Kenna Turns 1

Happy Birthday Kenna. We are so glad that were in town for your first birthday. It was a lot of fun playing with you.

Fayette Middle Cubs

The Fayette Middle Cubs lost their first game 38 to 6. Although the score was disappointing, it was a lot of fun. It was my first game as a parent. Peyton, Destiny, and I stood in the rain for two hours watching the boys play. Michael got plenty of play time. We are excited to be "CUBS" fans. Michael's the one that looks like a real football player. Number 67. We have some footage from the game, but not many of the pictures turned out....between the rain and the action my skills were severly tested.

Quiet Weekend

Daddy took the kids out for a walk to the gas station on the corner. I'm sure they had plenty of candy before they came home.

It's been a while since I've been able to say that I've finished a book. In the past c0uple of weeks, I've finshed reading TWO. The girls are beginning to play a little better together...they don't need constant attention. Okay...that might be a bit of an overstatement, but we are getting there.

I took their bed out of our room today. They have a bed in their room, but we also had a bed on our floor for them: their old crib mattresses. Samantha has been beside herself all afternoon. She keeps bringing pillows from different beds in the house and putting them on the floor beside my bed. It's so sad. She knows Mommy is making an effort to kick her out. It's been over two years. I want my bed back. Sabrina nearly brought me to tears tonight. We are getting ready for bed and work tomorrow. I was putting my clothes out. "Wha you doin Momma?" "Getting my clothes ready for work tomorrow." Then she nailed me. "Please, I go to work too. Please Momma?" I'm going to think about her all day tomorrow. Michael has had his braces for a couple of weeks now. He is getting used to them. He's got his first football game on Tuesday, Sept 11th. He's really excited about it.

Destiny has made tremendous strides this year. Last year, she managed to get 1 90 on a spelling test and ALL other grades were below a 50...most of them were 20's. We knew she was in the wrong grade level. We made the decision to repeat the first grade. She's had three spelling tests so far. The first she made an 80. The second, she made a 90...and this week....she got ALL TEN WORDS AND THE BONUS WORD....105. We are so excited. She doesn't HATE school this year. She is actually enjoying it. We are so pleased. She's had some behavior issues, but I think even those might be close to behind us. Guess I'll find out at our parents meeting on Thursday night.

I took the kids to see Aunt Betty this weekend. They warmed up after a little while. They played with Roy's dog "Noodles" and seemed to like Betty's boyfriend David. Poor David was having to get up and turn the light back on every five seconds...Sabrina kept turning it off. They had a great time playing with the baby turtle. Samantha is wearing the red shirt. Sabrina is in the peach.

The Dog

Peyton and I went to see the DOG yesterday. And not just any dog, but Duane DOG Chapman. He was signing books at Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia. I have NEVER seen so many people there. Not even the week before Christmas. The line was at least SIX hours long for signatures....and the signing didn't start until 6pm. I took one look at the line, one look at my husband and said...."let's go find a place to have a drink." We walked up to the front. Saw his introduction, which the poor people in line missed and took some pictures. I love Beth Chapman even more now than I did before. I saw a very REAL moment with her and a young lady that she was signing an autograph for. I wish I had been focused enough to capture a picture. She had just taken a drink of her water and then shook the girl's hand, realizing that her hand was wet from the water bottle, she wiped off her hand and almost without thinking, just like any mother really....she reached out for the woman's hand and wiped it off as she apologized. She really is as caring as she appears to be....and probably just as tough.

We went back to eat dinner at the Whistle Post Tavern on Railroad Street in Conyers. Leave it up to Peyton to ALWAYS find the coolest tavern in town. It was perfect. Two guys playing accoustic guitar and signing all of our favorite songs. Best dinner we've had in forever. The next time we go, we'll be prepared to stay in Conyers for the night. Give the grandparent's plenty of time to spend with their grandkids.

Tingle Twins Turn TWO

Happy Birthday Sabrina and Samantha !!!!

