We're moving along slllooowwwly, but we're getting super close to being DONE!
Here's Day 5....most of the tile is in place, we're anxious to see what it will look like once the grout and trim pieces are in place:
And here we are after days 6 and 7.... a wee bit more tile and grout later and now we're talkin':
And after day 8 (Friday Sept. 28th), Mark and I are getting more and more impressed with our design! It's actually starting to look like a bathroom! We're getting so close
Since the last pictures were taken, the only change is the arch above the opening to the water closet is back. Now we'll contiue to wait for the plumber and electrician to show up, and after that all that's left is patching, taping, floating and texturing the walls, and getting the glass enclosure installed around the shower. That's IT! We are now in to week 6 of the remodel.
As for the wood floors...nothing has changed. They were supposed to start demo this morning, but it's not much of a surprise that I came home to an empty house with no changes. PLEASE LET ME KEEP MY PATIENCE with these people!!!!!!
I'm hoping to find some more time to update with all of the recent happenings at the Urben house as soon as possible. Right now, I'm off to the dentist AGAIN, but this time for some relief. I'm pretty sure I have dry socket from the molar I had pulled last Thursday. I'll be feelin' good in no time, I'm sure!
Friday, Jeff framed up the tub and shower, and added a couple corner seats in the shower as well. We originally planned on "bench" spanning the entire side of one wall, but Jeff got creative and thought up the corner seats to allow us more clearance in the middle. That proved to be an EXCELLENT idea, and now we haven't really lost any shower space by adding the corner seats.
In the last picture you can see where he came out from the wall about a foot to give us some extra room in the shower, which will also give us an area for shelves on the adjacent wall. We might end up using the space for free standing furniture in lieu of built in's. We have a lot of decisions to make!
We've purchased all of the electrical and plumbing fixtures, so all that's left is finding the perfect vanity mirrors.
Two weeks since deomlition, and yes, we're only on day 4 of actual work. So far the water closet has been framed in and the plumber has been here twice and done no actual work. Right now Jeffrey is framing in our tub surround and shower.
As for all the new work that we're having done on the hole in the wall and replacement of our wood floors, we're still where we were 2 weeks ago. The adjustor came out last week and we're waiting to hear what the numbers are so we can start picking out flooring.
Even though I intended on having more free time now that the kids are in school, just the opposite seems to have happened. With being on the PTA Board at both schools, volunteering, and my new workout schedule, I'm completely overcommitted (who me??) and up to my eyeballs in To-Do lists. AND, I haven't even started my job yet! I'm not sure how I'm going to handle everything once I'm working, but hopefully, things will calm down and I'll have more time for whatever else it is I'm forgetting to do. (housework maybe, keeping up with my family and friends???)
The kids are doing great in school, they've already completed their first two weeks and seem to be adjusting to their new schedules well. I talk to Alex's teacher everyday, and have already begun to hear the stories about Alex's silly antics. Fortunately, his teacher and I are very like-minded and she just adores him, and appreciates his sense of humor. Yay! She quickly discovered his ability to read and has him "teaching" two other boys to read. He is so, so proud.
Ashley is working super hard on her daily homework assignments, and I've been so proud of her determination to be neat and organized. Ever since she was a toddler, she's always been extremely particular about making sure things are all in the right place and neatly organized, and it's proven to be a very helpful trait! Everyday, Alex and I walk to meet her afterschool and walk home together. Alex asks about her day, she asks about his, and they are just so sweet to one another again! Summer had it's moments, so I'm so, so thankful that they are back to their old selves again. Distance DOES make the heart grow fonder, that's for sure!
After finding water in the wall below the master bath Mark immediately called the contractor (after turning off the water to the house, of course). Within 10 minutes, a superindendant was on site, and within 15 minutes of his arrival, a plumber was here. They were able to locate the leak fairly quickly and cap it to prevent any additional damage. Here's the bad news:
The good news is that our contractor has liability insurance and will cover all the cost of the repairs which he estimates to be around $10,000...most of which will cover replacing the wood floors. It looks like a very small spot, but since mom installed them 2ish years ago, they have discontinued this style of parquet...sooo, they're now going to have to replace the entire hall, dining room, living room and Ashley's room, which is a VERY large amount of wood flooring. We're pretty bummed about having to rip up the floors that mom worked so hard on, but we're also trying to look on the bright side. Our old water line was weak, and according to the plumber, could have broke on its own anytime now. I can't imagine having to foot this bill right now! We are so, so fortunate!
