When It Rains It Pours

Wow! What a crazy few weeks. My mom and Dad both had surgery. My mom had her thyroid removed and there were some complications and some drama but it all worked out. My dad had a major hernia fixed (the doc said it was an abdominal reconstruction). As if both parents isn't enough for us to worry about my Grandpa G.B. had open heart surgery too. Since my parents are far away and my Grandpa is much closer, in Atlanta, we opted to go help out there. He was staying at my aunt Linda's and all of my aunts and uncles in Atlanta are doing a wonderful job of caring for him. We got there the day he came home from the hospital. We were able to do tons to help out, okay it was mostly Brian that worked SO HARD but I was there for moral support and to help with some planning. Can I just say.. I am so lucky to have a man that can do ANYTHING. Brian got so much done and helped everyone out.

It was great to see my grandpa and report to my mom that he really is doing well. We had a few teary moments where we were all thankful that he was alive and sitting with us. We also had fun visiting with my aunts and cousins.

We are so grateful that everyone made it through surgery and that they are all recovering and getting better. We just wish we could have been in Glendale to help with my parents too, luckily my sisters, Hillary and Claire, are doing an amazing job of caring for them.

Me, my cute Grandpa, and his heart pillow

Brian, Ellie, and Cody... The dogs had a great time too.

Career Day

Mr. Williams came to career day at the Bickett. The school I teach at is an "at risk" school and we did not have any parents volunteer for career day. Naturally I signed Brian up for it. He talked all about stone and rocks. He even showed some videos of blasting stone out of a quarry. The students kept calling him the "rock man". Once again I loved seeing him sit in the tiny first grader chairs. He was a great ROCK MAN.

Happy Halloween

We had our first Halloween here in our N.C. subdivision and we loved it!!! We handed out candy with our neighbors Terrance and Lashanda, in our driveway (so trick-or-treaters would stay off the sod). We had TONS of trick or treaters. My favorite costume was a peacock with real feathers!

We also liked the teenagers with sideways hats and a boom box blaring Sting (really couldn't they find any rap.... or at least current pop music.. maybe some Beiber). They were "gangsters". When Brian asked them what they were they said "we are gangsters sir" all started laughing and told them they at least needed to be a little ghetto when they say they are gangsters. So they tried to say it again and the 2nd time it sounded like and English accent! That really made me laugh. I am so thankful that the kids in my neighbor hood think that gangsters say sir and just wear their hat sideways!

Working as Landscapers

When we moved into our house almost a year ago the yard was a disaster. This past spring we worked on it to try and get it looking decent. By the time Fall came we had given up. Brian decided the yard was not salvageable and that we should just start over. Last weekend we had sprinklers put in. This weekend we removed all of the grass/weed combo that was our front yard. Brian rented a sod cutter and cut our yard into long strips. All our our neighbor men kept coming over to see how the machine worked and to see what we were doing. It was cracking me up how excited these men got about the sod cutter. was like they had just been given a new car.

Brian and I worked Friday afternoon and evening. We got the small strip between the sidewalk and the street cleared and sodded. The real circus began at 8:00am on Saturday when the whole crowd started working. The hole crew consisted of Brian & Me, our neighbor Terrance, our neighbor Jay, our neighbor Rob and his son Reid and the extra teen living at Rob's house Matt.

I stocked up on water and Gatorade. They drank 25 bottles of Gatorade and a case of water. We worked and cleared all of the old year away. Then we raked and leveled everything. Then we spread 5yards of top soil. Thanks goodness neighbors brought their own rakes and shovels. We to countless wheelbarrow loads, p the woods behind our house. (That is another project. We are trying to level our woods out). Then we got the dirt wet and started laying the sod. It was 8:00pm by the time we finished. It took 6 people 12 hours but our lawn looks great! We also saved $2,000 doing it our selves. WE are so luck to have such great friends/neighbors!

Brian and I got up this morning and finished laying the rest of the sod along the side of the house and leveling out the huge piles of dirt and weedy grass in our woods. Now we are officially exhausted and ready for a very long shower!

The sprinklers in progress

Brian working hard

Part of the sod

Part of the old yard that I rolled up

The boys clearing our old yard away!

The snake the teenage helpers were chasing me around our yard with

Ta'Da!

Waxhapalooza

Since moving into our house in Charlotte we have made lots of new friends. One of our new neighbors has a huge party each fall. I think the party is an excuse for Jamie (our neighbor) to have a gig for his band. They call this party Waxhapalooza and it is a BIG event our entire subdivision is invited. Three Bands play, they serve TONS of BBQ (its the south, every thing is a BBQ worthy event) and they collect money for the Waxhaw Volunteer Fire Department. We took our chairs over and had a great time visiting with friends/neighbors and listening to some good bands. We are looking forward to next years event.

Jeep Rocks & Road Tour

We went to the Charlotte home show, just to check it out. When we got there we noticed several MUDDY Jeeps. As we walked into the home show there were people in Jeep outfits telling us about the Jeep Rocks and Road tour. They said we could drive jeeps on the road or off-road course, this caught Brian's attention so we walked around the home show then headed to play with the jeeps. We had to register and swipe our drivers license. Brian said it would be fun to test drive the Rubicon so we did. We both drove the course over one BIG hill, bumps, rocks, and at an angle. A jeep person rides along with you to supervise, make sure you are being safe, and of course talk about Jeep. Brian drove the course first and did a great job. I figured it seemed pretty easy so I would give it a shot.

When it was my turn to drive I thought the point was to make the ride as bumpy as possible I thought I was doing great because I hit every bump hard and bounced us all over the place. The jeep representative even stopped talking about the Rubicon and was holding on. Apparently that is NOT the point of off-roading... who knew? Also, I might have gotten close to driving off the top of a 40 ft hill. Brian decided that if we ever own a off-road vehicle I will not be allowed to drive it. I think this just means I am ready for the Jeep Safari in Moab.

EARLY HALLOWEEN SURPRISE

Brian came in last week and "needed me" to help him on the front porch. So naturally I went out to help. I didn't know he needed a reaction not my help!!!! He got his reaction. This giant spider was on our front porch. Since moving to the south I have encountered some of the biggest and weirdest bugs ever... this was one of the scariest. I guess this giant spider could tell our house was in full Halloween Mode and it wanted in on the action.