Flashback Friday - Character Counts Race

This was the 2nd year this race has taken place. I actually ran it back in the fall. Shelby and some other kiddos from running club ran this one as well.

Alec giving a pep talk.

Here's me and my girl Shelby having a little pre-race chat. . .

I'm not sure who this is or why I loaded the picture. . . must have been important to me when I was going to blog about it. Maybe it's Shelby?

Here I is. . . huffin' and puffin'. I was trying to beat our soccer friend, Eddie.

Alec and Joel running hard.

Here I am sprinting to the finish. I passed Eddie and was so happy!!!!

Here I am walking with Alec. He was so mad because his knees were hurting, so he had to walk a good part of it.

Good job, Jesse!

Good job, Joel!!!!

Good job Shelby!!!!!

Here's our running club friends and dear friends all around period!

Alec and Jesse

I won first female to cross the finish line. This is the 2nd year I've done this at this race.

Alec's Special Day

I really want to get in the habit of taking the children somewhere they would want to go on their birthdays. . . just one-on-one and just to make them feel extra special. I've always wanted to do this. However, in the past, I always hated to ask my in-laws to keep the kids. Not that they would mind. . . but I just never want to be one of those "can you keep the kids so I can ______?" However, the Lord has blessed us with so many wonderful friends, it's easy to find someone to watch over them for me. I'm very thankful.

At first I was going to blindfold Alec and take him to this Infantry Museum his friends Levi and Eli had told him about. However, I thought it was only an hour away. He told me, "I know where we're going. We're going to Fernbank." I then told him he could choose between the two. He was so very excited about the Infantry Museum. I just love to hear him be excited!!!! So. . . two hours away we go :)

I told him we could eat anywhere he wanted. He loves Panera Bread. . . so that's where we grabbed a bite to eat.

Here we are at the museum. The inside pictures will be a little dark because they wouldn't allow flash photography.

Alec holds quite an obsession with the military, and at this point in his life says he wants to join. Therefore, I took a picture of this training poster.

With that kind of schedule it looks very similar to mine. . . maybe I'm secretly in the military :)

This museum was GREAT!!! Although I'm very appreciative of our men and women in uniform, I really didn't think I would like this museum very much. However, it contained so.much. history AND THAT is what I like.

See these Japanese split-toe shoes? They made me giggle because they remind me of my 5 fingers :)

Alec thought this was really cool.

One of our favorite things was this room where it made you feel like you were in Vietnam. It was a jungle and very hot and humid. A solider was talking over the speaker, and then you'd hear gunshots. It also had booby traps laid out on the ground just like our soldiers experienced. It was very cool!

I just thought their creed was very honorable.

Here we are getting ready to trek back home. Our time was cut short and we didn't see all that we hoped to (since 2 hours was cut out of our day getting there and going home). . . we decided we will definitely go back another day.

I'm so very thankful for my sweet boy!!!! I still stand in amazement that 14 years ago, a 20-year-old young woman held this sweet things in her arms. . . she'd never known a love like this in all her life. . . a mother's love. I can't wait to celebrate Alec and his life even more this weekend!

The Dangers of Running

When Jon got home from his run this morning I certainly didn't expect him to tell me the story that he did. Most always he is running with Doug. For my running partner, Angela H., and I we just do our long runs together, but Jon and Doug . . . if they are running, most of the time they're running together.


Not this morning though. Jon has been taking some time off b/c of his suspected hernia. However, he wants to run the Peachtree, so he decided to take a slow, easy run and see how he felt afterwards.


Now, we live in a really nice area (I say that with more shame than I do pride, and I'm very ashamed how Jon and I have spent our lives chasing the "American Dream", and hopefully, if the Lord is willing, as soon as we are done with the remodeling of our house it is going on the market). . . okay, lost track there for a minute. Anyhoo, back to running, so Jon runs out of our neighborhood and he is running facing traffic. He always looks behind him even though there is not a whole lot of posing danger from a car on the other side of the road.


Not this morning. . .


The car was coming over to his side (now this is 4:30 in the morning). Thankfully the car doesn't hit him. However, after it passed, Jon stopped running andn threw his hands up in the air like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Stay on your side of the road." Well, the car started putting on his brake lights and slowed down. Jon said someone came out of the passenger's side and fired a shot.

