More Moving Photos

Not necessarily emotionally moving, but literally moving in the moving-out-of-our-house sense:
Macey and I came home from school today to find all the furniture in the living room and playroom/office area gone!

 All that is left is the TV/DVD combo and the wireless internet "stuff."

Here's the view from the hallway into the living room to the right...

...and the playroom to the left.

It didn't look this good when I got home!  I couldn't believe all the junk behind the bookshelf and the couch! LOL  Wish us luck!

Our Top 12 for 2012

12. We took several trips this year, including cousin Megan’s wedding and Thanksgiving at cousin Kimberly’s and of course camping.

11. All four of us attended 4-H Camp Wahsega: Macey as a Cloverleaf camper, Ansley as a teen leader, and Haley & Logan as chaperons.

10. Along with Logan’s brother Reid, we threw a surprise 75th birthday party for their mother, BJ.

9. Logan has passed all the tests for his bus driver license and will finish up next month.

8. Haley started her 20th year teaching (How did that happen?!?) and is working on her gifted endorsement.

7. Ansley finished middle school with straight As and was selected for Honors English (where she made a 99 and will go on to 10th grade Honors English next year.)

6. Ansley started high school (9th grade) and enjoyed marching band (clarinet). She continues to take piano lessons too (and is becoming quite accomplished!).

5. Macey started middle school (6th grade) and was accepted into 3 accelerated classes.

4. Macey is in chorus and has started playing percussion in band. (She was the first to get to move up to snare drum from the marimba, and she got to play the chimes in the Christmas concert.)

3. Macey is continuing her dance education (ballet, jazz, and tap), and Haley is back to tapping too. ;)

2. Ansley got contacts.

1. We are blessed beyond measure!

Spring Is Here!

It has been almost forever since I've posted here, so I thought it was time to write an update. Because today was so incredibly gorgeous, I took a break from grading approximately 437 papers (end of the 3rd nine weeks and all) and took a few snapshots of the prettiness in our yard.

First, this is the view out my front window from the living room. Unfortunately my camera doesn't seem to capture the color as prettily as it is in person. (I will have to work on different times of the day to see if I can capture it more exactly.)

Our frilly solid yellow daffodils have all spent themselves out, but these lovelies (in two different locations) are still going strong.

Now for an update on all of us:

Logan is working hard clearing some land with his brothers-in-law (easier to type than my brother and our BIL) and getting the RV park ready for its spring reopening.

I am of course busy with school (see aforementioned grading papers) but am also working hard to take better care of myself. It is paying off too! I managed to walk/jog 3 miles on the treadmill this morning in under 48 minutes (a personal record). I am also really enjoying yoga class once a week. It is such a workout, but I feel amazing doing it. I'm still managing to find a bit of crafty time and have some projects completed with a few more in progress.

Ansley is so busy with 8th grade! She is participating in extra band practice once a week to get ready for a competition/Six Flags trip (plus the spring concert is coming up soon). She continues to progress nicely on the piano with a lesson each week. She's also involved in 4-H poultry judging with weekly practice until the competition in early April.

Macey is staying busy with two dance classes each week (fortunately on the same night) and is practicing daily for 4-H DPA (District Project Achievement) competition this coming Saturday. She placed first in her class for her presentation on Pompeii, and she is really hoping to place first at district too. After the competition is over, we have promised to take the girls to see the movie "The Hunger Games." Ansley has read all three books and absolutely cannot wait for the movie.

Hopefully you're enjoying your spring weather too. We are praying that this nice weather will remain, although many people say this year's weather pattern is the same as the year of The Blizzard (3/13/93). So far so good! Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, stay safe!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Each afternoon, one of us (usually me) has to walk our beagle, Shadow. He is way too hyper to stand if he doesn't get in this daily walk! It was pouring yesterday, but we had to do the deed. As we walked, he kept trying to get under the trees on the side of the road. At only the second house, he stopped, shook himself, looked at me, and then turned around to head to the house! It was so funny! Enough of this already!

She's Home!

