If We Make It Through December, Everythings Gonna Be Allright I Know......

I don't post blogs during the most interesting times in my life. I guess it is because we are sooo busy during that time. I was off for a week in November and spent most of my time either shopping or hunting. i Think that was a pretty good vacation. The best part was that it was the first week of deer camp and during that week they always eat supper at the camp - SO - I didn't have to cook all week, except to make my contribution. (That part is easy!) It was a very good week.
The next week was Thanksgiving - also a good week. I only had to work 3 days and then I was off for 4. Not bad if I say so myself. I ventured in the kitchen this year to make a Thanksgiving meal for Eric's mom and brother's family. I baked a turkey, made crock pot dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, loaded mash potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, strawberry pretzel salad(which is a dessert), a sugar free pecan pie, sweet potato pie and homemade yeast rolls. I know - I was crazy, but I can say I have done it. Mom's meal at lunch was the best with fried fish, deer and turkey!! YUM. Can we do that again Mom?
All of Eric's family spent the night and then the married couples got up and went to Black Friday!! Yep - even Eric and Nathan. Well - sort of - they went to Fordyce to WalMart. Nathan is on the CASSA (a youth charity board I think) board in Fordyce and they were having a fundraiser at the Walmart to collect toys for underprivileged children. Eric went with him for fun. They took the early shift of the fund raiser because they could be back in time for hunting. Tab and I went to all the sales and came home with a trunk full!! It was fun, but we were very tired. We were at Walmart by 4:30. It was fun to "geek watch" too. People are crazy for a super sale and the masses were out!!
Saturday, I crashed. I was worthless. Sunday my energy picked up some. The girls and I went to Penny after church for a horse ride. The weather was perfect and the girls love going there. I do too!.
This week has been somewhat busy. Lots of work for Eric and I to do at our "real jobs". My house-keeper is at my house today, so maybe we can start putting up Christmas decorations soon.

MY HUSBAND BOUGHT ME A CRUISE FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

So that's what Eric likes to tell everyone. We went on a Fall Foliage Tour on the Arkansas Queen yesterday. It is a paddle boat that is on the Arkansas River. This was a special tour they do in the fall. We went up the river toward Pinnacle Mountain and then back down. It took about 4 hours. We were able to go through the Murry Lock and Dam, which was interesting. The colors have actually past their peak, but it was still pretty. The weather was perfect! We sat on the top deck most of the afternoon. They also served a nice lunch on the boat and the staff was very nice. It is nice to get good service these days. They did play BINGO on the way back, but we just enjoyed the beautiful weather on the top deck. I will definitely go again, and recommend it to anybody.

After the cruise, we did a little Santa shopping. It feels good to have a head start! Today I am back at work and my dad is cooking supper for me tonight. Life is still good.

Beutiful Weather

I think I have slowed down, but I am still on the go. My house keeper came Wednesday and it was nice to come home to a clean house. I had to work late and then go to church that night, so it much more enjoyed on Thursday.

Friday, after I took Elizabeth to school, Leah, Dad and I enjoyed breakfast at the restaurant in Poyen. Another delicious breakfast. It is a small diner, where everyone seems to know everyone. And they have a GREAT breakfast and good coffee. After breakfast, we headed to Stuttgart to drop off a gun barrel for Eric's shotgun at Mack's. Mack's is this MASSIVE hunting store, that got their start from selling duck hunting supplies. I even enjoy shopping in there, and I bought my first Christmas present there. Leah likes to go to because there are a lot of mounted animals that she can look at. After that, we went back into Pine Bluff to buy the meat for the church bar-b-q. It was then time to go get Elizabeth from school. When we did finally get to come home, we enjoyed the afternoon enjoying beautiful weather on the deck. After supper, Eric put new breaks on my car and the girls and I went to wash chickens at Granny's. We ended up having help from Pat and Harley and then Keith and Teresa Williams stopped in after we were done. They stayed and visited and we had a good night with friends.

Saturday we slept in and I only did what I wanted to do. I picked up the house a little and did laundry. We watched the wonderful football game on TV - GO HOGS! I then cooked some backed beans and cole slaw to take to the bar-b-q. Eric took a long nap and then we went to eat. We had about 70 people come and had 4 large pans of meat left on the cooker. We then enjoyed singing in the church. Elizabeth went home with Granny and Leah came home with us. She is becoming a momma's girl. UGH!

We went to Sunday school this morning and left before church. (That is Eric and I). We left the girls with Granny and we are on our way to take a Fall Foliage Tour on the Arkansas Queen, which is on the Arkansas River. Sounds like fun to me.

The end of October

Where do I start. Last week, I was a little under the weather, mostly on Leah's birthday. I had taken the day off, so that I cold spend it with her doing whatever she wanted. Eric was off also, so he spent most of the day making her happy. They spent the morning finger painting, then we went to take me to the doctor. THEN, we went to Walmart to spend Leah's birthday money - she bought a Ariel Mermaid doll that she can play with in the tub. Yeah - she really needed that. We then had lunch at Chick-fil-a, her favorite restaurant. It was then time to pick up Elizabeth, then off to the pharmacy to get my medicine. They went to Trunk or Treat at church while I rested at home. Leah dressed as one of Noah's daughter-in-law - wearing rubber boots, carrying an umbrella and a basket of hay to feed the animals. Elizabeth dressed as Pharaoh's daughter who found Moses in the river. She had an Egyptian costume from last year and she carried around a baby doll as moses. They brought home tuns of candy.

I took off Thursday to rest, but it was spent in the office trying to get my computer fixed, but it didn't get fixed until Monday morning. It also come a flood in Sheridan that afternoon. It rained over 7 inches in 30 minutes, covering many roads and closing Sheridan schools the next day. I haven't seen rain ever like that in my life.

Friday, Leah and I spent the day at the School with Elizabeth. The morning time was class time for Elizabeth, so Leah and I went to the local restaurant for breakfast with my friend Kerri. The afternoon was spent at the costume contest and Halloween party. Our teacher needs some gumption. Poor lady needs to retire.

Saturday was spent picking up the house and lounging around the house until it was time to trick or treat. Elizabeth was Paula Dean and Leah was a policewoman. VERY CUTE if I say so myself. We went to see Aunt Valeeta and Uncle Frank Lee (our tradition every year) - they had apples with gummy worms. Then we went to Mary Ellens, The Cotton's, then to the Harrington's. The Harrington's had candy for the kids and food for the adults. Then it was off to Grandma Barnes and Granny and PawPaw's for more special treats.

Sunday we went to church and then Grandma's fried chicken and Mom's home made rolls!! Oh my!! I was stuffed all afternoon. Eric and I then took a drive to Hot Springs to check on a front end loader. We ended up just buying drinks at Sonic. The leaves are really nice this year, and that is probably the only drive we will get to take this year, we have just been so busy.

Monday we all went back to work. And Tuesday the same. This weekend will be filled with activity also. Friday I have to go to Stuttgart to get a gun part fixed for Eric. Saturday is the "annual" barBQ at church.

We Survived the Weekend

Barely! Leah had a great party Friday night. I think we had 21 guest at our house. We ate chicken spaghetti and pepperoni spaghetti. Mom made a salad and we also had bread. All the kids were in their razorback red and looked great. Leah was spoilt with great new clothes and toys.

Saturday was busy as I thought it would be. Elizabeth made the most beautiful Fall Festival Queen, if I do say so myself. She was a doll. The King and Queen Contest raised almost $8,000!! Then it cost a dollar to get in the door to see the contest, and it was packed in the gym. THEN - they had a festival with games that each cost 50 cents to a dollar. THEN - the BINGO game raised over $550. The PTO had great support from Malvern and Sheridan businesses in donations and as always, the parents really give great support. I was once again impressed with the turn-out.

