At Home With the Hardy's

Be Careful What You Pray For!!

2010-10-01T13:18:00.007-04:00

What a week and where do I begin??? I decided that it was pretty pertinent that I take a long bike ride today(we are talking 60-75 miles) since Tour de Roundo(100 mile ride) is next Saturday (Oct. 9) and I haven't been able to ride for almost 2 weeks due to my usual tire issues. For all you that know me well, I have a horrible habit of blowing tubes. And the funny thing is, until today, I have never been on my bike when the tire blew. As a matter of fact, when April and I rode together two weeks ago, she blew a tire that loudly went "PHPHPHPHPHHTTTTTT"! (actually I thought she farted real loud) and I graciously asked her, "So what is it like to be on the bike when the tire actually blows?" To help you better understand my bad luck, until today, my last two flat tires in the past two weeks(ooops, I meant three) occurred when my bike was either in the trunk of my car or just sitting in my garage! Back tire blew after a long 50 mile ride and and I was driving home with it in the back. Fixed that tire when I got home and noticed quite a bit of wear and tear on my front tire so I took it off my bike, put it in my car to transport to Main street Bicycle and that one blew in the back seat. Then, when my bike was propped up in the garage upside down with the tire forks up in the air (feeling very exposed, I am sure--hehehehe), my back tire goes flat,--again --all on its own( these tires have a mind of their own, I am telling you!!!!). Tried pumping it up but it wouldn't hold air. Changed it and it had a hole about an inch from the stem that was about 3/10 of an inch in diameter. So I changed that tire and he is doing fine right now (Should I go outside and check him???? No!) Anyway, when I started out on my bike ride this morning with April, I had two new tubes and one new tire (new tire on the front--keep that in mind!!) So it started out as a great morning, April and I riding down these beautiful Summerville roads and in beautifual weather! Couldn't ask for much more except a greasy cheeseburger and large fry! Around mile 35, while on Central Aveneue, I hear "Thump, thump, thump". I thought, "That sounds like Sheila's thump thump thump when we had to change her tire in front of Legacy Farms" (except I bet that is the only one of her two flat tires she has ever had to change. Hmmf!) So I pulled over and filled my front flat tube with my CO2 cartridge and it held the air! I was like whoa! Another first! Any other time, the air just flowed right out (like at Paris Island, right Scott?) Well I had to call April because she was riding hard and fast and did not realized I had stopped so I met her at the CVS on the corner of Central and realized most of the air had leaked out(obvious signs of a slow leak??). So I pulled out my second air cartridge and thought, "Ha! This will do it! If I can atleast get to the blinking light at Jedburg Road, I can walk home from there. So I filled her up, hopped on the bike, and as soon as I started pumping my little short, fat legs, I heard the thump, thump, thump!! So guess what!! This bike ride turned into a freakin' brick!! I ran/walked the last three miles home. Now April rode on to her house because I told her to and she offered to come and get me in her car, but I refused. And before anyone starts yelling at me, I know all of you would have dropped what you were doing to come and pick me up. I know that Tina, Sheila, and Kristin would have taken their lunch hours to do that for me, wouldn't ya'll have? But I was only three miles from home!! Well as I began my long journey of three miles home on scary Old Orangeburg Road, I began to get really angry. I kept having all these trucks with empty beds ride by, you know the big bubba trucks, the work trucks, the logging trucks, and the cement trucks, the many, many minivans, the Sports Medic transport van, and no one offered me a ride. I might have taken some stranger up on a ride offer. After all, I did have my can of mace that Bill makes me ride with. I'm not scared as long as I have my mace!!! But I mean, you know, we see cyclers on Orangeburg Road all the time but they are on their bike, not walking it like a dog. Oh and let me explain why I didn't try to change my tire. (Another story here but you will get the shortened version! Last night I had to go to Nason Mdical center to extract the very large splinter that I did not realize I had in my finger from the Mudrun. My fourth finger, third section was definitely infected but I had thought I had gotten the whole splinter out last Saturday. Well, Dr. Nason(nice