Tate Farms...a great place for Fall Fun

Abigail LOVED holding the bunnies, especially this little 'wild' bunny who ended up with all the domesticated ones in the bunny pen.
Choosing the right pumpkin is always a challenge, but she ended up with a different one (even larger than this). The rule is....you must be able to carry your own pumpkin to the wagon, and later to your car.
This was Abigail's first time to pick cotton. I don't think she'd want to do this for a living.
Every year we take a photo at this spot to see how she is growing. My camera was not being cooperative and she got impatient...so you'll notice she's not really standing straight and tall:( But, she is currently 4 feet 5 (almost 6) inches according to our doctor at her visit earlier this week. She also weighs 78 pounds. She is above average on her weight and height, but she is more tall than she is heavy (closer to the 90% mark on height and 75% on weight).
Rolling around in the corn bin is always a favorite activity. Even though they are not in these photos, she enjoyed time with several friends. I think we ended up with about 50 people from school. The weather was a bit cool, but it felt very 'fall-ish.' We had a great time!!

Silly girls on Sunday and the fall carnival......

Abigail and her buddy, "M" hung out with each other on Sunday afternoon between the morning service and the carnival. Abigail was a Pikachu (from Pokemon) and "M" was a cheerleader.
P-I-K-A!!!!!
"L" is another of Abigail's buddies. They enjoyed hanging out some at the carnival. "L" was dressed as Kerry St. John, our assoc. pastor.
We thought the Burger King crowns were pretty cool. Both girls worked on perfecting the 'royal wave.'

A great bargain!! :)

Abigail's bathroom is decorated "a la Walmart"....a cute frog theme with greens, yellows, and blues. When I originally decorated, I bought a rug, towels and shower curtain hooks. I had been wanting the garbage can and maybe even the shower curtain that matched, but I just did not want to pay $15 for a small garbage can (I know, I can be really cheap!!). And, I am thinking the matching shower curtain (fabric one) was at least $14.99 or maybe even $19.99.

Well, this afternoon, Abigail and I went back to Klassy Kids' Exchange (a local consignment sale) and found a neat deal. I got the garbage can, two robe hooks, a painting, some frog slip guards and the shower curtain for only $10. Needless to say, I was quite excited:)

Friday Fun and More....

Today is my normal 'weigh in' day. While I don't normally consider that "fun", I was excited by the results...a loss of 2.8 pounds. I have had a loss the last two weeks. Prior to that it would be a small gain, then a small loss and over the long haul I was not making much progress. Since the second week of July, I have lost 18.8pounds in a healthy way, by making good choices. I hope to get to the 20 pound mark next week and hopefully at least stay there thru the holidays, even if I don't lose much more. I will have to work hard to keep it off with all the temptations around:(

I also ran by the doctor's office and got my flu shot. Again, not fun, but with Bruce being sick (and we don't have a diagnosis yet...as he's on his way to the doctor right now), I did not want to delay any longer in getting it. And, even though the nurse gave the shot, I ran into my doctor. She's decided to join our scrapbooking group for a retreat in January, and one of her nurses, also a client of mine may come as well:)

Abigail is at school and I am going to have fun cleaning. I DO actually enjoy cleaning and organizing, but just don't have the time to keep things like I'd like. It is amazing how busy the homeschooling keeps me...and even though I am at home, I cannot do as much housework as I feel I need to do.

Abigail is excited because she has been saving her money including a nice gift from her trip to see Granny and Granddaddy last month. Finally, with today's allowance she has enough to purchase a new game she's been wanting for some time.

Tomorrow is the Alabama and Tennessee game. Bruce and his sister Mary will be watching it on tv together. Mary works for Vanderbilt now, but since it's less than a 2 hour drive, she'll come for a weekend visit and hang out with us tomorrow.

Today's adventures

Today our adventure began at the art museum. We did our schoolwork at home, then headed over for Abigail's drawing class.
Since there are LOTS of ducks directly across from the classroom, we planned ahead and brought a loaf of bread. Abigail named this white duck AFLAC (from the insurance commercials).
She had a great time feeding her new friends (and I did too). At times she got a little nervous because they were pretty aggressive in trying to get the bread from us. I assured her that they would not actually attack her....if only she'd just give them the bread they want, they'd be quite happy.