After the Fall Festival I told the girls we would go for a Girls Night Out. They asked what we would be doing and I told them that it was a surprise. On the way to the Mylie Cyrus concert, they tried to guess what we would be doing. It took them all the way to Little Rock to guess and then I still had to tell them. They couldn't believe that we were getting to see Mylie Cyrus in "real person". They had a great time. I am glad I brought earplugs, because Leah needed them. And as I told Eric the next day - Mylie Cyrus would not make it through the 1st round of American Idol. She can make a good CD, but in person......Well - the girls enjoyed it. Leah danced the night away!! Elizabeth was just so aw struck, she couldn't' do anything. After the concert, we walked across the river bridge back to our car, with the crescent moon shining over the river, and then went for ice cream. It was a great night with the girls.

Sunday we went to church and then had a birthday celebration for Aunt Veleeta. She turned 80. During church her Sunday School Class presented her with a appreciation plaque and coffee mug with our picture. She was quiet surprised and I think she had a great day!. Sunday night was the youth led program. They made it an appreciation event for dad and mom, and it was really nice. A lot of good memories were shared and we had good fellowship afterward.

Monday was back to work. I have started coming down with a monster cold. It's one of the worst colds I've had in a long time, and I hate being sick! But life must go on and it's a good life.

Back to school we go....

I am writing this before the girls get up, even though I just heard Leah whining "mmmoooommmmy". We are back to school today. I am so spoilt. Even though Elizabeth has been sick this week, I have enjoyed the week at home. Leah's birthday party is this evening, so I have had the last 3 days to plan and prepare. ( oh wait - she is in the bed with me now, and her back "itches" so I will have to give her a quick back scratch. Humph, life of a princess.) As I was saying, it has been soooo nice to be at home, and I even had the house cleaner come yesterday. My mom wanted to know what I had been doing all week to need a house cleaner. Mom- guess you should have had 2 kids, then you could ask - hehehehe- JUST KIDDING. While "Nonnie", my house cleaner, was here, the girls and I went upstairs to do homework with Elizabeth and I was going to try to catch up on my charting, but this horrible messy play room kept staring at me, so I cleaned up instead. We shared our chicken soup with Nonnie, and not long after that she went home. I also did laundry while she was cleaning, and so now ALL my laundry and housework is done. I asked Eric if I could quit work and stay home AND hire Nonnie - He quickly replied we wouldn't have a house for Nonnie to clean if I quit work. (Sigh) Oh well, back to work next week I will go.

Tonight is Leah's birthday party. It is a Razorback theme this year. We go ALL out for our girls birthday's. We even have a special "party dress" for Leah - she will be dressed in a red "formal" as the Razorback Homecoming Princess - she said she couldn't' be a queen - queens were old. We have about 25 people invited, even though I don't know if they will be brave enough to show up, since we had the flu outbreak at our house this week. Tomorrow is Fall Festival at Poyen. Elizabeth is the Queen of her class and she has to be there at 12:30 for pictures and to be ready to start by 2. Then they have a carnival on the school campus, which the kids really enjoy. Its a real big deal, and one of the selling points to Poyen, because it is an event where SSSOOO many parents have to be involved. It's an event for the k-6th grade and each grade has 2 classes. Each class King and queen have to have a fund raiser and that money goes toward the PTO. The class that makes the most money wins the King and Queen contest. Our class doesn't have a lot of.....well..... gumption. We only raised $100 and most of that was from Elizabeth's side of the family. The other classes raise A LOT more than that. Then each teacher is responsible for doing a "booth" at the carnival and each booth cost money to participate. (Our class is a cake walk). THEN.. they have a basketball tournament .... .THEN they have BINGO. Anyway, they raise a LOT of money for the PTO.

Tomorrow, after all the events at Fall Festival, I have quiet the surprise for the girls. I can't believe I have kept this a secret for so long. AND BOY, am I going to regret even signing myself up for this!! Mylie Cyrus tickets. I know... stupid me. We'll see, maybe I will be crowned as "You are the best mom in the whole wide world!"

THEN SUNDAY - Church, my great-aunt Valeeta's birthday party for lunch, then back to church for youth led services and snacks afterwards.

Oh my. I am exhausted already!!

Well it's official, unofficially

The pediatrician said yesterday that Elizabeth has the flu. Eric asked if they would swab her nose, so that we would know for sure that she had the flu. The pediatrician said that she would, but that it would probably come back negative. And it did. The pediatrician said she has all the symptoms of the flu, and maybe because we came in so early, it came back negative. The lady at the pharmacy said the test are only about 65% accurate anyway. I don't know if anyone knows what they are doing. All I know is that we are going to annihilate the flu today. She currently has been free of fever for about 2 hours, and I am forcing fluids down her to flush this mess out. She is about to finish the water I have in front of her, and I promised her some OJ after that. She said the water was too much, but as I type, she is finishing it now. She must really want some orange juice. Hahaha - she now is getting up to go to the bathroom. It is now my prayer that Leah will not get the flu. Her birthday party is Friday night.

It is a beautiful day today, again!! If it gets warm enough today, I may let Elizabeth get some sunshine on the deck. Isn't that what they did for TB years ago? haha.

The Weekend Adventures of the Petty House

Here I am again. Wow. I have a moment during my lunch break, so I will write quickly.

Elizabeth made a 100% on her spelling test, in which we have been working really hard towards. She struggles with "wanting" to do homework or study, so achieving this grade was wonderful. The teacher says she is really working hard to make her listen during class.

While Elizabeth was working hard in school on Friday, Leah and I went shopping for the upcoming events of the next two weekends. Leah's birthday party is Friday night, Elizabeth is queen for her class in the fall festival for her school on Saturday, and then I have a big surprise for them Saturday night. The next weekend is Halloween, so we also shopped for costumes. My biggest struggle on Friday was finding Elizabeth a pair of dress shoes for the fall festival that match her brown dress. Finding dress shoes period was hard enough. We did not find any in Hot Springs. After we picked up Elizabeth from school we went to Benton and looked all over that town. I finally got some, but they are not my favorite. I have settled. BBBOOOOO.

I haven't shopped like that since, well......I don't remember when. We didn't get back home until 8:45. I didn't think Leah would make it that long, but she was a trooper. We ate at Chick-fil-a and she got to play, so I think that helped. She did say several times though "You never say yes, it's always NO, NO, NO. " Poor princess.

Saturday was all about work. Eric worked in the yard, mowing for one last time, picking up limbs, filling the tractor with fuel. I washed clothes and picked up the house. The girls went over to mom's to "help" her pick up limbs. Probably bugged her more than helped. I helped Eric after lunch to rake some leaves. We watched the football game after working, and then went to bed at a decent hour. Oh yeah - we built a fire on the deck, too and had chili for supper outside. It was rather chilly!

Sunday came early! Elizabeth woke me around 5:30am with a fever. Yes, it has arrived at my home now, whatever IT is. I stayed at home with her yesterday from church, then we ate at mom's for lunch. Her fever climbed yesterday and she still had one this morning. Eric has stayed at home to take her to the doctor. We should know in the next hour what "IT' is. I hope it's not the flu. We are scheduled for flu shots on Wednesday, but that will probably not happen now. We'll see.

Let's try this again.

I don't have time to blog. I have a job, kids to raise , and by the way my husband has been acting lately, I have a husband to raise, too. (Just kidding Eric, if you are reading this.) I would love to be able to blog daily. I have found a new blog to follow. She has a nice layout - pretty with background and pictures. I found her looking for idea's for Leah's Razorback birthday party. She's a stay at home mom, though and of course, has a LITTLE more time than I do to do those wonderful things, AND she lives in a town that might actually have a bit of Internet connection, other than dial up!!



I need a boat. It has rained so much lately, and there is no end in site. My brother-in-law says that God promised to never flood the earth again, but on days like today, we are unsure.



Deer season began at my house last night. After two previous attempts to kill a deer from the front yard, Eric was successful last night. He even let the girls help track her. We won't have to go far for meat this year. What an interesting/backward life we live. I tell my friend's, Bradley and Kerri, that if times ever get hard, they can bring the veggies, I will supply the protein.



Hope to write again soon.