The girls are two years old. Can't believe they are already toddlers. They are using a lot of complete sentences or at least complete ideas these days. As you can tell, Sabrina was crying at first and very fussy. Finally, she calmed down and blew out her candles. Samantha, who was happy at first, proceded to fall apart when she couldn't blow out her candles. Bottom line....lesson learned....no more birthday parties at nap time. We only invited the grandparents over for this one. Couldn't see having a big party two years in a row. Great Grandmother Tingle could not make it, but she sent the most beautiful hand made bags for each of the girls....including Destiny. They were full of coloring books and have pockets for the crayons. No one is ever more thoughtful when putting together gifts than Grandmother. Mema and Papa Duren got them Princess Keyboards and clothes. Mema Shirley bought them the Princess table and chair set for their bedroom. Grandmother and Granddaddy Tingle bought beautiful clothes (orange outfits in picture below) and money to shop for toys. My children are so blessed. They have two great grandmothers, a great grandfather, two grandmothers, and two grandfathers to love them.

This is always a busy week for us. Peyton and I celebrate our anniversary on July 21st. This was our FIFTH. The 22nd is my Daddy's birthday, and the 23rd is the twins birthday. We usually take this week off of work. This year, a last minute job came up for Peyt and we both ended up very sick with a virus. We stayed in bed every chance we got for the entire vacation. Our poor kids were really bored. No Six Flags, no White Water....it was sad.

Michael went for his consult today for braces. He has his first appointment next week. After looking at the estimate, Peyton told him to forget us buying his first car.

The whole family helped Daddy clean the boat. I took the girls to get their pictures taken in one of their new birthday outfits. It's become a bit of a tradition. We took pictures in the outfits that Joel and Lisa got them for their first birthday and this time, Grandmother and Granddaddy Tingle outfits were worn. They are really cute. A couple of days later, they had their first BIG haircuts. Little bobs.

Tim and Nicki came to town to celebrate Tim's birthday. We haven't seen them in five years. They haven't changed a bit. It was like the old days for one night. Peyton, Josh, Tim, Nicki and Bobbie at the pub. I found it harder than ever not to miss Eric, Lance and Owen.

Destiny and Michael go back to school next Monday, August 13th. They don't seem overly excited about it. Destiny's new teacher called me today. She seems very nice. I have two open houses tomorrow. We've already been school clothes shopping, but will need to finish off the supplies this weekend.

We celebrated Mema Shirley's 71st birthday with a cake and a picture of Ma that Peyton re imaged. He did a great job of taking all of the cracks out of the old picture.

Samantha wandered off into her room, grabbed a blanket and put herself to bed on the floor. This was just at dinnertime. She missed her afternoon nap. Sabrina, was already asleep on her little bed.

Visit to the Zoo

The girls are just the right age for viewing the animals. Everytime we would leave one cage, Sabrina would say, "see more animals." So Cute....

Destiny didn't make it on this trip, she was with Mema Lorelei and Papa Jerry at the lake. I couldn't help but remember our first day with her. This is the first place we ever visited together.

The twins have been making roaring noises all night. We've been to the zoo today. We saw lots of animals, but the girls really liked the panda's and the elephants the best. They also got to pet the goats and lambs. We rode the train, which they didn't like. We rode the carusel and both girls cried most of the way thru. Right at the end, Sabrina actually started to have fun. She even held on by herself.

Looking at the monkeys in trees.

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July !!!!!!
Peyton celebrated the fourth of July by running the Peachtree Road race. It's the largest 10k in the world. Over 50,000 people ran. Peyton finished in just over an hour. We were very proud of him. He left the house at 4:15am. In the afternoon we went to Mary and Rabun's for a cookout. It was very nice. Amber stopped by with Riley and Kenna. Riley warmed up to me a little this time. She even sat in my lap so I could read to her. I was surprised. Almost all of the kids were there. Molly, Micheal, Destiny, Mitchell, Anna, Riley, Sabrina, Samantha, Katelyn, Tyrus, and Kenna. We were missing Maddie and Dylan, they were home in Ohio and Taylor, who is no longer a kid. He has begun to bail at these little get togethers.

