So in this post, we will be all caught up. After our trip to Southport, we came home and have been enjoying a great fall. I am not fond of cold weather. I am not fond of cool weather. I am not fond of mild weather. I only like hot weather. So I am a bit sad to see summer go. Don't get me wrong. It is still in the 80s here and will stay that way until some time in November and quite possibly through Christmas. Last year it was great. We had a short period of cool weather then it was mostly mild and warm.
Let me tell you what Mr. Handsome did. When he normally comes home from work, the kids swarm and he heads for the kitchen to eat dinner. On this particular night, I heard the door open, but no swarming kids, and I didn't know where he went. Since I was busy getting supper ready, I didn't notice. A few minutes after he gets home, my phone rings. It is his ringtone so I am starting to wonder a little bit. I answer it and he says, "Honey, can you please come to the bedroom?" He was very serious and stern so I of course think the worst. HE'S BEEN FIRED! So I sprint back there and the bedroom door is LOCKED!! WHAT IS THAT MAN DOING?! So I unlock it. Then I notice the bathroom door is shut. But it is LOCKED too! And I go in the bathroom in a new hysterical panic. He says, "Guess what?" (I don't know because I am too busy WORRYING myself sick!) I said I don't know. He says, "I am taking you to the Dominican Republic for a week in October!!" What did he just say? I couldn't even get excited because I am still recovering from living out of my car and begging for food, my children being taken away by DSS!! I LOVE my husband but sometimes he is just toooo much!! YES! I am VERY excited. Our children are staying with a homeschooling friend who will keep them doing school. Our children LOVE them. I am not saying when we are going because I don't want someone to come and rob our house or something. Although the children will be here with our friend.
On shopping day, we go to SAM's. That is where we do most of our shopping because it is much cheaper than trying to shop at the grocery store. As you can see, they are practically out of milk. Robert was more than happy to climb in the freezer case to get the milk for me.
Waiting to check out.
One Saturday, my dad took us out on the boat. The girl behind Maddie is one of her good friends. We had a great time.
Captain Robert steering the boat. Everytime something caught his eye off to the side of the boat, he would turn the wheel that way!! We were cracking up!
Maddie being attacked by a cactus plant. This was a walk down memory lane. The last time I saw someone get attacked by a cactus plant was when my family went to California. My dad was going to show us how cool he was when we were in Death Valley. He went to grab a cactus and the needles came out into the palm of his hand. He was full of them.
Lindsay braided my hair like her doll Julie, in the background.
Here is Julie's. It looks much better on her.
Our attempt to blow soda out of a bottle with mentos failed miserably. I wasted $7.00. I should have read ALL the instructions on the internet!
The "safe" playground with the unsafe playground equipment. They are about six feet off the ground. Which brings me to our new adventure. Mr. Handsome and I have started running. He is not as diligent as I am but he still runs. I can run two miles now! I never thought I could do that. When I was in high school, my track coach wanted me to be a hurdler so desperately. I was terrible at it. I would run up to the hurdle, stop, climb over it, and then run to the next one. She told me I had to keep going and I looked at her like she was crazy!! I was not going to get myself tangled up in metal. NO. WAY. So I went on to high jump, long jump, and shot put.
Kristine REALLY wanted to get on there. Until she got on there. Ignore the bald head. That's Mr. Handsome. Maddie bought him a bald head comb!! It is so funny. It has two little combs on the ends, it's round, and the middle has no teeth.
Here is our girly girl moment. Hot curlers.
The end result. I am a bit horrified because all I can think is Toddlers and Tiaras!!
Waiting.
And waiting. Just for the record, that was THREE heads of curlers I had to do.
And here we are with rag curls. This was THREE heads too and they loved it! Bea's didn't come out very good because I did her first. But Kristine and Lindsay came out cute.
Kristine isn't quite awake. It's only 7:00 in the morning.
Sometimes my children think I am Martha Stewart (I AM NOT Martha Stewart. I am more like the Cake Boss and Julia Child, thank you!) and I can do anything. So for their birthdays, I have decided I don't like wasting money on store bought cakes when I can make them cheaper. Oh yes, this cake WAS cheaper but took me a day and a half to make. She wanted a four layer tiered cake with chocolate fondant (I made chocoalte marshmallow fondant) and marshmallow fondant decorations. Here is the end result. The chocolate fondant didn't turn out so great.
Lindsay invited her best friend to her party. Her Mom is one of my sister-friends and she can make cakes that rival Cake Boss. NOT kidding! But I was thankful that Megan really liked Lindsay's cake. It was good. It was a layer of devils food cake and brown sugar poundcake.
Here is Lindsay with one of her friends. They celebrate the same birthdays so they had to sit together during the church service.
The big event after Lindsay's birthday was John's surgery. He had a tube put in to help clean out his bowels and colon. He is doing great. My Mom was so anxious about the whole matter, she took us to IHOP. Rachel is to the left of Robert.
Here we are in Chapel Hill, NC to see John. We are on a trip to see Taylor's family and it coincided with John's surgery so we went to see him.
Here he is!
I think he is loved!
He is hiding his cotton candy from another little boy on his floor. The boy kept following him around asking for some!
John was discharged from the hospital the same time we came to visit so we got to help him leave.
After John's visit, we headed to Seven Lakes, to spend the afternoon and evening with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. It's not everyday some says, "Sure, all SEVEN of you can come stay with us!" They were so gracious and we had such a terrific time. This photo is Lily, our niece, when she realizes it's us. She had no idea we were coming. Robert and Lindsay walked through the door, and she said, "Oh, Hey! OH! HEY!! HEY!!! HEY!! YOU"RE HERE YOU"RE HERE!!!" We got such a kick out of it.
And of course, Lils, as I call her, wanted her hair rag curled. She saw the photos on facebook. I didn't get a picture of her hair done up though. I wish I had. She looked so pretty.
Here we are at my inlaws' church waiting to surprise my mother-in-law. She received a lifetime achievement award for the Presbyterian Women of the Church. As you can see we are right up to the front before she realizes we are there. The hiding part was the funniest. Where do you put seven people, five of whom are over excited grandchildren, in a tiny church where everyone knows everything about everybody?!! Well, my sister-in-law did a great job. She gave a wonderful speech and Judy was very excited to be honored.
Grandma drying Kristinie the Great's hair.
The next day we headed to Charlotte. The children have never seen such tall buildlings. Or they don't remember seeing them. And they weren't all that tall! HA HA!
We went to the Discovery Place. It was a lot of fun for everyone but I think my inlaws were worn out.
The next day we went to Aunt Jan and Uncle Art's stand and had ice cream. Their ice cream is probably some of the best I've ever had.
We also walked around the Page House. This is where Mr. Handsome spent the first nine years of his life.
The whole house.
Mr. Handsome and his mom.
We stopped at Aunt Martha's to see her rabbits.
And her dogs.
Here we are at the house where my father-in-law was born.
Here is the side. The rest of it is falling down.
And here is my father-in-laws' grandpas' house.
I can't remember what we were doing here. Obviously we are eating. We were having some church function.
Kristinie the Great throwing a temper tantrum.
Maddie's Pet Rocks Galore store! She is making and selling pet rocks and giving half of her profit to feed poor people.
The man in this photo is Ricky Meeks. He is a celebrity in town. He rides all over on the bus system and everyone who's been in town a few years knows him. He is a bit handicapped but not so much that he needs help getting around. Just prior to this he was directing traffic out of the Rite-Aid!
Here is Kristine the Great's birthday present. She will be four on Monday. It is a gymnastics mat. I decided to make her one. It is not easy to hide, by the way.