Hair cuts

Yesterday was an eventful day. Elizabeth has been asking me for over a year to get her hair cut short. She sees her friends with straight, thin hair, get cute little bobs. I have told her that her hair will not lay like that, but she just kept on bugging me. Sunday morning, I finally gave in. We decided to cut enough off to send to Locks for Love. Yesterday we took 10 inches off the back of her hair, and it is so pretty. I will have to take a straight iron to it and that will be extra work, but she is happy. Leah and I also got a "snip-it", she called it. This was Leah's first ever hair cut. She felt so big getting to get her hair cut like the other "big" girls. Eric thinks everyone, including Elizabeth, looks cute and approves. After getting our hair cut last night, we spent the rest of the night picking up the house so the cleaning lady could come and doing homework.

This last weekend was another entertaining weekend. I told Eric we have had company at our house so much in the last two months. Eric's brother's wife and two kids came over Saturday. We watched Eric make me a brick path from where we park our cars to the deck. He did such a wonderful job and didn't fuss a bit. We did a little to help, but mainly we just enjoyed gossiping together. It was such a nice weekend. Elizabeth went with mom and dad to Clinton to pick peaches and see Aunt Marg and Uncle Si and Leah stayed with us. I think she kind of regretted staying with us, because she was crying when she got up that morning, saying "I want my sissy." We took her to eat Chinese and look at campers, so that helped her mood.

I know this blog is all over the place, my writing skills stink today, but it will have to do. Many things to do and not near as much time to get them done as I use to have.

School has begun

Elizabeth started school on Wednesday. She has just one teacher this year, where as the last two years she had her day split between the two. We have caught the bus on time each day and she has successfully made it walking to the baby sitter's house after she gets off the bus. The Sheridan school district has decided not to let Poyen run anymore buses in Sheridan's school district, except for 4 locations. Since Prattsville is in the Sheridan School district, Elizabeth has to catch the bus at a church down the road from the babysitters. This isn't a problem in the morning, just a problem in the afternoon, when she has to cross two roads and go through a store parking lot. She has a couple of others to walk with, so I think it is going to be OK. She likes her teacher and has had two nights of homework and daily reading. She hasn't fussed too much yet.
Last night we met an old friend in Little Rock for supper. I was on facebook yesterday morning, when I saw that he was in Little Rock. My best friend from high school moved to Iowa after a year at college, and met her husband there. They have 3 beautiful girls. He is career military, and was in Little Rock for computer training. We went to a nice New Orlean's style restaurant, Copeland's, and had a great meal. It was so good to see him, she married a nice guy.
Today is a beautiful day. There is no humidity, there is an occasional breeze, and it's not hot!! I wish everyday could be this nice. Leah and I are enjoying the deck right now, I am blogging and she is making dirt birthday cakes. I hope she enjoys her last year of freedom . She has also, today, worked on the letter "A" and watched Return of the Jedi. What a life. I would say life is very good for her now.

Work, Work, Work

I have had a busy last two weeks, enjoying revival at Shiloh, but not enjoying work. We met a all time record at Baptist this last week. We are now taking care of over 900 patients. When I started working for Baptist about 11 1/2 years ago, I worked out of a small office in Sheridan, where we had 2 nurses that case managed about 25 pt each. When our office closed in Sheridan, we went to Little Rock, and I knew every employee. Now I don't know half of the nurses, and I don't know many of the office staff. A lot has changed in the last 10 years. I've been told home health is the wave of the future. I think it may be true.
I had my sweet Nonnie come last week to clean house. She can put the sparkle on! I have managed to keep our house picked up for the last week, so I have been able to invite people over!! It's not spotless, but its sure not embarrassing either. Sunday night, Dennis and Robin came over to help me eat a watermelon after church. It looked like a 25lb watermelon, and Dennis loves watermelon as much as I do. He ate 1/2 of that melon, and let Robin have a few bites here and there. Yesterday, Eric was off of work to go see his doctor to have his blood pressure medicine refilled. He spent the rest of the day bush hogging and working on a disk for the tractor. Nathan, his brother, came to help and brought his son John. The kids enjoyed playing together, including Nathan and Eric. I fixed grilled duck, long grain rice, and green beans. John used to be a picky eater, so we told him it was chicken. He loved it anyway, and when we told him it was duck, he was just excited to hear his daddy and uncle Eric had helped kill it. After they left, Eric had some more friends that showed up to try duck, Anthony Jarret and his son, Nathan. There wasn't any sides left, so they ate duck and then helped finish the watermelon. The girls played while we visited, then Elizabeth read her Aunt Janna's blog before going to bed. We start school next week. We found out that we have Mrs Roark this year for second grade. I am so sad that my oldest is in second grade.

Back to the work week.

I am not doing ANYTHING this weekend. It is time to sit on my butt! I love camping and I love having people over to my house, but it is hard work. I took a small cat nap yesterday afternoon after work. After my 20-30minute nap, we went to our deer food plots and took soil samples. Eric and Nathan are preparing the land for deer season, and Nathan is going to take a sample to the conservation office. We let Elizabeth drive to ranger down the food plots, as Eric got different sections of soil. She did pretty good. The first time she gassed it, though, she sent off the tailgate, onto the ground. I was proud - UNTIL - Eric decided to let her drive down the straight stretch of gravel of the deer lease on the way home. I had Leah in my lap, Eric was in the middle. When we got to the gate, he told her to stop. She slammed on the brake, making Leah thrust forward. Thought I was going to drop Leah. Then he told her to turn toward the house. Well, she wasn't turning it enough, and was heading toward the ditch. She would stop, turn the wheel, then gas it, and she just wasn't making it out of the ditch. So in one last effort, she gassed it HARD!. Leah and I bout flew out in the road. "THAT'S ENOUGH" I yelled, and Eric took us the rest of the way home. That was scary.

When we got home, Eric finally put up my tomato stakes, and I unloaded more of the camper, before it began to rain. I have blooms on a few of my tomatoes and blooms on my eggplants. I even started to pull up Leah's carrots yesterday, and it was starting to form a carrot. I may have carrots by fall. Wonder if they will taste good?

Last Day of Camping

Our friends, Bradley, Kerri and Amanda joined us Saturday night for burgers and hot dogs. Anna was getting really tired, so she went home with her mom. We were all pooped, so we all went quickly to bed.

On Sunday morning, we slept late again, but instead of getting up and fixing a large breakfast like I had been, they got cereal and bagels. I thought I would be the only one eating bagels, but they wanted to try, and even Harley ate a bagel with cream cheese. When Eric came in, I just laughed!. He asked what I was laughing about, and I told him "I've won her to the other side!!" She's a picky eater like her daddy, and usually snarls her nose at most food.
After breakfast, we began to clean and pack up. Eric worked on the outside, I worked on the inside. I wanted to clean it all up so I wouldn't have anything but laundry to do when I got home, but no such luck. Eric was patting his foot to leave. I do just have floors left to sweep and mop, not too bad.

All the kids rode with me. We decided to take an adventure before coming home, and what an adventure it was. There is a spring, about 20 miles from Charlton, that Eric's dad knows and loves. It's called Collier Springs, and it is a picnic table pavilion on the side of a dirt road in the middle of no-where. At the bottom of this pavilion on the side of the hill, the spring shoots out and runs into a creek down below. I wanted to take the kids there and I knew they would love to play in the water. On the drive there, we were seeing deer and hawks, and then I spotted what I thought was a gruffy looking dog in the road. I thought "what in the world is that dog doing in the middle of no-where?" Then my brain clicked! - that not a dog, THAT'S A BEAR! It was a bear cub and he was very surprised to see us. I didn't see mom anywhere, but I'm sure he was around. That was the coolest part of my day. Elizabeth keeps saying "I know mom, we saw a bear, why do you keep saying that?" Very cool. We finally got to the spring, and the water was very cold. The kids and I walked on down to the creek and played int the water and waterfall. It is a beautiful place. Then we went to the cemetery where Eric's Dad's parents and brother are buried. Leah got to see the tombstone of the grandmother who she was named after, and I think it helped her understand that Granny Petty was a person. Eric's Uncle John is also buried there. My nephew is named after him and the girls noticed that also. I would love to spend more time there, because there are many grave sites from people who fought in the civil war. The cemetery sits on a hill and overlooks the Ouchita Mountains. It is a very nice cemetery, as far as cemeteries go. Then it was onto Caddo Gap, where there is a statue of DeSoto the Indian. I have always been mesmerized by that statue. I don't know why, maybe because it's a statue in the middle of know-where, and it's kinda cool. I'm silly that way, and the kids thought I was too. Since the kids entertained my silliness to find all of these places, I treated them to a Happy Meal, then off to home we went. Their parents I believe were getting a little worried as to whether I was going to bring them home.

