Good morning beautiful girl!

BELIEVE IT OR NOT...SHE DIDN'T MIND A BIT! PROOF POSITIVE THAT EVEN TODAY GOD CREATES MIRACLES!

Everyone was a champion fisherman!

Camping!!

Now who do you suppose has been watching the fishing shows before school each morning? LOL!

Well, I have to say the camping trip was a joyous success! We have not had that much fun in a very long time, and I don't say that lightly!Eric and I took the kids to JuJu's & Poppie's on Friday for their first campout. Man oh man what a blast! The fish NEVER STOPPED BITING! All four kids were asking when we would be going again...before we left! LOL I will be posting quite a few pics I think. I took 80! LOL The first two are the most hilarious. I know you will enjoy this!

Busted!

There I was, balancing my camera, my bible, purse and notebook to get a shot of this beautiful Dogwood. Just as I snap the photo something tells me to look right...and there she was...pointing her finger at me through the windshield of her car...telling me I was busted(and laughing gleefully)! LOL So in response to the finger pointing I had to get a quick shot of the pointer! Late for church! HA HA! Yes, for the record, I'm usually the one running late for church! I was early that Sunday, I like to keep ya'll guessing ya know. LOL

Out of the duplicate pics I think I like the 2nd one best. It's a shot of some things behind Ms. Pauline's garage. These "things" have been there since Mr. Junior was still working in his yard! I don't even know if Ms. Pauline realizes its out there. LOL I don't know what this round thing is, reminds me of huuuge old tractor wheel. This too is at Ms. Pauline's. If the object were closer and in b/w I think the pic would be much better. One of ya'll with the b/w capability needs to come take a picture of it!

Say Hello To My Little Friend...

I had sudden photo panic hit my body this afternoon. I got some really nice shots I'm very excited about! Enough to post over the next few days! Woohoo! I love the lizard! Something took the tip of his tail.

The colors of the bricks really stand out well.

Familiar Victim

Eric was taking part in a paramedic refresher course at station 40 when he became the latest newbie victim. He was instructed to be the victim of a carcrash so all the "kids" could assess his injuries like real professionals. LOL I personally don't think he was a very good victim. Since when do people on back boards get to give orders?? You would think he had done this before or something! LOL

I was thinking, man if Jamie were here she could REALLY get in some good jabs! LOL

Great job babe! The next generation of paramedics are more knowledgeable because of your suffering!

One Biiiig Bubba

This is my big bubba. LOL He is attempting to look all dignified(nice try Bill, not working). I was having a discussion on older brothers the other day, and how much we love them despite the TORTURE they put us through! Ya know, like your brother sitting on you and letting spit hang from his mouth only millimeters from your face!! OH YEAH! That was fun! I suddenly have a mind to call that guy! LOL

I remember the day he joined the army, I was so proud. He made my heart swell with pride. He stayed in as long as he could, until they found his degenerative bone disease that is chipping away at his back. ~sighs~ no more tanks for him. Thats alright though, he is 2 hours from me and I can visit anytime I like. I wouldn't have him any other way, though if he tries to sit on me now my children would be orphans! LOL I love my big bubba dearly.

P.S. Yes somehow I received the recessive height gene! LOL

Happy Birthday Ol' Lady of the Blog!

~Happy birthday to you!Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday ol' blogger laaaaaddyyyyy! Happy birthday to you! :)

The Old Judge's House

While out exploring yesterday we walked to the old judge's house across the tracks. They think its great because it looks so spooky. They have begun to make up scary stories about the judge(mainly to scare pooh). LOL I like the one of the chimney with all the ivy overgrown on it.

Long Way Home

These train tracks are across the street from my house, they seem to go on forever.

We've actually walked the tracks to JuJu's and Poppie's before. The kids love it. I could be mistaken but I think I remember Judy telling me a story about Jeff "hopping" the train once. LOL Sounds just like something a boy would do!

Flowers from home

Bubba, Pooh and I were outside this afternoon exploring. I'm happy with the first flower pic(though I don't remember what it is, little help Ju?) LOL

Lowcountry Spines

I've always liked taking closeup shots of plants. It shows all the textures and color variations. I really like it. These are of the Palmetto tree outside my office.

Well, I've missed the cutoff again. I know all of you are shocked! It has been an incredibly long day and I'm not at all pleased with the pics I'm going to post so I ask that you suffer along with me. LOL First off, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today we had Shelby's birthday party. It was a make your own ice cream sundae party. Now you would think that 4 preteen girls wouldn't eat a whole lot of junk, WRONG! They ate enough sugar to put a dead man in diabetic shock! They sure did have fun though. They played Dance Dance Revolution on the xbox, made a pyramid outside, gorged on sundaes and danced their little fannies off. Soo, I'll take it as a successful party. The last pic is of my gerbers, terrible shot too, the flash was waaay too bright. Ahh well, just suffer with me tonight, maybe I'll do better tomorrow. LOL

I would like to introduce all of you to my Grandma. Mrs. Martha Elizabeth Eubank, the most amazing woman on this planet. I think most of the people I know here have always lived close to their family. Growing up in the marine corps we did not. Seeing my Grandparents was always like Christmas no matter what time of year it was. Grandma taught me how to sew, how to grow vegetables, and how to love a child. And man! NOBODY could cut a fresh watermelon into triangles like she could! Her little hands shake so badly now she can hardly hold a knife. Thats ok though, Grandpa does it for her. ~big smiles~ She is truly one of God's treasures.

These are pictures of me with her. The top one was taken in Stafford, VA. Jamie has been there and met them. The second was actually taken on Laurel Bay when my Dad was stationed here.

I know the pics are old, but gosh ya'll...she is the most special woman in the world. Oh yeah, ya gotta love the fashion statements I was making! LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELBY!

