery the 3 directions I could see.

To my left (east) as I look out on the deck.

Directly in front of me. All I could see was water and blue sky. The farthest I have ever been able to see.

Below where I was looking in the above picture. I don't have great zoom, or a telephoto lens yet, so I couldn't get very close. But pretty none the less. The green round building is where the path is that leads from the parking lot to the beach.

Looking to my right (west). It is cool to see that there is water on either side of me. It was dark when I got here to Destin, and I know that I crossed over a bridge, but it was neat to be up so high to see it, in the daylight. And one of the many golf courses below.

Then I wanted to go explore some more, and I needed to be presentable to do that. I drove down Hwy 98 for a long ways. I even went over a bridge into what I think was Okaloosa Island. On my way, I saw so many neat things to do. Para sailing, deep sea fishing trips, boardwalks, this awesome slick track-race track, The Bass Pro-Shop, The Hard Rock Cafe, a place called the Gulfarium (a place to take the boys), etc. Well, I knew that I wanted to get a shirt from Hard Rock, and I wanted to go walk around in Bass Pro-Shop, (mostly to see the giant fish tank they always have). BUT first I had to ride this really awesome go cart track. Chandler would have been going nuts. And it was so much fun. I wish I had someone to race with though. It would be fun to take the boys and bring them here some time. There were also bumper boats, and mini golf, but I didn't want to do those by myself.

The track goes around and up 3 times, then down a big slope. It was bumpy and fun!

Beautiful hotel, where the boarsdwalk was, and another dock with lots of boats.

After here I went back to this really neat hotel that had a boardwalk by it, and that is where I could have gone parasailing for a whoppin' 50 bucks for 5 minutes at like 400 feet I think. I've done it behind a truck at a YM/YW activity when I was a kid in Utah, but not over water. NEXT TIME DEFINATELY! Then I drove back and went to the Bass Pro-Shop and Hard Rock. I got a cute pink t-shirt that says Destin on it. I found a really cool clearance scrapbook store that Ii had to stop at. Which was by the cheapest place to get gas, Wal-mart at $2.96. When I had passed a few hosurs before it was at $2.99, so I knew I would get it, but when I came back it was $2.96, and I went and put more money on my gift card, and got it for $2.92.

Next was the Hard Rock and The Bass Pro-Shop. Thoase are some huge fish in the tank at the Bass Pro-shop.

After I walked around this shopping center for a bit, I noticed the sun was starting to make it's descent, and I didn't want to miss getting my sunset shots. So I got back in the van and drove to the beachside of the resort, parked my car, and went back onto the beach. It was so amazing. I know I have said these descriptive words so much, but I don't know any other way to say it. Heavenly comes to mind also. If this is what heaven is like I know I am going to love it there. :)

I couldn't get enough, the sun went down way too soon. And by the time it was down I was standing in the waves, in my jeans soaked to my thighs not caring and sobbing. I felt like I was saying goodbye to something. My old life. Almost like it was a closure, and the new day would be a fresh new start for me. I was not sad necessarily, just upset that my life made this kind of turn. But I am thankful to have a chance to do it again. Be better, or different, or myself. I feel like I suppressed some things these last few years, and I haven't been myself. I want to be who I am, and not let anyone tell what I can and can't do. I want to go bak to college, probably for Accounting. That isn't what I want to go to school for, but my options aren't many for where I live right now. If I had my way, I would go to FSU for Music Therapy, or train to become an Opera singer. I love to sing, and help people with my musical ability. But with small children I have to keep them in mind. And I enjoy accounting, and I can go to Thomas University a private University, and get a 4 year degree for that. And maybe work in a bank, or somewhere I can work while my kids are in school, then be home with them when they are home.

Ok, sorry about that sappy stuff. I just needed to add it in, so that you understand why I was crying. I am not mad at Matt anymore, just ready to move on, and pursue the rest of my life living it, not letting it pass me by.

Ok, sunset Destin Beach pictures, no words typed. A picture is worth a thousand words. These are worth millions to me.

Ok, this is my toes in the sand. I love it. Back to using my words again, the sunset is over. I wanted to get as much sunset as I could, so I kept snapping the whole time the sun was setting. I like to watch the progression...watching the sky get more colorful and then darker. The close-up one of me, I took myself, and I don't like it, but of the two that I took this one is the best. The other full length one I asked a couple to take of me, after I took one of them. It was funny apparently the guy was a photographer, so he was nit-picky about getting it exactly right. I'm not fond of my face, since he had taken so many I was laughing at that point. Oh well...it's one of me, and since I am usually the one taking the pictures it's one I'll treasure. The one with my footprints and the water's edge, I am going to add the footprints poem to it, and print it out to hang on my wall and one for the boys wall's too, where we'll see it everyday!

I have been carried alot these past few months. I am thankful to my Savior and my Heavenly Father for helping and guiding me through the rough times I have been dealing with this past year of my life. I have truly been blessed with my decisions. I do not regret them. I just regret that I let it go on this long. I wish my eyes would have been opened before now, then maybe my children wouldn't have had to suffer like they are. I love them with all my heart and soul. They are my whole life, I miss them as I stand on this beach, and enjoy my time by myself. As I listen to the other children running on the beach I wish they were with me to see this place.

I asked some really nice ladies to take my picture in this cool Adirondack chair at Baytowne Wharf. The ladies warned me to be careful not to fall backwards, one of them did. The chair is very large, and deep.

This is Hartell's diner. I ate dinner here on Saturday night. It is in the Baytowne Wharf. I walked around the whole place trying to find something that I was craving or that jumped out at me. And nothing did, till I walked past this place. I had a wonderful cheeseburger, fries, and a creamscicle shake (orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream). YUMMM!
I drew this heart in the sand while I was walking along the beach. I don't really know why, but I thought it would look cool. I could open one of my editing programs and insert my boys names into it.
Also, I fell in love with this place and this beach. I have always liked going to the beach, but this one is better than any others that I have been to. And I was able to be there and enjoy it as much as I wanted for as long as I wanted.

Wonderful times and great memories were made!

Wonderful Recipe Wednesday

2008-10-15T13:23:00.004-04:00

Chicken and Cream Cheese Crescents

Today's recipe I just made for lunch. I had these just on Sunday from one of my new friends I met while I was away on my beach weekend. (YES, the pictures will be up as soon as I'm done with this post). This recipe is so simple, and so good. It had to be my next Wednesday recipe. I was thinking the other day, since I take the pictures on this blue plate, I should have named my recipe posts, the blue plate special. Oh well, it's the Wednesday Recipe instead. ;)

Chicken & Cream Cheese Crescents
by Rhonda Wolverton

1 can, 13 oz. White chicken, (or use can use leftover)
1 package 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 containers refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup cheddar cheese-more or less

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open the can of chicken put in a mixing bowl, soften the cream cheese just about a minute in the microwave add to the chicken and mix well. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Open the crescent rolls and put about a tablespoon of chicken mixture on the crescent, roll it up and place on the baking sheet. Do the rest until all mixture is used and all rolls are filled. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until browned on top. I had to go a little extra time, I think my oven is off a bit. Then add cheese to melt while getting it plated up.

These were so good, I didn't even put salt or pepper on them, they were good just like they were. I hope you enjoy. We had a salad with them on Sunday, and it was great.
Bon Appetite!

SITS blog-a-thon

2008-10-14T14:26:00.004-04:00

SITS-Blog-a-thon. I want to be a part of this too. This blog-a-thon is to make everyone aware of this cool blogsite: thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com
I learned of this really cool blogsite a few months ago. And I don't get to go much, but if you've never been there, go check it out. These ladies are amazing. There's contests prizes, games, and tons of blogs and friends to meet and greet. I really like the site, and their colors are AWESOME with the pink and brown and animal print.
I've met some really neat people from SITS. 5 of my friends are:

1. Debbie who is also at BATW where I hang out, and fly to lost of different destinations. A great way to meet new bloggy friends also.
2. KatyLin a really fun gal. That I have enjoyed getting to know.
3. Kim at It's a Plunderful life, because she talks about being a single mom, and has helped me during my new experiences as that.
4. Amy my newest friend-she's in Georgia too. She just did a freebie post, and that is soo me.
5. Veggie Mom, a cool place to get popr's and a way to get your kids to eat their veggies.

Go check them out. These gals have really the mostess.

The Winner is...

2008-10-13T14:28:00.003-04:00

I WON!!! I WON!!! I WON!!!

I know I need to post from my WONDERFUL beach weekend, but I had to put these on here first. Last week was the fair here in Thomasville, called the Deep South Fair. Well, I decided to put some photos in their arts and crafts exhibit, I put 5 into the contest. And guess what??? I won 3 awards, I swept it taking 1st, 2nd & 3rd place. A friend of mine, Linda called me on my way to the beach to give me the good news. That was the beginning to my awesome weekend. So, here's the photos that I won with, and then at the bottom I will post the picture I took of all 5 of the photographs together.

3rd place is: Frozen Fountain-taken in Las Cruces, NM, December 2007 outside the Si Senor Mexican restaurant.

2nd Place is: Smoker Grill-taken in Thomasville, GA, New Year's Day, January 2005 at Pat Watson's house.

1st place is: Melting Ice Cream- taken in Las Cruces, NM at Scoopy's frozen custard, (now called Caliche's), May 2003

This is a picture of all the photos I submitted into the contest. I actually was surprised that the silhouette didn't win one, but that's OK. I was very excited for what did win.

