Money Honey

This was an actual conversation with K on Monday afternoon. It happened when I picked K up from school. She jumps in the car with a beautiful smile on her face and says:

K: Momma, look at this cool new book that I got at the book fair today. I wanted a second book, but I did not have enough money. I only had $12.

M: Where did you get $12?

K: From you...you gave me a check for $12 this morning so I used it at the book fair.

M: Aaah, Kendall, that was your lunch money for the week.

K: It was? Whoops! Sorry about that. I told you I needed money for the book fair and you handed me this check so I thought it was for the book fair.

M: Well, if you spent your lunch check at the book fair, how did you eat lunch?

K: I had $2.40 in my account, that was plenty for today. (Insert long pondering pause while staring out truck window.) Um, momma, can I have a new lunch check for tomorrow?

So sweet K went to school with a new lunch check on Tuesday cause like the song says Money Honey, can't give more than you get now.

Mel

Affair of the Heart

Anyone who knows me, knows that I've had an Affair of the Heart with Rick Springfield since I was 10 years old. On many occassions while growing up, I informed Bebe & Pop that as soon as I turned 18, I was moving to Austrailia, marrying RS, and they would never see me again! I had every photo from teen and tiger beat, posters, and album covers hanging on my walls. I know and love every song, every track, every word. I endured Luke and Laura's love affair on General Hospital, just so that I could watch RS play Dr. Noah Drake. Who cared if Luke and Laura worked? Not me!

Two years ago, Ryan took me to see RS in concert at the Wild Horse. It was amazing. As RS walked through the crowd (on top of the tables), he started heading our direction. RS stepped on the "fencing" that was in between the tables in front of us and our table. It was not secured to the floor. The amazing Ryan stepped up, grabbed RS's arm, and stabilized him as he got his footing on our table. I could not believe it! RS standing on my table, just in front of me, singing to me!!! My hubby is holding him up so that RS can sing directly to me! I pulled out my concert shirt from 1983 and RS sees it, grins, thumbs up my shirt, wipes his sweat with it, and continues to sing. He knows! RS knows that I love him!!! And with that incident, I thought that would be the closest to my destiny that I would ever come. Until last night...Friday night...October 22, 2010 at 7:49 p.m.

A few pics from the Wildhorse...here he is...one table over...


Of course, I was so busy soaking in the love (aka sweat) and holding on to my tee and RS's legs, I don't have a great close up pic but here's a pic of him moving to the next table to sing...:-)


A little over a week ago, I purchased RS's new biography, Late, Late at Night. And I have to admit that I was afraid to read it. I really did not want my image of my childhood love shattered. But my curiousity overcame my fear and I dove into the book at 4 pm on Friday afternoon. I finished the book at 1:15 am Saturday morning. I knew a lot of the story. I knew where he grew up, that he played music as a kid, that he'd toured in Vietnam. Wouldn't it have been totally cool if RS had played a concert for my dad in Vietnam? Back to the story, I cringed when I read the stories of RS being a play-yah. So dissappointed to learn that RS had not saved himself for me! I loved the stories of how some of my favorite songs came to life. And then I learned from RS's website that he was doing a book signing on Friday, October 22nd at Davis Kidd in Nashville. I'm so there!

Bebe and I showed up at 4 pm. I walk up to the counter and say "Where do I need to get in line for the RS book signing?" The 12 year old boy at the counter says "You want to get in line, now?" My reply "Well, of course, I do...It's Rick Springfield!" Unfortunately, I find out that I can not get in line yet, and that I have to purchase a book to get a ticket to get in line. That decision took about .0000005th of a second. Yes, sell me a book (that I already own and have with me) and give me a ticket. Awesome! We are in group 4. No need to line up now so Bebe and I decide to window shop in Green Hills mall. It was so nice. No kids saying "Hey I want this!" Just casually strolling, just looking, not needing to find the "it" thing that I'm looking for, just looking, dreaming and lauging with my mom!

At 6:15, we head back over to Davis Kidd to get in line. I am a nervous wreck! Is this really going to happen? Will I really get to meet, talk to, hug, and smell Rick Springfield? Too much!!! I mean I've already met Jeff Gordon this year. If I meet RS too, I really can just go ahead, die and go to heaven!!!

The Davis Kidd staff lined everyone up by groups. He arrived promptly at 7 pm. While in line, we had a blast talking to all the other RS fans. The fans that really appreciate him the way I do. He's laughing, smiling, posing for pictures, signing books. He looks happy and relaxed. He's interacting with the crowd. At one point, he says he feels like Santa Claus at the mall with a line full of kids. And then, it was our turn in line.

Now this all happened in a span of about 30 seconds...We walk up. The person in front of me, unfortunately, her camera freezes. She moves off to fix it. Seizing the opportunity, I step up next to him and say "So, since her camera is frozen, I get extra time with you?" He grins, oh that precious grin, chuckles a little, and says "Yeah, absolutely." I tell him that it is so incredible to meet him, he says good to meet you too, we chat (really don't know what I said, hopefully it made sense) and he takes my book, signs it, and he hugs me for our pic. I forget that there are hundreds of people around us. For that moment in time, it was just me and Rick Springfield. After our moment, Bebe steps up. She sticks her hand out to RS and says, "I'm here with her, my name is Barbara." He says, "Barbara, that's a good name, that's my wife's name." Bebe and I both reply "I know." We all smile and laugh and move through the line. My moment is over. My knees buckle, I can't breathe, tears well in my eyes. I check my camera for "the pic" and well, can I just say, it's awesome!!! Insert drum roll from Human Touch here....

And here it is cropped, so that you can see how beautiful he is...

RS was loving, generous, and kind. He talked softly in his deep voice. He, of course, looked amzing and he smelled so good! 5th grade dreams do come true!

Heart in my mouth; pulse in my head,
Mercury rising into the red,
The smell of your skin can light up all the fires in me.

Hungry to touch; I'm eager to please,
Out of control and I hand you the keys,
Every night I am burning to make love to you.

But don't try to tell me it's all physical,
It goes much deeper than that,

It's an Affair of the Heart.

I heart you Rick Springfield!!!

Melissa

Bring Me Some Water - B Side

Literally, the B side!!! I was on the phone when I picked up K from school today. I was talking Bebe so the conversation lasted for the trip home. The rule at the W family home is that if momma or daddy is on the phone, you do not interrupt unless you are bleeding, or something is on fire. We get home, we are unloading the car, and I'm still on the phone. (In my defense, I haven't talked to Bebe this week.) Finally, K couldn't stand it anymore. Grinning from ear to ear, and kind of hopping in place, "Momma, I've got to tell you some amazing news!" I paused my conversation long enough to give her the momma look and she says really, really, really, quickly so that she could get it out before I said I'm on the phone, "You are looking at the CCMS basketball water girl, I'll tell you my story when you are off the phone!" and she skipped down the hallway to her room.

