Sox

For a couple of years now I've been begging Lee to let me get a cat. He's more of a dog person and has never had a cat so until last week he's always told me no. I wasted no time once he told me yes and a friend of ours, Amy, found Sox for us. He's from Murrels Inlet and he's just so much fun! He does, however, pounce on me at 3 am wanting to play. We need to work on that. Where did MY new kitty spend all of yesterday? In Lee's lap watching football. Who knew he would be a cat lover? ;)

Just finished reading...

This is a great book I read recently by one of my favorite authors. I learned a lot about OI that I didn't know. Makes you appreciate being healthy and having healthy children!! Here's what Stephen King said about it:


“You men out there who think Ms. Picoult is a chick thing need to get with the program. Her books are an everyone thing, and the current offering — about a little girl whose bones are so brittle that they break almost at a puff of wind — is her best since My Sister's Keeper. It's a legal/medical thriller, but at bottom it's a story about the American heart of darkness: a small-town marriage under stress. Picoult writes with unassuming brilliance and never descends into soap opera.”
—Stephen King

Scrapbooking room

I turned one of our two spare bedrooms into a scrap booking room! :) Now, instead of having all of my supplies scattered throughout the house and hidden in various closets, I have everything in one place and it will be much more convenient! I'm super excited about having my new room. I think I turned out pretty well!

TN visit

Lauren & I went to TN last month. What a great time we had with everyone. It's never long enough. I wish we could spend a whole week up there one of these days!! Funny story about Hannah & Savannah: Lauren and I decided to wear dresses to travel in since dresses are so much more comfortable than jeans. Well my dress was long and reached the floor. The twins called them "big" dresses, meaning "long." Well they were so fascinated by them (especially Savannah) that I went to Belk the next day and bought them "big" dresses too. I think my sister had a tough time getting them out of them for the next few days. :) Here's a picture of them in their dresses. They get more beautiful and smart everyday. They LOVE to play outside. We played on the swings, played chase, and played ball. Can't wait to see them again!!

What's been going on?

I see I have slacked off on the blog yet again. Nothing much has been happening here. Everyone is back into a school/work routine. It's starting to get yucky outside which makes me a little sad. I'm happiest in my flip flops in the sunshine. We did have one last summer trip. My husband (aka Mr. Sociable) coordinated a carnival cruise with 20 of our friends. I was a little nervous at first feeling like it would be my duty to help entertain everyone and be Mrs. Sociable. It was such a blast and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and I wish it was just a couple days longer. It was a 4 day ("party") cruise to the Bahamas out of Jacksonville. These are a few of the more "tame" pictures. ;)

More Rik pics!

Here are the rest of Rik's senior pictures. I'm posting the proofs because there's no way we could afford to actually buy all of these pictures. That would require mortgaging the house, or- as the woman that I talked to as Prestige Portraits told me, "You can split it up into 6 payments." Um, no, that's ok. I'll just order the proofs, thanks. They did ask for me to sign a release to use Erik as a model for their advertising. So I'm thinking that would get me a discount. Nope. Anyway, enjoy. He's such a great looking kid!! And smart. He registered for his senior year on Monday. He is taking Probability & Statistics (yuck), Biology 2, and Family/Community Health. He'll be getting out at 1:00 everyday and will finish the school year in December, like his sister did. Where have all the years gone?!

Sensory Garden

One of my patients is the head RN at the McLeod Hospice House. I was very curious about why she chose this area of nursing. Did she stay depressed being around people that are dying day in and day out? She told me that she loved it and I thought she was nuts until she told me why. She told me that it's the best time to witness to people. The ones that are dying and the family members that will be left behind need to be surrounded by loving, caring people like her. She described death as just another phase of life that could be peaceful and that's what they try to accomplish there. Then she told me about the sensory garden beside the hospice house that was made for the patients and families by donations from the community. Later in the week I met the above mentioned nurse's sister and she told me that her sister was chosen as nurse of the year. Doesn't surprise me. It warms my heart to know there are people like her that are passionate about what they do and bring comfort to others in their time of need. Last night after dinner I took Lee by the hospice house to explore the garden.

I love this lamp-post. I just learned that the pineapple means "welcome."

Fish pond

Roman numerals 1-12. Not sure about what it means. Gospel of John maybe?

Recreation of the "beach" with water and sand. I told Lee to make one of these for me in the back yard. :)

I don't know if you can enlarge this poem and read it. It's beautiful.

There were tons of benches all dedicated to deceased family members.