Pageland Week

This past week Jacob and I headed over to Pageland in an effort to get out of Dalton for a while (it's been 3 months here, with no big trips!) and see some family while we were at it! On our drive out there we stopped half way in Anderson to see Rebecca, Sam, and Troy! I recognized the boys, but I'm not so sure they recognized me! Following suit, I will provide you with a simple list of our week's activities...

1.) Bowling--we went bowling one night and boy was Jacob excited about that- he was so thrilled everytime he bowled it (or anyone else bowled, for that matter) and he shook his little booty evertime after he rolled the ball down the ramp. He even got 2 strikes (with bumpers, of course)--what a pro.
2.) Visited Great Grandma Williams--Ms. Williams watched Jacob's cousin, Daniel, who is 3 months older than Jacob, so the two of those guys got to play together for a while which I know was fun for both of them.
3.) Cook out at Calvin and Debbie's- Lisa nd Lyn came into town one afternoon, so we (Calvin) cooked out that evening. Jacob tried to teach Lyn and Bryant how to play golf his way, but--well, you know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks... WAHAHAHAHAH. Look at the picture of Jacob golfing and you will see the technique Jacob uses--let;s just say he chokes up on the shaft a little more than the average golfer-plus, he only needs one hand to hold his club.
4.) Golf, baseball, kickball, football, basketball, monster trucks, etc. --all week long, inside and out, on a rotating schedule.

We did a few other things as well, like Judy and I went shopping a couple days around Charlotte, but we all know that if you're reading this, chances are good you are not interested in what I did, but what Jacob did. In the unlikely event that you are interested in what I did, I slept in (because Bryant took the week off to play with the Nugg) , went to the TLG (Tucker Lumber Gym), napped, and basically did whatever I wanted to all week long.

I posted a few pictures from the week...as you will see from the pictures, Jacob was basically in heaven with all the grass to run around and play in!

On the way back, we stopped through Clemson to pick up a few necessities, and let Jacob play with his new "necessity" soccer ball on Bowman..

ROCKY FACEEEEEEEE

On a whim, Jacob and I decided that with the nice weather, we would head outside and do a little hiking this morning/afternoon. A lot of the kids around here have told us about this trail that is right up the road and has some great views when you get to the top. I decided to go check it out--it is literally 1.5 miles from our front door, so , I mean we could have walked, but I am so glad we aren't that gung ho. I didn't know how long or how hard the trail was upon heading out there, but I just wanted to do it. Well, let's just say it was pretty tough with a 2 year old! Turns out, the trail is 2.4 miles and is "This steep trail is the most challenging trail in northwest Georgia, and the most challenging short trail in the state" according to the GA trails website. (I found this out once we got back today and I looked it up online.) HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Now, thanks to my friends at the Bradley Wellness Center( aka, the gym), I can safely say that this would not have been that rough for me to hike all by myself, but strap a 30 pound tot on my back, and it was interesting. I fell. You know, I mean, it happens. Whenever I let Jacob out of the backpack, he would slip and fall. We saw a snake, no joke, 30 seconds after we started the trail (at this point, Jacob was not in the backpack, so he used a long stick to poke and throw the snake out of the path for me--I don't like snakes AT ALL, so thank goodness he was all about it), because it was morning when we started, there were fresh spider webs EVERYWHERE, which isn't a bid deal for me, but Jacob couldn't stand them touching him. Basically, it was a real adventure for the two of us, but we both agreed that the struggle was well worth it once we got to the top. It was beautiful! Plus, it was a clear day, so we could see a long way out in the country. It was just so nice and peaceful way up there, we were the only ones on the trail for the whole 3 hours it took us to do it, so besides the incessant " Why Mommy's" from Jacob, it was so quiet! Anyway, we took a break at the top to have our snacks and a quick photo shoot-this is also where Jacob announced that "this is a perfect day for a hike" and, anyway, then we started back down. I let Jacob start out of the backpack, and we hooked him up with a walking stick to make his trek a little easier. Between the refueling, the walking stick, and the fact that we were going downhill, Jacob was a much better traveler the second half of the trip! Here are some pics...

Before either of us knew what we were getting ourselves into

Jacob is sad that he is going up the mountain

Jacob says cheese

Jacob comes back down the mountain with his hiking stick

View from the top of Rocky Face Mtn.

Painting the Town Yellow, Blue, Pink and Brown (with some dabs of other colors)

Last night, one of Jeff's fellow trainees, Noelle, and I went to Chattanooga to take a painting class! It was at the little gallery that I mentioned in a previous post, and boy was it fun! We painted a bird's nest and, much to my surprise, all our paintings turned out so well! Also, for those of you who are not artists out there, I was very surprised to see that we only used a real paint brush maybe 2/3 times for the whole painting, we used other tools to apply the paint for the rest of the time. Anyway, it was a glorious time, and I want to go back every week now...I'm pretty sure Noelle wants to do the same. We were talking about getting the boys in their contract class to come and do a class all together--that would be a lot of fun to see all the guys painting something dainty, maybe a bunny rabbit with a butterfly on his nose--I'm just throwing out ideas here.

Anyway, here are some pics of the evening; I took a few pictures, but I believe Noelle took like 53-so maybe some day I will get some of hers so you can really see the progression of these works of art!

Step 2 (Step 1 was sketching what you want to paint)

Palette knifing some paint on the nest

Now there's a professional, if I've ever seen one

The final product!

If You Have an Hour of Your Life You Would Like to Invest Wisely...

So, this morning, I was checking out one of the blogs I usually look at, and they had a link to this 37 year old woman's website in Canada who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has cancer, literally, in every part of her body and has two young kids and a husband she's about to leave behind. She is a Christian and gave a speech about her hope to a huge group of women-both Christians and non-Christians, in Canada. The speech was videotaped so that her kids can watch it one day, but it is also online so you can watch it!

