Goodbye September 2010

On the last day of September 2010 the weather was beautiful. 77 degrees and sunny. Perfect weather for this guy (if you can even see him in the photo) to work on a 300' tower (better him than me). He has spent the last 2 days up there. I have a clear view since the tower is beside our house. I keep expecting to look up and see him fall.

Today was Keith's birthday, so we met him, Heather & Aysia for dinner at El Tapatio. You know the consequences of visiting El Tap on your birthday...

the 'ol El Tap serenade! 

Happy birthday amigo

I can't wait !

October is almost here. Do you know what that means?....

Music to my ears

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• Today was the first day of Cello lessons for Brookelynn.  She enjoyed the lesson and looks forward to many more.
• Today was  the long awaited hair appointment that I was overdue. I added some low lights for fall (grin).
• Today was also the day that my sister and her family said goodbye to their seventeen year family friend BEN. He was a good dog that left behind many cherished memories. He will be missed.

Monday

Uuuuuggggghhhh! Monday.  We all had to drag ourselves out of bed this morning. It was chilly, rainy and gloomy ALL day. The only highlight we had today was the arrival of our new dolly. The disappointment was that it had to be assembled. Stroker and Brookelynn volunteered to put it together.

Flashback's of the last 3 days

I spent Friday at Brookleynn's school serving popcorn with the PTO in support of "Spirit Day".  I bet I bagged over 300 bags of popcorn in 3 hours. I could have done more, but the popper just couldn't keep up with me. 

Stroker and I joined Brookelynn for lunch at school on Friday.

 She likes for us to stop by and have lunch with her, which only happens about once a year.

Friday night we met up with Bucket, Jennifer and Libby for dinner at

Saturday was busy too...we met Mildred and Paradise for breakfast at

We made a quick stop by the St. Thomas Aquinas Fall Festival where Brookelynn stopped to pet the zebra and Al pa ca.

She and I headed to Nashville for the first day of Titan's cheer leading practice.

Brookelynn stayed with Ansley. On my way home, I stopped for some shopping at

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Got back home a little late, but how often do I get to shop ALONE?...(hardly ever)

Today I had lots of things to do around town and had to pick up the items that didn't sell in the consignment sale last week before heading back to the practice bubble.

 

Stroker drove today (yay!). We stopped by for lunch

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to pick out a gift for Byrd and April's baby that is due December 3rd.

We watched the last 20 minutes of Titan's Cheer practice. Those girls have been working hard the last 2 days.
Brookelynn is on the front row on the 30 yard line this year (Yay Brooke!)



Only 1 more practice to get everything down, then it's game day. I wanted to volunteer to be a "field mom" this year, but other's beat me to it. So, I guess I will spend the entire game in the stands with all the other screaming lunatics.

Introducing Baby Dash!

He's here...baby Dash arrived at 11:50 am today weighing in at 9 pounds & 15 ounces. Of course Brookelynn was ready to head on over for a visit as soon as she heard the news.

As for the first day of Fall (today), we had steaks off the grill and enjoyed the CSI season premier with Justin Bieber as a guest star.

Last Day of Summer

Today was the last day of summer for 2010.  That kind of depresses me, so I won't dwell on it too long. The four of us went to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner after we spent the afternoon outside sweating our butts off in Mother Nature's last attempt to remind us of what summer is all about...(95 degree heat).
Tomorrow, we celebrate fall! My intentions are to get the fall decorations out of the shed and get them placed around the house.  I have already bought a couple of pumpkins and plan to do a little mum shopping. 
My niece went to the hospital tonight to prepare for labor and delivery of my brand new great nephew tomorrow.  Sssshhh...Brookelynn doesn't know yet because she will drive me crazy begging me to take her to see if baby Dash has arrived .  I believe Brookelynn has counted down every day of Stacia's pregnancy awaiting the baby's arrival.
Tonight, I am trying to catch up on some laundry since I will be keeping the roads hot between here and Nashville this weekend. There probably won't be any time for house work.
Well, I thought I had more than that to say about today, but I have lost my train of thought, so I guess that is all for now.

Full moon tonight..

Oh yeah....DON"T FORGET!  Justin Bieber will be on CSI tomorrow night. Brookelynn has hung reminders all around the house.

Road to Recovery

Seems like everyone here at the Hayes House is back on the road to recovery. Stroker is over his stomach virus, my chest congestion is finally breaking up, Devin's headache went away after I hand fed him some Aleve and Brookelynn is back to school.  I know it's only Tuesday, but the week seems to be off to a good start. I have been trying to get the house organized and get some housework caught up because the next two weekends will be spent in Nashville.  Luckily, Fall Break is just around the corner. Maybe we will find some time to rest during the two week break.  I had hoped to make a trip to Albuquerque but I guess that's not gonna happen this year. Maybe next time.