Can you believe that?

They slowly drove away. Jon continued his run, and then began to think, "They may be up there waiting on me." So he came back and ran our neighborhood.

If that would've been me my feet would have never seen so fast, and I would have run STRAIGHT home.

Saturday Ramblings

**We just started getting Netflix, and I'm ashamed to say that we are loving it. Even Ms. "We could get rid of every TV in our house, and I'd be glad." We've actually watched some really neat things. . . one was a documentary on Mother Theresa and other was Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ". Hanna was about to have a fit because she said it was boring like "The Truth Project". Guess I don't have a theologian on my hands . . . not now anyway.

**We are all a little scared around here that Jon may have a hernia. He was in a good bit of pain last night, yet he is working laying tile on a house that he is flipping today. I'm praying his pain will be alleviated and this thing will go away.

**Hanna and Ash spent the night with a friend the other night. This was only Hanna's 2nd time over there. Poor thing got stung by a wasp and then at midnight threw up. Poor Dana (her friend's mom). I felt terrible she had to clean up Hanna's throwup. Hanna's all better now though and only threw up that one time. Dana told me she didn't talk much, but when she did she was really funny. . . that's my Hanna Boo!!!

**I slept in this morning and Jon left early. He called me on his way to the house. I love when I answer my phone and he says, "Hey beautiful." (please don't think I'm bragging. We certainly have our share of ups and downs. . . right now is just an up and those are the ones I like to remember). He was telling me that he'd love to take me out tonight to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town. However, he's hardly seen the kids and really feels we all need to be together. I was just flattered he wanted to go on a date with me. We haven't seen very much of one another. He's been so busy with working, so there's been very little time as a family or just he and I. I know it's just for a season, but I'm thankful our love for one another is steady and constant.

**The kids and I are about to go and pick blueberries. It's one of Jim and Pat's friends. I'm hoping we will get a good bit.

**Jenn. B and I were thinking about taking the kiddos to St. Simons. She's going down there for a few days and Tripp will be joining her mid-week. However, I have this new job and it would be a pain to have to work down there. Also with Jon and a possibility of a hernia, it isn't a good idea for me to leave him. He might need my good nursing skills :) Also, Gigi's back is out. She has a pinched nerve. Oh well, I was really looking forward to some good girl time!

**Back to Netflix. . . we are loving watching "Monk". Seriously, it is just the right amount of drama, mystery, and comedy.

**This week Ang. L and Faith and I got together and tie-dyed shirts for The Peachtree coming up this weekend. We had a great time and both Faith and I forgot our cameras. . . and we call ourselves bloggers. . . .apparently NOT! Maybe I can put on my outfit and post a picture later :)

**For dinner tonight. . . let's see Santa Fe chicken over brown rice and corn salsa and a salad.

**Maybe we can pop some popcorn and watch a movie OR play a fun family board game.

**I have SO many blogging posts I need to get up on here. Hopefully soon or otherwise my "Flashback Fridays" will be an ongoing thing :)

**Here's a Hanna funny . . . Bethany sent me a text this week saying "After Brother David's sermon on Sunday about affectionate fathers I really think Jon needs to start kissing your babies on the lips." I forwarded to him and then asked him at dinner if he got my text from Bethany. He said, "Yeah, that was funny." The kiddos wanted to know what it said, so I told them. Hanna then said, "Daddy, for ONCE you need to start listening to Ms. Bethany."

**This past Wed. night the pool we join every Sunday had a family pizza night. All you can eat coke and pizza for $5 for the whole family. The kids and I met out there and joined Ang. L and family and Jenn. B. and family. We all had a wonderful time. We pretty much had the pool by itself. We're hoping more friends will join us next time.

Enough rambling for now. Have a good weekend everyone!

Flashback Friday - Labor Day Race 2010

There have been so many things that happened back in 2010 that I wanted to blog about but never got around to do. . . so, being the memory preserver that I am. . . I'm going to start doing a "Flashback Friday" edition here at Mama in High Heels (although I feel like a poser now because of my last post **insert big cheesy grin here**).

So, for the first edition, since running with friends is something I love to do and is fresh on my mind since next Monday I'll be doing just that. . . I'm going to blog about the Labor Day 10K my friends and I did last September.

