Abbeville

For Christmas Ed gave me a book about ghosts that live in the Upstate. There are several in our area, they live under bridges and in old train tunnels. I have been to the Stump House Mountain several times and have never seen the one there.

I was more hopeful about the spirits in Abbeville. The birth and death of the Civil War happened here, and the one thing I know about Southerners, is their love for anything Civil War. Surely, someone has hung around waiting to avenge the way of life back then, or at the very least, to tell me how it was truly the "war of northern aggression."

Before leaving, I looked over my book. I knew of 2 places to search. The Opera House, and the Episcopal Church. I knew there could be more, it is a small book, so I need to keep my eyes open. After Ed took about 400 pictures of the statue in the main square, we headed over to the courthouse and Opera House.

The ghost of an older woman lives in the third floor balcony. I wasn't going to go up there, but I was hoping she would lean over the edge or something. Brenna and I sat down to take our own pictures while Ed wandered around. I saw him go up the stairs so I waited for a loud scream. He didn't see the ghost either, but I think Brenna did. This is what I saw...

Next, we went to the church. It was beautiful. I don't think they have changed anything in over a hundred years.. including the misprinted pew marker..

I did not see the ghost here. In fact, I did not see any ghosts in the whole town. I was very disappointed.

We did have a fantastic lunch and a great day. I am hoping that we can go back sometime with the older kids. I can't tell them to be on the look out, because Meredith will refuse to go. But, I will be ready.

Spots

Randy has been home from school most of the week. He has woken up each morning looking something like this.

This picture was taken yesterday. Earlier in the week, he didn't look quite so bad. This all started Sunday night. Hives covered his entire body. We don't know what caused it, although, we suspect a new local honey we bought this weekend.

I finally took him to the doctor, because I was worried about his lips being swollen. She said he is allergic to something. DUH!!! But, she did give him some new medication. Benedryl did not work. Randy started the new medication, and last night he looked almost like a normal boy. The pharmacist said the steroids would make him hyper and irritable.

Good thing he can go to school today.

Normal People

We were sitting down for dinner the other night, discussing what we were going to do on Saturday.

"I bet you are going to make us go hiking all day long!" said Meredith. She put her head down on the table.

"I don't want to go geocashing." Randy whined.

Ed and I decided to go to the Azalea Feastival instead of hiking. It was pretty rainy. The kids were still not excited..

"Why can't we stay home like normal people?"

Brenna

Brenna turned 6 months this past weekend. We took her in for a check up on Monday. She is 13 pounds, 11 ounces and 26.25 inches long. Randy and Meredith were both about 16 pounds at 6 months, Randy was taller and Meredith about an inch shorter. Brenna got her vaccinations and only cried for a few minutes. Ed went with us to the doctor. He did pretty well too.


I think she is starting to look more like Meredith.

That is Mine

Last Thursday night we stopped at a hotel. After we were settled in our room, I went out to get some drinks. Ed wanted a Dr. Pepper. The vending machine only had Mr. Pibb, which I knew wouldn't be acceptable. So, I didn't get him anything to drink. I got myself a red Gatorade.

I did offer Ed some change so he could go get something for himself. He said that he would just have 5 sips of mine..

What?

5 sips? Who says they want 5 sips? Maybe a sip, or even two. But FIVE? Come on!!

Also, Ed's sips are 4-5 swallows. He should have just gotten himself a cup. Or better yet, his OWN red Gatorade

I'm telling!

"I'm telling." I hear this all day long, everyday. Unfortunately, this is not always the kids telling on each other. They like to tell on Ed and me. I can't count the number of times I have come home to one of the kids waiting at the door. "Daddy fed us ice-cream for dinner," or "Daddy made us play the Wii, even though you grounded us for life from it."

I remember once when Randy was about 3. Meredith was a tiny baby. We were visiting some friends out of town, and Ed stayed home. At a busy restaurant, I misplaced Randy for about 2 minutes. He had run off while I was trying to pay for our lunch and hold onto the baby carrier. I, truly, only let go of his hand to reach into my pocket to pay the bill. Anyway, I wasn't going to mention our adventure to Ed. My beautiful son, the one that could barely talk, walked into our home 2 days later screaming "Mommy lost me in Gainesville!" Little snot.

