THE BIG 4-0

I survived, actually loved every minute, of turning the big 4-0! Yes, I am 40, FORTY, 4x10, 5x8...And proud of it. Why?

Well, since January, I've been working to look like a Fabulous at 40! Rusty took me shopping for my birthday and it, lets just say, exceeded my expectations. I have surpassed (or underpassed) my goal clothing size and my goal waist. Woohoo!

A few days before my birthday, a friend advertised concert tickets to....(drum roll)...EAGLES! Whom I LOVE! I've been to one concert (David Lee Roth) in my entire life and I've not really hankered to spend the money to go to another. But I've thought, "If I were to go to a concert, I would want to go to the Eagles." They are classic. So another dream come true...Eagles at Piedmont Park. Yes there were LOT of older fans because they have been around F-o-r-e-v-e-r, but they are soooo good. As they were singing and talking about a couple of songs, I realized how fitting it was to be at this concert. The Eagles have been making music my ENTIRE life. Rusty wasn't anxious because of the age groupies, but he was more than supportive. We had a great time, which brings me to my next loving every minute of it birthday...

Rusty! We took the weekend off (from kids) for our celebratory birthdays (his is 6 days later). We have dear friends who helped us pull this off (thanks Nick & Laura). I just LOVE spending time with Rusty! We laugh lots, talk, and are best friends. We LOVE our kids. They are great, amazing, fun, and enrich our lives tremendously. However, we are preparing them to, ultimately, find a wonderful person and leave us. What will remain will be just Rusty and I. So we invest in us. Some may think we invest too much, but we truly adore one another. ;)

Wee Bit behind

with featuring our latest birthday boy, Asa! He's still so fun, 9 years later! He had a great birthday hauling in with some electronic snapits, skateboard, and of course some moolah. He wants to spend it on books. Who's kid is this? A first in our family that he is so excited to buy books at the book fair. He recently had the opportunity to go in an airplane ride because he had all As. He couldn't stop talking about it. Then last night, he had his 3rd grade annual performance, of which, he had a solo part. It was a line from Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious and He did AWESOME!

FAVORITEST DAY OF THE YEAR

Second to Christmas...We LOVE INPO's (Rusty's Employer) Family Fun day!

This year: Stone Mountain Park! We hadn't been in years (Asa and Ivy don't remember it AT ALL). So our first item of business was the Sky Hike. You're never too old to "wait your turn." Air Asa 36 Feet Up
We were there for hours (more than half the time). Ivy gettin' cooled off while waiting for the sky hikers.
Lots of waiting, but it was still fun! Next...Sky Ride! Aaaawww Shucks! The wonderful overcast, cloudy, slightly rainy, some thunder, some lightening day all of sudden became our nemesis. Sky Ride was off limits when there is lightening within 20 miles. "Hey kids, lets go putt putt and hold a metal wedge"...lol...After we cool down with a 20 minute synopsis of Journey to the Center of the Earth in 4D! One of the better 4D experiences, but a bit too wet.
Rett did a little experiment...smooshed a penny on the train track.
Nooowwwww to go play with those lightening conductors....then dinner, bounce house, relays, AND Asa doin' the hula contest! Shea in line at the relay
Oh what family fun! Thank You Institute of Nuclear Power Operations!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2010-2011

This was not a day I was looking forward to because:
1. I love to 'play' (hike, swim...) with my kids.
2. I don't like homework...for me. :)
3. I have a Freshman and I know it'll be just a time warp before he's off on his mission, college, etc. Asa (3rd), Shea (6th), Rett (9th)
4. My baby, Ivy, goes to Kindergarten Ivy & her friend, EmaLee, off to find B Hall.
Back Home! Kindergarten is exhausting for student...and mom!
5. Summer went by too fast. That's the downside of having a great school schedule. I do love our school schedule because we get a week at a time off (besides spring break). We get a weeklong fall break in September, a weeklong winter break in February, and the entire week of Thanksgiving off. It makes the summer short but helps planning trips.

After a few days of mourning, I'm optimistic about the future. I'll be more independent, explore new hobbies, further delve into pre-existing endeavors, reclaim my home (hopefully). ;)

DISNEY! AND THEN SOME

For our Family Summer Vacation this year, we combined it with a wedding and took the crew to DisneyWorld + the beach + Ripley's Believe it or Not +++ All culmunating in a fun filled Vacation! Buried Boy @ Cocoa Beach!
Our first character: Lilo! Ivy's first roller coaster with Rett. Mateys waitin' to meet Jack Sparrow! Ivy gettin' cooled on a smeltering day at Disney! Asa & Mom still smilin' at the end of a long, hot, fun day!

Asa summed it up best when he said 2 of his 3 summer favorites were 1. Wedding Dinner in Orlando and 2. Disney!

BOSTON!

Rusty and I have been dreaming of the day we could run away to Boston! Our dream came true and we had an amazing time!
We love mass transit ie. Subways. Did you know Boston had THE first rail system? They now affectionately refer to it as the "T". So that was our main mode of transportation along with our own two feet. We were able to fully ingest Boston to the T.

Day 1: We did the Freedom Trail which showcases 17 landmarks of the Revolutionary period of our great nation.

Kathleen at the site of the Boston Massacre. A good bit has changed since 1770.
Day 2: Mapparium, Govenor Brewer Protest, Anthony's at Pier 4 with good friends, The Kelleys, from GA

Day 3: More park strolling, Cheers, Mike's Bakery, Chinatown
Nobody knew my name. :)
Day 4: We moved up to Cambridge, AWESOME lunch at Tavern in the Square, rented a car, drove up the coast to Salem/Marblehead, Boston Temple.

Rusty at Red's Sandwich Shop. They said they've been operating since the revolutionary period.
Kathleen at Salem's Witch Memorial

Rusty at Marblehead

Great Memories!

"SUPER BELLY" comes 2 LifE!

As a baby, Asa was a FatTee!

So Rusty invented a fiction character to portray our li'l Chunk 'O Wunk and affectionately called him "Super Belly!" Rusty went as far as to tell bedtime stories about Super Belly. The children would always end up erupting into laughter and left to wanting more.

...Fast forward to today...After being away from his 4 beautiful babes for over a week, Rusty just wanted to spend the day as a family. I wasn't feeling well, it was rainy, and Rusty +4 was left with what to do? They opted to use our recently reinstated Y membership to go see if they would be allowed to swim (with the rain). Score! They spent a few hours at the outdoor pool.

Ivy worked extra hard on her swimming (thanks to Dad), Rett found someone to hang out with, and Shea & Asa decided to take advantage of the diving board to do some tricks. First, front flips. Check! The life guard turned to Rusty and told him he'd buy Asa a soda if he'd do a belly flop. Rusty told him, "Asa would do it." Rusty didn't get a chance to relay the message to Asa. Second go round, Asa stepped up to the diving board and went for it! A beautiful, perfect 10, Belly Flop! As some of you may know, Asa gets attention wherever he goes. Today was no exception. There were applause throughout the pool area. It was so inspiring, the lifegaurd came down from his chair and had to do his own, belly flop! That's our Super Belly!