Jon and I actually entered this race as a husband and wife team. We placed 3rd and got these awesome trophies (insert picture I never took here). Our team time was 1:34:56. You may be thinking it's absurd I included the seconds. However, in running seconds count. Know how I know? Because we missed 2nd place by literally 36 seconds! Jon placed 9th in his age group at a time of 46:18 and I placed 7th in my age group with a time of 48:38. I was really pleased with our results because this is much bigger than the normal races we run!!!

Friends running with us were Lydia, Bethany, Angela, Jennifer S., and Doug!!! A great time was had by all.
These sweet ladies are sisters. This was my very beginning of getting to know them. Now, they both are very precious to me. The Lord has woven us together in only a way He can!!! I'm so thankful for both of them!

Pathetic

Pathetic. . . yep, that's what I am!! Wanna little glimpse into how pathetic Mrs. Mama in High heels is. . .

Well, first of all, let's just start with that name. . . I'm slowly not living up to my name anymore. Whereas in the past everytime you saw me (except when I'm running, of course), I'd have me a pair of pumps on . . . not so much anymore. . . I've caved to the comfort of my flip flops, five fingers, gladiator sandals, and a new pair of Toms (well Toms soon (thanks to my sweet hubby). . I actually tried on Melissa's and didn't want to give them back). These days I'm lucky if I even wear heels on Sunday. . . maybe I need a new name for my new identity?hee!hee!

Speaking of comfort. . . let's just go into luxury here. I just love for my kids to brush my hair, fix my hair, rub my back, etc. . . . they HATE it, and I actually confessed not too long ago I will using brushing mom's hair as a means of punishment around here. Well, here lately those kiddos of mine have been pretty good. So, that means I've had to resort to something else to make them brush my hair. . . butter cookies!!! Yes, I am SO PATHETIC I actually bribe my kids to brush my hair for butter cookies! Sad. . . so very, very pathetic I am!!

Another luxury around here is watching a movie! Jon has been working so much lately between his full time job and flipping house, we don't really get to watch too many movies. Well we got one in the other night from Netflix. It was 1 hours and 44 minutes long. It took is 3 stinkin' days to watch the thing. We would fall asleep each night. . . now that is some kind of PATHETIC!!!

On the same note of falling asleep, we were watching "Man vs Food" with the kiddos last night while waiting for "America's Got Talent" to come on. It was 7:30 and Jon and I were both snoozing hard!!! It's like we've turned into my Granny and Grandpa. We woke up long enough to kiss the kiddos goodnight and remind them to say their own prayers (most nights we pray as a family). PATHETIC!!!!

Yesterday while having our "Tuesday with Granddaddy", Ash left part of her brownie on her plate. She walked away because she got distracted by something (like her mother, poor thing). I knew she didn't mean to leave part of a brownie. However, it was time for me to clean up the dishes, and her brownie was sitting on her plate all by itself looking all lonesome. While a good, sweet, and kind mother would have called their child to come finish the rest of their brownie. . . not this mama. I could have thrown the thing away if I'd been thinking about the terrible white flour, crummy sugar, and yucky hydrogenated oils that this little thing was composed of. However, those things didn't even cross my mind. I'd already had 2 of them myself, so I knew how scrumpdillicious they were. I took that little yummy goodness and plopped that thing in my mouth and savored every last morsel of it. . . yep, PATHETIC. . . I know!

Father's Day

I talked with my dad earlier in the week, and this year he really wanted to get together for Father's Day. Sometimes he acts as if he could care less. However, lately I can tell his heart is softer than normal. Melissa and I, along with the rest of the family (Grandmama and Aunts/Uncles included) took Dad out to eat Saturday night.

I was so encouraged. . . my Aunt Wanda sent me a post via Facebook and told me Daddy had a good time. I will not stop praying for him. . .

Sunday was a day to celebrate the MOST important man (other than Jesus) in my life. . . my sweet husband. What a blessed woman and mom I am to have a sweet man like Jon. I told him in his card that I gave him that I'm the luckiest girl in the world because I have him. . .

