Day Trip

Today we took a trip to see the USS Battleship in Mobile!  This was a surprise for Thomas...he woke up thinking he was going to school and then we told him he wasn' t going to school he was going to the Battleship!  He was soooo excited!!

SEE????  He was up & at'em at 6:30a.m.  We left home about 7:00 a.m. and went to Gantt and got Dan-Dan & Pop and then headed to Andalusia to get Thomas a biscuit from Burger King and then we were off to the Battleship!  We were worried about the weather because the prediction for today was thunderstorms.  But we decided to just go ahead and take our chances and I am glad we did.  We had a fairly pretty day while we were there and the temperature was perfect!

We got there around 10:00 a.m. and it was really foggy!  Here we are walking to the ramp to go up into the ship.

Thomas is having a blast!  This was just after we got on the ship...on the deck.  This ship is HUGE and we had only just begun!

This was taken just after we had entered the ship starting our tour.  Thomas was sitting in the doorway leading into another part of the ship.  It would take me about a year to learn my way around the ship and not get lost! HA!

Here he was standing with one of the fake soldiers.  He was not too sure of these soldiers that were standing at different places throughout the ship. HA!

Pop and Thomas were sitting up on the high part of the deck on the ship.  I think Pop was pointing out to Thomas where the submarine was.

Thomas is all about turning something and I'm not quite sure what this was (I think it was where they shot their guns from) but they are all on the deck of the ship and he had to sit in about everyone of them!

Here we are at the museum.  We checked that out before heading on to the submarine or the USS Drum.  I didn't get any pictures of the submarine for some reason.  I guess it was because it is sooooo cramped in there and I was getting a little claustrophobic and just wanted to get out of there!  But, just a little something funny Thomas said while up on top of the submarine.  There was a telescope you could look through, but you had to put twenty-five cents in there.  Thomas asked me if I had twenty-five cents and I told him I didn't and he said "dadgum women" HA!!  In the submarine there was a man that was a "submariner" as he called himself.  He said we could ask him anything and he would try to answer.  He told me he had lived on a sub for 51 days straight!  Wow!  He said it really wasn't that bad...that you really got to know the people you were with...I bet so!

The last things we did were go to the gift shop and to the snack bar.  Thomas got him a sailor hat (among other things) and I thought he made a mighty cute little sailor!  This would have been a perfect day if Tori had been with us!  But she had school, which was unusual for a Friday but she had to go until 12:00 today.  But....she said if she didn't have school she probably wouldn't go HA!  But after we got home and she was looking at the video Steve made I think she would like to go back!  She went when she was really little...like 2 or 3 and she really doesn't remember alot about it.  So...maybe we will go back one day and she can go again.  Oh...one more thing that Thomas thought was really cool was that we went throught the tunnel getting to the Battleship and leaving the ship...Thomas thought that was awesome!  Even though Thomas had a day off from school, this was certainly a learning experience!  He asked Pop and Dan-Dan a 1000 questions on the way home about the battleship and he is still asking questions!  What a fun day!!

This Week In Review

This week has been pretty UNeventful!  Thank God!  I will take uneventful over being so sick with the stomach virus ANY day!  But to just recap....I made this cake for our Wednesday night kids!  I thought it turned out pretty cute and it was pretty tasty too!  I made it Monday night after getting my hair cut...it is the shortest it has been in a long time!  Tuesday night Steve had a fire meeting and we stayed home.  Wednesday night was church of course and we had a pizza/cake night for the kiddos.  It was really good and we had a really good turn out!  Thursday night we went down to Dan-Dan and Pop's for Bradley's going away party...we had yummy steaks and all the trimmings.  Bradley leaves Tuesday for Louisina and he starts his new job Thursday...all the luck to you, Bradley!!!  Friday night was kind of a yucky night, so we stayed in.  Saturday we got ready for our (late) Valentine social.  And, I got to keep this cutie pie!

Cindy had an all day softball thing to go to on Saturday and Dodd had to take Campbell for T-Ball tryouts, so Collins came and stayed with us (me, Thomas and Steve).  Tori was gone to Brewton with Adam's parents to watch Adam play baseball.  We had a good time....Thomas is soooo much nicer to Collins than he used to be!

