Back in the camping saddle again

Here we are in a new month, OK half way through, and I haven't blogged yet!  I swear I will do better!  LOL  We took off May 4th for our first, maybe only, camping trip of the year.  We love to go over Mothers day week-end, weather is always mild then.  Hubby took a weeks vacation and off we went!  We started the trip with our heater at night, and ended it running the air : )  Every night was better than the one before it, sigh, so hard to return home.  We staked out our usual spot up in Carthage, at Defeated Creek.

Here is a shot of our site, right on the lake.

Each day hubby would lay a blanket out on the grass and take an afternoon nap.

Here twin dd has nabbed the blanket for herself and is having a snack 'picnic'.

Everyone except oldest son came along, he had to work.  Actually we had to two other church families join us as well.  Many children, friends and good times.  Son was able to take care of his ever growing menagerie, but I had to bring Howard the handicapped doxin with me.   

Here is Howard in his play pen, enjoying the lake view and breeze, while I knitted : )  We also brought the twins old stroller, and pushed him around the camp site.  He can walk in very small amounts, and gets tired quickly when pulling his wheel chair. 

This is Howard after a hard day of doing nothing.   This pic kind of says's it all!

We had a safe trip and are glad to be back with our friends and family once again.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Our trip in pic's

We came back from our week long camping trip yesterday and amid much protesting.  I am guessing that is a good sign.  The weather was near 100 everyday and we only saw rain once for a brief period. 

 Here is a pic of B and her BFF helping to put the canopy up over the picnic table.  The girls loved pounding with the hammer : )

Here is E rolling in the grass and taking a break from catching lightening bugs.

Our new favorite thing to do is play corn hole, course we are to poor to afford it.  So I bought a knock - off , rice hole!  LOL  Here K,E and BFF get into the game.

Here B and E take a break while waiting for smore time. 

We played many board games in the hot part of the afternoon.  Here the twins beat dad at a game of States and Capitals Sequence : )

Being a type A+ personality, I feared I didn't accomplish much with my vacation (I know that is the whole purpose, hence the type A+).  Then I did the thing type A's like to do best, I made a list!  LOL  We went swimming everyday, fished until the worms ran out, and fed the carp popcorn at the marina.  I finished two books, and read a complete third.  I even squeezed in some knitting.

I taught B how to knit and well, not easy since she is left handed and I am not : )  I finished another panel on the sweater I am knitting for B and knit half a pair of fingerless arm warmers.  Oh, I also downloaded Chuzzle on my cell phone and became the world champion . . . of my Minnie Winnie that is : ) 

So when you put it that way, a great vacation, great food, great time with family, much was accomplished!  On the day we left, while K and I were drinking our morning coffee outside, E crashed open the door and came outside.  He stood on the astro turf and said in a pitiful voice, " we have to leave today".  Then he turned around and went back inside.  Guess you had to be there, it was too funny and cute.  Then they all trouped down to the lake for one more chance to swim and get even more sunburned..

We returned home to a sunny day, overflowing garden, 8 puppies and a flooded basement.

Yes, I said 8 puppies.  There were 9, but the runt had to stay with it's mother who is being fostered by a friend of ours.  That's right, Z was at it again while we were gone.  Him, his girlfriend and some folks from church were helping one of our church members move into a new house, and Z noticed that next door there was an emaciated dog.  When he went over to check it out he discovered the pups and just couldn't leave them there.  He asked the owner and explained he worked for the local vet and would get care for them.  They let him have them.  They are about 5 weeks old and appear to be of all things American bull dog and Chiwahwaha mix.  The poor little things were grossly bloated with both ring and tape worms : (  The next day Z went back with our friend who also does animal fostering, and retrieved the mother dog.  The runt was doing poorly, so we are hoping a little more nursing will help her.  Apparently we get them back when they are deemed healthy.  The twins were thrilled with this turn of events, and it looks like the pups are also : )

So that's our vacation in a nut shell and we know we are so blessed, Beth Ann

It's all about family

Only two more short days until Thanksgiving but I want to share what I'm thankful for now ~ FAMILY! I don't have much but my family is the most important thing to me and I am ever so grateful for them every night when I go to bed. When I look at my wonderful children or my amazing husband I could (and have) cry. Here are a couple recent pictures of my crew . . .


All of us on Edisto Island

Here they are getting ready for Halloween, L to R : Inspector Gadget, can of soup, little Red Riding Hood and down front we have a princess and a clown!

Here is our new addition, although he is three times this size now. This is Levi, a boxer/American bull dog mix. He is another of our handicapped rescues. He was thrown down a flight of stairs when he was six weeks old and ruptured his back. He has no feeling in his hind end. Four months latter though, he can do a walk/stagger like our mini doxin who has a similar problem.

I would love to hear what your thankful for this season.

Blessings, Beth Ann

More Vacation

Well we're in the home stretch for Thanksgiving this week and things seem to s-l-o-w-l-y be getting back to normal here. After my trip to the ER, I started to feel better but developed a chest wracking cough and the kids are still dripping. Looking forward to a more healthy Christmas season : )

Here are a few more vacation pic's from our trip to South Carolina this year -enjoy!

