Changing all the time

Austin is changing so fast as a teenager.

He told me he could get his socks pulled up. I tried and he had outgrown his socks. I had to go the men's department and get him socks. This is the size he will probably wear for the rest of his life.

Also, his voice is changing. I thought his throat was sore or he needed to clear his throat when it first started. He told me he was okay. I didn't know thats what it sounded like when boy's voices change. It is so hard to listen to him because it is so scratchy sounding.

And the talk about girls has started.

I just saw the movie Step Brothers last night. It is about two guys who are age 40 but act like they are teenagers. It was so funny to see grown men act like my boys with a lot of other words and actions thrown in. But alot of the way they acted is what I live with all the time.

Family Reunion

We rented the condo next door and had a great time. It had been way too long since we have gotten together. It was great to hang out and catch up. Tammy has two girls and Eddie has one girl. So it was a treat to see how girls are SO different from boys. The boys would have nothing to do with the girls. It took a few days and a game of Uno for them to connect. The boys did not understand why the girls would squeel and run away. They thought it was because the girls did not like them.

In the pictures we told the kids to hold hands and as you can see they did not want to at all.

Girl in the House

I finally have a girl in the house, if only for a few days. Her name is Callie. She is black and white, a shi-tzu. I am keeping Diane's dog while she is out of town. She does what Brit doesn't. She jumps on the furniture and sits on your lap and licks your face. This is how she woke me up this morning. She is very sweet to me and the kids, but she doesn't like Paul. She is scared of men. Paul is trying to win her over. She will take treats from him, but won't let him come near her. We took her with us to the beach. Here she is with Hampton.

Six Flags pictues

I am in the white hat, barely getting wet. Hampton is hanging onto the center ring. Austin, Colton, and Camryn are next getting soaked.

Showing off their prize to the "real" bugs bunny. We played the water gun game with just the two boys to make sure we got the prize. It was an exact tie. Even the buzzer didn't say anything because it could not tell who had won.

Waiting for the big swing to get going. Austin is rocking out to Flowrida.

Uniboob

It was raining when we got out of the aquarium so the kids ran in the rain and got soaked. When we got to Mellow Mushroom, they were freezing. One of them started putting napkins in his shirt to dry off and get warm. The others thought this was great but one of them started putting the napkins in their "chest." They made it look like they had a big chest, boys too. Diane said it looked like a uniboob. My boys laughed so hard because they had never heard this. I tried to get a picture of Hampton's uniboob but he kept hiding under the table.

Pictures from the Aquarium

"BORED TEENAGERS"
Hampton has a butterfly on his finger.

Those are seahorses. The first one is a leafy seahorse. The second is a dragon seahorse. Aren't they cool.

This turtle shell is the largest in the world and over 150 years old.

Road trip

The boys and I took a road trip with Diane and her kids, Camryn and Colton last week. We went to Chattanooga and Atlanta. We drove over to Chattanooga and went to the aquarium, ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom. We stayed at Diane's mom's house that night. We got up the next morning and drove to Atlanta. We went to Six Flags. We rode our first ride and found lunch at 4 o'clock. It had started raining and the rides shut down. We decided to see if we could get a pass for the next day. We bought a pass for 6 more visits for $10 each. What a deal!! We stayed at the park and saw the concert Flowrida. We finally got to ride some rides about an hour before the park closed. We went back to Six Flags the next day and had a great time. We got home around 10 that night.

Mission Accomplished - sort of

Austin's mission this summer is to put a video on Youtube. We have been having trouble getting the video onto the computer in a format that we can download to Youtube. However, when his friend was over they used the webcam to make a video. Hopefully, we will get the real videos up soon. Please!! Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQEfOTjURow

I also had Austin and Hampton make a video for Gigi's birthday. This one has a little more adult direction. Here is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMYgBkJNvd0

You can see what I live with. HELP!!!!

Amish on the 4th

We had a great fourth of July weekend. Paul was off on Friday, so we decided to do something we had always wanted to do and have never done. We went to the Amish Country. South of where we live is a small community of Amish people. We have been wanting to take the boys and show them that you CAN exist without electricity, specifically electronics (tv, computer, etc). We said that we were going and they panicked. We finally told them it was only a tour of an hour and a half. They were very relieved. I have always wanted to go as well and learn more about them. This is what we learned:

1. They don't call themselves Christian. Even though, to us they are very Christian. They are Amish and we (all of the other people) are English. They believe that if you say you are a Christian, you are living the Bible exactly as is says. And we know that no one does that.

2. They don't like their picture taken. I knew this but did learn that the reason is if their image is "captured" on film or even in a mirror a peice of their soul is gone. So they have no mirrors in their homes.

3. The children speak German until about age 8. Only then will they teach them the English language. This is to seperate the children from adults. The kids go to school until age 14 or after 8th grade. They only learn reading, writing, and arithmatic. After school, they go to work. They can only sell what they have produced. One man we met made furniture, another made the wagons. They also sell vegetables, candies, bread, and crafts. Their shop is set up outside their home for people to come to. This is why they like to tours of their community.

4. At age 21 they marry. The father picks 3-4 girls for the man and he gets one date to choose the girl for him. The girl's older sister goes along to chaparone. Once married, they have 12 children.

5. Their clothing is simple. The women wear a bonnet because their hair is only for their husband. The man will grow a beard to show his love for his wife. They do not wear socks. I don't know why.

Hampton got to drive the horse drawn wagon. Both the boys cracked up when the horse did his business as we walked along.

I wanted to take pictures of the area so bad, but was very afraid of someone seeing me. They are very simple and poor. I thought it might make me want to simplify and declutter, but it didn't. It just made me appreciate our ability to work hard and earn what we have. I guess I will have to find some other modivation to clean out.

WARNING: Teen in the House

As of June 14th, we have a teenager in the house. Austin turned the big 13. We celebrated with a party at his new favorite place Gamestation. Also Paul's idea, we took him to a nice dinner at Bonefish Grill. He is constantly talking about lobster, his favorite food. Not that he has had it that much. Needless to say, he was very excited about this dinner and ate every morsel with tons of butter.

In the beginning

In the beginning was a blank blog.



So why am I doing this? Maybe because I used to like to journal. Or is it because I like all this new technology. I think it is so cool when I see people working on their laptops. That makes me want one, but I don't want the career that goes along with it. Also another reason is my Dad. He is constantly telling me to write the things down that my boys come up with. My two boys come out with things all the time that are so funny and creative. Austin has a dry sense of humor, like his Uncle Opie. Hampton is so loving that he is just precious. So this is for my Dad.



But why would anyone other than my parents want to read about my life. I am just a boring housewife with boys and a part time job as a preschool teacher. Today I cleaned, ran errands, carpooled kids, and cooked dinner. Yeah, kinda boring. So if just my parents and few other family people read this, it is just fine with me.



So, here goes......