Vermont Vacation Part 2

More Pictures from Vermont

1 Mom and Pop's Sugar House. This is the syrup that Adam buys every year. It wasn't until this year that I realized why. Their property is right next to ours. So the trees they "sugar" are as close as you can possibly get to getting syrup from our own land.

2 We enjoyed an early birthday dinner at Elixir in White River Junction, VT. It was so delicious!

3 A giant can of syrup outside of the Maple Grove Farms Factory. We wanted to take a tour, but they were remodeling the floor so we had to settle for the gift shop.

4 We had a great time playing Scrabble almost every night.

5 I so enjoyed having time to read. During our vacation I was able to finish the last two books of the Twilight series (Eclipse and Breaking Dawn). Such good books - especially when you curl up next to a cozy wood burning stove.

6 A giant block of cheese painted on the wall at the Cabot Creamery. We toured the creamery and saw how they make various cheeses.

7 The Maple Grove Farms Factory (that we couldn't tour)

8 Mom and Pop's Maple Syrup Sign

9 Stirring the cheese curd and adding salt before it gets pressed into molds.

10 Adam's Dad's Headstone

11 Mom and Pop's Maple Syrup - did you know it takes 40 gallons of Maple Sap to make 1 gallon of Maple Syrup

12 Cheese samples at the Cabot Creamery. I dared Adam to ask one of the employees "Who cut the cheese"? He wouldn't do it, and I couldn't do it without busting out laughing. Heck, I'm LOLing right now just thinking about it. "Who cut the cheese"? ROFLMAO I'm such a sucker for potty humor.

Some Pics From Our Vermont Vacation 2009

Adam and I had a GREAT time in Vermont. Now we are back and there is so much to Blog about I don't even know where to start. I took hundreds of pictures (big surprise). I'm going to start with some nature shots and add more as I can. When y'all get sick of hearing about Vermont just let me know :-)

1 The Family House. Well loved and appreciated by lots of family members.
2 Queechee Gorge - White River Junction VT
3 One of the many Brooks that you find all over this area
4 Texas Falls - Hancock, VT - spectacular!
5 It rained almost everyday
6 The temperatures were cool during our stay. Sweet Adam built a fire in the wood stove on the cold nights to keep me toasty.
7 The meadow behind the house.
8 My cool boots. They may not be stylish, but they kept my feet dry in the many puddles caused by all of the rain.
9 A great wildlife hangout - we just never happen to see any when we're there. I really wanted to see a Moose, but no such luck.
10 Adam and I had a picnic lunch here on our way to Cabot, VT.
11 Scenic spot - this is a bigger picture of the wildlife hangout in picture #9.
12 Another scenic spot - this one is less than half a mile down the road from the house. The picture does it NO justice. It is a breathtaking valley with low hanging clouds and the cutest little red roofed house.

Another Great Week in Review

Found an old post that I started, but never got around to actually posting. I will be taking a break from my blog this week. So this will have to tide y'all over until I return :-) By the way, the next entry you see will have written by a 40 year old - EGADS! Can you believe it? I can't!! We plan to spend my birthday evening at the Flightline eating good food and drinking cold beer and singing karaoke. So, if you're in the area . . . stop on by. You'll have a good time, I promise :-)

Adam, Mark and I went for a ride up to Ponce de Leon. We stopped at a place called Sally's to eat. Good burgers and awesome Southern veggies!!

We really enjoyed the ride along Bob Sikes Parkway. It was lot more interesting than the roads we usually take. We even saw a family of turkeys.

Right before school got out, we had a "Car Smash" fundraiser for the band.
Hayden prepares for battle.

Hayden takes a whack! The kids had a lot of fun beating the crap out of this junker.

The kids were gone one weekend, so we decided to paint the kitchen. We did it too! It felt really good to get it done.

Okay, that's it for now. I still have lots more to catch y'all up on, but it will have to wait. See ya' on the flip side of 39 :-)

Adam and Blain headed out early Wednesday morning to play golf. They had a great time and were able to get in nine holes before the heat really started getting bad.

On the cart.

On the course.

We went to the Mall the other day. Near the Food Court they have a "Wind Tunnel" machine. The boys got in and for a few seconds they felt "hurricane force" winds. Turns out the machine only goes up to 79 MPH. That is just 5 mph over the minimum for a Level 1 hurricane. It was still fun, but during hurricane season we have felt real winds stronger than that. Oh well, it was fun for them and fun to watch.

Now - Hayden and Blain at the Mall.

Then - Hayden at the campground during Hurricane Katrina.

