Last Week of April

Saturday Blake and I did sneak off to the CRAFTSHOW for a bit. The craft shows are just not as good as they use to be. But we can say we went lol and we got funnel cake. We also got Blake's bed set up and looks real nice in my old computer/sewing room.

















Saturday night we bought pizza and had Tyler, Tanner and Drew join us. Was pretty laid back night. Blake and Tyler stayed on the computers and Tanner and Drew played play station.

Sunday morning we all slept in.....Pat was out before lunch playing baseball with Tanner and Drew. Drew threw the ball ... Tanner tipped it with his stick bat and the catcher (Pat) got hit by the ball... did not break his new glasses but did break his cheek. Well it did bleed but no stitches required.

In the afternoon, we all worked on cleaning out the storage building sorting stuff into different piles. We had a keeper pile, Bama pile, Goodwill pile, Tracy Pile and garbage pile. Its always fun looking thru old stuff that you have not thought about in a long time. The boys found some things that Papa Pat had made them long ago.













Tanner and Drew pretty much looked like this all weekend, lol. Tanner was kinda glad when Drew went home about 1:00 so he had the play station all to himself.



















The work week was not anything special or unusual. Pat left on Wednesday and went to THE LAKEHOUSE to get the watercraft going and the yard mowed. Kyle and Blake spent a couple nights with thier Mom and Chris was working nights, so I had a couple nights to myself. On Friday, I left early going to THE LAKEHOUSE. They were doing road construction on the crooked road to Jasper from Tuscaloosa and I had to wait 3 different times to be led thru the hills and hollers. I sure hope they get that finished quick. I went shopping at 4 furniture stores on my way thru Jasper looking for sleeper sofa's. I discovered there are not any leather sleeper sofa's in stock. On Friday night, Pat and I went to eat at Blackwater Restraunt, food was good and was really good service. On Saturday morning I carried Marcia for a 2nd opinion on sofa's and we went to 2 more furniture stores and did not find anything different. Marcia and I decided she and I do not have the same taste in sofa's, lol. I am undecided but almost certain I will be buying 2 sofa's before Memorial Day. I called Susan and told her she could have my blue couch, so she will be getting it this week. I think I have to force myself to make a decision on sofa's. I think I have decided to foget the sleeper sofa's and go with a sofa and maybe a sofa with recliners on both ends. Saturday afternoon I took a jet ski out to check out the condo developements.. the water was rough and I did not ride long but was nice to get on the lake again. Mom and Dad came to visit and we went to The Landing to eat. I think time moves faster in Bama, lol. The weekend is almost gone and seems I have not done anything.

The 6A.M. sunrise

The 10 A.M. Breakfast View.

The jet ski's are ready and the water level too. Looks like we are just waiting on you. So if you not in the mood yet just take a stroll back thru the years of HIGHLIGHTS. Just 4 weeks til Memorial Day.

3rd week of April

This week has been a bit unusual. Sunday I had all the boys here just hanging out with me and I made them cookies. I though I would be getting back to normal... (if there is such a thing as NORMAL) once the outage was over.

I spent Sunday night til 1130 at the hospital with Blake (Chris was working nights)....he has STREP... just like his aunt Tracy, lol. I feel like I have spent the rest of the week trying to recoop from the sleep I missed Sunday night. Blake stayed home from school on Monday but was able to go back after that. I have returned to my regular work schedule. Life is so full of surprises and changes. Chris and the boys have decided to move in with us. WELCOME HOME GUYS!!!!! So I have been busy trying to clean out a place for them to put there stuff. Its amazing at how I have 4 bedrooms, only use one of them and have to clean out all the others to find room for beds lol. This will be an on going project for several weeks trying to get situated. It has been nice to have the company, with Pat is still in Arkansas. We are all making adjustments, but seem to be settling in fine. Everyone has helped with the chores this week, everyone gets to cook a night and clean up the kitchen. The boys did extra chores, Kyle washed my car and Blake washed the windows inside and out in the den to earn money for RIVERFEST weekend. They both did a good job and I was glad to get the chores done.


Pat is still in Arkansas and has been catching crappie all week. Here are a few
pictures. It was cold for the first few days....but they still caught fish.



Bud has a nice size one there, but from what I hear most are small.



Looks fishy and snakey... seems there was an unwanted guest.



This is going to be the 1st time I have had more than one day off in 6 weeks and I am so looking forward to it. I have so much I WANNA DO..... NEED TO DO....GOTTA DO.... notice which one I put 1st lol.

