We Saw Rock City!

So the day after we went to Ruby Falls and saw the cool rock formations under ground, we decided to venture out to Rock City and see the cool rock formations above ground. Again, I took tons of pictures but limited myself to 10 for this post.

We got to meet Rocky before we even went in the gate.
Let me just say that posing for pictures is A LOT easier when you're not in a group of 40 people passing through some tiny caverns hundreds of feet below the earth's surface. So we posed for several today!

More posing.

And more.

Oh here, this one isn't posed. It was the first of a few VERY NARROW passage ways.

Uh, back to posing. I think this is my favorite, though.

Here, we're crossing the stone bridge. Jo and I decided that this was good enough, and we let everyone else try out the swinging bridge without us.

Another narrow path. This one's called Fat Man Squeeze...I promise. Zoom in on that sign above DJ's head, and see for yourself.

Another pose before entering Fairyland Caverns.

And one final pose for the day.

So now when we see those "SEE ROCK CITY" signs we just say, "We did!"

Sweet wishes!

I suppose it's about time

...for another Stampin' Up! post. I realize that some of you who may still happen to stop by my blog from time to time aren't all that interested in seeing pictures of my kids or hearing about our summer adventures. And I'm okay with that. So for those of you who are my stamping friends and customers, I thought you'd like to see some stamping projects.

Back in February and March I hosted a series of Stamp-A-Stack (SAS) classes. My main goal was to introduce Stampin' Up! to my co-workers at school. However, I had two other ladies (non-co-workers) attend the class when I originally scheduled it. Then I rescheduled it, and had three other non-co-workers attend and one more pay for the class who couldn't make it. Finally, I offered a day-time make-up date for one of my co-workers, and she was able to attend that alone. Plus, after those three classes I owed two other customers a class, but we couldn't coordinate our schedules, so I made up a few samples for them and gave them all the supplies so they could complete the cards at their convenience. All that to say, I don't think any of the classes had exactly the same 5 cards, but these are the ones I have pictures of.
I CASEd this first card from coriefoster. You can see her original card here. I actually used Basic Black where she had used Chocolate Chip, but this was my favorite card of all.

carole_k was the original creator of the card above. Click here to see her version.

This was my second favorite card. I CASEd Debbie's card, but I didn't have enough Pretty In Pink CS for all my classes, so half way through I switched to an Old Olive, Orchid Opulence & Rich Razzelberry combo, which was just as beautiful, but I don't have a picture of that version.

This Dusty Durango & Soft Suede card was inspired by Dawn Olchefske's card, which you can see here. Since I had ribbon on all my previous cards, I decided to use another stamp from the set instead of the Soft Suede ribbon.

The supplies used for these cards were left over from a workshop I had done in the fall. The original cards used the A Rose Is a Rose stamp set. And while I'm sure I CASEd someone, I don't have access to the file to find out exactly who; however, here is a card by ruthyoung that may have been my inspiration.

Sweet wishes!

First Camp Adventure

Last week DJ went off to camp for the first time. He spent the week at Lutheridge, which is a Lutheran camp just outside of Asheville, NC. He had an awesome time. Below is a picture of him with his counselor, Vincent.
Michael was also at the camp, but was an adult leader for a Campfirmation group of confirmation-aged kids (mostly 6th-8th graders), and had little interaction with DJ throughout the week.

AJ and I took them over last Sunday, and went back to pick them up on Saturday. In the time between we had what DJ called, "girl branding time." I explained to him that it was "girl bonding time." Since AJ had witnessed this exchange, she proceeded to ask, EVERY TIME WE SWITCHED ACTIVITIES, "Is this girl bonding time?" "Is this girl bonding time?" "Is this girl bonding time?" Sadly, I don't have any pictures of our girl bonding time, but it included playing with playdough, painting pictures, attending VBS at a Lutheran church in town, going for walks, playing on the playground, playing games, and the most girly thing of all, painting our finger and toenails. After all, what's girl bonding time without a good manicure and pedicure?!?

Sweet wishes!

Ruby Falls

Last weekend, June 3-6, the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) had their annual Synod Assembly in Chattanooga, TN. Since my step-dad is a pastor, he and my mom were there too. We also met up with some friends from seminary.
My friend Julie homeschools her girls, J0, BB, & JB, and they've been studying cave formations, so we just had to go to Ruby Falls. So Friday afternoon, while the dads were in meetings and it was raining outside, the kids and moms ventured into the depths of Lookout Mountain for an amazing adventure.

Now before you go any further, I must issue the disclaimer that I took 94 pictures while we were there, and I've narrowed it down to 10 for this post. You should be proud.

But aren't they amazing? If you've never been to Ruby Falls, it is a must see. Of course, if you are claustrophobic it is not recommended, but it is so awesome. And perfect for a hot, rainy, or cold day because the caverns are always a constant cool temperature.

There are tons of "named" formations that look like certain things like steak and potatoes, bacon, a fish, the rear end of a donkey, etc. The one below is the mirror pool (I think).

And here's the culmination of the tour: the falls themselves.

