I sound just like my dad...

This morning on the way to school, Gabe informed me that Zane was going to wear his hair in a ponytail when he gets older. Zane screamed out, "No, I am not!" But then went on to say, "Can I let my hair grow out so it will be curly like Maci Clare's> What was my response? "You're not oing to look like a hippy!" I can't count how many times my dad said that to my brothers when we were growing up. And then I turned to the boys and said, "Be quiet, You're making me sound like Papa." They laughed.

Trip To The Flea Market

In our little town, we have a flea market that is every Wednesday morning. You can buy anything you want there. I usually stick to produce and plants. Sometimes you hit the jackpot because people bring their yard sale items out and rent a table and sell. That is my favorite. Last week I bought some really cute name brand tops and a pair of khaki capri pants for $1 each. A woman had a consignment business that she quit and she brought all her leftovers and let them go for a dollar each. Last week I also bought my tomato plants and I always get fresh eggs. You can get 30 brown double yolk eggs for $4 and 15 for $2. You can't get eggs that cheap in any grocery store especially fresh eggs.
Maci Clare and I went back this morning just to get out because the weather has been so nice. I bought another 15 eggs ( bought 30 last week and we only 4 left).
I found these cute shorts and jeans for Maci Clare. The shorts are Old Navy. I only paid $1 for both. I also bought 2 crooked neck squash plants and 2 cucumber plants. I wanted some herbs but couldn't find them cheap enough. I bought a basket of tomatoes for $2.
I bought these delicious strawberries for $2. (Jack has already eaten aobut half of this bowl). I bought two of these. I'll go back next week and see what deals will turn up. I have never been to a flea market as cool as that one. It is just as addictive as yard sales.
This is Jack's new thing. He has a campout every day. He is inside this little box of pillows sound asleep.
Gabe was chosen for Limos For Learning again this year. So he did the whole Limo ride thing again. One of his best friends got to go too.
We did go get our 50cents iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts yesterday. Jack was so funny because as soon as he tasted it he said, "I should not have got this thing."
We all agreed that they were yucky. I know that Dunkin Donuts is all the rage but I just don't like it. For my Northern Peeps, you need to come South and try Krispy Kreme and you will never do Dunkin again. I especially don't like Dunkin's coffee. Starbuck's is number one with me but McDonald's is a close second. I usually order just plain coffee from Mickey D's and it can't be beat.
On a more solemn note, we are down to 4 chickies and one of those is not very healthy. I seriously think that they were taken away from the mother chick too early. We will keep trying. I am going to get a few more in the next few days. I started to buy some at the flea market this morning but decided I would wait and get a few more free ones first. I'm determined to do this. I have them in my kitchen now under a light and beside the heat vent. Hopefully this will keep them warm enough until they are big enough to survive without the heat. I will keep you posted on my adventures in chicken farming.

New Addition to Our Family and Getting Things Done

No, I'm not pregnant again. We are trying our hand at raising chickens. I have always wanted to try it but it took me about a year to talk Jim into it. He says he thinks I'm crazy but secretly I think he likes the little things. We got 8 babies yesterday but 3 died this morning. So we are left with 5 and they seem to be pretty strong. We are waiting to see if they are hens or roosters. I really want a few laying hens and that is the whole reason for this. The pictures are not very good. It has been raining so we couldn't get out in the yard with them and take pics like I wanted to today. I will try to get some better ones of the five we have when it stops raining. Just call us the Chicken Farmers. Jim loves that!

We seem to have a little more time to get things done around here lately. Or maybe we are just managing our time better. I am trying to do all my grocery and household shopping one day a week. So that leaves the rest of the week for working in the house and working on projects. This weekend I went to a Ladies Spring Banquet. It was really fun. A comedian, Dennis Smith was there and he was hilarious. I laughed so hard my side was hurting. My mom bought his DVD so Jim and my dad could watch it.
Saturday, the Azalea Festival was taking place downtown. Gabe went to play bluegrass (of course) and we walked around and ate good food and just enjoyed the beautiful day. Gabe and Zane had a baseball game at 2 so I brought the two little ones home for a rest. Maci Clare slept and Jack and I planted our tomatoes. We planted two big ones and 3 grape tomatoes. We will be adding a few other veggies to our plot this year and a few herbs. We are just working on a little at a time. We went to a fish fry last night but when we got there they were out of fish so we had baked chicken instead. I was a little disappointed but we will try again next month.

