Fun, busy week

Last Friday I got to surprise my Miss. buddies and it sure was a lot of fun!  Their daddy had been working in Athens all week and they drove over for the weekend.  But, the kids were led to believe we were out of town ~ to pull off the surprise.  Amy, Greg and I met them at the Varsity in Athens for lunch and at least one of the kids was super surprised....Ragen!  It was so worth it to see her face and get her sweet hugs.  Honestly...they all have sweet hugs.  Then we went to Party City to buy some of Amy's wedding stuff ~ the invitations & envelope seals, coffee cups and lids, napkins for the buffet and dessert tables and huge bags of candy for the candy favor bar.  And Party City has an app with coupons, which I got to take advantage of!

Then back to the house for numerous games of Umo (Lauren's word for Uno), Phase 10, and Cirkus (a shape game like Blockus). 

They came back the next day ~ Steven was a huge help with Greg fixing a belt on the boat, we went to the Farm Stand for peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe, picked garden stuff in the field, and played Uno and Phase 10.  And then we watched it rain ~ a lot.  We thought our Stone Mountain Laser Show trip was going to be washed out but we went anyway and it was a fantastic, soggy, patriotic show.  Oh, we showed them Amy's veil and Miss Lauren decided she needed one too....so I made her a veil ~ which she wore all day, to the farm stand and too the grocery store. 

They headed back to MS on Sunday morning ~ and the Smiths drove over and got here Sunday evening.  Austin stayed in our RV.  We ran lots of errands.  Austin's mom, Tammy brought over the flowers she had made ~ all the bouquets, table centerpieces, corsages, boutonnieres, etc.  She did a fantastic job and they were beautiful.  Monday afternoon, she stayed at the house with me and worked on a couple of more corsages and a boutonniere.  I had a project to finish also, so we had a nice visit.  Amy, Austin and his dad went to the new house & ripped up carped in 2 rooms and got them ready to lay the new flooring.

Monday night we headed back to Stone Mountain for the Laser Show again...this time half of Atlanta was trying to get into the park with us.  It was packed!  All was great except for one incidence ~  at the end of the Laser show and before the Patriotic fireworks show ~ they had everyone rise for the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.  If you chose not to stand and be respectful (like the people behind us) ~ then you should, at the very least close your mouth.  Those folks were loud and obnoxious the whole time ~ I shushed them at one point.  But think about it ~ you are at a Patriotic celebration of our Nations 241 st birthday on the Eve of the 4th of July ~ if you don't want to be respectful, you should have stayed home.  I am proud of our Nation, our Heritage, and the sacrifices made by our brave Military. (rant over)

Tuesday, we spent time at the lake with Katie her crowd, and Austin & his folks.  Lots of fun swimming, playing with water squirters, watermelon eating, tubing, jet ski riding and knee boarding.  Then the rain started.  After we got the boat loaded back onto the trailer, the thunder and lightning started so we were thankful that didn't happen while we were on the water.  We let Cracker Barrel fix our dinner that night!  Yum!

Wednesday we went out to the house and worked on painting and the floor.  They got the floor done in the little bedroom and the master bedroom.  Greg finished up the last strip of flooring in the master and the little bedroom closet last night.  Now we need to do the baseboards and touch up any spots for paint.  Amy, Tammy and Austin cleaned the vent covers, the ceiling fans, and Amy spray painted the vent covers.  Everything is looking nice and clean and will be fanstastic when all the projects are completed. 

After visiting James yesterday and going to Walmart and Kroger with Mom, I sat down last night and cross stitched.  Something nice and lazy.  Amy & Greg worked last night ~ Will and I had leftovers for dinner. 

Oh, and we sold Amy's car.  She has been wanting too for a while.  Greg put it on Craigs List on Friday night and it was sold by Sunday afternoon.  Now, to find the girl another vehicle.  Her biggest want on her car list is a working air conditioner! 

