Getting things done!!!

Woo hoo......We finally got our tiled walk in shower finished!!! 
It has only taken us nine months to finish, but we haven't actually been working on it the entire time.  Mostly when hubby can be here to cut the tile for me and help carry buckets of water to help clean up the mess.  It looks great and I'm so happy that project is finished.  Now our heat/air unit is going out on us, so we are having a new one installed next week and my next project I want to get started is tearing out the stairs going to the bonus room and totally redo them.  I've saved some pics of pretty stairways I have found in magazines and on the internet and keep showing them to Dwight so he will know exactly what I have in mind and not try to 'short cut' me *LOL* 
Over Labor Day weekend we had a cookout here.  Marci has been 'dating' Wes for about two months now and wanted him and Dwight to get to know each other better, especially since the last time those two were around each other was when they were both 17 years old and dating in high school.  Chad has a new 'friend' now too so I invited her to come too, her name is Alicia and she has the cutest little 5 yr. old daughter.  Her and Megan had a good time playing Just Dance on the Wii game most of the day.  Marci invited Wes' mother to come along with them and although I could have choked her at the time she told me, everything worked out great and we all had a nice day. 
I don't know what has gotten into Dwight lately, he is not one to get out of the house very much, but the last few weekends we have taken day trips to different places around town.  This past weekend we rode up to Chilhowee Lake at the Foothills Parkway, this is at the entry to the Smoky Mountains National Park.  The weather was beautiful so we took a thermos of coffee and the Sunday paper and sat out on the picnic tables under a huge tree in the cool breeze, nice & relaxing day.  I had kept Megan the two days before because her Mom and Wes were gone camping, they had bought her a new tent, air mattress and the whole nine yards of camping things but she thought it was to hot and dirty at the campground and wanted to come stay with me......end of story!!!!  LOL  Can we say 'spoiled brat' 
My real estate agent called me last week and wanted to know if we wanted to reduce the price on our house a little bit since there had been no activity on it the past two months, I told her that we would if she would have an Open House = )  She agreed so we went down on Saturday and Dwight mowed and ran the weed eater, while he was doing that I cleaned the inside and made sure everything was shining and ready for the showing this coming Sunday.  Now, my best friend Cathy, had told me to get a statue of St. Joseph and bury it in the yard and that would help it to sell.  So, I found them on the internet and ordered one, got it last week and while Dwight was in the front mowing, I went out back and dug a hole, buried my St. Joseph statue and said the prayer that was on the paper that came with him.  Now I am keeping everything I can crossed that we can get this house sold and that burden off of us!!!  Alright Cathy, you start sending up those prayers for me = )  I'll be sure to let you know if this works and you can bet I will be one more EXCITED lady!!!!!
Here's some pics I took of the 'ritual'
Here he is out of the package....
tiny little thing, isn't he?

Now the papers said to bury him upside down with his feet facing heaven and facing the house you want to sell and then say the prayer.  So here he is being buried.....

And the task is finished!!!!

Okay, anybody reading this, please send up your prayers for us please that this house will be blessed with a new owner real soon!!!

Have a great week and Welcome Autumn = )

Busy Month!!!!

Wow, Has this ever been a busy month so far around here!!!

My sister in law's husband (Dan) had her a surprise birthday party for her 60th birthday at The Courtyard restaurant on the 8th, which is also Dwight's son's birthday.  There were about 40 people there and Kathy was totally surprised, don't know how Dan got that done without her finding out...  LOL  Had a great day and was good seeing everybody again.

Happy Birthday Kathy!!!

My birthday was the 12th and Dwight and the kids took me out to eat at my favorite Italian restaurant ~ Gondolier~ I really enjoyed getting all of us together which was masterminded by Marci = )  Since it was a work day for everyone I didn't expect us to all get together so it was a nice surprise and I had a great birthday!!!!  Also, my cousin and his daughter came in to visit at my Aunt Mary's house for a few days and I went to visit with all of them.  I can't believe it has been 32 years since I've seen Chris, he was twelve years old the last time I saw him.  He looks so much like his Dad (my Uncle Charlie, who I loved dearly) that my heart skipped a beat when I first saw him.  He is married and has four kids now.  He had his 16 year old daughter Kaylee with him and it

was good getting to meet her for the first time.  These pictures are horrible cause the temps were 110 and we were all soaked from sitting out on the patio the two hours before and I forgot to take pictures the next day when I went back to visit.

