Ringing in the New Year!

Age 7: Begging to stay up until midnight so you can see the ball drop. Falling asleep on the couch around 10:00.

Age 10: Begging to stay up until Midnight so you can see the ball drop - actually making it 'til midnight.

Age 14: Spending the night at a friend's house, roaming the neighborhood, shooting off fireworks and staying up way past midnight. Thinking your parents are geeks for falling asleep on the couch around 10:30.

Age 17: Going to a friends' party and getting permission to stay out until 1:00. Having some champagne that someone's mother bought for the gang

Age 22: Drinking way to much Andre champagne and getting really sick. Having your Mom and Dad laugh at you when they get home at 12:30

Age 31: Tucking in your young children and falling asleep on the couch around 10:30

Age 37: Watching your husband get really sick along side your 8 year old. Because they both have stomach bugs. Everyone's in bed (except you) around 10:00. The ball drop party has only just begun - you're planning on sleeping on the couch.

Happy New Year, everyone!

"Best Of" 2006

Let me know if you think I have left out that "one favorite". These are the ones I think Mom liked most.

Dolphin Funeral

The Naivete of Children

Check out the Frog

A little Tin Roof Wildlife

Thought You might Enjoy a few Pictures

Boogie Fever - Tiger Style

**other requests I had forgotten

Fire Seasaon Has Begun

Great Presents aren't always the Things you Buy

There are so many things we think of when we purchase presents for one another. We often think about what it is that our loved one wants.

Is it the Tervis Tumblers they hinted at?

The Speed Stackers they've been talking about non-stop?

The Pterodactyl Hot Wheels track they make you look at every time it comes on TV?

A painting to memorialize your house?

Something to add to our loved one's collectibles?

And there are so many things that you think of that you would like for gifts too. Will anyone hear you? Think about it? Afford it? Want to get it for you? Etc., etc.

Then there are those gifts that you didn't even think would ever be given as a gift.

The ones you knew deep down that you always wanted, but weren't things that you had any control over or could actually purchase. These things you can't even really ask for because it would seem a bit forward or rude.

You know, the long awaited engagement, the announcement of expecting babies. Aileen and I have actually packaged the baby announcements in Christmas boxes topped with bows.

Well my parents gave me one of these types of presents this year.

NO...not an expectant parent present. It was a sweet little card, one to me, one to Joe. We were instructed to open these at the same time, before all of the other gifts.

I assumed it was gift cards.

Until I opened the envelope.

Then I saw their Charleston address on the back.

"Are they moving back home", I thought. No, surely not. Get to the front and read the card.

"Home, Sweet Home"....OMG! They are!!! The jumping a squealing (and flow of tears) that went on was great. I think it took the children a second to wonder what the heck had happened to the adults, and then they "got it" too. Gray (2 years old) never quite understood why we were so excited, but he continued the jumping and squealing every time he opened a gift. He will probably always open presents now with great gusto.

Well, after the excitement died, we got the scoop from Mom and Dad that they will be back here in mid January. Truly the best present this season!

Hi, AXO Sisters!

I just received an email from Jenn "Butt Butt" Butler. She does such a great job of keeping everyone's info distributed among us all. I am glad that she shared my blog address with you all, and hope that one day a reunion can be added to our busy social calendars.

Enjoy reading/looking at pictures. Please feel free to come back here anytime and definitely leave a comment!

Go TIGERS! Go AXO!

Tree Trouble

What a pretty tree.
Wait...what is it that I see?
No, it couldn't be...

I'm not talking about Legare -
It's the little cat - that I see.I know you are all thinking to yourselves, "Now, Anne...cats don't get stuck in trees. Surely you're not going to say you were afraid Felix was stuck."

Well, sure I am. Seriously...you all saw the cat (from Charleston) recently on the national news that was stuck in a tree for about 6 days because she got so high that there were no branches below her to use to help her get out. Well, I was a bit worried for "Trouble" here for the same reason.

It actually didn't take too long for us to coax him out by standing and calling for him from the directions we wanted him to travel. He was very leery, but he likes attention so much that he couldn't resist us calling him.

Meowing all the way, once he got to the lowest fork, he had to kind of cross his fingers, hold on tight to his 9 lives and hope for the best.

