Rest In Peace Mawmaw

Today I lost my Grandma. Fannie Elizabeth Christenbury Kidd lived a long full life. She spent 92 years on this earth . She found the love of her life, raised two daughters and 4 grandchildren. She lived to see 7 great grandchildren and 1 great, great grandchild. We are all better people because of her. She taught us about love, forgiveness, hard work and Jesus. She taught us how to grow everything from flowers to vegetables to farm animals. She taught us how to cook, clean, can and freeze the harvest from the garden. She taught us about generosity, the ten commandments and the golden rule. She taught us about tolerance and aging. She taught us about blessings and prayer and what it means to love someone even though you dont always agree with them. She lead by example, and walked by faith. Today I lost a mentor. Not a mentor at work or in the church, but a mentor in life. My grandparents were among the most important people in my life. My parents raised me, but my grandparents taught me many of the life lessons I still hold dear. I listened to them more, watched them more....believed them more. My grandfather died more than 10 years ago. I have always missed him, but I think I miss him more now than when he first passed. There is so much I would like to show and tell him....so many things I would like to ask him. I know that down the road I will think the same thing about my Mawmaw. I can't imagine holidays without her...I have never had one. I can't imagine her house not being 'her house'. That was the house I grew up in. Not really, but pretty much. My earliest memories are in that house with her. So many of my childhood memories are on that land. I can't imagine it all being gone. I can't imagine her being gone...

Spend the night, softball, and school shopping

Last night Taylor spent the night with Karley. It went well...better than I expected. The only issue was that they had ball practice this morning at 8am and they didn't go to sleep until around 1am. Oh to be young again! They did well though. Andy and I were up at 6am. He is racing in Cowpens tomorrow and camping there tonight. The kids and I stayed home to prepare for the start of school on Tuesday. Anyway, he had to load the truck, hook up the camper and be ready to roll out to practice at 7:30. No small task, but it happened. :-)

Practice went well, but only about 6 girls showed up. I have no clue where most of the others were. After practice, Andy and Boog headed to SC with their bikes and campers The kids and I went shopping. Justin got new shoes and a couple of new outfits and Karley got a new book bag and a few new tshirts and a pair of shorts. We stopped at the grocery store, cleaned up the garage, made dinner and currently Karley has crashed on the couch. She was worn slap out!!



I have realized that I don't know how to relax anymore. I am sitting in my favorite chair with my feet up. One child is asleep and the other is occupied. All I can think is that I am missing the fun in Cowpens. :-) How sad is that? Andy just called to say how awesome it is and that he can't wait for us to camp as a family. The funny thing is that I feel the same way. I never thought I would embrace camping but now I think I might just fall in love with it. Only time will tell.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a beautiful day, the race will go well and all will come home safe. I can finish the laundry, tidy the house and get ready for Monday.

Ouch...

Ankle is aching. Elevate ankle, ankle feels better but then back hurts because elevating your foot in an office setting is difficult if you still want to type. :-(

Karley is having Taylor to spend the night tonight. Have mercy on me...please.

Bowman Elizabeth Wilkes

Jason and Bailey with baby Bowman, born in July.

Beach-July 2009

The kids at the beach in July. I think this may be the only time they touched each other without fighting. I guess that is the nature of the beast. Check out that no effort 14 yr old 6 pack.

'OMG, I can't go to sleep'

Just a little quick history on Karley. When she was younger, she had horrible sleep issues. Like many children, she could not learn to sleep through the night. Even at age 4, she would still wander into our room in the middle of the night and sleep in the floor by our bed. She also could not get herself to sleep without ALOT of help from me. When she went to kindergarten, I grew a pair, saw the light, and fixed it. She learned to go to sleep in her bed, with no mommy, and no tv. Somehow, that morphed into watching tv which only stresses me out if there is no TV. But I digress...if she stays on schedule, I take her up at 8pm, tuck her in, turn on Hannah Montana, or Wizards of Waverly Place or whatever Disney is showing that night, kiss her good night and walk downstairs. 75% of the time, I never hear from her again. Probably about 20% of the time, she will need a drink of water or something that would involve me. But, a mere 5% of the time, she has issues. And when this girl has issues, look out! Last night, she could not go to sleep. Since I have trouble climbing the stairs with my bum leg, Andy has been doing most of the bedtime duty, which is what I call 'Deviating from Routine'. Not a good situation. He does it just like me but it is abnormal for her and throws her so far out of whack she can't recover. Last night there was yelling and screaming about how she 'could not lay upstairs alone' and how she 'could not go to sleep'. 9:30 rolls around and she is still awake. OMG! Andy is at his whits end. Finally, I see her downstairs using the bathroom (and yes, she does have a bathroom upstairs...). I convince her to go up and lay down for 15 mins with her eyes closed. I will check on her after that when I go to bed and if she is still awake, she can sleep downstairs. Poof...15 mins later she's asleep. You have to play mind games with this child because she completely psychs herself out. Oh how I wish that babies came with an owners manual.