looking man that he is!) sliced it open and pushed out this splinter that was as wide in diameter as an unsharpened pencil lead and 1/4 to 1/2 inch long!! Cost me $230.00 bucks! So not only did I use up my two air cartridges already, there is no way I could change a tire with that little blue tool and have to push and shove it with my right hand like this. (Maybe next week I can handle it when the next tire blows!) So back to the passing cars. Yep everything passed me including 3-4 people that I knew. Now maybe they didn't recognize me (I will give them the benefit of the doubt here). But again, how many bikers do you see with helmet on, Agility Racing shirt on, big bright pink bandaged finger, walking their bike down Old Orangeburg? Wouldn't I have turned your head for a second look??? I am sure my gut and butt were jiggling! But there is a good chance if I see these 3-4 people on the side of the road with a blown tire, whether it be on their car, bike, or shoe, I'm not stopping. No I will stop and say, "I don't mind stopping to help you even though you couldn't stop and help me the other day........") (just kidding). I 'd stop and not say anything unlike my husband who would stop and say a lot. So anyway, as I got to the four way stop at Butternut and Old Orangeburg the spirit spoke to me. He said, Alice, you dummy, you asked for this! Don't you remember! After blowing a tire in Paris Island, you prayed to Heavenly Father to help you learn all you need to know about the mechanics of your bike and how to change those skinny little tires (I like the tires on my car better and I wish those were even bigger but my husband is too cheap to buy me the ones I want--their like $400 a piece and hum when you ride....) And then I realized that is why I have had so many flats. Heavenly father is giving me practice!!!!! And being safe about because I haven't been on my bike when any of them blew! (For those of you that don't know, I am a very careful person and I have a lot of fears that I am overcoming everyday like riding bikes,and doing mudruns and stuff like that. (You should have seen me when I learned to swim! God bless Jessica!--she taught me how!) So that is what is going on! I figured it out. Because, you know, I have become a pretty good tire changer since March. By this time, I had reached the blinking light and I started giggling and counting my blessings. I am such a lucky person. If a flat tire is all I have to complain about, then so be it. I have no injuries to complain about. My feet feel good, my joints feel great. I don't have back problems. I breathe well. Just have a few mechanical issues! SO by now I am back in my neighborhood and this big cement truck pulls up and stops next to me. The guy looks out the window and says, "Girl! You are hot!" And I thought, "How am I supposed to take this? I AM hot after this little workout this morning". And then he continues on," Girl, you are smokin'! I saw you walking way down Old Orangeburg. You must be walking fast!" My first thought was,"A*&^*^!! Why didn't you offer me a ride then!!??" My second thought was to grab my mace and just start spraying. But i just giggled and said,"Yeah. I'm smokin'!" On a mechanical note, I am not sure why those tires keep going flat, but I have more practice than anyone else that rides with me when it come to those skinny tubes!! The holes have appeared in various places or no holes at all can be found. I have let other people change the tire in case it is the mechanic's issue (that would be me!) But I am done with it! I am taking my bike up to Main Street bike. For $15 dollars a wheel, they will change the tube, check the rim, and everything else and that includes the price of the new tube. Not bad. If I don't do this, I will spend that amount or more in tubes before the month of October is over. I mean, I pretty much already own stock in Kenda (the tube company) already! And then I am going to get me some closet time and spend a few minutes talking to Heavenly Father after I put my kids and Bill to sleep. I think it is time that I ask for a little mercy and let him know that I have a little more confidence in my tire changing abilities and to thank him for all these wonderful opportunities of flat tubes that he has given me. All you peeps that are riding with me next Saturday at the Tour De Roundo--I want you to make sure you have an extra air cartridge and an extra tube in the back pocket of your jersey just for me. And add an extra hour to your estimated finish time for tire changing purposes, just in case!!! Thanks for letting me vent!!! Did anyone read this whole thing????

