I'm baaaack!

Wow - I can't believe it's been 10 days since I wrote. I've had a busy two weeks, but they've been fun.

Me, Tammy, Haley Rae, Karlie, Sloan, Connor, Yuri and Gigi took a girls trip to the beach this week. We left on Saturday and came home on Wednesday. It was wonderful. I LOVE the beach. I don't care if it's raining or sunny, hot or cold.... I just love it. I don't even have to step on it to feel so serene. I just like to sit and watch it. I see living on a beach in my future. I may be 85 when it happens, but that's on my bucket list.

The girls had a ball. Haley and Karlie have always loved it, and the babies are following right along. They would have spent 23 out of 24 hours on the beach if I had allowed it.

Haley turned 16 while we were there. SIXTEEN!!! She has high expectations for this age. She seems to think the skies will open up and all things magical will fall upon her... haha. She got her license and had her first date, which were both things she's been looking SO forward to. I have to say, I thought she would turn 16 and date 400 boys. Seriously. She has just never been one to limit her options. BUT, her romance with Caleb has been rekindled and now they're officially "going out". I'm finally understanding the difference between "talking", "texting", and "going out".

And the best news... Hunter will be home in 2 days. He called this morning at 5:30. I was awake because I got up early to try to get some work done before Yuri and Gigi woke up. But nooo. I came downstairs and found them playing in Karlie's room with all the lights on. Anyway, Hunter called and after talking about 15 minutes, he said "oh, it's early there, ain't it?" We talked for almost 20 minutes and I'm so anxious to see him. He has thoroughly enjoyed his trip and wants to return to Serbia someday, but I can tell he is ready to get home. He has been texting me today with all the things he has planned for next week. Most of it involves not being at home! Geez!

Getting ready for Willard to get home. He's cooking shrimp for us. Yummy!

20th Wedding Anniversary

20 years ago tonight, I was enjoying myself at our rehearsal dinner around Mike and Lanett's pool. Has it really been 20 years?? Geez, I can't believe I'm old enough to have been married that long.

Here's the story of Amy and Willard....

In February of 1986, I was cheering at a basketball game. Half way through the game, I noticed these REALLY obnoxious guys across the gym. They were yelling at the my team, my fans, my CHEERLEADERS!!! After the game, this one guy (yep, Willard) asked me for my phone number. Since I found him utterly annoying, I refused to give it to him. I did, however, find his friend quite cute and so I gave HIM my number. I'm not sure how it happened, except that Willard was bigger and meaner than his friend, but somehow Willard ended up with my number. When he called me the next day, I was *not* a happy camper. I told him I had a boyfriend and figured that would it the end of it. But nooooo.... he showed up at the basketball game that night so I had to get a friend (thank you, Darin!) to pretend to be my "boyfriend". Darin gave me his classring, his letterman jacket, and was completely attentive to me. Hahaha. All to rid me of that Falkville boy!

Although I'm fairly sure I've never laid eyes on Willard before that first basketball game, I was suddenly seeing him everywhere. At McDonald's, at random ballgames, etc. And dang it, he got cuter and cuter everytime I saw him. Finally one night at McDonald's, I decided just maybe he deserved another chance, so I went up and asked him to buy me an ice cream cone. He agreed and called me the next day, and the next, and the next....

Did I mention I was only 15 when we met? Yeah, 15. Scary, huh? We met in January and I didn't turn 16 until February 21. By mid-January, he was calling me everyday and showing up at as many random events that we could come up with. The Randolph rule was that we couldn't date until I turned 16 and the days were DRAGGING by. One week before my birthday was Valentine's Day. Delivered to me at school were 7 red roses and a card that read (in Willard's handwriting) "Counting the days..." awwwww My mom thought it was so sweet that she agreed to let us go out that night..it WAS Valentine's day after all! The only problem was that he spent all his money on roses and so he didn't have the cash to take me anywhere. Ha. So we just rode around Hartselle and Decatur until time to go home.

Four and a half years later, we got married. Even though he lost our wedding rings on the way to the church (and they were never found), and even though the power kept flickering during the wedding (a sign??), and even though the hotel forgot to give us a wake-up call (we BARELY made our flight), AND even though we had BUNK BEDS for a week on our honeymoon cruise (I kid you not!!!)... we were husband and wife. :)

Now, 5 kids and 20 years later, I smile as I type this. My life is not perfect - whose is??? But I can say this... The happy times far outweigh the sad times, the blessings far outweigh the tragedies, and the laughs far outweigh the tears.

And that's how this chaos all got started...

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I intended to get up early this morning and spend the whole day cleaning house. It's not gonna happen. Gigi tossed and turned and cried all night. She was not really awake but was either having nightmares or had a tummy ache or something. I finally put her in our bed around 5 a.m. and she "slept" until 8. Then we moved downstairs to the recliner where I rocked her until she woke up after 10:00. She seems happy now, but sounds congested so I hope we're not about to hit one of her asthma crises! Anywho, after watching two episodes of "Frasier", three episodes of "Desperate Housewives" and one episode of "Y&R", I've lost my desire to clean house. I'm going to chalk this up to a lazy day.

