~~Fall~~

Yay!! Fall is here...maybe not to stay, but it's still here for a few days!!
My favorite Fall things....
*Ag Days *Burning leaves *Church Bike Hike *Cool evening walks *Brisk air coming in the windows *hanging wash out *Goat Day *Mums and Pumpkin decor *Burning Candles *Hay rides :)

Last night for supper the kids and I made kabobs...marinaded chicken, squash, mushrooms and pineapples!! :P They turned out yummy! I think this will be a weekly menu item till it gets too cold to grill...but even then, what are jackets for?? :)

Danny had the camera so the following pics are compliments of him!!
I had a yellow mum in a planter since last Fall and it kind of died on me, but every now and then it would shoot out a few green leaves. Well, a few weeks back I saw it was getting buds, so I took real good care of it and it is blooming and looks great. It only took up half of the planter, so I bought another mum to plant in with it. :) I'd like to get a red one yet...and maybe a few decorative pumpkins?? I love Fall decor but with money being a little tighter, I don't think I'll do too much this year! I'll just enjoy every one else's!! :)

Kabob's grilling...and oh, they smelled so good!! :)

The evening sun shining through the trees. (ok, I took this one) The leaves on the only tree on our property (one in pic) are slowly turning brown and falling off. It never did turn pretty colors in the fall! Someday I wish for a Japanese Maple in my yard again, like we had in PA. Such a pretty tree from Spring to Fall.

Mocha...our playful pup. We have been letting him off the chain more lately. Our goal is to have him trained to obey so he can always be off the chain. He is too much of a wanderer yet and he barks at and chases after people who are walking by or come to the house. Although he wouldn't hurt anyone, it still isn't nice if people are uncertain....

I am immensely enjoying sitting here at my desk at 2 in the afternoon and feeling a cool breeze blowing through my house!! :) BUT, I should not sit here much longer!
On Saturday a fellow homeschooling Mom is having her bi-annual yard sale and I am taking A LOT of stuff!! I still have A LOT of stuff to mark and get together! I feel like I have been on a mission of organizing our house for the last few years and it is taking FOREVER!! BUT, I am seeing a difference, slowly but surely!! Just seems like everywhere I look there is clutter crying out for me to deal with it!! LOL!! One day my house will be dwindled down to the bare necessities and I will have more time to spend doing things I enjoy instead of constantly cleaning, putting away, etc. I wonder, if I'd turn my computer off for a week, how much I could get done?? BUT, I am selling some things online, so I need to be checking that periodically. So tell me, would it be better just to "get rid of" stuff and not worry about those couple dollars I could make by selling it, or is the extra $$$ worth the effort...sometimes I wonder if I don't just make myself busier by selling online...then I have to take the time to package and ship it, too!! Aaahhh!!!
And life goes on...and I must get to work....

Happy, Blessed Fall to each one of you!! :)

Marianna Re-enactment

Saturday morning Dan went to help mow grass for a couple from church who have health issues and were not able to mow for awhile. So, I took the kids to Marianna to watch a Reenactment of the Battle of Marianna back in 1864, during the Civil War. It was very interesting!!

In front of the church that was burned in the war...this was the actual battle grounds. The church has been rebuilt and they held a memorial service in there earlier in the day...

While walking down the street to where the battle was going to take place, I heard someone call out my name...it was one of my former S.S. girls, Ashleigh Mount. Her and her parents do reenactments in the Fall in different areas.
Ashleigh is the one to the left of the kids...
It was a HOT day for a parade, but that is how it started out...
~The Band~

Riders...

And the battle begins....heard a lot of talk about those Yankees going back to where they came from...I'm glad that for the most part, people are more receptive to Yankees living in the south these days!! :) :) :)

Here come the blue-coats!! (Union Army)


The Confederate Army surrenders....

This lady came looking for her 2 nephews. One was in the Confederate Army, the other had joined the Union...she hadn't heard from them and was worried!! ;)

Gunfire in the streets...

Uh-Oh!! Looks like someone's in trouble!!

A dead man laying right by the sidewalk....check out the chicken legs. Think that was his lunch or what was left of his arm?? :)

Another round of shots...

As we were walking to our vehicle, we could still hear gunfire in the streets down the block. It echoed loudly through the alleys. We talked about how it would have been scary if this was for real, and what it would have been like to be a little kid hiding out during this time.... I think we'll be doing some more research on the Civil War in the near future!! :)

Youth Social

Friday night Eric & Yolie invited us to join themselves and the youth group at their house for supper and games.

Little Collin who is growing up so fast!! (9 months)

Getting all the food ready to make kabobs! :)

In the process....