My Tribute to Reagan

2010-05-19T08:22:00.010-04:00

Hello World! Yes, I know it has been almost a year since I have posted on my blog! It has been a busy year and there hasn't been any quiet time for me to sit down and work on it. So I am going to try and do some catching up in the next few days and give a run down of the past year in the next few posts. School is out for Reagan and I figure that gives me 1.5-2 hours less time in the car driving, picking up and dropping off. And then I will try to keep up with my blog! This is my tribute to my middle child Reagan who is the sweetest child on Earth! She "graduated from Pre-K4" yesterday and it is just hard to believe that she will be going to kindergarten next year. I am not looking forward to getting her out of bed at 6:00 am as she sleeps like a rock!

Here are a few pics of my sweet girl during her K4 year at Bethany:

This is Reagan and Bill at Daddy's Day back during the winter months. (Can't remember if it was January or February!).......

And here she is at Fire Safety Day.........
Halloween.......(she was supposed to be a green dragon but since it was 90 degrees outside that day we chose to wear something cooler (temperature wise and attitude wise--Go Cocks!!)........
Thanksgiving--Reagan was an Indian named Running Dog...........

At Christmas time........... (she is so cute, I had to put two pics here)......

Just a random day at school with her favorite shirt.........And then her 5th birthday in May.......

I love you, Rea-Rea!

2nd Mission Acomplished!

2009-06-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

On June 27, 2009, I complete my first triathlon in Greenville, SC and I am very proud of myself. I started, very slowly, training back in January. I had to learn to run and learn to swim. We (Jessica and I) trained 5-6 days a week (Kristin joined us a few weeks later after we twisted her arm off) and it turned out to be quite fun training. This tri was a sprint meaning the distances were shorter than other types of triathlons such as internationals and ironmans. My swim was a 300 m swim in a pool, a 9 mile bike ride, and then a 5k ( 3mile) run. Going into this triathlon, I was very nervous about the swim since I had just learned to swim a few months ago. There was no need to worry! I ended up passing the girl in front of me and had to doggy paddle a few times to avoid running into the big bald guy in front of me. ( I couldn't pass him! I was too scared!)

I was looking forward to the bike ride part of the race until I got to Greenville and realized how big their hills are. We have no hills here in the Lowcountry and I have not trained on any hills. Needless to say, I did not sleep much that night because I was really not sure if I would make it through the bike part of this race.(I had forgotten about the swimming at this point). But I hopped on my bike (had a good adrenaline rush since I did not drown in the pool!) and told myself to "Do it!" As you can see in this first picture below, there was a small hill just to get out the parking lot. As I continued on the track, life became quite fun! I approached my first downhill and had my bike going about 33 miles per hour! WoooooHooooooo!! and then I had to go back uphill. By the time I got to the top of the next hill, I was only going about 5 miles per hour and then the whole process started over with the next hill. I was elated when I finished these nine miles of hills!!
This is me coming in on my beautiful red bike, "Hot Tamale". She is my best friend.
The 5K run was great. It was almost totally flat and I ran the whole way. Here I am crossing the finish line!!!!!!

This is a picture of my tri buddies, Kristin, Jessica, and me after the race as we glisten with sweat.

And here we are with my fan club, Jordan and Reagan.
Here is the calf shot. The numbers represent our ages at the end of the year and the letters represent our category.
And Logan was so excited through the whole thing, she fell asleep with a chocolate chip cookie in her hand. Needless to say, she did not see me cross the finish line.
And here I am with my two older babies, Jordan and Reagan!We went back to the hotel and showered quickly before a big lunch at Chili's. We ended that meal with one of those delicious desserts that they have--that chocolate chip paradise pie one! MMMMMGGGGooooooddddddd!!! While we were driving home, it became really quiet in the back of the car. I was still pumped up from the tri so I just couldn't understand why everyone else was so quiet so I turned around and this is what I saw:

I could say they were snoring and had boogers hanging out of their noses, but then I would be lying. Jessica and Reagan were zonked out!!

What a great adventure this tri was and there will be many more to come! Everyone needs to watch out for the three of us next year--We are Team JKA( Jessica, Kristin, & Alice or Just Kickin' A$$!--take your pick!)

CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!!

2009-06-20T21:31:00.001-04:00

Today we went to the hair stylist and literally chopped off Jordan and Reagan's hair. We knew Reagan's hair was plenty long enough to give to Locks of Love and luckily so was Jordan's. (This is the 2nd time Jordan has given her her hair to Locks of Love.) So here are the pictures from the big event.

Jordan -- Before the cut:

Reagan -- Before the cut:

Jordan --During the cut:
Finished Product!
And then Reagan -- During the cut:
Side view of the finished product:
The Hardy girls with their new looks!

Logan's 1st Trip to the Beach

2009-06-20T21:21:00.000-04:00

Logan definitely fits into the Hardy family--she loves the beach! She loved watching everyone do their thing and just giggled when the seagulls swooped down to eat her Cheerios that she was throwing on the ground.

She enjoyed making sand castles like her sisters!