I'm coming out of medical retirement tonight to play softball in the tournament. Something tells me this is not a wise choice, but I'm going to do it anyway. My shoulder is definitely better, but I still feel a twinge when I move certain ways. Not sure how's it going to feel when I swing a bat!

Hunter *finally* called me yesterday. He was supposed to call me on his birthday (last Wednesday) but he didn't. I kept sending reminders via Facebook but he didn't call until yesterday. As usual, him and Cody sound great. They seem to be having so much fun.

Here's part of our conversation -
HUNTER: How come you let Haley Rae go to Lauren's for so many days?
ME: What do you mean?
HUNTER: Mom, you KNOW she invited herself. Nobody would CHOOSE to spend 4 days with Haley Rae.
ME: I know it's hard for you to believe, but some people actually like her.
HUNTER: Pffffff!
CODY: I like Haley Rae.
HUNTER: Shut up, Cody.
CODY: Actually I like Haley Rae more than I like you.
HUNTER: Shut up, Cody.

And so on...

I'm glad they're having a good trip, but I'll be more glad when they get home.

Back to normal life

The long holiday weekend was great, but I for one will be glad to be back to normal life. Routine is a good thing and I miss it when we stray from it for too long.

We spent most of our weekend at the lake. My kids were literally submersed in water for about 8 hours every day. I swear they're part fish. Ruben and Minque had a ball and are the sweetest kids. I'm taking them back home (to their foster home) this morning. I think Minque will be sad to go. She kinda likes the hustle and bustle of the Garnett home!

I'm really missing Hunter this morning. He'll be 18 tomorrow and it seems weird that he's having a birthday 4300 miles away. Eighteen years ago this morning, I was getting ready for my last doctor's appointment. After seeing the sonogram and deciding that he weighed around 9 pounds, we made plans to induce labor the next day. After unsuccessful induction, they did a c-section and pulled out a 10-pound baby boy. For those of you who know Willard, you know he doesn't show emotions very often and has a pretty good poker face, but that day was an exception. He was the happiest I've ever seen him. There were probably 40 people standing at the nursery window when Willard walked out with him and I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole room.

Gonna jump in the shower and then get some house stuff done before the kids gets up. Haley Rae has volleyball camp all day, Karlie has orthodontist and then plans to go to the pool, Yuri and Gigi are going to school, and I'm taking Minque and Ruben back to Valhermoso Springs. (then I'm going to get my nails done... shhhh!) Have a good day!

Friends with pools!

Why should we spend boo-coos of money to build a pool when we have plenty of friends with pools?? That's what Willard says. And it turns out he may be right. I'm training Yuri and Gigi to smile their sweet little smiles and say "I wanna come swim at YOUR house". So far, we've raked in invites from 5 different families! We've been to Sherry's, Sarah Terry's, and Leslie's. Amy Sherrill and Sylaina, you're next! Anybody else interesed in having the Garnett's over to swim can contact me via text or Facebook. We still have a few days open. :)

I've got my list all made and will be up bright and early getting stuff together for the lake. Minque isn't quite sure what a lake is, but she's thinking she'll like it. Haha. She went swimming for the first time this week in a real pool. She loved it, but panics if she can't touch. The whole floating thing doesn't make much sense to her. Ruben, on the other hand, is proficient in the dead man's float. That boy makes me a nervous wreck. He keeps wanting to stay UNDER water. Did I mention that he's never been swimming until this week???

We declared this week "All about Karlie week" so she got to pick the supper menu. For tonight she picked steak and gravy, mashed taters, mac-n-cheese, fruit cocktail and cornbread, so that's what we had. I don't mind the cooking but HATE the cleanup.

Haven't heard from Hunter in a while. I expect a phone call SOON!!! From reading his adentures on FB, I think it's safe to say they're having a good time.

It's bedtime for me. Happy 4th of July weekend!

It's a miracle!

Gigi, whose Indian name would be "Girl Who Never Sleeps", slept almost 12 hours last night! Of course, I kept waking up and going downstairs to make sure she was still breathing because she has NEVER slept that many hours straight. She's been sick this week and I guess she just decided to play catch up. She feel asleep at 5:45 last night so I expected her to be up at 2 a.m. raring to go. I went to bed at 9:15 so I could squeeze in some good sleep before she woke up. I never dreamed she would sleep all night. But I like it!! She woke up at 5:15 this morning asking for Doritos and Funions for breakfast. Yuck.

We've got a busy day planned. Haley Rae's doctor appointment is in a little while. I've asked Jo-Jo to come over and keep the little ones. I figure Decatur Orthopedic Group wouldn't appreciate me dragging in four kids. I'm considering taking them all to Hartselle Pool this afternoon if things go well between now and then. I wanted to go while we have Ruben and Minque and this is the only day we can. Haley Rae has two ballgames tonight, so I'm not sure how several hours at the pool and then doubleheader softball games will mix for the little ones.

My yard mower man is here this morning. Yay! I love a freshly mowed yard. One would think we wouldn't have to hire our yard out since we own a lawnmower dealership, but one would be wrong. Let's just don't go there this morning....

Have a good Thursday!