lately

 1. She had already been in the pool for hours by the time I got down to Newport Friday evening.
2. Card night around the pool = best idea ever.

 3. My Mom always stocks up on food and drinks for trips; she's awesome like that!
4. Dobby (looking good, girl!).

 5. Momma and me :)
6. Being silly with my reflection.

 7. Our game of choice.
8. Tab was more interested in her nails than paying attention (good thing we won both games, or I'd have to kill her).

 9. Brennen & RJ just hanging out on the sidewalk.
10. RJ does not like lemons! But I like that little face :)

 11. Johnna
12. Sidney

 13. Gracie
14. Ashlynn

 13. Isaac (aka Wildman)
14. Tori

 15. Brennen
16. Seth

 17. Some women in my family have a "thing" for old men, I guess - we still love 'em!
18. SidMo and I are born waterdogs!

 19. Sidney and Gracie
20. Cutest twin girls ever!

 21. To be such a girly dog, he's a pretty good sidekick.
22. One's called Coco, one's called Peanut.

23. More card games poolside!
24. RJ partied all night and woke up early. Give her a break, she was on a mini-vacation! 

Flashback Friday

So there was this time, one summer a few years ago, when I had a wreck down in Pigeon Forge.

And then another time, while on my way to Pigeon Forge, I got a really big speeding ticket.

I'm hoping that today while I drive down to Newport, which is pretty close to Pigeon Forge, neither of the two things happen. It is Friday the 13th, but I'm determined to let today be a good/lucky day and not a bad/unlucky day.

Poor little HHR.

Eye of the Tiger

There's so much going on right now, it's insane. I love it. I love the busy, the bustling, the hustle.

Between now and the end of May, we've got stuff lined up almost every weekend. (Weddings! Vacation! Gardening!)

It's a little intimidating sometimes trying to balance the kids and work and play-time and family and friends and all the other little things that make life worth living.

But I'm keeping my eyes on the prize; in this situation, the prize being surviving it all.

But, really, I'm stoked. Really, I am. Eye of the tiger, baby. 

Half-Proud, Half-Ashamed or Maybe 3/4 Proud, 1/4 Ashamed of Where I Live

There are moments in my life when I look around and think, "this is comedy gold. These are the things people make fun of when they think of the term 'hillbilly'."

My life gets to be one giant cliche in and of itself, and I feel the slight tug of rebellion. I have this need to explain myself, to excuse my situation and make very clear that I am not a "hillbilly" or "redneck" or "white trash" and so on and so on.

But, sometimes, I am those things. A, B, C, D all of the above.

And then I feel bad for feeling good in those moments. I am a good person. I am self-aware, cultured, open-minded and very liberal in a lot of my beliefs. I don't feel like a Southern stereotype. There are a lot of things I believe in and stand for that loudly clash with traditional and known beliefs of people from this region. (Anyone who's read my posts about equal opportunity marriages or agnosticism knows what I'm taking about here...)

Yet through it all, you can find me there in the middle of my yard, barefoot with my kids running around dirty. My single-wide is shining in the sun; there's trash outside waiting to be hauled off. My husband's pick-up truck is parked in our gravel drive. We're riding lawnmowers for fun and teaching our kids to shoot firearms at an early age. There's talk about fishing and the weather and who's playing what sport this weekend.

A million and one cliches that we all know. And I want to rebel.

But I feel so at "home" - so at peace with where I am, where I live, where I'm from.

I may be a few rungs up the ladder from the first hillbilly to crawl from the Appalachians - but I'm still on the same ladder right there with them.

And I don't feel the need to apologize for any of *it*. Well, maybe a little need. But I'm not going to apologize. Too much.

My shoe-box of a single-wide trailer - happy to call this place "home"

lately

 1. Sidney has way too much fun playing in Rhealen's pack-n-play
2. And Rhealen has way too much fun playing with Sidney's room at Gran's house

 3. Getting ready for a long day on the road (good thing we took the Kindle with us!)
4. Got my hair chopped off again - the mullet was more than I could stand.

 5. Thank the fuel gods for a car that doesn't drink gas
6. Awesome sights near my hometown - don't have to go far to see the past is alive and well today

 7. Cumberland Gap tunnel - Kentucky here we come!
8. Lunch in Middlesboro with our BFF Cassie

 9. The last time these two were together, it was nothing but fighting and grumples
10. This time, they were inseperable (we spent Friday night in Lexington with our Cantrell cousins!)

 11. RJ was not looking forward to getting back on the road (next stop, Louisville!)
12. The kids were a total blur Friday and Saturday (seven of them under one roof!)

 13. Cupcakes are good (so is surprising old friends! More on that later!)
14. I hate to see how this child will be in two more months when she has her birthday!

15. Easter eggs - who doesn't take this picture?
16. Me and my Rhealen Jo (I love this picture, but can't believe I'm wearing white sunglasses! It's amazing what a girl will do as a last resort!)