Proud Parents

Well, it's official...Brodey has made it big time! While he might not have won an AKC/Eukanuba National Champion or Pedigree Pet Challenge, this is the closest he will probably ever get. For Christmas last year our friends, Amber and Scott, got a portrait painted of Brodey. Well, now the 'artist' is advertising her work through blogging and Brodey's picture has been included =) I know, it's probably not THAT impressive to you...but it sure does make me proud!!

PS...don't let those eyes fool you, he is STILL a frisbee thief!

Artwork created by:
http://www.caninecanvas.blogspot.com/

Spring is in the Air

Spring is one of my favorite seasons...ok, actually I think they are all pretty fantastic for the following reasons: summer = no school, fall = footbal, and winter = snow...hopefully!! This year, however, we had some new spring fun that I will add to my list of favorite spring activities! Our friends Erica and Justin recently moved into their new house (hooray!!) so they had the first annual 'Spring Fling' on Saturday. Yes, we did wear hats, dresses, and ties (all my favorite things!)

Give him 'Tiger Growl' Krissee!

The happy new homeowners =)

The Goodner Girls making Barry's Father's Day card =)

When we got home Saturday night, Daniel had two very sweet cards waiting for Krissee on her bed. One was from their dogs (Bailey and Alley) while the other was from their unborn twins (Smith and Addison). How sweet was that?! Good job 'Donald Doy'!

The next day my family came to Rock Hill to visit and have Mother's Day lunch. We had a great time and luckily the spring showers held out long enough for us to grill out in honor of Foxy Roxy!

This pretty much sums up how the Gourley's feel about spring (actually this thumbs up could have been b/c food was ready...)

We had a great weekend and look forward to celebrating the rest of the Spring season!!

Chap and I are truly grateful for the wonderful friends and families we have. You have all been wonderful this week and we appreciate all the support you've given us through the challenges =)

Early Mother's Day Wish!

Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the MOMs out there, and especially to ‘my mothers’ that have impacted me so greatly (Mom, Marilyn, Tutu, Auntie Anne, Granny Coy):

Thank you for helping me create a wonderful vision of what being a mother truly means. Wherever you are, I hope you have a wonderful day full of love! You are greatly appreciated, admired, respected, and loved for all that you do, thank you!

~Heather

My beautiful moms: Roxanne & Marilyn

My grandma, Tutu (Eva): Who I admire and love more than she'll ever know!

A Heart Just Like Mom

I May not pray as often as I should, but when I do, this is all I ask of you.

God please give me a heart just like hers
She loves unconditionally, no matter what, no matter who.

God give me courage to be like her
She's very brave, she makes me unafraid.

God give me wisdom just like hers
She knows everything, big and small, she's there to help through it all.

God give me strength just like hers
She's been knocked down, yet she stands strong for another round.

God give me beauty just like hers
When she smiles it gives me that feeling that everything will be okay, and all my problems disappear for awhile....

God give me generosity just like hers
She helps the helpless, she never thinks of herself and she's so un-selfish....

God- someday, if I'm at least half the mom she was to me, I'll know that you were listening on the day that I prayed.

contributed by: Stephanie Moore

"Ahoy, It's Boy!"

This weekend we had a baby shower for Scott and Amber!! Their son, Carter, is going to be one lucky little dude! He has wonderful parents who already love him so much and they have friends and family that will support them through this new and exciting journey! We love you guys so much and can’t wait to meet Carter!!

Mom & Dad Rankin

Scott (Dad) wrote a letter to Amber (mom) that I framed with Carter's sonogram picture, such a fun idea...thanks Jamie! =)

The food...yummy!

Me and mom, doesn't she look adorable??

Gift time!

Ok Carter, I think we're ready for you!

Chap shares with Scott and Amber what works for his diaper rash...Desitin. (j/k, he was really just helping me out by being the last minute 'Drew Carrey' for our Price is Right game we played.)

The gang...that's about to get a little bit bigger =) Amber, you are going to be an amazing mom! I am so excited for this new adventure to begin!

Chap's First Post!

(Chap's mom asked about his 'quirks' as well, so here they are! He typed this himself...impressive...and sent it to me to post since he's still working that kink out.)

Chap’s Quirks:
1. Super slow typer. That's right, slowest typer this side of the Mississippi, right here.

2. Can't wear something brand new, ever. Hate the smell of it. I feel itchy just thinking about. DON'T TRY IT!! Heather tries to get sneaky and febreeze stuff and throw it in the dryer then give it to me, stop it. I KNOW.

3. Dirty Hands. If my hands get anything on them they must be washed immediately. Usually this happens after eating. If there is something sticky on my hands you can forget it, there better be a wet-one or something, if not, you are about to witness a full on grown man freak out.

4. Losing. Worst loser of all time. Most can attest to this. But what you don't know is how much of the hate, disgust and evil that I suppress that you don't even know about. I scare myself at times, PSYCHO!

