Good Friday Tornadoes 2009

Our house still stands. My family is fine, but this is what happened to our neighborhood on Good Friday as a tornado, one of several, hit our city. These houses were less than a quarter mile from us. Beef saw the funnel cloud out our back window only minutes after Scamp and I arrived home from a lunch date with my family. It was a close call, a scary close call, but God kept us safe. I had no idea that when Beef called and told me to come home because tornadoes had been spotted that I was heading in the direction of one of the ones that would touch down, and yet our neighborhood was not hit the hardest. At least three tornadoes touched down in our city, and over a hundred homes were damaged or completely destroyed. Two people lost their lives, a mother and a 9 week old baby from our neighborhood.

Beef just happened to be cleaning out our stairwell closet that day when his dad called and told him about the tornadoes. As soon as Scamp and I arrived home, I grabbed baby Scoodle from her bed and shoved a few pillows and a blanket in the closet. Beef then saw the tornado, and we all got inside forming a pray circle with our girls. We didn't hear a sound unlike the last time we had to get in the closet. Our neighborhood has been hit more than once. About 5 years ago, a severe wind and hail storm hit during the middle of the night and damaged almost every home in our neighborhood. We were lucky it wasn't a tornado, but it did sound like a freight train whizzing by outside our house. Our next home will have a basement.

We are thankful for our lives and our home but feel saddened for those who didn't come away unharmed. We are thankful to all our family members who prayed for us and called to check on us afterward.

Introducing Baby Scoodle

With a new face and a new name, please welcome 3 week old Baby Scoodle. At close to 8 pounds (7 pounds 9 ounces at birth) she's one sweet ball of precious, literally. Her preferred method of sleeping is a tight ball on her mama's shoulder. With jet black hair like her mama and big sister at birth and her powerhouse burping skills like her daddy she's a laughing delight, and big sister Scamp seems to be the proudest little mama of all. Once her mama gets a few more hours of shuteye, she hopes to add even more pictures of her two pretty princesses.

What You Missed While I've Been...Pregnant

Scamp had a big third birthday back in September. We have so many cousins with birthdays in September that we celebrated four out of five of them on one day. It was raining so my mom set up the birthday tables in her garage. There were so many kids running around that we let them play out in the rain. At one point Scamp came running into the garage in the buff. She can't stand wet clothes and instead of telling her mommy that she wanted dry clothes, she took them off herself. Everyone had a big laugh except my dad. Those kinds of things embarrass him.


We celebrated my grandpa's birhtday, too. Here he is with all the grandkids and great-grandkids who attened plus a few other partiers.

We had rented a huge Bounce Castle for the kids the week before the party, but we had to cancel because of the rain. My brother-in-law had bought the cousins on Beef's side of the family a bounce house for Christmas, and he graciously let us borrow it. The rain cleared off enough that we were able to use it. Afterward, we cleaned the house and fit it back in the box for Christmas. Scamp was just as excited with the second round of bouncing on Christmas day.

Murder Mystery 2008

Click here for the Murder Mystery Slideshow.

Would you have thought all these characters came from the Bible? Of course, not exactly. They are more updated than their Bible-time counterparts ( and maybe a wee bit exaggerated on a few parts), but the strong-willed, selfish and manipulative personalities are all there. The most interesting part was actually identifying with the "bad girls of the bible." Yes, I did share a few characteristics. I would have to say some of the most memorable moments of the evening were seeing the hippies in protest out on my lawn and watching my friend Robin sashay in wearing her showgirl costume. I nearly fainted (with laughter)! I so enjoyed seeing how inventive my friends were in making these characters come to life. What fun (and a blessing)!

Trick-or-Treating 2007

This is the first year Scamp has had any concept of what trick-or-treating was -- "Get Candy" as she said. She even managed to spout out a few "trick-or-treats" and "thank yous" when going door-to-door in her Meme and Papa's neighborhood.

It was a new experience for me as well. Growing up in the country, we didn't walk from house to house. We had to drive, repeatedly getting in and out of the car with as much as 10-minute intervals between houses. Then, we only went to close friends and relatives houses, which wasn't such a bad thing. Many were waiting on us with "special" bags of candy and toys reserved for only the grand kids and nieces and nephews.

As you can see, Scamp rode in style through the small community streets in Meme's walking stroller, holding my paper parasol and her pink pumpkin, which happened to be a free yard sale find. She only got scared a couple of times when some of the older teens approached with more grotesque costumes. She would cling to Beef or myself until they passed.

