What a Week!

This past weekend we were blessed with a visit from Nathan, Chelsea and Avery. Yes, they traveled from Jackson, MS just to be with us for the week-end. How I love those three! I do suspect Nathan did want to watch the high school soccer team (including his brother) take on Brewer for the last time this season. Hartselle won!



Chelsea, Avery, and I went to Cullman during Saturday afternoon to the Bloomin' Festival at St. Bernard School. It is St. Bernard's annual arts and crafts festival. The school grounds are beautiful, and it's so fun to walk around checking out all the booths.

Saturday evening ended with all of us playing in the backyard and grilling steaks. Sunday afternoon after church we were outside again. Avery loves the sliding board, and we had fun playing with her on the swing set!








Tuesday night ended the regular high school soccer season. Hartselle qualified for state play offs which start this coming Tuesday (4/27). Hartselle also won the Morgan County tournament! It has been a very good season. Unfortunately Will hurt his ankle Tuesday night during the game against Athens High. After a visit to the orthopaedic today, he is in a knee high boot, and starts therapy tomorrow. The doctor said he would probably be okay to play by Tuesday night. Will certainly hopes so!

10 Things You Might Not Know

Here is a fun activity that I ran across this morning on a blog I frequently read. I had a good time reading her post and responses from others that she was getting.

What are 10 things - right off the top of your head - that we would only know about you if we knew you really well? 10 random things ranging anywhere on your personal map that make you a tad distinctive? Or just plain weird? Think quickly. Don't go for deep. Go for quirky. Don't try to put them in any kind of order and don't make them long. Just start typing. I'll go first to give you the idea.

Okay, join the fun and leave your list in the comments section here! Thanks for playing!


1. I love the smell of fresh mulch.

2. I'm really not as serious as people seem to think I am.

3. I can ride a unicycle.

4. I LOVE to sing in the car when no one else is with me.

5. As much as I sometimes wish I was, I am not a girly girl.

6. I'd rather spend a beautiful spring Saturday outside raking and gardening than going shopping.

7. HGTV is my favorite TV station.

8. It drives me crazy for my photos to not be in chronological order. (Thanks to digital photography, it is much easier for them to be now.)

9. I do not like Starbucks coffee.

10. I would rather be a landscape architect.

Random and off the top of my head, and with that, I'm off to rake out some flower beds since it is a beautiful day in Alabama for a change!

Happy Birthday to Will!

Yesterday was Will's 15th birthday. It wasn't too exciting for him I'm afraid. The fun did pick up once we went to the AT&T store to pick out a new phone for him. He had a hard time choosing from all the options, but he finally decided on a Samsung Impression. Pretty cool phone, at least from a mom's perspective. He seems happy with it. Later, after supper, cake, ice cream and gifts from relatives, his friend Hunter came over to spend the night and all day Saturday.









I am fortunate to be Will's mom. He is smart, sweet, kind, considerate, athletic, gifted in the arts and just wonderful! Who knew 15 years ago, I would be the shortest in the family, and Will is on the way to be the tallest, even beating his dad and brother! I love all my boys!

SPRING!

"Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the flowers is?"

That is a quote my English teacher mother always put on her chalkboard in her classroom on the first day of spring! I think it was the only time she was ever grammatically incorrect, and of course, it was on purpose! I can never face the first day of spring without thinking of this quote! Thanks, Mother!

Today IS the first day of spring! I'm going to get out and rake up some leaves this morning. I think I need grass seed for my front yard too. There is so much I want to do in the yard, but right now it is so soggy out there!

Thoughts/Update

Why is it so hard to put thoughts down on paper, computer, etc. sometimes? Guess I think too much about how to say something.

E-mealz is going very well. It is nice to know what I am going to fix and that I have everything on hand for it as well.

We spent last weekend in Jackson with Nathan, Chelsea and Avery. Had a blast. Mostly we did yard work: raking, weeding, trimming and cutting. They have quite a large yard, so we spent a beautiful Saturday out in the beautiful weather. It was cool, but since we were doing physical labor we didn't get cold at all.





The amazing thing is that we bagged all the leaves we raked up in one day. When I saw all the raked piles, I was ready to throw in the towel thinking we would never see the end of the work. With perseverance and hardly any breaks the leaves were bagged before dark!





The yard and the flowers in the yard look so much better without all the leaves!

For dinner that night we went to Sal and Mookie's, a local pizza and ice cream place. So many choices for pizza, but we finally decided on some! We even all had desert! Avery was very good while we were there, but then she almost always is so happy.



Will has been out this week for spring break. Because of this and I had taken Monday off, we didn't leave Jackson until Monday morning. Now, he and I are about to tackle changing rooms around upstairs. He is moving into the room Nathan has always had here. Lots of rearranging, and what to do with all the books they both have accumulated over the years? Some we will keep, some we will give away...it's just deciding what to get rid of that is hard sometimes.

e-mealz

We tried a new meal plan this week. I signed up online with e-mealz and have been quite impressed! Once a week a menu plus shopping list can be printed. Everything you need for 7 nutritious and delicious dinners are included. We tried some new menu items this week and liked them. Preparation is not very time consuming and if you follow the shopping list for what you need, everything is in your kitchen when you need it. Check them out. Click on the e-mealz block on the blog and see what you think!