I am so glad that's over!!!!

The party, the day, the week...I'm glad it's all over!! I will give you the short version:
Monday....I don't even remember Monday but I am pretty sure that was the day I went grocery shopping. I'm sure you have heard me say that is an all morning event for me and it ruins the rest of the day!

Tuesday...I had to check Hannah and Ryan out of school to take them for their flu shot/mist. Ryan can't have the mist because of his reactive airway disease. He handled that shot like a man! He was nervous about it but wouldn't tell me so and then didn't even flinch when he got it.

Wednesday...I went with Ryan and his class to the pumpkin patch to pick a classroom pumpkin and each kid got their own small pumpkin to decorate in the class. Within a half hour it was raining so they cut the fieldtrip short and went back to school. It continued to rain all day.

Thursday....my day was turned upside down by the arrival of the vomit bug. I have been saying it all week but do you know it has been at least 15 yrs since I threw up?! Now that I think about it, probably upwards of 18 yrs. First of all, I can't believe I am old enough to say it's been at least 18 yrs and second of all I was trying to think of when exactly the last time was. Here's what I came up with: we were at church camp for the week. I would say I was about 10. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and going to that nasty bathroom (some of you know what I'm talking about) and again and again. Come morning time I was still sick so I stayed in the cabin all day while all the other kids played games, sang, swam and so on. Mrs. Isles (sp?) came down several time to check on me and give me lemonade which I was dumping out the screen window from my top bunk. I think I spent two days in the cabin. Not one of me best camp memories....
Since it has been quite a few years since I experienced this, I didn't know what I was going to do. For some reason I thought I would still be able to take care of Abigail. But after #7, I called Brad crying saying he either had to come home or call his mom to come get the baby. It was the latter that happened. I didn't throw up anymore after that I was fine the next day.

Friday....I spent a couple hours in the morning getting ready for the church halloween party. I was in charge of a lot more than normal this year. Friday evening the two older kids spent the night with mamaw. I went back up to the church after dark to do some more things for the party.

Saturday (today)....I was up bright and early at 6 to shower before the baby woke up. I made my dirt pudding for the party, took Abigail to get her pictures made at JCPenney ($40 for 12 sheets!), came home and spent 2 hours making 3 dozen cookies for the party. The party was a huge sucess. The kids are so easy to please but it was a lot of work! The tear down process takes longer than the party itself!

Tomorrow I get at least part of a day of rest! I really want to go to Kmart where they have all their summer clothes marked down to $.99 and see if I can get anything for the big kids for next summer.

Monday is trunk or treat before trick or treat. This will be my first year doing a truck or treat. I'm really excited. I have a great theme picked out. Too hard to explain but maybe next week I'll put a picture of it on here.

I will happy when it is all over and I can focus on my normal things again! The house, laundry and everything else has been neglected this week!

That's all folks!

Finding beauty in the simple things

I am a naturalist, indeed. Being outside, surrounded by our marvelous God's handywork, just fills my soul with joy. Here are a few simple pictures I took recently.


Brad and I often drive out through the country when we don't have anything better to do. Actually, I think we should make time for it more often. Most of the roads we revisit are ones that bring back lots of memories from our early years together. Places where we used to fish, cows we used to stop and pet and many, many 4 wheeler trips taken on these back roads. These deer and just a few of many we saw that evening.



Rocks at Babcock State Park



I was trying to capture the leaves covering the road and the path being untouched



Who doesn't love flowers?!


My favorite. The Mill at Babcock State Park. The kids were upset when they found out we came here without them. They love this type of thing as much as Brad and I.

I think if we would all look more closely, we would be surprised how much beauty is in the simple things. =)