See????  They are having fun together!!  I am so proud of Thomas, he has really come a long way with Collins!!

When Campbell got finished with her tryouts, she came to play for a little while, then it was time to get ready to go to the church.  We had steak again...2nd time in a week!  It was so good and I think everyone had a great time...I know I did!  Well, I guess it is time for bed...another Monday morning is on the horizon...hope this will be another uneventful week!!

The Stomach Bug of 2012 Continued

This post won't have any pictures, its just mostly to finish the story of this terrible virus that ravaged our home!  As I said earlier, Thomas started throwing up again on Saturday night around 7:00 or 8:00 and he did this all night!  Then about 1:00 Sunday morning I got in the car and rode up to Martha and James' because I knew that Jim and his family had been there that day and I thought they were spending the night...I just wanted to be sure because when it got daylight I was giving him a call.  I also got on the internet to see if I could find anything on there that would stop vomiting and the runs...I didn't find out how to do that but I did find out that Whitney Houston had died!  Around 2:30 or so, we had all we could take of our little man being soooo sick, so I got on the phone and called Jim (not everyone has a Dr. they can call at the wee hours of the morning...how blessed are we!!) he said he needed to go back to the hospital because with it coming out both ends he would dehydrate quickly....so that is what we did.  It was FREEZING cold, but we bundled Thomas up really good, Tori went to BonJean's and off we went back to the hospital.  When we got there , we didn't have to wait as long as we had before and Ms. Janice Eddison, the nurse that had put in Thomas's IV and did such a great job before was on call again and she did it again.  She told him that he had to have more "magic water" to get him better....they were all soooo sweet to him!  The Dr. on call that morning went ahead and admitted him to the hospital and we got into a room around daylight Sunday morning....what another long night!!  But, our baby was getting better, he wanted SunDrop and he got it and he drank a whole one!  Dr. Walker came around later that morning and he said he still thought it was just that terrible virus and he said he would continue to give him fluids that day.  Thomas continued to improve and by that night, he was much better!!!  He was eating potato skins chips that Dan-Dan and Pop had brought him and watching TV.  Steve and I had a miserable night (hospitals are not good for sleeping), but Thomas had a pretty good night.  He threw up once around 4 a.m. Monday morning, but  he didn't even know it!  He took fluids all day until around 2 p.m. and then we got to go home.  We were soooo exhausted again, but we were back home!  Then around 9:30 or 10:00 Tori started with the virus and she was sooo sick all night long....she threw up about every 30 minutes.  Around 1:00 a.m. I went to Cindy's to get some suppositories, but that didn't even slow her up!  She finally quit throwing up around 4:30 and she went to sleep.  We didn't know what to do, all we knew was that we had to get Thomas out of the house because we didn't want to take any chances of him getting it again...so Steve called his mom to see if they could come there and guess what???  She had the virus too!!  So Steve and Thomas moved in with Bon Jean at night and in the daytime Thomas went to work with Steve.  They had a ball!!  They went to Burger King every morning and got biscuits!  I stayed home with Tori Tuesday and Wednesday and totally disinfected our house!  I went back to work Thursday and Tori just insisted she had to go back to school.  But when she got there she said her teacher took one look at her and said you don't even need to be here....so she came back home.  But by Friday she was feeling much stronger and she even went to one of Adam' s games in Selma Friday night with his parents and didn't get home until 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning....so GUESS  WHAT????  Another sleepless night for this tired Mama!!  But, now all is well at the Whitehurst home and I hope and pray to God that it stays that way!!!!!

The Stomach Bug of 2012

Well, we just thought we were finished with the awful stomach virus of 2012!  Thomas could not seem to shake this awful virus and he became dehydrated and we ended up taking him to the hospital Thursday night around 8:00 p.m.  He had to get an IV and have fluids.  We stayed in the hospital until around 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon and we got to come home!

Here is the sweet little patient....getting his fluids.  He was super good in the hospital and he got lots of suprises!  Kristi, my boss brought him over a little basket filled with all kinds of goodies.  Tori brought him surprises too and Campbell sent him her Leapster with a little note on if for him to use it while he was in the hospital, but be sure to give it back when he got home...HA!!

