Papa Don

I really miss Papa today.  I should have been calling him to say Happy Birthday.  I know it's a hard day for Mema Shirley.  It's so hard to imagine life without him.  There are times it just kills me that he isn't here to talk to anymore.  I loved my Papa Don.  It was really hard for me to talk to him in those last months because there was so much we needed to say, but it was so soon after losing Jordan that I found it hard to really discuss the tough stuff.  We did, in the end, say everything we needed to say to each other.  I'll have a Pepsi for him tonight. 

Mid-Life Crisis

I have named my new baby, Mid Life Crisis.  I have wanted a convertible my whole life and I was thrilled when Peyton said we should just buy one.  He bought me the most incredible car.  It truly makes me feel better going to work just having the top down and coming home is always an adventure.  The girls love the car, but Amelia gets a tired of the wind pretty quickly if we are on the interstate.  She's just a little too small for it.  I have the most amazing husband in the world.  Thank you, Peyton.  I love my Mid Life Crisis.  Micahel was happy to get the old Benz for his birthday. 

Tingle Kids Fall Update 2012

Destiny started middle school this year.  She's attending Fayette Middle, just like Michael.  Not sure the younger kids will ever go there since they are discussing closing the school.  Samantha and Sabrina are in the second grade at Inman Elementary.  Amelia doesn't have her buddies home with her during the day, but Mema Lorelei is keeping her busy.  I say it all of the time, but I have to say it again....they are growing up so fast.  I blink and my baby isn't a baby anymore. 

Destiny Lynn:
--started 6th grade at Fayette Middle
--started her period a couple of days after her 12th birthday (too much info, but she'll want to be reminded of that one day)  She was with Mema Lorelei in Conyers for the weekend when it happened.
--less than two inches seperates us now.  I'm just over 5'6".  She must be at least 5'4".  She wears a size 9 or 10 shoe. (this is not working out for me since that's my size and currently my favorite pair of sandles is missing)
--She's been reading a lot more since school started this year.  It's good to see her read.  I bought her some new novels and her dad bought her "Forensic's for Dummies".  She loves in--vestigative police work and anything that looks like it might involve mixing chemicals together.  I think she'll hit her stride when she makes it to her high school science classes.  Unfortunately, she's failed to turn in several assignments in Math and Reading and a couple of her grades are really suffering for it.
--Her biggest source of pride is her long hair.
--has already been to two dances since middle school started in August.
--Is completely in love with someone named Edgar...who unfortunately, did not go to the dance this week.



Sabrina Aisling:
--started second grade at Inman Elementary. 
--loves to write books. (makes my heart swell...she looks so much like me when sits down to write her stories)  the big difference is that she looks exactly like her daddy when she illustrates them.  I could never really draw the pictures to go with my stories, but my little girl can write a story and illustrate it.
--very competative.  I won't say she's a sore loser, but she definately does not like to lose.

--"the little mommy":  The other kids get a good does of Sabrina telling them what to do on a daily basis.
--her favorite tv show is Full House....totally loving this since I've seen every episode and I loved it so much when I was growing up.
--she wants to sleep in her OWN room downstairs all by herself.  She's a bit fearless.
--watched a psychic kids show with me the other day.  An hour after the show ended, she was walking down the stairs with her tablet.  Just like in the show, she was asking our ghost questions and trying to record his answers.  I heard her say:  "Are you mean?"  Fearless....she believes there is a ghost here and she's not only sleeping alone, she's talking to it.
--She loves riding her bike and has been riding without training wheels for months now.  She wants a trick bike for Christmas. 
--sings and dances all of the time.  She is a big star in our house.  Dancing and singing are second nature to Beanie.
--straight A's on her last report card.