Once I got home, I began cooking for SNAC(Sunday Night After Church) fellowship. The youth had youth services last night and had a guest speaker I wanted to hear. The girls had met her at camp last week and just fell in love with. She is 27? years old and she is going on a mission trip around the world for a year. She is aloud to take one large backpack, and that is it. She doesn't know anyone she is going with and none of them are from Arkansas. She will go to many un-developed areas and work with orphanages. She was very sweet and brave. Please pray for her.

Memories

I had a guy at our camp yesterday ask if all of those kids were mine. I told him "I might be crazy for the weekend, but I'm not crazy for a lifetime." Getting 5 kids ready each day has been experience. I enjoyed to challenge of being organized yesterday and did a great job, but I worked all day long. I didn't get much physical help from Eric, but he's a great entertainer and disciplinarian to the kids, and that's a big help. I wish I had a quarter every time they asked me "When are we going swimming." We took them to the swimming hole at camp around 12 yesterday. The swimming area is a dammed up spring fed creek. It was ICE COLD!!. The poor babies didn't take 20 minutes before they were saying "can we go back to camp yet". It was painfully cold. So we went back for some lunch, and then let Eric have a small nap. He couldn't sleep much for the kids going in/out of the camper. We decided to go to another campground down the road that is on the lake to let them swim for the afternoon. They had so much more fun then. It wasn't very crowded and they had a great time. We ate hamburgers for supper and grilled corn that Kerri had sent with us, fresh out of the garden. Then 5 kids through a shower, and easily they went off to bed. I can not imagine being the lady from North Arkansas with 19 kids. She speaks so peacefully and she still has dark hair. I yell and would be totally grey.
Today we slept till 9. Very unusual, but why not, we're camping. I decided not to work so hard today, and let them help themselves today. We didn't eat breakfast until 10. (My Grandpa Barnes would croak, ha..... My Mom would croak!) We are now swimming again at Denby Point. I thought it might be crowded today, since it is Saturday, but its not crowded at all. There are lots of campers around here, but also lots of boats on the water. I guess that's where they are doing their swimming. I think tonight Bradley, Kerri and Amanda are coming for supper. I hope they are not coming out of sympathy, because the kids are doing really great, and they are, I should say we are, having a great time. We are making wonderful memories.

Camping at Charlton

I bet the other campers think " That woman is crazy. She has her laptop and blackberry. This is suppose to be camping." The kids are asleep still, so I am making use of quiet time to check e-mails and blog. I don't get much quiet time.
Last Friday was Elizabeth's birthday. It was a wonderful and busy day. We got up and went to Brew Heaven for breakfast. Then we went to White Hall to Hunter's Refuge (per her request). She wanted to buy her birthday present there. She's a little on the strange side. She picked out pink with brown horses rubber boots, a camo bikini with a pink bow, and a sling shot. (Eric's child!) Leah, Elizabeth and I then went and had our nails done in town, while Eric went back home and got a trailer. After nails, we drove over to Benton with Eric to pick up a box blade that was part of his tractor deal. We then bought groceries, went home for a small amount of time, then left again. We went to Macaroni Grill with Mom and Dad for supper, then went to a 3-d movie. We got home about midnight. But what a great day. My children are spoilt. I love them.
Saturday was party day. Lauren, my 4 year old niece, had her birthday party in Fordyce, and after that we came home to get ready for our party. We had tacos, and a Rock and Roll theme. The kids got dressed up and gave us plenty of entertainment. We had about 20 guest.
We have left the home this weekend. No entertaining for us. We have had people over the last 3 weekends and it has been so much fun. Even though it is hard work, I think I have really got myself into a tougher job this weekend. We are camping at Charlton. It is us, and then we brought Justin, Anna and Harley with us. We got here after dark last night, and we got the last spot. I'm eyeballing the a spot across from us, they look like they are packing up and it looks a lot more private than the one we are in now. Eric is going to have to go to town today to get a bigger water hose for the camper because ours won't reach the hook-up. Maybe those people are leaving and we can just move. This is going to be one wild weekend.

15 days ago

Wow, what a whirlwind my life continues to be in. We had bible school last week. It was wonderful, we had anywhere from 114 - 140 attend every night. And so many kids I didn't know. It's that way every year. The teachers were wonderful, they all got along with the kids, they helped me out whenever needed. The whole church came together to work on this bible school. I don't think I know one person in that church who did not do something for VBS. And I have the best parents in the whole wide world. My mom put a bug in my dad's ear to bring me supper Monday and Tuesday night, which lasted for leftover's the rest of the week. I am still blessed. Eric even survived, I didn't kill him.
On Saturday we began working some more. Mom kept the kids on Friday night, so I got up Saturday morning and did some much needed cleaning and organizing. Saturday night we grilled hamburgers for friends and family and enjoyed my new deck. Oh yeah - the weekend of the 4th, Eric built me a wonderful new deck - with the help of my dad, Nathan, and Dennis. So we had to entertain on it last weekend. But it was sooo hot. This is going to be a fall and spring deck I'm afraid. I'm just happy to have a way to get out the back door. My deck furniture looks so nice and the tree makes a nice shade over the deck. Anyway - back to the attendees of our deck party - Bradley, Kerri, Harley, Amanda, Justin, Anna, Mom and Dad, Bradley and Amanda's Parents, Kerri's Parents, and Nathan. After eating hamburgers and homemade ice cream, we shot fireworks. We have been doing this for the last several years, and we got so busy the weekend of the 4th, we just postponed it a weekend. The fireworks were nice, the guys did a real good show.
Sunday, we took long naps.
Monday, I started catching up on my charting I had not done during bible school.
Tuesday, Fold Laundry.
Wednesday, Baked zucchini bread for a friend in need. Leah helped and she called it bikini bread.
Today, get the rest of the house cleaned up for the house cleaning lady tomorrow!! It hasn't got too bad since last week, because I threatened everyone!! PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF!!
Elizabeth's birthday is this weekend. I'm' sure it will be another busy filled weekend.

Pulling Teeth

Elizabeth pulled a tooth last week at Mrs Leann's. It actually fell out. She is a BIG baby when it comes to pulling teeth, or anything that may give her a little pain. I hope she lives a healthy life, because I don't think she could handle it if she didn't. Monday night, she had two more that were so loose, you could see underneath the teeth. My uncle, Ross, had come over and he has been successful in the past at keeping her calm and pulling her teeth. He was outside talking with Eric, so I went to Elizabeth's bedroom and told her I had a surprise for her outside, and that she would need to close her eyes. She got excited, covered her eyes, and Leah was in on the trick, too. Leah wanted her to pull it, because they are saving their money to buy UNO Attack. Anyway - once we got her outside and she saw Ross, she tried to run back in the house, but I picked her up and took her to him. He didn't get to pull it. She pulled out the alligator tears and so he didn't try anymore after that. She eventually pulled one tooth that night- I think it fell out too. I tried to bribe her to pull the other one by telling her I would buy her some more fish. She said she would, but she didn't. Eric and I worked some more on VBS, then we all went to bed.
On Tuesday afternoon, the tooth still wasn't out. Leah was getting really frustrated with her sister. I was finishing up charting in my bedroom. It is during this time and when I am on the phone, the girls seem to start pilfering. They know that because they are quiet, and I am left alone, they can quickly get into something. They found my gum on the cabinet in the kitchen and they were seeing how much they could put in their mouth, before I caught them. I told them to stop getting in my gum, but I continued to chart. Elizabeth ran in my room a little bit later and yelled "Momma, Momma, My tooth, my tooth." The gum had pulled the tooth out. FINALLY.
We got a late rain shower yesterday and after supper and working on bible school, we all sat out on the front porch and watched the rain. Eric fell asleep in the swing. Such a nice life.