Me, Kaylee & Chris

Uncle George, Aunt Mary, Kaylee & Chris

Our 14th wedding Anniversary was on the 16th and we had planned to go out to eat at the Olive Garden but the plant where Dwight works had problems and he had to work late so I told him we'd wait and go this weekend.  He did bring me home a dozen red roses though so that was sweet.  I told him next year he wasn't getting off that light, I want to rent a cabin in the mountains at Gatlinburg and stay at least two nights.  It would be really nice just to get away for a few days and just relax!!! 

Next week is Dwight's birthday and would have been Mom's.  He wanted a new computer monitor so he has already ordered it and it arrived yesterday.  I was shocked when the box was delivered cause it was HUGE!!!!  He should have just gotten a TV cause his new monitor is 27 inches.  Is someone's eyesight getting worse *LMAO*

Oh and it was my puppy Butch's birthday and Skeeter's last week too.  August is always a hectic month for us but goes by wayyyyyyyyy to fast. 

That's all for today, hope everybody is having a fantastic August!!!

 

My new pictures!!!

I saw these pictures at Bed, Bath & Beyond awhile back and wanted them but couldn't afford both of them at the same time and wanted to use my store coupons on them so I bought one and was going to go back the next week and buy the other one.  Well, when I went back they didn't have them any longer and I had them order them for me and had to wait another month for them to come in, I was getting a little nervous they might not be able to get them any longer since it was taking so long but lo and behold they called me on week five and said they had arrived!!!!!!  I fell in love with them, I guess cause they remind me of the beach so much and wanted to put them in our computer room so I could look at them every day and dream of sitting there at the beach, kicked back and relaxing *LOL*
Here's what they look like..... I know, I need something to go with them but haven't figured out exactly what that is yet, maybe a shelf underneath???  Open to suggestions ;  )

Where has Summer gone???

It's hard to believe that schools start here next week on Monday, August 2, we've still got plenty of summertime left so why are they rushing it to end?
Last week Megan's daycare was closed so she stayed with me most of the week and again on Monday this week.  I enjoy hanging out with her and getting to spend some quality time with her, won't be long and she will be wanting to drive and be with her friends instead of here with me so I better cherish every second I get with her.  Took her shopping at West Town Mall last week to get her some new school clothes but she was more interested in texting her friends than she was shopping so we ended up with very little new clothes ( I told her Mom I give up )  LOL
The week we got home from the beach, Marci told Skeeter that she wanted a divorce = (  She has been trying to decide if this was what she really wanted for the past year and finally decided to at least see if this is what she is really wanting.  I know she hasn't been very happy at all the past 3 - 4 years and especially the past one so I will support her fully and be there for her if and when she needs me.  Skeeter has moved out now and Marci is experiencing life on her own!!!  I felt so horrible for her this week, she called me crying Tuesday afternoon cause she had just closed out her checking account the day before so she could open a new one at another bank in her name only, she didn't have time Monday cause she was on her lunch break and had planned on going the next day to take care of that.  Tuesday she went to lunch at Cheddar's restaurant with several of her friends and pulled her envelope out of her purse to pay for her meal and accidentally left it laying on the table instead of putting it back into her purse.........Needless to say, she had just gotten paid on Friday and had $750.00 in the envelope that she has lost now. No one has been honest enough to say they found the money yet so she can kiss it goodbye and have a hard lesson learned. 
Last week I got our house in Powell listed with another real estate agent and hope and pray this one can get some kind of interest in the house and get it SOLD before the end of this year.  We've even discussed the possibility of us having to move back into it and selling our house here in Maryville if it doesn't sell soon.  So everyone keep your fingers crossed and prayers said that it will sell soon!!!  We spend every weekend back and forth having to keep the yards mowed so that is pretty much of the weekends wasted = (
Well, that is pretty much what my month of July has been like since we got back from the beach ( oh how I'd love to be back there right now)   Here's a pic of my lilies that finally bloomed the week we got home, I had set the bulbs out and forgot what they were so couldn't wait for them to open up and refresh my memory *LOL*
I guess after the events of this month I should be looking forward to August and hope things start to look brighter and more peaceful here!!!

Vacation Time!!!!