Sometimes, these children threaten to call our mothers. Sometimes, I hide my phone.

Not too long ago, our children tried several times to tell on us to our good friends. One of our friends is our previous pastor. "Jack?" Randy said. "Do you drink alcohol?" I knew where this was going. I kicked the boy under the table.

This past week our children spent a lot of the time talking to our parents. Some time was used to divulge our misdeeds. More time was used to verify the stories we have told the kids about our past. I don't know which is worse. Next time we go on vacation I am taking the duct tape.

Pictures

Here is a picture of Heather and I, and our girls.






This picture is of Emilia and Brenna.

I am having the best time!!!

Monday

I spent the day with one of my oldest friends. Heather and I have been friends for over 20 years. We took the girls shopping for the day and out to lunch. We both have two girls, so we filled up her van. I spent huge amounts of money on hair clips for Meredith and matching clothes for both sets of girls. The babies are only 10 days apart, so they looked great!!! (Her baby could eat ours though)

Later that day, my sister bought plane tickets to come see me in a couple of weeks.

Then, we had dinner with my dad and Stephanie, and Ed's mom. We had a nice evening.

THEN, I KILLED ED IN OUR GAME!!!! I am so Awsome!!!

Tuesday

We took the kids to the beach. Ed and the older kids played in the water. I am not fond of sharks and slimy things so I stayed dry with Brenna. I dropped my camera in the sand trying to get her to sit pretty with her little sun hat on. Broke the camera. After Ed managed to get it to come on, you could hear the sand grinding the gears and it stopped focusing on anything more than 4 inches away. So we rushed out to buy a new one. I love it. It is much faster and it is red. Ed wouldn't let me stop in the mall to buy a new purse to match the camera, but I will get one when he goes back to work.

That night we went out to dinner at Heather's favorite restaurant. The girls wore their matching outfits and looked adorable. All the guys sat at one end with the kids and the girls were able to talk. I tried to convince them that moving to South Carolina would be fantastic. Vanessa said that she would have to start coming to church and become a good person. Like that was a bad thing.

We ate some great food. I was very thirsty though, the waiter wasn't to be seen but maybe twice and left my glass empty. This is a big problem for me and I didn't want him to get a tip. However, he decided he wanted one anyway, and gave himself 18%. Crazy!! I might have given him a few dollars because he had to clean up after 7 kids, but that was it!!

After dinner, we came back home and took some pictures of the kids. I will get them up here as soon as I figure out how.

You have got to be kidding me

I need to stop reading CNN. I am going to end up having a blog about the latest news stories, and then I will have to do research, and blah... I do have one more VERY important announcement to make. I read it here first.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK ARE HAVING A REUNION!!!!

I was the biggest NKOTB fan alive!! I plastered my walls with pictures of Donnie Wahlberg. I read everything I could. I even had the doll, which now lives with Barbie in Meredith's closet. Somewhere in the attic is the book from the concert I begged to go to. My friends and I hardly ever had a conversation that didn't include those hot boys. I am so excited.


Are they joking? It is April 5th, not the 1st!!! The New Kids are pushing 40. I can't believe its been 20 years. I can't believe that their producers would think that people like me would go see them today. I have noticed that most of the toys I played with as a kids are available in stores now, but come on. Buying the girl a carebear or the boy a transformer is a bit different than dragging them to see 5 older men (one whom I am pretty sure is balding) jump around the stage singing "Hangin Tough."

I may secretly download their new album, but I draw the line there.

1 in 50

I have written this post twice today. This is the third time. The first time I was really sad. The second I was very angry. Neither really read well.

CNN has an article about the abuse and neglect of babies. It states that 1 in 50 babies will be abused or neglected within the first year of their life. A third of these babies will be under the age of one week.

I can't stop thinking about when our kids were first born. I can remember the excitement of bringing them home. I can even remember with Randy, thinking that the doctors were crazy to let me take him home. What did I know about taking care of something so small? As scared as I was, I knew I would do everything and anything to keep him, and then his sisters, safe.

I keep wondering how parents could be so selfish and so stupid. Do they know what they are doing? Are they people I know?

I shouldn't have been surprised really. I can't imagine what the statistics are for all children. I am afraid to look it up.