A Day to Remember......

Today officially kicks-off summer! Many will have friends and family over for cook-outs, pools are open and all of us ladies can legitimately wear white pants, shoes and carry white handbags - woohoo!

But, none of this really matters when we put the true meaning of Memorial Day into perspective. It's a day to remember all those men and women who have fallen in battle fulfilling their obligation to our country. Truly, where would we be without these individuals?!

So Happy Memorial Day to each and everyone of you out there.

Inspection Day; Impounded Cars

The 6th annual Ray Miller All American Soap Box Derby is next Saturday! Wow, really? Oh my - so this means getting weighed in (Chase and car can only weigh 230 lbs) then running through a very thorough inspection.... prepping the wheels then getting impounded until about 5:00 am June 5th.

So let's see....hmmmm a tighter squeeze this yearAND 15 lbs over.

Now, some weight adjustments.....

ahhh just right.

Inspection time.....

Now where do the wheels go? Let's see which is fastest...

Ok, all done now ready for loading in the rack and onto the Mayflower.

It's amazing how much goes into this 'one day race' behind the scenes. The oard members have been meeting since last year and for the last month have talked and e:mailed daily. The winner of each class (Stock and Super Stock) goes on to Akron for a CHAMP fun filled week.

More on this next week 'after' the big day! See ya' next Saturday on the hill in Ranson!

Happy Birthday Ronnie!

So it's your birthday! May this day be filled with some sunshine, at least a little relaxation and how about a BIG win tonight! Regardless, we hope you have a great birthday....all day long!

We love you very much.......Bev, Cierra & Chase =)

Two new faces....

Aren't they just too cute?!

We picked up Cierra's lamb
then headed over to get Chase's goat.
They settled into their new home quickly while Cierra got their food ready.
Guess it's full force now...right up until Fair time. Stay tuned - names will be forth coming =)

Fun Friday!

For the next three Fridays Ronnie and I will both be off, woohoo! So, this week we got mulch,
had an afternoon snack,
picked some peonies
then enjoyed an evening out (but not before enjoying a nice bottle of wine).

Even though the next few weeks are jam packed with activities, we're looking forward to some three day weekends...yay us!

Shopping, Shopping, SHOPPING!

So....this member of our family was very patient ALL day long yesterday, cheering her brother and his team on.We had promised to take her to Dulles Town Center shopping but that never happened so.....today we 'skipped' church (I know, pathetic) and headed back to Sterling. Chase was excited to hit "Dick's" in search of a new catcher's glove and big barrel bat.Cierra got a lot of cute clothes and Chase eventually caught up with us to get some shorts. I gave them a 2 hour time limit but that didn't work out :) 5 hours later we were leaving the Mall but not before stopping here....yum, yum, YUM!On the way home, we stopped on top the mountain. During my past few flights home we have flown right over our house, the Charles Town Races and I've been able to see the road they are cutting right through the mountain. This isn't the best picture but it really is amazing how very soon our by-pass will be connected and go right up and over the mountain. Wow.Another busy week ahead......rain in the forecast though :(

Baseball, Baseball, BASEBALL!

Yesterday was a beautiful day! Sunny, lo humidity and mid 70's - perfect baseball weather and it's a good thing since the Pinnacles had THREE games to play.

We headed our around 6:30 yesterday morning in order to arrive here...
for a 9:00 game. We struggled a bit with this team but overall played pretty good. The team we played was what's considered a 'major' team while the Pinnacles are AA. Final score 7-2.

Next game - 3:00 p.m. Uh oh, another major team. But that's ok, we gave it our best again - final score 10-5, them :(.

Final game of the day - 8:00 p.m. - Our boys have always done better with late games and they were ready to play some ball! Third inning - 0-0 - shew! Eventally we got some runs and we were "up" but unfortunately during the top of the 6th, they got ahead and we just couldn't pull it off. Final scrore 5-3.

Chase caught all three games so was pretty tired by the end of the day. He got in a run down which always gets me stressed out (sigh); ended up out but he gave it a good try...Really, how many from the Red team does it take to get him out, ha!

He got a few out, too!
It was a good day of ball! This was the first time these boys had played together and it was really good practice as they gear up for the Memorial Day Tournament. We are proud of our team!

It has been a "Happy Mother's Day"!

