a happy place

We have not been to the lake ALL summer long. Seems like every time we decided to go something would 'thwart' our plans.  Karl said if we get this yard cut we'll go. The boys got busy on Friday, then a thunderstorm came up all of the sudden, and stopped the grass cutting for the evening.2ach and Shek started back on Saturday and by the afternoon, it was all cut. The boat was pulled out of the shed, only to discover that the battery was dead. The battery was placed on charge and we waited.

Jolie found her swimming suit and was ready to pose.

The boat is waiting at the dock for all of us to get on board...Karl is in his happy place on the lake in a boat.

The oldest and the youngest, it's hard to believe that at one time Jolie was afraid of 2ach and wanted nothing to do with him...as you can see she got over it. 

Shek enjoying the water...it was nice and warm

The hubster and me

We stayed on the lake till the Sun started to set.

I loved this shot.

2ach drove the boat a long time.

Jolie wanted to drive too, she helped dad drive, but here she's just posing. Shek even took a turn helping dad drive.

Jolie wanted to swim like 'mermaid'.

Here they are enjoying the lake...JOLIE fell asleep at one point during the boat ride.

It was a great day at the lake...it's such a happy place let's go back and not wait too long before we go back again.

memories of a sweet horse

2ach drove his dad's old nissan pickup for a while before we surprised him with this mustang.This car had been a babied  by an older gentlemen for about 10 years. New, pristine and low miles  was how we found this car when he got it the summer before his senior year. He took great care of the car.

During his commutes to and from college everyday for the past 2 years, he knew it was time to get something with better gas mileage and the ability to haul musical equipment. SO, on craig's list it went. This morning, 2 guys were headed to purchase it, and he did not want to be here when it was sold. He's excited about finding another car, but this sweet mustang was special to him...I know I will miss hearing the exhaust...I always knew when he was driving into the garage...that rumble could be heard from the top of the drive and we have a long driveway.

Knowing that the days were numbered, 2ach and his younger brother took the car to the drag race show and shine at the Atlanta Motor Speedway...and he was excited to win 3rd place in show and shine and the boys got a ticket to drive around the track. They were thrilled to say the least.

At the show!

3rd Place

Exciting times with the mustang,...great memories for him, bittersweet to see her go.

Speech Pease...

Yesterday was our last speech therapy visit for a while. I snapped this photo with the iphone yesterday as Jolie and Ms. Jennifer were practicing their words by looking in a mirror.  Hopefully we will only go three weeks without speech. We reached visit 30 yesterday, and insurance covers 30 visits, but requires paperwork to be reviewed to see if the patient needs additional visits due to medical need.  Our wonderful speech therapist, Ms. Jenn, has submitted paperwork to our insurance company requesting more visits. PRAY with me, that we do indeed get more visits approved before the new year.

Jolie has come so far with speech therapy. She speaks in very long sentences and is easily understood until she gets to talking rapidly.  She loves Mrs. Jennifer, and includes her in her prayers every night. AND Jolie even requests to go to speech. Mrs. Jennifer smiles and says Jolie will have a very southern accent. We all laugh together because, she can't help but have a southern accent living with Shek and me. The others in the house are not as southern as we are. LOL   We were blessed to be referred to Mrs. Jennifer, because 90% of her patients are Chinese cleft palate girls. Is that wild or what!!

We should know in three weeks if the request for additional visits has been approved....until then I know I will hear Jolie say, "Can we go to speech,  peese!"

Back From Forth Worth

Hubby and I are just home from AdvoCare Success School. We learned a lot in Fort Worth and are excited to be independent distributors for this exciting company. Lots of new friends, new  products, and lots of wonderful training. Next Feb., Drew Brees, and Former President George W. Bush will be at Success school. I look forward to growing and going in the days ahead.

noodles, please

This past Saturday, Dad asked Jolie what she wanted for lunch. She said, "Noodles." Dad said,
"Chinese noodles or spaghetti Noodles!" Jolie said Spaghetti noodles...

