Summer Vacation 2013: Lake Lanier

We are nearing the end of our week on Lake Lanier.  The girls have had so much fun.  Peyton has been able to sail his boat every day since we've been here.  He even took her out in a BIG storm yesterday.  I was very patient and calm while I waited on him to return.  I have so much faith in him and that boat that I didn't worry at all.  Sabrina and Samantha turned 8 on Tuesday.  We had a birthday cake with an ocean/lake theme.  Sabrina got a new tablet and Samantha got a bike.  They each got Barbie dolls from countries that reminded me of their birth/names.  Samantha, of course, got Ireland...her middle name.  Sabrina got Argentina.  It's a long way to get to the association if you aren't me, but for me, it's easy.  Sabrina is named after Audrey Hepburn.  My favorite Hepburn movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Holly Golightly wants to run off to Argentina to marry a billionaire rancher in the book/movie.  Sabrina's name actually comes from the Hepburn/Bogart movie Sabrina. I am so excited to see the girls growing up.  They are smart and sweet and they have the best sense of humor.  It's a bit dry and serious like their dad's.  They are the kids that you have to almost check yourself to make sure they are joking.  Sometimes, you would never know....which makes it so much funnier if you know them.  We went through a list of questions yesterday while we were out on the boat.    Here are some of their answers.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Sam:  A vet  Sabrina:  I don't know yet.  Why would I know that now?  Destiny:  FBI Forensic agent or forensic  anthropologist  Amelia:  A dad.

How many kids are you going to have and what will they be?  Sam:  Three/Two boys and one girl
Sabrina:  Four/two boys and two girls  Amelia:  Four/All girls  Destiny:  Two/one boy and one girl

So the potential, not including Michael's kids is that we will have 13 grandkids.  Wow!!!  That's a lot.  Think about the way they might multiply when you decide the number of kids you are going to have. 

Don't Look So Happy

My sleepy heads didn't seem too excited until they opened their baskets and got to eat the candy. They went to bed the night before with no fuss. All I had to say was that the Easter Bunny was going to hop right by our house if they didn't go to sleep. Out like lights.....

Tingle Kids

Michael Madrie Tingle:  Senior at Fayette High School.  Class of 2012.  Michael had his senior pictures taken a month or so ago.  He is not driving yet, but it scares me to death when he leaves the house with his buddies who are driving.  Michael is overall a good kid.  All of his friends seem to play it pretty straight...at least the ones we have met.  He works with his dad on occasion to make spending money.  I was hoping he would save for a car and gave him a couple of hundred dollars towards that on his birthday, but I am pretty sure the money is long gone and none of it made it to the bank.  Typical of most any 18 year old.  I can't lie and say nice things just so we have a record of the happy times.  The bad stuff is part of this family history too and I have to say that I am concerned that Michael will not make it to graduation.  The past four years have been a real struggle.  This happens at the beginning of every single year.  He b

Destiny Lynn Tingle:  Age 11. Fifth Grade at Inman Elementary.

Six Flags and Six Flag's Whitewater

We have a very busy weekend.  I took two days off of work to spend with the kids.  We're so busy at work that there won't be much time during the summer for one on one time with these little ones.  I hate it that the past three summers have been so busy at DGF.  On Thursday, Peyton had to work and it rained so we goofed off all day and didn't get a whole lot of anything accomplished.  We did buy new beach towels and swim suits.  On Friday we woke up bright and early and headed off to Six Flags.  The girls really wanted to ride everything they were tall enough for, but once we were at the front of the line, they backed out.  This happened over and over again.  I try not to get frustrated over this type of thing, but when you wait in line for something you have no interest in riding only to have the person who asked you to wait with them, back out...again....it gets really frustrating.  The good news is the lines were very short all day because of the threat of rain and the girls loved every minute of Skull Island.  I don't see much of a point in taking them back to Six Flags this year when there is far more to do at Whitewater and they now have season passes to both.  Maybe as the summer goes on, they'll change their minds.  I loved all of the rollercoasters at their age.  It surprises me so much to see them far apart at the thought of riding one.  Destiny got to ride almost everything that she wanted to.  She was finally tall enough to ride Goliath.  The last time we were there she just barely failed to make the cutoff.

The girls and I found a box of old videos today from when they were babies.  We laughed at how different everyone looks  now.  How funny they sounded when they were little and how totally cute they were.  Peyton came home and settled right down with us for the next hour and a half.  It is so amazing to look back at those little girls when they were learning to walk, to talk, to crawl.  They were so independent.  There is a video of Samantha at Dollywood.  She is crying because she can't go on an amusement park ride with me.  So sweet.  I love my babies.  I miss them being babies, but I also love the little girls they are now.  I am sure I will be overjoyed with the young women they will become too.

