So much to say....

What a crazy-busy few days we've had!

Friday night we went to an old fashioned "camp meeting" revival with some of our family. Our cousins invited us down for the evening to hear an evangelist that they have heard in the past and love. We had a great time. And when I said, "old-fashioned", I meant OLD fashioned. It was held in an outdoor sanctuary that wasn't closed in and had no air. Hot doesn't even seem suitable for what the weather felt like. It was the hottest Belle's ever been. Her little face was pink and she even had sweat beads on her forehead. She was such a good girl. And despite the heat, it was so good. The worship was wonderful---they sang a mix of old and new songs and it was beautiful to sing in such a setting... the guest vocalist who provided the special music was awesome.

When they got ready to take up the offering, our cousin looked over to catch my reaction....

He knew I'd love this...I looked up to see the ushers passing big Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets down each pew. NOT KIDDING. W (the cousin) said that they have done this for as long as he can remember. (He's been going all his life). I'm not going to act like I didn't get a little nostalgic when I saw those throw-back KFC buckets...made me remember the days of Colonel Sanders and the extra-crispy fried chicken back when it was still known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, not the abbreviated KFC and before they had to try and get all healthy and start serving "Kentucky Grilled Chicken"... Have yall seen that?

After all the good worship music, good laughs from the KFC offering buckets, and a great message, the whole congregation moved to the camp cafeteria. Which, thanks be to the Lord, was air conditioned. DW and I weren't planning to stay for the fellowship afterward, but everyone kept telling us we just couldn't leave without having a "Walk-away Sundae"... all it takes is the mention of ice cream and I'm in. We decided to stay...and am I ever glad we did.... This is the goodness that convinced us to stay and visit after the service...

Yall, they make these during the day, then put them in the freezer and break them out after the evening service. On top of having the ice cream, they had tons of other snacks and drinks....They even had Sunkist in a can. Ice cream and Sunkist?!?!? I think I could live there...well, on second thought, I think the non-existent A/C will just keep me a visitor in the future.... it was a great time and we are glad W & S invited us.

Saturday we headed here....
It's our family's week at the river house. Our whole crew enjoyed the Sunshine and coldest water you've ever stuck your foot in on Saturday.

To say that I love Blue Run is an understatement. The first time DW took me down there for the day, I was sold. I've been enjoying Devin's family's little piece of paradise for 7 years. But the really neat thing about Blue Run is that it's been in the family for over 60 years and several generations. I love the idea of my children splashing around in the cool water and toddling around the same house that their daddy and his daddy did when they were both babies, too! Blue Run is definitely rich in family traditions and history and I am thankful that my children and I get to be a little part of it.

Sunday was church and afterward we grilled steaks for lunch in celebration of two of my favorite fathers... my own Daddy and the Daddy to my babies. Annabelle wanted to do something special for her first Father's Day for her Daddy. So, we took a field trip to "Do Art" last Wednesday to paint something special for him. Thankfully, we had some help, because I don't know how I would have been able to take Annabelle by myself and "create" our project... (Thanks, Arielle)! We had Belle's foot prints done on a plate.

I have high hopes that one day all of DW's beloved Gator "stuff" will take up a new residence in his office at work. Mine and Belle's thought was that when it does, this plate will be so cute hanging on the wall or displayed on a shelf next to his replica of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium... We painted the plate orange and blue with a football theme. Around the rim it says, "Daddy's #1 Fan." Here's the plate, before it had been fired in the kiln.

(the colors will be bright and glossy once it's been fired... right now they look like peach and purple...but the lady assured me they'd come out gator orange and blue....let's hope she doesn't let me down. I don't know how my husband would take me not picking out the right orange and blue. Sometimes during football season I try to wear orange or blue that isn't exactly UF's colors, and I get told that I'm wearing Auburn colors or Tennessee.... I've had to learn that we take these things seriously around here....) Anyway, 'Do Art' was so backed up with father's day gifts, that it was going to take longer to get it in the kiln and I cant pick it up until tomorrow. I'll post a picture of the finished product when I pick it up! It was such a fun thing to do, and I cant wait to go and do something else.

During our Father's Day shopping last week, we had to get a birthday gift for one of our cousins' birthday party that Belle had been invited to. The party was on Saturday and we were here:


So we missed it. But I wanted to send our gift... We picked up the cutest little cotton dress and I had an idea about making something to match it. I have been wanting to make some covered flip flops since I saw them at my Kelly's Kids party back in February. So we decided to make some to match the dress for the birthday girl, "S". While we were at it, we decided to make a hairbow, too. Here's the finished ensemble:


I loved the way the flip flops turned out! I so wish I could find a solid white pair of baby ones in Annabelle's size... they'd be so cute with an "A" and some bows on them!

Wow, this post keeps jumping from day to day... I made those on Friday... then Friday night was the revival... Saturday was Blue Run.... Sunday was church, lunch and then that afternoon, we packed our bags and headed back here:


Blue Run's totally relaxed and laid back....

I'm talking pony-tail hair and no make-up kind of relaxed....We also EAT the whole time we're there. Dinner Saturday night was fried shrimp, grouper & homeade fries

What is it about the water that makes you want to snack??? Among eating and snacking, we also enjoy swimming during the hottest part of the days and taking boat rides in the evening.

The water is super cold.
Little Miss loves the icy cold water! Momma can only take so much of it. So while Daddy's at work, she hangs out in this pool (in the shade, with her hat and sunscreen on) while I sit right next to her trying to tan my pale white skin..... When it gets too hot, we'll take a dip in the cold water...It's 72 degrees year round. (I think that's right...)When the heat index is 106 in the sunshine state, that 72 degrees feels arctic! But so refreshing.

These two spent the night with us on Sunday and Monday night.
And DW and I are staying the rest of the week. Except tonight. I came home today to wash some clothes (& my hair...) and do a few things around the house. It's good to be home for a day- and have Internet access! I feel lost not having my email at my fingertips and being able to do my daily blog checking...

Speaking of which, one of my blog buddies gave me an award! How sweet...
Heather and I "met" when I stumbled on her blog from a blog she'd left a comment on. She's another Christian blogger, and just one more example of why I love the whole blog world. I love the Christian "community" that's found here and the friendships that are made through it. I enjoy keeping up with her and her family and love it when Fridays come around and it's time for the "Kelly's Korner Show Us Where You Live Friday" posts to go up, because Heather's house is amazing. She's got great taste, the cutest kids, and such a sweet, kind spirit. Not to mention she's totally the friend you'd love to have. She looks like she's 18 ---MAYBE---she's such a pretty person---inside and out... I love reading Heather's blog because she's just real. She blogs about everything from missing her family in TN, to swimming at the pool, to trusting God, to what yummy things she cooked for breakfast... Thank you, Heather for the sweet words you wrote about me! We'd so be friends in real life if we lived close...I'll settle for blog buddies! :)

Now, it's time for me to get some laundry done... I've got to be somewhat productive today, because the rest of my week looks like this:

~annie~