The finished product...well, they just needed to be cooked yet! This was, believe it or not, the first time I can remember eating kabobs!! And they didn't disappoint me! ;) (except the oysters weren't my favorite!) :P

Eric also grilled burgers and hot dogs...lets just say we had enough food left over to feed another crowd of people!! :) But, that meant we got to bring some kabob's along for Dan to eat for lunch on Saturday while the kids and I were away!! :) I like!

When we were pretty much done with supper, all of a sudden the lights went out and they started singing Happy Birthday....to me!!! :) I didn't know that Dan had asked Allison to make me a cake! It was a moist chocolate cake with minty icing....Yummy!! Thanks ya'll!!

As for the name...that is kind of my "adopted" name that the youth group gave me way back...I think it started with one of the Redmond girls, in an operatic (??) voice! :)

32 years young.... :)

We played a fun game, Moods. Funny, funny stuff!!

Eric also gave us a ride on the back of his camouflaged "Mator". Enjoyed driving down the grass runway watching the stars! God is a marvelous Creator! And we are blessed to have such great people to hang out with!! :)

Homecoming Parade

Yesterday afternoon was the Homecoming Parade in Blountstown. The last two years they got rained out, but yesterday was a beautiful day...a little on the HOT side!!! :P
Danny sitting with his Dad's second cousin....Weston Schrock. Weston's Dad is a dentist in town and we sat in front of his office to watch the parade.

Dan & Tamara


Here they come...

The Blountstown football team are the Tigers and they were playing the Wewa Gators that night...you can't see it real good, but it says Gator Exterminator on the side of the boat! :)

Miss Allison Wroblewski...her family moved here from IN about the time we moved here and we met through our homeschool group. :)

Kenya...he was one of my students at VBS this year! :)

:)

V-ball team...

Thought this one was cute!

Cute gals...they had to be hot! I bet it was near 90 yesterday!!

These guys needed a ride... :)
Gig the Gators....

Blountstown Fire Dept. We are looking forward to going on a field trip to the Fire Hall in October, National Fire Safety Month!

Today was my 32nd birthday and I can honestly say it was the best one yet! I really can't believe I am in my 30's!! I thought people in their 30's were OLD just a couple of years ago, but I sure ain't old!! LOL!!
Pics to come from the youth social last night and the Re-enactment of the Battle of Marianna today...
Goodnight~

Kidz on the Playground :)

Continuation of yesterday....
On our way home from Colquitt, we stopped in a town just north of here, Grand Ridge. They have the coolest looking playground and ever since I first saw it, I've been meaning to take the kids there. So, we decided to stop and play a little....hey, there's still a little kid in us all right?? ;)

The Playground...

Dan climbed up the rock wall....


Crazy....but normal!! :) My life would be way boring if Dan wasn't so crazy!! :)


Danny boy.... Jr. :) and yes, he can be pretty crazy, too...what can I say?? ;)
Tamara <3


~~Lovers~~

It was a fun, spontaneous stop...I love days that we can just take our time and enjoy life! :)
We got home and ate a quick lunch, then headed out to Blountstown for the Homecoming Parade. We had planned to go to the Blountstown Tigers game in the evening, but on our way home from our morning running, our friend Eric called and invited us to to join the youth at their house in the evening for grilled hotdogs, burgers and kabobs....and marshmallows. Friends win over a football game anyday!!
Pics to come of the parade and youth night!! :)

A Day Down Memory Lane....

Dan had off work today and we needed to get him a copy of his birth certificate since it seems he didn't have the "real deal". What he thought was his birth certificate was just a memento type thing to be saved for his baby book! :P So first thing this morning, we headed up to Colquitt, GA, his birth place. It was a beautiful day for being on the road....pretty blue skies but blessed to be in AC!!

This is where we had to go to get the birth certificate...


The little shops on the town square...so quaint...we wished we had time to check them out...especially the Captain's Cup... :)

Standing outside the hospital he was born at....


This town has some AWESOME murals!! I took pics of a few....
...this one is not completed yet....



On the side of the fire house...


I thought this one was so cute and life like!! :)


A store that would have been fun to browse!

Cool town clock!!

This is where Dan used to live as a young boy! Now the house is all falling down and the shrubbery all grown up...


A tree his older brother's played in a lot! :)

Water tower...

We had a fun time and Dan enjoyed reminiscing and trying to recall how all the roads fit together from his boyhood mind! :) He said the block wall in front of the courthouse seemed much bigger as a small boy! ;) I enjoyed the trip down his "memory lane"!!! I hope to go back to that town one day and check out the shops....it's only an hour from here!! :)