(here he's at the fork, having just made it down from the big trunk that you see behind him to the right)

He managed to cling to the trunk, coming down backwards, for about 1/3 of the way down. He kind of jumped/fell the rest of the way. He landed on his feet, but ripped one of his back claws in the process of grabbing hold of the tree so hard.

This is not the first time we have had to help him get out of a tree. This one was a bit harder than the first.

I tell you, he's "Trouble".

Legare's Karate Test

Right before Thanksgiving, Legare tested for a new karate belt. He now has a white belt with a green stripe (this is called a Soaring Eagle program at this dojo - don't ask me what it all means). Following are a few pictures I thought did a great job of showing his great sense of balance. Note his foot placed firmly on the ground.I was especially impressed with this next picture. I am sad to say, I can't remember the names of the kicks, but this is different from the one above. He is really packing some power in these kicks.In Karate, they get rewarded for being focused and serious. The teachers (sensais) do a great job of keeping order in these classes - and they make it look easy! Here are some of the serious karate faces.In the above picture, note the little guy in the red shirt sitting on the ground. This is a serious karate face, not a mad little kid face. Notice Legare's too.

The next picture is a bit closer of Legare's serious face...

This one shows both faces pretty well. Wouldn't want to meet up with them in a dark alley when they're in karate mode...that's for sure!

They're Baaack!!!

On Thanksgiving weekend -
The geese gave thanks for the nice layover.

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for so many things.

My family - here and far - young and old.
My friends - here and far -

My health.
My animals.

My Grandmother's Thanksgiving (or Christmas - depending on the holiday) Dressing recipe.

My house - even though a smidge bigger would have made today a bit more comfortable and made it a bit easier to invite more to help us celebrate things we're thankful for.

That you all keep coming back to read. I promise pictures soon.

I love you all!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Go Tigers!

Fall Camping at Wadmalaw

1 tent
2 excited children
3 port-a-potties
4 new sleeping bags
5 the number of minutes it took to get to the port-a-potties – they were too far away this year (o.k. not really that far away, but when you’ve really gotta go it feels like 5 minutes)
6 when the band was supposed to stop playing. But they broke down and went acoustic until midnight or after. They were very good, and had been playing since around 2:00.
7 dozen donuts at breakfast to go along with sausage biscuits, hot chocolate and coffee
8 (or more) times we told the children to be careful playing around the fire
9 is about the time I went to bed (right after I got Legare settled), and because it had been dark for so long, it felt much later than that.
10 or after before Bryan and Julia came to bed
0 the number of pictures I took – even though I brought my camera. Shame on ME!

Please forgive me for not taking pictures to post of the camping party we attend at Wadmalaw (4th year of this Blue Grass and Bar B Q party) hosted by 4 families.

This party is hugely attended during the day – literally hundreds of adults and children. Then others of us brave families stay the night camping. The first year there were maybe 10-15 of us families that camped. 4 of those were the hosts. This year there were probably 20 tents all over the place.

We got there a bit later than normal (Bryan had to watch the ball game at our house even though there was a satellite tv set up out there) and we scrambled to get the tent up before nightfall.

There is always a blue grass band, hayrides for the kids, a zip slide, a big bonfire, tons of beer and wine, food and dessert. At night they even set up a pseudo “drive in movie” for the children.

It has graduated from a projected movie shot on the side of the tent to a projected movie shot on a sheet mounted on some 2x4s tightly strung between two trees. They have strategically placed the “screen” so that the movie can be viewed from both sides – maximizing the viewing area.

It was really funny listening to the children holler at each other to sit down or get out of the way when someone would accidentally get in front of the projector. They were also pretty good at shouting "stop that" when someone would turn on their flashligt and shine it at the screen rendering a blind spot. These offenses didn't last long - sounded to me like the other children performing the offenses should have been nervous for their safety. This year they watched “Cars” and “Over the Hedge”.

This family outing is one of the things my family looks forward to each year. I promise to do a better job of getting pictures next year. I told Bryan that the children and I weren't waiting for a ballgame to end next time, I didn't like arriving so close to nightfall. And with more sunlight, there will be pictures.

Tag - I'm it!

I have been tagged by Aileen to complete the following sentences.

