Now I have proof the washing machine is female.

My wonderful husband was kind enough to get me a new set of appliances for Mother's Day. Look, I'm over the whole "no gift that plugs in" thing for holidays. I don't care. If it will make my life simpler in some way, I say bring on the appliances. However, they didn't arrive until after Father's Day, so I turned the tables back on him and announced, "Happy Father's Day", you're getting a new washer and dryer too. Funny we were thinking the same thing!! ;)

It was a hassle, and I'll be honest, they aren't exactly what I wanted. I wanted them in orange. But we couldn't find them anywhere within a 3 state radius, in orange. While I may favor that color, I'm not crazy enough to spend vacation time and money driving to or having a delivery fee for orange laundry room accessories. I do draw the line on myself, sometimes.

But they work OUTSTANDINGLY well, despite their champagne-ish color. I (sort of) enjoy laundry. Basically because I get a kick out of seeing the drum spin a monster load of towels and jeans with little effort, like it's about to take off from the launchpad at NASA. Warp speed, I tell you, warp speed. It's the darndest thing. My mind is small, I only need laundry to amuse it.

And because of all that serious spinnage, it looks as though Alabama Power will have to cut back to finger foods instead of a sit down dinner at the Christmas Gala this year. Sorry guys. I'm no sucker anymore. That washer slings almost every droplet of water right out of the clothes. Thus the dryer, kicks back and has a peachy keen job. A few minutes tossed about and WHAM!!!... cycle is complete! No more drying and drying and drying denim and cotton for what seems like forever. I am beside myself with the time and power savings!!

Which also brings me to this point. The title of the post. How, you ask, do I know the washer is the girl in the relationship? Here, look, I'll show you:

This is a photo of the dryer, being told EXACTLY what to do by the washer. Ha. Those clever people at GE state it as "Receiving Cycle Information From Washer" .....but basically HE's just be told what to do by HER.


And as if that isn't weird enough that I spill the beans about the gender, I take pictures to prove it. I am so weird. Seriously, the washer tells the dryer how damp the clothes are and then it calculates how many minutes it will take to dry that load. CRAZY.

Plus, look at what else these fancy things have.....back to the basics for me. Yep. It even has one of those AWESOME "dewrinkle" settings, you know the one I spoke about a few months back, that I just adore instead of the dreaded iron? Anyway, I just whip that dial right around and light that bad boy up.
So, there you have it. I love them both, equally. They have made the laundry fairy very happy. She has but two complaints:

1) they didn't come in orange
2) she really wanted a "fold and put away" button installed

Wanna see what rods inside the bone marrow of a femur look like??? Me too.

So, here's what Broken Leg Boy's femur x-rays looked like before surgery.

And here it is, 3 weeks post surgery. This was taken on our first follow up visit to see the surgeon. Where I delicately told him the story of me allowing Broken Leg Boy to fall out of his wheelchair. Due to the fact that I was scared out of my mind, because the x-ray looked like his leg was still broken. Ahem, no need to reminisce. Luckily the Dr. informed me it WAS still broken, but looked good. Which, thankfully, let me off the guilt hook from the wheelchair incident.

Anyway, like I said before, I had no idea the rods would go the ENTIRE length of the femur, from the knee right up to the hip socket.....and he only has two small incisions on either side...... I am still amazed.

Of course, I was also amazed when I learned that my new washer can have a conversation with my new dryer. And they haven't even been to med school. (More on that tomorrow.)

"Two Peas in a Pod, out on the Porch"......

And let me tell you....those two in the photo above are definitely two peas in a pod. And it may be a rotten pod.......

The kids always get a kick out of helping in the garden in any way possible. Pea Pickin' and Shellin' is just plain fun.....when you only have to do it once in a while, just for kicks. If they had to do it to put food on the table, well, I'm afraid we'd all starve. They only last through a couple dozen pea hulls before they tire of it completely. But it's fun for about 15 minutes.

So, mother gave everyone their own bowl, and let them go to town.




Last year around this time, I posted a photo of my father's sexy legs, while he was sitting atop a five gallon bucket shucking corn. You can't see it, because I accidentally DELETED that post and the entire 2 years' worth of our family blog for that matter last October.

