Amicalola 2012

 

On April 29th we set out for the annual Amicalola Falls Trip up in the North Georgia Mountains.  Our church takes the FX3 kids every year and siblings are welcome to join.  This will be Kevin's last trip up the mountain as he will be in confirmation with Jared next time it rolls around.  Sad to see so many traditions coming to a close for the kids to do together.  On the bright side, Jared and Kevin will be able to go to Lutheridge together in the Fall.  That will leave Daddy at home with Ryan while I chaperone the boys, new traditions.... :)

Baby Birds

 

What cha looking at Ramsey?

 You see them too Haley?

The HomerHouse has a birds nest right outside our window!  It has been wonderful to watch the momma bird build the nest, lay the eggs and then they finally hatched!  "We" had four baby birds that grew before our eyes and then left the nest.  What a great way to usher in Spring.  Just wished momma bird had stopped pecking at the window to get the cats to go away...it only made them run over to see what was going on :D

Easter 2012

 HAPPY EASTER!!

 Egg Hunt Time!!

 Finding lots of eggs Kevin?

 Dad had to help too ;)

 Look at these beautiful caterpillars.  Wonder what type of butterfly they will become?

That may look like Jared but it is his stunt double...Seth from next door.  Jared was in Atlanta with Grammy & Pop Pop since mom and dad were in Fripp for the wedding.  Shortly after the egg hunt we had dinner and then headed back into town so we could spend Easter with Jared.

WOW!! Thanks to the wonder of technology and my super slow blogging skillz, you can see what that beautiful green caterpillar turned in to :D

We brought three of them home with us and two became these lovely creatures!

Fripp Island

 

 The seat I could sit in every morning of my life and it would be just fine...

So our friends Matt and Bonnie got engaged last year and set the wedding for April Fool's Day, if you knew Matt this would make a great deal of sense. :D Rob and I decided that it would be lovely to spend a week on Fripp Island S.C. with our pool peeps since the folks were willing to take care of the kids.  Jared went to stay with Grammy and Pop Pop while Ryan and Kevin went to stay with Gran, Grandfather & Uncle Ricky at the lake.  Everyone had a fantastic time at their respective destinations.

Here are some pics of the beauty of Fripp.  I LOVED this place.  Golf carts, wild life, fishing and bike riding.  Never gone crabbing before either, that was fun too!  What a great vacation and an even more beautiful destination wedding.

The house we stayed at.  We had close to 20 people staying here but there was so much room you would never guess that.  There was always a card game, a great conversation or a group going fishing or shopping.  What a memorable week!

 

The view from our room.  Yeah, it was super sweet.

  

Heading in to Beaufort for dinner.  GREAT town with shops and eating to die for.

 

I wanted a shirt but they were all sold out.  My guess is that THIS is the place to get the b.e.s.t. seafood on the area!

Winter Swim meet montage

 Short Course state is over. Here are a couple pics from this year that didn't make a full blog entry.

Pinkie eating her birthday donut from her friends Luke and Grant.

 Jared and Pinkie before the Chattahoochee Gold intersquad meet in January. One swimmer on Gold, one on Black...this should be fun!

 Jared and Kevin in Carrollton for the SW Divisional meet. They actually got to swim together...well technically against each other in two of the heats. Both of them made finals that day. One of the few times they will be sharing a sport, it was a great day...

...a great day in Carrollton made even better by the fact that Pinkie made a 100 Breast state cut for next year. She already qualified for the 50 Breast at state this year. She is a frogs hair from the 50 and 100 Fly, I can't wait to see what the Fall with bring for my little fish!