Yesterday Adam and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. He brought me a beautiful bouquet of daisies. Daisies and Sunflowers are my favorites! He also brought home my favorite chocolates. Then we went out for sushi.

Aren't they gorgeous!

Yum!! We had a Volcano roll, a Destin roll, a Crunchy Shrimp roll, and a Dragon roll.

Style Marcher Band Room renovation continues. We haven't been able to put the trophies back in the Band Room yet. But, we had to move them out of the concession closet that we have been storing them in. So, several of us spent an evening moving them from concession storage to the equipment room. Fun!

We put two rows of seats down in the van, and still could only fit 1/4 of them.

Blain rides in the back of a pickup carrying another load.
Empty shelves awaiting trophies - forgot to take an after picture :-(

Friday Fun

Hayden and Blain had fun at the music store on Friday. Playground Music hosts a Guitar Hero competition during the summer. Each Friday kids sign up to compete. The winner gets a $25 gift certificate and a chance to compete in the finals at the end of the summer. Last year's winner got an autographed guitar (can't remember who autographed it). Hayden and Blain were both eliminated in their first round, but they had a good time anyway. There's always next week :-)

Hayden and his competition go head to head on "Expert." The song was by Metallica (can't remember the name).

Blain and his competition go at it on "Medium" to "Toxicity" by System of a Down.

After dinner we went "Cosmic" bowling (blacklights and loud music). It was a lot fun! Everyone did pretty darn good, and no one fell on their rears (the floor was really slippery). I did sustain a sports injury :-( The ball thumbhole tore a chunk of my skin off. I had to get a band-aid from the snack bar :-)

This pic was taken before the blacklights got turned on.

We had to call on our technical experts (the boys) a time or two when the computer got our scores wrong.

Summer's Here

And we are in full swing!! Adam and Blain got back from Parker's Baseball tournament (pics to follow) on Monday. Blain will be staying with us for 2 weeks. So far we have been to the Base Pool, the Skating Rink, the Library and today it's the Golf Course (I'm staying home for that one - too hot!!)

Being Goofy at the Pool

Of course the boys have also managed to squeeze in time to play Guitar Hero and whatever shoot 'em up games they are into these days. I can't even watch those :-(

Last night we played "LIFE". The new edition "Twists and Turns" is so much more fun than the version from back in the day. I recommend it! There's no money, or paper to keep track of. It's all done with a hand held gizmo and debit cards.

I started out as a Strawberry Picker. As the game progressed, I got "promoted" to a Homemaker, a Nanny, a Clown, a Wedding/Event Planner, an International Translator, and was just about to be a Television Minister when the game ended.

Hayden got a major haircut yesterday. It's still not short, but it is shorter than it was and cooler for summer. She also thinned it out quite a bit. That boy has thick, thick hair!

Before

During - another lady was absent mindedly sweeping the floor. She suddenly looked up and said to Hayden, "Is all of this hair YOURS"? WOW! This was taken when he was about 3/4 finished.

After - so thrilled to be having his picture taken - NOT!

Out to dinner at Logan's. They were out of big tables, so Adam and I sat at our own table next to the kiddo's table.

It All Comes Back to Jesus - Vacation Bible School 2009

Hayden and I just wrapped up a great week of Vacation Bible School. I co-taught a 4th grade class and Hayden helped out in the Music rotation. We had a lot of fun!! This year's theme was "Boomerang Express." We got to learn lots of cool things about Australia while, at the same time, exploring the life of Simon Peter.

This is a group shot taken on the second day of VBS

(1) The teacher/helper breakroom. We had lots of goodies every day and a few minutes to enjoy them and chill while the kids were at recreation/snack. (2) Adam and Hayden helped Beth and I cut out lots of curriculum materials. (3) Hayden enjoys a break with some of his co-helpers (4) Each day the music helpers would teacher ALL of the kids a brand new song along with lots of motions. (5) Hayden helps the kids with the motions for the song "Working on My Serve" as they practice for their Friday performance in the sanctuary.

(1) The kids learn their song of the day in the Music Room (2) Back in the Classroom for the day's lesson (3) Off to Craft Crossing for the day's craft (4) In the CLC (Christian Life Center) for Recreation and Snack - this is teacher break time - yeah! (5) In "The Oasis" for Missions - each week the kids learned about a missionary from a different part of the world (6) We started each morning and ended each day in the Sanctuary where we would review our songs and see video clips about Australia and Israel (7) Kids kids and more kids :-)

Friday night the kids performed for their families and then everyone enjoyed inflatable fun and junk food. It was a LOT of fun!!