However, I learned my lesson. Not just about deleting our blog, but about posting photos of his sexy legs. It seems he wanted me to take them "off the internet", apparently a few folks made mention of it to him in passing. I thought his legs were pretty myself, all tan and thin....and he wasn't even wearing those diabetic socks in that photo.

At any rate, he was deeply offended. Not really. But to appease him, I let him rant to me for a bit about asking permission to post his photo ( like he's some celebrity or something, I must go through his agent and be certain to only put flattering photos of his best side, blah blah blah).

I said, forget it, you don't even know what "an internet" is......so I think I'm safe with leaving photos of you out in cyberspace. This time I did tone it down, for all you ladies who were worked up over his 75 year old bird legs.....I'm only showing his lovely tan forearms and hard-working hands this time around. Y'all aren't getting me in trouble again.

• I include this last photo because it reminds me off my childhood. I've said it before and I'll probably say it a hundred times again, I love that my kids get to spend moments like this with their grandparents. Some of my fondest memories in childhood were spent on my Granny or PawPaw and MawMaw's porches. In the summer. With garden vegetables galore.

A big pile of pea hulls on a section from yesterday's newspaper.....life's little moments, strike again. Does it remind you of times like that too? Did you sit on a porch with your grandparents? Did your fingers turn purple after shelling peas all afternoon???? :) Memories.

Old friendships, true friendships, and my little ALL-STAR.

Broken Leg Boy is doing well. In fact he was on cloud nine earlier this week when he was able to attend a baseball game....with his friends and teammates. You see, he had already been chosen for the "ALL-STAR" team in his division, prior to his accident the last day of school.

However, no matter how much all-star material you may have, you CANNOT play baseball with a broken femur. I'm no surgeon, but I'm thinking that if you aren't supposed to put any weight on that leg with the rods in it, then you probably shouldn't be sliding into homeplate on it either.....

I have a very good friend who was his coach this year. A special friend who actually goes WAY back....and I do mean way back, to the 80's, even. He was my best guy friend in high school, and I love him even more today. His wife is a pretty special lady to me, too. We both share a huge love for books.....she's in one of my book clubs and we have the best time talking about everything we read. They are both sweet folks.

Walt's coach was one of the first to get to us in the hospital, right after the accident. Walt actually had a game that night, and when his coach found out it was Walt in the ambulance that had left the schoolyard, he came roaring in to the ER right behind us!

When I was crying too much, after the doctor informed me that surgery was definitely going to happen to my little man, it was his Coach that I looked to in the doorway to call Temple for me. He also comforted Walt through the pain as best he could, we always have funny moments with him around. Walt loves baseball, and his coach.

Anyway, I was thankful he was there with us. So, when he called to let me know he had went ahead and ordered Walt's ALL-STAR jersey and hat, I could have cried. In fact, I think I did tear up. Walt missed several chances to see his teammates play. Some nights he just wasn't feeling quite up to traveling to the park, and other times, we were out of town. However, this past Monday night, Temple drove him over to sit with his team for one last game.

Their final ALL-STAR game. And he got to sit in the dugout, with his jersey and hat on, and feel almost normal again. And afterwards, he was also able to go out on the field to shake hands with the other team. Then, to top it off, he was able to stand alongside his friends on first base line and have his name called to come out and recieve his ALL-STAR medal. He can get around good with those crutches.....see for yourself....

So, this summer, on the baseball diamond, he may not have been a true ALL-STAR. But he's been such a trooper, still, through this whole broken leg ordeal.....and for that, and everything else he is....he will always be my little ALL-STAR.

A couple months ago, we had some EXOTIC visitors....and they didn't even wear clothes.

Ha. Monkeys always look.

Seriously, back in the spring, on a fine Saturday morning, TB an I were outside scurrying about. She heard this weird noise and came running to me.....saying there was a peacock in one of our trees.

Silly little girls. What an imagination. But lo and behold, look what I saw when she walked me over to the area in question:



Yep, that's a peacock. In our tree. In our yard. One fine Saturday morning. I live no where close to a zoo, bird habitat or peacock farm. Where did this beauty come from??

Of course, our beloved Lab, Sadie, had to come "protect" us from this creature. She barked and pointed and gave a big hullabaloo all around the tree trunk. The peacock was not amazed, he was not even amused. He never even flinched. But Sadie was proud of herself all the same.



