William harris homestead

I got to go on a field trip with Alyssa to the William Harris homestead. It was so interesting. I think that I enjoyed it more than any of the 4th graders. The homestead is located in Monroe, GA. We learned from the great-great-great-great grandaughter of William, Dottie, that their homesite was just 17 miles away from Sherman's carnage.

We learned about life in the early 1800's. We saw the smoke house, the fresh water spring, the cellar, and the garden. We learned that the garden was the pharmacy. We learned that a plant called lambs ear was used as a bandaid. We saw how they made their own candles. It was interesting to listen to the kids coments as she explained how they dipped the candles over and over to get them big enough to use. One little girl standing next to me said she would just stick the string in the pot and leave it there until the candles were done. The lady patiently explained that it was the act of dipping, cooling and dipping again that made the candle grow. The kids couldn't fathem the time required to make one candle.

We learned what life was like for a civil war soldier. We even got to watch him shoot the gun.

They had a man that trained border collies. He showed us how the dog could round up the sheep.

We sat in the families cemetary as we learned about the hardships of having children in that time period. It was sad to see the grave stone carved for 9 children that didn't survive more than a few months in this life.

I came away greatful to have been born in this day and age, and greatful for those people who take the time to preserve history. I loved being there with Alyssa and her friends and taking a look back in time.

Folk Tales

Savannah's drama class performed their original folk tales and I was able to go watch. Savannah played the witch and I'm not sure how I felt about watching my baby be plotted against. It ended in the demise of my oldest child. It was a little disturbing. However, she was a GREAT melter.

Boys

Logan is Obsessed with tractors. He labels them as we drive down the road: big rig, hummer, backhoe loader, tractor, dozer. His next sentence is usually, "Wanna chase it!"

So, when they started digging up the gas line that runs through our neighborhood, it was almost as good as Christmas. We sat in the van and watched as the men dug in the dirt. At one point one of them walked up to see if I was O.K. He giggled when I told him that my son needed to watch what was going on.

Logan Teaching his monkey about tractors

Men at Work

A boy in his zone

Soccor games from the viewpoint of a three year old

I think she's pretty good!

Grandparents Day

One of the bummers about living away from the family nucleus is not having Grandparents close at hand. This year Logan and I were Emma Grace's Grandparents for Grandparents Day. We went to pre-school and listened to her sing a cute song about Grandparents. We ate a snack and then Logan got his picture made with Emma Grace.

Gracie loves her pre-school. She loves being with cozettie and thinks music time is the greatest. Here are a few of her art projects.

Thank you Lawrencville Baptists. Your pre-school program is fabulous.

2 years ago today!

2 Hours old
2 years old

A Look Back with Grand Dad Larsen

I just got this e-mail from my Dad. I hope he keeps sending them. I'll put them in my journal and then they'll be in the family history books forever!


ASHTON IDAHO, HORSE NAMED “OLD DAN”

“My first recollection of memory was when I was about 3 years old. We were living in Ashton Idaho. My Dad was one of the doctors in town and he had an office on Main Street, 2nd floor office. It was a few doors down from a movie theater. During the winter, Ashton, had a celebration and completion of Dog Sled races, horse and cutter races, and snowshoe races. I remember watching all this from the 2nd floor window of my Dad’s doctor’s office.

In the summer, we had a horse. Its name was “Old Dan”. He was a gentle horse that would let a 3-year-old ride him. The problem with riding “Old Dan” was getting on his back. Some times we would lead him by the fence. Get on the fence and then jump on to his back. But sometimes he would move away from the fence and it would be to far to jump on his back. Another way to get on “Old Dan”, which we thought was real cool, was to let him start eating the grass on the lawn. While his head was on the ground taking a bite to eat, I would jump on his neck. He would raise his neck in a hurry and I would slide down his neck onto his back. That was really cool. “Old Dan” was a good horse, a brown “buckskin” color. I think he even like all us kids riding him.

Sometimes I would play like I was an Indian when I rode “Old Dan”. I would take off my shirt and put on an Indian headdress, with feathers, and ride up and down the street in front of your house. It was great fun.”

Later, (from Grandma Larsen) "Honor Bright"
Love Grand Dad

Never again

We had a yard sale this weekend. It was embarrassing. We realized what pack rats we are. Would you believe that we had stuff at Mike warehouse that we didn’t sale at our last yard sale. He never took it to Goodwill.
It took us forever to get everything set out and organized and we only made $300. People tried to buy my Pottery Barn crib set for $5!!! Oh, my. From now on I’m just going to make periodic runs to Goodwill myself and Craig’s list the rest. Never again will there be a yard sale at the Baugh home. So, if you missed it..........Sorry.

