2012: week 52

The story of Santa as the hero, again.

Several years ago, Carly got something from Santa-

I can't remember what it was now.

When she opened it,

she said,

"I KNOW this is from Santa,

because mama would NEVER

buy me this".

 

This year "Santa" brought a phone.

It might be the best purchase ever

or possibly the worst -

a little time will tell.

2012: week 51

 

We had a good Christmas at the Lake House.

The whole crew was there.

We took a good group picture but

what fun is that.

So here is the "be silly" one.



2012: week 50

 

MamMam and G'Daddy got to come to Hattiesburg

and see 2 more basketball games.

Carly had a couple of good games.
I think they are starting to play together better

and they won their first game.



2012: week 49

Basketball season started.

Carly played her first game on Saturday.

She is #31 again.

Sports have really helped Carly settle into school.

Teammates make good friends.

Basketball teammates were some of her best friends at SBEC

and I can see that happening again at PCS.

It will just take time.

 



2012: week 48

 

The picture was taken.

The card was chosen.

The order placed.

Address labels were ordered.

Envelopes were addressed.

Notes were written.

Stamps were added.

They were dropped in the mailbox,

and now are on their way to you.

 

(IF I could find your address

because my Christmas binder

with the address list

is packed in the mini storage 

and I CAN NOT GET TO IT-

that is all I have to say about that!)



2012: week 47

 

Hard to believe that it is Thanksgiving.

We had a week full of family fun.

We went to the Lake House and

then Carly got to spend a few days in Silver City.

 

We didn't return to Silver City on Thanksgiving Day

because Kenny and I were both sick.

I spent Thanksgiving on the couch with a blanket

watching the parade by myself.

It is the first time that Carly and I have not watched the parade together.

And now that I think about it, it might be the first time

that I haven't watched it in Silver City.

 

This year seems to be upside down.

I am ready for things to settle down and

return to some mundane normalcy.

I kinda like tradition.



2012: week 46

 

 

I started working on Carly's Christmas presents

for the family - the family calendar.

I spent lots of time looking through a years worth of pictures

to find the best ones to choose from.

Sometimes there are too many to choose from

and sometimes there are not enough.

There are always plenty of Carly

(imagine that)

but some of the adults in the family

must hide when they see my camera!

 

Here is one of my favorites

that somehow didn't make the blog??

 



2012: Week 45

I had a birthday a few weeks ago.

I told my mom and Celeste that I wanted food for the freezer.

Mom showed up on my birthday with ground deer meat, pecans,

and the most awesome pan of meatloaf and gravy

(my traditional birthday meal).

 

This week Celeste passed through Hattiesburg.

It was the first time I had seen her since my birthday.

She filled the freezer with

 red sauce, meatballs and homemade ravioli.

 

What better presents could you ask for?

 



2012: week 44

Carly showing Nonna one of her new favorite activities

surfing on Pinterest.

There was lots of talk about braided hair,

painted nails, and even some recipes.

2012: week 43

We had a busy week around here.

Carly had a tennis lesson,

I worked a little,

Kenny worked a lot.

 

Carly went to the Fair with a friend,

I made treats for the Fall Festival treat shop,

Kenny played in a golf tournament.

 

Carly and I had a little photo shoot,

Kenny prayed that we didn't kill each other.

{above is a preview of photos

about 90% have silly faces and peace signs}

 

Carly started a 7th grade girls Bible study,

I edited the other 10% of photos

{I guess I should be glad they all weren't keepers},

Kenny started planning for opening of hunting season.

 

Carly spent the night with a friend,

Kenny yelled at the TV 

{trying to change the outcome of the Bulldog's game},

I left the room and took a long bath.

 



2012: week 42

 

 

Proud of hard work and

fabulous 1st 9 weeks grades!

 

Carly told me that her math teacher announced {out loud}

that she was the only one in her class that had completed the extra credit project. 

With a smile, she told me, "I felt like such a nerd".

 

I told her that no one ever regrets working hard

and accomplishing their goals.

And besides, there are many happy, successful nerds out there!

Kenny told her that being a nerd would lead her to good grades,

college scholarships, a great job, and she could buy a fabulous car.

A car?? that is such a guy thing!

 

[No grade in language rotation because it is 3 sections of 12 weeks.

Carly is getting close to finishing French.

Her 2nd 12 weeks, she has Latin.]

 

 

 

 

2012: week 41

Last weekend Carly went on a Fall Retreat

with her church youth group.

 

They left at lunch on Saturday

and returned about 8pm on Sunday.

That is probably about all the adults could handle!

They went a few miles north to

the Okatoma River.



They picked the coolest weekend we have had this fall.

The highs Sunday were in the low 60's.

I'm sure in the shade and on the water it was much colder.

Then throw in being wet from falling in a couple of times.

Carly said "it is the COLDEST that I have ever been!" 

I don't think it dampened the fun.

Carly had a great time.

 

It was Carly's first time to kayak.

She said she liked it better than her

experiences with canoeing.

 

 



pictures swiped from J Nelson

Youth Minister





wordless wednesday :: sunnin'







2012: week 40

It is Homecoming Week!

This was our first Homecoming in high school

which means dress up days.