BB11 was good. Goodbye Lydia! You should have been a little nicer and not called Jordan all those names. You don't have to be nice, just nicer than the other people.

Truck is ready...thank goodness!

Ankle is feeling some better, though a little achy this morning.

TGIF!!!

Books I Read at the Beach...Part III

Sunset Beach

by Trip Purcell

Find a beach, plop a chair in the sand and dig in your toes for a charming, whimsical and irresistible love story about a woman, a man, a spirit and a place...Sunset Beach. Another good Carolina coast romantic read.

Books I Read at the Beach...Part II

Fool Me Once

by T. Lynn Ocean

After reading the first book by this author, I was thrilled to find another one on the book shelf. This book tells the story of a woman who believed in the idea that marriage is forever and you should do anything to make it work...and how that theory can sometimes be a little flawed. Also set in SC low country.

Books I Read at the Beach

This was the book I chose first this summer and it was a great read. Work takes a city girl from Atlanta to a SC beach town to try to 'revitalize' it. She ends up finding much more than she bargained for. It is a story of romance with a little mystery thrown in for good measure. I love books with local settings so this was a super fun book for a Carolina girl to read.

Dead trucks, washed dirt bikes and softball practice

Sunday night after the race, Justin commented that he thought he would pressure wash the bike on Monday. It sounds like a little thing, but in a mother's eyes, it was a 14 yr old taking a tiny step towards responsibility. Not only did he wash the bike, but he also repaired the broken plastic and reassembled it as well. Not a bad little victory for a Monday.

This week I have been to my regular Dr and an orthopedist for my hurt ankle. I fell Sunday at the track in Denver. I apparently have a possible fractured fibula and torn ligaments in my ankle. All that really means is PAIN. I am now walking in a really attractive (NOT!) boot that is knee high. Yuck!! Dr. Kutner says 4 wks in the boot and I should be doing much better. Good because we race again in mid-September and momma gots to go to the race!!

Andy woke up Wednesday morning to a broken down truck. "The Beast", as I call it, sounded like a puttering boat motor. After $125 for a tow to the dealership, we found that it was some fuel injector something or other. Love the diesel warranty...$100 deductible and the rest is covered. :-) It could always be worse! Like $200 for the third new door handle. Thieves...stay away!!

Wednesday also brought us softball practice. This was Karley's second of the season since we spent last week at the beach. It rained, but all the girls wanted to play in the rain anyway. Ashley and another girl (I can't remember names yet) both got hit with balls and went away in tears. Note to self...bring ice packs to practice! Karley tried pitching to a batter for the first time. She did ok...better than I would have expected. I don't see a star pitcher yet, but I think she is good enough to pitch in an 8u game and get by.

Today is a ho-hum sort of day. Andy and I rode to work together since he has no vehicle. That was nice...a few extra minutes of uninterrupted conversation. I will have to pick him up on the way home as well. Boss man didn't show up for work today. He said he is feeling yucky and stayed home. Y&R was decent, lunch was good, and my desk still looks like a toxic waste dump. Big Brother comes on tonight and I am all over that. Good bye Lydia!

In the beginning...

I am starting this blog to chronical the life of my family. There are so many things I want to remember about our life that I forget because I dont have time to write it down. I would love to journal but I prefer typing to writing. I love taking pictures of the things we do, but just don't have time to scrapbook right now. Maybe, if I can blog about it all, one day I can take the blog and match it with the pictures to create the scrapbook memories I so desire. However, for today, I am to busy living life.

I will attempt to bring our story current as a place to start. Andy and I have been married 15 years and we have two wonderful kids. Justin is turning 15 soon and about to begin his 10th grade year in high school and Karley is 8 and is entering 3rd grade. We also have a super protective white boxer named Layla who is 4 yrs old. She has been with us since 2005 when we moved into our current house.

Justin and Andy both became dirt bike owners last Christmas (2008). Andy began racing hare scrambles shortly thereafter and Justin raced his first race this past Sunday (08/16/09). He placed 19th. Justin has played alot of sports in his short life, but I think his love will be his dirt bike.

Karley is our ball player. She has played one season of basketball (winter of 08/09) and is beginning her 3rd season of softball (fall 08/spring and fall 09). Andy is coaching her team this year.

This summer, we bought our first camper. We will use it to camp at some of the races, but hopefully other places as well.

That pretty much brings our story up to date. However, there is always something going on in the Wilkes house.