Unfortunately we didn't make it to church today although I was sure to read my daily scripture.....I really do have so much to be thankful for ;)

A yummy breakfast (egg, bacon & cheese wrap) then we just lounged around until early afternoon. We did a little shopping in Martinsburg then home to play with my new toy.....The videos I've taken so far probably wouldn't interest you but I have to admit it's easy to use, convenient to carry in my purse and really good quality!

This little guy doesn't have his 'mommy' but appears to be content with Cierra.He even has a ninny for comfort, ha!The girls and I ate some delicious strawberry pound cake then visited with Mom for a while. Britt and Cierra relaxed in the hut tub.....It was a wonderful day! Thanks to all of you -Ronnie, J, Ash, Kayden, Britt, Cierra and Chase!

Happy Mother's Day!

I stumbled upon a "Mom" book on Friday while 'killing' time in the airport. I didn't buy it for my Mom, or Ashley nor any other Mom; I bought it for me.

Now keep in mind that my children are 12, 13, 21 and 26 so I've been a Mom for many years and have certainly made my share of mistakes. But still, I thought it may be worthwhile to keep this close by to remind me of ways to help each of my children remember me. Like the saying goes, we can't change the past but we can change the future.

So, here's some of the things I hope my children can say one day:

Because of you, I believe in myself.

Because of you, I feel safe.

Because of you, I feel inspired.

Because of you, I see what really counts.

Because of you, the world is full of wonders.

Because of you, I still believe in miracles.

Because of you, I've always had a safe harbor.

Because of you, I know generosity.

Because of you, I know kindness.

Because of you, I find beauty everywhere.

Because of you, I stop to smell the roses.

Because of you, I dream bigger.

Because of you, I know nothing is too good to be true.

Because of you, I look for the silver lining.

Because of you, holidays are magical.

Because of you, I know there's always a way.

Because of you, I feel supported.

Because of you, life is fun.

Because of you, little things really do mean a lot.

Because of you, I welcome tomorrow.

Because of you, I have memories to last a lifetime.

Because of you, I am me!

Wow, I have lots of work to do kids but it's worth it! I am so blessed to have each of you and love you all very much!

Home Sweet Home!

I have spent the majority of the past two weeks on the road. Alone. Working. It doesn't typically work out that I'm gone that long but for some reason everything was scheduled close together.

This past week I was in Minneapolis.....not a fan of the big city but will tolerate in small doses. One thing pretty comical was that my rental car had tags like this....Pretty funny that I went all the way to Minneapolis to drive a car with Virginia tags :)

I did go here...at least twiceand ate here...only oncebut it is a 'regular' for me. I also met lots of new people I have been working with. It's always nice to put a face with the name.

All that was great but this is always one of my favorite things to see! It's the simple things, right? Our site is probably one of the few that don't have one so people always laugh when I want to go take a picture, haha!

Regardless, I made it home safe and sound last night with no travel plans for the 'near future'. It was back to normal quickly - Ronnie, Chase and I went out to dinner. It was fun to catch up on what had been happening while I was gone.

Today it was very windy! This is what the ballfield looked like while Chase was practicing.
But....Kayden and I sat in the car where it was nice and warm without dust blowing all around us! It was nice spending some time with her today....it's been too long.

Chase and Cierra have friends over and we're watching the race. Tomorrow is MOTHER's DAY! I hope all the Moms out there have a wonderful day!!

Multi-purpose - YAY!

Most of you know that I traveled last week for work which means hanging out in a few airports for a while. Oh and I spotted this....
yeah, I have my Sony book reader with a few books that I haven't read. I even have tons of work stuff as well as my laptop that needs attention but I chose to buy this magazine to see what Kenny's been up to (wink, wink).

So I glanced at the pages and even tried to figure out if I had walked that same beach, lol!
But I have to admit that while that was really entertaining for a while, I landed on this!
Our family LOVES macaroni and cheese. I have several recipes which are ALL a hit but we are always willing to try something different. Needless to say, my crock pot has been on for the past 4 hours and it's looking really yummy!Gotta love those purchases that really are 'multi-purpose', ha!

I'm off again this week for another trip, to another city so who knows what I'll find but for now I will leave you with this....My latest addiction! Starbuck's Creamice - Coconut Mango it IS truly the best!! Unfortunately my daily 'dose' of Chick-fil-a tea has taken a backseat to my new found love.