The kiddos had an excellent first day of school and both came home happy, hungry and exhausted!
The morning started off great, Alex wound up in Sissy's bed at some point during the night, so instead of Ash waking up at 6:30 and Alex at 7:00, they were both up at 6:30. As soon as Alex was coherent enough to realize that it was morning, his body went in to silly convulsing spaz mode while yelping, "TODAY'S KINDERGARTEN!!" Ash was a little less spastic, but excited none the less. Alex ended up picking out a new first day outfit than the previously planned one. Definitely not something I'd pick for first day material, but I was a good momma and reluctantly bit my tongue. I continued to bite my tongue when he decided he would fix his hair as well...which ended up being some sort of faux mohawk with pointy bangs. By the time we got to school it had made up it's own mind and turned in to more of a sculpted bed head "do".
We finally made our way to school, parked, and then Daddy, Sissy and I all took mr. over-excited Alex down the hall to his classroom. We were all so excited, but no one moreso than Alex. This guy has been waiting for this moment for so long, counting down the days, asking questions, talking about his own NURSE at the school, and the playground and the busses, and lunch, and all the wonderful stuff that he's seen Sissy have all these years. It was finally his turn. And on that walk to his classroom, Alex and my emotions seemed take opposite courses, his began to peak, and mine began to flatline. Suddenly, all the teachermomkid voices around me sloooowed down and somehow morphed in to hollow warped unidentifiable noises. Alex's classroom is close to the end of a loooong hallway, and all I could think of was "this is it, we're almost there". I snapped out of it and I was ok, Alex was ok, we were all ok...that is, until my sweet, tiny little guy took his ginormous backpack off and struggled to lift his this ridiculously overstuffed thing(that happens to be TWICE his 5 year old size) up to the hook designated, "Alex". Then...it all hit me at once. In a few short minutes, we'll turn around, and walk out of the school withOUT our Alex. Ahhh! So, basically, the eyes got a little too full and I had to do some lamaze breathing outside his class before I could go in so my sweetie didn't have to see me sad. While I was in the hall forcing oxygen in to my lungs, I was later told that his teacher gave him a great big welcoming hug and was so excited to see him. I missed a photo op for TEARS!!!! I'm just so thankful that he has a touchy feely teacher, because that was one of my biggest issues...who's going to hug him if he's sad, or what if he gets hurt. Well, my mind is now at ease, because I know his teacher will give stand in momma hugs when I'm not around. After my sob fest in the hall, I was able to gain a smidge of composure and walk in, give him a hug and leave. It was a blur. BUT it's OVER!!!
Taking Ash to school was the complete opposite. I'm pretty sure it was MUCH easier on us than her. I really think it's a huge shock walking in to a school where every kid is quite obviously older than you, and they don't think twice about staring you down as you walk in. Talk about uncomfortable! After we found her locker (yes, she allowed us to come with her) and she was able to focus on something other than her surroundings, she was able to chill a little. I continued to ask her if she wanted us to leave, because I was so worried that our presence was doing more harm than good, but she assured me that she wanted me to stay and even walk her to her first class. On the way to her class we spotted a friend and at that point, she gave us permission to leave. And that was that. We were successful at getting our two big kids off to school for their first day. Finally, I feel like I can relax a little. The build up to this day has been huge, so the relief is feeling just as huge.
Update:
We're now on day 3 of school and each day has been easier, although I do have to say, today marked the first day that both kiddos were less than thrilled to have to wake up. In fact, as we walked Alex through the front door of his school he whispered to me, "man, I sure wish I was still in bed."
Twas the night before school days, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The backpacks were hung by the exit with care, In hopes that school morning soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of school friends danced in their heads. And me with my tissues, and daddy with his remote, Had just settled down, for a short summers sleep...