Our weekend

Friday night we went to eat with our friends, Dennis and Robin. We went to a fish/seafood buffet in Benton. They had a deck with live music, so we sat outside, despite the heat, and ate. The girls were entertained by the band and the deck had large fans, so we didn't get hot at all. I was suppose to work Saturday and the plan was for Eric to take the girls with him to Bradley and Kerri's to play with Harley. Well, I ended up not having to work, but he took them with him anyway. The girls played on the Slip and Slide so long the well went dry!! Thankfully it's not one they use but for watering plants. It was over 100 degrees on Saturday, quite miserable. I painted for bible school, went to walmart for more stuff for bible school and cleaned out the pantry. I picked up the girls from Kerri's, because Eric was going to be a while working with Bradley on our airplane for bible school. It looks really good. They have outdone themselves on this airplane! The girls were so tired, that Leah fell asleep in the chair when we got home and Elizabeth crashed in front of the TV. That evening I finally got the rattlesnake cooked along with fried chicken, cooked cabbage, fried potatoes and squash, and cucumbers. YUMMY. After supper, Eric went to the river with some of his cousins and friends to go fishing and the girls and I went to Granny's to swim. We swam until 9:30 with pawpaw and granny. The girls loved it. The temperature of the water is like bath water, though. But it's wet. Granny gave us some homemade freezer strawberry jelly to take home with us. The girls wanted a bedtime snack when we got home, so we had toast and jelly. If heaven had a taste, it would be mom's strawberry jelly.
Today we went to church and had a great service. After church, off to lunch at mom's. I don't know how she outdoes herself each week. Fried deer steak, deer steak kabob's, corn, peas, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, cucumbers and tomatoes. Then it was the pool for the girls and more work on bible school for the rest of us. Back to church in a little bit.

Already Friday

Yes - Aunt Janna - we really will have rattlesnake. I wish I could post pictures to show it in my refrigerator. It was a small snake, so I had to get some chicken to go with it. I was suppose to cook it for supper tonight, but we got an invitation to go eat with some friends, so I guess I'm going to have to put it in the freezer. Right now I am sitting in the early morning heat, watching my girls swim in the swimming pool and Dad build a mountain for Mom's bible school class. He seems to be in a good mood this morning, whistling while he works. Elizabeth has woke up in a bad mood today, and is going to be lucky if she doesn't get a spanking. Oh wait............There went one of those rare Arkansas occasions....... a breeze. And it's gone. It is planned to be over 100 degrees tomorrow. I have to work tomorrow, ugg. The heat is really taking a tole on mine and Eric's energy in the afternoon. We did a little work on bible school last night, and then laid down in bed. I got my grocery shopping done yesterday after I picked the girls up yesterday, so I don't have to go to town today. After the girls swim, I plan on getting busy in the house. It has went to the side since we have been trying to work on VBS. Tonight we are going to eat with our friend's Dennis and Robin. We are taking the girls, so this should be fun.

Nothing New

This has been "Work on bible school" Week at our house. We have had leftovers every night after work and then started painting and working toward VBS. It has been dry and hot here. I have had to water every night, because the sun just absorbs every ounce of water you put out. We have run out of left-overs and I will have to cook tonight after work. I will probably fry the rattle snake that has been staring at me in the fridge, but will add some chicken or ham to it. I also have fresh veggies from my friend, Kerri - cabbage, peppers, cucumbers and squash. I can't wait until the tomatoes arrive.

A Busy Weekend

Last week was very uneventful, until Friday. Thursday night, Eric purchased a tractor, so we had to go to Diamond head to pick it up. We bought groceries after that in Malvern, so it was late when we got home. On Friday, I had a long list of things to do, and I felt quite accomplished when I completed everything on my list. One of the things I did was try to clean out Mom's "new to her" pool. She has acquired a redneck blue pool, and I told her I would help clean it on Friday's when she got it. We were planning a trip to float the Caddo on Saturday, so I wanted to get some sun. My skin is very, very white. Well not anymore. Now it is very, very red. I put sunscreen on the girls, and thought I would be ok, because in the past, I have not tanned well, and I usually don't even burn. I am still hurting today in some places. Friday evening I took the girls to a birthday party, and then we came home and had a slumber party in my room. Eric had went to the "condo" on Friday, so it was just us girls. The condo is a small "shack" home that is on the White River Refuge. It belongs to his friend Mike's family and they use it to stay at when they go fishing. Eric loves going there. The condo, is really not that bad, but it is definitely a men's retreat. He brought home 2 gallons of fresh Bass when he came home. He had a great Father's day weekend. On Saturday, the girls and I went to float the Caddo River in Arkadelphia. Kerri and Bradley had invited us to go with them and their family. Kerri's mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law, Bradley's sister - Amanda and husband Chuckie and their kids, all went. We just blow up air rafts and float down. Of course my sun burn did not get any better despite pouring the sun screen on my skin all day. I got a little miffed at the kids too, because they wanted to swim away from me all day, instead of just staying in their inner tubes. We had a picnic on the side bank half way through and let the kids swim. Their were LOTS of people, more than the last time we went, but we had a good time. When we were done, the girls and I had planned on visiting some cousins of mine in Sheridan, at my uncle Donnie's house. I went through Malvern on our way home and we were going to change clothes before we went to visit, but I had left my pants in one of the other vehicles, so home we went. When we got there, Eric took me and the girls on a ranger ride and to see the surprise he had found behind the old chicken house. He had found a baby deer. It was hiding in some tall weeds, and didn't move a bit. We made the girls be real quiet, pulled the weeds back, and took a quick peek. We then left it for the mom to come back and rescue. We then rode to the river and picked a few wild blackberries. We had to fight too many mosquitoes and Elizabeth was eating them as fast as I was picking them.
On Sunday, I fed the dad's. Well kind of. Eric wanted his fresh fish that he had caught, and I don't think I can fry fish very well, so Eric and Dad cooked fish. I fixed everything else - cole slaw made from cabbage from Kerri's garden, pinto beans, hush puppies and fries. The fish was soooo good. I am glad Eric brought that home.
Last night we started working really hard on getting things prepared for bible school It is less than two weeks away. On the way home from church, Eric killed a rattle snake. Aunt Janna - sorry - Eric skinned it and it's in my fridge waiting on me to cook it. We'll see.

A Warm Monday

Yesterday was very warm. Its hard to work in this heat, and some of the old people I see still think that it is January, instead of June. I saw a 90something year old man that had his long johns on. AND covered in a blanket. He was soo cute. As many people have, Eric began last fall to think of ways we would survive if hard times fell on us. So he filled our freezer with deer, duck, goose, rabbit, and coon. I will never try to cook the coon. It makes me jump every time I open the deep freezer, because Eric has put it up in the freezer with one foot sticking out of the freezer paper. He says he has to do it that way, because when he gives it to the black man at work, he won't take it any other way. Eric says that they won't take it unless it is wrapped like that, because people have brought them cats before. Nope, don't think I'll be trying coon. I bought a cookbook to give me some ideas on how to cook this wild game. I haven't been real impressed with the recipes, but it does help to know how long to cook some of this stuff. Last night I tried my hand at rabbit. Let me just say, Rabbit will not be on my last supper wish. I cooked in the crock pot all day, and it turned our really dry. Eric wants me to try Barb-b -q -ing it, so I will give it one more try. Poor bunny.
After supper, Eric mowed and weed-eated, I watered my plants, and the girls dug for earthworms. They said they were getting them for the next time they went fishing. After going outside, I made Leah practice reciting / recognizing her letters and made Elizabeth read a blog on the Internet that her friend from school is writing with her mom. It's something that she is interested in and helps her read. Then it was bath time and off to bed after that. Eric stayed up watching Swamp Loggers, while I charted for the evening. He went to sleep around 9:45, so when I finished my "homework", I enjoyed a glass of muscadine juice and read my bible. As Janna says "Life is good."

