Em's Family Celebration.

Yesterday was Em's 13th birthday. Thankfully, we had her party last weekend. She has been sick almost all week. She missed 3 days of school with a fever and sore throat. She went back to school on Friday, but now she seems to have a head cold or whatever she had has morphed into something else!

However, she was well enough to want to go to the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner. We got our cheesecake to go and came home and watched Wall-e.

The picture of Pepper is her watching Em open her gift. She always looks so annoyed in pictures!

Em's 13th birthday party!

Emily doesn't officially turn 13 until next week, but we went ahead and had her party tonight. She wanted to have a "big" party since she hadn't had one in a couple of years.

Her party was at church in "The Station". She wanted to have a pajama party. We had Guitar Hero, Wii karaoke and music, plus 3 awesome girls that came and did hair, nails and makeup. It lasted 2 1/2 hours, although Kevin will tell you it was more like 6 hours! It seems like everyone had a good time and Emily said it was one of her best birthdays, so mission accomplised!

Balloon in the Hood.

This afternoon I got a call from a friend who asked if we were home, which we were. She told us to look out the front door and this is what we saw...

The last football game of the season

Today was the last day for football this Fall. I think Michael has enjoyed playing. We've learned a lot about quarterbacks and their dads being the coach! I'm thinking we'll be requesting a different coach in the Spring. All in all, it was a good time. I can't even tell you if they won today. I think they lost, but not by much.

A boy and his first guitar!

Michael has been taking guitar lessons since this summer using his sister's guitar. We told him that he had wait a couple of months so we could see how dedicated he was. He bugged us the first couple of months wanting his own guitar, but we told him he had to wait. Well, the waiting is over. He loves playing, practicing and going to lessons. Today he got his Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Epiphone 100. I think that's what it is, anyway. Needless to say, he is one happy boy! Oh AND the Titans won again. 8-0 baby!

Halloween night!

Em is with her friend for the night. Michael is with a friend. Kevin is with Michael and I'm at home alone with Pepper. She has had an interesting night. I think she is really confused. I'm watching the Wedding Singer and missing the days that I walked hand in hand with my little ones on Halloween night. It goes by way too fast! Oh, BTW, Em is a fashion victim and Michael is the ghost of Rock and Roll in case you couldn't figure it out from the pictures!

Craft Night.

Emily just got done with her plant cell project that she started last week and I just finished carving a Titans pumpkin!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2008

This is our 19th (?) year give or take a couple of years to have a pumpkin carving party. Last year, we changed it to the kids pumpkin carving party where they invited their friends instead of us inviting ours. :(

We had 6 girls and 5 boys plus a couple of adults hanging around and 2 dogs. There were pumpkin guts all over the back porch, but lots of laughter and fun.

After they were done carving they ate "Zombie Brain Soup" (chili), "Mummy dogs" (pigs in a blanket) and "Bat Wings with Zombie Ear wax" (blue corn chips and queso).

Of course, no pumpkin carving party is complete without karaoke and Guitar Hero? While they were doing that, I walked outside to look at all the pumpkins and spotted something in the middle of the yard. It was one shoe...Someone was wandering around without a shoe and I hadn't heard anything about it. Of course, it belonged to a boy! I still haven't carved my pumpkin and I'm not sure it's going to get done tonight. I'm beat!

Fall Break!

Last week we celebrated the kid's Fall break by going to the beach. We have gone ot Orange Beach every Fall since 1991. That's even before kids! There have been 2 or 3 times that we haven't been able to go due to hurricanes. Those were not happy years!

We left Tuesday after school and drove straight through to the beach. Gram and Gramps had gone the day before, so they were waiting at the condo for us to arrive. Our trip was uneventful. The kids were troopers! The area south of Montgomery to the beach exit is really boring. So, Kevin had to endure my XM radio channel surfing. We were jumping around the 70s, 80s and 90s, and the Big Tracks stations. It's amazing how much of my brain is cluttered with songs and lyrics AND the guitar and drum solos. Yet, I walk out of the room to get something and I can't remember what it is.

Anyway, our trip was great. The weather was perfect! Warm, but not too warm. The Gulf was pretty rough the first few days, but by Friday it had calmed down quite a bit.