Bottom Left: Silhouette-taken at the Flint RiverQuarium, June 2008 Albany, GA .

Bottom Right: Reflections-taken at Cherokee Lake, March 2008 Thomasville, GA.

Wonderful Recipe Wednesday

2008-10-08T13:19:00.007-04:00

SO Sorry, I lost yesterday somewhere, and now it's Thursday! I meant to post it last night, but the day got away from me again. So here is my Wednesday recipe.

I haven't taken any pictures of the food I've eaten this week, so I am going to go into my photo storage and pull something out of there. I'll be right back .... ..... ..... Ooooh here is a good and simple one.

Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry

Hmm, I've done eggrolls, now I'm doing stir-fry. Do I like Oriental food? YES! I love Japanese food, but have not ventured to try Sushi yet, I'm nervous. I don't know about raw fish.

Ok, anyway back to this recipe. I kind of made it up. I saw a variation online, but didn't have all the ingredients, so I improvised with what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

1 beef round steak, cut into bite-size strips
1 pkg frozen broccoli crowns
2 Tbsp for steak, & 2-3 Tbsp. for sauce soy sauce
ginger-I just put in a pinch, then taste add more to your liking
2 Tbsp. canola oil for cooking steak
pineapple juice, add some to your liking
about 2 Tbsp. Teriyaki sauce-taste for flavor
cornstarch-to make a sauce
Hot white rice

Directions:
Cook rice while cooking steak & broccoli and they should get done about the same time. Mix together the ginger, soy sauce, and pineapple juice and Teriyaki sauce, then add some cornstarch to make a sauce mix, set aside. Cook steak in oil and a little soy sauce until done to your liking. Add broccoli let saute for a minute or two, then add sauce mixture to steak and broccoli cook until your desired doneness. I like my broccoli all the way cooked, but some like it crunchy. Serve over hot rice. ENJOY!

I hope I got all the directions right on here. I didn't have this one all ready typed I did it right now, and I cooked it a month ago or so. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend, I'll see you when I get back, hopefully not sunburned. :)

Countdown Clock

2008-10-08T13:13:00.001-04:00

Countdown Clockgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Countdown to my Destin Beach weekend getaway

2008-10-08T12:32:00.003-04:00

The above is my countdown clock, so you can see how soon I get to go on my wonderful and exciting Destin, FL beach weekend.

Tiffany, one of my best friends that I haven't seen in about 7 years is in Destin for work, and invited me to come spend the weekend with her. I have been needing a little getaway and so this is it. She is leaving on Saturday morning, so we'll get to spend Friday together, then I will get to do some exploring Saturday and a little on Sunday, after I go to church, (maybe more time at the beach. I love the beach!) And I will definitely be getting the sunset beach pictures I want to badly.

This is from the Hilton photo gallery online, but I couldn't resist borrowing it. It is an amazing photo of the umbrellas that line the beach, and how clear the water is. I will have some of my own photos like this when I return. Maybe not this high though...we'll see.

I've been told that Destin has some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida, so I am really looking forward to this. I get to leave on Thursday evening. I am dropping the boys off at their dad's house and then I will be OUTTA HERE!!!

This is Baytown Wharf Village, (taken from a yahoo search). Shopping and Cafes and even a candy shop :) YUM and did I mention shopping. I don't really love to shop, I do better at window shopping. I've never been where I could just spend whatever I wanted to, so I have mastered the art of window shopping.

So everyone please have a great weekend. And I will bring back some sand for my collection, and hopefully lots of pictures. Hopefully souvenirs or for the boys.
This is one of the many beach photos I found on yahoo. It looks really inviting. And also looks like I could enjoy some people watching. I love to just sit and watch people do whatever they are doing.

My friend Tiffany sent this photo to me, and it's now hanging on my wall in my bathroom right above my tub so I can "Calgon Take Me Away" to this spot. :)

See you when I get back, if I come back...I may like it too much. NO, I miss my boys when I'm not with them, I'll come back for them. I'll see you in a few days.

A beautiful sunset

2008-10-03T20:53:00.005-04:00

Owenator, HD, Mom, Channy Man -Georgia Cotton Field

I have been searching for this sunset picture that I have been wanting to take for a few years now, I saw the perfect site, but for the past 2 years it has been peanuts and not cotton. :( Well, I found it, mostly. This isn't what is in my head but it will have to do for now, until the other patches that I know of are ready to harvest. And if I can get to them before they are picked on a day that has a pretty sunset. I don't get to drive around much and look for places because of running the kiddos all over, but tonight I was trying to decide what to put in a photo contest that the fair is having, and I really wanted the sunset over a cotton field. And on the way to Wal-mart (THE LOOOOONG WAY) I went in search of that cotton field I have been looking for.

A few days ago my friend Jennifer put a new picture on her facebook page of her and her husband at a cotton field. It looked exactly like the one I had been wanting to take a picture at, so I asked her where it was. I went in search of it today, and I think it was picked....darn it. But I did find another one. It isn't as good as the one in her picture but I took some anyway. I also set the timer and took one of me and my boys, but it turned out blurry, so it will probably only get it's moment here on the blog, and maybe in scrapbooks but probably not on my wall. Unless I can figure a way to make it less blurry. Although on the blog here, it doesn't look that bad, except that huge shirt I am wearing. I was trying to support our local high school football team, but they don't make the shirts very fitting. I don't like that picture of me.

Anyway, I just wanted to post them here for a nice sunset view to begin our weekends. I hope all of you have a nice weekend, and enjoy your families. I get to take a break from everything and stay at home and watch our church conference broadcast Saturday and Sunday. I am very excited. It only happens twice a year.

On to the cotton field and the sunset.

HD touching the cotton. He really liked that. He wasn't afraid, like his brother.

Owenator touching the cotton. He wanted to really bad, but wasn't sure if he should. I told him just not to take any. Channy Man didn't want to touch it, then when everyone got in the car he went and did it, but didn't want me to take a picture.

Owenator wanted to take one of me by myself with the cotton. He takes a pretty good picture. I just don't like the shirt, it doesn't fit, it's very big.

I was trying to get the sun behind the cotton. This one isn't my favorite, but I like the sun behind it like that.

This one is my favorite. I like how you can see the color of the sun reflecting on the pieces of cotton. They have a little pink sheen to them. It's not very visible small like this, but enlarged it looked really neat. I wanted to wait a bit longer for the sun to go down more, but the boys were yelling at me to go (well one boy in particular). Maybe next time.

I hope you enjoyed this sunset,
Amy ;)

Wonderful Recipe Wednesday

2008-10-01T15:08:00.004-04:00

Chocolate Covered Strawberry PieOK, here's another recipe for you today. I have really been getting into the "presentation" part of what I cook. It is strange I catch myself looking at what I've made, and thinking to myself, "oooh I gotta get my camera, that looks really good".

Today I am going to show you a dessert. Because we all need dessert, and last week I was having a really bad case of "The Chocolates". I really needed some chocolate like everyday, and so I made this really yummy pie. It is one of my concoctions that I made up. I'll have to make it again and post a better picture of it, but these will have to do for now. I hope you enjoy. ;)

I call it:

Chocolate covered Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 Oreo cookie crust

1 package Strawberry Creme pudding mix

milk-amount listed on pudding package

8 oz cool whip-more for a thicker pie

Hershey's chocolate syrup

Directions:

I purchased an Oreo cookie chocolate crust mix for the crust. Make the pudding according to the directions on the package, then fold in the cool whip. I had a big container of cool whip, and just added some that I thought looked like 8 oz, but if it doesn't seem thick enough add more. I should have added more, because my pie didn't set up as well as I would have liked it to.

Anyway, sorry I get sidetracked. Pour the pie into the crust mix, and refrigerate for at least one hour, 2 or more if possible. Cut on a plate drizzled with the chocolate syrup.

OH my heck, it was sooooooo good!

Another one next week...if any of you have a suggestion leave me a comment.

See there isn't that great triangle look to the piece, it wasn't totally set up, or I didn't use enough cool whip. But if you don't look at it, it really tasted good!

Another not so great shot of it, but I'm telling you, I don't care what it looked like, it tasted so much better. Have a great Wednesday "hump day".

Tagged by Jenn!

2008-10-01T07:43:00.002-04:00

Alright, I've been tagged by my friend Jenn, and I have a few minutes before the daycare kids get here so let's see how much I can think this morning.

10 Years ago:
1. I was 22.
2. I was happily pregnant with baby #1.
3. I was the Assistant to the Sales Director at a Hotel Bed and Breakfast.
4. I was driving a Dodge Neon
5. I was sad to be 1500 miles from my parents.

5 things on my "to do" list:
1. Go back to college and FINISH!
2. Sing in a choir other than my own (tonight this will come true. I've been asked to join an Institute choir in Tallahassee).
3. Be Content
4. Play more with my children
5. Finish Painting the rooms in my house.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. ice cream
2. dark chocolate covered soy nuts, my new favorite
3. Crunchie bars (Canadian candybar-seafoam)
4. ANYTHING CHOCOLATE!
5. 100 calorie packs-those are a great invention

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay my tithing, that comes first no matter what!
2. Pay off my house.
3. Move somewhere I want to live (near beach and mountains, with 4 distinct seasons- winter snows, warm springs, nice summers, and leaf changing falls)
4. Put money back for my boys college, pay for mine.
5. Not get greedy, live simply.