I am then supposed to tag 3 others, but since none of my friends are bloggers, you may feel free to pick one or two of the sentence starters and leave your completed sentence(s) in my comments section. Consider yourself tagged if you're reading. I look forward to a few responses.

I am: Anne…wife, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, aunt, niece, friend. Bitchy, moody, fun….

I want: sadly, too many material things to name, including a new house. I also want too many intangibles to name, but will name a few...for my children to love me when they are teenagers, for Willis not to be lonely, Pop to heal completely, Mom and Dad to be content (here or anywhere), and for Bryan to keep thinking I’m the sexiest woman around.

I have: a lot to be thankful for: great family and friends and a truly blessed life. I also have an iPod Video that I’ve never put a video onto. I also still have my childhood teddy bear “Smokey”. He is currently in Julia’s room – threadbare in lots of places.

I wish: sometimes that I lived in a traditional neighborhood – a bit closer to town with lots of my children’s friends around (Legare wishes this too). And I wish that I knew how to download videos to my iPod.

I hate: how fast my house gets “unclean”, that Willis is too hyper to let in the house, that I don’t know what I’m getting everyone for Christmas and that my car is 300 miles away from 40K.

I miss: carefree college days, ice from my icemaker (it’s currently broken), a flat stomach/skinnier days.

I hear: the smallest of sounds that wake me in the middle of the night – a hold over from my brother coming to me scared in the night when we were children.

I wonder: if my bladder issues will ever go away.

I regret: that I’m not better at keeping up with friends (past and present); that sometimes I yell at my children out of frustration.

I am not: really blonde anymore.

I dance: or used to. I don’t really do it anymore. My children are the ones I dance with when I do– and boy are they fun – they’ve got pretty good rhythm

I sing: way to much for how I sound. I love Christmas songs and church hymns. I also like singing loud when my iPod headphones are in…the kids and Bryan look at me like I’m crazy, but it sure is fun. I used to sing in the show choir in highschool, and we won 2nd place in a national, invitaional competion that took all 65 of us on a trip to LA.

I cry: a lot…at movies, commercials, tv shows, on the phone with friends and family, during that time of the month, because you may be sad, etc., etc.. Pop says I’m a professional mourner. But I also cry when I’m happy.

I am not always: the nice and confident person you think I am.

I make with my hands: spankings – just kidding! I also make cats purr. Tails wag. Change for purchases at the School store. Hugs for my children. Meals for the family, and orange tiger paws on faces at tailgates.

I confuse: Aileen and Michelle’s Birthdays. March 10 and March 9 – did I get that right finally? I also sometimes confuse adult’s names with their children’s names.

I need: more romance in my life (or at least more dates with my husband), and a good 8 hours of sleep each night.

I should: do a better job with the finances. I should also turn in those overdue library books.

I start: each morning making breakfast for the family and sending everyone out with a kiss.

I finish: the day saying prayers with the children and washing my face before I get in bed. I can count on one hand how many nights I have missed washing my face since my Aunt Mazel told me (when I was about 10) to take care of my face or I would get wrinkles like her. I think the wrinkles will come anyway – surely not from a lack of keeping it clean. I even did this on drunken nights in college. Somehow I always managed to be able to wash my face.

The Naivete of Children

And My 50th Post!

Children are so precious! The way they think is sometimes so pure (o.k. - naive maybe).

Let me start at the beginning...we all know what happens to your pumpkins about 3-4 days after being carved.

Mold.
Pure Penicillin!

And when you're little, you just don't understand that the mold is the reason you have to wait so long to carve them in the first place.

I could never understand why we couldn't have the Jack-o-Lanterns sitting, carved, and lit on our porch for most of the month of October.
They could have graced our porch with their cuteness, or scariness, all month long - but the parents, in all of their wisdom, always made us wait.

Now remember, my children haven't had many jack-o-lanterns in their lives. The few we have made since we've been on the farm have always been taken to Mom's. So the children have never seen the demise of the pumpkins.

And of course, you can't get rid of the pumpkins until the children understand that it's time. They would panic at the "dumpstering" of perfectly good pumpkins if there were no clear reason why to get rid of them.

Well........it's time.
I noticed the growing patches of mold as I entered the house in the afternoon. Julia noticed them sometime a bit later. Her cute self came in, in that Julia, stoic, all business and no play kind of way and says something along these lines.....

