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Winston is THE laziest dog. This is how he eats...lying down with his head in the bowl.

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Another piece of family memorabilia. Did you know Social Security cards were originally metal?

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My Grandaddy Jim (grandma's first husband) died when I was six. I've never really known much about him...until I began working on the tumbleweed. I've now tracked is lineage back to the early 1800's.

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His masonic ring is one of the family "heirlooms" Forrest showed during his family tree presentation.

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My sister and I met at our aunt Patti's house to go through old pictures and memorabilia looking for missing dates in Forrest's Family Tumbleweed. I think that they have to be two of my most favorite people in the world.

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Sophie's birthday menagerie.

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Sometimes it feels like we are being overtaken by Webkinz.

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Mark's Saturday morning pancakes are the *tastiest*.

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Happy Happy Birthday Sophie! We love you the most! (No one fret or worry that we play favorites, we tell all of the kids that).

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p.s. You get extra brownie points because you asked me to make your birthday cake instead of buying one and when I asked why you said "because yours are prettier and they taste better".

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Because she fixed her hair herself and because after she asked me if I liked it and I said yes, she pointed to my camera and said "well, take a picture of it".

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This is one of my most favorite plants around the pond. Not only did it survive being dug up by Winston three different times, it has also survived my lack of watering.

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We picked Chloe and Cammie up from Carol's house pretty early this morning to head back to Nashville. Cammie fell right to sleep. It amazes me that she can sleep bent over at the waist with her head in her own lap. If her gymnastics career falls through, she could always be a contortionist in the circus, ha.

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We went into Savannah for lunch at Lady and Son's. Fortunately, we were able to walk right up to the hostess stand to get our reservation.

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We walked around and explored the little shops until it was time to head back to the restaurant.

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This was the first time that I had eaten at L&S in it's current location. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. Mark and I ate at L&S for the first time several years ago and the food was much better then. Paula was still cooking and her sons were running around the room refilling tea glasses.

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Don't get me wrong, it was good...just not remarkable.

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Amy and I decided to take a stroll along the beach on Hilton Head. It lasted for all of 10 minutes. It was HOTTTT and HUUUMID and it was the most crowded beach I have ever been on...

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Despite of the heat and the crowd, the ocean was as breathtaking as it always is. For me, it is impossible to stand next to the ocean without being in awe of how big our God is.

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On the way to Savannah Amy and I spotted this guy on the interstate (this was just after I won the "which one of us will get a ticket in Mark's new car first" contest).

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Dirt bike...check

Ankle socks...check

Neon yellow rain slicker...check

Dismembered bike attached to large metal trunk...check and check

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Is there anything better than new school supplies? Instead of fighting the masses for tax-free crayons, I decided to go today.

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Kids that love to read are cool.

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This. This makes me happy. When the tops of the washer and dryer are bare, when there is nothing hanging above them, when there are no piles heaped up to the window sill... I am happy.

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There was a stretch between 11 and 13-and-three-quarters where I was sure that one of us would not make it to his 18th birthday...it was rough.

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Right before he turned 14, things changed. Hallelujah!

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Seriously, he has turned into the coolest guy and it is actually fun to be his mom again. Not only did he bring his grades up, stop back-talking, and start listening... he also mastered the ollie.

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Mr. Winston, pouting on the deck.

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Another creation by Mark and Forrest. This one was for World History... an ancient structure. They spent hours cutting down dowel rods to the right length and then gluing them together

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A few years ago, I asked Forrest to save me a tag off of a new pair of jeans. I liked the texture and shape and wanted to use it on a layout about him. Two or three years later and he still savs me tags that he thinks I might like.

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Random, miscellaneous toys. Forrest always had a couple of toys in his pocket, I remember him playing with all of these at different times. It makes me so sad to think that there may only be a few, if any, days of playing with toys left for him. Next year, it will be a drivers permit...

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Mark and Forrest built this "airplane" out of recycled/found items when Forrest was in the 5th grade. It had eye bolts for wheels, but they have since been lost. I've always thought that this was the coolest project...I'm glad to see that Forrest evidently thought so too.

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For some unknown reasons, Forrest has amassed a collection of cereal bar wrappers. This is about a third of them. I threw the other two-thirds away before thinking about taking a picture.

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The next few posts will be of the random things that I found while ceaning out Forrest's closet.

This is a hat that came with cotton candy at the circus. Forrest likes to wear it. The first time he wore it, he was just being silly. Once he realized that it irritated me, he decided that he should wear it at various random moments...like when we have company over for dinner...

Teenagers...

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I love the new water camera! The kids do too. They wanted their picture taken under water over, and over, and over...

