Angel Trumpets and Swamp Daisies-SWEET!

Oh the sweet smell of the angel trumpets at night:) Do you have any of these? They are so beautiful and the scent is heavenly!

Aren't they beautiful?

They don't last very long, so you have to enjoy them quickly!

Swamp Daisies! They grow oh so very tall, multiply like bunny rabbits and are so beautiful! AND hardy... they made it thru the flood at my Sisters.

These are outside my screened in backporch! Next year I have got to do something because they are taking over.

There is a chill in the air tonight! I was pretty chilly at the ballfield for Austin's game and I had to wear jeans, a sweatshirt and OMG "NO FLIPFLOPS"! We are still working on Barbara's house damaged in the flood and making some good progress.

Love to all and enjoy your day whatever you do!!!!!

The real Birthday!

We are known for celebrating birthdays for a long time. So... we had Alex's Birthday party on Sunday and her Birthday was yesterday. We had a party at school...
We always take this picture...

And fortunately Avery was at snack time so we got to see her too:)


Avery is wearing her Hannah Montana shirt that she got for Alex's Birthday:)

and went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. It was delicious and here are a few pictures from our dinner. Alex started the dinner with a lemon smile...

Ditto for Avery...

The rowdy end of the table..

Three cousins and good friends, Britani, Autumn and Bradley!

Went home and watched Dancing with the Stars and off to sleepytown. Love to all and have a blessed day!

Happy Birthday Sweet Alex!

Alex is FIVE years old today! Not possible, my how time flies. We celebrated her birthday on Sunday in a big way! She had a ball as did all the children on the giant slide. Food fun and gifts. This was my favorite picture from the day! She was sooooo excited and loved all her gifts.

The card played music and she love it. She called her cards letters:)

Some cake after snacks!

Hannah Montana shirt, she loved it!


And the giant slide! Tracy is pretty smart and got one with two sides... one for the little kids and one for the big kids!


This is my Nephew Scott (Barbara's Son) and my Great-nephew Eli Marshall (Suzanne's Son) having a great time. Eli really took to Scott and they were catching minnows out of the river and putting them in the pond. Eli didnt want to leave!

Tracy brought me this plaque from her anniversary trip last weekend. We have been so busy and I got it today! Boy is it a good saying:) Thanks Punkin!

Now these next two pictures are surprises that my Sister Barbara left me in my poolhouse while she stayed there. They were flooded out and stayed with me for a few nights. She is just that way, left me something. Sweet and I love them...
Look at these cuties. She had them sitting in the window above the sink:) Just perfect, Thanks Sis!

So there you go! Monday again, lots of stuff has happened since last Monday. Not the best of weeks in some ways but there were lots of good things along with the bad:)

Love you all and have a blessed day!

Ballgames, Howell Reunion and Mama has been gone 21 years today!

Busy Saturday! Austin had a ballgame, they played their best game and still lost but we were sooooo proud of him and the team.
Autumn's school team played in a tournament to finish their season. They won all three games and Autumn pitched EVERY inning all day! She was pretty tired AND happy! This picture is not that good. I pressed the wrong button on my camera but just pretend it is good:)
We have a HUGE family and once a year we have a family reunion. This is this year's picture, not quite as many as last year but still a good crowd. I asked for things that my Sister needs and came away with promises of a bunch of stuff:) Thanks everyone!
After all this was over I went back to my Sister's for more cleaning. And guess what, it RAINED and RAINED and RAINED! Wish I could share some of it with you all who are not getting a drop. We can't take much more. That's about all I have to say today! I hope all of you have a Super Sunday! Today is Alex's Birthday party... and the 21st Anniversary of my Mama passing away. I love you Mama and miss you every day. Everyone needs a Mama like this one! Her picture should be hanging somewhere important with the caption... "Best Mama"!

Frustrating day and Soothing visit:)

We won't be talking about the flood of 2009 forever but Friday was another day of recovering from it. We had a visit from FEMA and GEMA and the County! Preliminary, but you have to start somewhere. I was at the Electric company at 8AM to try to get power turned back on. Jump, Ganky, jump... not that hoop, jump thru this one. Well, I know there are procedures but give me a break. We had to get a licensed electrician to sign off saying that it was safe and then get the County Inspector to OK it and they had to send it to the power company and then... well you get the picture. Thanks to Kelly for getting the electrician to inspect and OK it! Then just go from place to place. Hallelujah, we have power. Thanks to Cindy for calling Kerry and pushing us up the line in the dispatch. Shhhh, don't tell:) Blowers and fans are up and running. Next is Clorox on all the walls and floors. Rain expected but we'll pray for a tiny drought. No pictures from this part of my day, I was frustrated almost to tears and even did a little begging.



But... when I got home, Tracy said that Alex and Avery wanted to come visit us while she went and picked Autumn up from practice. OMG, what a breath of some sweet, energetic air. We enjoyed their visit SO MUCH! They played, put puzzles together
and just had a ball:) They entertained their Ganky and Pa. Sweet visit, thanks Tracy! Busy Saturday, ballgames for Autumn and Austin and a family reunion.

Love you all and have a blessed Saturday!

What a difference a day makes!

Still not all back to normal... but this is what it looked like Thursday morning:)
My Sister left my house a little before me and when she got to her house called and said "You aren't gonna believe it"! Still in the back yard and side yard but the front and the driveway, all water gone. The inside, skim of mud throughout. Anything on the floor up about two feet, WET. Lower cabinets, mattresses and box springs etc. We are thankful and tired! Lots of work, sweet family helping and more work to be done.

