Whew.....What a weekend

This weekend was the 11th Annual Antioch Rec Center Rodeo. There were a lot of extras for everyone to enjoy this year, mechanical bull riding, inflatables, pony rides, clowns, balloons and more. And that was outside the "ring". I worked the concessions again with a lot of help from a lot of other members of ARC.. Overall, it was a SUCCESS!!! Our first 2 day Rodeo went off without a hitch! The lights did go out briefly, but we fixed that just in time for the goat tying and BULL RIDING!!! We all had a great time and were exhausted after Saturday night.

Sunday morning came early, but we did make it to church to hear a Bluegrass group perform. Our church is having "Camp Style Meetings" this month and is also a lot of fun. The group was wonderful and we enjoyed having them. We ate lunch with The Stegner Clan,( Mom, Dad, Granny Jean, Grampa Harvey, Michelle, Marshall, Connor, Jackson, Lori, Matthew & Elena) at Pam's, then headed home. I had to make Pasta Salad for the next stop on the weekend Roller Coaster..

Sunday night, we went back to church for a very special event. Several months ago, our church sent phone cards to the servicemen in Afganistan. One of the members of our sister church had a son who fought in Afganistan. He came and spoke about his tour over there and one of the Chaplain's spoke as well. We also enjoyed the music from the Victory Brass Band from Fort Jackson, SC. That was followed with a lot of food and fellowship.

We got home, took showers, and went to bed..

The weekend was fun, busy and exciting....It really makes me appreciate the weekends when we just hang out at the pool, beach or around the house.

This week...

This week has been somewhat hectic to say the least. Monday, of course, was the first day of school. It was also the day to sign Mackenzie up for dance. She is taking Tap and Hip Hop this year. This will be her 6th year of Tap and her first year of Hip Hop. She will be back at Mrs. Brenda's, who is just an awesome instructor and person. Jordan started football camp a few weeks ago. He has that 3 days a week right now and team practice should start next week. We are getting back into the routine of a busy school year as well as trying to bring the summer season to a close. The Rodeo is this weekend and Marty and I will be working there in the concession stand. The Rec Center down the street hosts this event every August, the weekend before Labor Day. This years we are hosting our first 2 day Rodeo. It is always a lot of fun and it draws a big crowd from all over SC. We need rain, so I pray that it does rain before the Rodeo gets started. I hope I will to take some pictures this year. Marty always has to work so he has never been to the Rodeo or been able to help me. This will be interesting, we have not worked together in a "food setting" since I was 18. We worked pretty well together then, so this should be a piece of cake. Jordan and Kenzie will be helping out as well. They have sold programs in the past and just helped wherever they have been needed. We are looking forward to this weekend and getting through another week of school then off to the beach again for Labor Day!!!

Beach Bums

Aaron was eating boiled peanuts and throwning the shells at me.
Marty, Brooke (Aaron's girlfried) and Kenzie relaxing at our camper
Marty has to make Kenzie into a Mermaid every time we go to the beach!

This is about the most water Dillon could deal with. He was not crazy about the ocean waves knocking him down, he would stand up and shake his fist at the waves when they knocked him down..
This is Jordan and Dillon with the hold that Dillon dug out. Right after I took this, Dillon almost fell in. I think all of them wanted to take the ocean back home with them, they had so much sand on them and in their swimsuits, I thought we would never get them all cleaned up.

Back in July we went to the beach for a couple of weeks, it was so nice to get away from the day to day routine around here and just relax. Our nephew Aaron and his girlfriend came down for a few days. The Franklin Family, Marvin, Pat, Robin, Charlie and Morgan came down one Sunday and spent the day with us. Then Tammy and Chris came down and brought Cody and Dillon (Angie's kids, our Great-Nephews) for the day. My side of the family came down for the day one weekend too. My parents, and my sister & her kids came down for the day and we took all 4 kids to the water park for the day. Lori was so funny, she got out of the car with a bikini. I asked her if she was planning on going down the slides at all, and she said she was... Marty quickly advised her to go buy a one piece. So she did. I think, by the time we came home, Lori and the kids came down 2 or 3 times. I can't believe I only took pictures like 2 days when we were there. I must be losing it.. I didnt take the first picture at the water park, or of Jordan fishing, or anything.. I did get some good pictures of Dillon. He thought he was at the lake the whole time. He is only 4 and has not been to the beach very much so it was fun to watch him run from the waves and get mad when a wave knocked him down. We tried to bury them in the sand, Cody let us bury him, Dillon would not be still long enough. He was to busy digging himself a huge hole (that he almost fell in head first several times) I posted some of my favorites of the trip.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the beginning of a new school year. I was all ready to battle the mornings with them again, but everything went smooth. I had them lay their clothes out Sunday night, woke them up at 6 am. They were ready at 6:15! Dressed and ready to go. They were happy to start their day. Everything went smooth!!! I had planned on taking their pictures to mark this day as another milestone they had passed, but my battery in my digital camera died so there will be no pictures with this post.

Today..........NOT SO SMOOTH.... Apparently the new has already worn off. What happened to my excited little angels that were so eager to learn yesterday? Both of them were grouchy and tired. (Jordan had football camp last night and didnt get home until after 8:30 so he really was tired) I guess I can't say anything today either.. I couldn't get out of bed when the alarm clock went off this morning.

2 days down, only 178 more school mornings......

To have your cake.......

Marty is enjoying the cake that "Ma" made for him.
The cake was beautiful! And just what he wanted!!
Thanks again, Angie and "Ma"

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Marty has been wanting a traditional Pineapple Upside Down Cake since before he had surgery. You know the kind. The round ones with the pineapple rings on top with the cherry in the middle. Well, my good friend Angie, had told him that her grandmother makes THE BEST Pineapple Upside down cake. For about 2 months now, every other time she calls, Marty asks "Where is my cake?" To satisfy his craving, I brought a piece home from the neighborhood store. Nope that is not what he wanted.. He wanted "Ma's" cake. So Angie finally asked "Ma" to make him one.

We went to pick it up today... Marty was excited! It was just what he wanted. His perfect, traditional cake. I took pictures so that he would remember what Angie and Ma had done for him. Kenzie ate a piece and wanted more...

It Is RODEO TIME

It is RODEO time in Byrdtown!

I know....

I woke up this morning and remembered,,, I have a blog and it needs to be updated.

Marty did very well with the surgery. Actually AMAZED me. He was up and walking just hours after coming back to his room. Told the nurse to show him where the door was and he would be ready to go. We knew he had to spend the night, but he was messing with the nurse. Poor thing, everytime she walked in the room, Marty would say something or do something to mess with her. He did so well that we were on our way home at 10 am Saturday morning. I was really excited to walk outside and thaw out.. I almost froze. Marty on the other hand had asked the nurse for a sled.... because he just knew it would start snowing in there any minute. The kids have been wonderful with taking care of Daddy. Kenzie is like a little nurse. She called me last night (I took Jordan to football camp.. but that is another blog) to tell me that Daddy was in the bathroom and she thought he had been in there too long. I see a pattern here because she did the same thing when she stayed with my grandparents last weekend. I told her to knock on the door and make sure he was okay,( which she had already done) and he said he was fine. He was just in the bathroom. She is a little worry-wart..