The "Giants" in James' life!!

So, the family was watching "Facing the Giants" last night. It was the first time I had seen it. I said to Brian,"So, the "Giants" are also the problems we face in life." James pipes in and says, " Yeah, and Anna is one of them!" Oh, the "Giant" of having a younger sister!!!

Our trip!!

We just returned from our very long, very tiring trip. First, we went to South Carolina for the Compton Family Reunion. We had a great time catching up with everyone. We stayed at Hickory Knob State Park which is on a beautiful lake that I can't remember the name of right now. Oh well, anyway, it was beautiful up there. We played golf, swam in the pool, played tennis, swam in the lake, and of course had the "Compton Games". If you know my family very well, you know that we are quite competitive, to say the least. So, just imagine a WHOLE, BIG group of Comptons competing in things such as, the egg run, the three-legged race, and the water balloon toss. It surely is something!!! I sat out of a few games just to give the others a chance at winning. Just kidding!!! No, really, we had a great time. Here are some of the highlights from our trip.

Back to Normal?

Well, we are getting ready to head out of town. AGAIN!!! I just finished all of the laundry and put up the last of the lingering belongings from the last trip not too long ago. Really, it was yesterday!!! We just gave the kids baths, read Monster's Inc. to them, and tucked them in bed. Now I can think of how I am going to pack everything, get the house in the shape I want to leave it in, and still manage to get a good night's sleep. First, we are headed to the Compton Family Reunion. We have done this every three years since I have been alive. It is in South Carolina. We stay in cabins on a lake. We are really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I will have taken some pictures with my nice present Brian bought for me while he was on his last trip. Yes, a camera. I am so excited to learn how to use it. It is really nice. Anyway, we leave from there and drive to Jacksonville, FL, where we are having a youth trip. This trip will be a week long and I am sure will also be great. Especially since we get to visit family while we are there. I am praying that we have a safe and successful trip. But, I am really looking forward to getting home and getting things back to normal.....whatever that is!!!

New name for it!!!

Well, Brian has been back in town for a few days now and we finally were able to get some yard work done today. This has been the first time we have been able to get out there in about a month so I am quite sure the neighbors were more excited about our making an appearance out there than we were. As I said before, I started "project-living room restoration" while Brian was out of town. I have to say, I got quite a bit accomplished. I painted the fireplace, painted the walls (with a little help from my friend Shannon), and even took the old crown moulding down.You should picture it. I know I am supposed to wear safety goggles while working with flying pieces of wood. Well, I do not own them, so I was donning my very darkly tinted sunglasses. Inside. While it was raining outside. It did not go unnoticed by my slightly tickled children. Anyway, that all went pretty well. I managed to get all of the unattractive moulding down, with no harm to my eyes, and I got an appointment with our contractor friend to come over and help Brian put up the new moulding. Sounds great right? Well, it didn't quite work out. Poor Anna got sick and we didn't want to pass it on, so he didn't come over. The project has come to a littlt bit of a hault. For the normal person, this would not be a big deal. But for me, well, let's just say I have changed the name of "project-living room restoration" to "project-pain in my behind"!!! We have about 200 feet of moulding sitting in our living room, and the fireplace mantle in our bedroom, and they might be there for a while. We are going out of town soon and school starts pretty soon after we get back. Oh well, it will get done one day!!! ......I am happy with the fireplace though!!!

Happy times!

Here are some of the things we have been up to the last couple of months. Just thought I would share some pictures.

Anna's first ballet recital

Brian coached James and Anna's soccer teams. James was the goalie here.

This is Luke's first game of "carpet football".

It is James' 1000th!

Here we are on Easter morning.

What to do!

Notice the crown moulding. Beautiful!!!

Well, it's July the 4th and Brian is out of town. What am I going to do. I know! I am gong to start our long awaited "project-living room restoration". I am so excited. Redoing things around the house has become my passion...no, obsession. I have already started this so-called restoration and it has not been without problems!!! I realized that before I could PAINT the fireplace, I had to actually SCRUB each and every soot-covered brick until my nails started to fall off. Ok, it was not that hard,but it was difficult to say the least. I am used to having a clean slate to work with. This house was built in 1969 and is definitely not a clean slate. My obsession with remodeling has rubbed off on Brian now. I can't wait until he gets home. Then we can do the crown moulding. You realize you are getting old when your favorite pastime is going to Home Depot and your favorite topic of conversation is what we are going to redo in the house next. By the way this is the before picture. Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for the after picture.

Home Again,Home Again!!

I think vacation does a lot for people. Of course, it allows us to get away from the ordinary. We have a great time getting sun, having fun with family,and putting on a few pounds.(at least it feels that way on my account!)Whatsoever my stomach desired, I kept not from it!!! Then, at the end of a great, but tiring week, you have to trade your cover-up in for some jeans that don't quite fit so well anymore. Also, vacation allows you to appreciate the ordinary once again! Back to life, back to work, back to the treadmill!!!