When I got off the phone, I called K into the kitchen and said tell me your story. It went something like this.

M: So you are the new water girl for the boys basketball team?

K: And the girls team.

M: How did this happen?

K: (This story was told in total of 4 seconds.) Well, while I was waiting on you to pick me up and Coach R came by and asked me what I was doing after school now that football season was over. So I told him, I go home, do my homework and then just hang out. So he says, "I hear that Coach M is looking for water girls for the basketball team. Do you want to go talk to him?" Sure. So we walked down to Coach M's room, he asked me if I would be the water girl for b-ball and I said yes. And I'm the first one they asked, but I'm sure there will be others. And guess who's on the boys team? Robert. (Insert hands clasping and laying over her heart, jumping up and down and a big, big cheesy grin on her face here.)

M: That's awesome, sister! So happy for you! (While in my head I'm thinking, aaaawesome, aren't there like a ka-jillion basketball games in a season, I can't eat another concession stand hot dog, how much is gonna cost for us to get in each game.)

I'm not a basketball fan. But I'm sure I will become one!!! Go Cavs!!!

Melissa

Bring Me Some Water

Kendall is a girly girl. She loves music. She loves Jesus and she loves to be safe. She enjoys and thrives on following and enforcing the rules. She loves words of affirmation. She is a listening to her ip*d, acting/drama queen, all things vampire (She's a Team Edward all the way!), TV/movie watching, making her outfits "pop", talking/texting on her phone, still playing with Barbies (just don't tell her friends), hanging out in her room kind of girl. So we were a little surprised when she came home from school on one of her first days there and informed us that she would like to be a Team Manager for her new school's football team.

Let me back up a minute and fill you in on a couple of details. Ryan and I were very concerned that this move would be hardest on Kendall because of her age, being a girl, and always wanting/needing to be in her safe and comfortable world. She never wanted to move. She worried about not fitting in at a new place. She did not want to leave the church and children's ministry that she'd been a part of ever since she could remember. Even when we had discussed moving around the block when we still lived in TS. She wouldn't even hear of it!

So, when she came home after a couple of days in her new school and wanted to join the football team, we were elated. This was a direct answer to prayer! We discussed it as a family, the who's, what's, when's and where's, and decided that this would be a great thing for Kendall, and so we told her to go for it!

Meet Kendall - Crockett County Middle School Football Team Manager.

You might be asking, what is a team manager? Well in the old days, we called them water girls, but now they are called Team Managers.

Being a Team Manager requires commitment. Kendall had to stay after school every day with the football team for football practice, attend all of the games and provide high quality H2O for her teammates . In the blazing 100+ degree heat of August and September, this was not a fun job. But, she loved it!!! She has made friends of the guys on the football team, the other team managers, with the coaches and the cheerleaders. Every time I go to pick her up, she has a smile on her face that reaches from ear to ear. She would get in the car and talk about special teams, offense and defense, running sprints, bear crawls, and a certain player with the number 10 (His name is Robert and he is officially her first crush - and she will be mortified that I put that on the blog for the whole world to read - remember I called her a drama queen). She often did the work outs with her teammates even though that wasn't a requirement. And she received praise from the coaches for being able to hang with the boys on their workouts and on occassion, she was even able to out work them!

Kendall and her co-managers.

Kendall and her sweet friend Molly. They've quickly become BFF's. They are so much alike. And we are so thankful for Molly and her sweet family!!!

Carrying the water bottles.

Watching the game from the sideline...which I have been informed that this is her new favorite place to watch a football game!!!

Action shot...headed to the locker room for halftime. By the way, the girls have to wait OUTSIDE the locker room!!

Celebrating with her team after their Cotton Bowl win. K is on the far left of the group.

It is a good thing that Ryan and I like football. We attended every game, near and far. We cheered when our girl heard the time out buzzer and picked up her water bottles and headed out to the huddle on the field. We cheered when our team made a great play or scored a touch down. We ate a lot of nachos and hot dogs. We praised God that our sweet K found something she loved and that the move has been a "not so bad" thing for her. (Those are her words.) Goodbye Fall 2010 Football Season! We hear that we will be seeing you again next fall, and we can't forget about spring practice!!!

P.S. And watch out Ole Miss Rebels, after her first game as a team manager, K got in the car and said..."And that's what I want to do on the field at Ole Miss!" Maybe sports training is in her future!!!

Mel

Rock You Like A Hurricane

Labor Day weekend was spent going on our annual Redneck RV Relaxing Racing Romance trip to Atlanta with our BFF's the Stahly's & the Vantrease's. This year we "pimped" our RV rental. It was somewhat larger than last years RV and instead of saying "Rent Me" across the sides and back, it just looked like a normal RV. It was a "Hurricane" model...thus the title for the post.

The rest of this blog will only be funny for the W's, S's & V's that were on the trip but feel free to read through the highlights of the weekend...and I know once you read these you are gonna wish you had been there!!!!

This first quote will be altered to protect the innocentness of the one who spoke it and the one who took it way out of context. I will only mention that it involved McD's, Dairy Queen, chocolate dipped cones, forcing air out of your mouth, and the transformation of the chocolate sauce.

You smell like the way you smelled when I fell in love with you.

The brochure said it sleeps 6. Well the brochure failed to mention that that meant it sleeps 2 adults and 4 midgets.

And AV, this was not a part of the weekend but when I picked out this song for the post, I had no idea that these were the first four lines of the lyrics...

It’s early morning
The sun comes out
Last night was shaking
And pretty loud

Saturday night was pretty loud...WOOH!!!! WOOH!!!! ***Note, we are thinking that maybe we need to move from the party all night campground to the family campground. Does this make us old and fuddy duddies?

Oh no, something's on fire in there...that's the pilot light...that's what you are trying to catch on fire.

What's this floating in the eggs?

It makes them fluffier...like sour cream in eggs and oj in pancakes.

It hurts to be this good.

When I was in school, you could survive an atomic bomb as long as you were under your desk.

Keep your hands off my woman, and your thoughts off my man.

I'm so glad that the race did not go green, and the 24 drop back in the field...all I could think of was "We are going to hear M say all night...2 words, Steve Letarte!!!"

Funny race chatter -

Jeff Dickerson to Jeff Gordon - "You're probably clear...clear."

Jeff Gordon to Jeff Dickerson - "What exactly is probably clear, mostly clear, almost clear...?"

Did you flatspot the tires? No. Was that a no? No-sir. Negative. Not. The tires do not have flatspots.