5 places I've lived: (I've actually lived in 14 in the last 11 so I'll put the ones I liked the best)
1. Salt Lake City, UT
2. Bountiful, UT
3. Houston, TX
4. El Paso, TX
5. Currently Thomasville, GA (Do you think I like BIG cities, but small town life is growing on me. Only a little, I still love big city life) YES!!!!

5 jobs I've had:
1. Mom, the best one yet.
2. Wal-mart Overnight stalker
3. McDonald's employee
4. Shift supervisor at Kirkland's
5. Newspaper delivery (3 times in different cities)

I tag:
1. Camille
2. Nate and Kendra
3. Lisa
4. Debbie-Your Diet Coke and Lemon are waiting for you. :)
5. All my new Bloggy friends, (ok, so that's more than 5, but it would be fun for all of them to participate too) ;)

Also, anyone else who visits my blog and wants to join the fun, let's see how many we can tag!!!

This is my life...

2008-09-29T12:45:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to put a post about how "busy" my life has been lately. I have some new bloggy friends that are coming to visit and I have been blog stalking lately checking out lots of blogs, and I want to put my life on here, then I'm going to stand back and looks at this list! HAHAHA I didn't realize this list was so long. Now some things happen on specific days, but I am just going to list how any day would go at my house.

Alarm @6am. get Channy man & Owenator up for school, keep HD sleeping, breakfast, clothes, backpacks, weather check, off to the bus, quick shower, put nap beds out, gate up, open daycare, toy time, movie time, outside time (fall and spring), change diapers, snack time, blocks time, lunch time, change more diapers, nap time, quick blog update, 5 minutes to read my book, laundry, dishes, sweep/mop floor, get kids up, change even more diapers, singing time, book time, toy time, Channy Man & Owenator home from school, homework, their AR reading time, snack time, scouts, day care closes, dinner, play outside with the boys, yard work, trimming weeds, trees & bushes, mowing, soccer, basketball, or baseball games or practice, Wal-mart milk run, grocery shopping, pay bills, talk to my parents & siblings on the phone, Family Home Evening, Church on Sundays, Enrichment activities, book club, visiting teaching, home for showers, read scriptures, family prayer, kisses & hugs, boys off to bed at 8:30pm. One more quick check some blogs, or Facebook, minor home repair, painting rooms, re-decorate (love it), SERVICE to others, blogging, photography, scrapbooking, game nights, exercise (walking around the lake when kids are gone), hmmmm is there anything else. Oh maybe some sleep for me in there somewhere! Or catch up on some tv shows I have to Tivo, because where do I have time to watch, yeah! My bedtime sometime between 9-midnight depends on when I stop doing my list, to start again tomorrow.

Oh, man...wwwwhhhheeeewwww!!!! That makes me tired just typing it. Wow.
Ok, now I am going to take a short rest, oh maybe eat some lunch since the kids are down for their naps.
Bye more later...got some things from this weekend to blog tonight. Come back later. ;)

Homemade Egg Rolls

2008-09-24T20:10:00.005-04:00

OK, I've been wanting to post this recipe since I made them with the boys on Monday night. But I made myself wait till Wonderful Recipe Wednesday, and now I am almost forgetting as the day is almost over.

It's been a full day for me. Day care kids today like any other M-F, pick up Channy Man from Scouts, a visit to the attorney's office, go back home, clean up from day care kids, dinner (ordered pizza, forgot to take anything out), chasing HD in front yard while Owenator plays with friends, getting them home again, eat dinner, chores, bath time, 5 minutes outside to read my book in the BEAUTIFUL, breezy, 75 degree weather, etc...so many things to do, not enough time to do them.

Ok, on to the recipe. My as my boys say, "AWESOME EGG ROLLS"!

Ingredient list:
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg coleslaw mix without dressing (I take the easy way)
1 pkg egg roll wrappers (in refrigerated produce section, photo below)
soy sauce
white or fried rice
water to seal wrappers closed
Oil for frying-fryer or in pan, (make sure you have enough to cover the egg roll)

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef, pour off grease. Add slaw mix and add soy sauce to your liking (soy sauce helps to steam the cabbage). Saute beef, cabbage, soy sauce until cabbage if tender, use a lid to get it started. Remove from heat.

2. Let cool for a few minutes while you get wrappers and water out and ready, if you make them while the mixture is too hot, the wrappers will rip, and not fry well.

3. Lay a wrapper in front of you not square, turn it like a diamond. Wet the edges of the wrapper with the water and your finger. The water seals the wrapper shut.

4. Put a tablespoon or so of the mixture onto the wrapper.

5. Start to roll wrapper by folding the bottom flap up.

6. Fold over the left flap.

7. Fold over the right flaps.

8. Roll the rest of the way up, try to have the least amount of air in the egg roll as possible, make it tight, but not tight enough to rip it.

9. Then make sure the ends of each egg roll are sealed, if needed fold and seal with water.

10. Let rolls stand for a minute or two while you get the oil heated up, they fry better the drier that they are.

11. Fry in oil for a few minutes until golden brown, drain on paper towels, serve hot.

I like to make a double batch and freeze the second batch. They heat up well in the toaster oven, microwave makes them soggy, but still good. And I usually pair them with white rice or fried rice.

Here are the picture directions if you are more of a visual or hands-on person like me. If I see it done, or can do it while learning that is better for me. The number correspond to the directions listed above

1.2.3.4.5.6. 7.
8.
9.
10.10.
11.

I hoe you enjoy them as much as we do. Let me know what you think. YUMMM!!!

Goodnight,

Amy

Owen's first soccer game!

2008-09-17T21:15:00.004-04:00

Owen's team minus one player and half of the coach, they have seven on his team. I don't have their names right now. I'll get the in the next post. I just yell, "GO BLACK"!!!

Last Tuesday Owen had his first soccer game. I was going to post this that night, but just like most times the day got away from me, and it looks like 6 more just like it. :)

Owen just before we left for his first game. He was so excited to get to play soccer. He says he wants to be a professional soccer player when he grows up. How neat would that be?!?

Owen really likes playing soccer, and has for a long time. We got him a ball, and he got a goal net for Christmas, and we practice in the backyard. Well, sign up for soccer at the YMCA (which is who does the sports here in small town Thomasville, Georgia), and he really wanted to sign up. So I did. Last year and probably again in Nov. Chandler played basketball, and Owen really wanted to play soccer.

We had only had 1 1/2 practices. And for most of these kids they haven't been playing long including Owen. So they were practicing dribbling the ball down the field, and trying to pass it back and forth to each other. Well, only about 30 minutes into our practice it started to rain. Our field is on the furthest away field possible, and so by the time we got to the van we were drenched.

Owen's team is the black team, and they played the Aqua team. It's sad because they don't have any goalies and our team still didn't score that much. The final score was 11-2, and we unfortunately were the 2. But I told Owen it was only his first game, and it wil get better. So here are some pictures from their first game.

Owen's going for the ball.

This is my sub-camera man, Chandler. I was taking still pictures and video taping at the same time, man I can multi-task, no one can tell me that I can't. :) Chandler wanted to viedo so bad, so I let him for a few minutes.

Owen's kicking the ball now. GO OWEN!!!

Here are Owen and one of his teammates watching the other team warm up.

Our second game was Thursday and thankfully we won that one. Owen was really down when they didn't win the first game, but was really excited that they won this second game. Tonight we have our third game, and we'll see how that goes. It is fun to watch them, and I laugh when I see how small the fields are. There are 3 soccer fields in the outfield of a baseball field.

Wonderful recipe Wednesday

2008-09-17T19:44:00.005-04:00

Hey everybody, I am going to try something new. I have been thinking about maybe doing a recipe blog, but I am going to try putting some recipes on here first. I'm going to call each post Wonderful Recipe Wednesday. Please comment on these recipes, the more comments I receive, the more recipes I will post. I really enjoy cooking and don't get to do fancy meals with 3 picky, growing boys running around my house, but when the opportunity arises for me to entertain or take food to church, I really enjoy cooking new recipes. And I have this new thing about taking pictures of some of the foods I make. I have put some of them on my facebook page.

These recipes will be foods that I have made and are in my list of meals on my monthly menus. I am going to start off with a sandwich that I made up a few years, and have fallen in love with. Oh my heck, if it made right it is soooo good.

I call it The Pork Tenderloin Sandwich with Sauteed Peppers and Onions.

Here's a picture of it.

Ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin
Chicken broth, (enough to cover tenderloin in crockpot)
Black Pepper, (however much you like, I like a peppery flavor it add to the tenderloin)
Onions, sliced, I use sweet Vidalia onions
Sweet Red bell pepper, sliced (any bell pepper can be used)
Hoagie rolls
Provolone cheese, sliced

Directions:
I put the tenderloin in my crock pot, add the chicken broth and the pepper, then put it on high and it cooks while I am at church. Or you could cook it on low if you want it to cook while you are at work. After it is done it will just fall apart when you try to pick it up. In a pan saute the onions and peppers in a little olive oil until soft and starting to brown. Shred the pork as you make the sandwiches. I toast my hoagie rolls in the broiler before I fill them. Fill them with the pork, then the onions and peppers, and add a slice of provolone cheese. Then melt the cheese under the broiler. But make sure to watch it, I have a tendency to get sidetracked (can't imagine why with 3 boys running around) and sometimes burn things. :) I use some of the leftover broth as "Au Jus" to dip the sandwich in, and I pair it up with some spicy jalapeno cheddar Pringles.