This is a view of the salt marsh we camp in front of. Can you see the Monarch butterfly? This campground is on their migratory path and they stop about the second week of October every year.

Here is middle dd with a blue crab she caught.

Here are the twins following a set of golf cart tracks on the beach.

Oldest son walking our anxity ridden dog along the ocean shore. He looks pretty happy here huh?

Middle dd walking to the "point" for some serious shell hunting!

Thanks for sharing our ups and downs with us and have a blessed day, Beth Ann

Holy smokes!

Here is another chapter in our vacation story. . . While camping we try to cook outside the motor home as much as possible. Main reason is space, but some foods just aren't compatible, such as bacon. Husband had been banned from cooking bacon inside on a previous trip, so now fires up his portable Coleman on the picnic table when we have BLT'S (oldest sons most favorite food). I never gave it a second thought on this trip when he prepared to do the same again, imagine my surprise when I heard shouts outside as I was busy inside chopping the L and T! Apparently some of the grease caught fire and set our canopy a flame!

Here is a shot of the canopy, after the flames and all the shouting.

This picture is looking straight up through our new sun roof.

It doesn't look to bad from this angle and it was handy for catching rain in a glass to see the inches with the kids - LOL

Yet another shot, this one taken from the motor home steps.

And there is the offending culprit, small little guy isn't he?

Good times, Good times. These memories are what family vacations are all about!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Here they are . . .

OK, I know many of you have been waiting, patiently,for some vacation photo's. I picked them up yesterday, did they raise the price? Anyway, here they are . . . My family on Edisto Island, South Carolina.

My three youngest darlings, hanging out : )



Picture postcard perfect, flip flops on the beach. If you look closely you will see a mismatched pair of crocks, yea that's our twins sons', what a rebel - LOL

I call this pic 'scruffy hubby and drugged dogie'. They both look happy though.

Here is oldest son up a tree, what a monkey.

Here is a Loggerhead sea turtle nest. The island is a nesting site from May to the end of October.

Well that's the first instalment. I will post some more pic's in a day or so.

Blessings,Beth Ann

Here's the sitch

It has been brought to my attention that while I have loudly proclaimed my return to the cyber world, I have sorely lacked details on my vacation - thanks Grandpa D for pointing that out in a late night phone call, remember there is a time difference and some of us are whipped after a long day of . . . well, just plain KIDS! LOL - JK, love you guys!

So here are the highlights: I am proud to announce the replacement of my coffee cup - see photo. This will make my third in three years. Three times is the charm right? DH also picked up a new cup, it has the Piggly Wiggly pig on it. Lets face it, we're 'big on the pig'. Photos will follow after a trip to Rite-aide : ) Other highlights include: about 1 zillion crab sightings and captures (then release), including a horseshoe crab (those things are UGLY). Not a good year for shells, only about 100 of those brought home this year, opposed to the usual 500. Twin dd found the largest, a whelk, bummed out middle dd since it bumped her title. Celebrated another birthday with great local seafood. Visited the islands fall festival, with lots of arts and crafts. Twins learned to climb a tree, giant living oak - of course. DH set the canopy on fire while cooking on our picnic table, now it has a sunroof, if he would have done it just once again on the other side we would now have T-tops on our camping canopy! LOL Um . . . and logged to many hours to count relaxing on the ocean shore.

On a more serious note I want to share a blessing of faith here about our trip, please humor me. We had been praying heavily for well over two weeks prior to this event as we were not sure we would be able to make it. Yes we had already paid for our reservations, but now we needed gas money. That is no small thing when you are living on such a small budget as ours. We were hoping for some extra spending cash from my child support, but once again that source dried up and I only found out by accident from oldest dd. However that didn't leave us enough time to re budget for this setback. Anyway, we prayed right up until the day we were to leave and nothing showed up. We even tried to find someone else to gift the reservations to so that the money wouldn't have been wasted, no dice. Literaly minutes to no return we had a couple of unexpected sources come forward to help us out. Hallelujah! It was hard for us to let others help us, but we are learning to follow God's directive on this. Well with much rush and rejoicing we departed. About 40 miles from our destination our RV conked out. DH freaked out. I started praying, hard, on my knees. DH (who is certified mechanic) could find nothing wrong with RV - period. Then we prayed together as a family. Ten minutes later DH cranked it over and it started right up and we never had a lick of trouble with it again, either there or on the way home. DH who has a harder time with blind faith than me was shaken up and firmly convinced in God's presence with us there and in blessing the trip and we refused to take even one day there for granted. The minute we arrived we rushed to the beach and stood in the ocean and thanked God mightily as a family. Since our trip home DH has had a dream where God gave him a message and he knows this is a time of change for our family. I can see such a renewed sense of faith in my husband who has been so beaten down the past two years over our financial situation and as provider for our family. God is so good for showing all of us and reminding DH HE loves us.

On an ending note I just want to mention that our house sitter did a great job and our house was in one piece when we returned. However DH had swapped vehicles with his friend, we borrowed his truck for camping and he got to drive the Camero. Someone tried to break into the car and steal tools that were in the hatch. Shaking head here and just saying, figures. But if I had to rate this vacation . . . 5 STARS!!! Glad you asked ?

