Beach time.....

At the beginning of October, we were able to go to Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days for a wedding, but also for a mini vacation. We have already decided to plan for another trip there next year around fall break time, if at all possible.

Because the wedding was associated with someone from our church, there were others from our church there, including a family which includes one of Abigail's buddies. So, she enjoyed playing with her buddy some while there. We enjoyed the condo stay...just having some extra space and the kitchen well stocked was wonderful and unexpected (we have never stayed in a condo before.)...me after getting up from being knocked over by a wave....swimwsuit/coverup and all...we all thought it was funny :)
...taken after dinner at the first place we ate....it was a great place to eat.....
....Abigail 'netting' for shells.....she collected a lot which we have displayed in a neat glass vase in one of our bathrooms at home.....
..riding on the luggage cart....she always has to do this....
...Abigail and her buddy MacKenzie on the beach just before the wedding started....
..the living room of our condo.....
...Bruce in front of our condo...the Phoenix V...
....Bruce and Abigail on the beach just after sunset...
...our family at the wedding.....

...Abigail on the beach our last morning there...she had been shell hunting one last time :)

We have a winner......

Today, Abigail won the "best overall" costume at school. She was dressed up as a "Twister game board." She also got an honorable mention in the craft contest for her decorated pumpkin. A friend who teaches third grade gave us the plywood pumpkin...already painted. She decorated it with a sharpie :) I took this photo just as we were leaving school today....so she is wearing 'normal' clothing under her costume. She has her backpack on and her craft and prize in hand..so it's hard to tell exactly how she looked at the time of the judging. I'll post her really dressed up photo after I take it tomorrow. She plans to go to Publix (they do a special event for the community tomorrow) and then we'll go to her school for a trunk or treat event afterwards. Hopefully the rain will hold off :)

Ugh....

I realize I have not posted in a while....not because we have not had lots going on, but because I have felt like "ugh." I think I have been battling something for almost two weeks really.....at least a full week and a half for sure. Taking OIL OF OREGANO capsules really helped, but towards the end of the week, something extra in the air just sent me over the edge. I woke up Saturday morning with a very sore throat and feeling like a truck had run over me. Just in case it was the flu or strep, I went to a walk in clinic to be tested for both. (wanted to get on that tamiflu/antibiotics ASAP if needed)

Thankfully both tests were negative...just sinus crud...not even an infection....just lots of congestion.....so I am taking extra oil of oregano, some vitamin C, some mucinex D and trying to rest as much as I can between my normal activities. (But, do moms ever really get to rest?? LOL?)

I will try to post some beach photos soon, as we did have a good time there at the end of fall break, and I also have some awesome botanical garden scarecrow trail photos.

In the meantime, please pray that I'll get over this "ugh" soon. I would surely appreciate it :)

Midnight....our newest family member

We certainly did not MEAN to get a cat!! But, he came to us....TWICE and we could not say no.

He first showed up in our neighborhood about three weeks ago. One young man said he thought he might have been left behind by a family who moved away. We don't know that for sure, but he seems awfully friendly and well cared for. We saw him on the street just south of ours, going into our friends' garages, using their cats' food and water bowls and even using litter boxes if available. He then made his way to our street and made himself at home in our next door neighbor's cat's food/water bowl, but wandered over here and meow-ed like he was starving. Me, being such a sucker for strays, fed him tuna. And, he returned the next evening, and I fed him again. So, Bruce said, if he was indeed a stray, we could at least feed him. As soon as he said the words, Abigail was thrilled, but alas, Midnight seemed to vanish.

Almost a week passed, and we saw no sign of him. We kept his bowl out with dried food and water for him and had a collar for him should he return to us. Later we learned he 'lived' at three other houses one street north of us before coming back. At the third house, the people carried him in arms and started walking around until they got here. He jumped from their arms and ran to Abigail who happened to be in the front yard, then ran to his bowl. We put on his collar and brought him inside. Until he has his shots and is fixed, he'll definitely be an inside cat. Once he's grown, we may let him go out some if he likes....we'll see.

He's probably about 4 months old (my guess, but the vet will probably have a better guess when he sees him on Tuesday). He's friendly, curious and well behaved. He already knows how to use a litter box and seems to be healthy and have a good temperament. He is very scared of dogs...but loves to be held and petted. His purr is quite loud and he meows a lot.....he loves to "talk." He makes us laugh...just watching him explore his 'world' is funny.

...exploring the laundry room....
..exploring Princess's kennel where she sleeps each night....
..just looking at me as I take his photo....

...being held by Abigail which he does not mind one bit.....

..and last but not least....game night...

The last of our ten birthday events was to choose ten games (she only chose one...a new game she got for her birthday called "Trouble") and we'd play as many as we could. I remember having this game and playing it as a kid. Grandma also has it at her house and Abigail plays it with her cousins there, so she requested it for her birthday. We had a lot of fun :) Abigail asked me to hold up my game piece since I eventually won. (which is a story in and of itself since it took me between 10 and 15 tries to even leave the starting block--LOL!)

the ninth part of the birthday special...opening 10 gifts....

We thought it would be neat, if Abigail could open ten gifts. Now, we don't 'spoil' her, so keep in mind, some of the gifts were very inexpensive like a little journal to write in or a deluxe box of crayons she had asked for. Each item was wrapped separately. I think the total spent on gifts was about $100 or maybe a bit less, which is a typical budget...but it seemed like more to her because she opened ten gifts :)

..the eighth treat of the birthday...a special dinner

For our special dinner, we used our fine china and crystal (which never gets used) and had a candle light dinner. Abigail got to choose the menu which had to work around the fact that Bruce could not grill out (he was only a couple of days past surgery) and our oven was not working (only had a toaster oven, microwave, crock pot or stove top to use). This is the menu she chose: ham slices, cheesy broccoli casserole, sourdough bread, green peas, mashed potatoes and oreo dessert (a boxed mix). She filled her plate twice I think :) We had sparkling apple cider to drink...and she thought that was funny. We had a nice and special dinner....the set table....
...daddy and Abigail enjoying the meal...

..Abigail is READY to eat.....

Last stop on the birthday train with our friends.....feeding the ducks

After eating ice cream and walking around Bridge Street, we drove downtown to the art museum area to feed the ducks. I had stashed a loaf of bread per girl in the back of the van....just for the part of the trip. Thankfully the weather held up, and we were able to feed the ducks. They are used to being fed and are pretty friendly, er uh, agressive. The clue read, "Will these little critters gain weight while are here feeding them? At least TEN pounds I'd say..with all the bread we have on hand!!"

The girls had a lot of fun as we finished our day here..then got a quick drink at Sonic and met their parents to hand them off around 3:30 p.m. so that Abigail and I could head home to prepare dinner and do our last 3 activities..making it a total of 10 things on her 10th birthday. Keep watching....I'll post those soon.

....as soon as we got out of the van, we were met by hungry critters...
..once we were done with feeding them...the girls posed for one final picture....
...the girls hard at work..
..this duck was interesting to me because his beak was sage green and he had a purple stripe on his side...though the colors did not come thru as true here....