She even tried swimming with the help of Daddy!

The Hardy's 1st Camping Trip

2009-05-30T22:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, you read that title right! We, the Hardys, went camping. Thanks to the Orchard family, who are all seasoned campers, we spent Memorial Day weekend at Santee and we had a blast! Below is the picture of the Hardy tent that I purchased at Costco all by myself--picked it out and all! Notice that it was large enough to hold two queen-size mattresses and a playyard. Needless to say, we all slept pretty comfortably that weekend.

Here are my three girls one morning after they rolled out of their tent and were waiting for breakfast to be cooked. It was perfect weather--not too cold and not too hot!

This is Chef Orchard, aka Mr. Scott, cooking one of our many meals over the open fire in a dutch oven. We cooked peach cobbler and cinnamon rolls that ended up being some of the best cobbler and rolls ever devoured by humans! For proof, just look at the picture of my husband, Bill. He never lets a crumb of goodness get by him! Notice he has another plate sitting by the one he is eating off of. What a G.D.--garbage disposal, that is!
And Chef Orchard is back at it again. This time, he prepared bacon and sausage in the cast iron skillet over an open fire. Notice the anticipation on everyone's face--they can't wait to sink their teeth into the meat!
We did not get to do a whole lot of swimming in the lake. It was very high and what was supposed to be a sandy beach was actually the sandy bottom. The water was also still a little bit cold but it didn't stop the little boogers from getting what was supposed to be just their feet wet to getting the whole body wet.
And here is a picture of the two little princesses relaxing at the campsite. I am not sure what was up with the left arms hanging out of the car seats but the little ones had a good time, too.
Bill attempted to do a little fish but he caught nothing. He tried for several hours but to no avail. Maybe next time, Bill. However, I can not recall him ever having much luck fishing?????
We also went on a future nature trails which was one of my favorite, and Logan's too, parts of the whole trip. As you can see, she had the best ride on the trail--daddy's shoulders.
And if he didn't walk fast enough or in the right direction, she just pulled his hair.

We also met some new friends while camping. Meet the "cool" white spider that was hanging out on the fire pit. I am sure she got word ahead of time that we were coming and that great food was going to be cooked on this pit this weekend.
And here is our other buddy--not quite sure what he was! He was way too big to be a lizard and did not quite look like a skink. He had a couple of brothers and sisters that we kept running into also. This little fella lived in a big log next to our campsite and was a little bashful. He ran everytime we tried to talk to him!

We had a great time camping and can not wait for our next trip in the fall or spring (when we get the chance)when the weather is just right for it again. We give a big Thanks to the Orchards for this great initiation camping trip!

Must Take After Their Mother.......

2009-05-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

I walked into the back room the other day and this is what I found:

Logan and Reagan sharing a lollipop. At this very early stage in Logan's life, you can not bring a lollipop within ten feet of her unless you plan on sharing!

It seems that the Tootie Roll Pops seem to be the group favorite here in our house and it doesn't help that Grandmomma brings a bag for each kid every time she comes over. But, hey, atleast the kids are as smart as me--they know something good when they see it!!

LOOK AT ME!!!

2009-05-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

On May 19, 2009, the day finally arrived when my last little baby pulled herself to a standing position. My baby is growing up! And she is so proud of herself!

Pick Those Strawberries!

2009-05-19T16:41:00.000-04:00

This year, we took the whole family strawberry picking including Grandmomma. Grandmomma, Bill, Jordan, and I picked away. Logan hung out in the stroller, and Reagan just kind of did her thing which did not involve picking strawberries. (We are working on Reagan's work ethics!) This is Jordan eating one her strawberries. The strawberries were huge and plentiful. As you can see from the pictures, the strawberries were beautiful. We just wanted to keep on picking and picking and picking.

Here is Grandmomma and Reagan in the strawberry patch. Like I said, Reagan enjoyed carrying a basket around but there was not a whole lot of picking going on with her.

And here is Logan on her first strawberry picking trip and I do believe she likes the strawberries. By the time she finished eating one berry, her white onesie was totally red on the front from the juice. Thank goodness for Clorox!