After trick-or-treating, we walked back to Aunt Boppy's house for a Halloween cookout. Scamp was so thrilled (not to mention chocolate filled) with the evening, she wanted to stay at Boppy's and Fluff Fluff's, but we convinced her to come home and go to bed. Mama and Daddy needed a rest.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwRUFfPjGUc
Click the link above to view the video. We stopped by a neighbor's house on the way to Beef's hometown. They filled her bucket with candy, and the sight of brightly wrapped candies and chocolates was too much temptation for Scamp. We gave her "a little" hoping to tide her over until later, but she managed to tear the wrapper of a pack (or two - we weren't quite sure) of M&M's. With her face and hands stained chocolate, Scamp decided to sing her rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to the other candies in her bucket. I hope you enjoy.

Monster Glam Masquerade Ball 2007

One full tube of white face paint and an itchy costume wig later, I was ready for the hottest costume party to date. Beef waited until the last minute (2 hours prior) to find the perfect matching attire, a Japanese Samurai embroidered robe to my Geisha girl silky threads. He transformed his normally blonde gotee to a dusky black shade using my mascara. And I spiced up my wig with tasseled chopsticks and a bright sapphire magnolia. Traditionally, Geisha apprentices wear cherry blossoms in their oiled hair dos, but those were harder to find.

King Larry and Queen Robin from the Lord of the Rings fantasy met us out our home to commute for the almost hour and half drive to Cookeville, the site of the ball. Just picture a carload of fully costumed adults (except for me -- my wig came off when we stopped for a bite at Mickey D's) wedged in a mid-sized sedan.

Upon reaching the event, we attached our final props, mine being a painted paper parasol and matching fan, Beef's being a realistic plastic Samurai sword used to protect his delicate companion from the likes of another Japanese warrior girl, as you'll see in the pictures. Oh ... looks liked she had him surrendered.

Orange and black streaming balloons lined the entrance as we checked ourselves in. Then, we caught site of Mary, our do-eyed sister-in-law draped across an unknown masked figure. Her escort for the evening was Jack, from the Nightmare Before Christmas. We tried to chat him up, but he chose to be the strong, silent-type. Matt's mom ended up being quite a spicy Morticia look-alike with her graying, elegantly long black wig and glittered lashes while his dad parodied as the overworked roadie who toted oversized props all day.

Our hosts for the evening were Beef's two sisters, Beth and Shan, both with delicately painted masks across their already gorgeous faces. And no, the orange above Shan's eyes wasn't paint. That was her lengthy costume lashes that made themselves known every time she blinked. What fun! Her Predator-jerseyed hubby went along for the ride as a battered hockey player, and the fist behind that black eye? His wife, of course! With her artist touch, silly!

We participated in the costume fashion show first with many a gorgeous and frightening gaggle of formal-attired ghouls. I practiced a few traditional geisha moves from the movie Memoirs of a Geisha prior and twirled and fluttered my cherry-blossomed umbrella and fan to the beat of a shamisan, a three-stringed instrument Geisha often play. Indian Jones also made a cameo, leather lasso and all, but he was too quick for the likes of my slow-focusing camera.

We were them entertained by a brilliant pair of eleven year olds who dazzled us with their award-winning illusions followed by a formal dance competition and a very freaky and highly entertaining rendition of the choreographed dance, Thriller. And we don't want to forget a major reason for the two night event. A silent auction was held both nights, where the proceeds will be going to benefit Autism Awareness.

Completely exhausted as the evening was nearing midnight, we excused ourselves to de-costume, make-up and all, before parting with our wonderful hosts while being serenaded by some very talented Scary-aoke competitors. It was an amazing evening, and being privy to the behind-the-scenes planning, what an exceptional job Shan and Beth of Studio Six Limited did pulling this event off.

Papa's Hill

For a fall day, it sure was hot. I was expecting more of a nice fall breeze, especially since we were up on the hill behind my FIL's house. It was a gorgeous view. I love the pictures with the church in the background. We had a great time except for the ground being laden with sharp sticks. We only pretended to walk on the "walking" picture. It looks like we are really going down the path. It turned out to be such a thoughtful picture: a mother and daughter walking side-by-side down a freshly cut path to the church below. I can see God's hand everywhere in the picture. Do you see Him?

Pictures taken by my wonderful SILs from Studio Six Photography.

Time Travel Tuesday

Annie made time travel incredibly easy this week! We've traveled all over our lives and today we are going to travel to yesterday. If you live in the US, you probably celebrated Labor Day in some way... even if it was just staying home for the day. What did you do yesterday, who did you spend time with? What was the highlight of the day? Were there any disappointments?