Last week we all went on vacation to our favorite beach ~ Topsail Island, NC and had a beautiful house oceanfront to sit and watch and hear the ocean all day!!!  I think this was one of the best vacations I have had in awhile, last year at Tybee Island, GA it rained all day every day so this past week we had nothing but 90 degree weather and plenty of sunshine to soak up all week!!!  Marci, Skeeter and Meg went with us (in their own vehicle) and it was great getting to spend so much girl time with her sitting with our chairs and feet in the water while soaking up the rays and chatting all day every day.  Marci and Meg went out two nights with the flashlights looking for crabs, they caught a bunch of them and had to name each one.  Marci was picking them up with clothes pins so they wouldn't pinch her and one got away from her dragging the pin with him on his leg *LMAO*  We went out looking for him the next morning but couldn't find him.  Dwight and I enjoyed our early morning walks with Daisy each morning and Megan came along with us one day but I don't think she is into that much now that she is getting older, she didn't even collect seashells this year.  Dwight and I stayed at the house about all week except for two evenings we went out to eat and looked through some of the beach shops but we just enjoyed sitting on the deck in the afternoons watching everyone play on the beach.  On Thursday we had a shark scare, one was spotted right down from us earlier in the morning, then we all went down to the beach and had been there about 15 minutes when two sharks came in really close to the shore, you should have seen everybody getting out of that water and passing the word all up and down the beach to get everybody out.  That's the first 'live' shark I have ever seen and he was about 10 feet in front of me jumping through the water.  Needless to say, there was little ocean activity that day, most of the kids just played in the sand or a bunch of them had beach volleyball set up to play.  I don't think any of us were ready to come back home this trip, It would have been awesome to have had another few extra days but I left with some awesome memories of all our time together and the fun we had = )  Already looking forward to next year, can't wait!!!  Thanks Dwight for putting up with all of us.....
Here's a few pics we got:

Marci and me

Marci and Skeeter

Our Beach House ~ Casablanca

Chad and Brandon

Chad didn't get to make it here for Father's Day this year but he has had Brandon with him the past two weeks getting to spend some great quality time together.  Chad has taken him fishing, swimming, downtown at the Park and to the World's Fair park to play in all the fountains.  They were here in town last week and wanted me to meet them for lunch so we met at Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed spending time together.  I haven't seen Brandon in awhile and was amazed at how much he is grown, he is 11 years old now and I can tell he is going to be tall like his Dad = )  I told Chad I think he tends to favor me a lot *wink* 
Here we are at lunch, it was 98 degrees out and we were burning up...

And here's one of him at the park down town goofing off with his Dad

And the two of them on one of their fishing trips..
Love you boys!!!!

Happy Father's Day

I hope all the Dad's in your life had a great Father's Day.
We cooked out burgers and hot dogs on the grill with potato salad, baked beans and pie for desert, it was kind of a last minute thing so didn't plan to well for a dinner.  I didn't know if Dwight's kids were going to come over or take him out for lunch like they have the past few years so I couldn't tell Marci & Skeeter what our plans were until late Saturday afternoon when he found out that his kids weren't coming this year.  I called Marci and she wanted us to all get together and just cook out and hang out here at the house so we could be comfy and enjoy ourself better.  I did the grilling and Marci helped get everything ready while the boys hung out talking and everything was delicious!!!
Dwight has been wanting a new garden till for quite awhile now, the 'little' Mantis tiller he has had for fourteen years was just not quite getting the job done here on this two acres so I took him shopping on Saturday afternoon and he found the one he wanted at Home Depot.  It came a horrible thunderstorm while we were there so we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could load it up and bring it home.  Here he is trying it out for the first time, digging me up a new garden area for my day lilies and Angel trumpet trees = )  Another area for me to buy new flowers for!!!  *LOL*
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

New Patio and Grill

I finally got some pictures of my new grill that Dwight got me for Mother's Day this year and the patio we had poured the week before.  The patio sure makes this area look so much nicer outside and now that my roses have started blooming they really set it off!!! I started a new garden area to the left of the patio but the flowers haven't had much time to start growing very much and showing off.  I got the yellow knock out roses but not so sure I am liking them as much as the red ones, we'll see........
And here's a picture of the Hydrangea that Chad got me last year for Mother's Day, it is growing and blooming like crazy this year!!!!

Day Lilies

I have been wanting to go to a Day Lily farm for the past several years but wasn't able to find one nearby so kept forgetting about it. Mom got me loving day lilies years ago and she use to go to a plant farm about 60 miles from here to find hers, we always wanted to go together but never made the time to go and then when we did plan a trip we found out the farm had quit selling to the public. So Dwight got to looking for some locations of them that were within a days drive and found not one, but two that we could go nearby. I got so excited to find them so we headed out Sunday and went to Mike's Day lilies, well with over 400 varieties of them plus many other plants, trees and bushes I was in heaven = ) You just walk down isle after isle of the day lilies and tag what you want and they dig them up for you and have your bags ready when you're ready to check out. I love these because they are not the ordinary lilies you see everywhere, many of the ones he had there his father had started making his own breeds and still hadn't given them their official names yet. I found a beautiful dark orange one that hadn't been named yet and I told Mike I was going to name it Donna's Delight *LOL* He thought I was serious and began telling me I had to go to the official Day Lily site to get the name registered!!! We loaded up our goodies and Dwight found some snowball bushes, viburnum I believe he called them, brought them all home and spent the rest of the afternoon getting them planted in the ground. We started a new flower bed in the back yard for the lilies and it looks so good, but I do believe I am going to have to go back and get some more to fill in the bare spots = ) The temps were 101 and we were both soaked from sweating getting these new babies in the ground but looking at our new flower garden made it all worth it. Here are a few pics of some of the varieties I picked, can't wait to see them growing and spreading out next year. Thanks sweetie for taking me and finding this farm for me.