How is the 29 the leader? He caused the caution? What position are we in? We don't know. Waiting on NASCAR. How can we not know what position we are in...How is 29 first?

Here are some RV tips for those of you planning a trip...

1. Cut onions outside the RV.

2. Put heavy metal electric skillets in the bottom cabinets for travel, otherwise, G will whip the RV into the Kroger parking lot and just about take of J's head with the flying electric skillet.

3. Coffee makers do not and will not ride on the countertops while RV is in motion.

Another fantabulous weekend was spent. Racing was awesome. Relaxing was at a premium. Tailgating was super yummy - not everyone has steak, baked potatoes, salad, and all the other fixings on their tailgating tables...but we did! Romance was in the air - we love each other, our drivers, and racing! And all of these things put together, apparently makes us rednecks.

So here's to rocking the weekend in a hurricane...and can't wait 'til we get to do it again next year!!!!

Melissa

It Takes Two

It takes 2 wheels, a motor, a helmet, and 2 gloves to put a tremendous smile on this boy's face! Here's Reid's new toy...

We thought that it was time to move Reid up to a dirt bike now that we live in the country. He needs to learn dirt bike skillz because how else is he going to get to his job at the feed mill or take his date to the senior prom but on a dirt bike!!! (And for those of you who did not catch those examples, it was a Footloose reference.)

Here he is practicing "starting" the bike...(And yes, you do hear me say "wheelie" at the end of the video...I promise I was just joking!!!)

And here he is taking a few practice laps around the back yard. He is limited to the back yard until Ryan feels like he is ready for a dirt road. Reid says that he is ready...after about 2 backyard laps.



So right about now, i'm about to be possessed with the sounds of MC Reid Base and DJ Daddy Rock and the whirl of the dirt bike motor in the back yard...Hit It!!!

Wait, on second thought...don't Hit It!!! Please be careful!!!

Mel

Upside Down

This really isn't what I had in mind when I asked Reid to come out and swing with me today...

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

And while he is swinging in this position, he looks at me and says "Hey Mom, when are you going to sign me up for gymnastics?" Does he really need for me to sign him up? Looks like he's doing okay without lessons.

Melissa

I Get Weak

Today is Jeff Gordon's Birthday. In honor of his birthday, I present the "I Get Weak" post.

In May of this year, the Workman's ended the school year, sold their house, prepared for CrossCamp, moved to Bells, TN, and in the middle of all that chaos...my BFF Ashley calls me with a very intriguing proposal. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello

Ash: Hey, what are you and Ryan doing next weekend?

Me: I don't know...we close the house on Friday, movers come on Thursday to start packing, they won't deliver our stuff to Bells until Monday, so we are kinda homeless for the weekend...why, what's up?

Ash: Well, L just called and she has passes for the Charlotte All Star race next weekend and they are free and I don't know what all we will get to see but they are media passes and...

Me: (Interrupting)...Yes, we'll go.

The conversation continued with the particulars and whens, wheres and whys. But by the end of the call, we were headed to Charlotte for the weekend with the Vantrease's.

NEVER.IN.MY.LIFE.DID.I.DREAM.THAT.WHAT.HAPPENED.IN.THE.
NEXT.72.HOURS.WOULD.ACTUALLY.EVER.HAPPEN.TO.ME.

So on Friday afternoon, we loaded up in the Vantrease mobile and headed to Charlotte, NC. We arrived at about 1am Charlotte time and hit the Hampton that I had booked online...15 mins from the track...Let me note that it is UNHEARD OF to find a hotel that close to the track 1 week prior to a race!! We slept, enjoyed a fantastic breakfast buffet, and then headed to the track on Saturday morning to pick up our passes.

When we arrived at the credentials trailer...I was reminded of this post Life in the Fast Lane. Credentials? We have credentials? Credentials in racing are a good thing...They get you places that normal tickets can't get you. So we went in and got our passes. The very friendly NASCAR staff person handed us our tickets and our schedule. Our MEDIA schedule for our Cold Passes. (The only thing better to have than Cold Passes are Hot Passes.) Oh Yeah! This is gonna be a great day!

Now, one small glich in our plan, Ashley, Gary, and Ryan had on shorts. You can not wear shorts in the garage area. And we have full garage access. So we jumped in the car and headed over to the local Wally World...and bought jeans for everyone.

Back to the awesomeness...We arrived back at the track and headed to get parked. We weren't exactly sure of where to go into the track so we stopped and asked a friendly golf cart driver. Guess what...with cold passes...they put you on the golf cart and drive you to where you need to be. So, we are now inside the interworkings of the track. We stop at the media center to get a quick rundown of where our passes allow us to be. We find out that we can be anywhere except for the driver motorhome lot until 6:30 p.m. WHAT??? Anywhere? And that's exactly where we went.

We started out in Victory Lane.

We swung through pit lane, talked to T's friend Tom who works for Kyle B and then we headed over to the garage/hauler area...where we got this close to the cars...

And where Ash found this...

And now I know where Jeff will be at 6:00 p.m. And what time does my pass end? 6:30 p.m. I am so gonna be at that meeting.

So we walked around, watched inspection, watched the crew chiefs and car engineers work on the cars, inspected tires, and finally settled on a nice place next to a fence row outside the gates to the haulers. While Ash and I hung out at the gates, Ryan and Gary went over to find a place that we could watch the race. We chatted with some guys about whether or not this was a good spot to see drivers...we chatted with the security guards...and then all of a sudden...Ash starts studdering..."That's, That's, That's...(and trying to get out her camera when she realizes that our passes allow us through the gate)...RUN!!!" Ash had spotted Dale Jr. walking thru the gates. (That's him in the white t-shirt). We start running after him, never showing our passes to the security guards and caught up with him around the corner. We drop into stride with him and Ash says "Junior". He turns around. Ash is trying to find her pen and he says "I've got a pen, just give me something to sign," with a huge grin on his face. I am a few steps behind them witnessing all of this, not believing that it's happening and realizing that Ash is taller than Dale Jr. Where are Ryan and Gary? They are so not gonna believe that we are standing here talking to Dale Jr., who by the way is 1) A lot cuter in person than I thought he would be and 2) one of the nicest drivers that we met. He walked in and out of those gates 3 or 4 times, knowing that fans would stalk him and he smiled and talked and laughed and greeted everyone. Now that's class!

As we turned to walk away...we noticed that the gate security guard was looking for us. We realize we had not shown our passes as we ran through the gates, we explained that we were sorry and showed him our passes. "Mam, I see that you have passes but you can't bust the gate." Yes, we know, we won't do it again. Oops!!!