I think I got it all on there. If you try it and something is missing let me know and I will fix it. I haven't made this in a few months, but now that it is getting cooler, and my life busier I will be using my crockpot more.

I want to hear what you think.
Amy Kay ;)

Reflecting on the Anniversary of September 11, 2001

2008-09-11T13:02:00.004-04:00

Today marks the 7 year anniversary of the terrorist attack on the USA, and as I sit and watch the children play I am reflecting on the events that happened in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.

I can remember like it was yesterday. I had just had Owen 9 days before this, so I was still recovering from childbirth. Chandler was watching kids shows on The Disney Channel on the TV, and Owen was asleep in the playpen. I got a phone call from Matt and he said I needed to turn on the news because an airplane had just hit one of the twin towers in New York City. So I did, (and this is where the TV stayed for 3 days, we didn't change the channel). Not long after I did, I watched the second tower get hit, and I witnessed both buildings collapse to the ground. Matt was on his way to a managers meeting in Houston for the day, about 80 miles from our house. When I saw all this happening two things went through my mind, "Is my mom OK, and is this world war III?". My mom had flown into Boston the day before for work, she flew into one of the airports one of the planes left from. This scared me a little, and made me feel very small in this big world at that moment. Also, made me more aware that we may be safe here, but we are not invincible. And even those we try to protect ourselves bad people still get here and hurt us.

My mom was stuck in Boston until the airports opened again longer than she had planned, and we were sure that we had contact with her, making sure she was OK. She said she flew over New York City when she was coming back home and she said she could see all the smoke coming from the rubble. I am sure that was a very eerie feeling flying over what is now called, Ground Zero, and I am sure it still is today.

I did not personally lose anyone in these tragic events, but it changed me, and the way I think about things. Also, knowing my friends' the Browne family, and the recent events with Tropical Storm Fay-leaving its flooding marks; makes me more aware of what I am thankful for, and what it important to me. My children are the most important thing to me. I can replace everything except them. I can take more pictures, and if I lose their scrapbooks and all my other photos I will be sad, but if I have my precious boys, then I can make more. They are what I live my life for, and my heart goes out to those that lost their loved ones on that sad day September 11, 2001.

I am going to put the scrapbook page in this post that I did for the boys scrapbooks. I did not have any pictures of the events just of Chandler carrying around "his baby" in the carrier., and watching TV.

I hope that all of us take a moment and say a prayer for all those that were lost on this day 7 years ago, and also to thank Our heavenly Father for all of the many blessings in our lives right now.

Love to all,
Amy, & the boys-Chandler, Owen & Hayden

2008-09-09T12:50:00.003-04:00

Today I was listening to my music playlist here that I have on the blog and realized that there was a song with some not very nice language in it. So I of course took my playlist off here and am currently taking that song off the list. If you happen to hear another one, please let me know so I can take it off. I don't approve of bad language in my music or in my home.

So I was looking to see what other songs I could add to it since I can have a total of 100, and I think I have about 73.

I am adding the songs that I consider my songs for my boys. I am a singer and so music is very important in my life. I don't think I could go a day without singing or hearing some kind of music. I have loved music since I was a small child. So when I was pregnant with each of my boys, I picked out a song that reminded me of them, and they will always in my mind and heart be their songs.

So Chandler's song since he was my firstborn is Shania Twain's -From This Moment (aka Channy Man). I heard this song on my way home from a doctor's appointment, and I immediately knew that this was my baby's song. It's about a couple being together, the words about knowing from this moment that I will always love you. I really like the words, and they speak my feelings about how much I love all my children, not just Chandler. So that is the first song on my playlist right now.

Next is by Diamond Rio -One more Day for Owen (aka Owenator). When Owen was born he had a small hole in his heart. The doctor's called it a VSD, Ventricular Septal Defect. The doctor said it would probably close all by itself. But, when he told me about it, I had a difficult time with it. I had just had my second son, and wasn't ready to give him back to the Lord yet. So I picked this song, because it talks about having one more day with someone, and in my case it is my precious Owen. I love him so much, just like Chandler and Hayden. Every time I hear that song I get teary, but I still have him with me 7 yeas later, and he is an amazing little boy. I am glad he chose my family to be a part of.

Now last but not least is by Billy Dean -Let Them Be Little, for Hayden (aka HD). My other two boys were 6 and almost 3, so I didn't have anyone little. Plus the words in this song are what I want to do, let them be little for as long as possible. They are growing up so fast.

Chandler will be 10 in a few months, no more single digits. :( Owen is less than a year from being baptized. I am excited for that day next year. Then Hayden is less than a year from being in Pre-K. That will be a day I will cry I am sure of it. My baby will be old enough to go to school. Even if I am gifted enough to have more children, I think Hayden will always be my baby, well for now I guess. I'll have to see what the future holds. He will be excited to finally get to ride the school bus. He has been quite upset that he doesn't get to go now.

My life is about to get a lot more busy, if that is even possible. I seem to be running all the time. Between my church callings, my boys activities, their school, my choir, my Enrichment meetings, their scouts, my yard, my daycare, etc...Owen starts soccer today. We get to meet his coach and get his uniform. And his games will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Tuesdays are the boys dinner with their dad, and usually every other is my nail appointment (one of my two splurges for myself, my nails and the highlights in my hair); Tuesdays are my church meetings, and Wednesdays are scouts, Thursdays have been ward volleyball night, and Mondays are Family Home Evening, Sundays are church, and every other weekend the boys go with their dad, so I do my grocery shopping and run the errands I don't get to do during the week. Then in November Chandler will start Basketball again, and in the Spring Hayden will probably play baseball or tee-ball I mean. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I am never going to stop! But maybe that is another help that keeps me thin. ;)

Ok, I am going to talk about a few more songs that have special meaning to me on here and are at the top of my play list. I can't talk about them all, but most of them on the list have some kind of significance to my life right now, or my new life that I am embarking on as a single person again.

I have had some difficult times in the past 6 months as most of you know. And I have been getting used to the idea of being alone, well, only in the sense that I don't have a companion. I am NEVER alone. I always have the Lord and my Heavenly Father to lean on. And They have truly blessed me so much in these past 6 months. I know that my whole life has had many blessings, but these recent months I truly know that I am being watched over. Also, I have some really great friends that have stuck by me, and helped me get through this divorce.

Anyway, the next song is by Tim McGraw -My Next Thirty Years. I like this song because I feel like I am getting a second chance to be different or better, which is hard for me because I thought I was doing a great job already. But I am hoping that I can be the right one for someone. Anyway, I am already doing things differently, I eat less, I drink a lot of water, milk and a little juice, I don't drink soda, I exercise more, I play more with my children, I am more relaxed, I am reading my scriptures daily with my children, and I am living life more now. I gave up a lot of things when I got married 11 years ago, and I won't do that again. I am going to go back to school and get a degree, and I am going to still pursue my singing, whether it be in a choir, as a soloist, or in some kind of opera setting. I love singing, and I can't give it up. It is one of my many passions and talents, and I am going to use it for all it's worth. I am not going to let this life just pass me by. My Faith has been strengthened, and I will forever be thankful to Jesus Christ for comforting me in my times of need.

The last one I'll talk about is by Aerosmith called I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. This is for my boys. I feel like if I close my eyes I am going to miss something that they do. I am thankful that I have been able to stay home for most of their lives, at time I've only had to work a little or when they were sleeping. And now I still stay home with my home daycare and take care of them when they need me, and still provide for them financially, without having to work outside my home.

I love my boys with all my heart, and I am grateful to be their mother here on this earth. I don't know where my life would be without them, and also without this wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ that I am a member of. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true gospel here on this earth today, and I know that for a fact. I have studied my scriptures and prayed about it. I will never walk away from it, it is my life. If you want to know more about it contact me by comment or email, and I will help you get in touch with some misionaries that can further explain about our church. They are all over the world serving for Jesus Christ.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me through my trials these past few months. I can't thank you all enough, you have been my shoulders to cry on, my venting boards, my friends, etc. I just felt like today I needed to write a personal post with no pictures. And I wanted to talk about my boys a bit, and the songs that are special to me about them. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will leave me something to remember you by in the comment section.

I love you all,
Amy ;)

More to come...

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY OWEN!!!

2008-09-03T10:47:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday OWEN!

2008-09-02T20:10:00.006-04:00

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY OWEN!!!!
Today, ok yesterday because now it's past midnight was Owen's birthday. I have been trying to put this slideshow together most of the evening. Owen turned 7 years old. He is such a wonderful blessing in my life. I am so glad he chose our family to become a part of. I can't believe it has been 7 years since he was born. They grow so fast. It is just amazing. He is now in first grade, and absolutely loving every minute of it. He was sad that they were out of school for Labor Day. He wants to be there doing everything and learning new stuff. I am so proud of him. He won an award at school on Friday, and I haven't blogged that yet, sorry. I wanted to get his birthday stuff on here first. Owen is very outgoing, and loves to be outside playing with Chico our dog, or kicking the soccer ball. He is very thoughtful, and always wants to get and do things for others also. I want Owen to know how much I love him, and am proud to be his mom. I love you Owen!!!