Beautiful Weekend

What a hot weekend. Summer has arrived in my book. On Friday, after doing laundry, the girls and I went to our friend Pat's house to swim. I really didn't have time, but the girls had bugged me about it all week, and I really want them to have a fun summer. The good Lord saved me on this trip. He sent an afternoon thundershower while we were there, so the girls only got about an 1 hour swim. Enough for me, but you know they were unhappy. After swimming, we quickly bought groceries at WalMart, then went to Granny and PawPaw's for supper. Dad had went fishing the day before with a church member, so he was cooking supper for us and Bro Dub and Sis Yoko Allen. Sis Yoko is a dear, sweet lady, from Okinawa, that always sends good food that she has cooked to Mom and Dad. It's usually fried rice and egg rolls, and sometimes something extra. So Mom and Dad, I beleave, were re-paying the favor. The girls spent the night with Eric's dad and step-mother on Friday night, so that Eric and I could go riding again on our motorcycle. We got up early on Saturday and rode with 7 other friends to Queen Wilhemina State Park. It was beutiful. I have never been that far west in our state, and I think I could live there. If you squint your eyes enough, you can imagine you are in Montana. We ate at a nice restraunt in Mena, I think the name was "The Chopping Block". We rode over 300 miles Saturday. My tail end was very sore by the end of the day. And it was a very hot and humid afternoon. I have never wanted a bath so bad. We came home, got our baths, and Eric then went to pick up the girls. They had a great time being spoiled by MaMaw Sherley.
Sunday we went to church, then went to Mom's for pork tenderloin, fresh cucumbers, fried potatoes, squash, and zuchinnie, green beans, and cabbage slaw. Yes, I gained another 5lbs Im sure, just from lunch. The girls got a suprise at Granny's house. She got a pool from Uncle Ross that they were not going to set up this year. She is now an official member of the "redneck front yard blue swimming pool society." They talked her into letting them swim and Eric and I went home and took a wonderful nap. Went back to church last night, and off to work today. Lord - Please let the week be easy.

Not much to blog about. Tuesday night we went to the youth softball awards. I can hear some of you now, mom, "I didn't get invited". I am so glad I didn't invite anyone, because it was soooo informal. We couldn't hear their names announced and all my girls cared about was getting their trophy. They got a cute little trophy and then we went home. We watered the plants and looked for slugs when we got home. With all of the rain that we have got this year, slugs are taking my garden over and eating some of my flowers. I have found something that they like much better than plants, and if you have a problem with slugs and want to know my secret, call me. This Baptist will not put in writing her secret!
We went to church last night, not much excitement there. Tonight we are going to Diamond Head after work and look at a tractor Eric has found. He thinks we need one, and I guess we have borrowed Chucky's enough that maybe we do need one. We'll see. Maybe I can at least get ice cream out of this trip.

Back to Work

As you can tell, since I haven't posted in almost a week, things have went back to being busy. I also don't have great connection to the Internet at home, so I get frustrated trying to type and getting disconnected. Last Thursday the girls and I went shopping for clothes for Elizabeth. It wasn't sooo bad. I thought they would have drove me crazy, but they acted pretty good. We even had lunch with Granny. Of course, that was the highlight of their day. On Friday, we continued to stick around the house most of the day. Eric mowed, I did laundry, and the girls played in and out all day. We did make one trip to town to get Eric's hair cut and replace my salt shaker that Leah had broke the night before. I started out with a rooster and a hen shakers. I think Eric broke the rooster, and so I found a replacement for it at a flea market/antique store. Of course it didn't match, but it had character. So Leah dropped the chicken salt shaker in the floor on Thursday night and I had to replace it. I did find lots of shakers that were chickens, but none really matched what I already had. But I did find a cute set of bee hives. If I find a chicken in the future, I might pass them on to my father-in-law, who works bees.
Friday night, Eric and I tried out a new restaurant for our anniversary. Capers is not a new restaurant, but new to us. It's suppose to be really nice, and it was, but a little pricey. I did expect it to be pricey , but when I pay for pricey, I want a little extra service to make up for it. Don't get me wrong, the food was excellent - very, very good, but they sat us at a very tiny table, of course next to the kitchen, and the place was not full at all. They were slow also to fill our drinks and our water just lacked personality. We had crab and crawfish cakes, set in this wonderful horseradish cream sauce, with a mango/pineapple chutney - it was to die for!! That was our appetizer. Eric, once again, had steak and I had bacon wrapped shrimp with a side of cheese grits ( they were almost as good as mine). We had strawberry shortcake for desert. Eric was disappointed that the shortcake was real shortcake, and not the cheap Hostess kind of shortcake. Redneck! It also had real whip cream on top. Sooooo gooooood.
Saturday we got up and went for a motorcycle ride with Chris and Kim Paty. We left at 8am and rode to Murfessburo, to the Diamond State Park. You can dig for diamonds, but we just enjoyed watching the rednecks. It was better than late night at Walmart. We even met a terrible 5 year old boy, who obviously had never had a spanking. He was very lucky that Chris was more scared of the law than him, because if Chris wouldn't have been afraid of jail, he probably would have given that little *bleep* a spanking. After the diamond mind, we enjoyed a wonderful hamburger in town, then drove onto Old Washington State Park. This state park has over 40 buildings, well actually it's a town, that has been restored to how it was around 1850. They give tours of the homes and some re-enactments. It was very nice. It was a good ride, but it was very late when we got home to rescue Granny and PawPaw. (Sorry Granny!)
Sunday was dad's first day back to preaching and he did a fine job. I know everyone was glad to have him back and you could tell by the attendance, too. We had a church full. Mom made bar-b-q chicken, fried zucchini and squash, and potato salad for lunch and I brought a salad and sweet potato rolls. Very yummy. Eric, Leah and I went for a ride on the Ranger in the bottoms after lunch and Elizabeth stayed with Granny.
Monday was back to work as usual. Of course it was a crazy day, but I am alive. Eric said he had a fine day. We had breakfast for supper last night, since that is quick and easy to fix, and then cleaned house. The girls finished cleaning their rooms, Eric and I worked on the rest of the house and we both took turns running the vacuum. I still have laundry to put up. Its a never ending job at my house! Eric said last night " I wish I knew how to keep this place clean" and I said "I know how, but it won't pay the bills - Let me quit". Guess he will have to continue to help clean house. Poor guy!

Back home

Oh the joy's of coming back home. Eric was a wonderful chiefer for our entire trip. I did not have to drive one inch of our trip. We drove forever on Monday it seemed. I did persuade Eric o stop in Memphis for lunch. It helps when there is a Joe's Crab Shack to help convince him to stop. When we got home, we quickly watered the plants that were in dehydration, before going to mom and dad's for supper. They went to the White River while we were gone for a mini-vacation of fishing. They both had a good time and brought back some trout to eat. Dad tried two different recipe's for the trout, and fried trout wins out hands down. Eric and the girls liked it grilled with lemon pepper and lemons and limes. But the fried was liked by all. Dad says they will do "catch and release" next time. He is not a fan of trout. It was very nice to not have to cook when I got home, and was well appreciated.
On Tuesday, the work began. Eric decided to stay home, thinking he would relax before he went back to work. But instead, he bush hogged all day in the heat along with worming the horses, and spraying fly spray on the horses. I spent most of the day cleaning house and doing laundry. I didn't get finished before I had to start supper. Eric volunteered me to cook supper for mom and dad . I think he did that so that it would guarantee he would get a home cooked meal. We had grilled deer tenderloin (butterfly the tenderloin, place cream cheese and a jalapeno pepper, then wrap with bacon), grilled corn on the cob, and fried sweet potatoes. So yummy!. After supper, we went to the ball field for one more tball game. It ended up being very boring, because the coaches on both sides decided this would be a learning game. They wanted to teach the girls to throw it to the bases, and have all the girls run the whole way around. No competition, no fun!! The girls did have a good time though, because they never got out!
So today I should be up and finishing up my job from the day before, so that I can play the rest of the week. But........