I read some letters she had written to friends on her webpage earlier this morning, and decided that I would watch the video when Jacob laid down for his nappy poo. I am so glad I decided to watch it. I don't know if there is such a thing as dying gracefully, but if there is, she is doing it. It is so clear, seeing her speak, that God has transformed her and given her strength that no person could muster up on their own. She was straight to the point, she talked about the 4 most important things she's learned in her life, none of which, you may be surprised to know where about her husband, kids, work, etc. -all were about God. Although she only has a few weeks to live, the things that she talks about are applicable to everyone, because, of course, we aren't promised tomorrow either! She just really makes you stop and think, and question what your hope and faith are in. She said that people have "faith" in lots of things, but the only thing that is going to stand up in the end is faith in Jesus.

Watch it when you get a chance!

Grammy Comes a Calling

By the art museum, overlooing the river and the bridges- I think everyone will wish they could have their picture taken with Jacob in this location, it's so pretty!

This past week, Mom took a nice little vacation to Dalton, GA! It's pretty much everyone's dream getaway- try not to be too jealous.

Anyway, she got in on Monday and was able to stay all week and flew home on Saturday evening. We tried to do lots of things while she was around; of course, between the rainy weather (the story of our life) and Jacob's one o'clock daily nap, we had to work hard and use strategery to accomplish everything we wanted to do! Here's a list of what we did:

1.) Children's Discovery Museum and ate at a BBQ place downtown
2.) Giganto red playgound in Dalton---it had just rained and there was a little circular place in the ground where metal grates were supposed to be...well, Jacob stepped in what looked like a puddle, but it was actually a hole in the concrete ground!!! It really was a miracle that his little leg didn't snap right in half becuase of the way he went down, but amazingly, somehow he got away with not even a bruise on his leg!! Thanks a lot Dalton Parks and Rec, you'll be hearing from my lawyer!
3.) I got my hair done
4.) Downtown Dalton shops
5.) Outlets
6.) Carousel at Coolidge park, Coolidge park, pedestrian bridge
7.) Chattanooga Zoo
8.) Provino's (Anna, we finally found the REAL provino's and it was THUPER!) for Lori's Mother's Day dinner
9.) Art District, Tony's (another THUPER Italian restaurant which overlooked the TN River), North Shore shopping

Now, here are the pictures from the week...

Grammy and Jacob enjoying their desserts at Provino's

riding the horse statue by the fountains


Still riding the horse

Inside the terrifying petting zoo at the Chatt. Zoo, where goats ate clothes and strollers.

Pausing mid-jog for a photo op

I can't seem to resist taking pictures of Jacob with everyone who comes to visit him, on the carousel!

Inside the giant bubble thing at the kids museum

Checking out the turtle by the fence at the zoo. FYI- save your $6, the zoo's not anything to write home about!

Updates

So, I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on where we are in our life. With so many posts about Jacob, it might be interesting to hear what's going on with me and Jeffy.

1.) I should start by saying that, praise God, we now have insurance, since Jeff has now been with Shaw 90 days. I am so thankful that our prayers were answered and we were all well for 3 straight months, without having to go to the doctor... so we didn't have to pay the OUTRAGEOUS cobra! WOOHOOO!!

2.) So, this goes with the last point, that Jeff has now been at his new job here at Shaw for 3 months. This is his last week of training- well really, training is over, he just has an exam and presentation this week and then he's through...only, not really. As some may know there is a possibility that we will be moving to Houston for Jeff's job...but we really don't know the timeline, and it's not a done deal either. So, we're really just at a point where we have to be patient and trust that God is going to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there!! For the time being, Jeff and the other trainees who don't have a territory are going to hang around here and do some internship type work until they get placed. We've really liked it here in NW Georgia, and we are grateful for the job and the apartment and all that stuff, but we are relaly getting to a point where we are ready to move on, and I'm ready to have some friends!

3.) In our church tour of NW GA and Chatt. we came across a real gem! We have only been twice, but we really like this church in Chattanooga. I think next week we will try to get up REALLY early so we can go to Sunday school.

4.) When my mom came last week, we went to a few galleries in the art district in Chatt. and, aside from finding a few new paintings I would like to own, we came across a gallery owner who does beginning painting classes. It's really cheap, and she provides the canvas, paint, and tools...all you do is bring your beverage of choice (like I told Mom, some may lean on the crutch of alcohol to be fabulouso painters, but I am confident I can bring a bottle of iced tea and knock some socks off- wahhahahhaha!) and she kind of gives you the basics and instructs how to paint whatever the object is she chooses to teach for the night! Long story short, I am going to go do that one night as part of my Mother's Day present from Jefferina. For those that know about my crafting, I'm sure you are thinking this is a great idea- one more project to add to my pile, but I'm just thinking it will be fun!

That was a pretty basic update, so now I'll get back to posts about Jacob, before everyone sends me hate mail.

Trip to See the Bennett's

Yesterday, we got a chance to go down to Atlanta and see our pals the Bennetts, from back in Seneca. They are in Florence, SC now, planting a church, so we had to jump on the chance to see them while they were back visiting their families in GA! We went down in the morning to let the kids play together for a while, and then a friend of Russ's hooked us up with some tickets to the Braves game that afternoon. Anyway, here are some pictures from the day--we were sure pooped after our long day, but we were sooo excited to have gotten to see them all again!

More Than a Taste of Calhoun

So, last weekend we went to a town close to us, Calhoun, and spent the afternoon at their festival! They had vendors, local artists, etc. set up in the streets, as well as some tractor rides, animals, kid things...and so on. Here are some pics of Jacob in Calhoun...