"Mom. There is like a squirrel's tail, or something furry, on my pumpkin."

How do you not laugh at this?

You don't want to bruise any egos - you know she's not aware that this big, hairy patch is just medicine in the making - she's never seen a moldy pumpkin before.

Anyway, in all fairness to her - it really does kind of look soft and fluffy like a squirrel's tail. I actually had to do a double take the first time I saw it. You know, maybe Willis has been playing tricks with these pumkins too - maybe some spanish moss draped around the "hat". Maybe a squirrel's tail...

And as Julia noted, it's even in his eyes.

Legare's is growing some too, but not with the gusto of Julia's.So, here's to the naivete of children!

And here's to me, having my 50th post!

7 Hours is Long Enough!

Aileen, Spencer and family met us at the fair this past Saturday. Bryan was out of town, so it was just me with the children.

Legare couldn't wait to share the fair with Lil' Spencer, and Julia couldn't wait to go to "the big kid side" to ride bigger, scarier, dizzier rides. So Julia and I embarked on our own, leaving Legare with Spencer and Aileen.

Juila definitely got her adventuresome gene from me. She was getting angry at some of the rides because they were putting a "Julia's too short to ride this one" height restriction in effect.

And since the children refer to this as "Pawpaw's Fair", around every third corner they were lamenting, "We sure wish Pawpaw was here!".

They think this is Dad's fair because dad is a member of the Exchange Club and he has always been at the fair every time they have been. This year, Dad is living a bit too far away to come and work a few shifts. We missed sharing the fair with Dad and Mom.

After spending 7 hours at the fair (no exaggeration - 11:45 to 6:45 - 7 hours exactly), the smiles were still going as strongly as in these pictures. I was fading, but the kids were still begging for more. I had to draw the line at 7 hours.

Felix - Just Pondering the Morning

Felix really enjoys looking out of the windows. He also enjoys venturing outside.

You can tell he was used to life on the street because he does things like:
-pull trash out of the can
-drag trash bags across the floor
-nibble holes in the bottoms of trash bags not yet removed from the house
-and steal things off of plates when you're not looking (like whole pieces of pizza, waffles, chicken bones - just to name a few).

I call him "Trouble" more than I call him Felix.

He is very sweet though - loves to snuggle, sit in your lap, get licked by Willis (when she's not so hyper), and loves to play with all the cat toys we've purchased. This is an activity he enjoys even in the middle of the night.

This morning in an effort to see out of the window - purched on top of the head board - not leaning on it as above, he was "clumsy cat" and fell. He landed on my face scratching my nose... making it bleed. Yes - I popped him for that one!

He is currently nestled under my left arm, between it and my body as I sit here typing (in bed on the laptop) with paws stretched out resting on my thumb, and head resting on my hand. This makes it a bit difficult to type, but I don't mind.

Just when you think he's been more "Trouble" than you can bear, he totally turns on the charm.

Halloween at My House

How Halloween Looked to Me

My cute children in the costumes they chose...a shipwrecked pirate and Superman with Muscles
The OQuinn gym set up for the carnival. This was my last year in charge and I feel like it ran pretty smoothly. Next year's host is Nancy Egleston - she shadowed me all day on Tuesday. I think she'll do great.
Superman and his favorite side kick - a green Power Ranger (this is Legare's friend Robert).
We were able to line up the children to take a quick picture before Trick-or-Treating in the Weitz, Truluck and Fabian's neighborhood. Thanks guys for letting us tag along. We had a great time. What a crew!
These are the pumpkins that were created at my house - even though we don't get trick or treaters.

These pumpkins were picked out and designed solely by my children. They even scooped the "guts" out. I only drew their designed faces and carved.

The one on the left is Legare's and on the right is Julia's. The ones underneath are ones that I created for a booth at the Halloween Carnival. Willis has since moved all of mine to the yard - their faces looking at you as you leave the porch.
If I didn't know better I would say that a neighborhood kid did it...but then I guess Willis is kind of like the neighborhood kid. And she probably wouldn't have done this had the calming force of Ella been here for a cooler head to prevail.Here are the children's finished products at night.
Happy Halloween!

Felix's New Friends

Felix Makes Some Unlikely Friends

Felix has been busy charming everyone around here. Of course he started out having won me and the kids over. But take a look at some of his other friends.

