Ft. Fisher Chronicles: Days 1 & 2

I have already divulged the crazy number of photos I took of our beach trip, so I am sure you are prepared for a LOT of photos!

For your sanity & mine, I am breaking them up into separate posts!

When we arrived Saturday afternoon, it ended up being around 6pm before we could unload, set up kitchen stuff, make beds, etc. So it was that late before we headed over for a quick walk on the beach...

As you can see from the above picture, we went armed with buckets for seashells. The kids were crazy over the seashells this year. We had to keep reminding them that bigger doesn't equal better! But nonetheless, we ended up with mounds (think:4 large buckets) full of hunks of shells. Some were downright hideous! I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right!?
Anyway.. back to day 1: Here is the first look at the ocean!It wasn't until Day 2 that we got to actually set up & enjoy some good play time there! We were grateful that daddies were still there because the water was a little rough (despite the green "calm" flag the lifeguards had swinging!). Some of the kids preferred the shore:
There was also a lot of wave jumping...
I was a little nervous about how the rest of the week was going to go once Randy & Todd went back home. They were only able to stay through Monday evening & I was especially wondering how the week was going to go with this guy:I knew there would be few naps worked into his schedule and I am not going to lie: He gave us this little grumpy gus attitude all week. But some days were better than others. We survived, anyway! (Or shall I say, HE survived! :) He can go from the above pose to this one in a matter of minutes: (So it's always touch and go!)Food always helps him & he asks us for a snack NON stop, even when we are at home. So at the beach, he would have been content to sit on the beach & eat all day. Luckily there is a famous little place in Carolina Beach (about a 10 minute drive from Ft. Fisher) called Britts Donuts! We made sure to work in plenty of those yummy delights throughout the week!
The next day (the guys last day), we woke up to rain. Lots of rain! We were so bummed because it was Randy & Todd's last day & we weren't able to make it to the beach before they had to head home. Boo! More on how we made the best of the next 2 and a half rain days to come....

More Word Art

So rather than work on my work notes today, I made another file to print & display for some "Back to School" decor in a few weeks! Nothing like wasting time around here, right?!

But it is very cute! And again, I will share if you want it!

A Completed Mando with a twist

Last week while the kids & I finished up our vacation at the beach, Randy came back home earlier in the week. He didn't want to use all his vacation in one week & he had something else he wanted to finish up- his latest mandolin!
It's officially complete! And it's officially sold & out of the house as of last night! It's a little bittersweet each time this happens. Randy works so hard on these instruments & then he gets a little attached to each one. He ALWAYS wants to keep it on some level but gives it up anyway. He wouldn't let the buyer come pick it up until I came home from the beach because I had the camera with me & he wanted pictures. Can't blame him there... We need something to remember the details of each one. So here are the final pictures of Moss Mandolin No. 8...


And are you ready for a huge twist? About a month or so ago, Randy had a message on our answering machine from another guy who was interested in a mandolin. Randy called him back & told him that he was finishing up one soon & he could come take a look/listen when it was complete. That man (we'll call him Joe) came over Friday night & loved the mandolin that Randy had built for the original buyer (we'll call him Craig). In fact, he really wanted it. But Randy couldn't sell it to him obviously because it was built for Craig. However, Joe told Randy he would pay him cash on the spot for the one Randy plays (Moss Mandolin #7). Randy hasn't built a mandolin since right after Eli was born because life just gets crazy & he hasn't had the time (plus he built a custom guitar for someone during those years instead). So mando #7 is about 4.5 years old & has remained Randy's because it fell & got a crack in it. Randy repaired it & just kept it for himself & you'd never know it was cracked in the first place. Even with all this information, Joe still wanted the mandolin, though & offered Randy only $500 less than what the brand new one was being sold for. Seriously? This deal is getting sweeter & sweeter!

Hang on though... It gets even better! Joe not only wants #7, but he also wants Randy to build him one too. Is your jaw dropping, yet? Mine did when Randy called me on our last night of vacation to tell me this! I just know this is the Lord providing for us! It's been a tough year!

(#7 on left with no pick guard, #8 on right with pick guard)

Randy had no reservations about building another, but wasn't as convinced on selling #7. If Joe takes #7, then Randy won't have one to play (which he plays daily), nor will he have anything to show his craftmanship if someone else is interested in a mandolin. If he builds Joe one first, then it will be well over a year before he will have another for himself. But, we think we have come to a conclusion. Randy will sell #7, and then instead of building mando #9 for Joe and then #10 for himself, he will take a little more time to complete, but will build #9 & #10 together! Then in about 8 months or so, should have one to sell and one to keep! Let's hope this plan works out! :)

So, we of course, had to take pictures of them both before they were gone!!


This will be the last time for awhile that Randy holds one of his own custom built mandos! He looks thrilled, eh?!
But i have to say that I am so proud of his hard work and talent! He is truly a gifted man to be able to get something so beautiful in sound & aesthetics from one block of wood! It is crazy & magical all at the same time! Great job, babe!

fun project!

I was perusing pinterest today when I came across a really cute "rules" poster of sorts. I didn't "pin" it because I knew I could make one in a flash! So that is precisely what I did! :) In about 15 minutes I had this:Here's how I made it: I uploaded a high quality picture to picnik.com where I then used their crop tool to make it an 8 x 10. Then I used their "stickers" to create an overlay (the blueish background) over the whole picture. Then I added the text line by line with their text tool. I saved it to my computer at the same size/quality as a .jpg so that I can upload it to snapfish or shutterfly to make a print & have no distortion in quality!

Fun? check!
Easy? Check!

Now I need to order it, frame it, & put in the kids playroom!
I love an easy project! If you'd like the .jpg image, just email me or leave me a comment & I will share! :)

Happy Sunday!

Vacation is over!

We are back from Ft. Fisher! We got home this afternoon & I am eager to get through all my pictures so I can share them with you all!

And even though the sun has set on our beach vacation, stay tuned because I have about 850 pictures to go through & decide which are my favorites to share!
In the meantime, you can sit back & look at these & pretend you are sitting on a beach somewhere listening to the sounds of the ocean!A cool breeze... crashing waves....

Plenty of sand & salt to take in...No worries though, all the other pictures I have will be chock full of bathing beauties (no, not us... the KIDS!)

The MANY faces of Eli

I was going through pictures to burn off of my CF card tonight & I was just amazed at how many expressions Eli can make! I decided I just had to share them..... Some are fun, some are sweet, some are grumpy... so just sit back & enjoy!

Let me start you off with some real (or at least decent smiles):

Here is his "I am trying to give you a good smile pose..." Translation (He's clinching his teeth!)

And his typical quick grin (all in varying degrees of course!)...

Disgruntled in some form or fashion...



Goofball...
Sneaky...




If looks could kill...
His bored looks....
Contemplative.. & unsure....What's your problem??
What??

I'm listening...
Milk face!
And there really are so many more I could come up with like his face when he eats... he really gets into it & there are many eating faces! Or his concentration face when he sticks his tongue out! I think you get the idea though!

I think as a follow up to this post, I should keep my camera handy when it's time to turn off the Wii. There will be some INTERESTING faces to post during that fit, for sure!!