An unexpected Visitor!

The last few weeks has brought some new things to our lives. First, Chad put 2 beehives out in the backyard. He convinced me that we needed more honey. I feel for it hook, line and sinker. But that is a post for another day. Second, Shelby the dog has been banished to the great outdoors! 3 kids, a full-time job, a husband and a dog was too much for me! I think he is happier now. Anyway we got one of those fences that if he gets to close he gets a little shock.

OK, a big shock I think. Yesterday, I felt like he was pouting. This morning I decide to go out and see why he wouldn't come on the front porch. So I go out the backdoor and he is hunkered down under the car. I get him to come out and I'm leading (dragging him to the front porch). In my mind I'm thinking I'm going to kill Chad as this thing has made the dog really mad! When all of a sudden I BACK INTO THIS...

Yes that would be a DEER. Shelby and I ran screaming up to the porch! Of course, I ran in and got the camera. Shelby took up a defense position to defend the porch.

The deer was coming up though so Shelby brave dog that he is comes down the stairs!

Once we calmed down, I started swinging and Shelby finally laid down. The deer came all the way up on the porch. Of course at that point Shelby chased it back into the yard. Where it decided to eat my roses!

That is one cute deer as she or he eats my flowers!

I finally shooed the deer away. When Meghan got up I told her about it and she responded in typical teenage fashion...cool. Until I waited a little bit and noticed the deer was back, I invited her to sit out on the swing with me a few minutes before I had to leave for work. I know she only went thinking...surely she is leaving soon! We sat down and there was the deer, and it came all the way on the porch. After she woke up the whole house, Shelby had enough and chased the deer off. He ran all the way to the little white flag and came to a standstill. He had a long stare down with the deer, and he finally won as there can only be one pet on the porch!

Tornado Sirens...and afterwards!

Yesterday as I drove home, it looked like it might rain. As I got closer to the house it started raining, as I got out of the car the sirens started going off!

Chad already was in the basement with the girls. It was a little scary because all the hail hitting the house! After we came back up here are the pictures. Thankfully it is all just a minor inconvience.

Without further ado...

Here Katie is blowing out all 12 candles of Coffee cupcakes! They are a household favorite! I took off early on Friday and baked what I thought would last all weekend, wrong, they were gone!

This is Meghan and Cameron after we talked to them about how close they should/shouldn't be when they take pictures.

This is how Chad would prefer it...but Mom put her foot down!

This was SOOOO funny, I said something like...smile you too, and at the last minute he slung that arm around her. I thought Meghan and Cameron were going to have a fit, not to mention Chad! Another talk is in the air!

Birthday's, 2 Boyfriends and 1 Husband!

Katie is having her Birthday Party tonight, she is turning 12, I can't believe she is getting so close to 13!

She has a couple of girls coming to the party...and her boyfriend, Travis! Meghan invited her boyfriend Cameron too. I can vividly remember Beth Moore telling a story about her husband cleaning his gun when their girls had a date and I thought it was crazy!

At the time all my girls where little and I just couldn't imagine Chad doing something like that, but after the last few days, I can see it! Meghan's young man needed a ride over to the house and Chad VOLUNTEERED to stop on his way home from work and pick him up, they could chat!

I think not! Then Chad brought up an incident from our teen years, that ended with my dad chasing him (Chad) down the driveway hollering "where's my gun?" (Maybe a teeny exaggeration but not much!)

I will have pictures to post tomorrow and I expect you will see Chad smack in the middle of them!

Have a great Friday night!

Jenny that is Jenny in the "webdngs" font, what might that be???

High~Lights from a crazy week!

Here is a snap shot of the high lights from the last week or so...

Meghan received Student of the Year for her freshman class! We were so tickled (and surprised), we knew she is great but didn't realize that everyone else knew it!

Mother's Day was great, my mom, fixed my new favorite dessert and it was wonderful! Strawberries, cool-whip, powdered sugar, sour cream, white cake mix...what more could you need?? Just in case she needed more ideas, I got her the new Paula Deen magazine with all CHOCOLATE recipes!

Katie has a Birthday this weekend, so we will have lots of girls in the house Friday night. And her boyfriend as well as Meghan's for the party. Chad is already huffy!

