Picture this...or not

Not actually doing much kicking and screaming-in fact, I think this new phone is growing on me. However I still haven't figured out how to transfer pictures from it to my laptop, so although we had a wonderful weekend with all 4 grands and their parents, I don't have any pictures to post. Ah well-I'll have to sit down and figure it out.

We did get some exciting news though. If all goes well, we will be grandparents again sometime in January! Little Calvin Hays will have a new brother or sister, and our other grands will be welcoming a new cousin. Guess this little one will be our "tie breaker" since we have 2 granddaughters and 2 grandsons. Good things to look forward to!

Kicking and Screaming into the 21st Century...

(Warning: long, rambling Sunday afternoon post!)

I'm a somewhat technologically challenged person, so when I find something that I can actually use and understand, I hang on to it! I'll take my hand held can opener over an electric one any day, and my little coffee maker just has an on and off switch-no preset brew time, brew strength, timers, bells, whistles, etc. I turn it on, it makes coffee and when it's done, I turn it off! So when it comes to cell phones, I've always been happy to inherit my husband's old cell phone when he gets an update. I even joke about the dinosaur phones I carry around. Once when we took the grands to the zoo, I whipped out my old phone and flipped it open to take a picture. A group of teen-aged girls came by and I heard one exclaim "Wow look at that phone!" I'm not sure if she just hadn't seen one that old before, or if she was amazed that anyone would still use one. They all had the latest thing of course and were texting and talking as they went-I wonder if they actually looked at any of the animals!

Anyway, after living here for almost two years, we have only now gotten around to getting local cellphone service. My old phone was on it's last legs and Verizon was running a buy one get one free offer, so I am now the proud owner of a new-fangled phone. The Mr. set it up for me and I'm now learning how to navigate around on it. My daughter has the same phone, so I will probably be taking "phone lessons" from her. (Bless her sweet, patient heart!) There are apps, widgets and other things I'm still not sure about, but I do know that it can actually be used to call people and I've even sent my brother a text! (Now that's handy, because he never checks or answers his email, but I know he always has his phone with him, so now he has no excuse for not getting in touch.)

So...I guess this will work-just don't ask me to give up my can opener and coffee maker!

Busy Week

We've had a busy week-I'm so glad to finally get to stay home for a day and relax get some things done! The day before Mother's Day was our oldest granddaughter's 8th birthday. Her wish was for a birthday party at the infamous Chucky Cheese. It's great in one respect-they do everything from setting up to serving the cake. But it's loud, really LOUD and there are wall to wall kids running, playing games, screaming and maybe even sitting down long enough to eat pizza and cake! We've always joked that they should issue T-shirts to the adults that say "I Survived a Birthday Party at Chucky Cheese"! She and her friends had a great time, though and that's the important thing. Hard to believe it's been 8 years. From this:

to this:

Just does not seem possible!

We had a lovely Mother's Day-I received flowers, a refrigerator magnet and a beautiful coffee mug! We also went out for lunch at an italian place after church. 

Yesterday, we attended our youngest granddaughter's Preschool graduation. The kids were adorable in their caps and gowns and she was so excited.

Sigh-before we know it she'll be graduating from high school and her sister from University!

Remembering My Mom on Mother's Day

Charleston

We spent yesterday and today with our nephew, niece, grandniece and grandnephews in South Carolina. Today we had lunch in Charleston at Poogan's Porch courtesy of our nephew and niece:

Poogan’s Porch (Carragher, 2011)

We then took a carriage ride through the streets of Charleston-it was a wonderful experience and a great way to see the city and learn about it's history.

French Protestant (Huguenot) Church

Rainbow Row 

Attribution: Something Original at English Wikipedia

So many beautiful homes!

(I borrowed a couple of these pictures from the internet as I wasn't able to get a good shot with my camera.)

Tomorrow we will have to start home-we'll go across Georgia and Alabama and spend the night in Meridian Miss., then home the next day. We have a very important birthday party to attend on Saturday. Our oldest granddaughter turns 8!

So Far...

We've been on the road for a week-here are a few places we've been: (Caution-lots of photos)

Florida for our niece's graduation

Spanish Moss and Stone Mountain in Georgia

My husband's great, great-grandfather's homestead in Tennessee

Smokey Mountains in Tennessee

We were going to go see the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, but when we realized we would have to pay $55.00 apiece just to drive up to it (we weren't even planning to go inside) we decided to give it a miss.

Today we are in South Carolina near Charleston visiting with another niece and her family. (She's the oldest sister to the one that graduated. The "graduate" and her mom will join us here tomorrow-can't wait!)

Stay tuned to this station!

Out of Pocket...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We are taking a trip through the Southern U.S.! Back soon with photos!