Red River Gorge

We left Lexington late yesterday morning and went to Natural Bridge State Park and drove around Red River Gorge. It was very pretty, lots of dense forest and rocky cliffs. It reminded me of the Buffalo River area. There were lots of people there hiking. Eric and I wanted to role down the window and yell "EAT a CHEESEBURGER!" There are suppose to be a lot of rock formations and arches, but we didn't see any. I think you have to hike to those and the girls were fussing about having to walk, BRATS. When we got to Natural Bridge, we found a sky lift. Eric fussed about paying $34 do go into a cave the day before, and again he had to pay $34 to go up the sky lift. It was to take it us up to the Natural Bridge. It was very pretty, but if I might not have went up if I would have seen how it went straight up the mountain. You could see it go over a hill, but not past that. Once you got over that hill, it went straight up and I mean STRAIGHT UP, that mountain. Elizabeth didn't help at all when she said "We're gonna die." It ended up not being so bad after all. When we did get to the top without dying, we were able to walk across the natural bridge and look into the deep valley's of the gorge.
When we were done driving around the gorge, we headed back in the direction of Arkansas. We made it about 30minutes north of Nashville. The girls got to swim one last time and Eric got to eat at one more steak restaurant.
We are now headed down the interstate toward home. The girls are a little restless and cranky, but what's different. Eric has to go back to work tomorrow, and the rest of us are off for the rest of the week. Poor Eric.

Kentucky Adventures

We have started Day 3 of our road trip and everyone is still alive. Eric hasn't killed us and we haven't killed him.
Yesterday, after making a stop at the Bowling Green Harley Davidson store, we headed to Mammoth Cave National Park. I think I am coming to the conclusion that once you have been to Yellowstone and Glacier, all other parks are going to be a dissapointment. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but the scenic majesty is just not the same. It reminded me alot of Arkansas and one of our state parks. They are also remodeling the visitors center. There is a lot of hiking trails and about 5 different tours into the caves that you can take. We didn't get there until 11:30, so our options of tours was very limited. We opted for the 1:30 tour that took about 2 hours and had 500 steps total. The walk in was very fun, it was straight down, very, very narrow, and occasionally wet. We saw lots of crickets, spiders and one baby bat. The girls had a fun time. Leah started to be a little scared of the dark at first, but soon got over it, leading the way. Before we went on the tour, we had to waste a little time, so we went for a small snack at the picnic tables and then a one mile total walk down a hiking trail. Mom would be proud.
After the cave adventure, we headed toward Abraham Lincoln's birthplace down scenic Hwy 31. Before we got far, Leah was asleep and Elizabeth was crying that she was hungry. It had been a long time since breakfast and we didn't really eat any lunch, AND we had walked a lot, we decided to stop for an early supper. Eric was determined to have a steak, so we ate at Colton's. Leah slept for 1/2 the meal, which was a relief for the rest of us. Once we were done with our meal, we started back down the road. Hwy 31 was a real nice drive. Lots of hills, farmland and beautiful houses. We were an hour late to get to see the birthplace of Lincoln. We were very dissapointed. We drove on down the road to his boyhood homeplace and we could walk around there. One thing I read was that the time the Lincoln's lived in Kentucky, it was not uncommon to have land disputes, and that's why they had to move around, and eventually Lincoln's dad moved onto Indianna. The spot he had picked to live in for there boyhood home was beautiful, in a valley, and I would have picked it too.
We then headed to Lexington to find a motel. I had the girls convenced that if they mentioned another word about swimming, we would never go swimming again. The time changed on our drive to Lexington, so we lost on hour. When we got to the motel it was 9:30 their time. I got the swim suits out as soon as we got there, and the girls were able to swim for an hour right before bed. I was told I was the best mom in the whole wide world!!
Today we are headed to Kentucky's Rockies - Natural Bridge and Red River Gorge. I have been typing while we have been driving on the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkwasy, and I think I have missed a pretty drive. Eric says he believes this would be beautiful in the fall. May have to bring him back. Poor guy.

I have heard I am in trouble for not writing more blog. When I began this I knew that would be my downfall. So take my apology now, I won't do as well as my Aunt Janna. BUT, Aunt Janna doesn't have a full time job, 2 kids and Eric for a husband. (God love him).
Elizabeth and Leah had ballgames last night. Both did really good, Elizabeth got several outs and Leah hit one of her balls hard enough to run to 1st and help Elizabeth to get to home to score. It was lots of fun.
Right now, we are on our way to Kentucky. we just crossed the river bridge in Memphis. We've been gone for 3 hours and Leah has asked a million times "Are we there yet?" When we stopped in Brinkley for a potty break, Elizabeth found us a hotel to stay in. We told her we weren't quite there yet. Eric has had one "run- in" with a truck driver. So this may be an exciting trip!!
We are planning to mark another National Park off of my list. I have a list of "10 things to do before I die". I haven't got 10 things yet, BUT, one of the 10 things is to take my girls to all 50 National Parks before I die. When we went to Oregon last year, I got to mark of 3, and since times are a little tighter this year, we are having a quick vacation to Kentucky. Mammoth Cave National Park is located in Kentucky. We also plan to take a drive to the Red River Gorge, which Southern Living had an article about in April. If times allows, we also plan to visit Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home.
I hope to be able to blog our trip, but I don't know how well the air card will work, so we'll see.

Sunshine Sunday

Awesome sunshine today. It is beautiful, with a small chill in the air. This has been a nice week. No ballgames, due to the rain. We got rain all week long, even a little bit yesterday. Work went well this week, with not too many glitches. Elizabeth did not have to go to school on Friday - scheduled snow day. Since the school did not use their two allotted snow days, they are using them at the end of the year. She will be off on Monday also. We slept late on Friday, did laundry and just slugged around the house. It was a really nice day. Eric had to work. Grandma fixed supper for the Barne's clan for Ross's birthday. She made fried deer steak, fried okra, candied sweet potatoes, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and wonderful yeast rolls. Oh it was soooo good. Mom had also went to the Greek Food festival for lunch on Friday and bought some baklava and shared with those of us who have a fine pallet. The men and boys didn't want any, but that's OK, more for me. After supper, the girls stayed with mom and dad and Eric and I went to the dirt track races in Monticello. Eric has a cousin that has been involved in dirt track racing longer than I have known Eric. Now Dale's son is racing, and so we went to see him. The problem with dirt track racing, is that it goes long into the night. It wasn't over until 12:30 and we didn't get home until 2am. We then had to get a shower because we were covered in dirt. Even though the rain has saturated the ground, it was dusty at the track.

Saturday, after sleeping in late, Eric went to run errands and finish working on his Ranger at Bradley's. I went to see what was happening on Barne's Hill. The girls were playing on a mound of field dirt that mom and dad have covered with a tarp to keep the rain from washing it away. They were soaking wet because they were standing at the top of the mound with a water hose and sliding down. Mr Roy Harrington was there and stated "They're tougher than a nickle steak." After lunch, mom and I took the girls with us to a nursery in the small town of Ouchita. My friend Penny has built me a raised garden box and now that it has stopped raining, I have got to get it planted. I didn't find much there, but I found lots of great flowers. On the way there, we spotted a u-pick strawberry field. We stopped and picked for about an hour and got some great strawberries. When we got home we sat around eating strawberries and saying our good buys to Grandma Barnes. She left today for her summer job in Yellowstone. We will miss her sooo much. I can't wait for October, when she will come back.

More Rain

It was a typical Friday, except Elizabeth didn't have to go to school. She has had a lot a trouble again this year in reading and math, so we are checking into seeing if she has a learning disability. I took her to her pediatrician this morning and OF COURSE, she had to refer us to a place that test for this sort of thing. She may just be like her mom and dad, and just doesn't like school. After a visit to the doctor, we went to the pet shop, just to look. The girls like going, I hate it because it stinks. After that, we went to eat and play at Chic-fillet. Then off to Walmart to shop for weekly groceries.
When we got home, I took a nap while the girls played real quiet in their room. That was real nice. I then got up and fixed supper and after that we went to Fordyce to pick up a power washer that Eric purchased. His brother's church youth group is having a rummage sale to help pay for their way for a mission trip. Somebody dropped off a really nice power washer and Eric snatched it up. We didn't stay long, because it was late, and the girls slept all the way home.
Today we have spent the majority of the day doing laundry and picking up this messy house. Once again it is raining. I tried to take a nap with Leah, but all I could do was think about what I needed to do. Eric helped with the house cleaning before lunch, but now has left to go to Bradley's to work on his ranger. I think the girls and I are going to find a last minute mother's day present. I have to work tomorrow, unless something changes.