Gary and Ryan returned to find us inside the gates, waiting for the next drivers to come through. Dale Jr. did come through again and so did Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, Joey Lagano, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards even stinking Chad Knaus walked by (whom I did holler "cheater" at - and it felt good)...but no Jeff Gordon! Gary had posted himself at the fence so that he could be our lookout. It was getting close to 6:00 p.m. and I have starting convincing myself that if I don't get to meet Jeff it was still an awesome, incredible day...


And then the sound of the angels. The whistles signalling that another driver was coming to the gate. Gary starts yelling at us. "It's Jeff! It's Jeff! It's Jeff!" I am frozen. I am speechless. I can not move.

In the words of Belinda Carlisle, I felt like this...

When I'm with you
I shake inside
My heart's all tangled up
My tongue is tied, it's crazy

I get weak when I look at you
Weak when we touch
I can't speak when I look in your eyes
I get weak when you're next to me
Weak from this love
I can't speak when I look in your eyes
I get weak, I get weak

I...literally...couldn't...move!!! So what does my BFF do? She takes her left hand and starts pushing me to Jeff and with her right hand she starts snapping pictures. Then, once she has me securely in the inner Jeff circle, she runs in front of us and continues to take pictures.


I know that these pictures do not do justice to the elation in my heart. I was concentrating on walking in just the right spot, but not too close, trying to think of something to say, figuring out how to touch his arms without getting arrested, trying to memorize every moment, drinking in his smell, making sure I got an autograph, trying not to pee in my pants, totally not believing that I am walking next to Jeff!

Ashley is now walking backwards in front of me and Jeff. Jeff's bodyguard kept saying, "Leave a path for Jeff to walk" and Ash very sweetly replied to him "But that's my best friend!" while pointing at me and Jeff. I love that girl!!! This is Ash's pic of Jeff looking up and realizing that there is a crazy woman walking backwards in front of him taking his, I mean, our picture.

And what does this #1 fan finally managed to force out of her mouth? Her one chance to tell Jeff that she loves him and wants to marry him. I manage to say "Have a great race!" Great Mav, Real Slick! I'm sure he's never ever heard that one before. But he replied "Thanks!" and gave me a grin. And that's really all I needed.

And then the moment was over. Jeff headed to his hauler for his 6 p.m. meeting and just like Cinderella's slippers at midnight, our cold passes were running out of time. As Jeff walked away, I lost it. My knees completely gave out, my eyes filled with tears, I can not speak and thankfully, as I am falling to the ground, my BFF catches me in her arms and hugs me. I am laughing, crying, and Ash is kissing the top of my head.

So, we head over to our seats for the race. Which just happen to be the infield on turn 1. Yeah, pretty AH-mazing.

This was the All-Star Race. It is run in 3 segments shoot-out style, for a total of 100 laps. I am sure that someone won...but it wasn't Jeff...so who cares?

As we drove away from the track that night, I posted this as my Faceb**k status...Melissa Anthony Workman met Jeff Gordon today and did not pass out or get arrested. May 22. 2010.

Happy Birthday Jeff Gordon!!!

Love,

Your #1 Fan

Melissa

She's So Cold

She's so cold, she's so cold,
She was born in an arctic zone,
She's so cold she's so cold, cold, cold,
I dare not touch her my hand just froze.

Everyone knows that I am very hot natured, and that I love my air conditioning and apparently, I keep my house very cold. TayTay walked around in fleece pj's and a fleece jacket all weekend. She had warned Bebe about the freezing temps in our house. We were working in the house, moving boxes, putting together a bathroom cabinet, hanging drapes, and I was sweating like a pig glistening, but Bebe's feet were freezing. So, she asked to borrow some socks because her toes were so cold. And trust me, I did touch her toes, and they were like blocks of ice.

So it's just like the song says...I'm so hot...She's so cold...

Melissa

She's a Butterfly

Kendall's turned into a Butterfly...

Reward Day

HMS 6th Grade

She remembers when she first got her wings
And how she opened up that day
She learned to sing
Then the colors came, erased the black and white
And her whole world changed when she realized

She's a butterfly, pretty as the crimson sky
Nothing's ever gonna bring her down
And everywhere she goes
Everybody knows she's so glad to be alive
She's a butterfly

Like the purest light in a darkened world
So much hope inside such a lovely girl
You should see her fly, it's almost magical
It makes you wanna cry, she's so beautiful

God bless the butterfly,
Give her the strength to fly
Never let her wings touch the ground
God bless the butterfly,
give her strength to fly
Never let her wings touch the ground

Melissa

Tall Tall Trees

Reid and Griffin had a blast climbing the Tall Tall Trees at Rosie and Mike's (aka Uncle Muck & Roses, thanks to Mel when she was little) this weekend at Dram-ma Dean's (aka Grandma Jean's, thanks Dane!) birthday party on Saturday afternoon.

Rosie had all the fixin's for a great party - a great front porch with porch swings for the family to hang out and laugh and talk, trees for the kids to climb, a big yard for the kids to run in, ham, white beans, green beans, cornbread, and potato salad - the list could go on and on!!! We also had yummy birthday cake and brownies for dessert! Now that's the way to celebrate an 80th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Dram-ma Dean!!!

I also need to send a 25th birthday shoutout to my sis, Jenny. And thankfully, this Alan Jackson song, serves as a great reminder of a great Melissa and Jenny historical moment..."We're in front of you, we're in front of you...", "We don't need binoculars, we're in the 4th row!"...and last but not least..."BBUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSS, RRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!" I love you, little sis!!!! Have a great birthday!

Melissa

Rocket

Reid decided to do a little mythbusting of his own on Saturday afternoon...

I was not able to get the results on camera, but I can verify that the "rocket" flew all the way into the neighbor's yard. Momma is so impressed with her little scientist!!!

Mel

Ain't Talking About Love

Conversation between Kendall and Reid while driving home from M'boro - And no, they ain't talking about love....

R: I was watching Mythbusters the other night and they said beer and spirits will stop the stinging of a jelly fish sting.

K: Yes, I saw that one.

R: Of course, they also said that pee would work too...

K: (interrupting)...Reid they said that you could cover yourself in whale urine and then you wouldn't get stung...but I don't really think you would want to do THAT, covering yourself with whale urine is totally gross!!!

There was also a very heated debate over who was smarter...the guys from Mythbusters or NASA. Reid, of course, was for Mythbusters, Kendall was for NASA. I'm not sure if a decision was ever reached...they pretty much decided to agree to disagree over who was smarter.

And yes, I agree, covering yourself in whale uring would be totally gross!!! But, if it can prevent a jellyfish sting, maybe it would be worth it.