Originally the kiddos and I wanted to serve him breakfast in bed. We were going to do this on Saturday because every Sunday Jon does his long run with Doug. However, Jon ended up spending Fri. night at a house he and Greg G. are working on, so the breakfast in bed option was totally OUT!!!

Instead, I made his favorite, breakfast casserole and I even broke down and bought the ever-expensive Tropicana OJ for him (one his faves).

Well, for his special day, the kids and I decided we would give him memories rather than a tangible gift. I told the kiddos. . . it had to be reasonably priced, and it had to be something Jon would want to do. . . not what they wanted to do.

Hanna - a day at a local water park (this one just has 2 slides, but she knows her Dad loves water parks)

Ashley - a Braves game. . . the $5 seats :)

Alec - a trip to any movie Jon wants to see.

One-on-one time with each of our children is just precious and it is something both Jon and I fail to do often. I thought this would be a great opportunity to make time for some special time together. From me, Jon got a box of tilapia. . . that is what he requested, so that's what he got!!! He's dieting right now :)

Grandaddy went to church with us. We really tried to convince him to go out to eat with us, but he wanted to get back home to Gigi (who has a pinched nerve in her back right now). We tried to be persistent with him, but he clearly didn't want to go out to eat. We took him home and then went to a Japanese steakhouse. After stuffing ourselves silly, we went home, and this is what Jon wanted to do.

He works so very hard these days (flipping plus a full-time job) that getting rest is a luxury for him.

That evening we went over to Grandaddy's and took him his Father's Day present. . . snickers, a coke, and circus peanuts. He annihilated that bag of circus peanuts in less than 20 minutes.

Fathers, what a blessing from the Lord!

P.S. And for my stepdad, we got with him during the week.. . I couldn't forget him. He's very special to me as well!

Monday's Musings

Normally everyone groans at the sound of Monday. Monday tends to be associated with negative emotions and feelings. However, I actually love my Mondays. . . mainly because I get to start my week off with disciplining Lydia. Lydia is a precious 19-year-old young woman who has one of the purest hearts of anyone I've ever known. When she asked me to disciple her, I was completely humbled and oh so excited. I just love starting out with my week with her, and I am truly honored to share sweet time with her in the Word. She really sharpens me and encourages me so.very. much!!! This girl is serious business when it comes to the Word, and I'm so very grateful she's apart of my life. Plus, her big sis, Bethany, is a good friend of mine. . . so that's just an added bonus :)

The kids are so very sweet to allow me to disciple young women. It truly is where my heart is (along with disciplining my own children, of course).

After Lydia left the house to go and get ready for work, the kids and I ate lunch. I then read them several chapters of "Same Kind of Different as Me". I cried my mascara off and didn't want to put the book down. Ash didn't want me to put it down either, but Alec and Hanna were begging to go and do something fun.

So. . . we decided to get out of the house and shake our tail feathers. . . well, sort of.

Wanna know what we did?

I know you're on the edge of your seat?

Okay, I'll give you a few clues.

It was really Hanna who was pushing hard for this activity. She was excited (and I'm not kidding here). . . Can't you tell by her "excited face"?

Our activity happened to involve one of these. . .

and everyone had to wear these. . .

And Alec's feet happened to look a little . . . nah. . . a lot like Bozo the Clown.

We headed to the bowling alley. . . there is a summer program where kids to get bowl free. . . they had me at FREE!!!

Guess who won? The gutter guards were up for everyone. . . and Hanna pulled out the big W-I-N!

Here is her "I'm so excited I won" face. She loves to cross her eyes because it freaks her mother out.

We actually get to play 2 games for free. . . Hanna was really hoping to pull out another win. . .

Too bad, Hanna. . . here is her "I'm mad I didn't win" face. . .

Big brother is the won who pulled off the win this time. . .

This is his "I'm excited I won" face. . .

Oh, and my sweet Ash. . .she's just a super encourager. . .so, of course, I had to snap a picture of her sweet face. . .

We got home and I put one of my freezer meals on the stove to warm it up. I let the kids watch "Monk". We all had dinner together and now I hear everyone pulling out the cards. Alec is laughing. Ash is bossing Hanna to "go her turn". Gotta go! Family time awaits! I don't want them having fun without me :)

Putting a Gig in my Giggle

One of my very favorite things in the whole wide world to do is laugh!!! I just love the sound of laughter and the way a good belly laugh makes me feel. Here are some things that have put a gig in my giggle lately. . .

