My Mountain Man

I've been calling Rick my mountain man. He went camping/hiking with the boy scouts from church on a 30 mile hike in the mountains. Rick's pack weighed about 50 pounds...impressive huh? He was a little nervous about going. He's not much of a camper and hasn't done anything like that before. He earned his Eagle Scout at 14 years old and never looked back! I kept teasing him about his big trip. He was so funny about getting all his stuff together...all his little snacks were in baggies and labeled for each day. He even had a whistle which he informed me was very important to have in case he got lost...I couldn't stop laughing and he started getting ticked at me saying the "this is serious...people die out there". Thankfully he never needed the whistle. He was so worried about having enough food that his pack was really getting heavy because of all the food he had. I think his pack was about 10-15 pounds more that what it should have been. He was a little concerned but as he said, "I've ran marathons...I can handle it". And he did...although he did say it was a lot harder than he expected it to be and one of the hardest things he's done. I was really proud of him and he actually enjoyed the trip. Now, I have to say that this is the longest Rick and I have been apart since we got married. I think we've only been apart about 3 nights max. When I realized that, I started getting a little nervous about him leaving. The kids and I really missed him a lot. We were so happy when he came home. Thankfully he was able to shower before he came home but man was he scruffy looking from not shaving for 6 days!

More Pictures

These are the last two, I promise! I just had to include the ones of her cute little smile. And yes, I do have other children...I just didn't include them in this photo shoot. They would have complained anyway and besides I needed them behind me helping to make Savannah smile. I will get around to taking pics of all 4 kids sometime soon. It definately takes a lot more effort and patience to get all 4 kids doing what I want and being happy about it...all at the same time.

More Pictures

I LOVE black and white photography and think everyone looks better in black and white. I also like a good profile shot...as you can see. As I was putting the pics on I realized that I did quite a few profile shots of Savannah. She just has the cutest little profile I couldn't help it!

Savannah's Photo Shoot

I've been meaning to take some more professional pictures of Savannah lately and I finally did some the other day. It was WAY too hot to do them outside so I rigged up a little studio in my house and took some pictures of her. With a little help from photoshop I thought they turned out pretty good.

Family Pool Time

We went swimming Saturday and had so much fun. The kids were so excited for Savannah to go swimming. Rick's gym has Family Swim Time on Saturdays so we went for a couple of hours. Savannah did really well. We had her in the pool for a while, then I fed her and let her nap in the shade for a while...and then she swam for a while longer. She loved it, of course, she's the perfect baby! We took some cute pics. The girls both swim really well and even Neil can swim pretty good without swimmies on.

Work it girl

Here is Savannah sporting her new swimsuit for the summer...courtesy of Aunt Mary (my kids favorite aunt in the whole wide world...Melina even once admitted that she might be willing to trade me for Aunt Mary as a mom). The kids were loving having Savannah in her little bathing suit. We had a little fashion show and took lots of pics. This was my favorite...she even looks like she is posing.

Fertile Family

My mom has 7 kids and now the grandkids are multiplying like crazy! We are on a hot streak right now. It started in April of 2008 when my neice Kate was born then came Marlee in November then Savannah in December then Connor in March and now Brody is due in August and unamed baby by Steph is due in December. That's 6 in about 20 months. 2 of those by the same mom! (oops)...we won't mention names but her baby is in this picture with Savannah...her name is Marlee...okay it's Steph. Steph's first child is Elise, the first of the grandbabies...she beat me by 6 months. Elise and my oldest Auburn are best buds. Steph wasn't sure she would have more kids and then Marlee came along and before she had time to sit down and relax she was pregnant again (I like to refer to her as 'Fertile Myrtle'...she's not too keen on the nickname). Now Marlee and Savannah are only about 5 weeks apart. I guess we'll see what kind of trouble they get into in a few years along with the other 4 babies around their age. Good times!!

Boys are so easy!!

Little Mike is my nephew and he is Neil's best bud. He's 2 years older than Neil, lives across the street, and Neil adores him. They really do play so well together. They are all about sword fighting... ninjas... wrestling... baseball... farting... burping... all the boy things. I love it! Boys are so easy. Just give them a sword or a bat and they will play for hours with each other and come back inside sweaty and happy. Girls on the other hand are so emotional!!! They have their fun sweet side too but they can be...challenging. This picture is of Neil and Mike holding Savannah. They are such sweet boys and the baby, as you can see, adores them!

