And life continues...

Our next stop for some Spring Break fun was Stone Mountain Park! This Southern jewel is minutes from my parents house and was part of my old stompin' grounds back in the 80's! The kids and I headed that way with some friends and had a great day!

We took in a 4D movie, played some miniature golf, rode a tram to the top of the mountain, climbed our way down and finished the day with a ropes course! (And were the kids pooped out?!?!? Never!!! I'm still searching for the activity that will do that!)

Here are some pics:




After our day of fun, we got to finish it off with a yummy dinner at my parents house! (My birthday request -- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, lima beans and cornbread!)

The finale of the week was our Christmas celebration with our friends - The Schusters! Unintentionally, we've begun the tradition of celebrating our holidays about 3 months too late. (Two busy families and illnesses pushes family gatherings further along the calendar!) But when we're able to get together, it's always a FUN time!

Do you think they like each other?

Complete with Christmas napkins!
Present time!!!!

***********
On a different note:

Today, I wrote the last check that I will ever write to a preschool. I'm so confused on whether I'm to be happy or sad?!?!? My heart floats between both! I've been so blessed to be able to put both Sam and Lily through an incredible program; so I'm happy about that! We now get to put the monthly amount into savings; so I'm happy about that! But it means that my little girl is GROWING UP!!!


First day of preschool!

Ready for her final Spring Sing concert!

Emotionally torn~
Laurie

Spring has Sprung!

Aaaa-choo! Do you hear me? Aaaa-choo! Can you feel my pain? Yep, Spring has sprung and my allergies are whacked out! But can that slow us down? By no means!

We have been going full speed ahead for the last month and I have a feeling that it's going to continue until school is out in a month! Let's see where I left off:

Sam kicked off his Spring Break with a "recorder concert" at school. And believe me, "Hot Crossed Buns" has never sounded better!



After the big concert, we headed to Chattanooga for a little fun. John and I love driving around on the back roads and taking in the beauty of the countryside. Here are some pictures from an area called McLemore Cove.

I just love this white barn against the blue sky!

And this was part of an ingenious locking system at the barn! :-)

One of my favorite farms...we can see this from atop the mountain looking off of John's sister's deck!

And this guy really wanted me to rub on him! John was forced to pull over and let me out of the car to do so!

John's family gathered at Janet's cabin to celebrate our birthdays! Not sure why I didn't take any pictures...I guess we were having too much fun! But on my birthday morning, we all ventured over to Cloudland Canyon State Park and hiked!


What a perfect way to kick off my 42nd (gulp!) year of life! We took on the 600 stairs like nobody's business! Yep - 600 down, 600 up! I think it was the beautiful scenery that got us through it all!



I know what made me get my tail out of there....

John knew that this was a harmless critter, so the kids were safe; but I still stayed away!

And I never knew that one could look so cute with a slithering reptile, but Lily pulled it off!

Well, that's my first installment in getting caught up on my blogging! I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter and felt the miracle of the holiday!

To be continued~
Laurie

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger

"I'll be Bock"!

For the last week my computer has looked like this....



Yep, I got one of those stupid viruses. All because I was searching around for a new hairstyle. WARNING - don't "Google" multiple celebrities and click on the various sites -- you will be attacked! But, my wonderfully smart and attractive husband worked his magic and cleaned it all up! Believe me, when he said all of my pictures and documents were gone...I almost threw up right then and there! Actually, I'm a little nauseated thinking about it. (We do backup my files periodically, but still, I was sick!)

Anyhoo, I guess you won't see me looking like Sandra Bullock or Meg Ryan any time soon. Or I guess I need to buck up and buy one of those hairstyle magazine and get even more confused.

But, "I'm bock" and I'll be blogging again soon!

Relieved~
Laurie

Getting ready for Easter!

Oh gosh...which one, which one?!?!?



In my Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it~
Laurie

Pink is the "New Black"!

I don't know if that's the case on the runways of New York, but it is the case in my yard anyway!

The best thing about Spring at my house is that no matter which window I look out there are beautiful blooms galore! So, I'm thinking that for this Spring, my yard believes that "Pink is the New Black!"




And Lily, being the fashionista that she is....

got in on the trend as well! Pink little piggies!


“Pink is the color of romance and a friend tells me that the girl with the pink dress at the party is the one who is selected for each dance” ~Alfred Carl Hottes


In the pink~
Laurie

Back in Business

O.K., well I guess my post-vacation depression has faded and I realize that I have no choice but to be back in business. (We got home from our flight from Costa Rica at 12:30 a.m and I was back in "mommy mode" at 6:00 a.m. to get Sam off to school. Boo-yah!)