Love, Mom

I couldn't get the slideshow to upload so I'll have to try again in the morning. It is almost 1 am, I need to get to bed. My alarm is going to go off at 5:55 am, and I'm not going to want to get up.

Let's play in the rain!!!

2008-08-23T20:48:00.006-04:00

Saturday, during Tropical Storm Fay our power was off for 7 hours today, and I have to say the boys were crawling the walls because they didn't have their video games and TV. It cracked me up. I tried to get them to read books, or play games. Chandler and I played war, and then he watched me lose at solitaire. I started going through some boxes of old pictures that I have from my parents house, to pass the time. I will scan & post some of them soon, then you all can see what I looked like as a kid. (and my mile high bangs that were popular in the 80's & 90's).

We ventured out at lunch time to go take back an overdue library books that I had, and then to go to Wal-mart and the bank. We almost had to swim across a few streets, there were some that were flooded. When we got inside Wal-mart, the bank was closed, and so was Subway, where I thought we might get lunch. So we walked around for a bit, picked up a couple things, then decided to get some lunch from the deli. Their Teriyaki chicken wings are really good. Then as we were checking out I could see the rain starting to pick up and you couldn't see the parking lot. But by the time we walked back to the garden center where we parked it had let up enough that we could see. But we got home just in time. As we walked in the door the wind started to blow really hard, and the rain started to whip around. So we decided to stay home after this and just ride it out.

The power was still off when we got home so I opened the windows a little so that we could get some fresh, a little cooler air into the house. It was starting to get a little stuffy. Hayden and I laid down on the couch to take a little snooze since there wasn't much to do. And Chandler and Owen went in Chandler's room to play with the new cars they bought with their allowance at Wal-mart today.

In between one of the rain & wind bands the boys and me decided to go out and play in the rain puddles, and the beginning of what I call Lake Watson in our backyard. Since our yard isn't flat, the water gathers and makes what looks like a small lake. There are pictures from a blog post I think in February where you can see how Lake Watson has formed in other storms.
As soon as we went outside Owen put his head under the water draining off the roof and got his head and back all wet. Because it wasn't raining very hard there wasn't much drainage, but earlier in the day it was pouring off as if there was a faucet running from the roof.
Owen jumping in the puddle that we always get in the driveway when it rains. Everyone likes to play in this puddle, including all the children I watch.
Chandler took his turn jumping in the driveway puddle.
And of course, so I had to do it too. My jeans were already wet from walking into Wal-mart in the pouring rain. And I like to play in the puddles too, I used to do it all the time as a kid. Hayden was watching me from behind.
Now here are Chandler and Owen jumping on the inverted trampoline. I turned it over so it wouldn't become a flying object in the wind. I have seen trampolines go tumbling into other yards during wind storms before, I didn't want that happening to mine.

Owen asked me if he could sit down in the puddle, and I said OK, since he was already soaking wet. I just told him to watch for ants, so they don't bite him, they were floating in the water. The water must have been cold by the look on his face. :-O
Owen is making a BIG splash in a puddle in our yard, during Tropical storm Fay.
Chandler is chasing Hayden through the puddles in the backyard of our house. We had fun playing in the rain.
Owen is kicking a puddle of water into the air to see how high he can get it to go. Hayden is looking on, so he can do it too.
Chandler, Owen & Hayden playing in our now portable beach sandbox. I put the lid on the sandbox before the storm, but did not put something over it to keep the lid on, and now we have a water and sand filled sandbox.

Hayden is all wet and dirty from all the playing he has been doing in the backyard.
Owen is really soaked from running in the puddles and now sitting in the water filled turtle sandbox.
Here is Chandler posing for me, and showing off all his wetness from playing in the rain.Even Chico our dog was getting in on the fun running through the puddles with the boys.

Tropical Storm Fay 2008

2008-08-22T12:36:00.004-04:00

Here comes our first tropical storm of the year 2008. TROPICAL STORM FAY.

Well, we are getting a good soaking today and for the next few days from a Tropical Storm named Fay. This storm hit Florida the first time 4 days ago dropping massive amounts of rain. This storm has kept sustained winds at 60 miles an hour while moving across the peninsula of Florida. It has made it's way up the coast of Florida and has now made a westerly turn. Possibly making a 4th of 5th landfall if it goes back out into the Gulf of Mexico waters.

Right now we are getting one of the heavier bands of rain right now, with some good wind gusts. I am thankful for the rain, we need it, we just don't need 25 inches like places in south Florida around Melbourne. I went into my shop last night and put everything that I didn't want to get wet up on the shelves just in case. My shop is not on high ground, but my house is up a little. And I fully expect to have Lake Watson in my backyard within a few hours. I'll post that picture if it happens.

This is a picture of the radar as of 12:04 pm, Friday. I will keep everyone posted as long as I have electricity to do so.

This storm reminds me a little of Tropical Storm Allison that hit the Houston, TX area in 2001. We lived outside of Houston, and Allison dropped 36" of rain. Also hitting Houston twice in the same week. I remember seeing news video with houses with water all the way up to the roofs. I have two pictures I found online and they show Interstate I-10, there was so much water. There are pictures like this of South Florida now. It's sad :(

The caption says it is a view of I-10. I have traveled on these roads, and it is scary to think that it was all under water at one time.
I've been on this road too, and yes it is a very busy section of Hwy 59 in Houston, TX. Well, not at the moment. When the water receded, there were so many semi trucks lodged underneath overpasses, I think I saw one with 13 that didn't stop and got stuck. If there is water, please turn around. Our cars and trucks are not made to float, believe me apparently I tried it once.

Ok, more later, Amy

I went how many miles? What a workout!

2008-08-16T17:26:00.004-04:00

The after shot, I had to document that I really went on this bike ride and that I was wet from the rain on my capris, and my shirt was soaked. It was a nice ride despite the rain, I enjoyed hearing the birds chirping, and I love being outdoors. Also, it was nice to be able to ponder and pray for guidance. This is me in my shop out of the rain with my dusty, and now wet bike.

Yesterday while I was out in my shop I saw my bike hanging on the wall, and didn't remember the last time I rode it. Not that I don't like to ride, but Hayden doesn't have a bike that he can ride all by himself. (I think we're going to to have to talk to Santa Claus about that). :)

Anyway, so I took it down, pumped up the tires and decided that if the tires were still inflated Saturday morning, I would go on a bike ride. The boys would be with their dad at Wild Adventures, so I had the day to get more of my "Honey Do" list done. Well, I got up and realized that the sun wasn't out, and that made me happy and sad. I was looking forward to a sunny day, but not having sun would make it not as hot for my bike ride.

I went out to the shop, and thank goodness the air was still in my tires. I was excited to go on a bike ride for some reason. I have been doing some exercise this week (a cardio kickboxing class), more than I normally do, and I thought the bike ride would change it up a little. So I got my well used and loved MP3 player ready, and put on a backpack. My intention was to ride to the library to pick up the 2 books that are on hold for me. I closed up the house and the shop and was on my way at by 9 am. It was cloudy so it wasn't too hot, but it was humid so I was already sticky. I got down the road a bit, and realized that this seat is not very comfortable, and I think I will be sore from this ride. I'm going to have to get a new seat, if I'm going to make this riding thing a habit. Which I would like to do.

I didn't go toward the library, first I went down some of the back roads by my house toward the airport. I wanted to see if I thought I would be able to make it across town to the library. Well, about the time I got to the airport it started to rain. I thought, "Oh man, not rain. I really want to keep going." So I thought if I heard any thunder I would turn around. So I kept going. And if you have been down Dillon road, and Airport Road, they are not flat. I was giving my muscles a workout for sure. I then slowly climbed the hill to the top of Airport Road, where it meets Highway 122. I kept going since it was only sprinkling, and there still was no thunder. Well, I got to about 1/4 mile past the golf course, and I was having a hard time keeping my glasses cleaned off, and the rain was steady by then. So I stopped for a drink from my water bottle, and reluctantly turned around. I was disappointed that I did not get to where I wanted. Which at that point was not the library because of the rain, but also was not where I stopped.

I think I was gone about 2 hours. And of course my muscles were burning, and my behind was really sore from that seat. But I did not go in and sit down. I really wanted to, but the rain had almost stopped, and I really needed to get the back yard trimmed, with my weed eater. Before I started the weed eating I went to the library to pick up the books that were on hold, and I measured my bike trip, just so I could see how far I had gone. I thought maybe like 4 miles, but when I got home, I looked at my trip meter that I had set to measure the ride and I had gone 10.4 miles!!! I couldn't believe it was that far. I am so proud of myself. But I am sure I will pay for it in the morning. ;) hehehe And I'm still smiling after the ride.

So I got out the extension cords for my, yes electric weed eater. And went to work. I have not done the weed eating in a very long time, so all the sides of the house, and shop were really over grown. But I broke the part for the trimmer that uses the string, and could not find a part for an electric one. After 4 stores I finally found what I needed. I learned how to string it myself (I'm proud of that accomplishment), and I bought enough string that I better not run out for a while.

And again it started to rain while I was trimming. But I didn't stop till I ran out of cord. I even went to get the other extension cord we have hooked to Chico's light for his dog house. But it still didn't reach as far as I needed. I was going to get out the Round Up for the rest but it was raining, so I'll do that another day.