On Friday night Kyle went to RIVERFEST with his girlfriend and my understandng was that his girlfriends parents would bring him home when it was over, which I knew would be after midnight. He is going to be 17 in October, lol.
Blake and I got an early start on his room, got all his laundry done and moved everything we could, making room for his bed. We still have to get the treadmill moved to the storage building. Chris has had a busy week at work and was really tired on Friday night. They had some kinda tank fire on Friday and he went to bed early. I knew I would wake up when Kyle came in so I went to bed about 11pm, with my cell phone in case Kyle needed a ride. Well I woke after 2 hours as I always do, lol and no Kyle. I called his cell (love them cell phones) and he was at his girlfriends house... man was I pissed, I asked him had he talked to his Dad and he had called him but no answer. I knew Chris had his cell in the truck charging before he fell asleep. I told Kyle I thought her parents were gonna bring you home and if they are not, I will come after you. He asked about spending the night and I could hear her Dad in the background saying just let him spend the night and he would bring him home in the morning.....WELL I just told Kyle I am PISSED and this WON'T happen again. So I go get him. His lil girlfriend, whom I had not met, came out to meet me and apologise and asked met to not be mad at Kyle. I just explained that Kyle should have called the house phone or my cell when he did not get his Dad and that I knew that with the household changes things are different and confusing for him on what to do, but You can always CALL and WAKE me up and I will NOT be mad, but if you are not where I expect you to be I will ALWAYS be mad. I also explained that it is only courteous that you call me if there is a plan change even if your Dad knows, and long as you are staying here I have the right to be included in the plan. Well we got that straight, lol. Our talk was much longer, but his girlfriend did seem sweet and friendly. He says her parents think the world of him, lol. I told him well I would be proud for you to date my daughter too, lol and I am not even prejudice.

Stay tuned in as my life has definately picked up this week, lol. I am not sure I really like having the teenager scene on an everyday basis, but I will adjust, lol. Today hopefully we will get the some beds and dressers moved in and maybe even get to the RIVERFEST CRAFT SHOW. Tonight I will have all the boys and Pat will be coming home so should be..... ummm .....busy... exciting.....loud..... lol.

SPECIAL: We Got Muscles!!!!

When looking thru this blog I noticed something unique about this gang. I am posting this special edition to see if anyone else notices, lol.



THIS HAS BEEN A FAVORITE PHOTO FOR YEARS!!!!!
BRANDON, CHRIS, DUSTIN



AND THEN THEY GREW UP!!!!!
BRANDON, CHRIS, DUSTIN



****AND I THINK I KNOW WHERE THEY GET IT FROM. ****


RANDY TEACHING!!!!!



CHRIS LEARNING !!!!




OR DID IT START HERE????



HMMM LIL COACHING GOING ON HERE ???





CHRIS!!!!!!









*********MUSCLES IN TRAINING ********





KYLE!!!!!



TYLER!!!!



BLAKE!!



BLAKE, TYLER, KYLE



BLAKE!!!!



KYLE, BLAKE, TYLER



BLAKE!!!



JOSH!!!



KING OF THE STYROFOAM




TYLER









********OH ITS NOT JUST THE BOYS!!!!!!********


BROOKE !



CHLOE!!



CHLOE! BROOKE! ALI !!





*******OH WAIT ITS NOT JUST A MYHAND THANG!!!!! ***



RUSTY WHEN TANNER WAS BORN



TOUGH BROTHERS!!!!
KYLE AND BLAKE WHEN BROOKE BORN



TANNER AS BABY, HE WAS A QUICK LEARNER.





THE EXAMPLES WE SET!!!!
BRANDON, CHRIS, DUSTIN



BLAKE, KYLE, TYLER, WE TOUGH!!!!




ME TOUGH TOOO




TANNER HAS MANY TEACHERS



TANNER!!




I MAY BE THE SMALLEST BUT I STAND TALLER THAN THE REST HERE.

AND

MY

FAVORITE

MUSCLE

OF ALL!!!!!!

BRANDON !!!!!!!

AND

THE

TRADITION

GOES

ON!!!!!

2nd WEEK OF APRIL

This is a gonna be a short post, but take a look at the special edition one that is called "We Have Muscles."
Brooke left on Monday, but we sure enjoyed her visit and can't wait until she comes back when school is out.
This have been a busy week for me, the outage is over however I am still working long hours and 6 days. We have a few components that are still giving problems that prevent us going to 100% power so I have been kept on my outage schedule until these components are working. Yesterday... Fridaythe 13th was the worst day for me at work the entire outage, lol. I did not make any error that I know of, but I was swamped all day... my boss was off and had too many try to be boss ... well OK they did call my boss in mid day, lol I guess they gave up on bossing me, lol. It was a good day just a busy one... the kind that you get nothing done cause too many folks teling you something different to do, lol. I promised short so before I get on a rampage here I will get the important stuff covered.

Pat left on Frday the 13th headed to Arkansas to visit and fish, hate I missed the trip. So maybe next week I will have some fish photo's to post. I know that the OLDRIVER crappie is the best I ever ate. Speaking of crappie... I am gonna make a commitment here for a fish fry I am thinking it will be the weekend after Memorial Day.... How does that work for ya'll? I am thinking in my lil head that Tracy and possibly Chris will be there that weekend. I hope to be there May 24th thru June 4th or 5th.
I only have one picture this week and I decided to show off my little cubicle that I live in, if I can find room to take the picture, lol. It may distroy everyones image of what a Nuclear Operator's job is like, lol.

