Congratulations Sarah U!

Sarah and Ryan are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy who was born early this morning.

Hilton Head

Here are just a few pictures (from our 100's to choose from) from our vacation in Hilton Head, SC a couple of weeks ago.




Poor, poor car


Anybody remember glow worms?


These were THE best crab legs I've ever had...claws down.


So Mimsies and I were in the market for some new sunglasses.
What do you think?


We stopped in Knoxville, TN to spend the night on our drive back to Ohio. We stayed at a Hampton Inn (have you experienced these beds? - delicious!) Anywho, we also saw Pirates of the Caribbean while we were in town. And this LOVELY display was just calling our names inside the movie theater!

Must. create. more. space. for. map.

So I'll post a few extra entries today to make that happen.

A few things:
1. I leave in about 2 minutes to take Lucy girl to the vet. Complete with her red ball (to distract her from the shots) and a stool sample. Nothing like following your dog around the yard to see where the fresh pile is.

2. I have two very precious friends who are super preggo and overdue. Neither of them has had their babies yet. Please pray for them that it will happen soon! You can visit Sarah U's blog to read more about how one patiently waits for a new little one. Love you Sarah and Courts! Can't wait to meet your little guys!

3. Painted my guest room yesterday. It's nice to have that done - however, my shoulders and arms are entirely too sore today for such an activity. I feel old.

Have a great Wednesday!

Oh, the places I've been...

create your own visited country map


I got this off of this website which I snagged from nervous giggle's blog. I thought it was kind of cool. Feel free to make your own map of places you've visited!

Testing...

Ok, so for the longest time, I've been trying to figure out how to link things in my posts. I'm going to give it a shot. Please check out my friend, Mimsies' blog.


Did it work?

I'm back!

Whew. One week of vacation in loverly Hilton Head + One week of counseling 9 year old girls for a week at church camp = One tired girl.

To sum up:
Hilton Head was fantastic! I will defer you to Mimsies' blog (click on the link to the right) to see pictures of our time there. I will post more soon. Many of you know that we got ourselves into a little fender bender while on the island. Mimsies also has a picture of my poor car. We found out that it had $9,000 worth of damage to it and we won't get it back for another 3 weeks. sigh. At least it wasn't my fault!

Camp was also fantastic! I enjoyed meeting lots of new people and getting to know the girls in my cabin. I'm looking forward to next year already! However, I slept the best I had in months last night. Those girls are active! It was a lot of fun - I had forgotten how much fun it was to be grubby for a week! One of the best quotes came from one of my campers while walking back to our cabin one evening. She asked me, "Sarah, did the Spice Girls break up after Baby Spice got arrested?" How does a 9 year old know this stuff?

More pictures...

Those of you who read this blog and would like to comment, I just changed the settings so that anyone can comment. So, you Xanga users and non-bloggers: feel free to write me a little somethin' somethin'.

Our 4th of July was pretty low-key. We hung out around the house and did some odd jobs. We grilled burgers and brats for lunch and then later in the afternoon, we started watching season 1 of LOST. We made it through 2 episodes before we were lured outside by our neighbors and their fireworks. We spent the rest of the night sitting in our neighbor's front lawn watching him light bottle rockets and some mysterious number called the Titanic. It was a fun night.

Now, more pictures of our weekend with my sister:


Molly and I:


Eating dinner on the deck:



We made sure that they got a taste of Skyline Chili Coneys - a Cincinnati favorite:







In my last post, I mentioned Asha Imports. Here is an example of what the Sari Blankets look like. We worked on putting tags on them while they were visiting:



Only 2 more sleeps until we get to leave for Hilton Head! We'll head out on Friday afternoon and start our 12 hour drive to South Carolina. We'll meet up with Mimsies and her husband, one other couple and a Brit from Japan. (All the boys grew up together in the Philippines) I cannot WAIT for vacation to start! Now I'm off to do more laundry and cleaning. Toodles!

Happy Birthday Sweet Lucy

Our little black beauty is 4 years old today. 4 years ago in August, Dave and I drove to pick her up from the breeder. She was a tiny, pudgy little thing with a belly that swayed back and forth as she walked. It just barely missed skimming the grass as she'd waddle along. She is a precious precious pet and as silly as it may seem, she's made life more fun for the past 4 years. Happy Birthday Lucy! I'll get you a new ball for your present. I promise.

Fun with the Filas

My sister, Molly, and her husband, Dylan, came to visit this past weekend. They just left a few hours ago. We had a great time with them. It's so fun to have company come to visit! We had a great time showing them around Cincinnati. They're on their way to Cornerstone Music Festival in Illinois. They'll spend the week there at their booth for Asha Imports (www.ashaimports.com) where they'll sell their imported goodies from India. Check out their website. They've got some really neat stuff and the money goes to a great cause.

More pictures to come...