The HEAT is ON...

Okay, I love living in Florida...lots of sun, warm weather, etc...but the HEAT this week has been a little much. It's been 98 or 99 degrees with a heat index of 105-110. I know, all of us Floridians have been griping all week about it and we need to just get over it because we do, after all, live in Florida. But I like to gripe about the heat when I'm sweating in my own house with the AC on trying to get ready to go out to dinner with Rick and blow drying my hair wondering why I took a shower if I was going to be all sweaty again 10 minutes later. I even tried blow drying my hair on the cold air setting, that only lasted a couple of minutes and I realized I would be drying it for quite a while. Meanwhile Rick is telling me it's time to go. Our AC does work but come 3 or 4 in the afternoon the air is blasting but it's still about 78-80 in the house.


The kids keep wanting to go out and play and then they only last about 10 minutes. Their new thing is to ask to play with the water hose. Sure, why not. So, they are outside in their play clothes squirting each other...looking like a bunch of redneck kids. They love it and they're happy so I guess I love it too. We do have a few friends with pools that we mooch off of now and then. One day we will have our own...one day...can't wait.

Spring Break at Busch Gardens

I never wrote about our spring break vacation to Busch Gardens so I wanted to say a few things about that. We had so much fun. I will admit I was a little apprehensive to take the baby but she was an angel. We just took her stroller and took turns watching her while the other parent rode rides with the kids. The 3 older kids loved it. I was impressed with the park. I had not been there before. We went 3 days in a row and actually didn't end up killing any of the kids.

I was actually surprised by what an overprotective mom I was being while we were there. I was freaking out watching my kids on some of those rides. Melina, my 7 year old, is really small and I was so worried about her falling off or being thrown out of some of those rides. I was with her on the one that is like a big pirate ship that swings back and forth and then hangs upside down....I seriously thought she was going to fall out! So, I was screaming at her, "are you okay???...are you about to fall??...hold on!!". I'm sure I sounded ridiculous. She kept yelling back, "I'm fine!!! Stop saying that mom!!". Afterwards she told me she didn't want to ride it with me again because I was "freakin her out with all that stuff I was saying". Nice. I have always loved rollercoasters but man I must be getting old because I kept getting headaches everytime I rode one of those really fast ones. What a wimp. Oh, and Neil even rode on one ride that went upside down...he actually wasn't quite tall enough but Rick taught him to stand on his tippy toes when they measured him so he would be tall enough. I wasn't too happy about that.

I really enjoyed watching the kids have fun. They just enjoyed every moment of our vacation. Our passes are for the rest of the year so we will be going again sometime soon.

The Ol' Family Garage Sale...

Oh yes...we are doing a garage sale this weekend with some good friends of ours. This is always a funny thing to me. My husband Rick is hilarious when it comes to things like this. He is a neat freak and LOVES to get rid of things. I am like that to an extent but not nearly as bad as he is. So, Rick is going through everything in the house and trying to sell anything and everything possible. The kids go around paranoid of what he will put in "the pile".

We have only done a couple of garage sales before because we just don't keep things we don't use or don't have room for. This only makes Rick more determined to find things. He drug in the ladder this morning and got up in the attic (garage sale is tomorrow). Melina and I watched as he threw numerous things down from the attic. The kids were thrilled when they spotted some of their old toys...however things heated up as Rick was trying to put everything in "the pile". I had to fight hard to keep a little buggy for Savannah (helpless 5 month old) that was once Neil's. I won that one, barely. I did, however, lose the fight over the little table Neil was wanting but Rick was determined to sell...Ill keep working on him.

I love my husband's determination but man is this guy serious about his garage sale! And by the way, the money we make is not for some fun vacation or family toy...it is going straight to paying off debt. We are now on the Dave Ramsey "Total Money Makeover Plan" and we are determined to be debt free. Only then am I allowed to get a bigger house...which our growing family could really use. But this is a good thing. We are working hard and I know it will pay off soon...until then we will all hide our favorite things from Rick.

Too good to be true!!

