The Walk of Shame

Poor Butterscotch got The Fix. I'm not sure I like the "new" Butterscotch. He doesn't run circles around me when I come home nor does he seem as perky as he used to. He just lays around all day :(

I'm hoping, once the "cone of shame" comes off and I can get outside to play with him, that the "old" Butterscotch will return.

Giddy Up!!

Hubby finally gave in to the continuous requests from Bethany for horseback riding. It was time to sign up for Spring soccer and Bethany said she didn't want to play soccer anymore. Well, I knew what was coming next. It was the same conversation we had every time soccer season started up. He finally said, "YES!" which gave us one very happy little girl and one "on the fence". Sarah wanted to play soccer and horseback ride but I said, "NO! It's one or the other." She debated and debated because she really loves soccer. I knew, once she got her tail back in the saddle, her decision would be made. And so she gave up soccer for a horse.

They have been taking lessons since January. They can't both ride every week. They have to alternate which upset Bethany but she seems to be adjusting to the schedule.

Last week, Bethany got to test out her jump position and even went over a small jump (which I didn't get to film because I wasn't quick enough to capture the moment). I did get one short video and a snapshot.

Well, here is the snapshot. I can't figure out how to upload the video I took :(

The Day Before Easter

Last night we decided to watch the Passion since it was Good Friday. It is always hard to watch the representation of what might have happened to Jesus. It makes me SO mad to watch those idiots beat Him while He is trying to carry that cross ... UGH! Then they would yell at Him when He fell.

One thing I do like about the movie is the role of Mary. Not only did she say "YES!" to God's request for her to carry his son but she stands by and watches God's will take place in her son's life by watching Him die on that cross. The first time I ever watched the movie, I felt that mother connection with her character. I cried the whole time just trying to imagine what she must have suffered.

There are always details that I don't catch the first time watching a movie. Veronica for instance. I forgot she was represented in the movie. Sarah chose her as her saint this past All Saint's Day so we were able to study a little about her. Then there is Simon of Cyrene. That sparked an interest to find out if he was canonized by the Catholic Church. I couldn't find any information to verify it. he could have been added to the saints list before the process of canonization started.

There were definitely some catholic touches to the movie which I didn't notice before :)

Today, the girls have spent the afternoon decorating eggs. Such a messy job and unfortunately, the colors do not come out as vibrant on brown eggs as they probably do on white. All that matters is they had fun and used their creative juices.

Tomorrow we will go to church in our new dresses, come home for a light lunch, hunt Easter eggs then prepare our delicious Easter dinner .... Mmmmmm!

I hope to post pictures of the girls in their dresses tomorrow. Enjoy the egg pictures for today.

A New Toy for Mommy!

For Christmas I bought myself, with the Christmas money I got, an iPad mini. I just realized today there is a Blogger app which I have just downloaded. Hopefully, this will allow me to update more often ... I hope .... Well, one can wish, right?

Today brought a short snow shower that left everything white for a little while. It was SO beautiful. Here are some of our backyard.

What Beautiful Music I hear!

On Sunday, November 4, 2012, the Suzuki Association of South Carolina (SASC) performed in the lobby of the Peace Center in Greenville.  The performance took place prior to the Greenville Symphony playing and was meant to provide a little entertainment for the attendees of the symphony.

This is the second time the SASC as performed and is BEE-U-TEE-FULL!!!  I LOVE hearing the violinist and cellist play together in the walls of the Peace Center.

I have included a video of the musicians playing "Hedwig's Theme".  The cellist are also in the video but you can only hear them not see them.

 

In between the performances, because we stayed to hear the Greenville Symphony, we were able to get a few shots of the girls outside in front of the fountains.

I caught Bethany with a SMILE!!!  Love the non-posed pictures.

Sarah poses for a picture ... well, sort of. :)

Those girls could not keep their hands out of the fountains.



 

Back up and Posting .... Phewww!!!

Well, I tried to log on to my blog to realize I had forgotten my password.  What a nightmare!!!  It took two days and LOTS of information to reset it.  But now I am back.  I really want to start updating it again.  I hope I will stick with it this time :)

There are LOTS of things to share from the last year since my last post.  To hit a few highlights ... Sarah turned 9, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Bethany turned 11, Easter, vacations, school starting back, Sarah turned 10 ... you get the point.

So when I have a few minutes today, I will update and post some new pictures.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Brandon, the Sailor Man!

I received an email last week from my nephew, Brandon. He will be home in the States for leave from December 27th through January 10th. I canNOT wait to wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. The girls go back to school on January 3rd, so I will have to get my visit in during the beginning of his leave.

Brandon is stationed on the USS George Washington in Japan. He was on the aircraft carrier when the Tsunami hit Japan back in the Spring. Luckily, he was far enough away that they only felt a little bump.

He told me during one of our phone conversations that they can feel when the ship hits a whale. I cannot imagine something that BIG would be phased by a whale. I guess it would be like a car going over a speed bump.

I think about him every day and pray he will stay safe and in good health. I know he has struggled with being away from home. Brandon has such a good heart and loves easily.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Maybe in my next care package, I will send him some spinach ... ha ha ha!