Oh well!  It is the thought that counts!!

We were so glad Tori came and spent the day with us.  Bon Jean also came and I got to go home and shower and change clothes and when I got back to the hospital, Steve went home to shower and change.  Boy, we were some tired folks!!  Steve and I had been up all night and a few nights before that!

Here is the little patient enjoying a red popsicle that one of the sweet little pink ladies brought him!  He loved it! 

What a loooooong night AND day.  I think time stops in a hospital!  Here we are just hanging out waiting for Thomas to get finished with the last bag of fluid they wanted him to have before going home.

Going HOME!!!  But unfortunately not for long!!  We got home and Dan-Dan and Pop brought us supper, we ate and went to bed around 7:30.  We were exhausted!!  Steve got a call out around 10:00 that night to go to a wreck and then around 11:00 Thomas threw up again!  He just threw up once and went back to sleep...but when he got up Saturday morning he had messed up his clothes...he had diarrhea, bless his sweet little heart!!  But he had a great day Saturday...he played all day.  The weather was soooo cold, so we just stayed in and he played.  I felt awful, so I stayed in bed pretty much all day.  Then around 7:30 or 8:00 Thomas started throwing up again and he did it all night about every 30 minutes or so!!

The Sick House

These are the sick ones!  Boy did we have a rough night last night and a rough morning today.  This afternoon has been better...praise God!  Steve started having "the runs" last night around 11 p.m. Then from that he started throwing up and that went on pretty much all night.  Around 4 a.m. Thomas called me and told me his tummy was really hurting.  Then in just a few minutes he was throwing up.  I have literally washed about 8 loads of clothes today...anything from bed clothes to towels to pajama's.  I gave Thomas his first suppositories this morning around 6:30 and he was not too happy about it.  But after the second one (later in the morning) he started making a turn around.  They are both feeling much better.  Thomas is playing for the first time today (you know he is sick when he never even mentions his toys) and Steve has gone outside for the first time today (you know he is sick when he stays in bed most of the day).  So far, Tori and I are good...I just hope it stays that way!

Miss Priss here slept right through all the commotion last night!  She got up well rested and made it to school...thank God!  Doesn't she look so pretty???  I truly think college agrees with her!  She is doing so well and I'll say it again...I am sooooo proud of you Tori!  Your Daddy and I are so blessed to call you our daughter!!

Week-Ends in Review

I have let these days just slip on past me and I have let my pictures pile up again!  I meant to do a post about now what was 2 week-ends ago this past week-end and guess what???? I didn't!  Now it is Tuesday (my birthday!) and now I have let 2 week-ends go by without a post.  So here it goes....this is from 2 week-ends ago.  It would be January 27, 28, and 29.  I remember the dates so well because we celebrated Lynn's birthday on January 28.  We ate at the Chinese restaurant in Troy.  We (Thomas, Steve, and I...Tori didn't make this trip) spent Friday (Jan. 27) night in Banks with Dan-Dan and Pop.  Steve, Pop, and Bradley hunted Friday afternoon and then all day Saturday.  Thomas and I left early on Saturday and went to Wal-Mart and then we went by to see Stan.  We then went home for a little while and then went back to Troy for the birthday party for Lynn.  Just a funny thing that we will probably look back on in years to come and find really funny....Thomas did not like deer being killed at all.  Pop ended up killing 2 deer that week-end and Thomas just thought it was a "shame", in his words! HA!  He was truly upset!!  But, I bet he won't always feel that way...one day he will be hunting for the "big one" too!

This was Pop's first deer of the week-end.  Thomas didn't see the other one that he killed Saturday morning.  We left before they got back with that deer because Thomas went to bed talking about the poor deer and got up talking about the poor deer!

This is what really put Thomas "over the edge" just seeing the deer hanging around HA!!

Thomas decided that he would slide down the hill of leaves on his boogey board.  We played all afternoon while the hunters were hunting!  We slid down hills, went for walks, jumped on the trampoline, and played on the swing.  That about does it for our Banks trip.  While at Wal-Mart I picked up Thomas a new shirt and tie and some new pants for church.  He and Steve looked like twins for church...they were very handsome!