Ok, so I don't have the time to actually finish this, afterall, the alarm will be sounding at 6:15 am and I do need my rest. However, I did want to post something on this quiet night. This is Alex's last night to lay in bed wondering what Kindergarten is all about. And Ashley's last night to wonder the same about middle school. It's so bittersweet. Both of my babies are growing up so fast, much faster than I had ever anticipated. But there's no stopping time, that's for certain. Ashley has her outfit picked out, and all the accessories to boot. Alex picked out his non matching outfit, which I promplty corrected. Their lunches are packed, I've explained to Alex how to open his thermos and how to open his milk carton, and how he can just raise his hand and ask if he needs help. He has my phone number memorized just in case. ***Sigh**** And now all he needs is one last momma bear hug and he'll be good to go for the ENTIRE day. I'm hoping tomorrow is ok for him. I know he'll be fine, but there's a small part of me that worries that he'll be lonesome and a little frightened in this brand new place. This is the same little guy who still asks to be held and cuddled and sleeps with his "cozy" every night. But, he IS a big boy now, right? And everything WILL be ok. It will, it really, really will. And if it doesn't feel ok, maybe his "cozy" and I will keep each other company while he's gone.
Ok, I'm going to bed now, where I can get lost in my book so I don't have to choke back anymore momma bear tears.
Oh please, please don't let me cry, please let me be strong.
One day late, but finally, the bathroom remodel has begun! Before we let the workers attack, we had to get some fun in first. What could be more entertaining than watching a couple of kids draw on the walls and carpet...watching them hammer walls out, that's what!
And finally, it's all GONE!!! We have a looong way to go, but we're on our way!
We interupt this post *literally* for a bit of a problem. As I'm uploading pictures Mark informs me that we have a BIG problem. Looks like something happened during the demolition and water has been leaking in to the wall below the shower for the past 24 hours. The wall is dripping, paint is sagging, parquet floors are buckling...and there's still the basement that we can't even see because it's filled to the brim with my brothers stuff. Big problems. Huge problems.
A few days ago, Alex and I were laying on the bed while he read "Whacky Jack" to me. This is a Phonics book about a little racoon that has a new baseball bat and glove and he's so excited to play baseball, but when he starts to play, he gets upset because he's never played before and of course, is not a good player. Daddy racoon asures him that with practice he will get better, and of course by the end of the book, he's no longer getting hit in the face with the ball, blah, blah, blah, you get the gist. So throughout the book there's colorful pictures of Father and Son Racoon walking around on two feet, fully clothed. Shortly after beginning the book Alex takes his time scanning the page before going on as he typically does. It's not uncommon for him to spend twice as much time looking at he pictures and talking about them than he does actually reading the book, and most of the time he has a keen obeservation to share. Anyway, so Alex stops reading, stares at the page for a short period of time and says: "Oh momma, this book is sooooooo fiction."
I reply "Really? Now what gave you that clue?" (As I chuckle inside about the obvious answer. I mean we ARE reading a book about fully clothed racoons playing baseball)
Much to my surprise, my little 5 year old replies: "Well momma, racoons are nocturnal and they wouldn't be playing baseball in the DAYTIME! They'd be sleeping, DUH!"
Just the other day I was chatting with my neighbor friend, Peg, when she brought up her dilema about the possibility of going on meds to control her hereditary high cholesterol. We discussed a few options and then I told her I'd talk to Ruthie about what she's done to control hers. I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed email that followed my inquiry and decided that this information should be shared. Below is her gererous response in chronological order: Thank you Nana!!!
I am always reading and adding to my efforts. I have made a list in chronological order of my efforts and results. Hope it helps.
I have always had medium High cholesterol. My Father and all of my brothers were or are on cholesterol medication.
06/2006 -I started with my Cholesterol at 273- HDL- 40.- LDL- 207. When I got these results- I decided to get really serious.
Intake 35 to 50 grams of fiber a day I take at least 3000 mg a day of omega 3 (the standard recommendation is 1000 mg)- This supplement helped alot. It was just not quite enough. Eat practically no butter- mayo Eat olive oil generously Eat avocado and garlic
11/2006 - Cholesterol - 239 - HDL- 42 - LDL - 196
People with cholesterol problems often have problems with insulin resistance. I have read that if you control your glucose levels that the cholesterol will come under control. I try to watch my sugar intake and take a sugar glucose supplement as well as cinnamon. Also limit carb and sugar..
I also take 500 mg niacin supplement.. My Canyon Ranch doctor recommended building up to 2000 mg. You take the niacin at night because it opens up your blood vessels and can cause a flushed itching face, chest etc. I decided to stay with 500 mgs because I can still tell that the dosage I take still affects me. Exercise is recommended and I can say I do it more then I used to but I don't do it enough. I also bought a glucose and cholesterol monitor and I used it monthly.