I don't have any photo's to post of the past few days, but I meant to share this one with you a few weeks back. Devin's English teacher gave an assignment to make a paper bag model of yourself. This is what Devin turned in...

My little brace face Devin.

Little Miss Responsibilty

So, Brookelynn is feeling better and wanted to attend a birthday/sleepover party with her friends. I sent her antibiotics with her and told her not to forget to take her bedtime dose. I sent a text to the sleepover mom a couple of hours ago and asked if Brooke had her medz.  She sent a reply back saying "yes, Brookelynn reminded me". Little Miss Responsible. 

Shortly after, Devin went into Brooke's room to borrow some items to work on a project that is due next week and guess what he discovered?  A note on the goldfish tank.  He called me in the room to read it for myself, then I called Stroker into the room so he could read it for himself.

Again I say..."Little Miss Responsible"

It is times like these that make me want to just kiss her little cheeks off!

About 14 of us met up at El Tapatio tonight for dinner (minus Brookelynn) and they surprised Stroker with the usual "Happy Birthday" serenade from the El Tapatio employees.  Stroker went right along with it and got out of his seat to sway and sing with them (as if he knew the words...LOL)

STREP Again

Monday started out with good 'ol hamburgers on the grill. Compliments of Stroker. That was a great treat after my visit to the dentist for my cleaning. Grilled burgers, tiki torches and a patio...Aaaaahhhhh backyard paradise.

Tuesday was "Parent/Teacher conferences at CHS, only this year, we called it Parent/Teacher/Student conferences. Devin was not too pleased to join us, but he didn't really have a choice. The outcome was pretty good, so we let Devin choose the dinner location for the night.  He chose Olive Garden. Brooke was complaining a little bit with a headache and sore throat, but she was not about to pass up a trip to the Olive Garden.

Wednesday morning Brooke got up with a headache, sore throat and upset tummy so I figured sinus drainage was the best diagnosis...especially since she didn't have a fever. I told her that if she got to feeling too bad at school, she could call me. After lunch rolled around and I had not heard from her,  she must have been feeling better.

At 2 pm the phone rang. It was Brooke's school. She had a temperature of 101.6   To the doctor she went. STREP!

Brooke has spent Thursday and Friday at home recuperating. We missed the Tech football game Thursday night, but Devin and some of his friends went in our place. They had a good time till the heavy rain set in. By the time I returned to pick him up, they were soaked. Brooke was feeling so bad Thursday that we didn't get to attend the CHS Homecoming parade either. She did attend her Constitution Program this morning because she had an important part to recite. She did an awesome job!

Afterwords, she came back home to rest and get better.

Forget What Lies Behind

I like this...so I choose to add it to my blog.
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
"…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind straining toward what is ahead"
(Philippians 3:13, NIV)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Are you determined to forget what lies behind? I know many people don't fully understand what it means to forget the past. They wonder, "How can I forget something that's happened to me?" But one definition of the word forget is to disregard intentionally or to overlook. See, you have to intentionally disregard your past so that it doesn't keep you from moving forward. That means the good and the bad. Sometimes our past victories keep us from rising higher as much as past failures. If we don't let go of the old, we'll never be able to embrace the new.
Remember, it doesn't matter what's happened in your history, it's time to forget what lies behind. Make the choice today to press forward . Trust that God has a better future in store for you. Trust that He's working behind the scenes on your behalf. As you intentionally disregard what lies behind and press forward, I believe God will pour out His favor, grace and blessing upon you and lead you into the abundance He has prepared for you.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, I choose to forget the past today. I don't want anything to hold me back from the future You have prepared for me. I choose forgiveness and ask that You help me, by Your Spirit, to press forward in every area of my life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Blessings

Here lately I have been taking the time to thank God for all the blessings he has given me (big & small). Once you get yourself in the habit of thanking God, you will soon realize that the old saying "Count your blessings" is literally impossible. At least it would be impossible for me to count mine because one thing that I have noticed, is that I have said "Thank you Jesus for blessing me..." so many times that I have lost count.

Friday evening, we were blessed to attend and take part in the Fall Fun Fest on the square. The four of us had a great time. We enjoyed the bar-b-q dinner, the entertainment, and we were lucky enough to get to take the last carriage ride. The last one of the evening to be precise. As we were stepping onto the carriage, the operator told his partner "This one will have to be the last one this evening...it's starting to rain".  What a blessing it was. If we would have been just one group behind, we would have missed out.