Felix's new friend Willis
(only unlikely because Felix doesn't mind her - Willis loves cats.
Seems Felix may love dogs.)

Felix's New Friend Bryan
(if you know Bryan - you know this is very unlikely)

Felix's new friends Cosmo and Mehlman
(the terrified fish in the background - need I say more?
I think Felix dipped his paws in a time or two before he decided to grab a few winks)

Boogie Fever - Tiger Style

Boogie Fever - Tiger Style

The energy at Clemson this past weekend was electric to say the least. ESPN Game Day was there, and the Orange flowed as heavy as ever.

During the morning hours, the children and Dads went to Bowman Field, the site of the ESPN stage and of all of the college organizations' and fraternity Homecoming floats. While there, apparently the electric mood struck the boys and the dancing began!
And hamming it up for the camera became the order of the morning.
Back at tailgate, the girls got in on the action. They were a bit more methodical about their madness. They were dancing to the stadium chant song that you can hear at many college football games these days.At one point during the girls' dancing, a former Rally Cat (Clemson Dance/Pep Squad member) stopped by to give the girls a quick dance move combination. They did think they were hot stuff.
It was certainly a good time had by all! Especially since the Tigers won! And now they are ranked number 10. We'll see how they do tonite.

C-L-E-M-S-O-N, T-I-G-E-Rrrrrr-S
Fight Tigers, Fight Tigers, Fight, Fight, Fight!
GO TIGERS!

Fire Season Has Begun

Fire Season Has Officially Arrived

Though most of us wait until the first chilly night to start our fires, some of us get started in September. Making fires that truly are to be envied.

And like most fire bugs, admiring your work is the best part of building the fire.

And building a fire takes proper tools. You of course need the debris to burn in the first place. Other tools may not be as obvious.

A "Beer Stand" is very helpful in fire burning situations. It's the tool you need to fuel your body.











Your Loyal Subjects are also great tools to have around. They can be counted on to do all of the little tasks like gathering pine straw to fuel the fire.










And sometimes during fire season, you will have "Dead Soldiers". Once they have passed on they really aren't good tools anymore. But you know that they gave it their all at the beginning of the fight.

Clemson is Naturally Fresh!

GO T I G E R S!

Naturally Fresh is one of the sponsors of Clemson Athletics. The last game we went to (Louisiana Tech) a blinged out John Deere Gator came by with the cutest little man on it. It was the "Naturally Fresh Flagship". The cute man claims to be the oldest tailgater (he graduated before Legare).

Anyway, his job on game days is to drive around the tailgating spots spreading good cheer and to see if anyone needs any Naturally Fresh products for their tailgate: little tubs of blue cheese dressing, honey mustard, ketchup, ranch, etc., etc.
Apparently he has done this for several seasons but only around the concrete parking lots on the other side of the stadium. He had decided to branch out a little bit and come to visit us who tailgate with shade under the trees. Wonder if he'll be back this weekend while we're there for the Georgia Tech game?

GO T I G E R S!

Soccer Goalie

My Soccer Goalie!

Here is my soccer goalie! So far her team is undefeated (two games left to play), and my little goalie has even scored a few points herself. They rotate the girls through each position, but goalie and defense seem to be her favorite places to play.
Here's a picture of the team. It is made up of every girl from her class at school.

The Tide is High

The footbridge between the Walpole's yard and ours....























The Walpole's dock when we thought the tide was about to crest.


















The Walpole's dock after it really had crested.

Sue, this is for you!

Enjoy!!

Since Sue thinks it's funny that I like my wildlife photos, I've decided to post some more for her. Of course, this picking means I love you! That said.....

The Alligator

This is the alligator that lives in our small irrigation pond. He's a little longer than my leg, and not any bigger around. I haven't seen him since it's gotten a bit colder. I'm sure we'll see him sunning himself soon.

The Geese

Periodically we have a flock (or flocks) or geese that take a break from their migration to rest in our field. They do it with yearly regularity. This time, I had my camera to catch a few shots. They didn't seem to mind me stopping to take some snaps of them.

As a matter of fact, some of them actually took a pose for me.

So, Sue, I hope you enjoyed these "Wildlife Photos". I'll have more coming for you soon!