Joe Wheeler says, "Hi."

We had a GREAT time at the Tennessee River. The cabins at Joe Wheeler State Park are actually quite nice (much to my pleasant surprise - quite honestly, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect). Here is my summary of our trip. As always, it will not be brief, LOL.

• Here is Tucker helping me make the bed that morning before we left. I know - he has a very interesting technique, huh?

• After an AMAZINGLY smooth car trip (no Tucker tantrums, quiet and fun conversation, etc.), we got to our cabins. Everything was going so amazingly well. Then Tucker decided to make a mess - and in about 1.3 seconds, the living room floor was drenched.
  

• Did you know that a relatively small styrofoam Sonic cup holds roughly 500 gallons of water? Well, we didn't either until Tucker got ahold of Ashlynn's cup and poked a hole in the bottom of the cup with her straw. Above is Ashlynn graciously cleaning up the flood.
  

• My Nana, Audrey, passed away this past January. Above is a photo of a black butterfly that paid us a visit at the cabins as soon as we arrived. Mom noticed after Nana passed that she began to see a very unusually large number of these type of butterflies. I had also noticed bluebirds almost daily in a variety of places each day. Mom and I decided that these beautiful creatures are just Nana's way of checking in on us and reminding us to enjoy each day the Lord gives us.

• Below is a picture of Tucker at the outside water source. It's also the same place that Gary convinced Ashlynn that it was our "water pump" and the ONLY source of water...for drinking, cooking, bathing, and yes, the toilet, LOL. She believed him until he mentioned the community showers up the road...then she called him on his bluff, saying, "I've already SEEN the shower inside, THANK YOU." I'm so thankful to have a child with such a great sense of humor!

• Ahhhhh.....the great outdoors. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?? :) But wait...where's Ashlynn?

• There she is! Can you say, "City Girl"?
  

• We explored the nearby town of Rogersville, AL and on our first night we discovered a place called the "Tiger Hut." It sold AWESOME ice cream products...including chocolate-dipped cones (Mom), peanut butter milkshakes (me and Ashlynn), and regular soft serve (Tucker).
  

• Speaking of the Tiger Hut, you may know that Tucker's life revolves around tractors. He even has his own little "Tractor Dance" that he does when speaking of, seeing, interacting with, reading books about, watching shows and videos about, tractors. Just mention the word "tractor" and he immediately perks right up. That having been said, our first day of our trip Tucker slept most of the time and hadn't had his usual dose of tractor immersion. That all changed at the Tiger Hut. There was a flyer in the window and his little eyes zeroed in on it IMMEDIATELY - HOLY MOLY! IS THAT A TRACTOR? Sure enough, it was a flyer, complete with photos, for a local tractor show and pull that was occurring that weekend. That small piece of paper in that window made that child's whole evening. He broke into the "tractor dance" for all the Tiger Hut patrons to enjoy. :)

• After that awesome display of tractor love, Mom couldn't resist giving Tucker a new gift when we got back to the cabins that evening.

This is a GIANT tractor book that is taller than Tucker and weighs
twice as much as him (at least). He was THRILLED. It is stocked full of
pages and pages and pages and pages of nothing but tractor pictures.
That day, I believe his Nana was his favorite person
in the whole world...even bypassing "Da-Da" for
one brief and shining moment. :)

Tucker Tantrums, Cows, and Garbage

I realize that with everything going on, we all tend to get too busy and overlook a few household chores, turn a blind eye to things that "someone" should do, and generally cruise on along in the hopes that "someone" will handle an obviously pressing situation. Care to guess what I'm talking about? Take a look at the picture:


Why do people do this? Why do they pile more and more garbage on top of (literally) a can that is overflowing and needs to be taken care of? My children at school do it and my children at home do it (and yes, I'm counting Gary as one of my kids this time). :) What gives? This sort of ranks right up there with not replacing the toilet paper after you've used the last square (although I admit the garbage situation really doesn't put anyone in quite such an unhappy and awkward position as the toilet paper thing can), putting empty cracker boxes back in the pantry (Gary), or keeping two billion empty and half-empty shampoo and conditioner bottles in the shower (Ashlynn). Ahh, the tiny annoyances of everyday life - makes you appreciate how small our worries are in comparison with others I guess. Okay....I'm off my soapbox....for now. :)

How did we spend our day? Well, here is a montage of photos to help you visualize how the Fabulous Freeman Four spent Monday, July 6, 2009.