All of the above helped but I was still fighting the numbers until I broke down and took Red Yeast Rice. I take 1200 mg a day. 600 in the morning and 600 in the evening. Red yeast is a natural statin. This means that you should have your blood work checked every 3 months. I keep thinking that if I get better at diet control and exercise, I'll be able to back off the Red Yeast Rice. Maybe go to 1 a day and then slowly eliminate it. I'm convinced that the Red Yeast Rice is a better solution then the medication the doctors would recommend. My doctor was absolutely sure that the Red Yeast Rice would not work but after I had been on it about 2 months.
01/2007 Cholesterol - 172 - HDL- 51 LDL - 103. YEAH! His response was to keep doing what I was doing.
Tonight was Ashley's 6th grade orientation as well as my PTA Board Meeting. Mark took the kiddos to Ashley's thing so I could make my thing. Turns out that the rumors we've been hearing about the possibility of her school starting one to two weeks late due to renovations is false. They promised they would be finished by Monday. Yay! Aside from that, they say the orientation was pretty much old news, but she did get her schedule...for a brief period of time. Unfortunately, they scheduled her for two PE classes this semsester, and they had to turn her schedule back in for a change. Sooo, Monday morning she'll be able to see what classes she has.
As for my meeting, it went very well. This is my first year with a position on the Board, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. I'll the the Kindergarten Represenative, which means I'll be in charge of getting Kinder room moms for each class and ensuring that they understand what that entails. I will also be in charge of the PTA Bulletin Board. Being up at the school as much as possible is my goal, and I think I've pretty much ensured that my goal will be met. As it turns out, Alex is in the same class as the PTA Presidents son, which is SUPER news, considering she requested her sons teacher.
Just before leaving for the meeting I checked the mail and found the sweetest little postcard addressed to the one and only, Alexander Urben. This was not just ANY postcard, it was a very, very special postcard from his very first teacher. When I told him he had a postcard from his teacher, his little 5 year old face LIT up as if I'd just told him we'd won tickets to Disney World. After calming him down I was finally able to sit him down so he could read his very own piece of mail. Of course, he read it in it's intirety without hesitation, and is now even more eager to start Kindergarten than ever. Tomorrow is meet the teacher night which should hopefully hold him over until Monday.
My little pumpkin is going to big boy school and my little princess is going to big girl school. I'm going to need some serious therapy on Monday morning...friend therapy will do...but Mimosas will do even better!
Another update on the bathroom remodel that I forgot to mention. A new potty! It does seem a little silly to be excited about a new toilet, but once again, I'm not sure if it's the thrill of a deal or the actual toilet itself. So here she is, the Toto Carrollton. Mark is excited about the flushing action (25 golf balls...not sure why that's necessary, but you know boys and their toys..??), I'm loving the skirted sides and soft closing seat, but even more so, the price tag. List price: $582.00, display markdown at Apex: $230.00. Savings: $352.00.
Well, today Mark and I made our first big purchase for the bathroom remodel and I am beyond excited. I still haven't decided if I'm more excited about the sweet whirlpool tub, or the amazing deal we scored. Anyway, Mark and I decided on a corner tub, and had a budget of $1000.00. We wanted jets, and room for two. We had one picked out at Lowes for $999.99, but today I found an excellent deal for a brand new Jacuzzi tub on Craigslist. After doing some research on it, we discovered what an amazing deal we had stumbled upon. This is a Jacuzzi Cappella tub retails at a whopping $2,189 starting price. (Although I did find it on bizrate for $1,600). So here's the tub we picked up today:
Oh, did I mention the price??? This puppy was on Craigslist for a whopping $700, and Mark ended up talking him down to $650. And it's NEW!
Mark and I decided to take full advantage of the kids being gone all week and we completely redid Ashley's room. Our house was built in the 80's, so there's a LOT of dark wood in the house. While we really do appreciate the quality of all the wood work, we really wanted to brighten up Ashley's room a little. We put a LOT of time in to this project. We painted all the baseboards, trim, window frame, cabinetry, her desk, drawers and three of the four doors in her room. (Yes, she has FOUR doors in her room!!) We replaced her old mini blinds with new plantation blinds, we spray painted her brass hardware black, added new white shelves to her cabinetry, painted her walls a light greenish color...(half price oops rack!), Mark replaced all of her outlets and light switches with brand new white covers and outlets, and we've ordered a very large piece of glass to cover the entire 9 foot length of her built-in desk, and a new desk chair. She has a new comforter, pillows, curtains, and butterfly chair. Oh, and I can't forget her new 17" widescreen monitor, compliments of Nana. These pictures are awful, and I didn't think to take them until I'd already began painting the bookshelf. The bedding is the "Gold" set from the MTV Cribs Collection. You can't see the detail in the picture, but it's very cute with subtle patterns and the curtains behind her bed are a sheer zebra print tied with the matching pink ribbons. These pictures really don't do the room justice, the colors are totally off, but you can get the general idea.