If you visit my blog enough, you know I love slideshows. So here's my most recent one from yesterday. We spent the first part of the day lounging. I was in my pajamas until about 3 pm until I had to get ready to go to the in-laws for some water fun. Meme and Papa found a huge Wal Mart clearance sale and came home with a monster of a water slide. We missed getting to see Meme take her turn down the slide literally flipping at the end!! That would have been the picture to have! We finished up the day with a cookout, then home to bed. How was your yesterday? Join in the fun at Annie's.

Let Us Gather at the River

My husband's niece Em was baptized on Sunday by her pastor and grandfather (aka Papa, Beef's dad). We are all so proud of her and honored to be able to share in this experience with her. She accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior during a VBS this summer.

Her baptism brings back memories of mine as I was baptized in the cool waters of a creek near my home when I was eleven. I had never even heard of an indoor, heated baptismal pool a lot of other churches are able to have. My parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and on back further were all baptized in the same creek although in different sections depending on the amount of rain.

A baptism signifies leaving our old ways behind and becoming a new creature in Christ who has been washed clean from all sin. Simply put, it's an outward sign of an inner change. At the time, I didn't fully understand the meaning as I do today, hence me tearing up every time I witness a baptism.

My immersion per se took place in the muddy waters of a local creek during the hot, muggy August summer of 1990. I, along with my sister, my on-again, off-again childhood boyfriend and a small collection of a few other new believers, stood in knee-deep water waiting our turns to be dipped.

My sister went first. Then, I, clothed in a hot pink button-up dress (popular color back then), stood within the outstretched arms of my then pastor and great-great-uncle, Brother Austin. My dress barely skimmed the surface of the water causing it the rush up as he lowered me into the creek, my nose-pinched with a soft, white handkerchief. As I raised up out of the water, I realized my beau as well as the rest of the church body got a sneak peek of me skivvies.

We all trudged our way out of the creek as our friends and relatives handed us dry towels. I noticed my well-worn white creek shoes were being stained pink as the water dripping from me was the same color as my dress. We then joined in a chorus of "Amazing Grace," shaking hands and hugging to celebrate what God had accomplished. Thankfully, no one mentioned my mishap, not even my mother.

I would love to hear your baptismal/christening/conversion experiences. Please leave me a comment.

Show Me Sassy!

Scamp and I had a photo session earlier today after she decided on one very sassy outfit. The above is her response to me saying, "Show me sassy!."

Gulf Shores

We made it back safely from our Gulf Shores vacation late last night. We survived the trip even though Scamp was fussy on the 8 hour trip back. Thank goodness for car DVD players. I normally don't like her to watch a lot of TV, but for this occasion she watched Barney and Blue's Clues the whole way.

We arrived in Gulf Shores, specifically Orange Beach on Monday evening around 5:00 pm in two vehicles, my dad's monster pick up stuffed to the rims with beach luggage and our rented Chevy Malibu with it's 37 miles-to-the-gallon tank--with the air conditioning maxed.

We headed to the beach first thing. The air was muggy but the cool breeze of the ocean made the temperature perfect. Scamp did not like the sand at first and insisted on being towled off, but once she discovered the blissful lapping waves, she was hooked. She wanted to try a little boogy boarding after that, so her Pa took her out for a test ride followed by a quick burying in the sand. My nephew, Bubby, splashed in the waves as well while my niece, Alex, filled her sand castle bucket with shells. Then, it was time for beach pictures before we headed to the recently renovated hotel pool to rinse the rest of the rough sand off that the beach showers could not remove.

The second day we went back to the beach for some more sandy, salty fun before the down pour started. To be in the midst of a drought we sure got a lot of rain while we were there. One of Beef's favorite parts of the beach is building gigantic sand castles. He worked diligently for three hours to create his masterpiece before he allowed a very anxious Bubby to destroy it. The rain started that afternoon, so we decided to go one of Gulf Shores famous restaurants, Lambert's -- Home of the Throwed Rolls, but because of the showers, apparently everyone had the same feat in mind. Therefore, we changed our course to eat at Fire Mountain. I haphazardly picked this place due to the few cars in the parking lot, but once inside we discovered it was a Ryan's buffet in disguise. And I LOVE Ryan's. I couldn't believe I had sniffed it out. I could eat Ryan's gargantuan buffet for all three meals. Did you know they serve breakfast on Saturday's now?!

The next morning, we lounged on the beach again. The weather was overcast, a welcomed forecast since I had been sunburned the day before. We labored away on more sand creations. Beef carved out a cat complete with shell ears, eyes, and a very fancy shell collar. Scamp couldn't wait to pet it, but after only a minute's worth of petting, the head fell off! Poor kitty! I dug out a couple of tunnels while Alex and Beef hollowed out Scamp a deep hole of a house.

