Peeps For Rainblo Gum

My Easter's of yester years were fantastic. Good times spent with my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We have always gone to Mabel and Clyde's. It's really all I know. There are casseroles there. And ham. Salty ham.

My cousins and I played games like "boat patrol" and "the blob" and basically laughed and wrestled until we passed out on Mabel's floor like a bunch of bums. This is how it went until we got older and started drinking beer. Then the games turned into something a little different but still super fun. I love my cousins. All of them. Even the newer/est ones.

Where was I? Oh yea. So this Easter was a little different in that only our family went and it was still fun and yummy and all that Easter should be. Except now there are new kids who are taking over and doing what we used to do. These kids are good at making a rukus. But they'll never be the Johnny Dollar singing band from the old days. No, no kids. The bar has been set and you've got a long way to go and alot of balconies to dance on and alot of steps to run up and down.

On the dock...

 Is it true that if you stick a brick on your kids' head at night, they won't grow so fast? I'm gonna try it.

The bottom of all the steps...

Inseperable...

Loves...

Yes, PA I started cuttings for you. Won't be ready for a while though...

The real rose...

Easter egg hunt...

This is pretty sweet, huh? Does it get sweeter? Wait for it... wait for it...

Told you.

The most perfect easter egg dye bowl ever...

Late night trip to the beach.

The only time I could catch Big with my camera. Great job camera.

Daddies on the beach with their babies are so sweet. Even if it's your gross brother.

I'm putting this Easter memory into my Easter file in my brain with all the other ones. I'll put it out again in a few years to review. But I gotta be honest, my favorite files are the old ones when we were kids and we ruled the place. "The Blob" was the most fun game of the year and I traded my peeps for your rainblo gum.

The Point.

I need to cheer myself up so please bear with me....

1 - We are all healthy and so are our parents, kids, brothers & sisters and friends. Thank God. Amen.

2 - I wish my Grandpa Jim and Daddy's Grandma Cora and Grandpa Ralph were still alive but it's nice to know that they all hang out together in heaven. I'm glad we've still got the grands we've got and I'm real glad our kids know and get to love them.

3 - I'm thankful for our home. Our kids love it here so even if I have to wait for my farm, I'll do it knowing that it will come one day.

4 - Not having money sucks.the.big.one. But it's ok. Want = Want and Need = Need. You gotta know the difference. You gotta know the difference. You gotta know the difference. (Sorry, had to say it 3 times to get myself to believe it).

5 - One of my besties birthdays' is this week. Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting her be born. I'd be a mud puddle without her.

6 - Beer is awesome. Especially when it's cold.

7 - We live in a really beautiful place. We get 4 seasons and this one is my runner-up fave.

8 - My kids are so great that other people want them around them too.

9 - My husband is so great that he worries he's not good enough for us even though he's all we've ever needed.

10 - Hang in there. Things will get better. Things will get better. Things will get better. (3 times the charm, you get the point) 

Folleva

The following is a recipe for "the best day ever + Folly Beach = Folleva"; which was enjoyed by my sister and I yesterday...

2 cups of husbands outta town
2 cups of kids outta town
2 cups of sisters sitting on beach
1 cooler
1qt of afternoon rain shower with hail
1 house with no power
1 crazy idea
2 tablespoons of bikes
2 sisters who shouldn't ride bikes on bikes in the rain
1 double enormous, gigantic rainbow stretching over Charleston Harbour

Mix first 6 ingredients and beat slowly until combined but still lumpy. Add next 4 ingredients and increase the mixing speed until one sister (not me!) crashes bike. Bake for 8 hours until red all over.

Enjoy your Folleva.

Just Not Right

It's Spring Break and because I have to work, Big and Lil' are getting some good time in with Nettie and Papa. It's been a nice week for me and Daddy. Coming home from work and not watching kid shows. Not making grocery store trips. Not picking out clothes for the next day at bedtime. Not opening bags of gummies. Not settling fights. Not checking dates on milk cartons. Not saying "No running in the house or Don't bounce the ball in here."

But we're also not kissing eyelids before bedtime. Not getting random hugs and sweet I love you's. Not hearing "You're the best cooker ever." Not hearing a booming, bustling house or contagious giggles. Not reading books to stuffed puppies or talking to fish in fishtanks. Not seeing our beating hearts walking right in front of us.

You're not here and that's just not right.

Your Booty

I am one of the "older ones" of our traveling Widespread team. To try and explain why at my age I still love their music, their fans and these "Mommy" trips I take is difficult to say the least but to put it plainly... it makes me feel young again. When I go to these shows, I remember so many good times with good people and for 4 hours, I feel like a kid again with no responsibilities, no where to be and no one to look after.

Last night marked 20 years for me and some of my other friends. 20 years of faithful patronage seeing a band that I've grown up with. The Band has known me for years. Watched me fight through being a teenager and turn into a young adult. They're still sticking by me through my 30's and I'm pretty sure that we've got a little more left in us. We may all be getting older but some things I guess stay the same. A good time with good people and good music never ever gets old even though your booty might be.

Far From Home

My memories of childhood vacations are especially happy ones made up of old, dusty beach houses and summers spent with my toes in the most splendid of all farm sand. A trip here or there to Disney World and then there were the occasional trips out west to ski when construction was really booming. As I've grown up, my parents still invited me along and gave me the pleasure of meeting Montana, the most beautiful of all 50 states. And they still treat us all every summer to our family's favorite southern paradise, Edisto.

Daddy and I have also taken some great trips to fantastic places but we've always been considerate of our budget and the repercussions of an expensive vacation. The price was always reasonable but the value of being alone together was priceless.

Last week the vacation fairy visited and we spent it with a silver spoon in our mouths. Vacationing in a place where your every need is met and kids walk around with popped collars and $200 sunglasses chompin on lobster and $10 ice cream cones. I've never lived that way. Never. But we have some sweet friends who occassionally do and were willing to give us a glimpse of how the other side lives.

We went to a place in Key Largo called the Ocean Reef Club. It's a little spot surrounded by emerald green water and perfectly accented in pinks, electric blues, yellows and white. There are million dollar yachts and fishing boats every where you turn and golf carts that cost more than my car. There is expensive food. Expensive wine. Expensive this and expensive that. And it was nice to leave the worries of our mortgage and bills and dissapear to a place where no one worries about those things.

During the day, we played and swam our hearts out. We ate until our bellies were full and Daddy and I fell asleep every night with a soft buzz in our head that reminded us in the morning that we are getting older.

This vacation was fun. But aren't they all? What I learned last week was that it doesn't matter where you are when you take the time to stop your normal routine and take a breath. Being in a place like this is nice but just being on a vacation is the greatest gift of all. No matter where you go on vacation, some things will always be the same....

Excitement still looks the same way.

 A certain swagger is in your step...

 The more will always be merrier...

 and ready really means ready....

 You can never go wrong when there are boats involved...

 and it's always fun to have your kids...

 Tired looks the same no matter where you are...

 And so will Lil's cannon ball...

 Daddy will always look relaxed....

 and Auburn will always be number 1....

 Laughing is fun...

 and catching you doing it is too...

 You can play soccer anywhere...

 and sand on your feet feels good...

 Daddies are awesome...

 and Mama's are too...

 Blue eyes are still blue...

 Big boys are still sweet...

 and there's nothing better than a seafood dive...

 Beer makes every afternoon better...

 and your kids still grow up.

 Jumpin off of boats will always be fun no matter how old you are...

 and so is eating lobster...

 and more cannon balls...

 A new place is always fun to see...

 and as long as your with your people, you're never that far from home.