Then, of course, after Sadie caused a ruckus, announcing to anyone outdoors:

• ALERT, ALERT, an intruder has crossed our property line!!

well, that just encouraged Mr. Jingles, our feline pet, to venture out from his place of leisure. And he puffed his chest out to announce that since he was from the Tiger family, we all needed to step aside and let him utilize his genetic prowress.

Seriously? Can you even find him in this photo? He's there, pretending to be on an all out hunting spree. Which he easily became bored with for two reasons. 1) the peacock was again unfazed by these aggressive animal encounters and 2) Mr. Jingles has the attention span of a toddler.

• He's in here, I promise, just look close.

So, when all else failed, and the domestic animals who actually reside here full time gave up their ADT security search, TB and I stood out in the woods and watched the pretty bird. He never would come down from the tree and strut his beautiful feathers for us, but who would when there's a ferocious eye-liner wearing cat and a bionic leg dog below?

Apparently, after over half an hour passed, Mr. Peacock felt he had acquired a fair amount of safety. And he loved our place. How do I know? He called for his girlfriend to come over.

Which meant we heard much more of that incessant screaming those birds do. And that brings me to the question of why they can look so splendid and sound so horrid?



However, his girlfriend must think the sound his voice is RICO SUAVE, because she came directly on over, right when he yelled. Dumb bird. Lose him and his peafowl tail feathers. You could do so much better. Find a fowl who won't take you from forest to forest like some traveling bird gypsy.

And with that, I went back inside. I can only do so much fowl therapy before I need a break from the drama, and screeching. Only an hour or so passed before TB came running in to announce they had fled our trees.

The peacocks were here for but a mere fine Saturday morning. Apparently our place is not their paradise. To which I say good riddance you stuck up bird. I should have let my cat pounce on you when I had the chance.

Or maybe, just maybe, after my ranting, girlfriend forced Mr. Peacock to settle down and find a true home of their own. You know, so they could start a family and decorate their own nest and such. And if so, good for her.

Or maybe, they are like my Daddy found out after inquiring around our area, occasionally they venture out from their owners for a couple of days just roaming around, never going too many miles from home, and then later return. Kind of like a peacock vacation, I guess. I have yet to find out who they belong to, though.

It's all about life's little moments.....

Earlier today, the kids and I were driving down the road. I was driving, although I really wish they could step on up to the plate and chaffeur me around, the law looks down on that kind of behavior for people underage. Laws. Hmph.

Anyway, let me set the scene. We love music. So the radio was blaring, but of course not at a decibel so high it would hurt those poor children's eardrums....

TB had taken her hair out of the ponytail, and "shook it out"..... admiring herself in the side mirror.....

Taylor Swift started singing, "You Belong With Me", (on the radio, as she was not on our road adventure today) and the singing inside the car grew much louder, to the point that I thought I might have to turn the kids down a notch to save their own eardrums.

But I let it go, because it's summer, and what is more fun than belting out your favorite tunes while the sun beats down through the sunroof?? Exactly.

At which point, Tyner Beth, not taking her eyes off herself in the side mirror, stated gingerly:

• "Mama, look at me, I look like I could be in a music video".

Her hair was blowing in the breeze......of the air conditioner vent.

Broken Leg Boy kept shouting the lyrics, Cool Dude laughed and shook his head in annoyance at the thought of it all.....and this mama just basked in the glory of these precious, little moments...I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

They are the grandest of days.

Cooking Camp.....Salted Caramel Strawberries.

Yes, they taste as good as they look.

The kids helped me make them for a book club meeting last week. It was killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. They wanted to do a cooking camp session, and I needed help in the kitchen anyway! I had decided that we might start doing one recipe from our Southern Living magazine every month....and we went back to April's issue and found these.

I served them as dessert, alongside an almond caramel square, and they were delicious!

A whole bag of caramels in our house will not last long. As evidenced here:

"one for me, one for the bowl, one to eat now, one to save for later...."

• Here's how you know a recipe must be good....it calls for whipping cream.

• After a few minutes in the microwave, let the dipping and rolling commence.

• Can you imagine anything better than the taste of fresh ripened strawberries, sweet caramel, and salty nuts???

• A whole platter full of them.

To see the full recipe, click HERE.

July 4th evening celebration.....another round of even more food, fireworks, and cute baby pics.

After visiting family in Selma, we traveled over to Montgomery for even more Independence Day fun. Mimi enjoys having everyone go to the Club with her for all the kid festivities, the yummy food, and the great fireworks display! And we all enjoy it, too!

