Mickey Mouse, Big AL & Nascar....

OME! Our end of summer has been crazy fun times. We went to Orlando to stay at Mickey Mouse's house for a week with my brother Eric, his girlfriend Mindy, her daughter Hannah, & his twin boys Coy & Colton. 8 days in Disney World with one little girl who has never been...she is 6. Hannah was like a breath of fresh air on this trip. I have never been to Disney with a child who is seeing it all for the first time and taking everything in... her eyes were wide & excited for about 18 hours per day. (that 18 hours is not an exaggeration, we were going nonstop for the first 4 days). The boys had been there once before - when Marcus & I got married - but there were so many things that they had not been able to ride due to the wedding festivities. We did everything. (again a literal statement... we did everything that was not under refurbishment) Marcus & I enjoyed time with the boys & Hannah. We see Nina's four quite often but rarely get the one on one time we did on this trip with Eric's crew. They are growing up so fast and are absolutely adorable. I truly enjoyed hearing "Aunt Courtney look at this! Aunt Courtney can we do this? Aunt Courtney did you see that? Aunt Courtney can we ride it again?" every 45 seconds from 3 directions. They make me smile.

Then after returning from Orlando we had a weekend to just lay around and sleep but after that...well this weekend brought on College Football openers. We had planned to just stay around the house to watch the game unless tickets were magically found. Well on Thursday not only did Alabama/Virginia Tech tickets appear but also a bunch of Nascar Race tickets appeared. It just so happens that the game was in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and by coincidence the PepBoys night race was in Atlanta too.... Yep so quickly we packed on Thursday night and we loaded up the car: Me, Marcus, my mom & my dad. We were off to the races! (and the game ;o) ) Nina's house played hotel for us this weekend and with Labor Day we were able to really stretch out the weekend. Good thing too, because 3 a.m. was an early bedtime for our crew of 10. Craziness.

It turned into a wonderful getaway, Alabama gave us a great close game against Virginia Tech (final score 34-24) and the night race provided a different kind of entertainment.

We also snuck in some shopping & were able to catch Jon's team the WOLVERINES play as well. Whew! What a weekend. Well for us it was merely the opening to the Fall, the beginning of crazy weekends and fun times with friends & family...

WILD & WACKY TIMES WITH THE FAM!

Well the last two weekends have been crazy. The very last weekend in June I slipped over to Atlanta to see Nina for her birthday weekend. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! Friday night we enjoyed dinner & a movie at the house. Saturday morning Christian had an early morning baseball game. I really love watching coach pitch. The kids are so adorable. You can really see how much fun they are having!

Don't be afraid - the knife is just to ward everyone off from her yummy cake.

After the game Nina & I went for lunch by the marina & then went shopping. I LOVE the store Honey Butter in Woodstock. Then there is FoxTales - a precious locally run bookstore. Ooohhh also Christine's! The little community around Nina is quite charming. We always have fun. A little bit of trampoline time on the couch too....



The kids & I whipped up a yummy cake! Then Keith grilled some great steaks for dinner. The day was all about Nina... which I think she liked :)
Sunday was a different day - Nina and I worked on a home project of hers and it took a few hours to get everything pulled together but by the time I was headed home, we felt content with the project. ;o)

Last weekend we headed to the big city of Camden for a few days of food, fireworks & fun!

Aren't all "my" children adorable??
Mom & Dad graciously hosted this crazy clan of family! Pray for their sanity :o) We all really appreciate all the time & effort they put in so that we can all be together. The pool was sparkling & the food was sensational. We love you!
The pool is rarely this calm - we were all sitting at the picnic tables eating lunch. I thought it interesting that the water was just calmly waiting for our return. The volleyball net was probably breathing easier since no child or adult was dodging its threads! :)

Don't be fooled, this grin is full of mischief!

My husband's eyes are cutting to the side due to the food that is passing him by... yeah.

Jon's birthday happens to be July 4th so along with the typical homemade ice cream & barbecue we blew out some birthday candles! LONG hours in the pool made the weekend perfect. We also had this yummy punch that was, well... YUMMY!

My big brother Jeremy was able to stop by for some yummy dessert & to wish Jon a Happy Birthday!

Hanging, Hammering, Nailing - laughing, crying, enjoying...

I have been working for the past week on a large number of shelves, frames, paintings and all out odd-end home improvements. Yes the girl who cannot choose a wall color can really redecorate or rearrange any room quite quickly :)
Marcus & I went to Atlanta last weekend to see Nina, Keith & the kids. It was so much fun! Friday night we got in fairly early = around 10 EST. Not too bad; it is normally later. Keith had grilled some awesome cheeseburgers so the late dinner was great. On Saturday we split the groups: all girls - all boys. Us girls went to some shops that I had not visited in quite sometime as well as a HUGE designer fabric store - Tracy you would freak out. It is like THE place the area designers go to get fabric. Like HGTV fabric store, crazy. Then we went to this place call Rustique in Marietta. Okay they had a like a 30 foot iron giraffe & rooster for your yard. YES you read correctly. But they also had the most beautiful outdoor fountains, arbors and benches. Mind you they also had furniture & home decor, but really they did not want to sell that stuff. A BASIC pewter cake plate (not Arthur Court - no design) $130.00 Yeah, we just told the girls not to touch anything - neither did me or Nina:0)
Then we snagged Marcus. Me, Nina, Marcus, Anna & Jessica headed to downtown Atlanta to IKEA. Okay Marcus & I have gotten the catalog but this was our first store experience. That place is HUMONGOUS! They sell EVERYTHING!!! We now understand why people shop there. It was like house Disneyland! We will definitely return. We bought 4 awesome floating shelves (they are big by the way_ and an eight foot tall solid wood bookcase. I was almost crying I was so happy to have gotten the book case. I have TONS of books that are kind of stashed everywhere. Because I collect antique/vintage books, displaying them is important to me. Now they have a home.
Also this week we have daily hung a shelf or had a picture framed. We had tons of prints that need frames. Some Daniel Moore Alabama prints, some artwork we bought from a gallery, some photos and a Twilight poster. Got them all done! WOOHOO!!! Marcus was so thrilled about one of the big Bama prints we had framed. It turned out quite a bit bigger than we expected, but it looks awesome beside Stevie the TV.
Anyway, the weather is crazy but we have really enjoyed doing all these little projects all week. I look forward to finishing some of the organizing I now have to do! :)