and the award goes to. . .

We're in Mississippi--again!! We're on one last before-school-starts trip to see Kev. It was a very boring, uninspiring trip down here. . .until we were five minutes from our destination. That's when Kady decided she had to go to the bathroom and SHE COULD NOT WAIT. If you have kids, you know that when kid has to go, you better find a bathroom NOW. We stopped at the first gas station we came to, with Kady assuring me the entire time that she was JUST ABOUT TO GO--NOW!! We took one look at the bathroom, and I freaked. I've seen nasty, but this was radioactive. (Brief synopsis: unisex bathroom with visual filth, dirty mop and mop water in front of toilet, broken-long-ago soap dispenser and sink, mysterious cup sitting next to toilet, etc.) I immediately threatened my daughter within an inch of her life if she touched anything--including the sink. (I asked if she was sure she couldn't wait, and ever the optimist, she said, "um, maybe I can wait," as she danced in place. . .) I held her over the toilet and we did the "hover pee" maneuver that many of us perfected back when gas stations had outside bathrooms with keys the size of a yardstick that you had to go inside and ask for(remember those?). We then found anything we could thing of to try to sanitize our hands, e.g., Germ-X, saniwipes, bleach, mysterious acid found in car. . .The wait is on to see if we caught something contagious. . .If you need to know where the nastiest bathroom in America is, I can show you--well, at least tell you. I'm not ever going back there!

my redneck gripe with the rebels

Hubs is working in Mississippi these days. We visited him this past weekend. My biggest complaint with the grand state of Mississippi? Y'alls bathrooms in your Wal-Marts are backwards. The women's bathroom is on the side that the men's should be on. Yes, you may judge me, but please, please be nice about it. My fragile redneck self can't take too much criticism after the fun (but tiring) weekend we had.

a rare romantic moment

We went canoeing this weekend--more about that later. As the shuttle (an old school bus) was taking us to the river, Kyler turned around and caught Kevin and I stealing a kiss. He asked, "Are you guys having a romantic moment back there or what?!" To which Kev replied, "We haven't had one of those in 9 long years. . ." ; )

he doesn't know me

I hate to shop. OK, a random day at the Christian book store is fun, or maybe an occasional jaunt to Tar-jay. Generally speaking, I'd rather not spend my time shopping, especially if it involves driving large distances. Kev is working in Louisiana--Shreveport to be exact. He's about 8 hours away from us. We haven't seen him for several weeks. I will drive 8 hours to see him on Friday night and then return Sunday afternoon. (Kyler will go with me; Kady will stay with Nana.)

Yep, you read that right. I'm driving 16 hours to spend the weekend with my hubs. It gets better. He works all day Saturday, so that day is out. We'll get to see him Saturday night, but. . .Wait. It gets even better. . .They may work Sunday, too. He won't know until Saturday, and at that point, we'll already be there. . .Kev's response: "Well, come on down, and if I have to work, you can just spend the day shopping or something. . ."

Hello? Have we met? M E N ! ! !

Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

We're back from vacation, and I have to say that vacation rocks. Work, well, it's here. . . : )

Don't tell my hubby, but I took the kiddos to have their pictures professionally made while we were on vacation. For the sneak peek, go HERE. (Scroll down to see big brother, little sister pics.) Didn't she do a fabulous, amazing job?!

More about our vacation exploits later. . .Work beckons.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to the River We Go

Hello, all. I have unenthusiastically joined the world of the working again. . .[blech] I'll do my best to fill you in on all the fun we had on our mini-vacation, but the paying gig might slow things down a bit. (I know you're all on the edge of your seat, so I'll do my best to keep you informed.) : )

Kevin and I have always enjoyed outdoorsy stuff. I grew up on horses. He grew up running wild on the creek near his house. . .and then there's all that hunting and fishing stuff he enjoys. When we started dating in high school, we just kinda fell into floating (literally). It was fun and we both enjoyed it. We'd grab a canoe, an ice chest, a bit of sandwich stuff, and in those days, beer, and head out. The motto was something like, "If you don't tip, it ain't fun."

Things have changed since then. Now, days on the river number 2 on a good year. . .Two days of packing later, we had enough supplies, clothes, and food for the two big people, Kyler, and Kevin's dog, Maddie. (Kady is still too little, so she spent the weekend with MooMoo.) The beer is long gone, and tipping the canoe is no longer fun.

Once upon a time, Kevin had his own canoe. The canoe had an unfortunate run-in with a fence post during a storm, so we were to borrow Kevin's brother's canoe. This is where it gets confusing. Kevin's brother had loaned it to his brother-in-law, who had managed to knock a hole in that canoe. The word we got was that it was patched and ready for us to go get it at the brother-in-law's house, except that when Kevin called, it wasn't. It still had a hole and the brother-in-law wanted to know how early we were coming to get the canoe on Saturday. Um, we needed to be on the river Saturday; we wanted to get the canoe Friday. All that to tell you that we hit the river with the canoe the brother-in-law borrowed from "Heath." We're not sure who Heath is or even if he knew we were borrowing the canoe. Luckily, we didn't sink the canoe, and no sheriff's deputies awaited Kevin when he returned the canoe.

We headed out EARLY Saturday morning looking for a campsite. This family doesn't do early well, but we were excited. All of the campsites on the upper Buffalo are first-come-first-served, so there was no way to reserve a campsite. This had me more than a little nervous. I just knew I would have to load everything back up and carry it home--especially after the first campground was full. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to be very zen-like. I kept telling myself that it would all be ok. God has a plan, and all would work out according to His plan.

We got a campsite. It was the last available site at Erbie. All was well with the world, and God was good. (God IS good, but you get my point.) Anyway, Saturday at 10:30 or so, we finally hit the river. That post is filled with pics (and much shorter) and will (hopefully) appear tomorrow.

gimme a minute. . .or a day. . .

Hello, all. We're back from a wonderful mini-vacation of camping and floating on the Buffalo River for our anniversary. Thank you to everyone who wished us a happy anniversary! It may take me a day or two, but I have pictures and stories to share. (I was never very good at Show and Tell. . .They always expected you to tell only one thing and keep it short. . .) Anyway, I can tell you that a shower has never felt more wonderful or a bed more comfortable, but I'd do it all again if I could. Unfortunately, work beckons. . .[sigh]

As Promised. . .Labor Day Happenings

We went to visit Kev Labor Day weekend. He took Kyler fishing around Heber Springs. Kady and I watched and played on the bank.

Kady managed to entertain herself pretty well. . .(The monkey is, of course, eating a banana!)

It was a very successful day. Kyler caught two trout.

Kev handled the icky stuff. See why I love him? I thought my children were being very reflective. . . Then, I found the FISH HEADS left by the people before us! Overall, it was a wonderful day, and the kids had a blast. Here's my favorite picture.Sorry it took so long to get these up. Ok, the slide show is over. You don't have to look at family pictures anymore. : )

Dreaming of. . .

Warm beaches and sunny skies! I want to go on a cruise. I have for a long time. Unfortunately, Kev is not in agreement. Being stuck on a boat for anything other than fishing is unreasonable, in his opinion. I have made the decision to go. . .in a year of so. If anyone is interested in accompanying me on a 4 or 5 day cruise, let me know. I'm thinking the Caribbean. . .