I got the fever :) Deer season begins!

5:26 PM - doing the laundry, cleaning house.
5:27 PM - Four doe in the pasture seen out the sun room window.
5:30 PM wake up the hubby for work and get me a gun :)
5:35 PM Gun found, bullets found, loaded, safety on!
5:37 PM Open front door, three steps, sit on porch, look to the left, safety off.
5:38PM Boom! Down she goes! :)
5:38 1/2 PM Yippee! Adrenalin rush! Woo ha!
5:39 PM Husband smiles, says "Are you sure?"
5:43 PM Photo op!
The hubby must shower and get ready for work. Deer tagged, registered online.
6:15pm Hubby loads deer in back of truck.
7:15 PM deer to processing plant! All done.

Not a bad day of house cleaning!

The Braves begin! BB Season Fall 2009 Aberdeen Rec

A busy Tuesday! Work as usual for me. Walker to pre-school until 12. Hunter out of school early today. Then......mini-kickers from 4-5. watching these 3 year olds run around chasing the ball, many not knowing what to do, some crying, some just sitting. One can't help but smile! Hunter's soccer practise from 5-6. He was quite unique in his attire. I think his excitement over his first baseball game at 7pm, he decided to wear his new baseball pants to soccer practise.....three grass stains later, we are off to the baseball field. We were going to "tail-gate" with pizza before the game, but again, the enthusiasm was greater than hunger! Baseball is so much more fun when its your kid playing! 2nd base! Wow! He played well. He had a hit, a walk and strike out. He almost caught a fly ball! He stopped a couple of grounders! He encouraged his team! And he had a great cheerleading section - mom, dad, Walker- who cheered with his snoring in my lap, Grandmother and Granddaddy, Kevin and Andrew with Steve and Nancy! We even got a wave of acknowledgement from the field! Again, baseball is so much better live than watching it sleepily from the couch. We are the BRAVES, too. How cool is that? Busy day, but good day overall! (by the way, we lost 8:9 :(

Hunter Scores!!!!

Today has been a busy day. Up early. Baseball practise at 0900. Hunter played great. His coach has him currently playing 2nd base. He hustled and stopped several ground balls, caught several throws on 2nd, whizzed it to the 1st baseman and hit three hits! Off the soccer we flew. 10:30am, breeze if perfect. Overcast sky! Temperature 78 degrees. Perfect day for watching soccer! Fire, the name of Hunter's team, is undefeated this season. Sure as I say that, it will jinx them! For whatever reason, the coach was switching out players quite frequently. At half time - the score is 1:1. Walker keeps up the tradition and runs across the field to carry his big brother a Gatorade, the color of his choice of course, to ensure adequate hydration is achieved. :)
the 2nd half - Hunter gets placed as a forward and Wa laa! He makes a goal! The winning goal, I might add! yippee! I was jumping up and down and hooping and hollering as all proud mothers do, I'm sure! The lady next to us, a mother from the other team, smiled and seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm. Next week will bring another challenging team! Let's hope the weather is good and the team plays well.

Our Ocracoke Week

Our week at Ocracoke this year was very good.?? I heard more than once, and maybe even said myself, that this was our best year ever.?? Not sure exactly why this was, except that I believe it was a little more relaxed than normal.?? Apparently, we were all in a positive place in our biorhythm cycle!?? We enjoyed long bike rides, exhausting aerobics exercise classes, fabulous meals and wonderful stretches on the beach.??

Joy and Sallie even got in a full day of shopping at all the thrift stores along Hwy 12.The boys (and yes, that includes Pell) were great during the whole week.?? They played hard and had lots of fun on the beach and around town.?? Hunter did some solo rides around town on his bike.?? I think he enjoyed the independence of that.?? Walker never wanted to be more than a few feet from his mom, and even went shopping all day with here and Sallie on Wednesday.?? She said he was great!?? Hunter caught quite a few fish and showed us up at times.

Joy managed to hook a big fish or two.?? She also managed to do her usual of keeping all our clothes washed and our things organized.?? Me and the boys do not possess the gift of organization, so we depend on Joy for our our structure.?? I am not sure she appreciates that need all the time.?? Joy loves the beach though, and she usually gets the most from it.??

And me??? I like to have slow, relaxing mornings, event filled afternoons and great dinners in the evenings.?? So I wasn't disappointed.?? Throw in the great friends we had at the beach (Katherine and Steven Green with Emma, Jerry Green and Ray Green) and it all comes up roses.?? Joy and I are already trying to plan another trip.?? Maybe at my birthday (November).?? Or our anniversary (April).?? Or Christmas (Joy says "no way").?? Whenever it is, we know it will be very nice!