After our bread ran out, we grabbed a quick bite and headed to a homeschool store in search of some good used books. We hit the jackpot:) Abigail found Old Yeller AND Lassie and I found several biographies on her level as well as the teacher's edition for fourth grade math at a really REALLY good deal.

We got home and have been doing things around here. I cleaned out my freezer and got rid of LOTS of stuff, as I came across a person who had a need and we definitely had excess. I have supper going and will soon be heading out to shop at a children's consignment sale. Hopefully I'll find the denim skirt, black skirt, fleece zip up jacket and star wars costume on Abigail's list:)

a full heart

What a wonderful weekend this was for me!!! I dropped Abigail off at school on Friday morning, then returned home for a few hours before leaving to go to The Lodge At Gunter's Hollow in Fayetteville, TN. This photo was taken there...and while all of the attendees are not pictured, this is probably all but 3 or 4. I had been here before (for a scrapbooking retreat), but when I walked in, I was again amazed and impressed at how nicely Dave and Maureen had built and decorated this beautiful place. It was set up just perfect, and I had checked into my room, had a snack, finished preparing the goody bags and had done a few other things well before the first person arrived.

We had such a wonderful time of fellowship around the craft tables, in the den, at the meal tables, in the prayer groups and during the main sessions. Mrs. Lois did a awesome job of sharing with us what God put on her heart....we were chuckling one moment and crying the next.

The weather was just beautiful and the scenery was magnificent. Even though I ended up with just one roomie (as opposed to three as originally planned before illness and other issues changed our attendee list a few times), she and I did not see too much of each other. She was a late night owl (not in until midnight-ish long after I had gone to sleep) and I was the early bird (awake a little after 5 a.m. and out of the room and upstairs by 6 a.m.), but it was okay. We each enjoyed the fellowship of each other (we did end up at the same table at meal times) and many other ladies while there.

I returned home on Saturday afternoon a bit tired, but enjoyed some time alone (taking care of a few things while Abigail spent time with a friend and Bruce watched the Alabama game), then with my family.

Today at church we celebrated our 109th anniversary. Again, just being reminded of the history of the church and God's faithfulness over the years was SO encouraging. Then, tonight, the Lamb family (four high school to college aged siblings) shared an incredible gift of music with us. Thankfully we could 'bring them home' on CD and we did so. Even Abigail enjoyed the beautiful stringed music they played:)

An update on Bruce

Poor Bruce! This photo shows him with stitches...and thankfully they are gone now. He 'accidentally' lost one last Monday evening while picking at them...the other three were removed by the doctor on Tuesday. The doctor told him to let the area finish healing on its own, but dear Bruce, helped nature along by removing the scab that night. He says, even almost two weeks later that the area is still a little sore. Hopefully he won't have any more accidents.

The Indian Heritage Festival at Burritt Museum

Last Thursday, we enjoyed a great time with several families from our homeschool group. The Indian Heritage Festival was great and SO educational. We'll definitely plan to visit this next year!!
Abigail's first station/center was getting Indian face painting. She chose a fish from a sheet of symbols. It was pretty easy....as it simply means fish..one of the many foods they ate.
Another station was a storytelling/culture area. This Indian lady was quite funny. After telling a story about how the Possum's tail lost its hair, she shared other fun details, then let the children put on masks that were handmade for her by a friend in her tribe.
This photo was made while the kids participated in a circle dance. Abigail really watched Haley, because she picked it up so quickly.

Credit Card Fraud

Well, in spite of the appearance of nothing being wrong with our credit card (see a previous post), we got a phone call and email yesterday from American Express. Evidentally someone made a charge of almost $3000 using our number. The company refused the charge and contacted us. Of course, we did not make the purchase...we were actually in bed at the time it was made. So, we'll have new cards today. I am not sure how our number was leaked, as we are careful to use secure sites.

Lesson learned---keep CLOSE tabs on recent card activity and let the company know immediately if something is not right. Even with checking frequently, this still happened, but thankfully AMEX knew this was not a typical spending pattern for us and they took the initiative to call us and also to get us new card numbers immediately.

Try it, you might like it

I recently signed up for paperbackswap.com thanks to a recommendation from a friend in our homeschool group. It is a free service where you list at least 10 books you are willing to give away. Just for signing up, you get 2 credits. Each credit entitles you to choose a book you'd like to read and in turn that book will be shipped to you.