Aren't they gorgeous!!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!

Hope that everyone is enjoying their Holiday weekend and don't forget to remember all of our military past and present!!!

It has been a rainy weekend off and on here and we've mostly just been having a Lazy weekend. Yesterday we drove up to Townsend, TN at the foot of the Smoky Mountains. I have always loved to go up there and sit out in the river on a huge rock and take in the fresh, cool mountain air, nothing more relaxing that than. I have a spot I use to always go to years ago when I just 'had' to get away from everything and clear my head. The park was full of visitors yesterday and traffic was crazy but we finally found a nice spot to pull off the road, climbed the rocks down to the rivers edge and found us a huge rock to sit on and watch all of the people floating down on their tubes *LOL* The water had to be freezing but it sure didn't seem to bother any of the tubers. They looked like they were having a blast and it brought back memories of the last time me and the kids went tubing. It was an awesome, fun day and we were all floating down the river in the ice cold water and then all of a sudden we hit the rapids and were unable to maneuver our tubes, Chad got lucky and managed to avoid the big rocks in the middle but Marci and I weren't so lucky. We ended up flipped upside down on the rocks and Marci barely escaped getting pinned in between several of them, we ended up with bloody, scraped up body parts and many bruises = ) Several of the people that had been watching us from the river bank helped stretch beach towels out to Marci to get to her and pull her back to the edge. Talk about a nerve wrecking day!!!! Needless to say, I don't think there is enough money in the world to pay either of us to get out on that river in the tubes again *LMAO* Sweet Memories....

Megan's Graduation

May 20, 2010 was Graduation day for the kids at Union Grove Elementary School. They had a nice ceremony for the kids and they were all so cute and you could see they were nervous about their 'Big Day' Megan told me that when they were waiting for their names to be called to walk up and get their diploma of Achievement, she was shaking all over and fighting back tears *LOL* I told her that me and her Mom had been fighting back tears too cause we were so proud of her. She got her report card and had all A's and B's on it and now she is officially off to the Middle School as a Sixth grader this coming school year.

CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN!!!!!!! We're proud of you and keep up those good grades = ) Won't be long and we'll be sitting there watching your High School graduation.

Here's a picture of our little graduate.....

And her proud Mom..

Mother's Day

Happy Belated Mother's Day!!! I had an absolutely beautiful day and enjoyed the kids being here most of the day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, although a little on the chilly side unless you were sitting out in the direct sun. I have been wanting a new BBQ grill for the deck so Dwight got me one on Saturday and spent half the day putting it together for me so I mowed the yard for him while he was doing that ( aren't I sweet) LOL This past week we had a new patio poured off of the deck and it looks so nice out there now and lots more room for our get togethers, now I need to get a few more outdoor chairs and fill up more of my flower planters to spiff it up a little. We broke in the grill on Mother's day and cooked burgers and hot dogs and Marci brought some side dishes and a HUGE cookie from the Cookie Company, we all try to get the piece with the most icing on it = ) We stayed outside and enjoyed the sun, each other's company and conversations then headed indoors for a couple hours of games on the Wii. I got the new Just Dance game last week so we had to try that out, it had some great oldies songs and dances on it which I enjoyed and it was fun watching Meg and Marci trying to learn the 'Mashed Potatoes' and Cotton Eyed Joe *LOL* The guys had to do the Mario cart racing games and enjoyed theirself too. Chad had a busy day planned with his new 'girl friend'??? So he had dropped by early before Marci and them got here and stayed a few minutes with me, I was glad to see him and that he had taken the time from his day on the way to Dollywood to drop by and see me, that made me happy cause I was already putting on my pouting face thinking he wasn't going to get to come over ...LMAO All in all, it was a great day and I think everybody enjoyed it, I hope all Mother's out there had just as nice a day as I did.

Here's me and my fur babies

The Girls Me and Hubby

Amazing Easter!!!