The kids played in the pool and with the puppy dogs all afternoon. The fourth of July is always a little bitter sweet for me. I am very patriotic so I love to celebrate, but it is also the anniversary of my dad's death. This year was the 32nd anniversary. I'm working on a short story about his life right now...or his death. It's the first time I've written in a long time.

Jace's Fourth Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACE!!!!

We had quite the adventure at Jace's fourth Birthday party. We had to call 911 because we thought Mema Shirley had a heat stroke. It turns out she was passing out from the severe pain in her ankle. She turned it over getting out of the car and likely broke it.

The girls had lots of fun swimming and playing on the swing set. Thought for sure it would exaughst them, but it's 2200 hours (10pm) and they are still going strong.

I think Jace had a lot of fun. Michael, Destiny, Sabrina, Samantha, Jordan, Skylar, Blake, Garrett, Zach, Dylan, Kora, Chase, and Chandler were all there. It was a "Pirates of the Caribbean" party. Everyone was really hot until we made it into the water. Next time we'll picnic after the swimming and not before.

Look how red Sabrina and Sami are. This is just moments before we rushed Mema by ambulance to the hospital. She passed out again on the way to Southern Regional. She's alright tonight, but she is down for the count, so it leaves us without a nanny for the kids for a while. Mema Lorelei really wanted to have the girls for a few days, so it looks like she might get her wish a little more often than she thought. With the kids being out of school, she can help out for a while.

Dress Up

I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but I have to write this while the memory is fresh. I told the girls earlier that we needed to go to the store to get Jace's birthday presents. A few minutes later, both Samantha and Sabrina came into the living room wearing hats and purses. It was so funny. I can't remember the last time they made me laugh so hard. I ran for the camera. I got a couple of good shots. This is the first time they have played dress up on their own. They also clincked glasses today...toasting each other....no idea where that one came from. I bought them new swim suits tonight and a couple of sun dresses. We are going to Atlanta Beach tomorrow afternoon. They are already wearing the suits tonight and fussing for the "pool."

Early this week I had a bad mommy moment. Something went wrong with the DVR while I was trying to record a program. My response was to say OUTLOUD....oh sh**. Sabrina, of course, copied me. They understand everything. Both Peyton and I laughed, but it was a wakeup call.

Destiny got a new yo yo tonight at Target. She can't quit playing with it. She is really excited about the beach tomorrow. Destiny is really glad that I got a hair cut. Now her hair is not the shortest. Mine is almost as short as Peyton's.

Vacation is just a couple of weeks away. At this point, I think we are going to stay home. We've never had a whole week together at home. I think there are so many things we could get done....fun things. I'd love to paint some with Destiny. We used to have time to do that a lot. Maybe make the model planes and bird houses that we bought but never put together. I haven't taken her to the libary in almost two years. Too afraid the girls would tear up the books. They don't tear them up anymore, they just write in them, on them......I know I keep bringing it up, but the WALLS are like an art museum around here.

Summer

I can't believe it's already the middle of June. I am in trouble with Jennifer for not updating the blog for over two months. We lost our digital camera the last week of school and have only just replaced it a couple of weeks ago. Biggest news of the past few months...baby Scarlett Grace Vaughan was born. Sabrina seemed afraid to touch her at first, but she warmed up to this beautiful little girl. Jessica and Paul are so happy. Jenny and Tim are grandparents. It's crazy.