That same night, we went to Adventure Island, a race car/mini golf park we thought the kiddies would enjoy. Alex and I putted around the course while Bubby and Scamp rode the motorized cars. Beef challenged my niece to a car race next, and he took first place of course. Then, I took Scamp on the water boats hoping I would not get soaked from Alex and Bubby's water-gunned boat. I was wrong! Alex hardly took pity on my cries of protest of being drenched! But, with one false turn of her boat, she was soaked under the elephant waterfall herself! Ha, Alex!!

Later that night, the kid's wanted to swim again in the pool, so Nana and Pa along with Beef too them all down for a dip. Beef let me get a few minutes to myself before I headed down to watch all the water fun. Once I reached the pool deck, I saw Beef and Scamp in the hot tub. I knew hot tubs were Beef's favorite but Scamp seemed to love it more. Every time he would try to take her out, she would cry out "Hot tub" and beg to be put back in. I guess she loved the warm water.

Departure day came, and we went souvenir shopping before caravanning back to out landlocked state. I left with a couple of shell bracelets while Scamp ended up with a pint-sized Gulf Shores t-shirt with an embroidered butterfly. She and Bubby also managed to swing some pretty neat galoshes from Super Target, all gifts from their beloved Nana. All in all, we had a good time even though I think we still have sand in all of our suitcases, a free but pesky souvenir. And on't miss out on more pictures to come! My mom is making me a CD of all her pictures, so I'm probably going to post a few of them, too.

Water Park Outing

Just in case you couldn't tell, I can't resist a good slideshow. I'm all about pictures. We went to a local water park yesterday with Scamp's aunts and cousins. They swam and swam. All were exhausted by the end of the day. As soon as we pulled out of the park, Scamp said "Bite, bites," meaning "I'm hungry." I thought I would pull in the drive through at Mickey D's a mere 3 minutes away, but when I turned back to glance at Scamp, she was already out! It was "Bring a Friend Day," so we were the friends who got in free! Thanks so much for inviting us, Boppy and ShaSha.

Poolside and Park Day

Saturday, we decided to head to one of our local outdoor pools as a family. Scamp had not swam with her Daddy this year, so she was excited and clung to him most of the day. He was able to sneak away to have a few jumps off the diving board, but I wasn't able to get any pictures.

Sunday was Family Day with our church. They rented a pavilion at one of the local parks and set up a huge slide in the shape of the Titantic and jumping pit for the kids. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and waited in line 3 times to take Scamp down the slide. When it was my turn with her, I started getting really nervous. Beef says I'm a wimp when it comes to this kind of stuff and maybe I am, but I still went down.

We had to climb up an enclosed tunnel, and once we reached the top and looked down, my first instinct was to turn right around and head back down that dark tunnel, pushing kids out of the way to reach freedom. But, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of all those 5 year olds. I sat down above the steep decline of the slide, placed Scamp in my lap, and pushed myself off, not wasting anytime so as not to talk myself out of sliding. My mind was in slow motion but my body continued to pick up speed. It felt as though my stomach had left it's cozy spot underneath my rib cage and repositioned itself in my throat. I clutched Scamp with my left arm while trying to slow us down with my right elbow. We reached the bottom just as the teenage slide keeper dodged my incoming feet and narrowly escaped a broken leg if we had collided.

We bounded off the air-fluffed bottom, and Scamp ran into her daddy's arms. I think she could feel the fear I had tried to mask, but my rapid heart beat and shaking limbs unveiled my panic. I hadn't noticed before, but my right elbow was burning. And when I looked down, I saw that the slide's canvas had in fact burned my skin as I was instinctually trying to slow our acceleration. I don't care what anyone says, that was no kiddie ride!

That's Me, Scamp, and My Daddy

From Scamp: You may have heard my Mama write that I'm my Daddy's Girl, and I am. He's my hero, and I can't wait 'til he comes home from work everyday. That's when he takes me outside, and sometimes let's me get in my pool in my clothes or diaper, or just plain buck naked. Mama always makes me put my swimsuit on.

That's my Daddy up there. Mama said it was Daddy's Day. So I put my best red dress on and picked out my best hat and purse for Daddy's special day. He always picks me up and carries me around when we're together. He's the best fun cause he always lets me stick things in his mouth. Even if it's those old green veggies Mama likes me to eat. Daddy hates them worse than I do but always eats em right up when I give em to him.