One of my neighbors was out this morning and she said that my yard was looking very nice. I thanked her for noticing. She said she saw me last week working so hard on weeding, and trimming all my bushes. Both of my neighbors on either side of me are retired so they spent lots of time in their yards making them look great. Well, mine now looks ok, but will never look as good as theirs.

Anyway after I got done with the weed eating, I came inside and tried to finish getting Chandler's room painted. I started on his room a few months ago, but first out of tape, and keep forgetting to get more, then I didn't have time, with so many other things that were on the top of the list of things to do. Well, I got most of it done, but now I ran out of paint, and I only have a half of wall to do a second coat on, and some touch ups at the top of the wall. So, maybe in a few weeks, I'll be able to start on Owen's room. I am slowly getting the rooms painted. I have lived here for almost 2 years, and I am getting tired of seeing white walls everywhere.

Alright, now I am going to rest for a few minutes, till it's time for me to babysit for a friend of mine, so she can take her older kids to a movie. More to come...stay tuned.

With a Photographers eye

2008-08-07T11:15:00.004-04:00

Man, my photographers eye was working for me today. I drove past this park a few weeks ago, I was looking for find a spot to take some pictures of some children, when I saw this pavilion. I didn't stop, I just slowed down and thought it looked like a really cool place for pictures. So the next time I was in Tallahassee with the boys I took them there and took a few pictures of them to see if it was as cool with them in the shot than just in my head. And I have to say I really like how they turned out. I really wish Chandler would have been more cooperative. Hayden and Owen smiled when I asked them too, and I think the shots that I got were pretty good. I hope you like them too.
Above Hayden looks so cute. He did everything I asked him to do. But he wouldn't stay still for a very long time.
Owen and his cute grin. I always tell them to show teeth when they smile, but not cheesy smile. I really like this one with just the casual grin.
And here is Chandler. He did not want to participate. He wouldn't be cooperative at all. So this is what he has to show for it, a BIG POUT!

I wanted Chandler in the back of Owen and Hayden, but he was running down the park, trying to be anywhere but here. I didn't plan their outfits, because I didn't know if I was going to have time to take these pictures, so they don't match in any way. But I liked the test of the location and them as my models. And I think the shots turned out pretty good even though they don't match.

Here's Owen and Hayden again, just being good brothers and friends. Aren't they cute?! They did a really good job.

Now here is one I got of all three but of course Chandler is in the background putting bunny ears over Owen's head, and Hayden is looking at the cars that are passing. Oh well, maybe another time. :(
Hayden and Owen on a really cool branch at this same park. It is the chain of parks in Tallahassee down from the DoubleTree Hotel, on Park Ave (I think that's the street name).
Here's the one picture I got of Chandler, and it was as he was running towards my camera to try to take it and throw it on the ground. He said he wanted to break it so I couldn't take his pictures anymore. Well, he didn't get it, but it's sad he was being so mean to his brothers and my friend Melanie who was with us.

Let's be more GREEN!

2008-08-04T20:38:00.002-04:00

I was getting ready to shut off my computer tonight to go read some more of my Eclipse book, and I saw something on Yahoo that caught my eye. I need everyone who read this blog post to help me.

There is an article on there about getting cash for your recycling. I know just like me we all can use some extra cash in our pockets. Well, I have been known in the past to be called "The Queen of Free", to some people I know. I have gotten lots of things for little or no money over these past few years, including 4 brand new car seats. So I clicked on this article to see what it said. Well, it listed four websites that we can go to that will buy things that can be recycled and if it is electronics or something that can be refurbished they will send you a container and you can send it to them. If they can fix it and re-sell it, they will send you a check for the item. That way these items that are damaging to our environment can be recycled for use again.

One of the websites is somewhere I go quite often to find good deals, is FreeCycle. I am a member of ones in Tallahassee, Thomasville, I think still Wakulla County. But it is where one person's trash is another person's treasure, and people offer to give away things to someone, and they will travel to that person's home or meeting place to pick up said items. I have gotten a few things, like sofa/love seat, kitchen table, end/coffee table, pots, flatware, plates, cups, a tv stand, a dog that didn't stay long at my house, etc. Anyway...the reason for the post...

One of the websites is called www.recyclebank.com

It is not currently in Georgia, but maybe if enough of us send them an email telling them we want service maybe they will open a bank here. They give you a trash container and you put your plastics, glass, paper, etc all recycle stuff, without having to sort it, and the container has a microchip in it, and the truck weighs the container and transmits the weight to an account where you can get points worth coupons for groceries, and pharmacy items, etc.

On the home page go to the Contact Us tab, the top right tab and click it, then click on Sign up for the program on the right side of the page, then fill in the information and it says they will contact us when they open in our community.

I have had recycling programs in other places that I have lived, but there isn't a curbside one here in Thomasville that I know of, so can we rally together and try to get one here. I don't do much recycling like I should, and the boys tell me all the time we should be. Anyway, I hope this will get to some of you. Maybe us little people can start to make a little difference in our little section of the world.

On their site it says they have saved 421,988 Trees, and 28,188,862 gallons of oil. I think that is amazing. This is our home and we need to protect it as much as we can, or there won't be much left for our posterity. Think about that! LET'S TRY TO BE MORE GREEN!!!

BACK TO SCHOOL!!

2008-08-04T16:05:00.003-04:00

It is the first day of school today! YEAH!!! I am excited for the boys to have something to do, other than mope around the house saying their bored, or fighting; and this morning they said they were excited too. Chandler is at the same school again for one more year, Cross Creek (3rd and 4th grades), but Owen was at a new school this year for first grade (Garrison-Pilcher 1st & 2nd).

I think it is strange to change schools every two years till middle school. Pre-k &K, 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th, then I think it's 5th-8th is middle school, and 9th-12 is high school. But I guess when you have 900 students in 2 grades at Chandler's school, that is a lot for just 2 grades. And that is the county schools, there are city schools too.

This is Chandler in his new Shelby Ford Mustang shirt and shorts, oh and new shoes. That I thought were a different style than the ones he has been wearing, but when we were getting things ready last night, he brought me the shoes he's been wearing and his new ones are exactly the same, just new and white. Ooops. :) Man, I really thought I was buying different ones. Oh well, since they are the same that means he would like them, thank goodness.

Here is Owen in his new school outfit. It is a soccer shirt and matching shorts, and his new shoes too. I totally lucked out this year. I didn't think they were going to have a tax free weekend because I hadn't heard about one, but there was a store that was going out of business (Goody's), and some places that had really good sales (The Children's Place & PayLess Shoes) so I got some really good deals on their clothes. And I didn't buy much because they can still wear most of what they have been but I wanted them to have a few new things to wear the first few days of school. Here are Chandler and Owen (and Hayden's head) walking down our driveway to the bus stop which is down the road. Hayden wanted to go to school too, so bad! He was mad because he doesn't have a pack pack, and I wouldn't let him get on the bus. He stood in the road and said he wasn't coming home because I wouldn't let him go to school! It is so sad that he has to wait one more year. He asked all day long, even just after we walked in the door from walking them to the bus, "Where's Channer Owen?" And I told him several times today that they were at school. So then he would proceed to tell me he needed to get his pack pack and go to school too. It made me want to cry. He is so cute, but he wants to be where the other boys are too. Here is all three waiting as the bus drives up to the stop. Owen had to get on first because he is now the last stop and so he has to sit next to the window, and Chandler gets to sit on the aisle. Chandler said when he got home that he was the first person to get on the bus after school. He thought that was so cool. I asked him where he chose to sit, and he said the 6th seat with his friend Ben. It is funny he doesn't say in the front, middle, or back, but it was the 6th seat. I love him, he is so funny and cute too. The buses pick up the kids from all the schools before they come home. So there are kids from 5 different schools on the bus.

Both Chandler and Owen came home and said they had a good first day at school. I was happy for them to go back to school, so there was less fighting, but it has been nice to have them home, it gives me someone else to talk to other than 6 kids that are 8 months to 3 years.

SCHOOL YEAR 2008-09 is now in progress!!!

Remember When...

2008-07-21T21:54:00.002-04:00

My friend posted this on her blog and I thought it was a cute idea, so please let's play. Everyone leave me a comment, and I will leave one on yours.

Okay this little post has been going around and I love the concept so here it goes...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Go for it! I can take it...and I can also dish it out! :-)

Let the games begin....

CELEBRATING OUR FREEDOM!

2008-07-11T21:42:00.016-04:00

WARNING LOTS OF PICTURES AHEAD!!! I always take so many and then I can't choose which ones are better than others to put on here. So here is only a few of what I actually took. :)

We didn't travel far out of town for our Independence Day celebrating, we decided to go camping and to the beach. So we camped at Ochlocknee River State Park, in Sopchoppy, FL, and went to St. George Island State Park, Florida, beach then back to Sopchoppy for fireworks at the city park.

I remember going camping as a kid, and I enjoyed it I think. (Except maybe for the time when we went to Bear Lake in Utah, and I had an allergic reaction to Penicillin, and got a whole body rash, that was very uncomfortable).