Melissa

Purple Rain

This is what happens when:

1. Reid goes to bed late on Friday night,
2. Reid gets up really early on Saturday morning,
3. It is a rainy Saturday afternoon and Reid can't play outside so,
4. Reid is watching the news radar due to the severe storms and flooding in the area,
5. Reid is listening to the sound of said storms raindrops falling on the roof,
6. Reid is sitting still,
7. And on top of reasons 1-6...Reid gets his belly full of his favorite...cheese and bacon quesadillas...

Kinda reminds me of the time that Uncle Beau fell asleep in his plate of mashed potatoes...

Mel

Soon

God’s different plans were for Ryan to be out of work from November 1st to March 1st. And during that time, God provided in more ways than I can list on this blog. We were never hungry, never without heat or electricity, not without a wonderful Christmas, never without wonderful friends and family, never without gas for the cars; basically, we were never without...anything!

And my God will meet all your NEEDS according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Not want you WANT but what you NEED!!!

God began a work in Ryan and I that would forever change our hearts. We began having quiet times. We began to pray like never before. I began memorizing scripture. We made a promise to each other and to God that we would not fear during this trial. We would press in and lean against God and let him teach us what we needed to learn. Pastor Tom had asked the staff to read a book on prayer and had challenged us to dig into God’s word. So we did. We decided that we would tithe on any penny that was provided to us. We decided that we were going to trust in and believe the words of the Bible.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 7:38

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10

Every time we obeyed God and gave our tithe, God replaced that money almost instantly. One morning, when our checkbook was extremely low, I laid on the floor and begged for provision. When I got to work that morning, AG handed me a handful of cash that was “anonymously” given to Ryan and I…in the exact amount I needed. I can not tell you the amount of times things like this happened. God’s word is perfect and true…and He loves to show that to the children that love and honor Him. I had never experienced anything like this before…honestly, it was too cool!!!

While we were crying out to God for him to provide the perfect job, Ryan searched the internet…Ryan made calls…Ryan sent resumes…Ryan networked with co-workers from the past…Ryan did everything he could to find a job. While searching the internet one evening, he found a listing for a civil engineer position in Bells, TN (20 minutes northwest of Jackson). He sent his resume. They called. He had a phone interview. After the phone call, Ryan told me that the job sounded really interesting and he hoped they would call back for an onsite interview. But we did not put much stock into it. It might happen, but he did not want to get his hopes up. He continued to search and pray…and he continued to come up with nothing. And then a week or so after the phone interview, they called back. They wanted him to come to Jackson for the day. Ryan went and interviewed. Ryan prepped and prepped and felt good about the day. He thought the position was a great opportunity. It seemed like maybe a job offer would happen. And then we got an email. The dreaded “things are on hold at the moment” email.

Really, God, really??? We are praying, seeking Your word and Your will and really, “things are on hold”. So what did we do? Did we throw in the towel and stop doing our quiet times, praying and seeking God’s will? No…we pressed in even harder. We refused to worry. We refused to let Satan steal our joy. Does that mean things were easy? No. Does that mean that we didn’t continue to get on our knees and cry out to God? No. We decided that we would live by these verses:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give THANKS in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

My soul clings to You, Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You. Isaiah 26:3

In late January, during TSC’s week of prayer which was named the Genesis project, God decided to let us hear him by sending me a dream. Now, I honestly believe God sent me the dreams, because I remember dreams. I can even wake up angry or upset over dreams. Sweet Ryan does not remember his dreams. Here is the email that I sent out on the morning of 1/28/10…

I just wanted to share a little something with all of you this morning. Actually it is a big something and I really want to stand on a mountaintop and shout.

Ryan came home from Bible study last night and told me that while he and the guys were praying, God told him that our “trial” would be over soon. Soon, that was the word he used. I said, okay, so “soon”, it will be over “soon” what does that mean? He just hugged me and said I don’t know for sure but in my heart, God is telling me it will be over soon. God also gave Ryan this verse…Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” We have talked about that theory so many times, that yes this is a trial, and it is hard, but we are learning so much and leaning in and pressing towards God, and that how even though the process has been painful, it has also been an incredible and precious learning and growing process.

I am an early to bed kind of girl, usually 9pm-ish, but last night, I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and finally at around 11pm, I drifted off. I had the first of two very interesting dreams. I woke up around 3am-ish, checked the clock, and went back to sleep, which is when the second dream happened. Without boring you with the details of both dreams, they were extremely different but both had the same outcome of “Everything is okay. You’re fine. Don’t worry.”

When the regular 6am alarm went off this morning, I was lying in bed thinking…man, those dreams were so different, but so the same. That’s kind of weird. And my mind kept thinking about Joseph and the Pharaoh and dreams. I went ahead and pulled out the Journey book, my diet coke and my Bible. I read the page of the Journey devotional but really I wasn’t getting anywhere with it. So, I decided (well actually I had nothing to do with it, it was all the Holy Spirit) to go to Genesis 41 and read about Joseph and Pharaoh. Okay, so there’s a dream about fat and skinny cows, shafts of wheat, you all know the story…and then I read this verse…Genesis 41:32 “Now the reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”

Hold up…did that just say two dreams, different forms, and God will do it soon!!! Talk about some confirmation!!! So, I called Ryan into the room, told him about the dreams, the chapter and read him the verse. His response was classic Ryan, “Well, that’s just awesome!”

How crazy is it that we are in the “Genesis Project” week? And our confirmation came from a verse in Genesis. WOW!!!! We don’t know what God is doing, but we both feel like he’s going to do it soon!!! So keep praying…We love you all!

Our answer was coming…and it did come soon…

Don't Talk to Strangers

Recently, there have been some very serious reports of attempted kidnappings in the Spring Hill area. One of our Workman safety rules is that every afternoon, Safety Kendall calls me to let me know that she is home from school.

When SK called, I did not want to alarm her over the phone so I tried to quickly review safety rules with the understanding that we would have a complete review with SK and Reid once I got home. Apparently my smooth operator skills were lost on my safety girl.

SK: Hey Mom, I'm home!

M: Kendall, just wanted to remind you to stay inside until I get home. We will talk about the reasons later.

SK: Why, mom, are there kidnappers running around the neighborhood or something?

M: Well, now that you mention it, yes, there was an attempted kidnapping yesterday.

SK: (With a little panic in her voice) What…hold up…I was just kidding…I’m getting up to lock the door right now….when are you coming home?...

M: (...Interrupting...) Don’t forget to let Reid in.

SK: I won’t….wait…maybe I will….(snicker, snicker)

So the normal super sweet Safety Kendall has a rotten streak when it comes to her little brother. For a fleeting moment, she was actually going to leave him outside to fend for himself against kidnappers. Thankfully, she was just kidding. She loves her little bro...even if he drives her insane every now and then!!!