(1) Trish and I served Nachos and Cotton Candy. You couldn't beat the price (free). We had lots of customers :-) (2) All week we had a contest for the biggest offering. It was boys vs. girls and the girls won big time. All of the money goes to a mission trip to Atlanta where we will help an inner city ministry update a rec room for their kids (3) Hayden helps little ones exit the water slide (4) Another inflatable slide provided lots of dry fun (5) The 4th grade (Mine and Beth's class) and 3rd grade classes perform for the families (6) Because the girls won the offering challenge, Ms. Lanie got to pie Mr. Brandon. She was nice enough not to get it directly in his face. He ended up eating some of it - blueberry YUM! (7) The kids had a BLAST on the giant inflatable water slide!

Baseball's Over

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6th Grade Awards Day

One More Day of School!! After two years of this schedule, we're still not used to going to school in June. Everyone is ready to be DONE!

Today, was 6th Grade Awards Day at Hayden's school. Lots of kids were recognized for their acheivements. Hayden received a certificate and a medal for getting all A's and B's this year. We are very proud of him.

The 6th graders who were scheduled to receive awards sat on the gym floor. Parents and the remainder of the students sat in the bleachers.

I made Hayden pose for this picture.

He is standing with Ms. Jackson, one of the Assistant Principals, and Mr. Chambers Principal

(oh yeah, and the Pryor Mascot - a Pirate)

Teacher Gifts for Hayden's 6 teacher's.

You can see more about these on my craft blog - craftasticpassion.com

Week in Review

Another BUSY week. Adam is finally done working on his contract proposal. He is so dedicated and is doing such a wonderful job. I am so very proud of the great work he does.

Last Saturday, Adam brought home Blue Crabs and made a special dinner for the two of us. YUM!!

Still blue and trying to ESCAPE!

This is a very messy meal so we decided to cook and eat outside. It was DELICIOUS!

Monday was the end of the year Band Banquet. Another great meal. Coach and Four catered and we had steak, baked potatoes, and salad. The theme was taken from this year's Field Season show "The Air Up There."

Kites, planes, balloons - anything that flies - decorated the cafeteria.

We got to take home one of the centerpieces.

Adam spent an evening installing my Mother's Day present. I am so excited!! I got shelves, drawers, curtain rods and a cleaned out closet. Sounds like a pretty weird present, right? Well, it is actually the BEST present ever!! I am in the process of coverting the office closet into my craft supply storage area. I cannot wait to show you the pics when I get it all "just so"!!

Not only does he tolerate my craftastic passion, he actually supports it!! I could not ask for more :-)

Christian turned 17 this week! Egads where has the time gone? We took him to Captain Kid's for his birthday dinner. All you can eat crab legs - he definitely put a dent in their profit margin.

Christian and Nicole outside the restaurant in Destin.

Now that 6th grade is almost over for Hayden, it's time to get ready for 7th. Unfortunately, that includes 7th grade shots. A booster for Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertusis and a second Varicella (Chicken Pox) vaccine. His generation will be the first to have escaped this childhood annoyance. I hope!! I have this fear that the vaccine will wear off as these kids grow up and we'll have a bunch of adults that get the Chicken Pox. Let's hope I'm just being paranoid.

Taking his medicine in the school gym. He was a GREAT patient!! He got one shot in each arm.

A couple of band moms and I went down to the radio station to promote some upcoming fundraisers. I was nervous, but it was a lot of fun. Our thirty minute "spot" aired Sunday morning on 1260 AM - talk radio. We got to talk about the "Car Smash" that we will be having this Friday May 29th, the Drum Corp International Competition on July 13th, the Rebel Syndicate Concert on August 8th, our monthly car washes, the "Hire A StyleMarcher" program and our kids in general. One of the parents said he heard a blurb from the taped interview on Friday on one of the FM stations that Cumulus Broadcasting owns. So, hopefully we will get a lot of publicity (ie. donations :-) from the interview.

Brenda, Lisa and me (behind the camera) in the studio.

Hayden wrapped up his baseball season. He had a really good time this year and got to play several different positions. His favorites were First and Third Base. We are looking forward to the Baseball Banquet next week.

Ready at First Base. Hayden made some great plays here. One inning he was even responsible for 2 of the three outs.

A pat on the back from one of the coaches :-)

As you can see, not many dull moments around here. As I have been writing this at least 2 other noteworthy adventures have taken place. So, stay tuned :-) Thanks for stopping by and be sure to bookmark, or subscribe to the RSS feed if you want to know when I update.