Anyway, so I thought we would leave after I got off work on Thursday and camp Thursday night and Friday night, then the kids would go spend time with Matt on Saturday and Sunday. We got to the campsite at about 8:30 pm, so I put up the tent in almost total darkness, (let me tell you that was so much fun)! I had Chandler help me a little, but the bugs were swarming and I hadn't sprayed any of us with bug spray so I tried to just let them explore the camp site, or sit in the van. There was a really cool tree that they were climbing on that had really long branches at our site. Hayden found the fire pit and was trying to see what he could do with that. Then Chandler and Owen were trying to find some wood so we could build a fire. Which didn't happen, by the way. It took me till almost 10pm to get the tent up, all the bedding in it, and get the boys showered. I was glad I put it up at home the day before, so I kind of knew what I was doing. This is the first time I have ever been camping by myself. (Which I got in trouble for later, by a friend of mine, at church. She said I shouldn't have gone by myself). And I told her that I am a big girl, and I can take care of me and the boys. But she said yes, but there are big boys out there too that could have come and hurt one or all of us. Well, nothing happened and I wasn't worried. I had fun, I hope we can go again soon.

Here is what the campsite looks like in the daylight. It was a nice little spot, my van sat to the left of the tent, and the picnic table is behind the tent. I like this park, we'll probably go back there again sometime. It was pretty full of people, but everyone was nice, and we actually saw some members of our ward at the same campsite, they were spending the weekend with their grandkids. I thought that was cool, we were about 90 miles away from home, and to see someone that I know from the same town I live in, made the world feel just a little bit smaller.

By the time all that was done, everyone was pretty tired, so the nice mom that I am brought the dvd player so they could have their non school night evening ritual of a movie, and let them watch Shrek for about 20 minutes till they were almost asleep. Here is a picture of the boys in the tent just before they went to bed. Hayden Thoroughly enjoying his time in the tent. He was so excited, all he talked about the whole week was going camping and going to the beach.

Chandler and Owen were enjoying Shrek before they go to bed. They were ready to get inside as soon as I got the tent up. And I am now realizing that we may have a 4 person tent, but with 2 kids that don't sleep in the same position (Hayden and Owen), I think I will be investing in a bigger one, SOON! :) I had Chandler and Owen at the biggest part and then I laid across the tent down by their feet and put Hayden in the smaller extra area next to me. Well, Hayden wanted to be right up under me, and Owen kept turning and moving closer to me. It was crazy, and it was a little warm outside, so I wasn't where I wanted to have two kids touching me all night. So the first night wasn't so great for me. Plus, I didn't have an air mattress just an egg crate topper and some blankets, and the ground was good and hard. I think I'll have to get an air mattress too.

Anyway, once the temp. started to go down a little it was pretty comfortable. We woke up the next morning pretty much as soon as light was coming into the tent. I brought stuff to make pancakes, so I started getting that ready while the kids were starting to wake up in the tent.Chandler was watching the pancakes for me. He was so hungry, they could not cook fast enough so he could eat them. I usually make waffles, so I made these instead, and they were really good. I think I might make these more often now. Good morning boys, now their belly's are full, so we can get ready to go to the beach! YEAH!!!
Unfortunately the trip to the beach took a little bit longer than planned. Next time I will find out what time the parade is, so that I can get off the bridge before they close the road onto the island. I don't undersdand how someone could close the only road onto an island for a parade. And apparently I wasn't the only one, a lot of the people that sat on the end of the bridge for 30 minutes along with us weren't very happy either. The guy in front of me actually passed everyone on the other side of the road to get up to his destination. I was not that crazy. And also, I had seen police cars, and an ambulance pass by, so I thought there may have been an accident. So we waited, and waited...of course after being in the car for an hour the boys wanted to get out, and they were hungry. And seeing the ocean and a beach out the window really made Hayden want to get out and go swimming. I took these on the way out of the park. I always see the big panoramic of this beach in the picture stores in the mall, and I knew I could take one kind of like it, so this is mine. I think that will look good blown up an hung on my wall either in my bedroom or in my beach decor bathroom along with my sunset one. When I walked up to the edge of the beach to take the bottom shot, I think the Someone made the waves start to come in, so that I could get a good shot. Becauase before I walked up there weren't very many waves. But as soon as I started to take pictures the waves started to roll in. It was so beautiful, and this beach was deserted except for two fisherman about 25 yards away from me. We finally made it after waiting 30 minutes for the parade route to clear. At first there weren't very many people at the beach, but later on it got a little full. It still wasn't as bad as I thought, maybe because we went to the second set of pavillions, most people stop at the first. So we picked a spot and laid out the blanket and our stuff, and in we went. Hayden didn't get too close to the water without me, but Chandler and Owen got into the ocean and played happily for a few hours. Hayden let me take him out into the water till he couldn't touch, but I don't have any pictures of that because I was nervous about letting Chandler take pictures with my expensive camera near the water. I did let Chandler take one of me holding some fish, but that was the only one. I put this collage together on powerpoint today so that I could get more pictures on here. I think it will look good printed out as an 8x10, but here it's a little small to see the cool detail in the pictures.
The boys enjoyed running in the surf along the edge of the water. They had so much fun playing around and goofing off. Squirting water guns, pouring buckets of water on each other, making sand castles and we sat and dug in the sand to find the really small shells that were still living. i don't know how to explain it, I don't know if they were clams or what, but they would dig back in the sand in our hands it was cool.Owen, Chandler and Hayden posing nicely for me on the beach. They were still just long enough to take this nice shot of the three of them. Man, they are growing up fast, it is so hard to believe they are 9, 6 and 3.

Owen enjoying the waves coming up to him.

Chandler watching the waves roll in before he runs into the water to play.

The two above photos I took because of an article I read about the negative space in a picture. If you look at the two pictures the face draws you to the negative space of the photograph to see what they are looking at (the water). I just thought that would be a neat shot, so I tried it, and I really like the outcome. By being behind them, I am kind of seeing what they are seeing.

Hayden was holding his ball trying to decided if he wanted to take it into the water or not. He decided to just play with it on the beach until he saw us in the water, then he came to join in on the fun. We really had a good time at the beach. I wish we could have camped at the campground there at the beach campground because we could have gone and rested and then gone back and played some more, but our site was 45 minutes back so we couldn't do that. So we only stayed about 3 hours before the boys were tired and all sandy.

After we rested a bit at the campsite we went on a nature walk. This is just a quick one of the boys as they walked along the path in the woods.

As we were walking along the road on the way back to the tent we saw 8 doe hiding in the trees, and then they crossed the road right in front of us. It was so cool to be that close to them. Two stayed on the right side of the road in the trees but the other 6 crossed in front of us to the other side. I have never been that close to a deer before except for the zoo. I wonder what other kinds of animals were around us at the campground.
Here's some of the fireworks we saw in Sopchoppy. We have been here before, back in 2005, but we had bad seats behind some trees. They shoot the fireworks off by the river, and so I tried to get a better seat this time. I think I did ok, a few were still behind some trees but mostly we could see them. Hayden was really scared. I have to admit the booms were VERY loud, I almost had to cover my ears. They shook the ground they were so loud. But they were really pretty, and we had a great time.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2008 AMERICA!

WE ARE PROUD TO BE AMERICAN!!!!

The SAM Shortline Passenger Train

2008-07-07T19:33:00.007-04:00

The Savannah, Americus & Montgomery Railroad Passenger excursion train,

SAM Shortline for short, in Cordele, Georgia.

The boys woke up very excited about going on a "REAL" train this morning. I was actually really excited too. I remember going on the Heber Creeper as a kid, but it was not closed in like the SAM Shortline. We all got ready to go, and it only took about 45 minutes to get to Cordele. I don't think Hayden stopped talking about the train tracks and trains the whole time we were driving there. He wanted to get right out of the car and get on the train, but of course we had to wait until it was time, and we were asked to board. There were about 210 people on the train that day.

Owen, Chandler & Hayden in front of the HOG train that we rode for our trip. Each of the different passenger cars had a name, and was decorated from that place. We picked the Plains car by mistake and so there as a lot of President carter things all over the walls. Our trip went like this: Leave Cordele 9:30am, get to GA Veterans State Park at 10:00am, leave at 10:05am (just long enough to pick up more passengers), Arrive Americus 11:00am (layover 2 hours for lunch and site seeing), leave Americus 1:00pm, arrive Plains 1:30pm (layover 1 hour 15 minutes for site seeing, which in my opinion was about 50 minutes too long :) I'm not a fan of President Carter ), leave Plains 2:45pm, arrive Americus 3:15pm (drop of passengers only), leave Americus 3:20pm, arrive GA Vets state Park (drop off more passengers), leave State Park, arrive back in Cordele 4:50pm.

Hayden watching another train pass by before we can get on the track. This train runs along the same track as normal trains, so sometimes we had to stop and wait for one to pass us, or a train would stop and let us pass it. It was really neat. Walking on a train reminded me of my recent bus trip to the temple. I needed my bus legs to walk as the train rocked back and forth. I was nervous about riding backwards, so I picked a seat that faced forward. But on the ride back I decided to ride in the same seat, to see if I wouldn't get sick, and I didn't. It was really fun. There is a concession stand and a souvenir stand in one car on the train. And also there were bathrooms. Which I think was an interesting experience for all of us, especially with the boys.

This is a bridge as we passed over a part of a lake. I am guessing it looks like the one we were on. I tried to see it by looking out the window, but of course there were no side rails, so I got a little nervous. But the kids thought it was really cool to be right on the water.

This is the famous Windsor Hotel in Americus. It was originally built in 1892. It is a real working hotel and has 53 different choices of period style guest rooms and even has a honeymoon suite. The inside of the hotel was absolutely beautiful. It has been restored with over $8 million of luxury and modern conveniences.