Rain

Even though this should have been an easy week, it has turned into a blur. How does time fly by so fast. Sunday we went to church and after church we went to what I call "Harrington Holler". Sunday was the 1 year anniversary of one of our dear friend's death, Waine Harrington. He has been missed ssssoooo much over the last year and I don't think missing him will get any less. His family came up with a wonderful idea to have a picnic at their farm for all of his friends and family in his memory. His mother said it would be better than crying all day. Despite the rain, many people showed up. We had to have the picnic in her house, but after we were done eating, it stopped raining and we were able to play some games with the kids outside. Everyone had a great time and Waine would have been very happy to be there. Sunday was also Eric's birthday. Mrs Audrie fixed him a delicious chocolate birthday cake. This was a hard day for Eric, so it really touched him that she would do this for him.
We haven't had any ballgames this week. It's been a nice break from the rush. I only worked 1/2 days on Tuesday and Wednesday, to spend time with my dad. We rode down to the hunting lease yesterday to see if the river flooding had made it up to our cook shack. Not yet, as of yesterday and I don't think its going to make it. On Sunday, I poured 5 inches of rain out of the rain gauge and on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, we got another 3 1/2 inches. Plus we got a little rain in between all of that - so there is water everywhere!! I wish the water would conserve itself until August. When I read post on facebook, all people are talking about is the rain. Sheridan schools even closed because the flooding made it impossible for some of the busses to make their routes. Elizabeth was quite agrivated that she had to go to school.

Deep Breath

I haven't blogged in several days due to a family emergency. It's not something I want to talk too much about just yet, so forgive my discretion. Wednesday night was, I believe the scariest night of my life. I bought a book yesterday titled " The Survivors Club". I heard about it on the Glenn Beck program, a talk radio host with conservative values who talks politics. I just began reading this book about people who have survived from impossible situations and I love this statement from the book " The best survivors understand that normal is just a fleeting state of mind. Indeed normalcy may seem steady and constant, but it's really just the intermission between the chaos and messiness of life." I love my family and my friends, and I have a great family and great friends. They have lifted me in thoughts and prayers this week like I have never been lifted before. Last year on May 2nd, a tornado ripped through our community and this week another "tornado" has ripped through again. We are hanging on to that tornado, and when we fall back to
normalcy may I be found to be a survivor.

T-ball and Kittens

We had work, school and then t-ball practice yesterday. The girls had such a great time. This is a very young team, and so Elizabeth is getting to play where the pitcher plays. She's doing pretty good. And Leah, her skinny little legs in these cute black shorts, she is sooo cute. They all are having such a good time and willing to learn. We were suppose to play tonight, but after hit and miss showers all day, we got a down poar right before we were to play, so it was cancelled. The girls were disappointed, but I took them to Granny's to see the new baby kittens. Leah got right in there and picked them up from their momma. I'm not sure the mother is a very fit mother. She is not cleaning them very well and doesn't have them in a very warm spot, AND she let us mess with them. I don't know - we'll see how long these poor kittens last. I tried to prepare Leah last night that the kittens may not make it very long. She said "but momma, you know puppies and kittens make me happy." How cute. Elizabeth told me this morning that if the kittens were a solid color, the mommy and daddy did not love each other, but if the kittens were striped, that meant the mom and dad loved each other very much. What?? I asked her where she heard that, but she said she just knew that. Oh my!

Sunday

Such a beautiful day. We got up slowly this morning and got ready for church. As we were about to leave, Eric spotted 7 turkey's out in the field across from our house. I have started spending time with my dad in the turkey woods this year, and hoping to be lucky enough to kill one. I have even hunted that field, so it was quiet frustrating when its time to walk out the door to go to church, and 7 jakes stand feeding in the field in front of me. Eric said it was the devil and I believe it was. We had a beautiful service this morning, with friends sitting in front of me and behind me. We ate a great lunch at mom's and then came home. Eric tried to get the dishwasher unclogged when we got home. We're still waiting. He's taking a nap now, and I'm about to go wake him to go back to church. I wonder if I should spray him with water or turn the TV way up loud. hehehehehhehheee

All I do is Eat

Up early this morning to travel to Clinton for the Johnson Sister Fish Fry. Mom got a "great" idea that we should leave early to eat at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Why did we do that, when we knew we would have so much fish to eat at lunch. It was a beautiful day in Clinton and lots of family I had not seen in YEARS, and some ever. The girls had a great time. Aunt Reba's grandson, Kyle, rode them on the 4 wheeler all day. They played outside, caught frogs, and played with cousins they had never met before. Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Marg live on a wonderful tree filled hill close to Greer's Ferry Lake, close enough you can walk there. Despite dreading the drive, I guess we had a good time. I know the girls did. We stopped on the way home at a nursery in Greenbrier and got mom some petunia's, tomato plants and a flower pot for her patio table. She planted them when we got home, and I finally talked the girls into going home. We have crashed again at the house. I think that I have not been here for more than an hour (besides in sleep) since Tuesday. I would love to just stay in bed tomorrow, but, up again we will go.

Just another Manic Friday
Up and at um again today, back to the usual "I got up late, so lets get in a hurry" morning. Eric was home this morning because he was going to the dentist. The girls will turn on their charming side when daddy is at home in the mornings, and it just erks me. They smile, laugh and act like they are sooo happy to get up, but when he's not here, they whine, cry and complain. Any way, after dropping Elizabeth off at school, Leah and I went to babysit for the babysitter. My babysitter had a funeral to go to this morning and her usual back-up, her mother, was wanting to go also. So Leann asked if we could help out, and happily I abliged. Makes me appreciate my babysitter so much more and I really don't pay her enough. Leah wanted to be a super duper helper, and I really didn't want that much help, so she ended up being the worst child there. I had 7 kids from babies to 4 year olds. It was only for a couple of hours, but it is not a career choice I would ever choose. It was lunch time when we left, so Leah and I interupted Eric and Bradley's lunch at the local barbque place. After lunch, we headed to Walmart for groceries, brought them home and put them up in the fridge, then left immediately to go pick up Elizabeth from school. After school, I treated the girls to a coke float at the Poyen diner, the back to home, thinking my day had ended, and I could finally relax. WRONG. Mom called, and we had horse riding lessons today at 4:30 (it was 4 when she called) So we changed quickly and went over to moms. Mom made up the rush to us by feeding us grilled hamburgers. Yummy. The girls are spending the night with granny and we leave early in the morning to go to a family renuion. YEAH!!

Just kept moving

My first blog. A journal of my day. Got up today and enjoyed a waffle with left over fruit salad and homemade whip cream. Yum. There are not many mornings that I get up early enough to eat breakfast, or even such a fancy breakfast, but I did today. I awoke about 5:30 this morning and once I was ready and my belly was full, I got the girls up. They were not so happy to get up this morning. They ate on the way - Leah had a hot dog without bun and an orange and Elizabeth had cheese grits and an orange. SO healthy!!! I then had to go to Little Rock for a two hour meeting and then to Pine Bluff and Sheridan for pt care. I was able to enjoy a lunch with my good friend Kerri. We ate at Brew Heaven today and saw lots of people we knew. You can't go to Brew Heaven without seeing someone you know. We both had the Chicken Club salad, and it was pretty good. Once I was done with work, I picked up the girls from Mrs Leann's and we come home for a quick bite to eat and to get ready for T-ball practice. We had t-ball practice for about an hour tonight. They are sooo cute, but the younger ones are having a little trouble staying with it for an hour. We have one more practice before the games start on Tuesday. This should be very entertaining.