Once again, I'll go ahead and say, AK will be making a star appearance in the following photos.....I just can't help it, I guess I'm as bad as the kids. We all can't seem to get enough of her! :)

• Here's two good looking fellows.

• TB had already made her way to the pony rides, first thing! We thought it would be cute to get AK's photo on one for her first July 4th. She didn't actually "ride" the ponies. We just asked the man to stop them to let us take a quick photo.

• And quick it was.....only a few seconds and she realized what was going on.

• So, we ventured off for a dip in the pool. Which AK l.o.v.e.d. She may not be a cowgirl, but she's certainly a litte fish in the water. Look at that smile.

• Rivers had a great time in the pool as well. Good dive!!

• And look here, it's Broken Leg Boy, swimming laps, but perpendicular to the lanes!!! Good therapy. Stil has a great attitude.

• Anna Kate enjoys the kids making silly faces. She thinks they are funny. And look at these big smiles she offered......

• She's even showing off some of her new teeth in this one.

• We ended the night with, what I would consider, one of the best fireworks show around. Always a great time. I just love July 4th. Especially when it includes cute babies.

July 4th lunch celebration.....

Basically, I will go ahead and warn you...a ton of baby Anna Kate pictures are about to be shown on screen for viewing pleasure.

Simply because we can't seem to get enough of that sweet face. Sure, there were tons of bbq, homemade ice cream, and great summer salads that were eaten. A lot of stories were told, memories were made, but it all comes back around to the cute babies. That's how life is.

Cute babies make the world a brighter place, so we gravitate towards them, whenever possible. And my kids just cannot get enough of this kid.

Because the flag still stands for FREEDOM....

Thank you Lord, for this great land we call home, America the beautiful. And thank you for the men and women of service, who have sacrificed so much, many sacrificing it ALL, so we could continue to celebrate our INDEPENDENCE DAY. This is my personal thank you to any and all who have served in years past and for those military families giving their all, right this very moment. May God bless each of you, greatly.

The wedding was divine & the bride was beautiful...but that's no surprise.

The happy little couple...aww, aren't they sweet. The groom in his seer sucker summer suit, (classic southern at it's finest), and that beauty of a bride. She may be my cousin, and therefore, I may be partial, but I swear she could have graced the cover of any bridal magazine, hands down.





The groom coaches a girl's soccer team. The entire team sat on the front left pew, as honorary bridesmaids. And as a little added touch, each groomsmen entered the wedding party after first handing off a soccer ball to the groom....it was a lot of balls. :)

Awww, look.....barely married, and already making sparks fly!

And here's me with my cousins Jim and Kim. Parents of the bride. Good folks. Great stories. Fun times. Memories that last. Thanks for a great weekend, we enjoyed it immensely!!




One more thing before I go. A "you have to see it to believe it" kind of event.

Now, remember back yesterday when I showed you a certain photo, and discussed the issue of diabetic socks and orthotic shoes? Well, the proof is in the podiatry pudding, so to speak.

Apparently, they really work. He is 75, after all. And can still move on the dance floor, like a suave young fellow. Dapper, even.




For all you nay-sayers who wouldn't believe me, I post this photo as well. A frontal view, with his face clearly visible. See, it really is him. That's my daddy, dancing the jitterbug, or the south carolina shag, or something, with our cousin Linda. She's a real sweetie. And like so many others in the family, she was A.M.A.Z.E.D at the skillz of her Uncle Willard.

I think we should vote him in to "dancing with the stars"..... I can just see him, big rolls of medical stockings at his ankles, taking center stage. Those circulatory socks must really make you light on your feet.

Okay so I lied. I had one more photo to pull from the pile. Here's a keeper. Taken just moments after the blushing bride and dashing groom shared their first kiss as husband and wife. And we departed to the hallway to rest a minute before breaking outside into the SC heat and humidity.

Literally, we had to suck in as much oxygen as we could. One step outside and it felt like your lungs were about to collapse at a moment's notice.

Hello summer, can you take just a small step back....you are completely all up in my personal space. And while I love you, in fact, I long for you on those cold winter nights and I dream of your endless evenings, I have to be honest....your heat index is killing me.

At any rate, back to the photo at hand.