• Took garbage out (obviously).
• Began loading the car (I know it's an S.U.V., but I just can't get used to saying that)!

• Tucker declared that he was ready to leave and had all that he needed.
  

• Watched Tucker watch a cattle auction on T.V. Seriously.

That auctioneer put him RIGHT to sleep. And he slept SO peacefully...for about 40 minutes.

• Guess who didn't get their nap out?

• Fed our cows across the street.

• Okay, THEY fed the cows, I took pictures. :)
  

• Laughed until I cried at Tucker's "diaper wedgie."

• Diaper wedgie's are obviously not too fun - sorry son!

• Admired my beautiful daughter (who got her haircut last night - thanks Momma Freeman!)

• Watched Tucker drive his car.

• Watched Tucker have a bad experience with his car.

• Watched Gary fix Tucker's cap after the bad experience with the car.

• Wondered how many years of therapy this child will need before he hits his teen years.

Our Trip Prepping...and, oh yeah, Happy Birthday America!

We really are a patriotic family, really. Just drive by our house and look at the ENORMOUS U.S. flag that hangs from our porch. But we're so excited to be getting away from it all here soon, that we've simply been running, running, running to get stuff done. Here is how the Fabulous Freeman Four spent the 4th of July:

• Ashlynn did her chores, including her part for saving the environment, going green, reducing greenhouse gasses, improving climate control, etc., by crushing the aluminum cans our family so smartly keeps and recycles. See pics for proof. :)

• Gary asked me if we had any bread for our cookout. By bread, he meant BBQ bread, and no, we didn't have any, but we did have some Texas Toast, which Gary didn't seem too happy about.
  

• Gary spent a LOT of time cleaning out, cleaning in, washing, waxing, and buffing his boat. Tucker helped.

• Gary spent a few minutes setting up the sprinkler so that Tucker would help him less.

• Stripped Tucker down and gave him a bath.
• I went to the grocery store for the THIRD time this week to pick up - yep, you guessed it - BBQ bread.
• Got rid of a few unwanted guests - no, not noisy neighbors or annoying animals - just a few red wasps - UGH! I can't stand those things.
  

• I marinated steaks for us and my wonderful in-laws (seriously - they're worth their weight in gold).
• Momma Freeman calls to see if I want the BBQ bread she told Gary that she had earlier this week...when they first talked about cooking out on the fourth...the same kind of bread I went to the store for the THIRD time this week to buy.
• I ask Dear Husband why he didn't just mention his mom's offer of bread and he mumbled something about being forgetful and then felt the urge to refill Tucker's sippy cup of juice. Don't ya just love men? LOL :)
• Checked the hummingbird feeders. They still fight over the crumpled, old one but are beginning to consider the other shinier, newer feeders.
  

• Changed Tucker's diaper...didn't catch him quick enough...so he tinkled...on me, on himself, and on the floor.
• Gave Tucker another bath.
  
• Searched high and low for the the one specific cooking fork my dear husband must have to cook steaks - he relied on the roughly 6 others we have until I could locate the original "must have."
• Ate the most WONDERFUL, DELICIOUS steak Dear Husband has ever cooked (did I mention he can grill a mean steak).
  
• Ate too much.
• Promised self to make up for it tomorrow by eating only nuts and berries. HA!
• Ended the day listening to the Halo's Fireworks Show in Millport while starting on another book. Thanked my lucky stars to be an American and said a prayer of thanks to God for all my many blessings. Hope your 4th was just as rewarding!
  

Millport Baptist Vacation Bible School - Boomerang Express!

