Driving Lessons

(To hear the sound from the videos, you will have to scroll to the very bottom and turn down my music player.)

Stroker and I were covering the counties today. We have been from Brush Creek to Doyle (and everywhere in between). We also spent some time at my sisters house watching Devin and Brookelynn take driving lessons. What better place to learn than in a big open field. 

My sister gave the lessons...I was too nervous, so I hung out on the patio with my mom and Stroker.

Friday Night Fire

We did it! we made it through the first week of school ON TIME! Now all we have to do is keep our morning routine that we have set this week...(Easier said than done).
The kids decided to spend the night with my sister to help out with her yard sale tomorrow. We took them to my sisters around 7pm and visited with her till 10. On the way home, Stroker started mumbling something about smelling burnt wires. I couldn't smell anything. As we drove ahead, we approached a semi truck in the distance that appeared to have sparks coming from it.
I guess since I could then see the sparks, my sense of smell decided to take part in the action ...All of a sudden I could smell what Stroker had been smelling.
"I do smell burnt wires" I said.  So he drove a little faster. The closer we got to the truck, the easier it was to see that the back wheel on the trailer was on fire. "Get up beside him" I said to Stroker. "I need to tell him to pull over".  Stroker thought that the driver would do one of two things...(1) ignore me (2) never make out what I was trying to tell him. Well, he was wrong. Neither of the two happened. When we pulled up beside the truck driver,  I had Stroker to blow the horn while I rolled down the window, pointed back at his wheel and said "YOUR TRAILER IS ON FIRE!"
The look on that guys face was pure panic.  He had that semi pulled over in 2.5 seconds, grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran to the back. Once he seen that the fire extinguisher wasn't getting the job done, he asked us to dial 911..so I called in the fire department.
This is my third vehicle fire incident on highway 111. When I was sixteen, I was driving home late one night and came upon an abandoned car that someone had set on fire on hwy 111. When I was 23, Devin and I were on our way to Stroker's one Friday afternoon and passed my nephew on the side of hwy 111 with his alternator on fire. I stopped to help him, yanked off my coat and beat the fire out. By the time the fire department arrived then, the flames were out. My coat was scorched, but luckily the 4 one hundred dollar bills that I had in the coat pocket that day had survived (once I remembered they were there).

We left right after these guys arrived.

I think it might be a good idea for me to just keep a fire extinguisher with me in my car...I'm just sayin'

Throwback Thursday

We have been busy this week sorting our stuff that was left from a consignment sale. Now we are getting stuff ready for my sisters yard sale that she will be having tomorrow and Saturday.
Also, we celebrated Darlene's birthday at Cheddar's last night.
Tuesday night we had Jett over for company while Stacia and Delano attending their birthing class. Only six more weeks till baby Dash gets here.

I remember the last time we had a little one running around the house...which brings me to today's throwback photo from July 2002.

baby Brookelynn and her big brother Devin.

Back to School

Today was the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. We completed our test run for morning drop offs in just under forty minutes...which is a bit ridiculous if you ask me. Uuuugggghhhh...TRAFFIC!  I'm frustrated at whoever built the high school 8 miles from our house. Why cant it be 1.6 miles away like the elementary school?
On a brighter note...Brooke got the absolute best teacher  in the district this year.  Mr. Bilyeu was  always going above and beyond other teachers. The made the lesson plans fun, he took pictures of the students of them working on projects and sent them home to parents, he even sent the kids educational post cards from his summer vacation. The kids like him because he keeps live pets in the classroom. If the students are on their best behavior all week, he even brings in a mouse on Friday to feed the snake while the kids watch.
As gross as it seems...the kids love it!
I hope Devin gets comfortable with the high school within the next week or so. I know it is a bit intimidating being in a new place...especially a building as big as our high school and with 2000 other students.

