Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, our summer vacation has finally ended. I believe this was our busiest summer ever and I am actually looking forward to getting back on a schedule... I think. St. Simons, Knoxville, home, Knoxville, home, Wofford (Jake), home, Gatlinburg, home, volleyball stuff. Now volleyball has begun. Try-outs were this past weekend and the first practice was today. Today was also Jake's first day of pre-planning. School starts on Friday... and you know who starts Kindergarten this year. Yes, the Big Man... Caleb!! We go Thursday to meet his teacher. He is SO excited. I am happy and excited but to think that after almost 6 years of being home with him... he will be at school... away from me. I don't think I will cry because I know how much fun he will be having but I will let you know after the fact :)

I wanted to back track and tell you everything else we did this summer but I have to do all of this in pieces :) My three kids and my husband come before blogging and my husband just got home from his first day back at work.

Fourth and Family

So we left St. Simons at 9:30 and arrived in Knoxville at 7:00pm. Because of the many "I gotta go potty" stops we were on the road for over 9 hours!! With the screaming shrieks from Taryn and the many stops this trip seemed longer than 14 hour the trip to Brownwood, TX two years ago. But once we got there and the screaming stopped it was a nice visit.

At 9:00pm on Friday evening we set out with Uncle Wilson, Bryan and the cousins to watch the fireworks at the Worlds Fair Park. What a show! I do not think any of the Dickey family really truly enjoyed it... we were all worn out and ready for bed. That is just what we did when we got back to the house. BED... Sleep... it was beautiful :)

The boys, along with their cousins, spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday out in the yard playing baseball, golf, Power Rangers, and Ben 10. These boys had a Blast! Taryn also had fun... of a different sort. She spent all of her time rearranging Aunt Debbie's candles, Christmas Village, photos, etc. So yes, Jake and I took turns following her around... just making sure she stayed out of trouble.

We had a nice visit :) I feel like I am not doing this trip justice with my blog... but it is 12:19am and we have had a long week. Overall God blessed us with a wonderful week.

Please pray for Jake's grandmother... she is having some health issues and all of the family would really appreciate your prayers. Thanks and we love you!

FCA Camp

We just had the best week ever!! Jake will be leading the F.C.A (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at his school this coming school year. Because he has never taken on this roll before the Northwest GA F.C.A wanted Jake to go to the annual coaches camp at St. Simons Island. This camp was for coaches and their families... yes, their families!! Our schedule went as follows... 7:30 breakfast, drop off kids, huddle groups, competition, chapel, pick up kids, lunch, free time, dinner, drop off kids, break out session, chapel, adult fellowship, pick up kids at 10:15pm.

It was exciting to be able to drop the kids off and to know they were having a blast but even more exciting was what we got to do while they were making new friends. We were divided, men and women, into small groups called huddles. I was in a huddle with other coaches wives who are also stay at home moms. It was great to be able to share time with these wonderful Christian women. Jake was off doing his male bonding with a great group of men. They had some great Bible study time... Jake took a lot away from their daily discussions. The greatest surprise for Jake was that every day they had a period of competition... huddle vs. huddle... football, wiffle ball, kick ball, and Jake's favorite... volleyball.

I say it was the greatest surprise for Jake but I was just as excited. The women had a choice; walking, aerobics, or competition. The first day I was unsure and I ended up following a very happy lady (who happened to be from Chattanooga) to aerobics... she just had a glow about her that I wanted to get to know a bit better. Well, "Praise Aerobics" is no place to get to know someone. The instructor was tough! I have to admit that I have never been in an aerobics class before. This was the most intense workout I have had in years... and I LOVED every minute of it!! Well, maybe I was not loving it when my leg felt like someone set it on fire but it was a temporary pain that only made me feel stronger in the end. I have to admit that being in a room full of "Praise" posters really helped me fight through the pain. Well, I wanted to go back the next day to see how much tougher it could get but I found out that the competition was going to be volleyball. Great fun. The team I was on did not win but for some reason the other women thought that I had played volleyball somewhere? I was not that good but I guess I was better than most out there. Their comments really made me feel good about my "un-athletic" self :) Then the next day came and I went back out to see what I could do in the competition. Turns out the game of the day, Thursday, was Football! Do you know how excited I was about this? I had not played football since Phi Lambda in 2000! Football was awesome. I caught passes, two-hand tackled, sprinted down the field, intercepted. The other team was pointing at me saying watch out for Lisa she's tricky... she's fast. A field full of former college athletes and coaches... They made me feel special. I know Jake had fun... he is a naturally gifted athlete. For people to say things to me like I was actually an athlete? It just topped of the already great week we were having.