So now to review safety rules:

When you were just a young girl and still in school,
How come you never learned the golden rule? (That's funny - I thought the golden rule was to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.)
Don't talk to strange men, don't be a fool,
I'm hearing stories, I don't think that's cool.

Don't talk to strangers
Baby don't you talk
Don't talk to strangers
You know he'll only use you up
Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk
Don't talk, don't talk to him
Nobody, nobody ever told you

And Auntie Jenny this part is all for you:

*Fais l'amour avec moi (*Make love to me)
What's he saying baby?
*Viens dormir, mon amour (*Come to sleep my love)
I asked you not to talk to him
*Je t'aime donne moi ton coeur ce soir (*I like you to give me your heart this night)
I'm begging you

Don't talk to strangers
Baby don't you talk
Don't talk to strangers
You know he'll only use you up
Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk
Don't talk, don't talk to him

Be safe out there everyone!!!!

Melissa

Take this Job and Shove It

Let’s start of part 2 of the Jackson story with a little history on Ryan.

When Ryan was growing up, he wanted to be a bulldozer. Not the bulldozer operator, the actual bulldozer. He loves to play in the dirt, whether it be on a backhoe, bulldozer or four-wheeler. He loves sunshine and the outdoors. He enjoys hiking up mountains, and through canyons. He grew up in the big city of Nashville…but he is a country boy at heart. He loves to piddle at a work bench, on the farm, on an antique tractor, or sometimes with nothing in particular.

Ryan’s love language is acts of service. He will do anything for anybody at anytime. He puts everyone but himself first. More about those last couple of sentences in a moment.

Professionally, Ryan is a civil engineer. For the past 15 years, Ryan has worked as a consulting engineer, mostly working with builders, homeowners, and developers to develop site plans for homes and businesses. Basically, he took a piece of property and figured out what type and size building could go on the property. He sat behind a desk and drew plans, but never got to go outside and enjoy the dirt or sunshine which was one of his reasons for becoming an engineer. He consulted on project after project, but rarely got to see the completion of the project. When doing consulting work, you have to keep up with your time by the quarter hour so that it can be billed to your client. This task gets quite monotonous and tedious and frustrating. Also, when you are working for clients, there is always one who isn’t happy. A lot of the time, the things that made the clients unhappy were beyond Ryan’s control. So the combination of many frustrating things brought Ryan to the point in his career where he was ready to make a major change.

What he really wanted to say to his consulting position was:

Take this job and shove it I ain't workin' here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason I was working for
Ya better not try and stand in my way
Cause I'm walkin', out the door
Take this job and shove it I ain't working here no more

Well, I been working in this factory for now on fifteen years
All this time, I watched my woman drownin' in a pool of tears
And I've seen a lot of good folks die who had a lot of bills to pay
I'd give the shirt right off of my back if I had the guts to say...

Take this job and shove it I ain't workin' here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason I was working for
Ya better not try and stand in my way
Cause I'm walkin', out the door
Take this job and shove it I ain't working here no more

But he wouldn’t/couldn’t make that major change, because remember those few sentences about his love language? Well, see, when you put everyone else first, you don’t take care of yourself. Ryan would have stayed at that job forever, doing his absolute best and taking care of everyone but himself…and being miserable the whole time. But God had a different plan…

Over the summer, as the financial world continued to collapse around us, many builders and developers lost their financing. And when they do not have financing, they don’t use engineers to consult on their new projects…because there are no new projects. Ryan safely made it through several rounds of lay-offs at his office. And because of the potential of lay-offs and his need for change, Ryan started looking for a job in early 2009. He actually went on several interviews with one certain company in Nashville. The job he interviewed for would have been basically the same job as the one he had, with a few changes, and there was a little room for growth, and while that was somewhat appealing, there was always one factor or another for Ryan to not get hired by said company. (We know now that that factor was God and God’s plan.)

Around late July, early August, Ryan learned that his employer was in the process of selling the company, and was told that his job would be “safe”. That he would make the transition to the new company and all would be good. He would continue to do the same job, just with a new company. He continued to pray that he wanted to be doing something different by October 2009. Ryan went to meet with the new company. He came home after the “meet and greet” and said to me, “I just don’t get how my job will be safe…that company already has 10 of me sitting at desks doing my job.” Our sweet Savior was preparing his heart. We just didn’t know it at the time.

Then on a Thursday in late September, (I’m really surprised that I don’t know the date), Ryan met me and Kendall at one of the middle school football games. He was really anxious in his bleacher seat and he kept telling me that we had to talk but we couldn’t talk there. He couldn’t watch the game, he couldn’t eat game snacks, he couldn’t focus…I knew something was wrong. And you don’t tell your OCD, type A wife that I’ve got something to tell you, but I’ll tell you later…drives me crazy…I can’t stand surprises! So I made him get up out of the bleachers and walk to a quiet spot in the grass. He proceeded to tell me that there were problems with the sale of the company. Basically, he was no longer safe. The civil engineering division of his current company wasn’t going to be purchased by the new company. Guess what, they didn’t need more civil engineers sitting around desks. He would only have a job through October 31st. He would receive a small severance package and then he was on his own. He then said, “You know, I prayed in October 2008 that by October 2009 I would not be doing the same job that I was doing in October 2008. I guess God just answered my prayer.” All I could think at that moment was “Why would you pray something like that? Why did you think that this prayer was a good idea?” but by the grace of God, I did not say it…I kept my mouth closed (another one of Jesus’ miracles) and simply hugged my sweet husband and said “everything is going to be okay, you’ll find another job, no problem, I love you and we will make it through this…but you have to have to find a new job, we can’t survive without your income, we’ve got bills to pay, and Christmas shopping to do and…”. Once again, God had different plans….

We Are in Love

I interrupt this cliffhanger blog to bring you the following update...

We Are in Love...with Harry Connick Jr.

My birthday is right around the corner, April 25th, to be exact. So to celebrate my birthday, Bebe and Jenny bought the three of us tickets to see Harry Connick Jr. at the Ryman. Now, I love me some HC Jr. This was my 3rd concert...and they just keep getting better!!!

We started the evening at Sambuca with Lobster Ravioli, Shrimp and Crab Rangoons, Crab and Lobster Bisque, and Sea Bass Skewers. After our lovely candlelight dinner, (Bebe -"How are you supposed to read the menu in this light?") we finished with cheesecake sopapillas and tiramisu. Can I just say, YUMM-O!!!

Then we headed on over to the Ryman. We settled into our seats, just as Harry was singing his first song. Nice job on the seats, Jen-Dog!!! Right side of the stage about 20 rows back...in front of the horn section...the side where he comes to sing...perfect shot of his beautiful face while he plays piano!!! SA-WEET!!!