I'm not sure, but this look may have arrived on her face after her Daddy informed her she wasn't allowed to get married. You know those "experts" say you can tell an awful lot just from someone's body language. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that those crossed arms, coupled with the upward eyeball tilt, signify she was none too happy about her Dad's decision. Nor his smug grin as he verbalized his thoughts.

Oohh, boys and girls, kids of all ages, this little showdown will prove to be far better than the Greatest Show on Earth.

I cannot wait to see who wins this battle.

Which is code for: Fortunately for him.....he has several years left to start saving.

Just so you know.....it's hot in South Carolina, too.

Recently we traveled to the great palmetto state of South Carolina. It was a family wedding. And we don't miss family weddings. Over 40 of our family came in from Alabama and a few from Georgia as well. Siblings, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, in-laws once or twice removed.....yep, they were all there.

And get this.....that sleepy little town in SC didn't know what hit them! Almost every single family member stayed at one hotel. Let's jus say the ol' Days Inn will never be the same. And neither will their small pool.

Broken leg boy took full advantage of using his water noodle gun.....because hey, it was almost forbidden to retaliate.....I mean, he DOES have a broken leg, folks.

See, what did I tell you....the pool is full...of nothing but our family. I think our rowdy bunch scared off any others who happened to be staying at the hotel. We pretty much had the 12 foot long pool to ourselves, day and night. Not that there was much room for any "outsiders", anyway!



Here are many of the youngest generation..... doing their "crazy photo"....

If you look closely in the photo, it appears to me that many of them are holding up the age they usually act, 2, or 5, or maybe they are attempting in vain to do a good Richard Nixon impersonation. Now that would be crazy.

Of course they could just be crazy from the heat. The only way to stay cool ,if you left the chilly air-conditioned hotel room, was to jump in the water.

Two cute cousins.

More cuties....getting ready to go grab some dinner. Had the best steak and shrimp shish-ka-bobs of my life at a hole in the wall restaurant that evening. I wanted to take a picture to show you, but T-5 laughed at me when I pulled my camera out of my purse at the table. So, I just ate them instead. Believe me, they were scrumptious.



Even more cute cousins. Lindsay is so great with all the little cousins. And they all LOVE her!!

• And here's a photo of the blind leading the blind. OK. not really, but doesn't that man look OUTSTANDING in his orthotic shoes and diabetic (rolled down) socks?

Like TB's homemade poster so eloquently stated last month....he's 75 and he's still alive. Those socks must be really worth something. Besides, who says fashion like that can't make a comeback?

You know you used to roll your socks down too, they just weren't diabetic socks, and you were probably only 9 at the time.

Maybe we could all get a pair. Except, I must sport mine pulled all the way up to my knees.

And I hope they do come in different colors. Then I might consider rolling them down. You know, two colors to coordinate with my outfit.

Kind of like reliving 1984 all over again. Except instead of looking ever so stylish while making a fashion statement, I will also be helping my circulatory system.

Stay tuned. Wedding photos to come.

Now where's that number for those orthotic shoes?

Who knew God spoke through e-mail??

We have such a tech savvy Lord. Just a few weeks ago, I received this message in my inbox.

• "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -- of whom I am the worst." ~ 1 Timothy 1:15

Hello, sting of conviction. Nice to see you again.

Now, I'll just be honest here. Since summer began, and broken leg boy's accident occurred, I have not been very diligent with my daily quiet time. And who do I think I'm kidding that the Lord would let that pass without scolding me.....in the form of bible verse e-mails.

But just when I had reflected on my "full acceptance" of being the sinner labeled as "worst", and hung my head in shame......

a few days passed and this little gentle reminder arrived in the ol' inbox, and made my heart glad:

• "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness....." ~Isaiah 61:10

You see in that first verse, I may be the worst sinner....but it also states that Christ came to save, and more importantly, I am a saved sinner.

Myheart became even more glad when my inbox brought me this verse, earlier last week.....

• "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?....I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 8:35, 38-39

So even though, I still am struggling with a strong daily devotional, truly studying His word is my hearts desire. Therefore, I take it one day at a time. Because He's still around. He's always around. Even when I'm not.

I just wanted to share with you today. Who knows, you may get a glad heart from reading those verses too. I am so thankful for His mercy, His grace and most importantly His love.

His love for a sinner like me.

It still amazes me, every single day.