5. A dirty table. OK this has some disclaimers in it. First of all I am no where near a neat freak, and not all tables. Only shiny ones, like really nice finished ones. This kind of spurs from my love of nice woodworking. I have to get on my hands and knees, close one eye, and I search for imperfections such as fingerprints, jelly (Heather), smudges, just schmukus in general.

5 1/2. Typing. I know that I said this one already but seriously it’s painful!

6. Flat Drinks. I can trace this back to childhood. My dad was/still possessed with pouring Coke into a glass of ice. If you have the perfect angle, the perfect ice placement you can experience this life changing experience of refreshment. In the years that have passed the quirk has graduated to bottles. People should be more careful. They swing their bottles around all fancy crazy and unaware of the fizz repercussions. Shame on you carbonation killer!

Tagging Fun!

I've been tagged by my friend Jenn!

"Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours. Tag 6 more bloggers by linking them. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged."

1. I am obsessed with pregnant people, have been since I was little. They fascinate me for some reason, I can’t help but stare. I am in heaven right now having two of my best friends pregnant, they let me stare AND they let me ask tons of questions!!

2.I am lyrically challenged. I love songs and music, but unfortunately don’t know the words to many…instead I make them up! This quirk is quite amusing for my husband who is musically and vocally talented. He loves to get me singing in the car, and suddenly turn the volume down so he can hear the wrong words I make up more clearly. My friend Shelly busted me a couple years ago on a Prince song.

Instead of “She wore a Raspberry beret. The kind you find in a second hand store “I sang: “She wore a red, spiritual dress…the kind you buy at a second hand store”.

Another bust by Shelly was on theme song of “Saved by the Bell’…Instead of: “If I could hand it in tomorrow it’ll be alright”.I sang: “If I could have her as a model it’ll be alright” (thought he was singing about Ms. Bliss)

3. I could eat Macaroni and Cheese morning, noon, and night! All day every day…Kraft Original is my favorite (the kind you can lick the powder cheese clean!) Easy Mac was my saving grace in the college dorms, best idea ever!

4. I have a fear of dehydration while I’m sleeping. I bring 1-2 glasses of water to bed every night, and since the sink is so far away sometimes it takes a while before they get cleaned. I currently have 6 glasses sitting on my night stand, and 2 on the dresser. All of them have a small amount of water in them. Chap used to nag me about it, but I think I’m wearing on him because he currently has 2 glasses of water on his nightstand!

5. I can type of the computer freakishly fast. People stop and stare when I start typing. My class thinks it’s weird, I blame/thank my mom. She used to be a court reporter. She would come home with all her audio tapes from trials and have to type them up. I used to sit and watch her for hours. When she would finally get off the computer, I would sit in her chair, turn on the television, and type conversations I would hear on TV (I wasn’t allowed to listen to her tapes, or I would have typed those!)

6. I am addicted to buying shampoo and conditioner. I LOVE trying new products; one of my favorite things to do is to shop at Walgreen’s and smell shampoos! Underneath my sink is full of shampoo and conditioner bottles, I often wonder how much money it's all worth?? So does Chap. =)

Is It Friday Yet??

While this weekend awesome, I feel like I need another two days to rest and recover!!

It started Friday, after school with going to the Carrie Underwood & Keith Urban concert in Charlotte!! Angela, a friend I teach with, got me and her 9 year old daughter, Ripley, concert tickets for Christmas!! We have been anticipating this for quite quite a while, and it was worth the wait!! I have always LOVED Carrie Underwood (voted a LOT that year of American Idol), and had originally been excited about the tickets just to see her, however, Keith Urban is definitely one of my new favorites! I am sad Chap couldn’t come with us because he would have been in ‘awe’ with his skills…wow (though I would MUCH rather hear Chap play and sing of course ;) We had a blast! Thank you so much for a GREAT gift and a wonderful night!!

Angela, Ripley, and me getting ready for the concert (yes, I did buy us all cowboy hats from Target!)

Ripley and I PATIENTLY waiting for Carrie!

My "Idol", Carrie!

My new boyfriend, Keith =)
This is Ripley after the concert...I think it sums up how we all felt =)

Saturday morning we traveled to Columbia for a wedding. Two very fun friends of ours got married and it was a GREAT celebration!! It was so great visiting with friends we haven’t seen in such a long time!! I miss you guys already! (Singing and dancing videos available upon request…=)
All the 'Mavericks' singing some Top Gun for Sarah...always entertaining =)

Sunday drove home from Columbia to meet Bailey, a past student of mine, and her family for her birthday lunch at Olive Garden…yummy!!! Bailey was in the second grade class I did my internship in, and then my fourth grade class 2 years later!! She is growing up so fast! She is almost in high school now and THAT makes me feel very old, especially now that I think she's more interested in Chap than she is me =)

So, that’s about it…now all week I'll get to catch up on chores, laundry, and homework that I missed this weekend. =) Is it Friday yet??