Savannah has been the BEST baby. She is so sweet and so good all the time it makes us a little concerned about the toddler (or worse...teenage) years. I didn't realize I would enjoy #4 so much. I really have enjoyed these 5 months so much. She has such a sweet disposition and has brought us all a lot of joy. Maybe this is payback for the torturous pregancy I had with her (sickness...sleepless nights...sickness... hives...sickness...unexplained aches and pains...more sickness).

The kids adore her. I always say she is the most kissed baby in the world. We actually had to make a rule that the kids can only kiss her "2 times and then back off for a minute"...I'm not kidding, the kid was constantly getting smothered, but did she complain?? Never! She loves those overbearing, space invading, kisssing too much siblings. She just smiles so big every time one of them walks by. I'm especially amazed as how much she loves her 3 year old brother. You have to watch him like a hawk! He will give lots of hugs (although most would think he is slowly squeezing the life out of her). Again, she never complains. We are so happy to have this precious little girl!!

Our Little Dancer

Auburn just had her jazz recital recently. She really is becoming a good dancer (I'll take credit for that). At first I was really surprised that she liked performing in front of people because she has always been so shy, but she loves it. And actually, she is not nearly as shy as she used to be. She also loves playing sports and is a really good athlete (okay...actually she got that from me and not the dancing).

Auburn or Aubo, as we like to call her sometimes, is my 'right hand man'. Whether she likes it or not she helps me out all the time...and I love her dearly for it. I'm sure she gets sick of it sometimes, like the year she told me on a Monday (after I had asked her to do something for me), "Uh...Mother's Day was yesterday". Nice...that was a few years ago and my family still laughs about the day Auburn stood her ground. The teenage years are going to be so much fun.

The Lady behind it all...

Here's my Mom...I thought this pic with her in her sunglasses makes her look cool and mysterious... (your welcome mom). Now that she knows how to get online I have to watch what I say about her.

Mother of 7 kids...impressive huh? We all love her to death. She is such a supportive and loving mother and the grandkids adore her! Her children range from 35 down to 24 (I'm not the oldest FYI). We have a blast when we get together and unfortunately she is learning more and more about the Internet and technology so we don't have as much material to make fun of her. Actually she is the funny one in the family with the quick wit.

I posted this pic of her with my youngest Savannah who was born on my Mom's birthday. I was due about a week later than that and pulled some strings (we're in tight with the OB) and was induced early on her birthday. I thought that would be special for my Mom...either that or now her birthday will be overshadowed by Savannah's...either way, I thought it made a good birthday present for her!

Lots and Lots of Cousins!

Wow...what a crew!...This is a picture of my girls with some of their cousins. We all recently got together and as we all walked in the door and were exchanging hugs and greetings I looked around and saw all the cousins holding cousins...so of course I grabbed my camera. This is all the girl cousins and in the middle being held is the youngest boy cousin, Conner (lucky little guy).

My mom has 7 kids and now has 12 grandkids (I think that number is correct)...and 2 more on the way. What's so great is that they are all so close in age, ranging from 11 down to a few months old. And we aren't done yet either!!

All the cousins LOVE getting together and it's so cute seeing how excited they get when they know they are going to see each other (we are divided between 3 cities in the Georgia/Florida region). They all play so well together and all my kids have cousins their age so that helps a lot with the playing situation. I love being from a big family and I'm glad that I now have a fairly big family...we won't be going for 7 but we will probably go for one more.

...okay, now that I really look at this picture...those kids are looking a little rough!...and the babies either have their mouths wide open or look like they just got snatched away from their mommies. And how about Leah (far left)...what's that on her forearm?? I think she jumped in the picture at the last minute...only those holding a baby were invited!

Need a Website?

I had some real issues trying to find someone to create an affordable website for me. After 7 months of frustration and miscommunication I still did not have what I wanted or needed. I then found a place online that offers the cutest websites for a great price. It is http://www.thecutestsiteontheblock.com/ . You can have a website created for you for $350 and they have a lot of very cute templates on there for you to choose from. They have tutorials to teach you and the guy who helped me, his name is Brick, was great to work with. In about a weeks time he had my site ready for me to add products. I just went live and I am so happy with my website! I highly recommend this site.

My New Website!!

I am so excited that my new website is finally live! I have been working on this for about 8 months now. The site is http://www.londonbridgechildren.com/. This site features all my artwork plus lots of other cute children items from other companies and artists. I am putting together a variety of unique gift and decor products. Let me know if you are willing to add a link to my store on your blog.