Tim

Saturday Tears

Today is our last day on the island. Wow! the week has flown. Although I am not totally caught up on sleep, it has been a great week. Today, the breeze is nice and the sun is shining bright in the sky. My daughter and husband tell me I look like a tourist with my plaid crop pants and matching shirt. I have a white cardigan draped over my shoulder and a white visor on. My camera is over my shoulder, so in truth, I guess I do. Puddles fill the sides of the roads due to the rain the night before and the island is a buzz of cars and other bike riders as well as families strolling through the streets. I enjoy the island for the peace and quiet. The busy streets make is seem too much like our busy world at home. We were off for our morning bike ride around the village. One of the bikes has a seat that feels like a petrified banana when you sit on it, so we elected to rent a bike for Brittney to replace this one. At least then, for a couple of hours, we could fully enjoy the morning and the ride. Tim has the big bike with Walker in the child's seat behind. I am on the ancient "girl" blue bike. (At least it has fenders to guard me from the water splashes from the tires.) Sallie has Hunter's old bike - it is just her size. Blue Heron is a relatively new realty place on the island and Tim has elected to go to their office to check them out and rent the bike there. Tim leads the way, crosses the road, through the puddle to park beside the porch. Brittney is next in line to park the petrified, made for a feelingless butt, seat on the side of the building. I follow suit, maneuvering the cars and the puddles to come to a sudden hault in front of the building. Bringing up the rear is Sallie. And then, there was a clatter, a scream and oh no!!! Sallie falls off her bike into the mud puddle! She's laughing, but soaked. Two passerby's came rushing to her side. They assist her to an upright position, gather her bike and help her to the front of the building where the rest of us are standing. One of the fellows that assisted her commented, "some friend?". Sallie's response was "No, that's my daughter!" At the sound of the scream, I did look back. When I saw her tumble, I hurriedly searched for my camera. Snap! Snap! a priceless moment. She was laughing, so thus not unconscious. Her legs were in motion high in the sky, thus no broken bones. Me? I was adding to puddles with my tears that were rolling from laughter. I'm heartless, I know! It gives me a whole new perspective on mud wrestling. As expected, she gracefully recovered, wet butt and all. She was laughing herself.
5 minutes later, I was on the phone calling her best friend in Texas and sharing the experience. Tears of joy! What a day.

Nana Wee and Poppa at Ocracoke

Ocracoke Scenic Pictures

Just a few snapshots.

Great day of fishing!

Friday- today is my kind of day! We didn't make the "free" power ball excercise class, but we hurriedly attempted to make the yoga class. To our dismay, the class was canceled. So, it was a family bike ride around the village. Brittney played hookey from school to spend some time with Nana Wee and Poppa, so she was able to get some fresh air and excercise too. After leftovers for lunch, we all loaded up for what we hoped would be a fruitful day of fishing! And that it was!
We caught Flounder, Pompano and Blue Fish. Tim caught several and turned over is rod to Brittney and me. He could barely keep up. He would bait x's 2, cast x's 2 and by then it would be time to take Brittney's fish off and then mine. He could barely keep up! The cooler was full and then.........we ran out of bait. :( We had more fish than we could eat, but we had lots of fun. Poppa even jumped up a couple of times when he saw a fish biting! He seemed to enjoy the excitement as well.

Treasure hunting on the mainland!

In staying with the island theme, we became she-pirates today! We did our annual search for treasures up and down the seashore. A quick stop at the post office, a fax, and the bank teller we began our day. A hot cup of fresh coffee with a fatttening fat homemade warm cinnamon roll was our treat on the ferry ride to the mainland. We searched for treasures in many of our routine stores of which three are thrift stores. We truly search for treasures. Not to mention the money spent goes toward crisis prevention in the community! A brand new camo shirt with tags was the find of the day. Lots of t-shirt and souvenir shops as well. We enjoyed lunch at Lisa's pizzeria! A delightful day for Girls day out!
And then there was the trip back.....first to load on the ferry, we had a great view for the obstacle course that we endured. At least 8 different boats, some traveling quite fast, two kayakers and a jon boat with three men all seemed to want to play chicken. Of course, our big boat always won, but nonetheless, lots of boating traffic! We pulled into one lane to dock only to have to back up and re-dock at another. After deboarding, we then had to wait for the one lane traffic patrol to let us pass. Aahh! home at last. Hot Chicken Bogg was waiting for us!

