Summertime

It's been a wild and crazy summer around here!  I spent most of June finishing the school year, getting ready for company, and planning and throwing Mamaw and Papaw a big party for their seventieth anniversary (with help from the extended family)!  Then came the Goforth Birthday Month of July which starts with Mamaw's on July 2nd and ends with Cindy's on July 30th with Benjamin, Luke, and Joshua in the middle.  Not to mention mine and Rodney's 38th anniversary which fell on the 3rd.  During July, I also flew to Tampa in July to help with Benjamin's big boy third birthday and spend a week of total relaxation with Susan and crew.  I almost forgot, I worked every other week all summer!  In the middle, I somehow managed to start researching our genealogy on Ancestry.com and read several books, some good and some not so good.  It was a very full and very happy summer "vacation," and I'm almost ready to start work full time in two weeks (working only a few days of those two weeks).  I'll try to document some of these extra special events in upcoming posts.

Giddyup, Cowboys!

 Cowboy Luke

 Cowboy Dade

Our New Ride!

 From our room, shortly before we headed over the bridge to the right!

 Rodney looks refreshed.  You can't see the bug stains on his shirt.

 Ready to hit the road again!  I think...

 The little seat at the back is where I sat...

 Farewell, little bike, and good riddance!

 

 As Luke says, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Friday after work, we made a flying run up to Searcy to pick up a bike that is actually comfortable to ride for real weekend getaways!  But first, we had to get there on the trade-in.  Rodney agreed to trade in Angela's Sportster, which she hasn't been able to sell.  Oh my, what a ride that was!  I rode on the back of it as far as the Arkansas line, where I deserted Rodney to ride it alone while I rode with Mark on the back of his Goldwing to Little Rock.  We stayed at the at the Double Tree at the River Market while there.  Getting there late, we walked down to the Flying Saucer to eat dinner about 11 p.m., helmet hair and all.  Past our usual bedtime, we saw lots of young people dressed up and strutting to the beat of different drummers than we're accustomed to!  Rodney and I reluctantly hoisted our sore fannies back on the Sportster early the next morning and finished the last hour of the trip to Searcy.  What a relief to climb into the Gold Wing's ample back seat for the trip home!  We got back Saturday evening in time for the Rangers for Rodney and the repeat of Lost's first episode for me.  We're staying close to the recliners today, letting our bones shift back into position and those unaccustomed riding muscles relax!

Mother's Day Extravaganza!

We had a house full of kids and grandkids for Mother's Day, and I felt totally pampered since Rodney took care of the meal AND took charge of the festivities!  He fixed us yummy barbecue and we had a cake he picked out himself and cookies for dessert.  Then I opened presents and cards and got lots of hugs from my incredible family!  We finished up by going down to our little park and watching the little and big kids play.  Since Mamaw didn't want to come to our house for the fun, we went over there after dinner and took her cake and presents.  She loved their old photo I had framed, and, between her flowers and cards and calls from family, I think she ended up having a nice Mother's Day!

Discovery Science Place!

We had lots of fun at the Discovery Science Place a couple of weeks ago.  The grandkiddos dug for dinosaur bones and explored the cave and pirate ship before I had to leave them there to go to the Love This Old House Fair.  I got lots of information there on renovation, which we are right in the middle of now!

Our Saturday

My newest hobby is stalking Craig's List, and this leather sofa is my latest find!  We needed something that is durable but looks nice, and that we don't have to worry about little boys playing on, and this fit the bill exactly.  So Rodney and I picked it up, then met Tommy and Allison, who are looking at mobile homes to tide them over until they can build.  We had a nice lunch, finally gave Audrey her birthday presents, and Tommy helped his Dad move this sofa in and the old love seat out.  They didn't stay long, and when they left, I went down to Bergfeld Park where they had an arts and crafts show going.  I found some scrumptious smelling and rich lotion made from goat milk.  The lady who made it raises goats and makes her own lotions and soaps from the milk.  Some day I want to do that... (Make soaps and lotions--NOT milk goats!!!)  Wrapped up the day by watching "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood."  Combining all of this with the finally blooming azaleas and perfect weather made for a divine day!

Our Alternative Prom

Every year the Life Skills classes in our area schools get together for an alternative prom.  It's during the day, and it's always a very special time for the kids to dress up, dance, eat, and enjoy seeing one another.  This year, the big one (which gets bigger each year--600 attending last year in Kilgore) was held in Nacogdoches.  That's too far for our medically fragile boys and girls to travel, so we had our own alternative prom in Gladewater.  It was so much fun!  Great attendance--we had lots of regular ed. seniors attend and dance and eat with our special needs kiddos.  We may open it up to some smaller schools in the area next year.  When you start mixing our autistic and fragile kids with huge crowds, the results aren't always fun, so we may avoid the big one from now on.  We had good community support.  The mayor came, as well as some of the school board members and the superintendent.   Working with these kids and our incredible teaching staff is the best part of my job!