Last night after the big sickle drove by our house and made all that awful racket, I woke up thinkin I might sneak out of my bed to see that old sickle. But being in the dark, I pluncked right out of my crib onto my head. Next thing I know, I hear Daddy racin' up the stairs, turn on my light, and grab me up sobbin and all like I was. Mama came up right after him, too. I couldn't believe that sickle woke me up and made me fall out of my bed. And didn't even stop here to give me a ride after all that!

Daddy rocked me and sent Mama downstairs to fetch me a milk since I was still fussin' a bit. Being in my Daddy's arms calmed me down, and he rocked me til I was near alseep, then laid me down in my bed again.

He's a good Daddy, the best there ever was, and no one else can have him cause he's mine! Luv you, Daddy! Come home soon cause me and you have some big plans playin' together.

Just Married

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Josh Williams. We attended Josh and Mary's wedding this weekend in Gatlinburg.

We drove up Friday night during Scamp's nap and were able to spend that night walking downtown Gatlinburg with Matt's mom, dad, and niece Emily. The wedding was the next afternoon. We were able to sneak in a quick trip to Ober Gatlinburg before the wedding. We rode the tram with Scamp, and it was beautiful even though it was rainy. It's always beautiful in Gatlinburg whether rain, snow, or sunshine.

They were married in a quaint wedding chapel in the mountains below Ober Gatlinburg. Then, we all attended the reception at Damon's Grill.

Welcome to the family, Mary!!

Murder Mystery Dinner

Our 2nd Annual All Girl Murder Mystery Dinner went off without a hitch! Our 1st party was a formal sit down dinner, but we decided on the meet and mingle version of "One of the Girls" mystery, provided by Merri Mysteries. The mystery was about the murder of a classmate from an all girls' school right before their big reunion. Every one brought finger foods and mingled around our media room. Greyson (the gorgeous cop) and I decided the renuion hall should be styled after all the cheesy middle school/high school dances we went to, complete with 80s music, a disco ball, and lots of balloons and streamers as you can see. Beef and I transformed our living room into the crime scene with me posing for the taped body outline.

We had 11 classmates, who were the suspects, and several other parts of authorities and witnesses. Everyone gave their own take of each character with unique costumes and dialogue. I played the part of Angie, a tough smart-mouthed biker chic, which is so not me. But, I enjoyed every minute of trying to start fights with the other characters.

Everyone did so well, and we had so much fun! We gave away prizes for the person who guessed "Who Did It" and who was voted best costume. Amy Shirley, who played farmer Jillaroo, guessed the culprit, and Letha Kopchak, who played the Hindu classmate, won best costume.

First Round of Spring

Studio Six Fashion Show 2007

I wasn't able to take many pictures, but I hope to post the professional ones by Studio Six soon. I looooved my outfit from Claire's Consignment in Smithville. I wore a cropped burnt orange leather jacket, lacy floral tank, low rise jeans and fringed leather belt. That was part of my outfit in the first picture. Rene at Tangles Hair Salon gave me one styish poofed ponytail. It was sassy, but man it hurt!!

Christmas Eve with Santa Scamp

I took so many pictures that I had to make two slideshows. We spent Christmas Eve day at my Grandma's house. Scamp wore her Santa outfit and tried to steal all of Bubby's toys. My Grandma wrapped up an old doll my mom had as a child and gave it to my mom for Christmas. Poor doll -- it had been in the barn since my mom was a little girl. It's hair was all gone (don't let my mom near you with scissors!), and it was splotchy with age.

We went to my mom's house that night and opened all of our presents there. Scamp got a Dora four-wheeler and a homemade toy box from my dad.

We had a pretty small Chrismtas at home. Santa brought Scamp a lamp for her room and a V-Smile game for the TV. I got a DVR and Family Feud DVD game. Beef got a wireless guitar for the Guitar Hero game, Ice Age DVD, and a couple of geek shirts. He still has another present coming. I'm getting a little angry because I thought it would arrive before Christmas. I forgot to take any pictures on Christmas Day at our house, but I got lots of video. I can't believe Christmas is over!!

Christmas Day: Seesaw Frenzy

We went to Beef's family's houses on Christmas Day. Uncle Josh was the hero of the day because he bought all the kids a seesaw to share. Can you tell who had more fun, the adults or the kids?

That night we went to my dad's side of the family and played a little Dirty Santa. No fist fights this year. I walked away with a picture frame while Beefcake got the car jack he brought (which is what he wanted). Then, our nephew Billy spent the night with us. He played video games most the night with Beef. Then, we all went to Chuck E. Cheeses the next day. What a whirlwind holiday. We had a lot of fun!