 

It is a little like a week full of Halloween

but with an opinionated tween

instead of an easy-going toddler.

 

Monday was Patriotic Day.

It was fun to see everyone dressed in red,white and blue.

Carly found a 99 cent Old Navy shirt at Dirt Cheep

and finally some coordinating PJ pants.

{She decided she preferred PJs

over her school uniform.}

And don't miss those coordinating nails!

Carly took a couple pictures each day with her iPod

so I got to get a glimpse of the fun.

This is her pre-algebra class.

It was good to see that all the girls had dressed up.



Tuesday was Character Day.

Carly and a couple of friends decided

{at school} to be power rangers.

Goodness! It was much more difficult

than it needed to be to get that pulled together.

The back of her shirt said "Power Rangers".

I wish I had a group shot with the red and yellow Power Ranger.



Wednesday was Cowboy and Indian Day.

Carly and her friend Miss L decided to be Indians.

They got together after school and made their shirts,

and then sent countless pictures, texts, emails, and face time

to make sure it was just right.

 

But I'll have to say that the end product is precious.

Check out that headband that Kenny and I made.

Oh! and I french braided pigtails.  That was a first.

Nothing like learning a new skill at 6:00am.



 

Next came Throwback Thursday.

We went with the 80's-

neon, splatter paint, converse, big hair, headband

and yes those are sequined shorts.

 

 

Friday was Spirit Day.

It was a half day that included a pep rally.

I said a prayer for the teachers.

I hope they didn't plan to accomplish anything.

After school, the softball team rode in the Homecoming Parade.

 It was a fun week. 

Here is Carly with her friend whose name is Carly also.

When I was taking their picture,

I said "Smile Carly squared"

One of the other girls said,

"That's Carly x 2, ha! I get it"

Too funny!

 

To top the week off, a friend

to go to the ballgame with

and to sleep over.

wordless wednesday :: cousins

2012 : week 39

 

The final day of softball this year.

It was a long day but lots of fun with new friends.

There was softball

and lots of waiting around for more softball.

 

We played the first game of the day

and the last game of the day.

It was a long day at the park!

We might not have won all the games

but we were really good at tailgating.

 

 

 

And to top the day off,

Carly had her best hit of the season

at her last at bat.

A good day to end the season and

make us want to come back for more!

 

2012 : week 38

Carly played softball at Jackson Prep this week

and it turned into a mini family reunion.



 Celeste, Denise, Beege, Libba and Woody made it.

JC had karate.  We missed seeing you JC!

I asked Carly did she feel special.

She said "yeah, REALLY special".

 



Grandaddy made it.

 

 

MamMam and Aunt Kacey made it too.

Missed Uncle Rocky.

Carly said he probably wouldn't enjoy a ballgame.

So one day, we will have to get him to one.



2012 : week 37

 

 

 

Last week we joined Heritage United Methodist Church.

We are settling in and getting involved.

Carly is making friends and participating in Youth.

Sunday, she helped with children's church. 

The youth director sent me this photo

of them "cleaning up".



wordless wednesday :: birthday

2012 : week 36

At the beginning of the summer, Carly was aggravated that I told her it was bed time.

I can't remember what time it was.  It doesn't matter.

It was just the thought that it was summer, and I had the audacity to send her to bed.

She responded that this was going to be the worst summer ever.

Going to bed might have spurred the comment,

 but it probably had more to do with the move.

 

The next day, after a good night sleep, I asked her to come up with a bucket list

of things that she wanted to do this summer that would make it fun.

Besides going back to Hernando, she couldn't come up with a list.

So, I decided that when we did something during the summer

that she seemed to enjoy or asked to do again,

I wrote it on a card and hung on her door.

 

There are bigger things like going to the beach,

4th of July family weekend in Clarksdale, and

a trip to Hernando,

but there are also tons of small things

like swimming, eating watermelon, playing tennis.

I wish I had been better at documenting the small stuff,

but overall a great look at summer!



2012 : week 35

1st half of week 35 was full of softball

including a road trip to Madison to play the Jackson Victors.

We were glad MamMam and Grandaddy made the trip

and got to watch a little ball. 

 

2nd half of week 35 was dominated by Hurricane Isaac.

Since we moved to the southern part of Mississippi,

we are about 70 miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast

and 100 miles from New Orleans.

Close enough that hurricanes headed into the Gulf gets your attention

especially on the 7th anniversary of another little hurricane called Katrina

 

We stocked our pantry with supplies,

bought a weather radio (that I wanted to shoot before this was over),

filled our cars with gas,

stocked up on water and batteries,

moved the patio furniture inside.

We were as ready as we could be,

but thankfully all we got was steady wind and rain for 3 days!

Carly got 2 days off from school,

and we all had cabin fever before it was over.



2012 : week 34

We took a trip to New Orleans

to celebrate Back-to-School.

We were all ready for a little weekend away.

We saw a Saints game
which was lots of fun!

.

 
 

We did a little site seeing in the rain

listened to some music

did a little shopping

and ate WAY too much!

It was raining so much that
I left my camera in the hotel room a couple times.
Don't you know, as soon as you do that is when you want it!

Breakfast.....
Bloody Marys from Corner Bar and beignets from Cafe' du Monde

wordless wednesday :: royal