STATEMeet for the Swimmers

Wow, what a long and arduous road this was to get to Short Course State this year! Pinkie made the cut back in November at the Carrollton meet for her 50 Br. The qualifying time was 45.49 and she crushed that with a 44.36...fantastic! She didn't really come close to that time the rest of the year or into January. We had a Last Chance meet for SCAT the weekend before state. She was not entered into the 50 Br as she already had that cut. She was close of a couple other events but at the end of the weekend she just had the one. No biggie, she had the invite to the dance so to speak and at the tender age of 9 and 1/12 we were happy that she had made it at all. Jared on the other hand was another story. This boy had a hard time aging up to 11's. Then he aged up to the 12's. All year he has steadily dropped time and attended practice. I thought for sure he would be able to pull at least ONE cut from the pool. At the Last Chance meet we had to again face our nemesis, the 200 FL. Not the stress we needed going into the weekend, especially after the disastrous 200 Fly/Free from two weeks prior at the Rays invite. But at least this time we just had to wait through Saturday instead of going all the way through to Sunday fretting over the dreaded event. Jared had a few opportunities to make a state cut. He did attempt the 200 Fl and stopped at the wall after 150...sadly he was on pace to have gotten a cut in this event. But, it was not meant to be so we went home and geared up for the Sunday events that he had a shot at, 200 Br and 50 Br. Sunday am shift went well and he qualified for finals. During the evening warm ups he collided with another swimmer and for the second night in a row we had drama. Not where I needed his head to be going into these races. I ran to get ice and waterproof tape and we made do with his foot injury. He seemed slightly better as I sent him down to warm up before his race. Lo and behold the boy made his cut for the 200 Br. The 50 was close, he again dropped time, just not enough. BUT the boy made it in so we now had TWO State contenders in the HomerHouse, YAY!The week of state is always so much fun. The swimmers have a special practice, a banquet and they get their Lucky Duckie and their State Shirt. The Duckie is to be decorated by the swimmer and taken to the block before each swim. Great little tradition and the kids (from our team) LOVE this. The shirt is always a huge hit, based on one of the most popular movies/games of the year. This years shirt was themed after the Angry Birds game and the oratory that Coach Neil spins on this fable of the shirt is one of the most anticipated events of the state meet. Who needs swimming? ;) We were pleasantly surprised when Pinkie got called to swim in TWO relays for her team. Having just aged up to 9/10's, this was a HUGE honor and she was over the moon. She was the 3rd leg for the 9/10 B 200 Free Relay and the Breast leg for the 9/10 B 200 Medley Relay. AWESOME!How this happened I have no clue but Jared and Pinkie were events 41 and 44, that meant we didn't have to spend 3 days at the pool for a couple events. She got in the water to swim and he was on the blocks, almost surreal that the timing was that good. When she was on the blocks she looked over and saw Mom, Dad, Kevin, Gran, Grandfather, Uncle Paul, Auntie Marcia, Uncle Dan and Aunt Kristy cheering her on. That really motivates her I can tell ya. She crushed her qualifying time by 3/4 of a second and finished with a 43.61...that qualifies her to come back for next year's State Meet--YAHOO!! She went for 48th to 45th overall. Even though she took on water at the flags, she had a blast. We watched her get out and literally turned our attention to the boys pool where Jared was on the blocks. He finished 2 seconds over the time he had posted just 6 days earlier to qualify but he was still 6 seconds under the cut. Couldn't be more proud and he finished 53rd overall! Pinkie did very well in both legs of her relays and both teams came in 12th overall. Fantastic!

We are looking ahead to our last two meets for short course. Kevin will be swimming this weekend with Pinkie at the Mako Mania at Dalton. Two weeks later all three will be in the water at Carrollton for the SW Divisionals. Spring football is coming down the pipe as well as long course. How long until we leave for Pink Shell?!?! I need a break! :D

GSLC Valentine Chili Cookoff 2012

Big props to the Homer chefs! They took an award for the second year in a row for the GSLC Chili Cook off to benefit the youth group mission trips. We raised over $550 in one afternoon, that is some good chili! Last year Kevin and Jared won with "Lament to Lazarus", this years entry was "God's Chili, Our Chili" a play on our current "God's Story, Our Story" theme in curriculum.

Way to go Guys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE GIRL!
I LOVE YOU HONEY BUNNY!!

ALL OUR LOVE,
Mommy, Daddy, Jared and Kevin

Time Warp

Where does the time go!? I am so thankful that I take the time to jot down notes every few months on what is going on with the Homerhouse. These kids just keep growing so, so fast. It seems like yesterday we were cheering for first smiles, steps and lost teeth. We are moving on to new firsts like middle school, band and sports accomplishments. Looming in my future are first dates and driving lessons. I am NOT ready to have a teenager in my house. Not that Jared isn't a great kid, it's just the marking of a new chapter in our lives. Some days I wish I could slow down time and some days I would like to hit the fast forward button. For better or worse I am glad to be getting all of this written down somewhere. My scrapbooks are about 80% complete and I will, someday, complete the one I have started. Until then my blog will have to be the bridge to then and now. Its just so much easier to sit at the computer for 5 minutes than to pull out all of my scrap booking stuff. I'll save that for when I need something to do when the kids have left home ;). Until then my schedule is packed tight with church, school and sports stuff for the kids. That won't last forever so I will take it while I have it...crazy as it may be.

On reason for the melancholy post is the attached picture. You never notice how quick the time passes with the little everyday things we deal with. We got to see our best friends this Christmas that we haven't seen in a long time. I was amazed with how much everything had changed yet had remained the same. Seeing someone everyday you don't notice the little things...I'm glad I have the pictures to remember them even if I don't see them happening.

The growing weeds: Tommy, Spencer, Mikayla, Tabitha, Jared, Kevin,Kiersten, Ryan

Back a lifetime ago at Joe's Crab Shak...so proud of each of these little urchins and the wonderful young people they are blossoming in to!!

Christmas Present is here today...bringing joy that will last....

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM THE HOMERHOUSE!!