St. Mary's First Annual Choral Festival

A few weeks ago the girls were asked to participate in a choral festival at St. Mary's Catholic School. Bethany jumped on it but Sarah didn't want to give up her soccer game. She reluctantly agreed.

Unfortunately, they were served pizza for lunch during their rehearsals. With the grease from the pizza, standing tons and bright lights, Bethany was unable to perform after ALL the rehearsals. But Sarah stood proud and sang loud.

Here are a few clips of the songs they sang.

August 15, 2011

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!! Yippee ... which means back to the gym for me ... YES!!! I have missed my time in the gym over the summer. I started out well enough going but then just fell away from it. But I am BACK and strong.

Sarah is in 4th grade and Bethany is starting 5th. My babies ... boo-hoo!

Check out those WHITE shoes!!! Maybe I will try to keep you updated on the "life" of the shoes ... :)

Visits with Grandparents

This year we decided to let go and allow the girls to spend a little alone time with the grandparents. It really wasn't a hard decision to make ... hee hee.

On Saturday, July 23rd I dropped the girls off with Grandpa and Grandma Burkhardt. The girls had fun going to church, going out to eat with family, swimming, .... I really don't know what all they got to do but I know they had a really good time. They also got to visit with Grandpa Lonnie where they got to milk a goat. Unfortunately no one thought to take a picture for me. :(

Tuesday night when we talked to the girls, Bethany told me that she was not ready to come home and didn't miss me. I hope she was just kidding but I have a feeling she meant it a little bit anyway.

On Wednesday, July 27th Grandpa and Grandma Burkhardt came to visit with us for a few days and brought the girls back with them. I'm not sure how the trip went but am glad that it was them and not me in the car for over 9 hours ... LOL!!! We had a really great, relaxing visit with them.

On Monday, August 1st Grandpa and Grandma pulled out with the girls in tow. They were taking the girls to Nana and Pop's for a stay. Again glad it was them and not ME!!

While they were with Nana and Pop, they went fishing, swimming, horseback riding ... I got phone pictures on a daily basis showing me how much fun they were having.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Vacation

We kept our vacation simple ... well, we thought it was going to be simple ... this year and headed to Tennessee for Dollywood and Splash Country. Upon our arrival on Saturday, July 9th, we started going through ALL the brochures for the area. We came across the Mysterious Mansion in Gatlinburg. The girls just HAD to go. They wouldn't talk about anything else. So we went into Gatlinburg and I dropped them off in front of the Mansion. Daddy had to go because Mommy sure WASN'T going in there. That is one thing I do NOT like ... being scared. Because it wasn't too busy, we were able to get a picture with some of the characters.

We had to take pictures next to the river.

The girls are SO crazy. Bethany wanted to act like she was shoving Sarah into the river and Sarah didn't want her touching her.

We headed back to the hotel for some pool time. It was the only night we were able to enjoy it.

On Sunday, we spent the WHOLE day at Splash Country. I didn't buy the waterproof camera this time around so was only able to get a few pictures when the girls went to the play area where the bucket dump was.

They had a BLAST!

It does look like Bethany was having fun!

Sarah poses for a picture.

On Monday, we headed to Dollywood. The first ride was the Barnstormer. The girls watched it before getting on; then decided they would ride it with Daddy.

Here they are strapping in.

First Rise ... not too bad.

2nd Rise ... still not too bad.

3rd Rise ... well, that one is getting up there.

4th Rise ... surely that is the last rise.

Nope ... 5th Rise ... now, that is up there!

Sarah and Daddy came off smiling; Bethany looked like she was in tears.

I had to get a picture after the Barnstormer.

Daredevil Falls. I cannot tell you HOW many times the girls rode this ride. I could not resist buying this picture.

I don't remember the name of this ride but the riders are trying to shoot the watchers and the watchers can shoot the riders. It was funny watching the adults running from one water gun to the next.

Our little chicks :)

Silly Pictures.

Styling Sarah!

Bad Bethany!!!

Riding ... I can't remember the names of these rides ... LOL!!! They loved the water rides.

At the Country Fair. They got Daddy on this ride with them.

The swings. The batteries were going dead on my camera and wouldn't snap fast enough to catch them. This was the only one that had both girls in it. How sad! The first time we ever went to Dollywood Sarah was 2 1/2 years old and was not tall enough to ride the swings. She was devastated. It was so special to see the smile on her face when she was able to ride the swings this time.

Every day, we said we were going to leave the parks before they closed and every day, we closed the parks. We had SO much fun watching the girls ride all the rides. We were able to get them to at least try ALL the rides. We didn't necessarily make them ride it again but we were able to get them to give each one a chance.

4th of July Festivities

On Saturday, July 2nd, the City of Greer held a 4th of July Festival. Although it was hot, we took the girls to enjoy some fun and fireworks. First up was face painting. Both girls got fireworks on their faces.

Then they did crafts. They painted stars.

See!!!!

Then it was off to the inflatables.

Here they had to race through the maze.

And they're OFF!!!

Sarah starts out ahead!

Bethany finishes off in the lead.

Sarah was just behind her.

To pass the time until the fireworks, we headed over to the park. It was SO crowded. There were so many kids, I had a hard time keeping up with mine. Luckily, they were dressed the same. Sometimes it comes in handy.