Water Leak

This month brought an added stress to our family that we really didn’t need. Mike notice that the grass was staying wet in the front yard. Upon further inspection he found that we had a leak along the line somewhere and that the water was accumulating in the sprinkler system valve access. Turned out that shutting the system off did nothing to help the problem. However, shutting the main water valve off did. So, what did we learn here? I learned that we need to continue to pay our water bill on time every single month. Mike came home during the day and turned off the water (he didn’t inform me). I came home to find that each potty had one good flush available, no hands were going to be washed with anything but a wipey, and any food preparation would be very challenging. I was not the happiest wife, but what do you do? You call a plumber, right?!? No way. You dig up the yard yourself until you unearth the leak. Luckily for us it wasn’t too far from the starting point. Mike really is a pretty good handy man, and while I give him a hard time, I am grateful that he has the knowhow to tackle issues like this. Although, it does make him extremely ornery. I’ll tell you who loved the whole thing, LOGAN. That boy was in heaven. He woke up every morning asking to dig in the dirt with dad. We put him in his big boy jeans and he was good to go. He’s kind of sad that the hole is covered up.
So far we have not had any more issues. Thank heaven. I love running water. I would not have made a very good pioneer.

I so “clute”!

Yes you are!

GOAL!!!

Nice Save!

Lookin' HOT!!!

Fancy Footwork

Lucky Number!!!

Alyssa is really enjoying soccer. Hip Hip Hooray! She's really pretty good at it. She's a good hustler and she has enough attitude to take on the whole team. I could not have asked for better coaches. Both of them have been coaching for years. They're really teaching these girls how to play. But, the thing I like the most is that it's a very positive coaching style.

Alyssa like playing keeper (goalie, same thing). It kind of freaks me out. I don't like the idea of my baby bending down to pick up a ball that three other girls are trying to kick. Not much gets past her, especially when she has her "keeper coach" on the side line telling her where to stand. Mike is impressed with her. She's really kind of a wus. But, when she's in the mood she turns into a competitor on the field.

Keeper Coach of the Year!

During the 4th game she was playing against a girl that had been beating our team all day. Alyssa was frusterating her, because she wasn't afraid of her and kept taking the ball from her. The girls was getting more and more upset until finally she took Alyssa down HARD! The whole parent section inhaled in unison. I was the mom on the side yelling, "You're OK. Hop up. Great hustle." I then had the insecure moment. Was I the worst mother in the world for not running out to fuss over her? All the girls took a knee, the coach ran out to help her off the field, everyone cheered as she walked off by her own power, and our team scored off the penalty kick. I knew if I fussed over her that we would have to leave and she might never play again. Dramatics is a big part of Alyssa's personality. She chose to be tough, and she played keeper the 4th quarter and nothing got by her.

The 5th game brought a milestone that had been long anticipated. During the third quarter Alyssa got 2 goals! I thought I might do a back flip. She was so excited. After the game I walked over to give the team their treats just in time to hear the coach say, "Alyssa please tell the rest of the team what happens when you play your position." "You get a goal!!!" yelled Alyssa.

Did I mention that our coaches are top rate? After the girls had disipated the coach came up to me and just went on and on about my girl. When Alyssa joined us he got down on his knees, took her by the hands and told her that today she was the best player on the field. He reminded her that on the first day of practice she told him that she didn't think she could play forward, because she wasn't a very good ball handler. Well, I think we know that that is not the case. He just praised her up and down for her persistance, attitude, and hustle. My daughter floated to the car. She was on top of the world. It meant so much to her (and her mom) that he would take the time to make her feel special.

So, for today soccer is the way to go. I hope she sticks with it. She has quite a knack for it and it gives her lots of battle wounds to tell all her friends about.

9 to 5

We work much longer hours than 9 to 5!


My first comment was, "Wow, look how long my hair is!"

Friends

Dolly's Trailor

I got to take Jeannie and Esther with me to see 9 to 5 at the Fox this weekend. It was fun. My girls were sad that they didn't get to come, but it really was too ADULT for them.

After eating a nice lunch at Chili's we headed downtown. We made it to our seats with just seconds to spare. When the overture began I got my usual chills. I'm always impressed by the vocals. One of the leads was played by a former American Idol star (Diana Degarmo). She was incredible. She walked and talked and sang just like Dolly.

The show was pretty funny. I guess it follows the movie pretty closely. I've never seen it, but I need to rent it. I got the giggles when the "boss man" was hanging from the ceiling, a very heart felt song was being sung, the scene was changing and they just "floated" the guy off stage. It was hilarious. I don't think we were supposed to notice. The song was really excellent and dramatic and blah, blah, blah, but he "FLOATED" off stage!

After the last curtain call who should show up but Dolly herself! She is so cute. She came out on stage and thanked us all for coming. She said she was in the area and thought she'd stop by, plus she made some homemade fudge for the cast. She was tiny. Not just skinny and busty, but tiny. As we were driving away we saw her trailor and a group of people waiting for her to come out of the theater. Esther swerved to the side of the road and we walked up. The security lady told us that the people didn't know what they were waiting for, because Dolly wasn't going to be there. Upon futher questioning we learned that she was coming, but that she wasn't going to give autographs or anything. We decided that we really didn't have time to wait for nothing. As we walked off I heard the lady laugh at us. I thought I'd better just snap a picture of the trailor for posterity.

It was a fun day. As we drove to the theater we were talking about what shows were coming next, Esther and Jeanne decided that most if not all of them would be inappropriate for my girls but that they would be more than happy to come along.

Thank you Mike for understanding me even though you don't understand why I love all the things I love. I love you.