Reagan's 4th Birthday

2009-05-17T16:12:00.000-04:00

About two months ago, (yes I am very far behind in my postings!) Reagan had her 4th birthday party and she insisted on having it on a playground like her friend Addison did a few weeks earlier. Unlucky for us, it was the hottest day of the spring. The temperature peaked out at 92 degrees, and needless to say, the party lasted all of an hour and 15 minutes because everyone was ready to get back into the air conditioning. We had just enough time to play for a few minutes, eat cake, and open presents. I think next year we are going to have to think of an alternative plan that involves sprinklers and such.

Here is Reagan as we sang Happy Birthday to her: (She just loved getting all the attention!)

And here she is ripping open all her presents:
Thanks to all those wonderful friends and their families that braved the heat to celebrate my Ray Ray's birthday!

Busy, Busy, Busy,

2009-05-01T16:33:00.000-04:00

O .K. O.K. O.K. I know that I have not made a post in a while but we have been so busy around here. We have spent every evening playing in the yard until dark due to the nice spring weather. We have done lots of landscaping to our yard and we have finally cleaned out the yard and met my standards (somewhat on cleanliness) after living here for 18 months. We have been cutting coupons, organizing our coupons, cleaning house, even doing some occasional laundry. and we even cook our meals, too! Now that school is out, we have had vacation Bible school, swim lessons, and horseback riding. And I have still found time somewhere to train for my triathlon which is this weekend!! You would think we Hardy's must be the Energizer bunnies! I have noticed , though, as I looked through some pictures since I am so behind in my blogging, that our batteries run out at the most inopportune times. For example, Look at Reagan:

What kid would fall asleep with a cup of Crystal Light Fruit Punch in front of her and a nice warm toasted cheese sandwich? I even cut the crust off of it for her. It had to have been dead batteries.

And then there is Logan:

This kid was watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Who falls asleep watching "shake your sillies out"? My gosh, I think the show is so annoying, I can't fall asleep. It must be the batteries again.

I have no pictures of Jordan falling asleep in the middle of an activity. I think she runs on solar energy because she definitely keeps going, and going and going....hope I do that in my triathlon this coming weekend!!

ROCKETSHIP!

2009-04-08T16:17:00.007-04:00

Well it has been a pretty boring spring break around the Hardy house and the weather has not helped. It has been cold and windy and my girls have been stuck inside all day. I left them in the den while I went to work on the computer. I heard quite a commotion and I

looked to see what was going on and they were playing ROCKETSHIP!

However from the look on Logan's face:

It must have been a rough landing!

The Hardy Boys

2009-03-30T08:15:00.008-04:00

I just wanted to introduce everyone to the Hardy Boys. They are Conan and Junior Hardy.

This is Conan:
This handsome mutt is 11.5 years old and was found on the streets of North Charleston. In his early years, he was quite "gangsta" and it took us a couple of years to domesticate him and turn him into the lapdog/yarddog that he is today. As I sat outside this past Sunday afternoon I realized while watching him how much he has become like his father Bill. You know they say dogs look and act like their owners. Bill and Conan have gotten quite gray over the years. Conan is going deaf and blind and sometimes I think that is happening to Bill when I tell him things or when he leaves everything that he owns laying around the house. He just doesn't seem to hear me when I tell him to do things and he just doesn't seem to see his junk laying all over the house, garage, and yard. Like father, like son........

And then there is Junior:

Isn't he just the cutest little fat dog you have ever seen? At the age of 10.5, he is just like his momma. Look at the double chins. Look at the short legs and big belly! He has the sweetest disposition and gets so excited when Jordan gets home from school. He sits by the backdoor and waits for them because he knows they are coming out to play. He gets just as excited to see the girls as I do! He (obviously) loves to eat--just like his momma. Like mother, like son......

1ST MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

2009-03-28T20:04:00.006-04:00

Hey All! I am proud to announce that I completed my 1st 5K run this morning. Jessica and I ran the 1st Annual Ridge Run through Legend Oaks. According to the man standing next to me at the starting line, this was a very small race. When the gun went off, everyone ran fast and left me in the dust. However, I am very happy to say that I passed two people in the 3rd mile and I was not the last one to cross the finish line. There were some walkers behind me--HeHeHe! It was a great way to start the morning despite the high humidity and nasty little gnats knawing all over us. I am really glad to say that I ran this race 3-4 minutes faster than I normally run 3 miles. I can't wait until the next run! My next goal is to finish a triathlon in June along with a couple more 5Ks betwenn now and then. Whoohooo!

