Sundays with Sami

When my Dad purchased an old Suzuki Samurai a few years ago no one in the family was surprised. We are used to this sort of thing from my Dad because he is always bringing some old, useless something home and turning it into something useful. Through the years he has done this with old doors, columns and windows, stoves, lights, metal chairs, toys , four wheelers and much, much more and now he has done it again. He spruced it up just enough to make it perfect for a slow ride through the small town where they live. They take it out most Sunday afternoons highlighting the dirt roads they've taken on a map they keep in the door. A few weekends ago a felt the call of old times pulling at my heart strings so we spent the afternoon on the screen porch talking and enjoying each others company. After the threat of an early afternoon rain we set off for the ride I'd been anticipating all day. I had heard from several people that the Coffee County Lake had been recently renovated so we made it our first stop of the day. I haven't been there in years, so of course it was much smaller than my memories of it as a child, but still very beautiful as the sun was shimmering across the water. We didn't linger long before turning towards Pine Level community, mine and my mother's childhood home and where much of our extended family still live. We took mostly dirt roads but still Mother seemed to know who lived in each house we passed. This slow ride through the country took me right back to childhood friends, running through the pasture and playin' in the creeks. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, let's do it again sometime.

a facelift

In the years since we've built our home we've made only a few changes to the inside. We changed the nursery to a big boy skate themed room forBranson's 5th birthday. Mother and Bigmom helped make new curtains for the dining room and study after we painted both a deep red. The guest bathroom was revamped with the currently popular brown and blue color palate. We are about to begin a huge living room makeover with new floors, furniture, TV and wall color. I cannot even begin to say how excited I am to watch this project come together. We are considering having the carpet removed and staining the concrete floors. I've been looking at this technique for a while online and I think it would add a very unique look to our home. I'll keep you posted and maybe add some before and after photos too.

the sleepover

Recently Michael went for a long overdue sleep study to test for sleep apnea. I have been telling him for at least a year that he should be checked because he is always tired and sleep apnea is very dangerous. The doctor confirmed my diagnosis and he came home after two nights of sleeping under surveillance with a full face mask to wear at night. I guess that means he is a mouth breather and to say he looks and sounds a bit like Darth Vader isn't a stretch. Anyway, funny thing about the whole event was the first night he was leaving the house with his overnight bags and Branson asked with a puzzled look "where ya goin',Dad?" Michael responded by saying he had to spend the night at the doctors office and Branson's response to this was "aren't you a little old for a sleep over"!

Don't Blink...

or this might happen. You just don't realize from how much kids change from year to year but these pictures really brought it home for me. I cried a little when I looked at the kindergarten pictures because I thought Branson was such a big boy back then, but when I looked in that little face I saw the face of a baby that I definitely don't see in these 2nd grade pics. When does it happen?

August 12, 2009, the first day of 2nd grade


August 2008, first day of the 1st grade
August 2007, first day of kindergarten

A new year

Branson's first day of 2nd grade was this past Wednesday. I can't honestly say that he was all that excited to see summer's end, but by the time he met his new teacher it was back to business as usual. His new teacher's name is Mrs. Robinette and she has been teaching at his school since 2003. Mrs. Robinette is known as a good teacher with a low tolerance for talking. This may be good for Branson because he tends to show little restraint when it comes to his talking habits. Giving credit where credit is due, he has shown improvement each year in this area and I said if the worst thing he gets in trouble for is talking ,we can deal with that. I teased him about her class location being convienent for him because the lost and found is just outside her door. Branson and I spent alot of time there in the last 2 years digging and searching for numerous jackets and pullovers. Turns out that 2 of Branson's cousins also had this teacher so I guess we are making her a family traditions.

a sad goodbye

Recently Michael said goodbye to an old friend. I know it was hard to let her go because they had spent many hours together through the years. He protected her , bought things for her, kept her clean and shinny. He helped her totally change her looks and even the way she sounded. By the time he was finished with her she was sleek, slim, loud and fast. If you haven't figured it out by now and you're thinkin' Michael had a girlfriend, you should know the old friend was his 2002 Harley Superglide.
Even though he hasn't been riding much in the past few years,I know it wasn't easy for him to sell his baby. Anyway she was sold to a friend so it's not as though he'll never see her again, right? Should I be jealous of this relationship?