Ok, so as a family we have reached a major turning point in our lives. I am a stay at home mom who cherishes her job every single day. I love being with my kids, taking care of the house and being able to take some of the day to day stressors off of Mark's back. I love that he can come home and not have to worry about dirty laundry, yardwork, etc. He works his patootie off all day and I am so incredibly grateful to have a husband that is dedicated to his work and supporting his family. I really feel that we are some of the happiest most fortunate people in this world. So, back to the turning point. Alex starts kindergarten in just three itsy bitsy weeks. My job as a stay at home mom is nearing it's end and naturally, my role must change. It's heartwrenching enough watching the best job I've ever had, and the best years of my life slowly slip away. Add the emotions of watching my favorite little boy take his first steps away from his momma's nest, knowing that never again will we have that precious, precious time together. And you get one very distraught momma.
Mark and I have been full time working parents. Before Alex was born, that's just what we had to do to get by. There was no question, there was no other option. And that's just reality for most families. What's also reality is that it sucks. Coming home after a 30+ minute drive in traffic with an interstate full of people with lousy attitudes who are tired and just want to get home before dinner is just a small piece of the nightmare. And what are we all rushing home to do? To pick up the kiddos from the child holding tank and get home in time to throw some sort of mostly nutritcious dinner on the table. It's hurry this, hurry that, brush your teeth, oh wait there's homework, and throw in some laundry because Ashley has to wear her school shirt tomorrow, clean up the dinner mess, and there's soccer practice, and kids that want to play with thier friends, and when it's all said and done you've spent all of 2 and a half MAYBE 3 hours of chaotic time with your precious family ALL DAY.
BUT, we say...there's always the weekends, right.
Well yes, there are the weekends, but what do we REALLY do on the weekends? We bust our a$$es to get the laundry done, and we get the house, and yard picked up so that we might not go completely insane the following week from looking at all the things we WISH we could get done. And you know a messy house does nothing but create tension. But, we also would like some "me" time, because afterall, all we've done all week is take care of everyone but ourselves. Spending extra time with your spouse and children sounds ideal, but in reality you just want to do what you want to do. You end up doing one of two things: You take the small chunck of time for yourself and only partially enjoy yourself because you have this looming cloud of guilt hanging over your head for not doing what you know is right, which is spending time with your family. Or, you: Spend your small chunk of spare time with the family, with your less than par attitude because you are once again feeling like you're living your life for everyone BUT yourself. Unless of course you have a dream job in which you are completely fulfilled at and actually enjoy most of the time.
Ok, so there are some days that aren't as stressful as this, but from my own experience, having been on both the parental and the childs side, this really is the reality of it MOST of the time. And while a lot of people do this because they have no choice, what breaks my heart is that there are so many of us who think they're working to survive, but really they're working to pay their fancy SUV car payment, and to have that big "mines bigger than yours" TV that they don't get to enjoy nearly enough because there is no "spare" time. Instead it serves a new purpose, it keeps the children entertained while the parents play catch up, or have some of that much needed time to themselves. And it doesn't end there, we're also working to afford a house big enough so that everyone can have their "own space". And don't get me wrong I like nice new pretty things, and nice new fancy cars too...but where do you draw the line?
These are all the things that have been going through my mind lately and quite frankly I'd rather pull out my fingernails with needlenose pliers than go back to that. And strangely enough, I actually LIKE the work I would be doing if I went back to full time. However, I do like my sanity, and seeing my family happy far more. So, after a LOT of thinking, and planning and looking and talking Mark and I have agreed that working full time is out of the question. Yay! That's a big step in itself. So, how do you find a job where you can work part/part time, have school holidays off, do what you like, close to home and make decent money? (Well if that isn't the question of every stay at home mom I'd be surprised) You keep your connections and don't burn bridges. Ha! To be perfectly honest I didn't do either of those things, (and I'll have to save that story for another post) but somehow it has all worked out. You get really lucky, that's what you do. Ironically enough this job opportunity defies all of that...this dream is coming to fruition. And all I had to do was ask.