Hanna: "When I grow up I'm going to have a husband, 20 dogs, a no trespassing sign, and I'm not having a phone." (the "no trespassing sign comes from my dad, James, who makes sure he has one up in his and Mom's yard).

Gigi felt sorry for Cookie and brought a radio over to play for him in case he got lonely for human chatter.

273 to 300

273. For front porches to sit on.

274. For children to watch play in the yard.

275. For time in prayer and in the Word on my front porch while the children play.

276. For cool breezes.

277. For the beauty of a colorful world.

278. For these 3 girls who probably teach me WAY more than I will ever teach them. I love them like my very own. For laughing, praying, sharing, studying the Word, and sharing life with them!

279. For Tuesday's with Grandaddy.

280. For walks to Gigi's and Granddaddy's.

281. For Gigi always bringing us either dessert or bread when she pops in for a visit.

282. For a husband who is affectionate.

283. For time to rekindle, rest, and relax.

284. For friends, in-laws, mama, and sister who take care of your kiddos and love them like their very own so that you can rekindle, rest, and relax.

285. For hardworking kids.

286. For "Bye Bye Booher" party and the life and legacy she is living!

287. For sweet prayers uttered to the One who has captured our hearts for Booher.

288. For children who pray.

289. For sweet tears.

291. For a home to share with others.

292. For floors to mop so babies can crawl.

293. For hands-on homeschool activities (demonstrating a "to-scale" model of the solar system).

294. For my mama.

295. For morning phone calls from my mama.

295. For a sweet conversation with my Grandmama.

296. For praying over my Grandmama and her broken heart and incomplete life without Papa.

297. For flowers picked and given to me by my children (this one from Hanna).

298. For a bed big enough for everyone to pile into to watch "Biggest Loser" and "American Idol".

299. For lunch with Bethany and a sweet time shared.

300. For grace.

Keeping us in stitches

Hanna is a riot around here. Just wanted to jot down some funny things she's said lately.

"Mom, I wish the Tower of Babel never happened so that I could understand what those ladies at Judy's Nails were saying."

Ash was saying the blessing. In the middle of the blessing Ash paused and coughed. She then resumed her prayer and concluded with, "Amen." Hanna looked at her and in the bossiest voice said, "Ashley, p-r-a-y without ceasing."

Griswold Momemts

There are several "Griswold Moments" Jon and I had while in Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm so thankful I have a husband as fun as Jon to share life's moments with . . . the good, bad, and ugly. . . and oh yeah, i should probably throw embarrassing in there somewhere. Thankfully, neither Jon nor I take ourselves too seriously. If we did, we'd be a in heap of trouble.

***We decided to rent a car for a few days and I could, of course, make this story really long. So, I'll try for the short version. Long story-short. We were told it would be $10 a day (or something like that to rent the car). Can you tell we've never done this before? We were stoked! Get to the rent-a-car place, and they tell us something about having insurance. They scare you to death and act like if you get a scratch on the car you're going to have to put your children up for random. Jon asked how much? $23. Fine and good. He tells us our final total. . . something in the ballpark range of $150 (maybe more or less, my memory fails me). Jon got a tad bit upset. I was afraid we were about to have a repeat of a time share episode (I'll have to share this later). I braced myself. Thankfully it wasn't. We just said never mind. So, we proceeded to another kiosk of rent-a-cars. Basically the same thing happened with the whole insurance thing. They apparently meant $23 a day and not for the entire time you rent a car. While Jon and I were trying to decide what we were going to do, I told him, "I bet if you don't get the insurance, they come to your hotel (they do get the name of where you're staying), find the car, and beat it in with a hammer." I was delirious and excessively giggly. . . I was just kiddin'. We humbled ourselves and went back to the 1st rent-a-car place. While redoing all of the stinkin' paperwork Jon tells the man, "My wife said. . . . and he basically repeated what I'd said about them beating the car in." He was the sweetest Mexican man and said with a giggle and maybe a snort (just kiddin' about the snort). "No, no, that only happens in the movies." Doggonit Jon!!! I didn't know he was going to tell of my ugliness :)


***So the next evening after renting the car we go to the parking deck to go and use the car. We went to the left of the deck. . . NO CAR!!!! Then we went to the right of the deck . . . NO CAR!!!!We were on the verge of a slight freak out. . . seriously. I was thinking it'd be just like the Lord to humble us after I was playfully ugly about the rent-a-car folks. Jon and I were booking it across the parking lot, anxiously trying to find the car. Great! Hope the insurance covered a stolen car. Guess what? We were in the wrong parking deck!!!!!!!! Clarke Griswold would be ever so proud!