Samantha Ireland:
--started the second grade at Inman Elementary.
--doesn't like to do homework, but doesn't complain about it as much as she used to.
--two A+'s on her first report card this year.
--still blushes when you mention Luc's name although he is not in any of her classes this year. 
--plays very well with Amelia and likes to sleep on the futon in Amelia's room.  She doesn't like to be downstairs at bedtime.
--has the most amazing smile and laugh.
--I can always count on Samantha to tell it like it is.  She doesn't hold back and she's as honest as she can be on any topic you throw out there.
--Samantha is addicted to the computer, tablets, anything electronic.
--She likes Full House too, but her favorite television show is Goosebumps.  Another show from her Aunt Rustie's time.  I think this show is the reason she doesn't like to sleep in her room.
--swims like a fish and loves to dive into the pool backwards, sideways, any way she can that's different.  No fear in the water.
--draws the best pictures of animals.  This weekend, she drew every creature you could imagine for our Halloween party.  She's so creative. 
--Hasn't gotten a score below 100 on any of her spelling tests and does the challenge words every week instead of the regular words.  Brilliant kid.
--loves to play with Jace and still has a bit of a tom boy side to her.



Amelia Reagan:

--two and a half....don't forget the half...she is NOT two...she's two and a HALF.
--loves Callie.
--talks non-stop about anything and everything.  She's a bright one and there just isn't anything she doesn't understand.  Peyton and I were watching a movie the other night that we suddenly realized she didn't need to be watching.  The language wasn't great and she was obviously listening to the movie.  Turns out, she wasn't just listening.  She was really watching the movie and was really following the story.  There was a husband and wife having a huge marriage ending argument.  Amelia looked up at both of us and said, "it just isn't fair that they don't have a house."  I laughed so hard at her how dead on her comment was that I started coughing and couldn't stop. 
--She loves music.  She sings all of the time.  Even when we are out running errands, she is singing.  She knows the words to almost every top 40 song and again...she's two and half.
--last night:  Mommy:  Amelia, how old are you?  Amelia:  Two and a half  Mommy:  How old will you be on your birthday?  Amelia:  Three   Mommy:  When is your birthday?  Amelia:  February
(We had no idea she knew when her birthday was!)
--she skips the numbers four and fourteen when she counts.
--she loves baby dolls.  She carries them around with her everywhere.  She dresses them, rocks them, sings to them, talks to them.  She especially loves baby, "Jordan."  She has named Jordan's babydoll after Jordan and really cries if she can't keep it at our house at night.  Mema has had to let baby Jordan spend the night on a couple of occasions.
--she talks to Jordan and Papa Don, not the dolls, but them.  She got really upset when Mema tried to put a bag in the seat next to her and told her not to put it on Jordan.  (This was before she named the baby doll.)  She tells me sometimes that Papa Don is sitting on the back porch.  She also talks about a man we don't know who is on the back porch.  I don't doubt she's as close to the spirit world as she could possibly be because she's so young. 
--she has beautiful curls.  I love to look at them and to play with them.  She's my baby.  My last baby and I love her so very much. Her giggles are intoxicating.

Michael is doing well.  He's still living with Nick and working with Peyton and Rabun.  Peyton gave him the Mercedes on his birthday and he appears to still be driving it.   He doesn't seem to be interested in finding any other work, but with the winter settling in and the hours growing scarce, he better start thinking about it.  He hasn't learned how to plan for these periods when work is slow.

Lake Lanier Take Two

We had seven tickets left for Lake Lanier Islands that we did not use while we were on vacation.  Amelia is too young to need a ticket, so we had just enough for me, Rustie, Momma, Jace, Destiny, Samantha and Sabrina.  We had a great day albeit a long one.  We made it to the park at 1130 and left at closing time, 2000.  Mom and I spent a lot of time in the wavepool with Amelia.  Rustie took the big kids on most of the rides.  I ventured out on a couple of them myself, but I have to be really careful with my back on the slides.  The talkest one had three humps, my legs flew up and I landed back down pretty hard.  I videotaped the ride and it's pretty funny to see me go flying.  Samantha and Sabrina were not afraid to ride anything at the park.  They are amazingly brave and they swim like little fish.  I am so proud of those two.  Destiny has never been afraid of any of the rides either. We had dinner at Sunset Cove before heading back to the wavepool to finish out the day.  It's been a long time since we've had the chance to spend the day together.  They always play music in the pool area.  As we got up to leave the pool to walk down to the lake, Jordan's song, If I Die Young, came over the speakers.  It was louder than any other song and was the first that we heard.  Without a doubt, she was there with us.  We all miss her so much that it's physically painful sometimes to be be together and not to have her there.  Our sweet Jordan....life can be so unfair.