Our gal's home from her fantastic trip to DC! She's had breakfast and a shower, plus sorted all the dirty laundry. Now let the fun begin for Mom!

Back to School!

Today is my official back-to-work start date. The kids come tomorrow afternoon for a drop in "Meet the Teacher," and then the first day of school is Thursday. (And no, two days of preplanning is NOT enough.)

Goodbye, Summer! We love you and will miss you!

Dell Review

As many of you know, my computer crashed. Dell tech support has been very helpful, even if the gentlemen I've spoken with have been a bit hard to understand. They have all been very patient. I wish that I had not let the first guy talk me in to restoring my computer to the factory settings when he suggested it. Before we did that, I could still access/use my pretty pink 'puter, and I wish that I had gone in and tried a few things of my own.

I more than likely got infected with some kind of contagious computer crud, probably on our trip up Nawth and back. FYI: Norton did not catch it because somehow it got disabled. (I had just figured that out before I called Dell.)

Long story short and many $$ later (because of course the warranty had just expired a few weeks earlier unbeknownst to me), I have a new hard drive and everything seems to be working properly. (Yes, I did purchase the three-year extended warranty!)

Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from an 800 # so I almost didn't answer it. It turned out to be Dell support, just calling to make sure that everything was okay. Funniest thing is that my touchpad has been acting a little squirrely. When I type, the cursor will randomly jump to some other part of the screen and my typing will continue there. It hasn't mattered what program, website, etc., that I've been using. My new BFF Manu helped me fix the problem by installing the correct driver for the touchpad. (Hmm, Rajdeed did NOT do that when he remotely accessed my computer Friday.) Thank you, Manu! And thank you also for giving me your personal extension number (voice mail available 24/7) in case I need you.

Today's experience has helped me revise my opinion of Dell and helped heal my bad attitude toward my bad pink 'puter. Happiness is a normal keyboard!

Carbonite Review

The absolute only thing that has kept me sane through the ordeal of my laptop's hard drive's jump off the deep end and subsequent crash (that you can read about that here) has been the hope of the promise of my Carbonite back up. (Carbonite is an off-site back up system that will back up your computer regulary for only about $50/year.)

Since I purchased the Carbonite back up (and you get a free trial), DH has given me a really hard time about it, calling it "Kryptonite" and saying that it will harm my computer. I have attempted to ignore him and carry on with the hope and eternal optimism that my pretty pink 'puter is protected. (Say that fast three times!)

These past few weeks put Carbonite (and possibly our marriage) to the test. DH went so far to say that if Carbonite worked he would kiss my pretty behind. I told him that he better get ready to pucker up! Of course that led to some (heated) discussion about how it would take him a long time to cover all that ground. But I digress...

When we got home from our camping trip Thursday evening, a little package from Dell was waiting at the front door. I was too tired to worry about installing the new hard drive, so I waited until Friday afternoon while the girls were gone with their Grandmother. Logan took out the bad hard drive and replaced it with the new. I called Dell and was assigned to Rajdeed, my helpful techie who walked me through all the steps I need to get the system operating. He was even nice enough not to notice any possible tears or sniffling while we were on the phone together. We were on the phone for literally several hours, until we finally had the darn thing running again with the factory settings. Rajdeed even went in remotely to install drivers, programs, etc.

After all the trouble (shooting) and reloading of software, it was time to visit Carbonite. Fortunately I remembered my password on the first guess. (My RoboForm password-filler-in-er had also been lost in the Great Crash of '11.) The directions on the Carbonite website walked me right through the process of restoring my files. Then it started working. And working. And working. At 1% with 19 hours to go I could see that a few items were being resurrected. I went to bed that night with the hope that indeed, all would be well. I even dreamed about the puckering that would be coming since I was right and DH was, well, wrong. (Nah-nee-nah-nee-boo-boo...)

At 5 AM Saturday morning, DH woke me up because the Carbonite was done. (I guess he was really looking forward to some early morning kisses!) The screen said that all files except three were replaced and that two files had to be filed somewhere other than the original location. I scanned the list, and four of the five files had "/snapfish/" in them somewhere. I have no idea what the fifth file was at all. No big deal.