Summer 2013

Once again I have skipped over some wonderful stories that have happened since my last post.  I always think to myself that I need to add these things to the blog, but never seem to find the time.  Amelia has all but grown out of the baby stage.  She talks and acts like she's 7 going on 30.  Guess it's all the time she spends with big sisters that makes her seem so much older.  She had her first real haircut yesterday.  I let them trim the ends.  I'm so afraid for her to lose her little curls.  Sabrina got the most dramatic cut.  Her hair had grown out to just below her shoulders and she cut it above her chin again.  She loves the cut/short hairstyle and it suits her personality perfectly.  Samantha gave up on growing out her bangs, but kept the back long.  It's just a few inches above her waist now. 
Destiny is in the mountains with Mema and Papa celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary.  They have officially been together for 35 years now.  Rustie, Chad and Jace are in Helen with them. 

We had two award ceremonies at the school to attend this year.  Destiny received the Reading award for the Sixth grade.  She is the single most improved student.  When I think back at how impossible reading seemed for her, I get teary.  She struggled so hard with letters and sounds.  She's been in classes for extra reading help since she was in the first grade.  We buy her books all of the time.  It took me years to convince her to read for fun.  She almost always has a book with her now and it has really paid off.  She has discovered a love of reading and her CRCT scores went through the roof.  The kid who failed to "meet standards" for years skipped right over the "meets" section and is four points above the "exceeds standards" mark.  I could not be more proud.  She still has some work to do in math and with homework, but she finished the year with two c's, two a's and two b's. Sabrina was on the A/B honor roll for the first semester this year and on the A honor roll second semester.  She received her A/B and A honor roll certificate at her end of year ceremony.  Samantha was on the A honor roll all year.  She received the Principal's Honor award for maintaining her A's from the first day of second grade.  Amelia was so excited when they called the girls names and she saw them go up to get their awards.  It feels so good to have all of the kids doing so well in school now.

I worked throughout Spring Break since I took time off at Winter Break this year, but we still fit in some fun.  We made it to the bowling alley and the skating rink.  The girls are really push for a trip to Six Flags this summer and I am really hoping to be able to take them next week. 

They are all growing up so fast and I do miss my little babies, but I love the conversations and the time that I am spending with my girls now.  They are going to be amazing, young women. 

When I look at Amelia, I just see her Grandmother Tingle.  She looks exactly like Mary to me.  Sabrina and Samantha both look a lot like me, but I can see Adrienne in Samantha and Peyton (Owen,Galen) in Sabrina. 

I really want to drive by the house where Destiny's aunt lives to see if I can get my hands on any baby pictures or just family pictures.  A picture of their mom and their mom when she was growing up would be so nice to have for them.  There have to be things in that house that would be special to my kids that came from their birth family.  Picture of her grandparents.  It's crazy to think about how many things I would take out of that house if I had five minutes alone in there. 

Samantha and Amelia have both had these little nagging colds for the past two weeks.  We were driving down the road last weekend and Amelia said, "Mommy, if Samantha and I go to heaven, we won't be sick anymore."  We all really laughed at that one.  "You're right sweetie, but if you go to heaven, you don't get to come back, so let's just try to stick around here until your cold goes away."

For mother's day, Peyton got my mother's ring fixed.  It's been broken for about four years now, so it is wonderful to have it back.  There is no way to add Amelia to the ring, but we will do something special for her or I'll wait and get another mother's ring in the future with all five kids on it. 

We lost Grandma Peggy last month.  Daddy got to spend her last days with her.  He and mom were staying every night and he was coming there after work each day.  I know it helped him so much to get to say goodbye.  I was the first person to speak at her funeral.  I was shaking so hard that I couldn't stop.  I have no idea why that happened when I am so rarely nervous in front of a group.

We bought the girls a new swimming pool last week.  Peyton, Destiny and I put it together right outside the back door.  It'll be so much easier for mom.  She'll be able to see them right from the kitchen window.  Poor little Amelia fell right off of the ladder yesterday when she was climbing out of the pool.  They are going to have a great summer right in their own backyard. 

Winter Break

The girls have the week off for winterbreak so I took a week of vacation too.  We checked into the Westin on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon and early evening swimming in the indoor pool.  We had sandwhiches and chips in the room and watched Ferris Buller's Day off before going to bed.  On Monday, President's Day, we woke up and went back to the pool for a couple of hours.  When we checked out, we thought we were heading home, but Daddy took us on an adventure.  We went to the Varsity for lunch and then over to Piedmont Park to play for the rest of the day.  Peyton has so many memories of the park from when he was growing up.  We were surprised to see the new parking garage.  There are so many changes at the park, but it's a beautiful place.  It reminded me so much of being in Central Park.  Next year I want to take the kids to Washington, DC and to New York.  They should be plenty old enough by then.  This time, Destiny spent the night with Grandmother Tingle and is enjoying her alone time at Grandmother's house.  I hope it is still just the two of them.  She needs to spend some time with one of her grandmothers alone.  She thrives on one on one time and she doesn't get much of it around here with all of the girls fighting for attention.  I am stealing my own time with Peyton this week....taking him away to North Carolina.  I don't want to have to fight for one minute of his attention from the four prettiest girls in the world.  The last picture is of the house that my grandmother lived in on Waldo Street in Atlanta.