Staying healthy?

With respect to my hubby, we decided to partake in the local area "free" community center activity.
Off on our bikes at 0715 (some vacation when we have to get up early) to be greeted with good mornings and lets get warmed up. Yes, we did morning aerobics! First time for Tim. First time in a long time for me. Nonetheless we walked, we jumped, we stepped, we shimmied, we grape-vined, we cha-cha'd, we momboded, we stretched and we sweated! We lost time, we lost our steps, we stumbled, we mostly got confused! We had fun! I wonder if I can talk him into the power ball on free Friday?

Day One - Ocracoke 2009

Is it considered a vacation when your up at 0700? Well, I guess technically I got to sleep in. A few wonderfully blissful cups of coffee on the upper deck. The breeze is nice. The temperature about 73 degrees. The house is quiet. Aaahhh! Vacation has begun!
Walking the dog down the road, Walker on his bike with training wheels, the sun shining bright - working hard prior to this all seems worth it.
A trip to the coffee shop and then a bike ride around the village - very relaxing! off to the beach we go! Although the wind was heavy, positioning the truck to block it worked well. We had a picnic lunch, Tim caught some bait fish and then, the only catch of the day - a 3 lb blue fish! Back to the house by 5pm ish. Tim grilled some chicken and created a nice feast. We ate, got full, sat on the coach and visited with friends, then off to bed for me! Vacation means going to bed early for me!
The boys were up much later, but I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! Aahhhh! Life is good.

Off to the beach we go!

We were up much too early to consider this the start of the vacation. not to mention all the manual labor, so vacation hasn't started yet!! Up at zero dark thirty...thank goodness for coffee! My daughter and I had a discussion about the benefits of a good cup of coffee and all the necessities to make it a good cup. For those that have read my previous blogs, I'm picky about my morning cup of Java. The coffee was good, but the fake, fat free Coffee Mate just isn't my cup of "coffee". Nonetheless, it was hot and the caffeine did its job. Hot cinnamom rolls fresh out of the oven and we were off to the ferry! We made an emergency pit stop on the side of the road. our 3 year old doesn't quite understand, "you'll have to wait" or " can you try to go potty?". nevertheless, an empty warehouse lot and some bushes was just fine for him. Weeds needed to be watered too!
A nice cat nap in the van as the ferry traveled 28 miles to Ocracoke in 2 and 1/2 hours. We were greeted with rain and puddles of standing water. The rain ceased when it was time to unload. Be mindful that all Ocracoke houses are ALL up stairs. Whew! got my excercise for the week! Stuff unpacked and sheets on the bed, supper made and then to bed! We're here!

A busy Saturday

Saturday was a busy day. Soccer in the am. A quick visit to the hospital to see Roger feeling much better. A quick lunch in the cafeteria. Then, Hunter was off to his first baseball practise. After about an hour and a half, we raced home to finish packing and loading. We finally left around 4:30 on our way to Brittney's house. Homemade veggie soup and pizza was our family dinner and some fun visiting and chatter. Staying with Brittney for the night was a great way to break up the long trip from our house to Ocracoke Island. There was too much activity today to say we were on vacation yet...maybe tomorrow?

Go Soccer parents!

There are soccer parents around the world, however, surely are not as dedicated as us.
This past Saturday, after waiting anxiously until 0730 to see that surely the fields would be closed - NOT!- dad, mom, Nana Wee and Walker cheered Hunter and his team on to victory. We have cheered in the blistering heat as well as in the frigid cold. We have cheered from inside the van due to the wind and cold. This particular Saturday brought a whole other situation to cheer in - it was drizzly and wet. With the drizzle came a slight wind and then, of course, it was chilly. As die hard soccer parents, we endured, we cheered and thankfully, we won! The boys on the team seem to enjoy the rain, the wet and all of the mud! A few slips from the wet grass, a few bizarre kicks from the wet ball, a few smiles and lots of fun - the team continues their 3 and 0 undefeated season.
Go Hunter! Go parents!

A Favorite Song

Coffee & Cigarettes by Michelle Featherstone

One of my newest "favorite" songs!

Our California, Washington and Oregon Trip. American Vacation!

This is a group of pictures from our Western Vacation during the
month of July. As you can see, it was far ranging and mostly dry.
Beautiful country, but a long way between things. It is all very BIG!

 We took off for our trip, starting with the Redwood forests, soon
after leaving our week long stay in San Francisco. Even though it
shouldn't have, it seemed like a whirlwind trip. Maybe next time.....