Happy Gladulations Day!

Ryan had her preschool graduation this evening. After taking shelter in the basement of the school for a half hour (a tornado touched down in Woodstock) we were able to start the ceremony. The graduates sang a few songs, we had an excellent slide show and then time for diplomas. There were two beautiful-huge-cakes from My Bakery (yummy) to celebrate afterwards. Ryan is SO excited to be a kindergartner now...watch out Chalker!!

Goodbye Village Lanes!

Wow, the Homer family has yet another goodbye to say in 2008. I think that will be our theme this year... :(

Our beloved Village Lanes will close it's doors on May 25th, 2008.
Click here for the Marietta Daily Journal article.
On May 18th we (the Village People) decided to have one last gathering of the Village Idiots. All age ranges and generations were there to represent 30 years of "Love on the Lanes". What do you give to the place that you started going to when you were in diapers, where you got your first job, where 3 out of 4 of your family members worked, where you coached, where you bowled, where you hung out on a Friday night (and everyday really), where you met your spouse at age 5...where you made a lifetime of memories and lifelong friends??? About 60 of us came out and said our goodbyes, to the building, but not to each other. We had a sign up sheet for folks to put their email and home addresses (I will compile and send out), we had "buck beers" and we had (of course) bowling. We brought the kiddos so they could meet some of the people we have talked about for years and they got to see most of the people they have known all their lives, it was a great time. Here are some pics...

As we pulled up for the last time...

Monkey business

My favorite seat in the house

hmmm, look who's winning...hahahaha at least I shot deuce!

Relay Success!!

Friends for LIFE 2008

Thank you for your support of Relay for Life 2008. So far Cobb County has raised $850,000.00 and we are on target to reach our goal of $1 Million by our deadline of August 22nd. This was my first year as chair and I have one more to go. I learned a lot and I have huge ideas for next year. I will also be picking up as team captain again so I will be super busy in the coming months.

This Relay we had awesome weather (cool for set up in the morning) and warm (not too hot) and no thunderstorms (one tiny rain but that's all). The campsite did well for on site fund raising and we sold twice as many pizzas as last year. We also had Monster drinks on site and they went over really well. I didn't pass out talking to 4,000 people and the Homer's are pretty well caught up on sleep so we are ready to start planning next year's relay. Rob has given up bowling for a while to help me out so this will be a fun thing to do together...let's hope it goes better then painting a room together. hahaha.

Enjoy the pics and keep an eye on the Cobb website to see if we get to a million...

Homer-Harvey clan

Jen and I at our 5th Relay

Bran and Rob selling pizzas

Tracey, Angie and Jennie

Dumpy- the "Mobile Mission Unit"
won the "Spirit of Relay" award for his creative display of the 1800-ACS-2345 number, www.cobbrelay.org, and his "Follow Me to Mission Delivery" signs.
A huge Thank You
to mom and dad for bringing Dumpy all the way from Hartwell. He had a great time shuttling Survivors to the reception with Rob!

Goodbye Foxi Girl

One of my favorite pictures

Another favorite. She just got her hair cut and felt so good...

She attacked me and the camera. She always got the "run arounds" when she got her hairs cut...

Foxfire Special Edition

After almost fourteen years in our lives, we had to put our sweet Foxi Girl to sleep. Such a great little Scottie, she lived in four homes, had three kids (that she didn't ask for) and two cats (which she CERTAINLY didn't ask for) but she was always our Foxi girl. I remember going to get her from Wisconsin like it was yesterday. We walked in and she picked us out immediately. House trained from day one, she never liked going out in the rain or the snow-ever. She loved the lake and her big back yard at the old house. A great day to her was chasing bubbles, playing daddy-boo with Rob and the kids or howling along to trumpet practice. Even after the neighbor dog hurt her, she was always so sweet and gentle with the kids. She loved running along the fence with neighbor dogs and she would cheat if the other dog was faster (she would stop halfway and run back to the beginning, but usually the other dog would still beat her). Speaking of stopping halfway, if you ever tried to take her for a walk, she would only go so far and then just stop. Wherever she got tired was where she would quit and the only way home was to carry her. She LOVED the kid's play balls, but she would always pop them when she tried to "play" with them. She loved pigs ears, her stocking on Christmas morning and a good nap in her beanbag chair. Going "bye-byes" in the car to the lake was always a special treat. Seadoo rides were the best but she loved the big boat or hanging out on a raft just as much.