When someone requests one of your books on the list, you mail it via media mail (the site walks you thru it all and even allows you to print the mailing label complete with postage if you like). You do pay for postage when you mail a book, and I think the average is $2-$3. When the book gets to its destination, you get a credit for that book as well.

You pay nothing for the books that come to you...only for those you ship to others. And, again, that postage is very reasonable I think.

You can even specify things such as the book must not come from a smoking home or must not have markings in it....whatever you choose. I did request non smoking/non cat books due to allergies in our home. So far, so good.

And, the books you get are yours to keep or relist if you choose. So, you can have a 'revolving' door of new to you books if you like.

So, if you have a lots of books you'd like to pass along to others and you'd also like to get some gently used books in return, this is a good way to try things. And, your books don't have to be paperbacks either.

I have enjoyed looking at the lists of book available and choosing which I will try to order next.

If you decide to sign up, and I am the first person to invite you to join, please mention my name. I think I get an extra credit if someone mentions my name:)

Credit Card scare

Credit Card
Originally uploaded by Gizmo_F

Nerdy me....I was checking our credit card postings to make sure all the vacation stuff had shown up before I paid it off. Since our vacation account is at a different bank, and I can only make so many withdrawals without a penalty, I prefer to wait until I am sure I have the amount right.

Well, as I am looking thru the online statement, I see two unfamiliar charges with credits issued from both companies on Wednesday. I called Bruce and asked if either merchant sounded familiar to him and they did not. The dates/times of transactions did not 'mesh' with our schedules and online time and we knew that no one except for the two of us had the needed info to charge our card. And, these merchants were for services/products that we don't use, and actually that are very opposed to our personal beliefs.

I was quite concerned about this possible security issue, and finally after speaking with Susie at our credit card company, I became convinced that our number had been transposed when entered by the merchant. The very experienced customer service person said that the services/merchants appear to be related in her experience, and probably someone got a 'double' subscription deal in getting both. She also assured us that she sees LOTS of fraud daily and this did not look like fraud at all, especially since they credited the amount back to our account. While she was more than willing to treat it as fraud, she felt that it was not necessary. Instead she suggested that we regularly monitor our account, and if another charge happens to show up, they will overnight us a new card.

Since Bruce just returned from business trip and had used the card extensively for that, it's good that we did not cancel the card today as many of his charges such as hotel, rental car...would have bounced back.

I am glad that is taken care of.....sort of scary to think that our number can be entered by a merchant WITHOUT the security code (which helps prevent these types of errors). So, lesson for today....carefully check your statements. Mistakes DO happen.

Frankenstein lives at our house???

Remco Mini-Monster Frankenstein
Originally uploaded by Neato Coolville

On Monday, I was just leaving the house to meet my parents in Scottsboro to pick Abigail up when I got a phone call. I love Bruce dearly (and I know him pretty well too after almost 20 years of marriage) and when he calls with a certain tone in his voice, I know that the news to follow might be a bit 'bad.'

Well, he was at the gym working out around 11:30 (on his lunch break)...and he put a pin into one of arm/upper back machines. The pin did not go in all the way, but he thought nothing of it and starting lifting.

From what I can piece together, the pin popped out on the first lift. The 'handle bar' had a 'lip' on it that extended out a bit. The sudden change of weight made Bruce lose control and the lip hit him in the head. He started bleeding profusely.

He showered first and then the gym manager helped him clean the wound out and bandage it once he was dressed and otherwise clean. He also told Bruce he should probably see a doctor as it looked like stitches might be required.

This is the point at which he called me....so I anxiously waited to hear about when he might see the doctor or if he needed to go to 'urgent care' instead.

The doctor's office reopened at 1:45 p.m., but they could not see him until about 3:30 p.m. Of course, being curious Bruce, he removed the bandage to see what the wound looked like and of course, it started bleeding yet again.

He ended up with four stitches in his head, near the hairline. He did not need a tetanus shot since he'd had one about a year ago.

I relayed the story of the injury to my parents and Abigail....and her first question was, "Will Daddy look like Frankenstein with stitches in his head?" I guess in her mind, that's what you look like when you have a head injury. I had to giggle and tell her that his stitches would be much smaller.

He is doing well now.....still a bit sore, but nothing that tylenol or advil won't take care of. I'll spare you the 'gory' photo, but being the scrapbooker that I am, you can rest assured that his story and a photo of his stitched up wound will make their way into our scrapbook for 2008.