The athletics was fun but what God had to teach us was even better. First of all God's creation of St. Simon's Island is beautiful. The live oak trees with the moss hanging down, the palmetto trees, the flowers, the intercoastal waterway, the sand bars, the beaches, the clouds, the rain, the sun, the sunsets... it was all so beautiful. The huddle group of stay at home coaches wives really helped to strengthen my priorities. I learned a lot from these ladies. The morning Chapel was lead by Doug Duke. He is a marriage and family therapist who specializes in coaches and their families. Of course Jake and my marriage is so awesome that we did not need his help... haha :) He always finished off his session with a music video, usually about spending time with your wife and kids and never missing a moment... can I say I have never seen so many men wiping tears from their eyes when the lights came on. The breakaway session on Tuesday was great. Jake got to hear a talk on Leadership from a "big wig" from the FCA. I got to learn how to focus on my God given dreams from Shannen Fields. She was the lead actress in Facing the giants. Her husband is a football coach in GA so they spent the whole week at camp. Our other breakaway session was on financial preparedness... blah blah... over my head... but Jake understood it all :) The evening Chapel was taught by Scott Pilkington. I believe his lessons were perfect for all of these coaches (and wives too)... especially his lesson on anxiety. The final night the kids (age 5-11) did a performance of two songs that they learned during the week. This was the first time that Caleb actually sang along to the song and did the hand motions... he is growing up (off topic... when we got home today his "need for school" list was in the mail box).

This past week was amazing. I look back at the photos and I want to go back but I look forward to this week. Now that we are home I can put all of my renewed knowledge to work for God.



To see larger photos or if you are unable to view the slide show above... follow the link below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisadickey/sets/72157606019479034/

Thank You Luke!

Jake's brother flew in to Pensacola from Oregon. He drove to pick up Jake's mother and sister and headed north to our home. This was their first time to visit us in our home and we were so happy that they came. Some time was spent visiting, playing Wii Fit (Melissa is amazing at the plank), Wii Play, Wii Sports, playing Golf (the card game), and walking around Walnut Square. The best memories were made at Ft. Mountain and playing Rock Band.

We drove up to Ft. Mountain after lunch on Friday. The weather could not have been any better. Luke is from Portland where it is always overcast and misty-raining all the time. He was so excited to see the sun! Melissa and Marilyn do not have many chances to see anything other than flat FL... so they were excited to see the hills and mountains of north GA. The sun was bright, the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, and the lake was nice and cool. We started out splashing in the lake. I tried to put Taryn down but she did not like the way the sand felt on her feet. She loved the river at my grandparents cabin so I thought she would love this little beach and the cool water but she screamed. I guess the sand made her feel unbalanced and it must have scared her. So, she spent the rest of the time in grandma or daddy's lap. Caleb and Taylor loved the water. They followed uncle Luke and aunt Melissa all around the water.

Then came the real fun... paddle boats!! They have a new 5 seater paddle boat so Luke, Melissa, Caleb, Taylor and I were able to ride out together. Luke and Melissa started out paddling then I switched places with Luke. It has been a dream of mine to paddle a paddle boat and I had a blast :) We all had a lot of fun.

That evening we had Paul and Melydia over to play some Rock Band. We were rockin!! See the post below to read more about this and to watch a short video of Jake as a Beastie Boy :)

Sabotage

I was going to wait to post until after Jake's family leaves but something happened last night that I just had to share right now. Like I said Jake's mom, brother, and sister are here. Last night Paul and Melydia came over and we all played Rock Band. This was just part of our after dinner entertainment...

What a Show!

I grew up with a mother who loved storms. As soon as we heard thunder my brother, my mom and I all ran to the porch swing with a blanket. We sat and marveled at the bright flashes of light and the deep rumbles of thunder. I still love a good storm. I will stand on the back deck watching the storm move in. Then I will move to our tiny front porch where I will sit and watch the rain fall down. Our storms are usually just rain and thunder. If I am lucky we will have an occassional flash of lightning.

Tonight was my lucky night. We finally had a lighting storm. It was to the north and to the west so I grabbed my camera and headed to the back deck. I managed to capture two lightning bolt photos and one big flash of light. Follow this link to see the other two photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisadickey/

Mom, thank you for giving me this love for storms.

Getting ready for grandma!

On June 31st Melydia, Taryn and I met up with Lisa S. and her family at the Greek Festival in Chattanooga. There were all types of Greek food. Melydia and I tried the spanakopita and the pastitsio. Both were very delicious. We finished it off with some Greek desserts. Melydia had the Baklava and I tried some type of almond crusted cookie goodness ;) After dinner we were able to enjoy (watching) some traditional Greek dancing. I could not talk Melydia to getting up and joining in :) ... but Taryn really wanted to.

After all of this we journeyed to downtown, to the river walk. I had never been to down town at night... the view from the walking bridge was beautiful... all of the lights reflecting off the river. This is something I will definitely do again.

The last few days have been ordinary. Well, Caleb did loose a second tooth. Other than that we have spent our days playing and cleaning like usual. Today and tomorrow will be full of house work because grandma Marilyn and uncle Luke are coming to visit! This is so exciting because it will be their first time to ever visit us at our place. Grandma M lives in FL and Luke lives in OR so we do not get to see them very often... we are so excited that they are finally coming!

This evening we get to go to an FCA bbq and swim party at the "Country Club". I will try to remember my camera and post about it later :)