I was looking for pictures of her in our files and she is in almost every one-maybe not all of her, just a glimpse, her tail or her backside, but she is there. She has been there for my first day of college, our wedding day, our first new home, and she was there when we brought all of the kids home from the hospital. She's just always been there. Our pictures, our house and our hearts will be empty without her...she truly was such a special addition to our lives...we love you Foxi.

At the lake with Uncle Ricky and Kevy bu

With her people after a game of Daddy-boo (scruffy little face)

My all time favorite shot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy 9th Birthday Jarebear!

Hard to believe we have a nine year old! Have a great day Bubby.
We Love you!
Mom, Dad, Kevy and RyRy

Wii fun after the kids go to bed...

The adults couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed so we could have a turn on the Wii. I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time!! Enjoy...

Pop Pop Vs Grandfather title match

Lars as "Zorro the brandishing Bowler"...

Slumber Party til the Wii hours...

Mako Mania Swim Meet

Today was the last swim meet of the year for the Chattahoochee Gold. This is our last meet with Spencer and Mikayla since they will be moving over the summer (sniff, sniff). The kids start summer swim team in two weeks and they are looking forward to the more relaxed feel of neighborhood swimming. This will also be a good chance for Ryan to "get her feet wet"(maybe she'll be on the team with Jared in the Fall).

All the kids did fantastic. They each worked really hard on shaving seconds off of their times, which is all we can ask for. This was a trophy meet and we will find out at the banquet how many trophies the Homer-Harvey clan came away with today.
Great job guys, You Rock!!!
We love you.

Homer's go Krusin'

Piggy towel, lunch at Grand Cayman, and on the docks in Coz.

Unlucky day fishing in Cozumel, getting back on the tender in Belize and leaving for the dive site in Roatan.

Anthony's Key in Roatan, Leaving Port in Roatan (sniff, sniff) and our last day at breakfast

So eight years ago Jennie and I decided we wanted to go on a cruise. After Ty passed away it gave us something to focus on and plan, and it finally came to fruition. Rob, Tracey, Rick, Jennie and Tom spent 9 days away from reality on the Carnival Legend. Waking up each day in a new country was so great (old news to Rick, hahaha) and looking out the window and seeing gorgeous water was so relaxing. The pictures do not do justice to the color the water was...after my made up color of "sunset" (all the colors in the sky 10 minutes after a sunset...orangish, pinky, red) "cool water" has to be the next most awesome color in nature (crystal clear-teal, dark blue and green). The pictures pale, really they do...

Our first stop was Grand Cayman where we went diving and had lunch at an awesome restaurant right on the water. The meal was great and the view was fantastic. On the way back to the ship we went into the Guy Harvey store and bought tee shirts. We went upstairs and HE WAS THERE, Guy Harvey himself, painting in his studio. He signed our shirts and talked for a few minutes. Really nice guy. We made it back to the boat just in time to set sail. Mother would NOT be pleased! The next port was Cozumel and we spent the day deep sea fishing. We didn't catch anything (we were in barracuda waters) so we hit the stores for souvenirs. We coined the term "shotting", instead of shopping, since they give you a shot of tequila at each store. Ask Rick about the Lapis Lazuli mask...Up next, Belize. If I hear the term "butt up" ever again I will pass out. We went down a river in a tube, through a really LONG dark cave. Yes, the coal miner lamps helped but it was not my favorite part of the vacation...especially when I was dragging my rear on the rocks, hence the aforementioned saying, never to come from my lips again. Last stop was Roatan, Honduras. No doubt- one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The country is really not developed but the people are wonderful and the water is so awesome. We went scuba diving again and I have officially decided that I want to be a mermaid when I grow up....seriously! I hated leaving there and I am trying to figure out how to get back. Just a side note, the pig towel was an example of what the cabin staff would leave in our rooms with the mints...if you want me to make it, Rick bought me the book on "how to", big surprise!! We had an awesome time and I can't wait to go again. Maybe the Southern Caribbean this time???

Kevin & Ryan's Spring Break 2008 at Gran & Grandfather's house

The kids had an AWESOME week at mom and dad's house. They started the week off by going to the ballet. Apparently Ryan owed her brother BIG time for this and he spent the rest of the week on the dock fishing. She finally decided that she needed to come down and fish too. Now how is she going to convince Kevy to sit through her ballet recital in a couple weeks?!?! Jared went to Grammy and Pop-Pops for the week, still need to get photos from them. They hit every museum from Chattanooga to South Georgia (right up Jared's alley). The "big kids" went on a cruise to the Caribbean and had a blast (see other post coming soon). ALL the Homer's had a wonderful week and we owe the Grandparents a
HUGE Thank You
for such a memorable time had by all.