We lounged on the beach, while the kids played. We had friends down there, also, so they were entertained. I started and FINISHED a book, which is huge for me. I went shell hunting pretty much every day. We found many awesome shells and 1 bone(?).Kevin found the biggest shell EVER on one of the last days. This after stating that he didn't understand the thrill of looking for shells - grrrrrrr! We went crab hunting at night and caught "Crabzilla". The kids got boogie boards and rode the waves. We had a pet seagull that we named "Rover". He would guard our chairs and chase off all the other seagulls. All this for some cheddar popcorn. Emily and the girls danced on a table at a restaurant. She loved that... A good time was had by all.

One funny story happened the second night we were there. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom - TMI. When I got back in bed I heard a scratching noise under the bed. Kevin had told me about one of his friends who was staying in a condo and they came in and found a Copperhead in the corner. Now, I wasn't thinking that there was a Copperhead under the bed, but I started thinking that it could be a lizard or mouse scratching. I laid there and heard the noise again. By now, I am somewhat freaked out. The third time I heard the noise, I basically jumped on Kevin and scared him to death. I didn't want to wake the rest of the condo so I whispered "I think there is something under the bed". He thought it was the fan blade or the blinds. I told him it wasn't. So he listened for a while and heard the scratching. He really didn't want to look, but he turned on the light and looked under the bed. Apparently, one of the slats from the bed had fallen out on my side and everytime he turned over it would rub on the carpet, sounding like something scratching. So, I hadn't totally lost my mind. I think Kevin was awake for the next 3 hours. I eventually was able to go back to sleep. Sorry, Kev!

We drove home Sunday to cold weather. We had to turn the heat on. I wasn't ready for that. I was ready to see Pepper dog. She seemed to have a good visit at the home she stayed at. She came home with a cute Halloween scarf.

Now we're back to the grind - homework, work, school, laundry, etc...I'm ready to go back!

Hoot, Scoot & Boogie weekend

Well tonight was our last year for the Hoot, Scoot & Boogie school fundraiser. I'm sad and I'm not sad. Emily had 2 friends come over before we went to practice for their karaoke and to do each other's makeup and hair - great! Michael's friend,Connor, came with him.

They had fun, I think. Michael and Connor were ready to go home at 7:00, but Emily and her friends were not ready. That's a problem. I talked the boys into staying a little while longer. Hopefully, I won't win everything that I bid on. Michael really really wanted the Star Wars basket. I'm really hoping that someone else bid on that after me. Don't tell Michael that, though.

Kevin is in Boston, so he missed all the fun and we missed him. :(

Last week in September

This week flew. Kevin went to the doctor and found out that he dislocated his thumb. He's in a brace for 2-4 weeks. I worked Tuesday and then headed out to Savannah on Thursday for a girl's trip. Kevin did the mom AND dad thing. He got the kids up and ready for school, ran the carpool, monitored homework, etc... I instructed him to pick up a snack for Emily after picking Michael up on Thursday. Emily told me tonight that "Daddy picked an interesting snack". Apparently, they got Poptarts and chocolate milk. My snacks are going to look really lame now! Ha! Friday he only had to get Emily and her friend from school.

Saturday, Michael played football and scored his first touchdown! Unfortunately, there are no pictures. Emily's team played and lost the first 2 games and won the 3rd when Kevin took over coaching. Emily also took a direct hit to the face with the ball that knocked her flat. She got up and kept on playing. There are also no pictures of that!

I do have pictures of my trip to Savannah. We had a great time! There are so many beautiful things to see. Some of the smells were rather interesting. I definitely want to go back. We also went to the beach for a day, which didn't hurt. It is definitely a place I would recommend visiting! I can't wait for our next trip!

September

September has been a busy month. School is in full swing for Emily and Michael. My preschool is back in session. Emily and Michael are playing sports - volleyball and football. Michael is still taking guitar, but Emily has put her voice lessons on pause for now. We're having a hard time finding a time to do them. She is singing in the chorus after school. All in all things are going well for everyone.

Kevin and I celebrated our 20th anniversary at the end of August. Terry and Sandy came for a visit at the beginning of the month and I celebrated another birthday. Whew!

This past week, Kevin had a car accident - and it wasn't his fault! His car is pretty banged up in the back end. I'm thinking he's broken his thumb or at least really messed it up. He did manage to play on a golf outing for 2 days. He's still waiting to hear from the other driver's insurance company. Michael had a spill down the driveway the same day, further proving that he's a Gabhart. He shredded his knee and got on the bus anyway. The driver promptly put him off the bus, since he was bleeding! He is mended now.