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This was taken while we were on a gi-norm-ous water slide at Holiday World.

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We spent the 4th of July visiting Mark's uncle in Smithville, Tn.

This pic was taken at the Smithville Jamboree. Lot's of singing, fiddling and banjoing...Yeeehaaw!

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We are going to Holiday World this weekend, so I bought this fun little toy.

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When we went last year, I tried using a disposable water camera...it was lost within the first two hours. There was no strap on it and it had to be carried everywhere. This little baby has an attached wrist strap and is waterproof to 10'.

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Cameron and Clay... permanent fixtures in our summer time landscape. I am so thankful that Forrest has these guys.

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For some reason, Winston likes to sleep on his back with all four legs sprawled out.

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Stacks of dirty serving dishes = tasty treats, hours of Scattergories, squeeling kids, lots of laughs and good friends.

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Mark and Forrest are camping in Cumberland Caverns. Marty and Mac are having dinner at Waffle House. All of the girls are at VBS.

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Amy and I watched a movie and broke in her new rocking chairs.

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How can it be called a beauty shop if this is what you look like while you're in it?

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Maybe if you're tying to impress a microwave...

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Vacation Bible School started tonight. The girls loved playing in "God's Big Backyard".

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They did not love the snack...fruit with shredded cheese on top.

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I do not love that I have to wash their shirts every night so that they can re-wear them the next day, lol.

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The breakfast room has been converted to an art studio. The artiste's are kind enough to move their masterpieces at meal time...but quick to reclaim their space as soon as it's over.

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We were hoping that I could use this old phone until my new one comes in. Fortunately for Chloe, the sim card was obsolete, and could now longer be used. She loves her new *real* cellphone and charges it every night.

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She turns the ringer off before church, then turns t back on after service. She's started carrying a purse everywhere we go so that her phone is always available. I'll hear something ring and think it's my cell phone...as I dig through my purse, she'll giggle and say "That's for me, I'll get it"...she's figured out to make it ring on demand.

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Low-tech. That would be the best word to sum up my temporary replacement cell phone.

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After losing my cell phone last week, I had to get it replaced. The phone that I want doesn't come out until mid-July...and I didn't want to pay much for a phone that I would only be using for three weeks, so for the low-low price of $40.00, I got this.

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I've wanted to throw it on more than one occasion. How many more days until June 11th?

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Summer takes a toll on the kids. By bedtime, they are exhausted...and they usually sleep until 9:30. Except on Sunday mornings. We had to drag Cammie out of bed for her bath. As soon as she was in the car, she laid her head on Forrest's shoulder and fell right to sleep.

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Mark spent the day playing with the new toy he received for Father's Day...a pressure washer.

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If he had given me a new vacuum for Mother's Day, I promise you that I wouldn't have spent an entire day "playing" with it. Evidently, a man's idea of a good gift and woman's idea of a good gift are ENTIRELY different!

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I forgot to order coffee pods before we went out of town. Today was a sad, sad day. I have a caffeine withdrawal headache that is threatening to turn into a migraine. Blessedly, my order was delivered this afternoon.

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Woeful...because she had just gone round and round and round, faster and faster and faster on the tire swing.

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In a rare moment of photo cooperation, Sophie posed for me.

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We hiked up to Clingman's Dome.

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I have three words to sum up the experience: Out Of Shape

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Okay, a fourth word: Beautiful

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After tubing (which there are no pictures of as of yet because I took them with a disposble camera), we drove to Gatlinburg. After dinner, we went to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. The kids posed in front of a "shadow catcher".

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We woke up this morning and decided to take an overnight trip.

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Destination: Townsend, TN...where according to my Kids Love Tennessee book, we could have a grand time tubing down the Little River.

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Since it was Father's Day, Mark got to choose our lunch venue. Cracker Barrel.

Cammie decided to put on a fashion show while we waited for our table.

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Chloe and Cammie had already watched Kung Fu Panda, so Mark and I decided to take Hannah and Sophie. While it was cute and (Jack Black is hilarious), it wasn't in the same league with Toy Story or Finding Nemo.

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Chloe graduated from Jr. Blue Belt to full Blue Belt today...she rocks!

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I heart my drycleaner.

And, seeing how I don't know how to iron (nor do I care to learn), they heart me too.

They have my phone number (account number) memorized (all 3 that work the counter), they come out when they see me pull in and carry in my ginormous clothes hamper and they carry my clothes out and hang them in my truck.

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When Chloe overheard us talking about taking the training wheels off of Cammie's new bike, she was determined that she would learn how to ride a two-wheeler first. It took her less than 10 minutes to get the hang of it.

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My first break from the kids since school let out...how did I spend it? Catching up the laundry...joy.