Before doing the happy dance, I checked my photos. ALL THERE. Every one of those sweet smiling faces was returned home. Then I realized that I forgot to install iTunes. Does that mean all my music is lost? Crud! No biggie, I've got all the CDs, my iPod is fully loaded, but off to iTunes I went. After two downloading attempts, ta da! There they were! All my music was immediately back in my library!

At this point, DH is trying to get me to come back to bed, but I am too busy with the laptop to fool with him. My RoboForm was back, even my favorites were back on my internet toolbar! Hallelujah happy day! The only thing that Carbonite didn't replace was my Solitaire score, so I was at 100% wins for a very short while. That's okay, my current win percentage is still way better than it was B.C. (before crash).

Let me know if you'd like to purchase a ticket to the Great Butt-Kissing Event. They're really cheap, but I definitely want some witnesses. Carbonite, you saved my butt! I would be one deeply depressed gal without you! Too bad I don't have any referral codes to share with you. (Maybe I can give you a free ticket to said kissing event.) Carbonite is absolutely worth every single penny, and it doesn't even cost too many pennies (about a dollar a week) to use. Thank you, Carbonite!!!

Whee!

Yesterday, the girls and I went to my parents' house to visit with long-time family friends and their children/grandchildren who are visiting this week. Because it was so nice out, we decided to try the zip line- that goes across the lake- and ends on the other side.

Our little dare devil was happy to go after Uncle Brian and our 15-year-old guest. Ms. Cautious was a little hesitant, but since her little sister did it, she did too- and loved it! They would both have ridden time and time again if we hadn't had company!

Here's a view from where we were standing looking to our right, across the lake, to the landing pad. (Grammie and I learned the hard way that the landing pad needs a bit of work!)

Even though he is supposed to be horizontal babying a torn muscle in his knee/calf, Grumps could not resist getting in on the action! He *says* he dragged across the water to slow himself down...

Finally, I couldn't be outdone by my girls, so off I went too.

Click HERE if you need a laugh or want to watch my Dad and me!

Zippidee doo dah, zippidee yay!

Memory Lane

Today was such a walk down memory lane for us! Ansley had her first chorus festival, and it was held in Cumming, where we lived when we were first married. First, both of our middle school choruses (6th/7th and 8th grade) did a great job! (We have no idea what they scored though because we left before we found out.) It turn out Logan was in chorus through middle and high school (How did I not know this?!?), so the performance brought back some great memories for him.

We drove by our first home, which has been changed somewhat since we lived there, and we admired the Bradford Pear that we planted. It is huge now and was in full bloom! We also ended up driving through Dahlonega, past NGC&SU where I got my Master's, and then by both the Kindergarten Building and the elementary school (LCES) where I taught for six years. Such wonderful memories!

The girls probably felt like my brother, sister, and I did as kids driving through Atlanta, going by Tech, the V, and 1st Atlanta Bank, when my parents drove us down their memory lane. Hoepfully the girls will have fond memorie of our old stomping grounds too.

4-H DPA

Ansley will be heading out soon on the 4-H bus to go to Rock Eagle for the weekend for 4-H DPA (District Project Achievement). In 6th and 5th grades (at right) DPA was held at our local middle school, but now as a Junior 4-Her, she's away for the weekend with the other Jr. & Sr. DPA participants. Her project this year is about hypnotherapy.

She was pretty nervous about DPA and being gone for the weekend, but at the same time super-excited to be going away for DPA! One of her girlfriends painted matching shirts for them to wear Friday, and she had to pack certain things so that they would all match over the weekend. Ahh, I remember the days when my cousin Beth and I would plan to wear matching outfits! I know there are several photos of us in my parents' photo drawers/boxes of us in our matching ensembles.

But I digress... The sweetest thing was that as I was helping Ansley pack, she asked if I was going to write some notes and tuck them into her suitcase. Of course I am! How could I not continue a tradition that she obviously loves?