1st WEEK of APRIL- EASTER

This has been a busy week and gone by fast. Pat got home and that is taking some adjustment...he was gone for 11 weeks, lol. It is nice to have him home. Brooke made it in and has grown so tall. She is even more taller than me than last visit. She is looking so grownup. Pat picked up Tanner and Brooke on Tuesday. He told me he had forgot how loud the 2 of them could be... and he was right when I got home they were still loud and geeesh... I was almost glad I could go to work the next day to my quiet lil cubicle, lol. On Wednesday when I got home from work they had calmed down some. Blake had joined them for the rest of the week... was really nice to have them all there. I'm thinking maybe I can get Tyler and Kyle on Thursday or Friday as well. The kids are out of school on Friday for Easter break. Seems I never see any of them much anymore. Papaw is the one having all the fun with the kids this week, poor me, lol. He hid eggs for Brooke and Tanner on Wednesday and they hunted them ...of course they were the plastic ones and did not have the goodies in them. I think they had all played out some and I suspect was pretty dirty since the bath's were in progress when I got home. I am not feeling so well... I may need a mental health day or something before the week is over. I am just glad to get the lil bit of time I get with them between 8 and 10 at night. They love to play with our neighbors dog. Notice the ashtry is empty, thats Rusty's ashtray, lol. Hard to believe we have almost been quit a year.



This is really an uneventful week for me and I know if I was home I would have so much to talk about with the kids being there. I think of so many things we normally do this time of year. We will bake our Easter bunny cake and dye eggs somehow. The kids all seem to have one thing on thier mind right now and that is THE LAKEHOUSE. That seems to be the big question that they all have "When are we going to THE LAKEHOUSE?"

On Thursday night we decided to go ahead and bake the Easter bunny cake. Actually Brooke baked the cake I just helped her find the stuff in my kitchen.... man I sure like my new kitchen at THE LAKEHOUSE.... geeesh miss them drawers, lol. I bet I stood on my head 3 times before I actually found the round cake pans. If you ever do kitchen cabinets get drawers!!!!!! The guys did help to decorate the cake and I bet they will be a big help on making it dissapear.


Our bunny cake is always different lol even though we do it every year. I guess this is the M&M bunny. For some reason everyone likes the bunny ears, lol. Tanner is already asking if he can have a bunny ear.

WE did get to dye the eggs. ummm I would be careful cause seems we dyed 2 more eggs than I boiled. What happened there? lol

Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying. I finally got our taxes filled out, lol been working on it all week and keep forgetting income... geesh and the amount we had to pay kept going up all week.... Pat was looking so down when writing out that check and when I went to take a sad Pat picture, lol he just immediately felt better, lol.

I have been showing Pat how cool my new razor phone is and I think he would enjoy one... especially since one of the guys at work has one that is cooler, that I think I need , lol. So I went to get Pizza this afternoon and while I was out went to get me the new phone, it also has mp3. That should help to intertain me at work a few days figuring out the new stuff. After the Pizzafeast, I set him up on the razor and helped him get it setup for him. I think he actually is getting into it and will enjoy it. He finally got it programmed to his voice and has called me without dialing the number, wooo hooo. Well gee the lil card thingy that is suppose to go in my phone with the music loaded on it does not fit... I assume I was sold the wrong one. Hopefully Pat can exchange it for me today.

By the way just in case anyone is actually reading this and has not heard the news .... I got the word on Friday that the Brandon and Christy twins are both boys.....CONGRATULATIONS to ALL!!!!!! Emma sure is a sweetie, bet she will learn to keep both them boys lined out, and ummmm two bro's to help keep the guys run off, lol.
Today is Easter and the kids all came to visit and eat a late lunch/early supper and of course hide eggs. We had a really nice visit and way too much to eat. We had KFC chicken and cole slaw and Sandra cream potatoes, macaroni and cheese, lima beans, deviled eggs and rolls. We also had the Easter bunny cake, a strawberry short cake and 2 strawberry pies. The big boys hid the eggs and Brooke and Tanner found them ... well most of them anyway. It was cold out but was a pretty day. So nice to have the big boys visiting.

Sorry Tracy and Rusty but we waited long as we could... we knew there was plenty so we then decided to eat and get out of the way.

I think Tracy and Chris were doing a little thinking back about when they were kids on the hill, lol.

Kyle gave a $1.00 to whomever found a special egg he hid, lol... took forever, they were all over Pat and gosh they just kept missing the one in his pocket....I really should have had a movie of that. They checked his pockets found the cellphone and his tin of mints but some how they would miss the egg.

Like I said it was cold today... Tyler picked a nice blanket.

Everyone ganged up on Tanner cause he was making it take so long to get a good picture. He just could not help himself.