Time to leave

Well the vacation went by so quickly and it was time to check out. Abigail was very eager to help Daddy find the luggage cart...so she could ride on it:) On our way home, we stopped in Athens, TN to visit the Mayfield Dairy. The tour was interesting and of course, we enjoyed a nice bowl of freshly made ice cream before leaving.

Our Fourth day--relaxing for sure.....

POTTY TIME!!!


Our last full day was relaxing. We played a second game of golf after enjoying lunch at Logan's. This time we played the hardest course "the pig" and Laura got THREE holes in one. I am thinking of a career change....maybe the LPGA?????? We spent a LOT of time in the pool and visited a Christian book store and did a few other odds and ends. But mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed each other.

day three

This was taken after our big pancake breakfast at Flapjack's. Can you tell Abigail was full and happy?


This was in front of the putt putt course just before we started our game. This time we played the "cow" course which was supposed to be the easiest one:)

Today we visited the Forbidden Caverns after having a nice breakfast at "Flapjacks." Afterwards, we hit the Old MacDonald's Farm putt putt course for a game of golf. We had another game already paid for, so we decided to enjoy it on the fourth day.

the rest of Day two

After the Aquarium, we enjoyed the Ripley's Mirror Maze. Later that evening we continued another tradition of eating dinner at the Apple Barn Restuarant. As usual the food was tasty and quite plentiful. I just love their Applewood Julep:) The second two photos were taken outside the restaurant. We ended the day by hitting the Tommy Hilfiger outlet since Bruce wanted to look at some shirts. He found two that were really pretty and they were also on sale:)

Ripley's Aquarium on Day Two

Abigail enjoyed using my old digital camera to take lots of photos. The aquarium was really neat.....and going thru the tunnel and seeing the sharks and other critters SO close up was definitely a highlight of the morning.

Vacation--day one

On our first day of vacation, we traveled to the hotel and checked in. After Abigail jumped on the beds a little (quite the tradition...and I have been known to join her), then we went to a favorite place to eat...Calhoun's. Bruce and I discovered it in Knoxville almost 20 years ago, on our honeymoon, so anytime we are near Knoxville, Nashville, Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge we make sure to drop in and enjoy some great food. These photos were taken outside the Pigeon Forge location. This time of the year, the fall decorations are so pretty and they provide lots of great photo opportunities.










We were very blessed to be able to spend several days away as a family. We really enjoyed the Smoky Mountains. It is so beautiful there and such a family friendly place. As usual, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Sevierville. We love that location because it is close to everything and it has a nice indoor pool. Plus with Bruce's work travel, he earns hotel points, so our stay is partially or fully free:)

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and left on Thursday morning. Here are a few photos of things we did while there.

a few more silly quizzes

If you enjoy quizzes, these and many more can be found on blogthings.com


What Color Should my Hair be?

Your Hair Should Be Brown

You are an intelligent, well respected person.
You are very confident. You take yourself seriously, and other people take you seriously too.

You are a good leader, and you can be trusted with someone's life.
You motivate people well, and you command respect easily.

You are competent, successful, and organized. You can't stand chaos.
Some people mistake you for being cold, calculating, or elitist.


Who was I in High School???

You Were the Brainy Kid

In high school, you were acing AP classes or hanging out in the computer lab.

You may have been a bit of a geek back then, but now you're a total success!



What my burger says about me...


You are likely a fairly picky eater. And you're secretly a little squeamish about some foods.

You are a very open eater. You like many types of tastes, and you'll eat just about anything.

You tend to gravitate toward strong, pungent foods. Even if it means having bad breath!

You are straightforward, honest, and ambitious. You tend to be direct about what you want when it comes to food.


Which "religion" should I be?
You Should Follow Christianity

You believe in the Holy Trinity, and that Jesus walked the earth as the son of God.
You also believe that all people sin and that God will forgive you for your sins.

Your relationship with God is very important to you.
You strengthen your faith through prayer, worship, and Bible study.


My Autumn Quiz

Your Autumn Test Results

You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions.

When you are happiest, you are calm. You appreciate tradition and family. You enjoy feeling cozy.

You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different.

You find solitude to be the most comforting thing in the world. Being alone with your thoughts feels very peaceful.

Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine.

You tend to live in the moment. You enjoy whatever is going on, and you don't obsess over the past or future.