the cake

I am obsessed with Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss so to say that my expectations for the Anniversary Cake were sky high would not be exaggerating one bit. I love the look of a fondant cake but I know that you sacrifice taste when you don't use traditional icing. Laura assured us she could get a really smooth look on her icing and we would do only the flowers in fondant. I felt this would give me the modern look on the cake I was trying to achieve without sacrificing the taste. She arrived at the party with a minor issue but she had all her supplies and handled it like a pro. She also applied the flowers and the branch work after she arrived so when I finally got to see the finished product I was thrilled. The cake looked just as I had dreamt it would and I couldn't have been happier. When the cake was finally cut and served everyone mentioned how yummy it was and it wasn't long before the caterer was asking if she could refer Laura to her customers. I finally sat down at the end of the night to my piece and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks Laura.

tangled web

Sir Walter Scott said "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive ". Mother used this quote when she heard all that we (meaning everyone involved in their surprise party) went through to pull the party off under their noses. I don't think I could find a more appropriate description if I wrote it myself. Thanks Walter. I did many underhanded things like lying about plans for our family, sneaking into my parents house, stealing their pictures, fleeing the scene of the upcoming party as Mother was about to arrive. Will I be seen, will someone slip and mention the party, will they see an invitation on someones' fridge? These are just a few of the repeating thoughts I had during the 4 months of deception, I mean party planning! I should be skinnier from the stress alone. Can you imagine how low I felt making multiple trips to Elba without visiting the hill? I'm sure I've already been forgiven my multiple offenses but the one who commits the crime never forgets! Ha! I can say it was quite the thrill to pull this off under our parents noses especially in their home town, with family and friends they see all the time, in a place where they hang out at least once a week. Whew! I felt like I had birthed a baby by the time it was all over, meaning the pressure was off and relief was felt. I'm sending out a big high five to everyone who helped pull this party off.

One Big Surprise!

Believe it or not this post has been 4 months in the making and I am so excited to be able to finally tell the story. July 8, 2009 marks 40 years of martial bliss for my parents so Daniel and I decided to host a surprise party in honor of their marriage. I have known for a long time that one day I would do this for my parents because of how much their marriage has meant to me.. During our Easter egg hunt I informed Daniel and Melissa of my plan and asked if they would be willing to split the cost. They said "yes" and so began the planning. I reserved the country club and called a DJ. The next thing on the list was the caterer and the invitations. I found these great napkins with black and red flowers and a theme was born in my mind. Melissa used the same flowers on the invitation and her sister Laura was able to duplicate the look again on the cake(I'll post more about the cake later).

I knew I wanted us to do as much as we could ourselves to save the money and also because I enjoy decorating. Fortunately for us Melissa had lots of glassware left over from their wedding so we decided to do floating candle centerpieces and lots of candles. We dressed up the patio of the country club by hanging paper lanterns, ferns, votives along the deck railing and a fountain in the pool.
We set the whole night up by telling them Daniel and Melissa were coming home to celebrate mine and Dad's birthdays and their anniversary. We told them we had reservations at a nice restaurant in Dothan in order to get them properly dressed. The next mission was how on earth we would get them to the Club without having to out right tell them about the party. We tossed a few ideas around but Michael came up with the car running hot on a trip to take his boss some blueprints just two houses up from the club. This worked beautifully and they arrived around 6:15 just as I had planned. They were definitely surprised when they came through those doors

and over 80 of their friends and family
yelled SURPRISE!

While they spent most of the night greeting their guests everyone helped themselves to the food table
and found their seats. I was entirely too nervous to eat because I knew that I was about to give my speech. As Daniel and I moved to the front of the room I saw Mother sit straight up in her chair. The lump immediately moved from my stomach to my throat so I pointed at her and said "don't start". Much to my surprise I made it through without completely falling apart(I contribute this to much rehearsal), but I cannot say the same for Daniel. He was in true form that night, sweet and funny. The funniest thing was him coaching me on how to get through my speech and then he had to follow his own advice. I cannot say how close I feel to him now just sharing this experience and knowing the depth of our feelings towards our parents. We gave the group a short recovery time after the speeches while we set up the picture video for them to watch. This included pictures of Mom and Dad through the years set to the song Then by Brad Paisley. Mother said she thought there were a few too many bathing suit photos but I thought the video should be a true representation of their lives together After that we had the DJ play My Girl for their first dance. and then opened up the dance floor for every one else.

Soon after the cake was served and around 10pm the night began to draw to an end. We were very happy with the night and I thought that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, the food and the company.

A special thanks to everyone who helped plan, organize, clean , decorate and cook for this party. I had the most fun doing this for my parents and hearing how it made them feel to see all those people and hear what Daniel and I had to say made all the effort worth while.