So, my new job is 7 minutes from home, I will work four hours a day and have all the school holidays off, better yet, I will be doing work that I enjoy. I can drop the kiddos off, pick them up, help them with homework and even have a small chunk of time each morning to either volunteer up at their schools, get in a workout, or keep up with the housework. I am so, so thankful to my employer for being so open to my demands, and to my husband for allowing me to do what I want to do...and for putting up with all of my crazy ideas. I finally feel like I can relax and not worry about what the future holds, because I know that no matter what becomes of this, everything WILL be ok, because between Mark and I we always seem to find a way to make things fall in to place.
And because I'm a total sap, and this guy is so talented...
I swear, someday I will actually post about something more than vacations, but for now, it's summer, and that's what we'll do. When school starts in just a few short weeks, I imagine my posting will be a tad less sporadic.
So, Alabama. What a trip!!!! It's been over 5 years since Mark's mom has had the pleasure of having all three of her boys together in one place, and that alone was reason enough for making the 13 hour drive to Alabama with our three dogs and two kiddos. Her 60th birthday was the 29th, which made it just that much more special, I'm sure. I could easily make our drive sound painful and exhausting, but I'd be lying. It was actually an incredibly relaxing, uneventful day. Aside from the occasional unidentified debilitating stinch that made it's way to the front of the van, we never even noticed the 200-ish pound load of animals we were carrying. All three of them are such good travelers, in fact, they are much more well behaved than other two animals we call children.
We spent the week doing all of the fun stuff we normally do, like sitting on the porch swing with Mamaw and chatting about hummingbirds, ducks and the like....
And we certainly did a lot of riding around with Papa Jack on the Gator...gotta make sure we check those fences ya know I'm pretty sure that's what we're supposed to do out in country...
And after dark, that's when the crazies came out. Oh wait, that's just uncle Frank and Aunt Nicola. But seriously, these have got to be the luckiest kids EVER. Their uncle Frank and aunt Nicola have to be two of the sweetest, most patient, fun loving people around. They always make time run off with the kids and almost always come back laughing. In fact after this picture was taken I couldn't help but smile when I heard them a few acres over laughing at god only knows what. I am so, so thankful that they were able to make the trip, and I know the kids are too.
I mean come on, is this not the coolest uncle EVER.
Or is this is the coolest uncle ever? Steve made such a big impression on Alex (and me) this past week. He took the kids fishing and actually took the time to teach them all the little things that only an amazingly patient uncle would. It was adorable to see Alex look up to his uncle Steve and just take it all in. He taught him a lot about safety (Mr. Game Warden coming out here) and even gave up a few of his catch for Alex and Ash to reel in. I was touched by his efforts to include the kids. Just about every night we made our way down to the pond to fish and just sit by the pond and have a little fun. The kids looked forward to this each night, as did the adults. Uncle Steve gave Alex his official Native American name, Pants on Fire which suited him quite will during those nights by the pond. This is uncle Steve showing Alex how to hold a fish...he even gave him the whole schpeel on how to kneel down and pose. I think the look on Alex's face pretty much sums it all up. Now that is priceless.
The day after we arrived was Grannie Frannie's 60th Birthday. Before we took her out to dinner the boys gave her the gift that they'd been working on for the past few weeks. They started by letting her open up the wall mount to kinda leave her hanging a bit, and then they led her to the garage where her new plasma wide screen was. I'm not sure how I managed to do this, but of the almost 2,000 pictures I took this past week, I did not get a single one of the new TV! What I did get were these pictures, which really say it all. Fran makes giving gifts such an amazing experience.
"You DIDN'T!" teehee And notice Mamaw's face in the background. Too cute!
While we were there we did a little hiking in several different places. We walked a bird watching trail where we found an amazing waterfall. We walked an old railroad bridge that is now non functional, a great spot for photos. And one night Frank and I went out and took some night photos. That was a lot of fun, and my first experience with night photography. It was pretty cool having someone around that understood my passion for taking pictures.
I have sooo much to do, and so little time I'm going to have to cut this short. The kids are gone for the week and I have way too much that I want to accomplish while they're gone. I will up date with more photos later.