Blessings, Beth Ann

See Ya ~

See ya in about two weeks! Keep us in your prayers and we will send warm island wishes your way! Blessings, Beth Ann
Sunrise on Edisto Island

My flip flop on Edisto Island

The twins on Edisto Island

"The Pier" on Edisto Island

Full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean, Edisto Island - South Carolina : )

mini - vacation

Sorry it has been so hit and miss with the blogging, and now we are taking off on a mini-vacation. Husband has to work on Labor Day, so we are celebrating a week early. Don't tell the kids though, they might not notice that it's early since they have already been back to school for two weeks now : )

We are headed back up to Defeated Creek, my new local favorite spot. It's north of Nashville, up by the Kentucky boarder. Once we get back, end of next week, only about a month until we leave for South Carolina - and a new coffee cup! Woo-Hoo!!!

So, the handicapped animals (there's alot of them) and the world's oldest living Guinea Pig are already at the kennel. The kids cleaned the RV. The fauxtato salad is made. Why do I feel like I am forgetting something . . .

Keep us in your prayers, and see you next week - end.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Back

Well I am back. I'm tired, sunburned and retaining water from all the junk food I ate! LOL Sounds great doesn't it? Wish I could tell you more, but we had to take a pledge - what happens in Defeated Creek, stays in Defeated Creek. There were other rules as well, such as - there are NO calories in Defeated Creek - LOL What I can tell you is that it is the best campground I have ever stayed at! It has the best swimming hole of all times! My heart will always be at Edisto, S.C., but that is at the ocean and a whole different category all together. If you are ever in middle Tennessee to camp, you need to check out Defeated Creek. We have decided to make this an annual Women of Faith event. I want to get back there A.S.A.P. and take the family before summer and swimming is over for the year. Thinking around Labor day or so. Hope to see you there!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Happy Feet

See this flip flop? It's a happy flip flop! Guess where it's going . . . (Jeopardy music playing . . . ) one hint, these are camping flip flops . . . That's right! Those flop flops are going camping tomorrow! (so is the foot in it - well, the rest of me too) I know, I feel silly too. I spent the day buying the food, loading the food and all my luggage and accouterments of home. Tomorrow we're off! The church ladies (about half of our group) and myself are heading north to Defeated Creek and the weather is rumored to be in the 90's with only a 10% chance of rain. So, food, wine, fine weather, good friends, a lake and no men or children; what else could one ask for?

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.S. Please pray we all come back still friends : )

Early ending

My daughter and her family left yesterday in a rush, putting an early ending on their visit. She received word that her husband had been injured at work and was in the hospital. He had a blood clot on his brain and needed surgery. Since then she has called to let me know that all went well and he should be able to come home by Wednesday. I have been praying and can't even imagine the feeling of being four states away while your husband is having brain surgery. My daughter is a very brave women and I am proud of her. Here are some more photo's of their visit. These are from the Discovery Center in Murfree Springs.

Here is dd and grandson playing on the excavator.

Grandson loved this so much he didn't want anyone else to play on it.

Here is twin dd playing on a crane.

Grandson's big sister had to give the crane ago as well.

Oldest son also on the big red crane.

Lastly, here is oldest dd on the crane, what a popular gadget!

We did get to take all the kids and grandchildren to the drive-in movie's and saw "UP". It was a totally awesome movie and I can't wait to buy it! We don't buy many, but this one is a must. We also got treated to a spectacular lightening show as we waited for the movie to start. When the rain came it didn't last long and we just moved into the back of our Durango and dd's van, when it ended out came the camping chairs again. It has been so hot and muggy here that no one wanted to stay in the cars, we were not alone, many a lawn chair was spotted at the drive-in that night - LOL

Keep all in your prayers and blessings, Beth Ann

Last of the vacation pictures - I think

Here is what I currently believe is the last of our vacation photos. Even though something terrible happened to us and we had to cut our trip short, we did have a great time and I hope you enjoy this photos as much as we enjoyed being there!

Here is a shot of our camp site, and the salt marsh behind us. The pumpkins were done by my middle DD.

Don't know if you can see this, but this is my mini doxin, Howard. He looks so sad staring out our screen door on our RV.

Of course we had to bring our bikes, here is DH helping the twins on their.

LOVE, love, love this picture! Twin DD running on the beach with Howard. You can see his back is still slightly curved from his back injury last year.

Excuse the mess. DH and twin DD on our bed playing guitar. DD likes to turn the music for her dad.

If your at the beach, it must be kite flying time! Here comes oldest DS with his kite high up in the air.

Here is the backside of middle DD, trying to get her kite up. Down by the water is DH and twin DS working on his kite.

Oldest DS is making a kite repair as twin DD proves she is a master kite flyer (see the shadow by her feet).

Middle DD finely gets her kite up, as little twin brother cheers from behind!

Thanks for spending some of your time with us, on the sandy beach's off the coast of South Carolina. Hope it helps to keep you warm in these up coming winter months. I know it will for us.

Blessings, Beth Ann