Sunday Night Summary

Is it bed time yet?
We haven't slowed down since Friday at 4pm. After Brookelynn got all packed up for the sleepover at Jalyn's, we dropped her off and headed to White County. Devin decided to help Darlene watch Jett at Stacia's for a little while. We were trying to get back home by 6:30 but was just a few minutes late. Our double daters were waiting. I quickly got ready and then we were off to a night on the town. Plans changed from CHAR to Spankies since CHAR was having some type of "songwriters" something; then plans changed from Spankies to Outback Steakhouse since Spankies had a 25 minute wait and we were all starving. After dinner we came back to our house and hung out on the patio till 2am just talking and reminiscing about being kids and growing up.  M & M had some pretty funny stories about dating, married life and their girls.
We have a lot in common with M & M. From their "who is a better driver" conflict,  right down to "Vacation Meltdowns"...we can relate to them so well.

Oh yeah...how could I forget. Around 1am we had a visitor...a real life fox was taking a stroll through our neighbors yard. He hung around for about 15 minutes or so before moving on. He would even occasionally stop and look at us as if to say "what are you guys doing out this time of night?"  We sure had a good time. Maybe next year on our one night without the kids we can do it again. Better yet, maybe we can get together one of the other 355 days of the year and have "family date night".
Saturday, we were up by 7am...I have no idea why we jumped up so early being as we didn't get into the bed until 3:00. I tried to talk some sense into Stroker to not bother washing the truck, but he is one of those people that feels they have to be busy (and have to have everything clean) all of the time.  Anywho...25 minutes later, he was outside with a soapy rag in one hand, water hose in the other...bent over throwing up everything he ingested from the night before. Lesson Learned!
After he was feeling a bit better, we made our rounds collecting our kids. We hung out at Jalyn's house for almost 2 hours talking to her parents. Afterwords, Brookelynn and I hit a few stores to do a little shopping before loading the guys back up and heading up to the family reunion cookout.

Guess what else happened Saturday. The county fair pageant...and guess who won the county fair 2010 Tiny Tot pageant...My great niece Matasia

Isn't she just beautiful?

Sunday, we visited my moms for a couple of hours. She has been wanting a couple of bushes trimmed and I must have still been delirious from my lack of rest because I got her limb cutters and took into pruning those 12' bushtrees (as I like to call them). By the time I got 2 of them done, I felt like Stroker on Saturday morning. I had to come home, take another shower and get ready all over again before heading to the family reunion dinner.

Date Night

Looking foreword to "date night" tonight (or should I say "double date night").
We are going to go to "CHAR" to try out their menu for dinner and then catch a movie afterwords. I tried to plan ahead by going to bed an hour early last night to get a little extra rest. That's the sad reality of getting older. The thought of being up past 11pm requires a day of preparation LOL.
Brookelynn is going to her BFF's tonight for a slumber party birthday party. Brookelynn picked out a spa set for Jalyn's birthday gift. Those girls will be giving facials, manicures and hair do's all night.
Their will be family arriving from Michigan and Indiana beginning tonight for Stroker's annual family reunion, so we will be taking part in those festivities for the rest of the weekend. We went ahead and set up the canopies and outdoor lighting last night.
Matasia's birthday is today. We also have to stop by and give her the gifts that we bought for her birthday tomorrow.
Whew, what a busy weekend ahead of us. 

I'd rather do nothing with you than something with anyone else

Sat on the patio today and watched the hummingbird show with Stroker.  He cooked hot dogs on the grill.

Happy Birthday Brookelynn!

Stroker and I are excited because we just bought tickets to the Justin Bieber concert.

And guess what?!?...We aren't even ashamed 

We know it's a little early for Brookelynn to receive birthday gifts, but we just couldn't resist. We know how big of a fan she is of JB, and how much she wants to go to this concert, so we did it...we purchased 4 tickets. 
Stroker and I are taking Brookelynn and her BFF Jalyn.
Devin insists that JB has no fan base and will never make it in the music industry. 
He has no desire to go to the concert.
All we can say about that is..."Hater in the House!".

Faces

This is the face of my precious little Brookelynn as she makes a fast and full recovery from Strep Throat.

She is not quite 100% recovered yet, but she is feeling much better.

This is the face of Cletus.  Everyday, he greets us at the gate with a smile on his face and a wag in his tail. 

This is the face (student ID to be precise) of my (unbelievably) almost grown son, Devin.