Saturday, the forecast was calling for 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms. I said a short prayer... "please hold back the rain at the wedding this evening."  Although the weather radar highlighted heavy rain right over us at 4pm (during the wedding), the sky was clear and bright for the entire ceremony.  "Thank you Jesus for blessing this day".

Mr. & Mrs. "Bad Brad" Goodwin

OK...I said I wouldn't post a photo since the baby is due this week, but it's a good family picture...so I just had to.

One thing the kids liked about this wedding...everybody got to take home a pet gold fish

Sorry Jett, Gold fish don't enjoy back rubs.

Youth is such a wonderful thing.

Children make you want to start life over.

While we try to teach our children all about life,

Our children teach us what life is all about.

Blessings

Mission Accomplished

It's a beautiful day in the neighbor hood.

Met with the zoning commission at city hall today. The variance request by Soard Properties was denied.

Some freight line delivered the new slide right to our door today. That's the first time that has ever happened. We usually have to pick things up at the loading dock.

Felt a little crafty and made this cute little art and school work display.

As Ice Cube would say..."Today was a good day"

Another Post Catch Up

Don't give up on me. I realize my blog has turned into a once a week event here lately, but with the cool down of the weather, we just cant seem to get outside activities caught up. By the time we get inside, get homework, baths, and ready for bed we are worn out. There is no time or energy left for blogging.

With that said, here is a rundown of our transition to September this past week...

Monday was full of running around town, catching up on some sales, and fighting off a belly ache that continuously tried to make me go home and lay down.

Tuesday was a repeat of the belly ache, but I refused to give in. I called Heather and asked her to relay the message to Paris that we wished her a happy belated birthday (because her b-day was Monday) and we invited them to dinner at El Tapatio with us...so they met us there. I also contacted the Cookeville Zoning Committee to find out what "Variance" meant, but there was no answer, so I left a message.

Wednesday was the day that I decided that I was no longer going to take the medicine that the doctor prescribed me to get rid of the sinus infection because it was making me too sick at my stomach. I would rather deal with the sinus congestion than to feel sick at my stomach constantly. On another note, Devin had his freshman photo taken today. He said he had barely touched the seat when they snapped the photo...we'll see how those turn out in the weeks to come.

Thursday went a little better. I began to feel a little better so I trimmed about 9 trees next door for "Heart of the Cumberland". The Gardening Club is getting ready to wrap the trees in lights and needed the lower limbs cleared. I love trimming trees and shrubbery. It's like therapy...

Anyway, I worked till dark on that project. Now if I could just get the public works department to come by an pick up all those limbs.

Friday was the day that Brookelynn went home with her friend for a sleepover. Devin went to the Cookeville/Sparta football game...so Stroker and I went on a date. We tried a new restaurant on the square named Char. We sat out on the patio and had a peaceful and sort of romantic dinner.

Saturday was great! The weather here was PERFECT! Even though it was the opening day for Michigan football, I still enjoyed the day. Stroker washed my car for me again even though I insisted that he just let it go. It's a holiday weekend,  no one should spend it working.

That afternoon, while the guys stayed home to watch football all day, Brooke and I went to visit my dad and Phyllis for a while. Then we went to visit my mom for a while, then to my brothers who ended up taking us to dinner at El Tapatio. We didn't get home that night till after 9pm.

Sunday, Stroker was up early again...this time washing his truck. The kids joined my sister at the White County Fair all day long while Stroker and I spent the day together  wondering what people do when they don't have children. We were absolutely lost. Since we had already went on a date Friday night with our few hours of free time, we couldn't figure out what to do with a whole 24 hours of childlessness (if that's a word)..
We visited Bucket and Jennifer for a while. Christopher came with us and hung out for a while. We went to dinner and rode around aimlessly till after 11pm. By that time, we were ready for bed. I don't know how people can stand to just dump there kids off for days at a time and not think twice about it.

Monday the agenda consisted of breakfast with Stroker at Cracker Barrel, getting the bedroom door adjusted at home and getting the kids picked up from their overnight adventure at my sisters. They had ridden everything at the fair and spent Monday on the Rhino out in the field.

Today when Stroker called to wake me up, I was in a deep sleep. He just so happened to call again 20 minutes later and he woke me up again. This time, I actually got out of bed. I had some phone calls to make, property owners to visit and some reading material to study up on. This whole property variance thing has set me in motion.

My sister came over for dinner, so we all went to Logan's.