Nashville has been pretty much without gas this week. On Friday 85% of our gas stations had no gas. I sat at Kroger's Friday morning for about 20 minutes since I was running on fumes. Others had to wait up to 1 1/2 hours that night. They are slowly opening up stations, but there are still a lot of station without gas. It's crazy!

Today we went to a Titans game after church. They won! I'm heading out of town on Thursday for a girl's weekend in Savannah. I am VERY excited about that.

I think that pretty much catches everyone up on what's going on in our lives down here in the South.

2 weeks into school

I think I am almost caught up with blogging. The one thing I didn't write about was Michael's photo entry into the county Fair (his is the photo of the shield on the teal cardstock). He didn't win anything, but we're proud of him for trying. We're not sure why some of the pictures won and others did not. I'm sure they were looking for something specific, but there were a lot of photos that looked better than the ones that won.

We are 2 weeks into the school year and so far so good. They both seem to like their teachers. Life is getting busy. We have volleyball and football practice and music lessons for both. Emily started chorus at school. I'm getting ready to start teaching so, we are in full swing. Pepper is getting a lot of rest time! I don't know if she likes that or not.

Today we helped a couple from the Sunday School class move and stopped by to see Mrs. Schindler while we were on her side of town. I think she was happy to see us. She looked lovely. She had just gotten back from the beauty salon. The picture of her is from a visit earlier this summer. Her birthday is on Tuesday and she has breakfast and dinner plans. Sounds like she is going to have a good day. We are so thankful that God placed that sweet lady in our lives! He definitely knew where to put us when we moved to Nashville!

Our trip to Colorado!

The day after Julie and the gang visited, Gram and Gramps graciously came down and stayed with Emily and Michael while Kevin and I went to Colorado. It's been a busy couple of weeks! Kevin had a business trip to Broomfield, Colorado (between Denver and Boulder) so I decided to tag along since I'd never been there.

We flew out on Tuesday and came home Friday. Tuesday night we had a company dinner at a restaurant called Flagstaff. It's up on Flagstaff mountain and there is a beautiful view of Boulder from there. Wednesday Kevin was in meetings all day, so me and a couple of girlfriends shopped in Boulder on Pearl Street and finished up at the mall in Broomfield. That night there was another dinner at the hotel. Thursday, Kevin played golf and I had a facial - FABULOUS! That afternoon we drove to Estes Park Colorado. It's a mini version of Gatlinburg with MUCH bigger mountains. Friday we flew home. It was a great get-a-way before school started back!

Our visit with Julie, Jeremy, Jacob, Hailee and Dillon

The day after the sleepover we had guests come into town. Kevin's sister and her family came Friday night and stayed through Sunday. It was so good to see them and so nice of them to drive all the way down here. Especially since gas was not cheap then! We hung around the house and went to the pool. Although, the pool was not extremely refreshing since it was so dang hot outside. The boys all sat in the bonus room and played guitar and drums and played the song "Sweet Child of Mine" over and over and over...It was great, though, really! We also ate a lot. What else can you do when it's 100 degrees outside?!

Michael's rescheduled birthday sleepover!

This has been the longest birthday celebration EVER! We had Michael's birthday sleepover on July 31st. We had nine very active 10 year old boys spend the night at the house. It was loud and a long evening! However, much fun was had by them. I'm not sure I can say the same about Emily, Kevin and me!

The biggest pancakes...EVER!

It has been a LONG time since I have blogged (right, Tori?). We've had VBS, stomach viruses, a visit with Mrs. Schindler, a trip to the Mufreesboro Discovery center, church middle school mission projects, a luau and most recently, Emily and I went on a girls only trip.

We left on Sunday and headed to Chattanooga. We stayed a block from the Aquarium. Sunday night we went swimming, wandered around downtown and then ate dinner. Monday we went to the Aquarium and IMAX, to the North Shore shopping and then on to the Hamilton Place Mall - don't waste your time there!

Today we went to Aretha Frankenstein's for breakfast. I would consider it a dive. However, it has the biggest, yummiest pancakes ever. Wow! We couldn't even eat them all and we only ordered 2 each. We heard about it on the Food Network a long time ago. So that's how we ended the Chattanooga trip - very very full!

We drove back to Murfreesboro and did a little more shopping and then headed home for voice lessons. Now it's back to me being a nagging Mom.