So my sweet Chinese Princess has a side of Italian in her taste buds. She says all the time, "Spaghetti is my favorite."

A dream is a wish your heart makes

Jolie loves Cinderella.  In fact, as you may recall, Jolie says that I am Cinderella. She tells her dad, siblings and even her speech teacher that momma is indeed Cinderella. She even watches the movie almost EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

 So, when my friend Melissa and I found a garage sale on our daily walk the other day,we discovered that in the pile of dress up clothes was a  Cinderella dress for $2. WE knew we had hit the jackpot. The best 2 bucks I have ever spent. This dress has already given her hours of dress up fun.
 Cinderella Dress = $2.00
Baby girl's delight = priceless

This Cinderella's foot gets a little dirty with out her glass slipper. 

Everyday this sweetie says, "Daddy I wanna tell you something."

Daddy answers, "What do you wanna tell me."

"I wanna go to dismey lamb." (aka disney world). She says she wants to see the princesses, the castle, and she wants a mickey hat. How she's figured that this world exists...I don't know. Maybe some older siblings have clued her in.

A dream is a wish your heart makes, sweet girl, keep on bugging daddy about "dismey lamb"...and I bet your dream will come true.

I used my canon and I edited my photos in picnik, cause that's all I have ;)

Can we just go somewhere...

This sweet girl has been waiting patiently for a car to drive.  Being 4 ft 10 inches, my large Titan pickup is somewhat intimidating to  a beginning driver. We've been looking for sometime for just the right car and believe me, WE have looked high and low. My hubby and I have checked every ad for affordable used cars for a while now. Since cra2ed list from craig's list has be disabled, Karl even made an app  to locate specific types of cars, mileage etc. I just wish he could have made the app to separate the crooks from the honest folks. :)

This is a fun car to drive. 

 We are excited to finally find a nice safe car for Karlie to drive. I hope Karlie has many happy and safe years driving this car.

Life is better lived in flip-flops

Friday evening we hit the trail toward the beach. We were headed to get a car we found on Craig's list. We planned to stick our toes in the Atlantic on the way back and grab some delicious seafood at one of our favorite spots and then head home. The car ended up being a NO...but the road trip was a nice consolation prize. As always I could be found behind my phone camera and my real camera.

Every time I see a shrimp boat, I think bubba gump.  I snapped this photo off the St. Simon's Pier.

I love lighthouses. 

I think I could live at the beach an be on island time that's for sure...well, until a hurricane came!

I was born in a river town, where lots of moss hung from the trees. I love it.

These hot pink flowers were beautiful and were growing right by the pier. 

I snapped a few photos of my kids around those flowers. 

Jolie enjoyed the playground near the pier until we saw the dolphins swimming nearby...we ran to get a closer look.

Shek says he could really get used to the 'beach-life'

 I heard Jolie say, "I wanna hold Shek's hand."

Karlie by those pretty pink flowers.

 Snapped right outside our favorite St. Simons restaurant, Barbara Jean's...love those crab cakes. 

Smile!

See the dolphins? We were excited. We saw lots of them swimming by the pier.

 The last time we were here, this bridge was not completed...yep, it's been too long!

 We headed over to jekyll island...it was very crowded. Shek enjoyed trying his board thingy out. 

 Lots of the locals were giving him tips, but  none of them demonstrated for him.

 Someone was excited to wear her mermaid suit to the beach.

Karlie enjoyed the beach a lot, making sure that we ARE coming back for several days before the summer is over, right?

us minus the oldest...

This sign was in a store window. I had to snap a photo, but you know when you're at the beach...there's just no whining...because life is better lived in flip-flops.

*I snapped lots of photos yesterday until the batteries went dead, and I didn't bring the charger or extras since it was just a quick trip. I even snapped some 'people-watching' photos. One can see ALL and I do mean all at the beach. ;) 

I did use my canon camera for these photos, but did nothing special afterwards... just having fun.