We did have some sad news to report. My mom's best friend of twenty seven years, Donna Wadford, passed away on May 24th. I was honored when her youngest son called to ask that I do the eulogy. He said that his mom told them all that when she died, she wanted Bobbie Jean to give her eulogy because no one could tell her story the way I could. It makes me feel like she knew how much I respected and loved her to trust me to have the final word. It was always a big joke between us over who would have the final word. It was a very difficult, but very healing thing for me to do. I didn't see Donna much over the past ten years, but we did email a lot and I really miss hearing from her. She was like a second mom to me. My mom is never going to find a friend like her again. That kind of connection comes but once in a lifetime.

We've been busy but here's a quick recap. I moved into my new offices at work the middle of May. I worked with the movers for 10 hours on Saturday making everything perfect. Then on Monday morning, I got a call from my boss who said he just wanted to warn me before I saw the office. On Sunday, a forklift driver drove into a main support beam on our dock. He ruptured the water sprinkler system. Luckily for us, only the sprinkler system on the dock was activated. The water, however, ran into our offices. So the perfect office that I left on Saturday, was missing the floor molding and full of industrial fans and vaccums on our first official day of business. Quite funny in hindsight, but Peyt said I looked like a kid whose new bike was run over on Christmas morning. Happy to report, things are nice and clean again. Work is very busy, but it's a good kind of busy.

Peyton has been working on building us a storage building in the backyard. It's been a big project, but like the fence, he amazes me with what he can do. It is truly going to be "too nice" to be a storage unit.

The kids finished up school at the end of May. We went to the McGarity Family Reunion. Uncle Joel showed the twins how to share a swing. We celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day with gifts of I-pods. I didn't think I would be interested, but I love mine now. Peyton has a cool feature with his. A receiver in his shoe sends updates to his I-Pod so while he's running, it tracks his progress. He just uploads it after a run and all of the information is there. It also talks to him while he's running to give him his progress. He's running the Peachtree Road Race in a few weeks so I thought it would be the ideal gift to help with is training.

Sabrina and Samantha got their first haircuts. We took them to Fantastic Sams. They did really well and sat up nicely for the ladies who did the cuts. Daddy held Sam and I held Sabrina. Look how cute....

Destiny turned 7 and her Daddy took her to Six Flags for the day. She chose this over a big party. We had to get out the tape measurer to see if she was tall enough. She was just barely over 47 inches...most coasters require 48. Peyton had her put on her shoes and socks and it was just enough. He would have so much more to say about this than I do, but he doesn't seem very interested in adding anything to the blog. I guess I'm the story teller. I did talk to her after she rode the Georgia Cyclone, which was her first BIG coaster. She said, "Mommy, I thought I was going to die." At the time, she was standing in line to ride another one. She's a brave little girl. I am sure it was very cool to have her daddy all to herself for the whole day. We had cake and ice cream when they came home. We didn't even know the twins knew how to blow out candles, but while I was trying to light them, they were trying to blow them out.

Michael is away at Camp Promise this week. It's at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, GA. I hope he has fun. He is spending the week with 45 kids who were all adopted from the State of Georgia. I think it will be a good experience to be with his "peers." The camp looked really cool with all of the cabins and the lake. I wish I had sent a disposable camera with him. I'll be sure to do that next year.

We went to Ty's first birthday party this weekend. The kids played in the pool and "beach" that Jennifer and Neil created in the backyard. The girls really wore themselves out. We took Skyler with us too. She is spending the week with Mema Shirley, so she and Destiny has had someone to play with for the past week.

Samantha kept trying to help Tyrus open his presents. Sabrina thought they were all, "cool." I can't believe that he is a year old or that the girls will be two next month. Life seemed to move in slow motion when I was a kid, but it really flies. There are not too many things that the girls can't say. Sabrina used to call herself Sambo whenever she looked in the mirror, but just today, she has started to say "me."

Last but not least, our house has beautiful borders throughout. Crayon, pen and marker....on almost all of the walls. I never thought I could overlook this kind of thing, but it's really not that big a deal. We need to paint next summer, but oh well...we did pick a fixer upper.