This is the atrium inside the front lobby of the hotel. This picture does not do justice to how absolutely gorgeous this hotel is. I think the chandeliers are beautiful also. I wish I had a room big enough in my house for one like that. The light paint and the dark wood look very good together. It was so pretty I thought someone was going to come and tell me I was not allowed to take pictures. That is what happened to me at Pebble Hill. I took a picture of something in there, and the tour guide told me we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the home. OOPS! No one said anything here, so I snapped away.

This is Hayden in an old fashioned telephone booth that was in the hotel. The boys each had to get in and play with the telephone. I just thought it was funny so I tried to get a few pictures of them. My grandma used to have a modern day version of a phone like this that hung on her wall for years. We used it as her phone for a long time.Alright here is Owen, he actually picked up the receiver and was pretending to talk on in. Although he was too short to talk into the mouth piece since it was on the wall.Ok, now here is Chandler trying to reach the mouth piece. Little did I know it is really a working telephone. It calls the front desk. When we were walking back to the hotel to catch our trolley ride back to the train I picked up the phone to listen if it did anything and it made some clicks, then I noticed on the shelf it said on a note, "House phone lift to call the front desk". I sure hope my kids weren't calling the front desk and then hanging up. This is the Rylander Theater. It was built in 1919, and opened in 1921. It was called the finest playhouse south of Atlanta. The theater was closed for 40 years before receiving an extensive restoration, and re-opened in October 1999. The theater seats over 600 on three levels. And the restored theater looks just as it did in 1921. The theater now runs shows 280 days per year. They don't do movies any more, just live plays, musicals, etc. And most of the shows are for children, and summer camps. The camps are all free due to the number of grants they receive.

This is a totally restored 1928 Moller Pipe Organ. It's one of only two theater pipe organs in Georgia theaters, and was donated by a private organ lover. The keys don't work, only the buttons make the individual instruments. The organ was made originally for silent films. that organ was amazing. The tour guide would press the buttons and different instruments that would play from the pipes behind some shutters. It was awesome to listen to the songs play, and all the sounds it could make. I was totally in awe.

This is a picture from the front of the stage. There are three levels, but not many sit on the very top level. Being in this theater reminded me of the Majestic movie, with the old theater in there. I love that movie, because I have always thought it would be neat to buy an old theater to fix up and play old movies or new movie in an old theater. That is one of my dreams to go on my bucket list. :)This is Chandler in a photo op they had outside one of the stores. Everyone had to get in, and then I became the step stool for about 5 minutes until my leg started to fall asleep. Lots of kids kept needing a boost, so I just knelt behind it and let them climb up to get their pictures taken. It was fun and funny, my ice cream was melting and I was trying to stay upright and not fall over with a kids on my knee.

Plains was our final stop. Plains, Georgia is the home of President Jimmy Carter. We were there for an hour, and my dad and I were discussing that it was about 50 minutes too long to have been there. The town was just one strip of stores that had almost everything in them with Carters name on it. we could have walked to see his home and other places, but the kids were really worn out by this time. And you could buy peanuts just about any way you wanted them. They were boiled, fried, salted, peanut butter, peanut butter ice cream (which we had, and was ok. I don't think I would buy any to take home if I could, but we ate it). We just got back on the train after getting ice cream and slowly each of the kids took a nap. That is one good thing about the rocking of the train, it helped the kids to fall asleep.Here's Hayden for his moment in the spotlight in the Plains peanut.

Owen is doing the same. Say Cheese Owen! What cute peanuts I have. :)

Then of course it was my turn. I wasn't going to take one, but the kids really wanted me too. I tried to get grandpa to get in one, but he said he would rather not. So didn't force him. It was fun though. Here is our final picture we took by the sign that said Plains on it. Hayden and Owen were OK with me taking the picture. But Chandler was playing the pout card, and didn't want to do anything else. So he's not smiling at all. Won't that be cute for him to see later when he's grown up with kids of his own that pout and he tells them he never did. NOW IT'S ON FILM!

We really had a good time with grandpa. It was so much fun to find things to do with him here in Georgia that are close to home, and that we had not done before. The weather was nice and hot, but we still enjoyed ourselves. And it was a break from the same old of home. I felt almost like I was getting a mini vacation, since I don't get those very often.

Until next time...Hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did. This is like my online scrapbook & journal. Amy, Chandler, Owen & Hayden

Grandpa Olsen came to visit

2008-06-29T20:18:00.008-04:00

My dad, grandpa olsen came to visit us in June. We had such a wonderful time together. The boys really enjoyed spending time with him while he was here. Some of the kids I watch also enjoyed having a new something to keep them busy. I think there was always someone on his lap, which he said was ok. We went and saw Kung Fu Panda together, and dad took Owen to see The Hulk movie, just the two of them. And Owen thought was totally awesome.

I took two days off so that we could go and do some things with him instead of him just sitting here at my house and watching me watch kids all day, doesn't that sound like fun? heheh :)

So we looked online and found some things that are near here that we had not done yet. I have been wanting to go and explore Georgia. I like exploring the different places I have lived. I know that there are things to do in the vicinity and I am glad we went and found some of them, now I know I can take the boys to do some of these again.

The first place we went was to Cheehaw Park Zoo in Albany, Georgia. It is about an hour and 15 minutes from my house. We went into different places to see animals in their natural habitats. I picked some of the pictures that showed some of what we did.

This is the train we rode after we looked through the zoo. The train takes you around to places that you don't see while walking around My dad said there is somewhere like 8000 acres of park here. There is the zoo, a playground, camping, etc.

This is a zebra rolling in the dirt. It was funny to see him do that. He was either cooling himself off, or getting the bugs off of his back.

These are some monkeys that were playing around. There was a baby playing on the fence when we walked up. I tried to get close to take his picture and mom (I think) was trying to tell him from nearby that he should get down, but he was having fun...then as I got closer what I think was the dad hurried over and snatched him off the fence and took him away. It was interesting to watch.
These are 3 Bison we saw. They were just relaxing in the shade. I have never been that close to one before and they were soo big. It was amazing, this picture doesn't do justice to how big they were. We were above them on a bridge. One of the first areas we came to was the alligator habitat. This alligator Chandler is looking at was right under the bridge we were walking on. It was cool, we were only about 2 feet from him. The habitat has 24 four alligators in it. We proably saw about 15 or so. Most of them were in the water.

This is a picture of me and the boys. Hayden was absolutely in love with this train. I don't think he wanted to get off. If he likes this one so much, just wait till my next post when we go ride a "REAL" passenger train. Stay tuned...

This is Chandler, Owen Grandpa (Greg) Olsen & Hayden in front of the FlintRiverquarium that is also located in Albany. We decided to go to Albany on Thursday and do some stuff, then we wouldn't have to get up so early to go to Cordele for the train. Although we still got up early, to make sure we could find it and get some breakfast. The hotel said it had breakfast, but it was juice and one dozen donuts for the whole hotel. Dad, I and the boys could have probably eaten the whole dozen, but I only took one for each of the boys, then told dad we would just get something on the way.

I really liked this cool green tank of fish, and I thought it would make a great sillouette shot of the boys. Just them looking up at the fish. We came down a ramp to see this very large tank of fish. It was really cool to see all the fish close up like that.

The boys wanted me to go climb in these tunnels with them, so when I did my dad took our picture in one of the windows. It was pitch black when I first started climbing the hill into the tunnel. I don't know how anyone sees in there. But there were lots of kids playing in there, so some of them helped me see where to go. :)

Here is Chandler and Owen in one of the windows. Owen was having a blast in the tunnels, but Chandler wasn't so interested in the tunnels, he liked playing in the water making rivers instead.

Here's another alligator that we saw. He was just basking in the warmth, and taking a little nap.

And here is an interesting water toy, that the boys liked playing with. I think they were trying to turn the water things on and off, but I couldn't make any of them work. But they had a good time. And of course we had to visit the souvenir shop. Owen got a toy fish, and Hayden got a snake, that he absolutely loves. We also got each of the boys a flattened penny. I get them every where I can get them. It is the most inexpensive souvenir and it looks cool too.

Stay tuned for the Cordele SAM Shortline train experience in the next few days. We'll be out of town for the Fourth holiday, and then I'll post again. Happy Fourth of July to everyone, have fun and be safe.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2008-06-12T21:56:00.003-04:00

Ok, Ok...You all told me I would be hooked. I am really not that much into vampires. But oh my heck I really like this book.

We are reading Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer for our mini Enrichment Book club group. I really wasn't so sure about it. Since this is an LDS group, and they wanted to read a book about vampires. Then I heard she was a member of the church, so I thought I would give it a try. I was told the book was clean too, so I thought it couldn't hurt, and it could hopefully distract me too.

Well, all you fans, you were right about it, and I am not done yet, but am trying to find out how I can get my own copies of the series. And getting the email today with the first scene from the movie that comes out in december made me excited. I am told there are so far 3 books in the series and a 4th to come out soon, and then the movie at the end of the year.

I really haven't been obsessed with a book or author since I started reading Anita Stansfield a few years ago. She is also and LDS author and I enjoy reading her books too. She takes almost like real life events and make them into fiction novels. My mom got me started on her books, I think from one my uncle gave her a few years back.

Anyway, here is the cover of the book, if you haven't read it yet, it is REALLY GOOD!!!! Have a good night, I'm off to read some more before bed. I'm about half way through right now. It's getting really good. :)