Buck's Pocket State Park

In October we went camping in north eastern Alabama at Buck's Bocket State Park. It is a beautiful place off the beaten path. We met up with Ben's family and stayed the weekend.

Fun around the campfire
'ungle Ben' and Patrick

Like I said Lots of fun!!!

One cute big boy

This was so cute. The boys were afraid Midnight would get cold and were covering her up and telling her night night...She just sat there and watched!!!

King of the Mountain

Some beautiful fall colors

On top of the mountain overlooking the pocket where the campground is.

picture perfect!!!

another cute big boy

family walk

My life in pictures...October

Had a great Ladies retreat this year. A year ago I had knee surgery and wasn't able to go
Here is a pic of our church ladies that attended. A great group I tell you!

I made this pillow for my sister Aimee for her birthday.
She is doing her room in black and white and it fit perfectlyOur first introduction to the game of Catan
We have been hooked ever since
Got it for Ben for an early Christmas present

October was pastor appreciation month
We have a great Pastor and wife (and Kayla)
Our whole church went out to O'Charlies for pastor appreciation dinner

The cakeMy beautiful Zinnas lasted till November
Here some beautiful moths came to my flowers

An experiment turned beautiful
I planted some moonflowers. They took off and looke beautiful!

Susan G Komen Race

In October we participated in the 5k Race for the Cure in Birmingham. It was a neat experience. So many people just walked so you didn't feel bad for being in the shape you were but I tried to walk/jog/run all through the race. I didn't think I did too bad. It was fun except that Ben beat me by 3 minutes:( and I didn't even see him pass me!

My class- 1st and 2nd grade activities

I have a great class this year. I only have a little class but I love them.

An aunt volunteered to do a fall art class.
They painted leaves on t-shirts. They loved it.

Having fun blowing bubbles, Wilson-1st grade, Joel, Randi, Devin, and Olivia- 2nd grade!

Grandparent's Day, doing crossword puzzles together

This is everything they told me about their grandparents! click on it to see closer! Pretty cute!

Deputy Smith came for Grandparent's Day.
Here he is testing out the handcuffs!

Prayer at the Pole!

We went to Stevi B's Pizza for our field trip. We joined 3rd and 4th grade.
It was a real neat experience. We got to walk in the back where they make dough, let it rise in the cooler and then watch them roll it in a special machine. They then went and finished their own pizza with toppings of their choice. They thought it was such a blast and I did too!

My kids -in yellow- with the pizzas they made!

A dental hygienist came and talked to us about taking care of your teeth. She even brought her friend, the snake and showed us he brushes!

Battle at Tunnel Hill, GA

In Septemeber we went to Tunnel Hill, GA. We love this reenactment. It was the first one that we ever participated in. We enjoyed it as well as the boys that went along with us.

Two cute guys!!!

Our company!The younger boys went out to the house for the battle.
They were able to watch it up close and personal.

After the battle. This was Jorden Messner's first reenactment that he was a soldier in.
He enjoyed it!

The boys 'camping out' under the fly.
Note they started the night up by the chair and slowly slid down the hill!

We visited the old train tunnel at night!!!

My life in pictures...August/September

Our YAC game Night!
We had a great time with our young adult's class at our pastor's house
Here Ben and Joe are in a hot game of Rook against Leonard and Christy.

And when you run out of tables you use whatever else works....ironing board Rook anyone?

We down to Montgomery to our friends, Richard and Anna's house.
We had fun eating steaks and watching football!
Here is proof that Auburn and Alabama people can be friends...well it was only September, not Iron Bowl time yet!!! LOL

While in Montgomery, I drove my Old Alabama Town. It was really neat.
Here are a two pictures of some of the old, beautiful houses!

I want this one in the middle of about 100 acres!!

Who says they just grow stuff bigger in Texas?
Now that's a steak!!

The electric went in the whole city of Tarrant, so we had service by generator, running a few lamps and a few window units for air conditioning! Making memories, having church in our basement.

We also had the dedication service for little Madelyn Rose
It was a very precious service

Here is part of the decorations in the church for the dedication
I like how they used my quilt, very pretty

Celebrating Leonard's birthday was a 'smashing' success!!
My little bandito!!

A precious little girl!!!

Peaches, peaches, and more peaches! Also yogurt and cheese!

Ben's uncle (or great uncle, somehow related!) has a farm. Well every year we usually get some produce from them. Ben's parents went and brought back some peaches for us. So we decided to try out our new dehydrator.
Let me tell you about the deal we got! When I was in SC they had a dehydrator in the marked-down rack at the grocery store. It was on sale for $30 with 14 $1 off coupons. So I thought why not? Even if it is a cheap one, for $16 we can experiment with it. We had been wanting one for a while. Well when I got to the counter it was actually $20, so with the coupons I got it for $6!!
So our first venture with it was the peaches. They turned out real good! I love them. I have taken them to school and left on my desk for when I get the munchies.
All said and done with all the peaches plus some more we got at market, we dehydrated a couple batches, and put up almost 30 jars of organic sugar freezer jam!! Yum yum!!
Well the little cooker I am, I have also been experimenting with making yogurt. It has turned out pretty good and pretty cheap, which is good since we practically drink it! I am still perfecting it. One night I forgot to turn the heat in the crock pot off and the milk sat in the jar in the heat all night. Well needless to say, I killed any cultures so I did not have yogurt. However I did have some curds and whey separation going on. So I thought, hmmm I will try to make cream cheese. So I hung the curds up in a very thin towel to get all the whey out, and after a while and few squeezes, I had my cream cheese! It tastes delicious on my zucchini bread or toast with the peach jam on top!! Peach cheese cake!!

South Carolina

Tim and Matt have been staying at our house all summer. Well it was about time for Matt to return home to finish his last year of high school. So Tim took him home and I went along for the ride to see my family for the weekend. We had a great time and it was nice to see them again.
Friday we left so early in the morning (to miss Atlanta traffic) that we came home and slept for a bit. We went and did a little shopping, or browsing for me at the mall.
Saturday, Pop, Tim, Matt and I went to Table Rock State Park and went canoeing. I wanted to take pics but didn't bring my waterproof sack for my camera in case of an accident. Well no accident but it sure did rain, so we didn't get to canoe as long as we wanted but that's ok, it was still fun. It continued to drizzle so we just took a little walk in the rain and waded in the stream.
That evening we all went mini-golfing in down town Greenville. That was a blast! We took a walk through the park on the way back! A beautiful evening!
Well we were going to leave and come back to AL after church Sunday afternoon. Well Saturday evening as Tim and Matt took their 'last' joy ride in Tim's car, it died on him, in the middle of downtown! Well I think Tim's pride might have been taken down a notch. Here is Tim and Matt pushing the car into a parking spot, that happened to be open, in the middle of busy downtown, where all kinds of people are watching and talking and trying to help, some drunk! He can't start it. So he calls Pop. Oh did I tell you that it was almost midnight and he was only supposed to be getting gas down the street, not joy driving downtown! LOL Well anyways we stayed an extra day till Tim could get the belt replaced! LOL

We had a great trip, just a day later that I planned on finishing up my classroom! Oh well, it got done. Part of the golf course was in a black light room! It was pretty cool!

Umm Tim and Matt.....need I say more!

Hit it Pop!!!

The beautiful bridge at the park