Hillbilly Tennessee - National Corn Dog Month

Amy - this blog's for you!

Just wanted you to see the things we celebrate here in East Tennessee! Evidently "National Corn Dog Month" is an annual celebration b/c this same sign was up last year. How totally embarassing! Geez!

The worst part of the story is that this sign is located about one mile from our home. We live in the heart of hillbilly country! Yee-haw!

Dollywood without Dolly Dollars

It seems we don't have much money to spare these days, but we were blessed with FREE tickets to Dollywood. WIVK, a local radio station, was giving away FREE tickets to be used on Labor Day. As soon as I found out about the promotion, I called my friend Tracie and we both took the kids to stand in line for tickets at McDonalds! We were able to get tickets for everyone in our families!

Well, Labor Day finally arrived and both of our families trekked to Dollywood together! We had a wonderful day together and the children had a BLAST riding all of the rides. This was another day I was sooooo thankful to be married to my wonderful husband. He was more than happy to ride the rides I wanted to avoid...as you will see in the pictures below. Here are some highlights from our day!

Waiting for the tram to take us to the gate - the only family shot of the day!

The first ride of the day was the Ferris Wheel. Oh, my! That was enough speed, height, and scariness for me! My stomach was so queasy! I kept telling myself, "This won't take long...You'll get off soon...No, this won't break...No, we will not fall off from the top!" It freaked me out a little! Whew! I felt better once my feet were back on the ground!





Do you see why I was a little freaked out? I got to ride with Braden and it was high!
Mason was tall enough to DRIVE the Bumper Cars! He is growing up!
Avery and Weston rising the Busy Bees together! Sweet!

Braden on the Flying Ducks!
After the Ferris Wheel, I stayed off the swings. However, Franklin and Mason loved being swung through the air!

The BIG RIDE of the day was the Dizzy Disc. Weston, Reid, and Tracie were the only ones brave enough to try it. Reid sat next to Weston and as his face turned paler and paler, Reid caught his attention into conversation so he wouldn't focus on the ride! Actually, when Weston got off, he said he LOVED it! The reason he LOVED it was because "he got to ride it with his Daddy." Precious!

This picture in front of the sign was taken after the ride was over! Both of them have full color in their faces! Yeah!

Another ride I avoided was the Roller Coaster. Okay, honestly, most of you would not classify the "Veggie Tales" Roller Coaster at Dollywood a true roller coaster, but it was enough for me to say, "No thank you." Everyone else rode it together. My job was to watch all of our belongings and take pictures. Ha!

Braden and Addie didn't really like it - a few tears of fear came down their cheeks.

Aidan and Braden "wet and wild!" Becoming best buds!

Firing the water pistols!
Aidan and Mason sporting their "skunk-skin" caps. Whatever happened to "coon-skin?"
Riding in the antique cars with Braden. Our car was pink, and Braden didn't really like that too much!
Mason, again, tall enough to drive on his own!
Thanks again to Reid for riding the "Shooting Star" with the boys. Braden and I enjoyed watching!

Tracie and I in front of the "No Smoking" squirrel. Yes, Reid chose the background. It's still a cute pic though!


Braden the Bear!
What a wonderfully fun day shared with our precious friends! Smiles and memories to last for a lifetime!

Observing the Lunar Eclipse

On Tuesday, August 28th, we woke the boys at 4:45 am to witness an amazing event. A total lunar eclipse! They were so excited to see the moon completely disappear from the sky.

Our friends and neighbors Rhonda, Kaitlin, and Jake joined us for the party in front of the house! Reid was the official photographer and took and incredible set of pics!

It was a great home school lesson as the Moon moved into the umbra of the Earth's shadow. Although as it was happening it was hard to realize what was happening, but the photos below tell the story!

Franklin and Jake are all smiles!
Mason enjoys his cereal at 5:00 am!
Brownie, one of the kittens I blogged about, found the newspaper slot of the mailbox. Franklin pulled her out because she couldn't turn around!
Me - without make-up and not quite awake!
Watching the Show in the Sky!

"When I consider Your Heavens, the work of your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which you have ordained,

What is man that you take thought of him,

And the son of man that You care for him?"

Psalm 8:3,4

Our God is AMAZING! What an incredible witness of His Creation!

Home School Hershey Bar Science Experiment

This year we are studying astronomy as our home school Science this semester. We have built a "to-scale" model of the solar system on the driveway, memorized the order of planets, and on Friday afternoons we perform different Science Experiments. The Bradley's always join us for the fun!

Last Friday we examined concentrated heat from the sun. We used a magnifying glass to concentrate the heat in a large area and then, a very small area onto a Hershey Bar.

Ultimately, the Hershey bar caught on FIRE! It was unbelievable! The boys were fascinated!

Rhonda was like a little kid. She stayed out on the driveway continuing to melt chocolate and catch leaves on fire. It was hilarious to see her so giddy!

Last Day for Swimming at the Tates' Pool

The Tate's have purchased a new house and are preparing to move. We celebrated one last "Hurrah" in the pool to indicate the close of an era in this precious home!

Everyone was there except for Wendy. She was home sick.

The cousins had a blast in the pool...challenging each other on the diving board and racing across the pool. Everyone simply enjoyed being together!

This is the last "cousin" picture of everyone in the pool.
John Vance came to his first family event. Now that he is in K-ville for school, we hope to see more of him in the future!
Mamaw loved being with everyone. Her presence is always comforting!
Kelly and John enjoy one more relaxing swing on the screened-in porch! They provided a pizza dinner for everyone as a way of securing some help with the move! Very wise! Ha!
The Diving Board Competition Begins!

YES - THAT IS REID! He is CRAZY! Trying to outdo the kids!
Weston enjoys a peaceful swim until Papaw gets hold of him!

What a wonderful day for the entire family!