Girlfriends Are The Best Friends

Sea BreezesI am so blessed in so many ways. Today was one of those days I really appreciate my blessings. I spent the day with my "collegues", the wonderful beach babes I work with at school. What a great group of precious friends. We managed to meet at the beach and stayed there ALL day. We come from all parts of the country, all backgrounds, and we are the best of friends.....and we get to work and play together and live in this beautiful place. We stayed so long the tide went out and I do declare was on its way back in when we all packed up to go home. Some live on the island, others not, but we are all within a 20-30 minute drive of our favorite St. Simons beach. We even made plans to go visit the beach together after school this year. What fun! We talked about everything under the sun, laughed, solved each other's problems, answered questions and shared teaching tips. Kate whistled at a passing dolphin who turned her head toward us, amazing! We watched big ships come and go and sailboats dancing in the wind. All of this under a blue cloud dotted sky and a soothing sea breeze tickling our hair. We found sand dollars and bobbed in the waves. A fun day. I will go to school in the morning and work on my room, but I think I will sneak back to the beach. Don't tell! Enjoy some shots of the precious beach babes of Brunswick High.

What I Am Doing For The Rest of the Summer

Sea Breezes"What are you doing the rest of the summer?" I went over to school today to find out the current status of my room and was asked this question. I am posting pictures to show what I am doing with the precious few days left of my summer and where I can be found before the school bells ring again. As for the status of my room at school, a mess. I changed rooms and all of my stuff plus the other teacher's stuff who was in there before me, well, her stuff has not been moved to her new room. So, I can't work at school, so tomorrow I am heading to blue water. Anybody wants me, call the pool or the beach. I'll be the one doing the least at either place. Happy summer!

Please Welcome Whitfield Daniel Olliff

Sea BreezesOur new grandson, Whitfield Daniel Olliff was born on Thursday, July 17, 2008. He weighed a hefty 8 pounds and 5 ounces. Whit, as he will be called, is beautiful. His "big sister", Kennedy, loves him and is being very gentle with him. He is having a bit of a jaundice problem, and of this writing, he is back in the hospital under bili lights to bring his levels down to normal. His Mommy and Daddy are doing a wonderful job parenting and handling this setback. MeMe is home with big sister and the other grandparents and Aunt Wookie are at the hospital, so this little family has lots of support. Please lift baby Whit and his family in your prayers for a quick and speedy recovery and to come home and be a family together really soon. Enjoy some pictures of this precious new life and his family. Welcome to the world Whit! You are loved!

The Tale of the Porch Cat

Sea Breezes Every country porch needs a porch cat. There is something nostalgic about walking up on a big open porch and spotting a country kitty lounging away a summer day on a breezy porch. Our country porch has a porch kitty. She is supposed to be a moler, but she is busy being a porch cat and that job takes all her time. Sappy our new cat has taken to her porch cat job with gusto. Every morning she heads for the woods to do a little hunting. With hunting out of the way, she gets down to the serious job of porch catting. Porch catting involves several important skills. The ability to stare down squirrels and birds is a must. Hissing at a 14 year old plus dauschund invading your space is another important skill. The ability to turn your head into the afternoon sea breeze that kicks up every afternoon to sway the hanging ferns and tickle your fur is very important. Porch catting is not for the faint of heart. The only harder job happening on the porch is the person watching the porch cat do the porch catting. I am pretty good at porch cat watching. I check to make sure Sappy is doing her job. I am a porch sitter. I will save the rules for porch sitting for another blog. Enjoy the picture of Sappy, the porch kitty, at work.

Baby Brother Is Coming!

Sea Breezes Baby Brother is coming....Thursday! Our lovely grandaughter, Kennedy, is going to be a big sister. She loves babies. Her Mommy and Daddy love her so much that they decided to give her a real baby. Real baby brother is coming....Thursday! Precious grandchildren, Henley, Lander and Paisley are getting a new boy cousin...Thursday! This MeMe and Pops are getting a new grandson.....Thursday! SuSu and Poppa are getting a new grandson...Thursday! Wookie, Tonya, Blake and Patrick are getting a new nephew....Thursday! Best of all, Katie and Greg are getting a new son...Thursday! So what is special about Thursday? A new baby is coming, that's what is so special! A new life is coming into this lovely world and everyone's world will be richer, fresher and more filled with wonder as we greet this new baby boy and shower him with love. God bless you dear daughter as you become, again, a mother. May your journey be filled with all the joy and love and laughter you have brought to your father and I since we first gazed into your newborn eyes. Love, Mother and Dad

God Bless Our America and Our Family

Sea BreezesLord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for themselves and for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

In my dreams, my grand babies all live next door to us. We can babysit, anytime, have them over for dinner, anytime, visit them anytime, play with them, anytime, anytime we want. On this Fourth of July, we celebrate freedom, all sorts. One of the most precious freedoms is Family Freedom. Yes, I know it is not an official freedom, but today I have been contemplating the word freedom. As Christians, we have freedom in Christ, freedom from having to suffer for our own sins. Wow! With that kind of freedom, what do we do with our lives? Since the price of our sin has been paid by the precious Lamb of God, we are worry free! That is true freedom. We are free to move forward and do as He commanded, love one another. We are free to love the precious gift of our family. Hence, Family Freedom. To all of you whom we call family, we love you. Blake, Tonya, Henley, Lander, Paisley, Greg, Katie, Kennedy, not born yet "Henry", Patrick, you are all our children, our hearts, and we celebrate the freedom today to love you and hold you in our hearts and prayers. We celebrate our "you live next door to us love", and we remind you today that you live in the greatest country in the world. Men and women have traveled before you, risked and given their lives so we can be free. Freedom is not free, Christ paid our ultimate price. We thank Him for you all. May God continue to bless our America and our family.

Happy Anniversary We Didn't Start Out As Grandparents!

Sea Breezes Happy Anniversary Pops! We aren't just growing old together, we are just growing! Grand baby number five will be here soon. We started out with just the two of us, and after 36 years of marriage, we have nine kids, soon to be ten! That is some growth! We are rich with blessings! Pops is in a bit of trouble. We kept Kennedy this weekend while Mommy and Daddy went to a family wedding and well......Pops and K had a GREAT time. Maybe too great. When K woke up from her morning nap, we both went to see the precious grand baby standing in the crib holding her baby doll. Pops showed her how to make baby "fly." K roared with laughter. Pops would make baby fly, Kennedy would make baby fly. All one has to do to make a doll fly is toss it out of the crib in the air and watch it land. They both laughed so hard, you could hear them next door, I was sure. They played flying baby most of the weekend. When the parents got back and the grandparents left, the grand baby still played flying baby tossing dolls in the air around the house. Oops! Pops forgot to tell K "What happens while parents are away and grandparents are in charge of grandchildren stays with the folks with grand in front of their names." Shh.....Did I mention MeMe's cookas? I made K sugar cookies, she calls one of them a cooka. Pops was caught giving K a cooka for snack, "right after breakfast?"...only because she asked for a cooka. So Pops is in a bit of trouble. Does that mean we will behave next time the parents put us in charge? Do you think we will play in the bathtub too long, ride the wagon in the front yard in our jammies, or go swimming in the wading pool, after dinner, chase each other through the house, or feed the ducks more than once a day.......again?? Probably, but we won't let the parents know. Enjoy our shots of our secret fun. K and Pops both have Crocs! Happy Anniversary dear! If we hadn't had all our own kids, we wouldn't have gotten all these beautiful grandchildren. That is another reason to have kids, they give you grandchildren. They don't call it grand for nothing!