I am thankful for ~
help with wedding preparations
sales and coupons on apps
watching Amy & Austin interact with each other
household help with their future home together
recreation time
the USA and all it represents

Here are some pictures of our fun, busy, tiring week!  And even though it was tiring....it was worth every minute! 

Amy & Austin

Being at the lake is obviously very tiring!

Amy has wanted to take Austin jetski riding for 2 years!

American Flag over the Memorial Carving at Stone Mountain Park

Ragen and I

waiting out the rain for the laser show

Our handprint chicken pictures inspired by pinterest!

Me, Amy, Alston, Ragen, Sara, Lauren & Angel ~ fun at the Varsity

The House

Our return trip to our old house started out pretty good.  So here are the positives ~

*the tenant had already vacated the house
*The upstairs had been vacuumed
*the trash was in the trash can

Here are the negatives ~

*every upstairs room had to be repainted (neutral) for selling
*the carpet had to be cleaned in one room from multiple spills
*the living room had to be repainted
*the dining room and kitchen needed paint touchups
*the laundry room had to be repainted and shelves put back together
*the master bedroom and bathroom needed paint touch up
*some of the built in shelves and hanging bars in the master closet had been removed
*the upstairs toilet was not operable
*19 lightbulbs had to be replaced
*11 fruit trees had been chopped down
*blueberry and blackberry bushes were gone
*pool maintenance equipment was gone
*yard had not been cut in over a month
*garden planters sported 2-3 foot weeds
*butterfly bush was gone

So we spent the weekend hard at work ~ with some playtime built in!  We did all the painting, touchups, got part of the closet built ins reassembled, fixed the toilet, got the grass cut (thanks to the Tapleys), raked, spread 24 bags of mulch.  Our muscadine vines had finally produced fruit.....lots of fruit ~ Amy and Will collected all that and we made jelly yesterday.  Austin and his parents came up Sunday afternoon and were a great help in all our work.  Plus we got to visit and have fun with them.

Sunday late afternoon, 3 families from our former church & homeschool group came over for a cookout/potluck/swim party.  They all graciously brought side dishes, grilled (thanks Steven), brought coolers, drinks, chairs to sit in, etc.  Lots of visiting, eating, kids swimming, and everyone got to meet Austin.  Our locks on the house got re-keyed thanks to our locksmith friend ~ David F. 

We hired a friend to do handyman stuff that needed to be done for the sale ~ upstairs hall has to be painted, from the living room up, 2 bedroom ceilings needed damage repaired (old damage before we bought the house 11 years ago), tile layed in laundry room (she also removed the "shelf" the washer and dryer sat on and laundry baskets stored under), and house pressure washed.  It goes back on the market today.

Pictures ~

Ragen

Sara

Lauren loved to jump in

my twin friends!

the pool gang

After years of coaxing Lauren finally climbed the slide ladder and went all the way down.

patio visiting

water fun

muscadines ~ we had pounds of these beautiful clusters

Yard cut and mulch spread ~ curb appeal

fun afternoon in the sun with friends of all ages

We are thankful for ~

an awesome real estate agent
time in our pool with friends
fun cookout
no structural damage ~ windows, walls, doors, etc.
water in the pool
friends that don't mind helping~(or if they minded, they hid it well! :)
4th fun at the MS braves game and wonderful fireworks show
trips to OEC, Backyard Burger, Dickies Barbeque & McAllisters
sweet hugs at our former church
Amy & Austin getting to spend more time together

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!

My buddy, Angel and I cooked up a great surprise for her kids last Friday!  She told them that on Friday (last week) that they were going out to eat lunch at a local barbeque place. Little did they know, a surprise would walk in.....Us!  The expressions on their faces were awesome!  I've missed their sweet hugs! And as a bonus, Angels grandparents came too...more sweet hugs!

Angel made Austin & Amy these cute shirts~

She made Greg & I these cute PaPa & MaMa shirts

After our afternoon in Brandon, we headed to see "the boy"

Thankful for ~

surprises

good barbeque

pictures

great visits

safe travels

little traffic (once we got on the other side of Atlanta)

time with the Tapleys

time with the Foys