Nashville Here I Come

I'm taking off this weekend

to see this girl.

 She' the one in the life sized poster back there behind her fans.


She's playing in Nashville this weekend and since she is graduating from college next year I thought I'd better get my sorry butt up there and watch her play.


This is her twin below. Who is also on full scholarship like my girl above.
Don't know when I'll get to see her play, but if I can I will.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

This girl will ALSO be playing. I don't want to miss a moment of watching her play either.

She's my baby. This is her senior year. I have to savor every moment with this kid. Good thing her daddy will be there to cheer her on.

This one here is also one of my girls. ( The tall one in the middle) She is just starting a very promising volleyball college career. I'll be thinking of her this weekend as she plays in her first away tournament of the season. Go get em Holland!! Aunt Steph loves you!


To all four of you amazing women... I love and admire each of you for who you have become and for all you've done. So proud of you and remember I'm always in your heart telling you what a great ass you. have.

Love Aunt Steph... and Mom

Reservations by Indiana

Many years ago I warned my parents of the following...

" One of these days, Indy is going to call you up and ask to come visit"

"She will then come to Ted and I and inform us that she'll be taking a vacation and that she's going to need a ride to the airport." "No need to make the flight reservations because she will have gotten Poppy Toms credit card and booked the trip herself"

Well that time has come. She flew out last Monday with my mother who had been here visiting. Every now and then I get a text from my mother that gives me an update on what they've been up to.

Here are a few pictures I've received.

some sort of "Fiesta Days" thing going on in Santa Barbara.
And for that we get a Spanish dancing dress and a sombrero.

Oh and then we go shopping at Nordstrom. We wear glasses and sombreros because we like to keep a low profile. That's how we roll in our family.

Then Gramma send me a text asking if Indy can dye her hair.
I said yes but NOT with permanent hair color. I'm all for expressing yourself but Not with permanent ANYTHING!!

We get to go to IHOP for pancakes
And we also get confetti eggs to squish on people's heads.

 I wanna go to Gramma and PT's house.

Summer so Far

 Ari called home from work the other day. It seemed that someone interfered with nature and took a baby bird away from its nest.

Translate that into... Ari has to bring the bird home and hand raise it until it's able to be released back into the wild.

 We came home and found this in her closet.

 Clearly Ari knew her little sister would locate such bird and try to check it out.

This cage was hiding in her closet.

We are no longer the "go to" people for bird care. The bird died because I thought we were supposed to feed it every time it squeaked. It squeaked all day long.

It died from over eating. oops.

 Shelley and the kids came for a visit. 

people who live at the beach have tar on their feet. Gross. I gave Shelley some nail polish remover to get that nasty stuff off.

 Enjoyed some much needed rain.

 And some much needed time at the pool.

 Shelley and I took the kids to the beach for a few days.

 I got to sit on my butt and enjoy the beach.

 Bought the kids a sun hut. they loved it.

 Took Shelleys picture

Shopped for tennis skirts.

 Goofed off

made the best of a nasty outer ear infection.

 Went out to eat.

Goofed off some more.

 Shelley and the kids went home.

Fourth of July rolled around and we hosted our second annual fireworks party.

 The neighbors rolled up in their golf carts piled high with fireworks. behind the smoke in this picture this guy had an enormous pile of fireworks bungee corded to the top of his golf cart. 

Yea that's how we roll in the deep South.

the crowd is gathering

Ari and her friends joined the fun.

My husband is the best pyrotechnic guy.

the aftermath. it looked like a war zone the next morning.

A small portion of the trash from fireworks.

Still playing tennis. Shelley got to play with me when she was here. 

More to come later.

Pre-Fourth

Ted and a couple of other Dads took the kids and went on a shopping trip to get fire works today.

When they returned, Indy came bee-bopping in the door and said " Mom, Daddy gave me $10 to spend on fire works!!"

Me: "Oh, you mean he gave you $10 to purchase explosives??"

Indy: " Uhh Huh!!"

great.

She's 17

Happy 17th Birthday to my beautiful

first born child.

Arianna Kathryne

You make me happy everyday.

I couldn't be more proud of the woman you're becoming.

Happy Birthday Baby.

love mom.

A couple Things

Alex has been home sick since last Friday. I took him to the Doctor as soon as he said that it was hurting to breathe.

He has pneumonia. Lucky for him and me... He's a pretty good patient. it's amazing how easy they are when they REALLY don't feel well. He probably won't be back to school until next Monday. Pray for me.

Ari started her first REAL job. She applied at the local vet where we take all of our pooches. He told her that he'd love to hire her but that she was probably gonna have to choose between playing volleyball in the Fall and this job. She came home and cried.

She agonized for two days about what to do. Does she give up volleyball her senior year to have a job she really wants? Or does she keep her commitment to herself and her team and give up the job?

Ted and I both told her that we thought she should NOT give up volleyball her senior year. There are NO do overs. You don't get another senior year. She was so torn because she really wanted the job.

I finally told her " Ask for the moon!" Tell the Dr that you want the job but you will be playing VB in the late Summer/Fall and that you'll be back to re-apply when the season ends. Ask for the moon! You deserve it.

She didn't have to ask for the moon. He called her two days later and asked her to start the next day.

He said that when she started VB he would deal with it then, but that he wanted to hire her in spite of the fact that she would need a few months off.

She started a few days ago. She wears scrubs to work and gets to do whatever they need help with.

She cam home yesterday all happy and excited because she got to help in an exam. She got to hold a dog while he had blood drawn. She also got to take a poop sample and put it into a lab tube. Exciting stuff. She loved it. I told her to go wash her damn hands and to take those scrubs off before she walks into the house and carries in all the animal germs and fur.

gross. to each her own i guess. So proud of her.

Indy started tennis lessons last week. Hey, I've gotta have someone to play with when Ted's not around. She loves it of course. Damn.

10-20 Inches

It rained most of the day yesterday.

Rather... It poured most of the day. I think we got something like 10 plus inches in one day.

When I ran next door to say something to my neighbor, I was ankle deep in water.

But most of the night I lie awake worrying.

About what you ask?

Does all this rain ruin a clay tennis court and deem it un-usable?

A bit shallow don't you think?