Where has the time gone?

This evening we toured the high school, went to freshman orientation, received Devin's schedule

and came to realize that in just four short years, my  Devin will be an adult.

(That almost depresses me)

Sick on Sunday

This morning, Brookelynn got up, came to our bed and said she had a headache and didn't feel good. Stroker felt of her forehead and immediately knew she had a fever. When the thermometer finally beeped, it was at 102.3
The Tylenol and Motrin cycle started then. By mid day, we knew she needed to visit the clinic. I guess you know where this is headed...you guessed it.
STREP THROAT. So here we are with Tylenol, Motrin & Amoxicylin. Brookelynn wanted me to hold her all evening.  I don't know why, but being held always seems to help you feel better when your sick.

Saturday Seventeen

Sooo, the days are getting shorter and the "To Do" lists keeps getting longer.  Since my last post, we have been...

1. Shopping for school supplies ( since we only have a week and a half left).
2. We used the gift certificate Wednesday , that my friend Paula gave to me for Puleo's Grill.
3. Nan bought a new car and brought it by one evening to show everyone. We spent a couple of hours that evening just hanging out on the patio enjoying the afternoon shade.
4. We joined Keith, Heather and Aysiah at El Tapatio on Thursday night for dinner.
5. Keith asked Stroker to be his best man at his wedding.
6. I have begun my search for beach condos since the wedding is just around the corner.
7. Oh yeah...I have officially began Christmas shopping.  I already have about 7 people checked off my list. Hopefully I can keep up the pace and finish up early....Naaahhh...that will never happen.
8. Last night, we joined Mildred, Nan, and Paradise at the Olive Garden for a family dinner.
9. Today, Brookelynn and I went to Bath & Body Works to stock up on hand soap, wall flower refills and a bunch of other smelly stuff that Brookelynn just had to have. We also found some great deals at Kirklands.
10. By the time we left there, we were ready for ice cream from DQ. Since Stroker was at home vacuuming the truck and trailer, we called and took "to go" orders for him and Devin.
11. Devin's toe nail fell off this week.
12. I have attempted (several times) to get the kids outgrown clothes labeled for a consignment sale with no luck.
13. Bought a new software kit to design logo's, Press Releases, Business Cards, and Web name generator.
14. We found out that the Justin Bieber concert is officially sold out...Sssshhhhhhh!!! DO NOT tell Brookelynn.
15. Scheduled a date with my husband for next Friday night.
16. Took Devin for his back to school hair cut this morning.
17. Stroker and I took a day to sleep in till 11:30 am...that is VERY unusual. 

You Don't Know Jack!

The past few days have held some new experiences, new places, and new memories.

We took a road trip to Alabama...no, not Greenbow Alabama.

We did see the space center and some other cool sights

We also made a visit to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg TN.

We learned more about TN history and the history of Jack himself.

So, if anyone ever asks, we can say "Yes, we do know Jack! "   ;)

Below is Jack's Slogan...I kinda like it :)

Here we are with a statue of Jack, in front of the underground spring that's used in the whiskey making process.

Before the photo, the tour guide said "when I count to 3, everybody say....WHISKEY".

This is "Jack's" original business center from the late 1800's . What an awesome building to tour.

Everything inside was original. It was like stepping back into time.

Devin and Brooke in the main office of Jack's original business center.

This is an underground spring in the mouth of the cave at the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

It was around 95 degrees outside, but it was about 70 degrees standing right here by the spring.

Here's the family looking down into the stream enjoying that natural air conditioning.

You wouldn't believe how cool the air felt standing by that stream.

Here is the "Rickyard" where the wood for the Jack Daniel's barrels are stored.

The Distillery has their own Fire Brigade, but this isn't it...This is just for looks (and it looked kinda neat).

This is our group heading up to the still (where we got "punched" by the smell of the whiskey)

If you ever visit the distillery, be sure to get close enough to the fermenting vat that the smell "punches" you.