He was in rare form last night. HC Jr. was telling tall tales, cracking jokes, and dancing all over the stage. A couple of songs into the evening, HC Jr. starts telling us that he thought this show was on Monday evening. They had pulled into town on Monday morning and he had geared his whole day towards performing on Monday night. During his workout, a buddy proceeded to tell him the show was Tuesday. He disagreed. Buddy argued. HC disagreed again, "Dude, I always know my tour dates. The show is tonight" Buddy reinforced, show's tomorrow dude. HC Jr. texted his tour manager..."Hey, when is the Nashville show? Tonight, right." Tour manager texts back, show is Tuesday. "Man, my whole Monday is ruined!!!"

He has had a whirlwind couple of weeks, starting with the New Orleans Saints win at the Superbowl..."Who Dat?". Harry (and the entire city of New Orleans) are so proud of their Saints, and he was so excited to share all of the wonderful ways that the superbowl win has helped the city of NO to rebound from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.

But speaking of the Saints, part of HC's whirlwind weeks, was singing the national anthem at the Daytona 500. He has gotten letters from folks who are unhappy with him because he did not remove his hat during the national anthem. He apologized to all of us, said he sincerely did not mean to offend, and if anyone should be upset, it should be him..."They made me put on this leather Daytona 500 jacket with all of this NASCAR stuff on it, No Gucci, No Prada...Just NASCAR, and I don't do NASCAR!"

After that, his whirlwind, landed him in NOLA for Mardi Gras. He treated us to some Mardi Gras piano and some Zulu King. Then, he treated us to some NOLA style trumpet playing and dancing. Oh my, he did him some dancing on that stage last night!!!!

So that brings us to his visit to the White House to sing to President and Mrs. Obama. He laughed and said it was really awkward to sing love songs to the President. He also asked if anyone in the audience was in love, because if you were not in love, the next few songs would be a little awkward for you and you might want to go get a drink.

He gave us some insider tips of how to sound sexy while singing (like he needs ANY help)...apparently Julio Iglesis gave him this tip...sing like it is 20 degrees and you are freezing...HILARIOUS!!!

Some other memorable quotes..."You have to think about your sentence trajectory...sentences have a beginning, a middle and an end.", "It's not like I have any top 10 hits, can you name one, I don't have any. I'm no Carrie Underwood. I don't know why I'm yelling at you, sir.", and "Thank you for spending your hard earned money to come and listen to my schluck."

And then he told us this very sad story...His 13 year old daughter came home from school not too long ago and she was upset. He asked what was wrong but she did not want to tell him. She did not want to hurt his feelings. He finally talked her into telling him. She said, "Dad, a friend came up to me today and said, Your dad sucks, he sings grandpa songs." "So you know what I did", HC asked, "I went over to that boys house...no just kidding, I do sing grandpa songs and I like it that way."

He was very gracious, very funny, and super awesome!!! I truly believe that HC loves Music City, respects Nashville and the musical heritage of the Ryman and I'm hoping that he will follow through on his dream to record country music "his way". I will always remember this special birthday evening in February. For about 4 whole hours, I did not even think about all the junk that has to be packed up in my house, or moving, or finding a new house, or Ryan leaving on Monday to start his new job in Jackson...Thank you for the awesome birthday HC Jr., Jenny and Bebe!!!

We now return you to regularly scheduled cliffhanger....

Melissa

Don't Worry Baby

Around the Workman household we have many rules. Some of these rules are for safety, some of the rules are for fun, and some are to ensure good family relations. One of these rules is that we always schedule our next beach trip before we pack up and return home from our current beach trip. It is our rule to stand on the balcony as a family, stare at the ocean, and plan the next family trip.

Let’s start with some history…in the Anthony household growing up, my entire family’s dream was to spend a week at the lake in a houseboat, a tent or camper, and riding all sorts of skis, wakeboards, tubes, and plastic turtles behind a boat going really fast, holding on to a rope for dear life…but my dream…my dream was to spend the week at the ocean. I love the ocean. I love the sand. I love sitting in a beach chair, listening to my ipod and reading a good book. I love the smell of saltwater. I love the sunshine. I love no sun screen Friday's. I love the sound of the ocean waves crashing into the shore. Oddly enough, I don’t love swimming or heat but I do love walking along the ocean’s edge, letting the ocean waves encircle my feet and having an ocean breeze to cool me off. I love picking up shells and thinking of the creature that lived in the shell.

Don’t get me wrong, I did have fun (sometimes) on the DHL trips…things like hiking to accordion bluff (when we didn’t get lost), singing to the Beach Boys on top of the houseboat, and meeting guys in the middle of the night who have lost their wallet on the peninsula where we were docked and camped and apparently were “real bad drunk” the night before. One of my most vivid memories is the afternoon that Jenny and I actually survived a tornado at DHL…in a truck camper (which gives a whole new meaning to “if the camper is rockin’ don’t bother knockin’)…while our parents were rushing our brother to the Livingston ER because he had drowned and been revived right before our eyes. That’s a whole post for a different day!!

There are tons of good memories: fried pies, volleyball games, and bike rides to the dock for ice cream. And unfortunately, I know that I made more than a few trips miserable for myself, my parents and our families. Deep down, I think it is because I did not want to be at DHL for vacation…I wanted to be in Panama City, Destin, or Hawaii!

As I got older, and could work and drive, I was able to go to the beach a couple of times. Rob, Bebe and I headed to Panama City once…I will always remember that middle of the night stretch of interstate/median in Alabama in a Toyota 4x4, “I think I need to stop and get coffee.” and that romantic dinner at Capt’n Anderson’s. Then when I was a senior in high school, my parents let me, my 3 besties and George Clark jump into the Buick and take off for Panama City Beach for Spring Break. By the way, did you know that I am the world’s master at packing 4 girls, 1 boy and 1 boogie board into the trunk of a Buick Century?

