Family Legacy

We just returned home from Statesville. Corby's grandmother died last week and her funeral was on Thursday. While it was a great time to spend with family... in the midst of the situation... I've thought a lot about the legacy that his grandmother left. My children actually knew her & got to spend time with her over the years. I am so thankful for that because all of my grandparents have passed on. My boys were 4 & 2 when my last grandparent died. Chandler remembers a little but Carter only remembers what he sees in pictures. I had a great relationship with my great-grandparents (and grandparents too) and many fond memories of times spent with them. I want that for my children and they had a chance to experience it with Grandmaw Haneline.

She was one of 14 children...had 7 children of her own... and was a Godly woman. She loved the Lord and she loved life. She loved to sing and play her guitar and I remember many Christmases sitting around listening to her & her children making music. Talking with my father-in-law the night before the funeral was great. His love for his mother showed so much and to be with her the last few days of her life was priceless to him. Her funeral was a celebration of the life she lived. It was evident, from all of the people packed into the church that day, how many lives she touched. Many tears were shed but I know she was looking down from heaven and smiling. One of the things the pastor asked us to do was to close our eyes and imagine a time with her. I could see the smile on her face. Always a smile. She left this earth knowing that she was ready to meet her Maker.

She left a wonderful legacy in the family that is still here on earth...mine included. When our days on earth are done we will leave a legacy behind as well. I want it to be something worth remembering.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD; the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127:3

Going to the Land of Odd

Anyone want to join me?
You enter the land of odd through the green glass doors. So what can you do in the land of odd? Here's a few suggestions...
You can drive on a street but not a road.
You can sleep but not eat.
You can shop in malls but not in stores.
You can read books but not magazines.
You can drink from glasses but not from cups.
You have have puppies & kittens but not dogs & cats.

Yes, it's a game... can you figure it out? Leave me a comment of what you will bring or do to see if you can come with me.

Ahhh summer...

Mostly, I love summer. I love the laziness of summer. However, when it's drawing near the end of it there are things that I start to dislike. One of the main things is the lack of a schedule. I start out strong in the beginning and usually after we get back from vacation I have just totally dumped the routine. Therefore leaving a whole month of hectic craziness to endure. Late to rise... late to bed is getting old. I love my kids, but around 8pm... well, I'm rather tired of them. Every person needs a break... at least for a couple hours. I need time to wind down & relax and with 3 kids that usually doesn't happen before 10pm in the summer. Even the 3 year old is going strong at the late hour. I'm ready for 8:30 bedtimes and a few hours of tv, scrapbooking, cardmaking, reading or whatever I need to do to wind down at the end of the day.

Even in all things... be thankful. When I think about them getting on my nerves, I am more thankful for the time that I get to spend with my kids. The fact that I am home with them for the summer... going to the pool, watching movies, being lazy, taking trips, going to grandparents & friends... is worth every bit of it.

Here's what I love about summer and dread about it ending:
-I love having no homework for the summer. I don't like getting back into it full force within a day or two of starting school.
-I love sleeping late. I'm a night owl so this suits me well. I don't like having to wake up to an alarm every day of the week.
-I love coming home from the pool and taking a nap. Being wiped out because we are all so tired from the heat is a great feeling. I don't like sitting in the car rider line to pick up my kids when it's still 100 degrees and knowing I have to come home to start homework with them.
-I love eating all the fresh fruits and veggies of the summer. They are plentiful and fairly reasonable priced at the grocery stores. I don't like going back to the carbs after the summer crop is gone (because I'm not paying $7 for a 1/4 of a watermelon).
-I love an afternoon thunderstorm in the summer. I can smell it coming. I don't like rain in the fall. It's cold and reminds me that winter is just around the corner.