Today, we went to worship and then had a celebration dinner to go to. I made my mandolin debut by playing the only song I knew, "Bile Them Cabbage Down." It was terrible but I think I'm hooked. So Gabe will be trying to teach me a few more. Maybe one day we will be on "America's Got Talent" and have some cool bluegrass name for our family band. HEEHEE By the way, doesn't Zane look cute sitting there with his big 'ol guitar. He looks so little when he is holding that thing.

This is a picture of Maci Clare wearing my comfy bedroom slippers. She loves to get in my closet and pull out my shoes. Lord knows I have enough of them. She can even walk in the high heels. It just amazes me but I thought this one was too cute because they are on the wrong feet and it looks like her feet are on backward.

Can't Help But Smile!

Until I walked out of the room and came back to this.

Surgery Day

This morning, Maci Clare had her adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears. We had to be in Greenville at 7am. Instead of having it at the hospital we went to the new surgery center. It was very nice. In the waiting room, Maci Clare entertained all the older people that were waiting.

After they called her back for preop, she had to put a hospital gown on.And this cool hat.

She was really clowning around with her daddy until the Lortab kicked in. She is patiently waiting for the nurses to come and get her.
This was the calm before the storm. When she showed up in recovery, she was screaming her head off. We finally got to leave about 9:30 but not before she ate a popsicle.
Now we are home safe and sound, watching Dora, and eating noodles.

What We've Been Up To

We have been quite busy during our Spring Break. We have had kids in and out all week. We've had 3 nights of spend the night guests and I've just been hanging out. My house has stayed really clean. Gabe and Zane have stayed on board with my version of " The House That Cleans Itself". I have to admit, that I have not finished the book. (There is so many fiction books on my list and I really don't enjoy non-fiction but I am going to finish it.) I have been organizing and cleaning. I cleaned Zane's room the morning before we left for Tybee and it took me 2 1/2 hours. This is the before picture. I haven't taken the after picture yet but I am going to try to do it soon so I can show you how much better it looks.

We had a tree about to fall out beside our driveway. We really thought it might fall on the house. The only thing holding it up was another tree and unfortunately they were both pines. So a strong wind could've flattened our house. Anyway, Wednesday, when Jim came home from work, he got out the chain saw. The kids were at church and I was having a nice quiet night until I heard a big BOOM! The tree hit the house. When I walked outside, this is what I saw. The damage was minimal, thank goodness.

Thursday, Gabe and Zane went with a friend to my dad's house to play Wii. So this is what Jack and I did. I saw these at Bakerella. You should see the things she creates candy and cake. She had ideas for rabbits, sheep, and chickens. We thought the chickens would be easiest seeing as we had to use icing instead of the candy that she used on here. Her pops were a lot better than ours. Much more professional. We called them "chicken pops". They did taste good even if they didn't look too great. The picture is not good (too fuzzy) but you get the idea. I thought they were a cute project to do with Jack to keep him busy for the afternoon.

Jim was off work today and the plan was to work in the yard. We have so much to do to get the yard looking good. I also want to get my plot ready for my herbs and tomatoes. I'm thinking of planting a couple of other things too. Jim, Jack. and Maci Clare planted some seeds in the corner of the plot yesterday just to keep the kids busy. Anyway, we woke up to rain and thunderstorms. The power has blinked off and on all day. (That is the norm when there is a thunderstorm.) I have been looking at hairbow holders on the internet and decided instead of paying a fortune for one, I would make one. So this afternoon that is just what I did. I love it. Maci Clare thought she could wear and then Jack did too. But after I got the bows on, they understood what it was for. Anyway, I am thinking of making one for my next giveaway. (I know I promised a long time ago, but life has been so busy.) My last project for today was Amish Friendship Bread. I have a starter that I am keeping up and today was the day to make it. Now I have 4 starters. It is so yummy. I think I am going to do all 4 starters and put some bread in the freezer for gifts. Jim also likes to take treats to work sometimes. By the way, the plate that this bread is on was bought this weekend at a yard sale for .25. Can't beat the price and I think it is really pretty.
We are headed to Columbia to the Riverbanks Zoo tomorrow. Gabe's friend, Tanner, is here tonight and will go with us tomorrow. We are going with Zane's garden club. Hopefully, the weather will clear up tonight and it will be sunny. My kids are out of school on Monday too. Maci Clare has her pre-op appointment and will have surgery to put the tubes in on Thursday so keep us in your prayers. It shouldn't be a big deal but the anethesia always makes me a little nervous. I hope you all have a nice Easter. We will spend the day at church and then with family. Happy Easter!