We had the MOST awesome VBS this year with our new preacher and his wife - it was absolutely a BLAST! Here are some pics of the fun time we had. Anytime you're in the mood to praise the Lord, come on by Millport Baptist Church - we'd LOVE to have you!

Christy, Noah, and Brother David dancing the Boomerang Express! :)

Brother David preaching God's Word.

Mrs. Freeman, Gary, and Tucker (with Jewel and Doug behind them) gettin' some religion!

Here is the cupcake croc I made for Family Night for VBS. Cute, huh?

Lindsey Homan had horse rides for the kids on Family Night - too fun!

Isn't it wonderful to see old friends again? LOL This is Beth and Tucker - aren't they precious? We've got a picture of them at last year's Family Night sitting beside each other in their baby seats. :)

Can you tell that Tucker likes to swing?

This is after Tucker's first experience with a chocolate covered donut. I would say that he feels very happy about Family Night at Millport Baptist, wouldn't you? :)


Millport Baptist Services
Sunday School: 9:25am
Sunday Morning Worship: 10:30am
Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00pm
Wednesday Bible Study: 6:00pm
Come see us!

Ashlynn's Softball Swimming Party

Here's Ashlynn - READY TO SWIM ALL DAY!!! :)

Ashlynn and Megan in a chicken fight - with Holden supervising. :)

Michelle and Lindsay - more chicken fighting! Whew!
You know these girls slept good that night!

Just wanted to post a few pics of Ashlynn's softball swimming party. This was her first year playing softball and she really enjoyed it. She even learned to pitch (slow pitch), but wasn't crazy about playing that position. Maybe she'll get a position she really loves next year. :) Anyway, her coaches decided to celebrate the end of the season by having a swimming party for the girls. You can see by the pics they had a great time! :)

GO STALLIONS!

More Pics From July 3rd - Since I Can't Figure Out The Layout of This Blogging!

Here's Gary - he's talking to his parents, trying to decide which steaks we'll cook on the 4th. After 5 minutes of much discussion, we still had no decision. LOL

Gary is getting his fishing gear together for our trip. :)

Yippidog - bless his heart - he must be 200 years old in people years, but somehow he manages to keep going and going. Tucker adores him. Can't say the feeling is mutual though. :)

Tucker the Gardener - ever so helpful. ;)

How We Spend Our Days...At Least How We Spent Yesterday

Well, yesterday here is what we did:

• FINALLY hooked up the DVD/VCR converter in the BR (this has only taken me two years to do).
• Moved the Wii from Ashlynn's BR to ours (more room for all of us to play, plus we can keep up with the games and remotes better - no offense Ash!) :)
  
• Cleaned and sprayed off the porch (MUCH better! Now it only looks like a few of Sanford & Son's relatives live here).
• Weeded the flowerbeds (a little). See the pic of the one I started on - it's a "before" pic. :)
  Make sure you check out the "after" pic of the flowerbeds already worked on!!
  
• Played with the new Nikon camera while watching the hummingbirds...speaking of which, why do the hummingbirds all want to eat out of the old, squished up feeder versus the beautiful new teardrop shaped feeder or the nice and shiny glass, flat-bottomed feeder complete with resting station)?
  
• Watered the tomatoes and peppers (including Gary's upside-down tomato plants...I'll have to post some pics of his homemade topsy-turvy planter made from a huge bucket - he's so innovative)!
• CLEANED HOUSE - including repeatedly picking up books and toys and of course items that Tucker felt needed to be spread out rather than neatly put away.
• Gary began getting his fishing stuff together for our river trip, including packing his "rooster tail," for those of you who are up on the whole fishing scene. :)
  
• Tucker worked hard in the garden, on moving switches and knobs on Gary's manly machines in the shop, and generally being an active kiddo.
  
• Ashlynn slept late, spent some time with Sissy and Lou-Lou (her adorable dogs), did several chores, and tested out the Wii in its new location. She also set up a Facebook page, since several of her friends (and her Mom and Nana) have one. :)
  

I can't figure out how to post the pictures the way I want to, so I'm going to add a few more after this post - I don't have time to really play with this thing this morning. :)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!