Playing around with Picnik

I've used picnik.com several times before to play around with pictures but a friend of mine just upgraded to premium and let me try it out. Oh, it's so much fun!
Look what I've been doing... (click on the individual pictures to make them bigger)

Before: original picture /After: wrinkle remover!!!!! and teeth whitening

Before: original picture /After: blush effect & eye glow

Before: original /After: eye color brown

Before: original /After: black & white & blue eye color

Before: original/After: black & white and airbrush effect

Warning: Another post about a New Kids on the Block concert

 

 

Ok, so I admit at this point that I am a "Blockhead"... and I don't mean the ditsy kind.  (Don't judge me :-) This past weekend I had a fabulous girls weekend in Greensboro with one of my girlfriends from college.  As part of that weekend I attended yet another New Kids on the Block concert... this will be my 4th in the past 3 years.  (Click here and here to see my first 3 trips). 

Except this concert was even better because the Backstreet Boys were touring with them to make a combination of NKOTBSB!  

Here’s a bit of history for you:  **Of course as a teeny bopper in the late 80's & early 90's I loved me some New Kids.  I attended many of their concerts, had my room plastered in posters & magazine covers, purchased many t-shirts and big buttons, recorded every episode of Arsenio Hall, MTV and any other TV show that they appeared on and of course had all the cassette tapes, singles cassettes and VHS tapes that came out.  They were the Justin Bieber of today. 

As they started to phase out & new boy bands tried to replace them... (never will happen,  but that's beside the point)... the Backstreet Boys came on the scene.  They were in a battle as best boy band in the mid-late 90's with NSync.  But the BSB (Backstreet Boys) would be the only group that would even come close to my New Kids.  I'm older, more mature at this point... still liking this group a lot & purchasing all of their cd's... but still just not the same.  

Fast-forward to early 2008.  There is "talk" that a new website is up & running at www.nkotb.com.  What?!  Are they coming back??????  You can imagine my excitement as all the memories came rushing back from the days of neon hammer pants, high top Reeboks and big hair.  In May 2008 the official announcement is released & NKOTB makes their first appearance as a group on the Today Show.  I think I screamed like a little girl!  **

Who knew that this boy band from the 80's could make a come back & be successful and still running strong after 3 years?!  It's funny because all of those teen girls are now 30 & 40 somethings and I think this group is even more popular now than they were 20 years ago!  They announced last year they were joining up with the Backstreet Boys and would start touring again in 2011.  Cha-ching!  Yep, that brings even more of a crowd and of course, I was gonna have to see them again.  

Me & Darlene had a fabulous time and it was a GREAT concert!  Probably one of the best one's yet.  Maybe it's because it's been a couple years since I've seen them... maybe it's because I really needed a girls night out... maybe it's because we had awesome seats... or maybe all of the above.  So, I forever will be a NKOTBSB fan and if they tour again, you can probably guess you'll be reading another post about a concert that I went to.  :-)

Me & DarleneMore fellow Blockheads… Jen & Misty

Beach 2010

We have returned home from our beach vacation. As usual, it was too short. I always look at the cars that are going home on the way to the beach & think "I'm glad that's not me" and then the day we come home I look at the cars going to the beach and think "I wish that was us". I'm thankful for the time that we had there & that it was a great week. This is the 7th year that we have vacationed with the Stamey family. Each year gets better & better as we venture to do new things and the kids get older & more independent on the beach. (Much more time for us to relax :)

The weather was wonderful... hot, but a nice breeze on the beach and it didn't rain except for one night. We had our usual's again this year... a visit to Krispy Kreme, putt-putt, and riding the rides at Broadway. We also did a couple new things.... we visited Alligator Adventure Park and went to the Alabama Theatre. Alligator Adventure was okay, but it was soooo hot & Chandler got sick while we were there. Not too fun. The Alabama Theatre was GREAT! The show was great... singing, dancing and comedy. I say it was well worth the money, plus the kids got in free.

Between me & Mae we took a TON of pictures... can you imagine that??? Trying to condense them to the best ones was rather hard, so rather making my post 10 pages of pictures, I put them all into a slideshow.... enjoy while you listen to some great songs.

Need an Event Planner?

My friend Meagan has officially launched her website... still in the beginning stages. I'm so excited and I want to help her as much as I can to get this rolling. She's great at event planning for weddings and parties of all sorts... and so much more. She's also a great photographer as well. So, if you are in need...or know someone who is...of such a coordinator for an event coming up, please check out her new blog.

http://sophisticateevents.blogspot.com/