***When we sent to the strip we decided to park at the Bellagio. We went around the deck 1 time, then another. We saw a mustang parked like it was waiting for someone, not parked in one of the rows. Jon then said, "Are we going around and around the same deck?" Me: "No baby, there was a mustang parked there and it's not there anymore. Well, after about 4 more times we realized we WERE circling the same deck over and over and over again. Every parking deck Jon and I have been on was the circular kind. We'd never been on one where you have to exit the deck to get to the neck one.


***On the strip I was already slightly freaked out about all that my eyes were seeing. Also, all that my spirit was feeling. . . such darkness and blatant sin. Anyone can be on the streets there, homeless, musicians, Disney characters, human statutes, WHOever and WHATtever. There were these people with 2 snakes wrapped around their necks. I clung to Jon tightly and said in my louder than normal voice, "Snakes, do you see those snakes? Those people have snakes on them?" Well, right beside them was this man with a baby tiger beside him, "Jon, Jon, do you see that? He has a baby tiger out here? Look at that!!! Oh.my.goodness.!!!!" I was actually freaking out!

Jon replied, "Babe, that's a stuffed animal."

Mother's Day

Despite having some jet lag and a horrible head cold, this has been a really great Mother's Day. First of all after being away from my babies for 5 days, I was really to soak all 3 of them up. We all went to church this morning and then headed out to eat. Since I have this horrible cold and can hardly taste a thing I thought Mexican sounded really good. . . and, it was. I could taste it somewhat.

We then went to Wal-mart. Yeah, I know it was last minute for shopping, but that kind-of stuff doesn't matter me. . . maybe it's because I'm a "Last-Minute Lady" myself. . .

We came home and Jon told the kids he and them were cleaning the whole house for me. Wow! This meant so much, especially considering there was a week's worth of laundry piled at the back door, along with suitcases galore. . .

Meanwhile, I lay in the bed reading a book my friend, Bethany, had let me borrow. Yes, I started this one on my trip.

It was quite funny hearing the "clean the house fiasco". Even Hanna thought so. She walked through my room giggling.

"What's so funny Hanna?"

Giggle. "Daddy cleaning the house."

"Why's that so funny?"

"Because he's downstairs trying to do the laundry. I don't think he knows which detergent to use." Giggle. Giggle.

He was yelling at the kids some, but cleaning the house will do that to you. . . that's why I try to avoid it. . . ha!ha! I kid! I kid . . . kinda.

We then all climbed into Jon and I's bed and watched a movie. Lazy days are the B-E-S-T!!!!!!

We went to Gigis to celebrate with her.

This was my yummy banana split.


We all ate on the patio. It was such a nice evening.

I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law and mother. I can't wait to celebrate with my mom!!!!!!!

Also the kids and Jon got me a really sweet card. My little sister sent me a super sweet text thanking me for being a Godly example. Also Jon and the kids got me a new subscription to "Runner's World" Whoo! Hoo! and "The Dawn Treader" I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the Narnia movies.

But, even if I didn't get a clean house, sweet cards, or gifts, the Lord has blessed me beyond measure, and I'm so very grateful for my sweet husband and precious kids!

Those DANG books

Okay, so I get to the airport, and before I can get in the door this man comes to get me to weigh my baggage (no wait). That bad boy weighed 63 lbs. He then informed me that for every bag over 50 lb Delta charges an ADDITIONAL $90. Now, I'd already paid $23 for this bag. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go back to my car and empty some stuff out of it; I would miss my flight. I certainly couldn't throw my things in the trash. I would just have to suck up the $90 that I don't have. Yikes!!!