We love you, Ansley, and wish you the best at DPA! You've prepared a great speech and practiced it well, so go show the judges your knowledge, poise, and confidence! We're cheering you on from home. We love you!

EDIT: Ansley came in 3rd place in her category! Way to go!

Sleepover Fun

My sister and her husband are celebrating their 10th anniversary by getting away for the weekend. The boys stayed with Nana Thursday night, us last night, and Uncle Brian tonight. Lucky guys!

Here they are jamming out on the recorders, clarinet, and guitar. What a racket! I mean, what sweet music! At bedtime, Alex did NOT want to go to sleep, so I ended up laying down with him in Ansley's bed (my former twin bed, BTW). Needless to say, Aunt Haley fell asleep before he did! (The first time I returned to my bed was too early.)


In the morning (after Macey came it at 6:30 to let me know they were all up), Alex told me that he had wanted me to sleep with him the whole night. Yeah, but so did Uncle Logan! Who knew I was such a popular gal? Don't be fooled by Will in this photo; he is NOT asleep!

Alex had a soccer game, and we got to the gym at about 8:45 (the 2nd team player to arrive! Yay me!). I was very impressed that all the players and coaches circle up, hold hands, and say a prayer before each game. (Upward Sports is sponsored by some of our local churches.)

Number 6 may not make it to the World Cup, but most of us had a good time!

Then, this afternoon, at a balmy 67 degrees (and nine days ago was a snow day...), we went for a pontoon boat ride! Our mission was to search for the missing dock float that we didn't find. :(

The girls have been wanting to go see the Justin Bieber movie, so I agreed to take them. Since I really don't have "Bieber Fever," I opted to sit in the car for the duration of the movie (with my popcorn and book). Lo and behold, though, Faith and her daughter Haley arrived to see the movie, so she offered to bring the girls home. Twist my arm! They really did enjoy the movie, so it's a hit with the tween crowd.

Singer/Songwriter and Amazing Guitarist, Jack Williams

Last night we drove to Jasper to a Jack Willliams concert. We'd never heard him before but had been told that he was one of the best guitarists in the world. We were not disappointed! He was absolutely amazing, and we were all enthralled, especially our budding guitarist. I've never seen fingers fly and pick like his!

We were introducted to Jack (literally) by our new priest, Father Frank. (Frank+ has not only inspired Macey to buy a guitar, but he has been teaching her to play.) When he told us about Jack and the concert, we decided to make a night of it, and Frank spread the word among our congregation. We ended up with a group of eight (the Dockerys, Kay Cahoon, and Father Frank), which fit perfectly in our big "bus." We had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant and then drove out to the Episcopal church in Jasper. Jack isn't a Christian singer/songwriter per se, but his music was certainly fine for church, for the most part at least. He did throw in a little Elvis! He's been classified as a folk artist, but his music ranged across many, many genres.

The girls talked us into buying two of his CDs, which he autographed, and our budding musician was on cloud nine when Jack mentioned her by name several times during his improv.

If you ever get the chance, you should definitely go hear Jack sing and play. He was an amazing one-man show, and his CDs do not do his playing justice. All eight of us were blown away and highly entertained.

Role Reversal?

When I picked up our eldest from 4-H after school, she was very upset because she had gotten into some trouble at school. It is not major trouble, but trouble nonetheless. (One good thing about a perfectionist firstborn is that she is a lot harder on herself usually than we are/have to be. Plus, on this occasion, the teacher's punishment is appropriate.) So she promptly spills her guts and sheds some tears. The tempest has finally calmed down more or less when she says for the umpteenth time, "I am so stupid!" (Typical teen, right?)

After a pause, from the backseat, the nine-year-old says, "Well, someone's got to be the mom here. First of all, you're not stupid!" I have no idea what the second point was because I was trying so hard not to laugh and drive the car right off the road!

After I apologized for not doing my duty, I reassured the girls (again) that no one was stupid; just sometimes we make dumb or bad choices. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes and try not to repeat them. New mistakes, however, are another story...

Someone's got to be the mom here!

Pink Eye

NOTE: Ansley is very embarrassed by this although we keep telling her that there is no reason at all to be embarrassed!