That wraps up the week-end 2 week-ends ago!  They were the best dressed fellows at church!

This past week-end we just stayed around the house.  Thomas and I went with Steve down to the pond to burn down some cattails that were coming up around the pond.

Look how pretty those cattails were!  But not for long!

Steve set fire to them and they were gone and just a matter of a few minutes!

Not pretty anymore :( !!

While down at the pond, Thomas decided he would get in a little fishing!  The fish weren't biting, but you sure could have dipped them up with a dip net...they were swimming all around!

Debbie, Charles, and Aubrey came down for the week-end.  Mama cooked me a birthday supper.  We had  really yummy supper of grilled steaks and all the trimmings and my favorite part was the birthday cake with whipped cream icing....my FAVORITE!!

What a yucko picture of me...oh well...I had a very pretty cake...thanks Mom!  It was sooo delicious!  What a great birthday I have had.  I'm looking forward to the next 43 years!!

The Hodgepodge Post

Now that I finally got through with Chrismas 2011, this is just a mixture of different things I wanted to put on here just to journal them and so that I wouldn't forget them.

I was off for about 11 days during Christmas and it was GREAT!!  While I was off Krisi, my boss, had a moving sale and I got to go and I picked up a few items...one of which was this!  I got it for $5.00 and I think it looks great on my little round table!

This was another one of my $5.00 purchases!  I think these look great in the living room with my red couch!

My last item purchased was a lamp for Tori's room.  I think it looks perfect with her new bedding that Santa brought her.  We also went to Banks camping for Steve to go hunting.  We had a full camper...but we had lots of fun!

Bradley, Pop, and Steve were working on a trailer...they had taken a little break from hunting.

The girls got caught up with their rest!

Thomas LOVES jumping on the trampoline and it is really good excercise for me!!  I think he would jump all day.  But what he really loves is is to be bounced!

And, last but not least...Thomas picked up a ringworm somewhere along the way!  This was the picture that Steve took to send to Jim.  We thought that would save us a trip to Wetumpka, but ringworms are hard to get rid of, so we doctored on it for a while and could not get rid of it, so we ended up going to Wetumpka, but thank God we are finally almost rid of it!  Wow!  I think that gets me caught up on my blogging for the time being.  I hope I can keep from getting so far behind for now on!!

Christmas 2011 Part 3

This is still a continuation of Christmas 2011...maybe I will get caught up before Christmas 2012!

The Hawthorne's

Now, that gets us through Christmas Eve...now on to Christmas Day!!

This is what the playroom looked like after Santa came!  I think it was a little overwhelming to Thomas...look at that face!

Steve was just as excited about Tori's new gadget as she was...or may be more that she was!
Dan-Dan and Pop came to see what Santa brought and then we had church since Christmas fell on Sunday this year.  Then we went to Bon Jeans for lunch.  Aunt Pean, Ken, Stan, Sonya, and Marino got to come and we all had some good food and a good visit!  Oh....I almost forgot...Santa had left a go-cart in Steve's shop for Steve, Tori, and Thomas...but there again, I think Steve was the most excited about the go-cart!!

Aunt Pean really enjoyed coming to Mother's and enjoyed her lunch!  It was really good...all the food for Christmas was really good and I gained about 5 pounds! HA!!

We always have so much fun and so much to talk about when we get together and that is what the holidays are really all about, just being together and enjoying your family!  Christmas 2011 is now a memory, but it is a good memory.  We are so blessed and I hope we have a lot more Christmas memories to come!!

Christmas 2011 Part 2

We had just about as many presents at Bon Jeans and a couple of really excited yunguns!!  After we got finished opening presents, we went outside and did fireworks and had a bonfire...it was sooo much fun!

They look so sweet and innocent, but they are more that ready to start ripping some paper!!

Here is Tori sporting her new Alabama hat that Aunt Cindy, Uncle Dodd, Campell and Collins gave her(she is now an Alabama fan HA!).

Baby Collins got her a new ride and I think she liked it!  She really enjoyed Christmas this year!

Three generations!  I love the way the Christmas tree looks through the door in the background.