My mom took this pic of the kids and I walking around the path behind the falls. I wish I had taken the camera with me and gotten a pic from behind looking straight up at the falls coming down, but we only had the one camera, and I didn't realize how cool the other shot would have been until I was back there.

On the way to the falls our guides were rushing us through like a heard of cattle, but on the way out there was more space between the individual groups in our tour, and I had the kids pose for pictures a few times.

Here are all 5 kids over 260 feet under ground.

And here they are again several stories above ground.

Sweet wishes!

Eleven posts & Eleven months ago...

Think Abraham Lincoln, "Four score..." ;-)

Anyway, I was looking back over some of my previous posts, and 11 posts before this one, I had a list at the end of things to stay tuned for:
-both kids are back in school now
-they have both started gymnastics
-my August Big Shot Club meeting featured the Beautiful Butterflies bigz die {not to mention I have several other SU! classes to catch you up on}
-DJ's starting his second season of YMCA T-ball
-and AJ is currently sporting a bright pink cast on her right arm

Now I started that post on July 30, which is when it's dated, and where I got the "11 months ago" bit. However, because of when the things listed above actually occured, I know that the post didn't get finished/posted until sometime in September. Either way, I decided it was time to fill you in on some of these things. I've been so bad about blogging this past year, and there is no way I could catch you up on everything, so I'm not even going to try, but I figured a few things couldn't hurt anyone. :-D

Here's DJ on his 1st day of 1st grade...OMGosh, he's HUGE compared to this pic!
I can't find a pic of AJ on her first day (our main computer has been out of comission since January [excuses, I know] and I'm sure there's a pic on there), but here is a pic of her on DJ's first day of school outside of my classroom.
The next item on the list is gymnastics, but again, the pics--and I know I have TONS--must be on the other computer.

So onto my August Big Shot class. It featured the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die...probably my favorite die. The projects also use some current In Colors and the Razzelberry Lemonade DSP. Three of the current In Colors, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, and Dusty Durango, are retiring at the end of this month, as well as the DSP. If you're interested in ordering any of these items, contact me ASAP. The yellow things on the two outside edges are paper baskets, but I hadn't attached the handles when I took the pic.

DJ was lucky enough to have the same coaches and many of the same team members in his second season of T-ball with the YMCA. We were excited that he was #7 because that was Jeff Francoeur's number...at the time...but we won't get into that. >:-

This is great...here he's playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt with the director of the youth sports programs at the YMCA. Mr. Danny is GREAT with the kids!

And last, but not least, here's AJ with her cast. Yes, another broken arm. Well, she obviously only has two arms, but between the two she's had three broken bones, and 3-4 dislocated joints.

But she doesn't let any of that slow her down a bit!

The above picture is of the two kids on an inflatable obstacle course at our school Fun Fest, an annual fundraiser. They needed volunteers for the dunk tank. Guess who I volunteered?

Yeah, he's covering up his face (actually, he's wiping the water out of his eyes), but that is Michael. Don't worry, he went down plenty of times during his 30-minute slot. What a great sport!

Well, that's all for now, but I'm not actually finished playing catch up yet, so once again, stay tuned...

Sweet wishes!

A First Grader no longer

Warning: Proud Mom Moment!

Last July I went back to work part time as an elementary music teacher at a year-round school. We decided that, since the schedule was quite different from the other schools in the area, DJ would attend the school where I taught. Our last day of school was last Wednesday, and the school awards night and family picnic was the evening prior. DJ earned the 1st grade award for Academic Excellence in his class. (His class was a 1st & 2nd grade split.) Here he is with his teacher, Ms. L, and the assistant teacher, Mrs. P, is on the right edge of the picture. DJ had a wonderful year, and we just loved Ms. L and Mrs P. He'll miss them when he goes on to 2nd grade. :(

He was also chosen as the 1st grade boy for the PE award, but the file of the picture that Mrs. P took (because I was up front to hand out the music awards) somehow was "corrupt," and I couldn't get it to import off the memory card from my camera. Oh well.

Sweet wishes!

Memorial Day Visitors

Over Memorial Day weekend some friends of ours from college (UGA) came to visit. Angie and I sang together in Noteworthy, an auditioned, 12-member, female a capella group. Unfortunately we did not get a single picture of the two of us together. Well, not on my camera anyway. Her husband, Andrew, and Michael are similarly minded individuals...(soul mates if you will). You can see a hilarious picture of the two of them together at the end of this post. Their children, "Ness" and "Ess" are completely adorable.

One day we went to the playground. This horsey teeter-totter was perfect for the four kids, with a little help from Michael.

Later that afternoon we went to Paint Creek. {I must apologize for the alignment of these pictures.}

I have no idea why the little boys both seem to be saluting. ???

And here are our funny big boys.

We had an awesome weekend. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with these friends, and it’s always nice when we have guests come to visit us.

Sweet wishes!

SUMMER'S HERE!

And among MANY other things, baseball is in full swing...pun intended! :-) Here's DJ up to bat, the video of the hit is at the bottom.

And below he's running to 3rd.

Incidenatlly, my "cheerleader mom" shirt is flowery and glittery and the furthest thing from UT orange I could find.

Sweet wishes!