What an adventure

We have spent our Sunday afternoons with our family riding four wheelers. We enjoy riding, the outdoors, and spending time together as a family. Last Sunday was no exception. We loaded the four wheelers, the cooler with snacks, and oh yes the dog as well. We were off to a day of fun. We belong to a hunting club with 681 acres that back up to the Barnesville reservoir, the land is just beautiful. When we arrived we unloaded and off on our journey through the trails we went. The sights of nature were amazing... it is so peaceful to cruise the trails and become familiar with God's creation. We were able to see bugs, spiders, butterfly's, and even a couple of turkey. We were gone for about 45 minutes so we started heading back to camp because Brian was coming to meet us as soon as he was off work. When we arrived at camp there was Brian, but no dog, so we set out on a journey to find the dog. Stephen and Brian took off on the 4-wheeler's and Hunter and I walked near the camp whistling and calling the dog with tears in our eyes. The entire time I kept thinking how do I tell my 3 year old baby that his best friend is not coming home. I just continued to ask God to help me find our sweet, gentle, loving dog, and help me to say the right words to calm my little boy. After 15 minutes Brian comes back and for a split second I was relieved....no dog not even a sign of him. So I jumped on the ATV and headed up another trail that had not been covered. As I reached the top of the trail, it comes out on the road, so I was getting ready to look both ways for cars when I spotted my husband squatted down on the side of the road and flagging me to come his way. My heart was racing, I just knew it Dude (the dog) had been hit by a car and now I had to explain this one. I started talking to God again...heavy, really heavy. When I made it to Stephen there he was my doggy, yes he perfectly fine, just extremely tired. Apparently he came looking for his family, the one's who rescued him from a life of abuse, and the one's that he truly loved. If this sounds like a love story...well it is. I did not want a dog when we rescued our American bulldog from a life of abuse and I have not regretted it to this day. So we take him back down to the hunting camp and no one left him again, we have learned our lesson needless to say.
Once the drama was over it was time for some fun. Brian and I took off on the trails. I loved spending time with my oldest son ( he is a teenager so we are not cool to hang around), well, I showed him today. We came to the first mud hole and he thought I was scared so being the sweet boy he is he said " Heather just get off and I will take your 4-wheeler through there" I gave him the look and just full throttle through the muddy water...squealing along the way. I have not seen that kid laugh that hard in a long time. By the time the day was over he and I both were covered in mud, but we had a blast. I always say that we are not redneck, we are just country folks. I think today I had a little redneck in my blood though. Thank you boys for such a fun filled day, and teaching me that girls can get dirty to.

1st day of school

Today was Hunter's first day of preschool and I was a little nervous. He started a new school with new friends, and I was just a little nervous as to how he would react to everything. Stephen and I gave him a pep talk all weekend about starting a new school and trying to prepare him for Monday morning. As we drove to school Hunter said "Mommy how about I call you when I'm ready for you to come and pick me up?" I explained to him that I would pick him up when school was over and we would go home and have lunch. When we walked into his classroom he had this look on his face as if he were nervous so I wrapped him in my arm and said "are you okay?" he said "yes" so I told him that I was leaving and to give me a hug and a kiss. He is only 3, so I figured that I could get away with getting some love before I left. That was it, as I had tears come to my eyes and I held them back, my little boy is getting so big that he showed not emotions at all. It was "bye Mommy I love you", and out the door I went.

So for 3 hours I thought about him constantly. I had all of the thoughts any mother would have such as Is he okay?, Is he getting along with all of the other kids?, Is he being good for the teacher? and so on. Well Toby came over to hang out for a little while so the both of us went to pick him up. I was so anxious to see him and find out how things went that I thought I got to the school early. There were 4 other parents in front of me so I did not get there early enough. When I finally made my way to the front of the line and told his teacher who I was there to pick up there he was...my sweet angel. The first thing that he said to me was "Mommy, I missed you so much today!" Man was I glad to hear that, he does still need his Mommy. So we hugged and kissed again and he realized that I had Toby so he lets out this loud voice and exclaims "Toby!" On the drive home I asked him what did he learn in school today? He tells me " Ummm I learned to sit down." I'm so glad that someone was able to teach him how to sit down because I sure couldn't. He had a good day and asked if we can do this again and I said sure Hunter how about we try this tomorrow.

An hour at the park!

On Friday night I took Hunter and his best friend Toby to the park to have a little fun. The weather was so hot and muggy that we could only stay for maybe an hour. The boys played so hard on the playground and then we went out in search of the cows that we continued to hear moo. They both were so amazed at the cows and then we got a glimpse of a wild hog so that was a treat for all three of us. After playing on the playground, throwing rocks in the creek bed, and looking at the cows these boys were sweaty and hot so we headed to Dairy Queen for a cool treat. I think that the boys enjoyed watching the trucks on the highway more than they enjoyed their ice cream. We had a such a great time!