Stroker and I wondered what would happen if we got pulled over on the way home because we all smelled like we had taken in a bath in Jack.  (but at least with didn't brush our teeth with it like Kesha...LOL)

Brookelynn asked once if the guide could finish telling his story outside because the smell was so strong she was starting to taste it. LOL

At the end of the day, we drove back home and talked about all the cool stuff we learned about Jack Daniels himself. Devin even said that he had seen the story on "A Thousand Ways to Die" about the broken big toe.

Family...there is no one better to make memories with.

Saturday Seven

1. The kids enjoyed

at the movies today.

  

2.  Got the girls that spent the night with Brooklelynn delivered back home.

3.  Got the beds stripped down and washed.

4.  Compared  prices at a couple of places on some landscape rock

5.  Mailed off stuff at the post office and got all the other running around town done.

6.  Finally got to wash off the 24 hr. face stuff that the Eustachian put on my face yesterday (that sure felt like a long 24 hours BTW.)

7.  Fixing to lay down and watch "Remember the Titan's"  with Stroker.

(one of the all time best movies ever made...or as Stroker would say "THE best movie ever made)

If you have never seen it, you need to.

Sleep Over Survival

Brookelynn had two of her friends over for a sleep over last night. I think sleepovers are a requirement for young girls. It is just part of growing up.

Those girls covered all the basics...Pizza, movies, gossip, manicures and oh yeah, how could I forget...Justin Bieber. No sleepover is complete these days without  Justin Bieber musicI could hear the  whispering and giggling right up till I fell asleep. I know Brookelynn will be tired and cranky today. She is a lot like me when bedtime rolls around. We have to have our rest.

I remember when I was a little girl, my best friend Maleigha would come over for a sleep over. It would be so much fun...right up till I fell asleep.  I was never good and staying awake until the weeee hours of the morning (except for that time we walked around the neighborhood about a dozen times). There were several times that I remember I would open my eyes to find that Maleigha had went home at 2am because she got bored being the only one awake. LOL

As for the rest of us, we have a busy agenda today...and it's time to get the day started.

Microdermabrasion Day

Today's the day I visit The Laser Center for my microdermabrasion and chemical peel.

I really need to get back in the routine of having this done on a regular basis.

City Living

Wanna know one reason we chose to live in the middle of town close to everything?

To save a little $$$ on this.

The pump automatically shut off at $75.00...and we didn't even get to fill up both vehicles.

I don't know how people can afford to live outside the city limits.

The Outdoor Room

Since the Fourth of July has came and gone, we have found ourselves enjoying the outdoors in the evening after the sun starts going down.

We bought a new rolling cooler just in case we ever need one.

Next we decided to get a new patio dining set, since the picnic table was not very relaxing to sit on.

Then we decided to add 6 evergreen trees to privacy up the area a bit.

Of course we had to invest in another jug of torch fuel for those pesky bugs.

Tonight we had dinner outdoors. My Lilly that the kids bought me for Mother's Day a few years ago is in bloom this week. I love that little flower.

Family, Friends, Food & Fireworks

What a Fun Day!

We had lots of family and friends together...We had lots of good BBQ and everything to go with it.

We had a great view of the fireworks display in Algood (and didn't even have to fight the crowd)

Afterwords, the older kids put on a firework display of their own.

Briana kept her distance after one went off a little too close to the ground.

Jett enjoyed his front row seat.

Falling Behind Again

What a busy week. Tuesday and Wednesday are just a blur at this point.

The kids have spent a few days swimming.

 Nan cooked dinner for us on Thursday. Stroker washed and waxed my car. Cletus got his summer groom on Friday. Brooke and I spent several hours organizing the shed (again). It probably won't stay that way long...it never does.

 Since Brookelynn and I put in so much hard work, we loaded up the fam. and treated them to Dairy Queen blizzards. "Yum-O" as Rachel Ray would say.

We all went to breakfast together at Shoney's yesterday morning.  Today I had a manicure and pedicure.

I also got stuff ready for tomorrow to celebrate Independence Day. Paradise's new puppy "Snuggi" has been keeping us entertained too.  This dog is just way tooooo cute.

We have stayed out way to late tonight, and I have to get this blog posted before the clock rolls over to midnight or else it's gonna look like I am another day behind on my posting.