So here I am, thinking of my baby, my bright shining star that is growing up terribly fast. Today is her birthday and she is 11. She will be going to middle school in July. YIKES! So again I ask, what happened?!

Shelby is my sporty, outgoing, singing, dancing and smart alecky kiddo. She is incredibly tenderhearted and civic minded. She is actually my co-captain for the fire dept. Relay for Life team this year.

Now, on the flipside of all the sweetness there are things you don't know. Many don't, for good reason...LOL some people may be weary of my sweet little Shelby. A story comes to mind...when she was in kindergarten the class had a pet rabbit. A beautiful ebony black little furball by the name of Chantell(I have no idea where the name came from!). The kids in the class were all put in a drawing to see who got to take bunny foofoo home for the weekend. How lucky! ~rolls eyes~Shelby was the lucky one quite a bit! One weekend while bunny sitting the kids were eating dinner at the picnic table outside. Eric and I were inside enjoying a rare quiet moment of togetherness. The quiet stillness is shattered by the shrieks and screams of Christina....she comes flying in the kitchen door...and screams, "Momma! Daddy! Shelby put a rabbit poop in my cheeseburger!!!! Now of course this concerns Eric and I just a bit...this is NOT the way we attempted to raise our delicate southern flowers. So, we compose ourselves..mind you Eric did not do a very good job on this part..and he calls our little angel into the house with his best stern Daddy voice.

"Shelby Lynn..did you put rabbit poop..." that's it, he lost it and had to turn his head. So Mom the bad guy says, Shelby Lynn Saunders! That was nasty! That poop is full of bacteria that can make your sister sick as crap! (Eric loses it more) Her reply..."but mommy she wouldn't stop making fun of me, and she didn't even eat it!" The ever dramatic Christina proclaims that had she eaten said rabbit poop she could have died from it. At this point I'm really working hard not to burst into laughter...Shelby apologizes to Christina, she gets a new cheeseburger, and we all watch our backs around Shelby! LOL I love that girl!

One more little tidbit... after choir practice tonight Poppie chased Shelby around the churchyard to give her her birthday spanking. The ride home all I heard was..Mom! Poppie is fast! Did you see him? I thought I had him! Man! He's fast! That old man can run! I thought I had him!

The whole time JuJu is saying, "you better run Shelby!" LOL guess she didn't hear that.

P.S. All I can say about this pic is...BUSTED!!

Oh the signs of the season...

I've already posted today but I'm going for it again! This is a picture of the back of my truck. It has been taken over, taken hostage if you will, by softball gear. It will remain in a hostage state until June. This does not include Shelby's personal gear bag by the way. After all, when you're a pro like Shelby you simply MUST have all your own gear! Pony tail helmet with personalization, bright pink bat, Easton glove and embroidered bag. I mean really, how can you possibly play in the Ponytail league without it? LOL You know I love it!

Multitasking

O.K., I mentioned on someone's blog I had a pic of "someone" multitasking. So here she is! Looking something up on the computer, talking to Jamie on the cell, and completely covered with paperwork! LOL The other pic is my favorite salad. I was forced to buy some, I only get the good homemade stuff at church dinners! LOL *winks to JuJu*

Country Fun

Eric has taken us a fishing quite a bit over the last few months. Bubba says he enjoys it when we(the girls) go with them (he and Daddy) but it just isn't the same! LOL He would much rather us girls go do something else and leave the fishing to the professionals! The first pic is a fish that Shelby caught, take notice of all the "fishing essentials" in the back of the truck. LOL We had the best time!

Oh My Gosh! What Happened??

Ok, its official. Today, March 7, 2007 I am the Mom of a teenager. How did that happen? I thought I just brought her home from Beaufort Memorial like a year ago. Eighth grade? WHAT?! That can't be right! Last month she was putting on her little black and red uniform and heading off to kindergarten at Broad River!

When I look at Christina I see so much of God's grace. I realize that we all see it in our children, they are such blessings. God's miracles that have been bestowed on her amaze me, even today. I think everyone knows that she was burned as an infant. At 7 1/2 months old she was burned on 21% of her body. When you're that small, thats an incredible amount of surface area to be hurting. She had first, second and two places of third degree. When Eric and I arrived at Memorial Medical after she was taken by Life Flight all I could hear running down the hall were screams and then shivering moans. I never knew my heart could break in such a way, but it did. By midnight, her fingernails had lifted off of their nailbed, her face was so swollen she was unable to open her eyes, her team of surgeons were discussing weather or not they could save her right ear, and she was on a constant morphine drip.

Two weeks of hydrotherapy, tears, prayers and lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles later...we took her home. Still bandaged, still hurting, but home.

The miracle?? Well, for one, she was alive. The day before we left to bring her home, her surgeons told us they had NEVER seen a child heal as quickly and as well as she had. She arrived in critical condition and left two weeks later. You would never know that her face, both arms, chest, back, hands and leg were so terribly burned. God healed her magnificently.

Thank you Jesus for letting us keep her. I praise you God for all you have done and all you will do in her life.

My first baby, my Christina, my teenager.

I know JuJu, I have 5 years.

Boys

So what do boys do when they're bored, you ask? Well, there are many things they can do. They can climb to the roof of the shed and dance a jig like a drunken leprechaun, throw dead fish at their sisters, or...they can take their little sisters hair clips and use them for eyebrow piercings! There is a wide array of opportunities for them to experience!

(Amy get ready)

Around the House

These are a few shots from around the house. I spotted this chrysallis in the Birch tree. Most of my friends know how much I love butterflies so this was a really great surprise. The other two are just pics of my walkway. I kinda like em'.

Magnolia's Pecan Pie A la' Mode

For Jamie and Shane