The three day Easter holiday was awesome!!! The weather couldn't have cooperated any better, we had temps in the upper 70's all three days. Friday and Saturday Dwight and I got a lot of yard work done that we have been wanting to get to for awhile. We spent all day picking up tree limbs and trimming the hedges, cut down a few wild trees that we weren't sure what they were, looked more like over grown weeds to me = ) We made a run to Lowe's for a trailer load of mulch, cleaned out the flower bed in front of the house and got the mulch down and our hydrangea bushes that we moved from out Powell house. They are all three special to us and I wasn't about to leave them there. One, Chad got me for Mother's day last year, and the other two are both from our Mother's funeral services two years ago.

We got the yard all spruced up, made a run to Sam's club for some Easter food and I got the house all clean for Sunday when the kids would be here. This was absolutely the best holiday we have had in such a long time. It is so wonderful to be back home in Maryville again near the kids and have them be able to visit more often. I got my dinner ready and Chad got here first with a couple loads of laundry for me to do for him *LOL* bachelorhood for him is wonderful!!! He brought Tyson (his 200 lb. boxer dog) with him, which upset me a little to start with cause I wouldn't be able to let me pups outside with him here, they don't get along very well and Daisy thinks she is BIGGER than him so that would be a fight to start with. About an hour later Marci, Skeeter and Megan got here and we started hiding all the eggs for Megan to hunt, I already had four dozen out for her so I think she ended up with around 100 eggs to find. We had a great dinner and the kids brought some goodies for dinner with them so there was more than enough for everybody to eat and also take home some doggie bags = )

After our food settled, we all headed out to the back yard for an evening of games and some good time spent together. Chad had some frisbee's which were Tyson's, but he let us borrow them for the afternoon *LOL* I played till I just couldn't run any more and I think the guys were actually getting aggravated at me cause I couldn't throw it as good as them...LMAO Skeeter had a Corn Hold game that we all had a great time playing, so we spent several hours with that. Big D wasn't breathing to good that day so he didn't join the games with us, but he did sit out on the deck with us and him and Marci engaged in one of their famous 'family talks' She loves getting him started. The kids stayed till about 8:30 and I really hated to see the day come to an end but knew everybody had to get ready for work the next day.

I could not have enjoyed the weekend holiday any more and look forward to many more. Miss Meg said it was her Bestest Easter ever that she could remember!!! Here's a few pics of the family together.

Megan looking for her eggs

Chad, Marci and me......

OK, Blogger won't let me add any more pics so I'll do that another time = )

Heart Breaking Day...

Tonight my heart goes out to my son, Chad.

We found out early this morning this his baby's Mom had plans of moving to Wisconsin and taking Esera without letting his Dad know about it and letting him have one more time to visit with him, hold him and tell him how much his Daddy loves him.

I got to go with Chad on Friday to visit with Esera, but we didn't have a clue that might be the last time we would get to see him. If I had know I would have stayed all day and taken hundreds of pictures and loved that little fella so much.

As soon as I found out the plan and pulled myself together I had to call Chad and let him know what was going on, that's what a Mother is suppose to do right? I had to let him know even though there was no way to stop her from going, I only had hopes that Chad could get to hold him and love him one more time before he was gone. Thank God he did make it down there and got to spend about ten minutes with him today. I know his heart is very heavy tonight and breaking. Today is the first time I have heard my Son crying in a very long time and it just broke my heart that there was nothing I could do to 'fix it' for him. I did get him to contact a lawyer to find out his 'rights' as a father and he was off to the court house to file a petition for visitation rights before she got out of state with Esera. I don't if any of that will help him get to see his Son any time soon and I feel so helpless today that I couldn't make it right. I understand that she wanted to move back where most of her family is and try to make a better living for herself and the baby, go back to school where she could get her nurse's license and make a go of it, I don't hold any of that against her, it is just the way she was going to sneak out of town and not let Chad know cause she was afraid he would start trouble or try to get Esera. They are well on their way by this hour and I don't know if I will ever get to see my grandson again, or how long it will be before Chad gets to hold his baby again. Keeping all of them in my prayers and in my heart.

I love you Son and am so sorry I couldn't do more for you today. My heart is crying right along with you. Esera, what a precious little boy you are. I love how you lay your little head up against my shoulder when I held you and loved me. You are the most beautiful little boy in the world and I miss you so much already.
Mom

Here is the last picture taken of the two of them together...

Esera Graysen

Marci always calls Esera her 'Lil Monkey' so I found the cutest scrapping kit to play with and made a few pics to share with her playing in my PSP. He is the happiest baby, growing so fast and now has four teeth. He is sitting by himself now and started crawling on the floor, only he goes backwards!!! His Mom says he is 'moonwalking' LMAO Forward little guy....