These past couple of weeks have been filled with a lot of activities and fun. Last weekend, John and Sam had an incredible Cub Scout activity - they went to Charleston, SC and spent the night on the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier. Yep, they slept with 80 other individuals in the berth of a WWII aircraft carrier; yep, the bunk beds were stacked four high with about 2 feet of head space in between and yep, there was a very loud snoring dad who kept everyone awake...... But, besides that, John and Sam had an awesome time!




*Like a can of sardines!!!
*Sunrise on the Yorktown. They played reveille at 6:00 a.m.!

The girls (Lily and myself) journeyed West to AL and spent the weekend with my parents. On Friday, I had an extra, unplanned treat! A neighbor had told me about a museum that isn't far from my parents house and the great exhibits that they have. So, I journeyed over to the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art near the Auburn campus and spent some quiet time to myself!

They have a permanent exhibit with some of John James Audubon's engravings from the 1800's. (You know... the Audubon Society is named after him?) Beautiful!
There was exhibit with etchings by Edvard Munch. The artist that did this...
But the highlight of my day was the Howard Finster exhibit! (It ended the next day -- I was so lucky!) I love folk art and he played an incredible role in this genre. He became a preacher at 16, said God spoke to him to "paint sacred art" and painted his pieces with a message; either with scripture or his own personal religious beliefs. There were probably 125+ pieces of his work...all I can say is that I was in awe for over an hour!

Who doesn't love an old man with a banjo?!?!? (As long as it's not the movie "Deliverance", right!)



**If you click on the images, maybe you can read the text in the paintings.

The rest of the weekend was full of relaxing and family time! Such a blast!

Lily got lots of Nana and Poppy cuddles!
I did an impromptu photo shoot with Ms. Lil.

Mom and I had our own photo shoot out in the woods!


This week has been all about Sam and his accomplishments! On Tuesday, "Mr. Blondie" crossed-over from Cub Scouts to Webelos. He has worked hard at his achievements and really enjoys the time with the guys!

On Wednesday, Sam moved up in rank from "yellow belt" to "orange belt" in karate. Again, he loves his times with these friends (believe it or not, about 50/50 boys and girls) and his instructors are great mentors to the kids.
Tomorrow, Lily starts gymnastics and she is so excited! I feel bad, because so much of our schedule is just dragging her around to Sam's activities, so I'm very glad that this will be a special time allotted to her! Pics to come...

Back in the saddle again~
Laurie

Pura Vida!

I signed off my last post with the term "Pura Vida". This has been a slogan that John and I have kind of adopted as a reminder to keep us grounded, real and "not to sweat the small stuff". We learned this on our first trip to Cost Rica and it just struck us as a perfect way of life. It is defined as --

"Costa Ricans use this phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike."

And did we ever have 5 days of "Pura Vida" on our trip!

(This post is going to have a lot of pics...so beware!)

The Beauty:

Tropical flowers galore!!!
The shade of these beautiful trees!

Walking along pathways decorated by God's artistic hand!

Breathtaking!


And breathtaking!


The Adventure:

Ready to "zip" through the trees!

Hanging with the monkeys!


John zipping! (no pics of me, darn it!)

Soaking in the hot springs which are warmed by the local volcanoes!

A little horseback riding!


The Fun:

We had a creative towel sculpture waiting in our room every night!

John and I ventured into Playa del Coco a few nights for dinner!

Some locals greeted us as we shopped in Playa del Coco! (with baby on back)

Meet Carlos - he was our cab driver throughout the trip and so, so sweet. It's amazing the conversation that can be had between someone who speaks very little English and a couple who speak very little Spanish. He was very prompt, trustworthy and happy! Carlos escorted us around for three days. And by the night of Day 1...we were on hugging terms. (What can I say?!?! I'm a hugger!!!) When Carlos took us to the airport to go home, he smiled and said "You especial family! You happy! Muy especial!" and he touched his heart. (And we hugged!) Ah.....no words.....

***You can count on this - I will learn Spanish. We will be returning to Costa Rica and I will speak their native language when we do!

Us:
I love this picture! It's us! (Not Carlos and me; John and me! Ha!) Side by side, ready for fun, ready for adventure...together!

Truly Pura Vida~
Laurie