All of those trips were fun, but going to the beach became my ultimate vacation when I met Ryan Workman. On our first lunch date, we talked about our love of the beach. He told me that he had grown up going to the beach every summer. He told me about the Olds Folks Home and about the times when he and Alan had spend entire days digging holes in the sand. He also told me that his mom owned a beach condo. Cha-ching!!! This guy is a keeper. His mom owns a beach condo?!?!? That means we can go to the beach condo anytime…Woo-Hoo!!! And that’s what we did, 6 weeks after our first date we headed to Gulf Shores, AL, for the first time as a couple. After a little bit of a rough start…I was letting Ryan drive my car…a Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo…and he got pulled over by a cop…the cop accused Ryan of racing…Ryan proceeded to mention that the speedometer of my car went up to 140 and if Ryan was racing, he wouldn’t be doing 50 in a 40, he would be doing 100…and then, he proceeded to ask the cop to see his “radar gun operators license” and I was pretty sure that he was going to end up in jail and I was going to end up in the middle of lower AL without a boyfriend or a car…ahhh, sweet memories…but after the rough start, a few beautiful days at the beach, and no sun screen Friday…I went from being Ryan’s girlfriend to Ryan’s fiancée. After several margaritas to calm his nerves, he lovingly and tenderly bent down on one knee and said to me… “Dawn, will you marry me?”…and I lovingly and tenderly replied… “I will, but my name isn’t Dawn!” HE WAS MORTIFIED!!! There were lots of apologies and laughs and to this day, people who know sweet Ryan can not believe that he actually committed this faux pas. But I loved him anyway and married him and he fulfilled my dream of going to Hawaii…we did that on our honeymoon.

We’ve been to Waikiki Beach, Waimea Bay, the beaches of Maui, the beaches of South Carolina, the beaches of lower Alabama and Florida. We’ve gone to the beach just to relax, to celebrate a new job, to cry because we weren’t pregnant yet, but it was the beach trip of October 2008 that would changes our lives FOR-EVER!!!

We had BEAUTIFUL weather on this trip. We practically stayed on the beach from sun-up to sun-down every day of the trip. It was just the 4 Workman’s and Bebe. The kids and Ryan swam in the ocean, Reid learned to boogie board, we all took walks, Bebe took the kids to the indoor pool at night, I held down my beach chair with a good book and my ipod…one of the best beach trips EVER!!! That was until Ryan decided to talk a walk and pray.

For several years, Ryan had the desire to get out of consulting engineering. His job was tedious, keeping up with each and every 15 minutes of his time, no one was ever happy and he was stuck in an office all day and after 15 years of consulting, he was just ready to be done with it. It was our last day at the beach and we had stood on the balcony as a family and planned our next trip to Orange Beach, just like the Workman family rules state. We decided same time, next year, next fall 2009…we would come back to the beach as a family.

Ryan took his annual last walk on the beach before leaving. He stood at the rock wall along the inter-coastal waterway and prayed. He cried out to God. He cried out to a God that loves him and listens to him. And this was Ryan’s prayer, “Lord, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be doing the same job next year that I’m doing now. By next year’s beach trip, I want to be doing something different.”

And I’m sure that this is what Ryan was thinking at the time of his prayer…because believe it or not...he thinks in song lyrics too!!!

Well its been building up inside of me
For oh I don't know how long
I don't know why
But I keep thinking
Something's bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says "Don't worry baby"
Don't worry baby
Don't worry baby
Everything will turn out alright

Ryan did not tell me about this prayer until the summer of 2009, about 9 months after he had prayed it for the first time, he actually had been praying it ever since…And that’s where our story begins…

Melissa

She's Crafty

She's crafty - She's gets around
She's crafty - She's always down
She's crafty - She's got it right
She's crafty - And she's just my type!
She's crafty...

Momma got a little crafty for Reid's Valentines. Reid (and every other child, preteen and teen) love these crazy new "jelly bracelets" called silly bandz. So, I made cards that said "I'm silly over you, Valentine." and we attached a silly band to each card. Reid loved the idea...Safety Kendall thought the valentines would be "awkard for the boys because I called them "Valentine" on each card". Personally, I thought they turned out really cute!

And props to Auntie Jenny for today's song title...I would like to think that I would have pulled this one out of memory...but she came up with it first...must have been all those 1,000's of times she had to listen to this "tape" while riding in Claudia!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you Crafty Mom's out there!!!

Melissa

I'm a Little Teapot

Actually, the title of Remy's song should be "I'm a Little Stink-Pot who is Addicted to Sweet Tea".

Remy is completely addicted to sweet tea. He prefers sweet tea over water. We have to keep the tea pitcher in the microwave...because if we don't...this happens...


So if you are at the Workman household, and we offer you sweet tea...you might want to check that 1) it is a fresh batch, and 2) that I pulled the pitcher out of the microwave. Otherwise, you might be drinking after the sweet tea addicted Remy. :-)

And who knew that I'm a Little Teapot had a second verse? Click on the link on the right and check it out.

Melissa

Free Ride Part II

So apparently, during the free rides that Ryan was offering...Reid had a crash where he face planted on the road. I was told that it was no big deal, it was just a little blood and that Reid was fine.
This is Reid's face 12 hours after his face plant. Thankfully, yes, he is fine...no broken facial bones but he's got one really nice road rash scrape, bruise, thing going on.

Can anyone say OUCH?!?!?!

Melissa

Free Ride

So come on and take a Free Ride (Free Ride)
Come on and take it by my side
Come on and take a free ride...

Nice Ryan got out his four wheeler today and was offering free rides on a boogie board in the snow... Here is one of Reid's free rides...

And Yes, that is safety Kendall's voice that you hear in the video..."Mom, I think we are going to take a trip to the ER, I just know it."

Mo G took a free ride...

Uncle Gary took a free ride...Griffin took one... Auntie Jenny and Dane took one...And even nice Ryan got to do more than just drive the 4 wheeler...he got to ride too!!!Momma took a ride and Safety Kendall took the video...and while she is great on safety...a video-ographer she is not...

And just before the end of the free rides...Safety Kendall decided she would take a free ride...but she, of course, had safety rules for daddy to follow..."Go as slow as possible and only turn when you need to!"

Hope everyone had a great snow day and found some way to get a Free Ride!!!!

Melissa

Mud on the Tires

Mud on the tires...

Mud on the helmet, shoes, fenders...

Mud on the back of the sweatshirt...Mud pretty much everywhere!!!

Reid, Ryan, and our friends, the M's, spent Saturday at Honda Hills. The M's brought their 4 wheeler, dirt bike and a yummy lunch. Lots of mud, fun, and laughs were had by all. Unfortunately, mommy had a terrible head cold and was unable to join in the muddin' fun.

Here's Hannah ready to ride...that girl has gone country on us!!!

Since I was not there...I can only guess what this conversation was like...probably something like this...

Reid: You gotta go down the trail this way...'cause the mud up there is SA-weet...and you can jump over/slide through this mud...and here's the gas, just mash it all the way down, and here's the clutch...and don't touch this and...

Joshua: Thanks, Dude, I've got this!!!

And here's Josh on his dirt bike...which I hear that Reid L.O.V.E.D.!!! I might as well start saving now for Reid's birthday in August!!! Mom is not crazy about the idea of a dirt bike...unless she can get a little mud on the tires too!!! :-)

Melissa