I’m not fooling myself.  There are a handful of people that periodically come to this blog, maybe even read some of the entries from time to time, but I know what you are really looking to find.  You put up with my ramblings about my kiddos, maybe even enjoy the pictures a little bit, but what you’re really hoping to see is that Ken has posted a new video.

The truth doesn’t hurt my feelings.  I love the videos too, and I have enjoyed watching him over the past several months as he has been editing away on our vacation footage.  If you have been a guest in our house during this time, I’ve probably even forced you to watch them.  And if you haven’t, well, now it’s your turn.

For those of you who are new to the blog, or like my sweet husband, just can’t remember what you ate for breakfast, here’s a little reminder:

Last summer we borrowed my parents’ motor-home, loaded up the kids, and spent two weeks on a road trip across this beautiful country.  We started in our great state of Alabama and headed north through Tennessee until we hit our first stop:  Elizabethtown, KY, to see the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

From Abe’s house, we moved on through Kentucky, and finally pulled into the lovely town of Floyds Knobs, Indiana where we visited with some old friends for the night.  For my travel log and more info on our first stop, click here.

As for the vacation videos, to watch the video in it’s entirety is somewhat of a time commitment, so we have decide to post segments of the video every Monday over the next several weeks.  Here is the first installment.  Enjoy!

Several months ago I was lamenting about how I hadn’t been on a vacation in over a year.  Well after a month of traveling all over the eastern side of this great country, I am officially ready to be home and settled back into my mundane routine. 

I’m sure in a couple of weeks those words will come back to bite me, but for now, I’m ready for normal bed times and my makeup back in its designated drawer.  The past few days I’ve been taking pleasure in the simple things like a baby-proofed house with toy stations in each room or just knowing where all the dishes are in my kitchen…and don’t forget, the Tivo.  That by itself was worth coming home to.

This past week, my mom and I took the kids on our annual trip at the beach.  Every September Ken goes out of town for work, and it has become our little tradition to pack up and head south with my mom.  We have only one rule for the trip and that’s to relax. 

That’s not always easy to do when you bring two children with you, but this year was one of the best.  Edie is finally at an age where she loves playing in the sand and jumping in the waves.  Most years she’s been scared of the ocean or frustrated with the sand on her hands and feet, but now, at the ripe old age of three and a half, she’s a beach lover.

Roark, on the other hand, not so much.  I was already prepared for a wrestling match with him on the beach since he’s crawling now and refuses to stay in one place.  We tried bringing a little pool for him to splash in and layed out several bamboo mats for him to play on, but he was rolling around in the sand within minutes. One good handful of sand to the face, and he was done with the beach.  After that first day, we decided that our beach time would be during Roark’s morning nap, and my mom was sweet enough to stay indoors in the condo with him. 

Edie has become a master at meeting new friends, and each morning she would find a playmate already soaking up some fun in the sun and ask to join in.  This was wonderful because then I got to do something that I haven’t been able to do since these precious babies came into my life: sit with my toes in the sand and read a good book.   It was as wonderful as I remembered it.  Don’t worry…I kept a good eye on her while she played, but I also totally took some time for myself to just enjoy sitting on my bum.  Something I rarely get to do, as in, never.

We’ve had a blast this past month that we’ve spent traveling.  My only regret was that I haven’t been able to record all the memories that we’ve made over the past few weeks.  However, my motto with the blog (and camera) is that I don’t want to ruin the moment by trying to capture the moment.  I had to be reminded of this more than once when I would get down on myself about not blogging or having the camera handy.  So instead of recording every little thing we did, we just lived it and made memories.  Maybe I will find some time to post more about our trips.  But honestly hat seems doubtful seeing as how we have been thrust back into life immediately upon our arrival back home…maybe I can post some pictures.  Yea, pictures will ease my guilt.

Last night was a BIG night in our house.  It finally happened. After a year and a half, Ken finally finished the Italy video! I know if he were writing this he would apologize for the quality of it because it was shot with our old camera, but to most people like you and me, we wouldn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about.

I am a total wuss.  I have been all my life.  I used to sneak into my parents’ room at night and sleep on their floor because I was scared of the dark. I don’t mean when I was three years old…more like twelve.  To this day, I can’t watch movies that have even a hint of horror to them, and don’t even get me started on the “I see dead people” kid.  So fate would have it that a scaredy pants like me would marry a man that travels from time to time and leaves me at home…alone.

Ken’s traveling has been an issue for the majority of our marriage for both of us.  For me the reason is obvious. But he got tired of  getting frantic phone calls from his crazy wife,  scared out of her wits.  So for Christmas last year, my sweet husband bought me a very thoughtful gift.  A gift he researched and had to shop around for…yep, my very own Remington 870 tactical shotgun (insert cocking gun noise here).

Every once in a while we take the shotgun to the shooting range to practice. You see,  it doesn’t do me much good if I don’t know how to shoot it.  Our good friend, Scott, who is on the Pell City SWAT team was gracious enough to lend  his services. As it turns out  you can’t take a shotgun to just any shooting range.

This is his M4 that I am holding in the picture, not mine.  In the interest of full disclosure, he let me borrow his gun after I cried while shooting mine.  I just about broke my birdie finger because I wasn’t holding the gun correctly (yes, I am a wuss in more ways than one).

However, in the event the Boogey Man decides to pay me a visit, I want him to know beforehand that I will not be worried about my birdie finger while he is in my house.  When he rounds the corner, he will be staring down the barrel of my 12-gauge because this momma is packing heat.