Suzanne and Kelly helped a lot, went and bought towels and food for their hungry Aunts! Marshall and June came. Marshall and I worked in the bathroom. He worked really hard and of course is entertainment in all situations.
Foo Foo was there helping all day, Regina and Glenda came and helped too! Shannon was there all day and worked REAL hard. She stopped for a minute or two to catch a fish:) Pictures got wet but we found them quick enough I think and they were laid out to dry!

Another day, more hard work! Could have been much worse. Some families homes were covered in water, bottom to top. Thankful that all wasn't lost.

Love to all and have a blessed day!

How High's the Water, Mama?

How high's the Water, Mama? An old Johnny Cash song which I did not remember but my two talented brothers did! This is Cindy and our friend who stood guard at the bridge all day measuring how high the water was.

The water went down about two feet by my guestimation by late afternoon on Wednesday and we were all curious what we were dealing with inside. So... Cindylou, Britani and Jerry waded in... being oh so careful and took a peek. It appeared to be knee high at it's highest and was ankle high when they were in there. Hopefully it will be way down Today:)

We had so many nice people stop to ask if we needed help! Offer anything that we needed. A friend from Church gave some money and an absolute stranger gave an umbrella to keep the sun off my Sister.

The Red Cross came out and asked some questions. Neighbors came from all around and offered kind words.

This picture shows how much it had gone down, see the wet part of the brick.

I wanted to show this picture, if you look closely... the jar sitting on the railing sat there thru the entire flood. Go figure:)


I found the lyrics to the Johnny Cash song if you would like to read them! Sing it in your best Johnny Cash voice!

How high's the water, mama?
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Two feet high and risin'

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats,
Two feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Three feet high and risin'

Well, the hives are gone,
I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin'
In the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees,
Three feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Four feet high and risin'

Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain,
4 feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Five feet high and risin'

Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin'

Well, it's five feet high and risin'

Thanks for the prayers and keep them flowing... bad choice of words but you get the picture:) Love you all and have a blessed day!

Bright, Bright, Bright Sunshiny Day

That's what we need here in Georgia! It has rained TOO much and made my Sister cry! Her sweet house is sitting right in the middle of the river that she loves. The house didn't float into the river, the river came up to the house. Hoping and praying it will recede quickly before it ruins what is left. Our family jumped in and moved all her precious stuff out. We are ALWAYS there for each other and ain't scared of hard work. So, here are some pictures starting at the beginning of the morning and as the day goes by. They got out with their lives and that is what is important to all of us!

This is the gang pitching in to help! Even Kerry and Robert came with trailer and truck to help get the freezer and food:) Bradley carrying Britani to dry land!

Brother Leon and Bradley trying to keep the swing from floating away!
Brother Marshall taking a look.
The backyard... it got much worse.
View from the road.

View from the bridge.

And at bedtime the water was up to the windows. When the water recedes we'll get in there and clean it up so my Sister can sit at her kitchen table again and look out at the river peacefully flowing AWAY from her sweet house:) In the meantime, they are resting in my poolhouse!

Please pray for her and all of us! Love to all and have a blessed day!

New Shows-Dancing With the Stars, yippee!!

Many of you watch Big Brother, Survivor, Big Fat Loser etc. WE, me and my honey, LOVE Dancing with the Stars. We don't watch any of the others. Problem is... It last two hours tonight and runs right over another of our favorites...
NEW EPISODE

Yes, we love this show too and it comes on at 9PM. We have watched every episode and repeats many times. It certainly isn't child friendly, but unless we are baby sitting... it is just us and we watch it. We also love HOUSE and Tuesday there are TWO NCIS, the real one and a new one NCIS Las Vegas. OH my, we have a bunch of TVs and VCRs and DVDs etc. Had to decide what would we watch live? When we lived at our old house, we actually had two TVs stacked so we could watch more than one show at the same time. When we moved into this house NO MORE stacking. We did buy a TV that has picture in a picture but we never hooked it up. Oh and the BRAVES are playing and Monday Night Football. Yikes... It was a busy evening around here.

I spent Monday at home. Still raining and had to go to the grocery store, not fun in the rain but it was a good day:)

Love to all and have a blessed Tuesday!

Church, Funeral and Enjoying Friends and Family

Five friends, L-R Tabby, Robin, Christy in the middle (Teresa's Daughter) Karen and my Tracy! These girls have been friends forever and are always there for each other like today at Christy's Mama's Funeral. Great funeral, planned completely by Teresa. She picked the songs, wrote one of them, chose the speaker and planned every detail herself. It was perfect. Her Pastor told sweet and funny stories and then they had a video. Perfect too! Tracy and I enjoyed our visit together on the ride down and back (except for almost running out of gas). We cried and laughed and it was just a wonderful tribute to a really special friend!

I didn't have my camera but I took these pictures with my iphone. Gorgeous stained glass in the Church!

Now this was at my Church (below) on Sunday morning. I brought the big kids and Cindylou brought the little ones. Alex and Avery love their Uncle Jeff and sat with him in the "Amen" corner for part of the service.

And when they called Jeff up to take up the offering, Alex and Avery are assisting:)

Like my American Express Card, I seldom leave home without my camera... no matter where I am going. But didn't have it today, just my phone and thankful I had it.

Sunday is gone and it was a day full of many emotions. Love you all and have a blessed day and week!