Last week, Ansley's right eye was bothering her a bit. We thought maybe a sty was developing, so we applied a warm compress every so often and OTC eye drops as needed. Off we went with life in general.

Saturday morning, she woke up to a horribly red eye and a bit of goop. We decided that we'd better not mess around with this, so off to the Clinic at Wal-Mart (run by Union General and friend Dr. Debora). The nurse was great. She checked Ansley's eye for abrasions or foreign objects, with a black light after adding some eye drops first. You should have seen that eyeball glow! No problems there, so probably bacterial pink eye since the problem was relegated to one eye only. Start a round of antibiotic eye drops and if things don't improve, take her to the eye doctor. Oh, and by the way, she could be contagious for up to 24 hours after starting the eye drops.

We stayed home from church yesterday but would have gone to school today had it not been canceled due to the ice that is still lingering on the back roads (and our driveway). Her eye has cleared up some so we will wait and see about going to the eye doctor.

The good news is that she will go to the orthodontist this afternoon to get the wire that came off of the back left bracket over Christmas fixed. Whew. What a sentence. Hopefully it won't be any big deal at the ortho. Shouldn't be.

Also, today Logan went and had bloodwork done as part of his routine physical. I'm proud of him for taking better care of himself!

Snow Days (AKA Spring Break in January)

Today is the 7th day of school we've missed due to snow (the 3rd day this week). I am not holding my breath that it will melt and be safe to travel the rest of the week either, although with 4-wheel drive on both our vehicles we go where we please. ;)

Here are the highlights from our fun in the snow. The girls made this adorable snow person. Don't you absolutely love the goggles? I couldn't resist a shot of the snow-covered jet ski in the background. Definitely dreaming of warmer weather...


Next is the snow man Uncle Reid made by our driveway.

Finally, here are the freeloading, piggy birds that I so enjoy!

Thanksfully Ansley spotted the woodpecker on this tree by our front door! I would have been disappointed to miss him.

In Front of the Fire

School was cancelled last night for today (snow day #5) in anticipation of the snow and ice that was headed our way. We woke up to about 8" of snow- more than we had at Christmas! Fortunately it isn't too too cold (though it will be later in the week). It didn't really warm up though, so we're off school again tomorrow (snow day #6). It looks like we're quickly losing spring break! It's not expected to get above freezing all week so who knows when the snow and ice will leave. What a winter for us, and it's only January!

The last time Logan split wood for the wood heater, he cut some extra small pieces for our fireplace because he knows how much his girls enjoy a fire. The girls moved everything off the hearth so tonight we're enjoying the lovely glow and warmth of the fire. What a perfect way to spend the evening! I may have to go heat up the kettle for hot tea and cocoa. Mmmm!

Marriage- per Macey

Last night as I was brushing my teeth, Logan "lovingly" called to me from the living room to remind me to close the blinds. Mind you, he was closer to them than I was! Macey must have caught my eye roll, because she said, "You know what the worst thing about marriage is?
HUSBANDS!"

I couldn't agree more.

Logan and I both got a great laugh out of yet another fabulous Macey-ism.

Her sister said that she is now a great philosopher.

Happy New Year!

How do you celebrate the new year? Last night Ansley's friend Isabel spent the night (last year and maybe the year before both girls spent New Year's Eve with her), and the girls rang in the new year singing karaoke, making up twisted lyrics to songs, playing with sparklers in the yard (Using them as magic wands a la Harry Potter was cute!), and watching the ball drop in Time Square and the Peach drop in Atlanta on TV.

Top 10 of 2010

As we count down to the new year, my family and I decided to count some of our blessings. Here's our Top 10 of 2010:

10. A "new" pontoon boat
9. a new bike (for Macey)
8. The girls learned to dive off the dock
7. Turning 12 & 9 (Nevermind Mom & Dad's ages- we're just happy to be here!)
6. St. Augustine
5. 4-H Camp Burton on Tybee Island
4. Disney World
3. Washington D.C.
2. Time with family & friends
1. Health & happiness