I had to go inside and take care of the charge in there. I then remembered my behemoth of a purse. "I know," I thought, "I'll take all my books and put them all in my purse. Cha-Ching, this has to work. My Bible feels like it weighs 10 lbs anyway."

I go to weigh my bag again. This time it was with a lady. Baggage weighed 54 lbs. Shoot a flying goose!!!!!! I'm going to have to pay $90 all for 4 lbs. The lady saw the look of exasperation and the "my hubby is going to kill me when he finds out" look all over my face. She said, "Girl, you don't want to pay $90. Let's open that bag up. Take out some jeans."

So here I am just a few feet from where Ash threw up on Friday, opening my bag pulling out jeans. E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-I-N-G!!!!!!!

Sheew, down to 51 lbs.

"Girl, let's take out some shoes."

I'm pulling fast because I really am mortified at the Griswold in me (Remember, National Lampoons & Vegas Vacation????).

I took out 2 shoes . . . and to top it all off they didn't even match!!!!!!! Typical. . . just plain ol' TYPICAL.

With the help of my new friend, "T" (I can't remember her full name. It was hard to pronounce), she and I scored!!!! Whoo Hoo! 50 lb baby and no $90 fee.

However, I did have just a small problem. My behemoth purse is packed to almost overflowing with about 10-15 lbs of books (I'd already had a few in there), and I have 3 pair of jeans and 2 mismatched shoes to carry on, plus my laptop bag. I asked my new friend, "What it the world am I going to do with all of this stuff? They're not going to let me carry this on to the plane."

"Girl, go to one of those shops and get a bag."

Awesome idea, T.

So, of course, I headed to the shoo-shooish, froo-frooish shop (without thinking) asking her if I could just have a bag.

"Mam, you need to go to where they have the snacks just down the hall to the right. We don't have any bags."

Great, good one, Michele.

I'm so afrid at this point I'm going to miss my flight. I was already pushing it when I got to the airport. Again, that's just typical for me.

I found a store that sold snacks, books, etc. and found a bag on clearance for $6.99. SCORE!! Sure does beat $90.

Okay, I can relax.

Get past security, grab something to eat to eat on the plane, standing in line to board the plane, lady takes my ticket and then says to me.

"You have too many bags (purse, new bag, and laptop). You will have to fit 2 of your bags into one."

YOU'VE.GOT.TO.BE.KIDDING.ME.!!!!!!!!!!

I then proceeded to stick behemoth purse into my new red bag. I couldn't close the thing, and it was spewing forth every book, paper, lip gloss, pen, etc. from my purse. But hey, it worked, she let me through!!!

On the eve before I leave

Well the night before I left I wanted to have some sweet time with the kiddos. So we made make-your-own pizzas. This is a family favorite. We then played a couple of rounds of Uno Flash and, to my amazement, no one pouted or got made (that's a rarity when we play games :))

I had a long list of things to get done. I let the kids watch TV while I tried to mark things off my list. . . tieing up a few loose ends before I left.

One thing I always do whenever I leave to go out of town is write my children notes. I hide them in their bags (or if they are at home I put them under their pillows) and always pray they will find them at a time when they need to.

The sweet thing is is I actually saw a note in my bag placed in there by one of the kiddos. Come to find out it was a letter from Ashley. This is what it said.

Dear Mommy,

I love you so much and already miss you so much. But I love you and hope you have the best time ever. I jus can't reapeat how many times I love you cause its more than you think. Here's a kiss (picture of red lips). I hope you and Daddy have the best time.

Sincerly,

Ash

P.S. I love you

Attached to my letter was another card made by her. Here's what it said.

I love you Mom and already miss you so much and I know you miss me and I can't wait to see you. But while your there have THE BEST TIME EVER!!! I love you.

That girl is some kind of sweet!!! Yes, I know we need to work on her spelling, but don't you just love her heart of gold?

When I dropped the kiddos off with GiGi and Grandaddy Ash was actually better than I thought she would be. Hanna was very clingy (she's my girl with no words, holds everything in) and didn't want to let me go. Not like a "i'm going to hold onto you so you won't leave me" more like a "i just want to hug on you until the absolute last minute you have to walk out this door." Alec was good. Very loving, but he knew we'd be home and he did want to talk to me that night to ask me about my flight. I have some wonderful kiddos, don't I?????