Relaxation

We had such a great weekend! You know what we did? Absolutely nothing. Yep, you heard me right. We spent too much money going to eat at fabulous places and the rest of the time, we just rested. We sat on the beach (a little too long and that story is coming up) and watched movies and slept. I actually finished 3 books.
We arrived at Tybee about 9:30 and crashed. The beach was awesome as usual. This is the view from the balcony of our room. (We always stay in the same condo.)
On Saturday morning we headed out and ate a late breakfast. We went to two garage sales. At the second sale I bought Maci Clare several items of clothing for .50 each. Most were Gymboree or TCP. It was well worth it. We went and bought a cup of coffee and walked around the island a bit. We then decided aobut 11:30 to head back and relax on the beach. The day had warmed up really fast so we sat out on the beach until about 2pm. My first mistake was turning my chair to face the sun. My second mistake was not wearing sunscreen. I know, I know, I'm crazy. Even thought the sun was warm, the wind was chilly and I never felt like I was getting burned. Boy, was I ever wrong. I have a severe sunburn. In fact, my legs seemed to be the worst. I couldn't put on pants and had to wear a mini skirt the whole weekend. Jim had to go buy Aloe with Lidocaine. It was not pleasant.
We did head out to Savannah, where there was a music festival. I never really saw anyone playing music (except the guys who play one instrument on the street and want you to throw money in a tip jar) but there were tons of crafts. We walked around a little while and then headed back to the island.
We made a stop at Uncle Bubba's (Paula Deen's brother's restaurant). Jim ordered Chargrilled Oysters (YUK!). I was just satisfied with my shrimp. It was probably the best shrimp I've had in a long time. The food was excellent.
When we finally made it back, we just decided to do nothing. I ended up sleeping on the couch just because I was scared Jim would touch my legs (that is how bad they hurt).

Sunday morning, I sent Jim out at 9:00 to get reservations at The Lady and Sons (Paula Deen). He sent me this picture with the subject "The Things I Do For You". He stood in line until 10:30 and then we didn't have a reservation until 1:45. We did go eat there but I think after you have eaten there one time, you really don't have to go back. I can cook most of the things that she has on the buffet so to pay $40 is a little expensive. We rented "Twilight" (just okay) and "Slumdog Millionaire" (really good). We walked on the beach and then it started raining. So you see, we had a really relaxing mini getaway. We left Sunday morning and went through Hilton Head to the outlets. Didn't find much of anything. After buying all those clothes for .50 it is hard to go pay more even at the outlets.
I wanted some pictures of Jim and I that I could print in black and white so we made a few on the beach.I thought this one was the best. We were really acting goofy in the other ones so they didn't really turn out to good. But the next one is my favorite. It was taken ont he balcony right when we were leaving Monday morning.
My face looks really bad in this picture but I still think it turned out pretty good. My face has actually turned out to be worse than my legs. I have seven cold sores on my bottom lip. I have more blisters around my mouth and nose. And now it is peeling something terrible. So I kinda look bad. Just in time for Easter when I was planning on getting some good family pics. Oh well, maybe it will be gone by then.

Upcountry Museum

A few of the YAMs were asked to play last night at the Upcountry Museum in Greenville. For those of you who don't live around here, this is a history museum documenting the South Carolina Upstate's history. It is a great place to visit especially with older children. They opened a new exhibit today and the preview was last night. It was called The Dark Corner (which is a part of the upstate mountains) and it documented life in that part of the country during the Great Depression. Very interesting stuff. Anyway, Gabe played mandolin last night for 2 hours with just a little 10 minute break to go see the museum and grab a bite to eat. It was a great experience for us. Here are just a few pictures. This is Gabe's little "girlfriend". She plays guitar and most of the time bass. She is excellent on the bass and Gabe and his friends have a hard time without her.

Gabe switched instruments with Peyton (another one of the girls) to play a song called "Wild Indian" They did a little duet on this song. No one else knew the song.Here he is concentrating hard on the song he is playing.
Only 6 of them were asked to play. So it was a real honor to get to go do this. I'm sure we are in for a long road ahead with this bluegrass thing. I have started getting Gabe to teach me some of the music on the mandolin. Zane is taking private guitar. So one day we will just have a little family bluegrass band. We have to come up with a creative name though. HAHA HEE HEE!

Jim and I are headed out to Tybee Island to lay on the beach and watch the waves roll in. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will probably be scarce the next week or so because Spring Break starts today.

For Your Listening Enjoyment

Jack learns new songs almost every week at school. I decided I had to get this on video because I want to remember his sweet little voice singing about God. And I wanted to share his sweet little voice with you. So enjoy!