Last night Lauren school had a picnic, where we got to experience school hamburgers, on the grass, with 30 mph winds. While she ran around, Katie acted to cool to swing high on the swings, Meghan sat with us with the best attitude you can have at a school picnic for your sister, when you are 15! Anyway, Chad decided it would be a good time to look at all the pictures on her camera, which by far is mostly pictures like these, but there also was 3 pictures of her and Cameron, the boyfriend. Cute pictures, but there heads are close together. Now not their faces, the tops of their heads, he came home (Chad) and stayed in the basement a good hour! He is hating her growing up! It is killing him! Me too, but him in different ways.

The weather is great here in Georgia today. Our garden is in trouble, as we tilled, we realized that after the first inch of dirt we have solid rock. That means we need to haul in dirt! UGH!

Have a great day!
Jen

Friendships! The joy of new friendships!

I got the sweetest surprise in the mail this week. Lelia emailed me a little bit ago and asked for my address, she wanted to mail me something. After I gave it to her, I sat and thought about what she might be sending me, a card, a letter, who knows???


Then I had a rough week with report cards, texting issues, trying to till, along with my normal crazy hormones! So it kinda slipped out of my mind until Monday when I checked the mail. I had a bright cheerful envelope and inside was this....

It is so wonderful! Here is what it says:

Lord as you send rain down from up above

May you sprinkle some on my garden of love

Help me to read my Bible so I can plant Godly seeds

That will help me to tend to my family's need

I know that if I want the weeds to stay away

I need to just trust in you and pray

Help me to plant love, joy, patience and even peace

May the growth of gentleness and self-control increase

I don't have a green thumb as you already know

So without you Lord my garden will never grow

@2005 Leliaa Chealy

Psalm 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God!

It made my day, my week and just made me feel special. I thought of that verse that says, 'spur one another onto good deeds all the more as you see the day approaching.' (that is from my memory, so if I'm off bear with me!) That is exactly what she did and I hope I follow her example!

Thank you Lelia!!

This is the finished plot, now we just have to figure out what to plant!

The garden is being tilled as I type!

OK, me and the tiller just wasn't working!

Sunday when Chad came home, I was blue because I couldn't get the crazy thing to work, and I was going to have to tell you all! And I wasn't who picked NO on the poll, someone else did! UGH, could it get worse than that? Yes, it did because Chad was still saying "no" to the whole garden thing.

So today when I get home from work, look what I saw as pulled down the road...

I don't know what changed his mind, but we just finished supper and he went back out to work on it some more. I'm off to bake something... maybe I better break out the ironing board too!

Jen

No Tilling and No Texting!

It is raining here in Georgia today, so that means no tilling.

I checked Meghan's phone and texting usage yesterday, and she still had them going during school! I so calmly...who am I kidding?

I yelled, stomp my foot, and tried to dream up a punishment that would get her attention. Of course as I'm doing this, Shelby ran out the door. As I'm driving to work, I decide to call Cingular and have the texting cut off. I did, then I felt guilty, and this was before I had even told her the news.

She took it pretty well, she can get it cut back on at some point in the future. Way future!

Have a great weekend and if we get good weather tomorrow, I'll be tilling!
Jen

The tiller revisited!

I'm sad to say, that when Chad found out about the tiller fun, he laughed! Why in the world does every male around here think a woman and 3 girls can't till the garden.

We went to the garage because I wanted to see if he could crank (start??) it or was it a dead tiller. He leans over and says, you have the choke on which is good. BUT

BUT did you see that word? BUT, hardly ever a good word!

But you have it on the "stop" position. So it won't crank. The word "stop" was so little and who expects a tiller to have a stop position??? Not I!

He refuses to till a garden, I don't know why but he does. Lucky for us, he is going fishing (again!!) this weekend and I am determined to till something and plant something!

I will get Meghan to take pictures so you all can celebrate with me! I mean really, surely I can get the crazy thing started and till up a small patch of earth. I have seen old little ladies out working in the garden, so they must use the tiller too!

What do you all think, we could place bets, but I don't think we are suppose to bet??