Here I come across the finish line!

THE HOT TAMALE

2009-03-25T15:58:00.005-04:00

Well, here she is. She arrived several weeks ago and I just got the nerve to take her out for a spin just last night. I have purchased my first official road bike to use in the triathlons in May and June and whatever else we decide to participate in. So I guess this makes it official. Since I invested in a new road bike, there will be no more "I am thinking about doing a triathlon." I am now officially committed and I will take the time to register when I finish this blog. I also bought a new silicone swim cap from Target. Jessica told me that the silicone caps won't pull my hair as bad but the only thing I think of when I hear silicone is Sir Mix-A-Lot singing, "Silicone parts are made for toys...." So how did my first spin around the block go? Well Hot Tamale, made out of aluminum, is so lightweight that I almost fell off. If you notice from the picture, road bikes are built like boy bikes. If you fall off, it could hurt very badly. However, it is much easier to ride than my ol' $59 Walmart bike!! I sure hope I can get her up to about 25 mph and maintain that speed for all the tris! Right now, Ijust need a good lesson on how to shift the gears.

What Is Up With the Pony Tails?

2009-02-27T20:05:00.003-05:00

Here is our latest fad at the Hardy House--we have to wear our hair in pony tails! I am not sure why--but they insist!!!

The Antique Pajamas

2009-02-27T14:59:00.011-05:00

Wow! This thought hit me the other night when I was putting these pajamas on Logan. I noticed how faded they were and how old looking they were and I continued thinking. I remembered Reagan wearing these pajamas, and Jordan, too. Then I just thought about how they were hand-me-downs from my sister Susan's kids. And then it hit me. I remember seeing my nephew, Murray, wearing these pajamas and he is going to be 19-years-old in May. So do the math--these pajamas are 19-years-old. They are in great shape! No holes and the zipper works. We love wearing them. Notice Logan modeling in the following pictures.

She can almost turn her head 180 degreess when she wears them.

She can lift her arm up really high--good stretch in the material.

She can even stretch her abs. What great pj's!! I am just so glad I kept these pajamas. When we moved a little over a year ago (before we realized we were having Logan), I went through all my baby clothes and gave away everything except for the layettes that my girls wore home from the hospital, our smocked dresses, and a few other precious items. I had no idea I was keeping such old pajamas!

It's Gettin' Rough Out There!

2009-02-27T14:42:00.010-05:00

Jordan started playing on the Academy soccer team this season. We made this decision because we felt it was time for her to learn the real game of soccer with all the positions and rules. She plays on the U10 Girls team at theSummerville Soccer Club. She is the youngest girl on the team and definitely has the most to learn. I caught this picture just by chance. As you can see, the other girls are quite a bit bigger than her (Jordan is in the blue jersey)but she still plays pretty aggressive. She was throwing out some elbows on this girl and was called down by the referee in the game. (I don't know who would have taught her this-I never would have done that! Must have been her daddy.) It was quite funny because Jordan is not a rough child at all but sometimes on the soccer field you better watch out! Logan gets a kick out of going to the soccer games to watch her sister play too. She has her own personal chair that she hardly ever sits in!

WE LOVE THIS BIRD!!!

2009-02-27T13:48:00.005-05:00

We just love our Cocky! We had to go to Columbia last weekend for Jordan to play in soccer games and Cocky was there. He was there with USC's girls soccer team and they were having a clinic for the younger soccer players of Columbia. Reagan was so happy to have her picture taken with Cocky!

My Valentine's Day Flowers

2009-02-27T13:33:00.007-05:00

I just wanted to share pictures of my beautiful Valentine's Day Flowers that my dear husband gave me two days before Valentine's Day. I just know he spent hours trying to figure out which flowers to get me. (Can you feel the sarcasm?) When he gave them to me on Feb. 12, it went like this: Bill walks in the front door and says "Hello Honey! I am home!" I look over at him and he is holding about 40 of these big white and yellow looking flowers. They are not wrapped in plastic. So I said, "Where did you pick these from?" And he just grinned. So I proceeded with my questioning, "So where did you work today?" He said, "Guess!" So I looked closely at the flowers and realize I have seen these before. I have seen them on the tables at Chick-Fil-A! "So you worked at Chick-Fil-A today?" and he said "Yes, I did and they were going to throw these old flowers out so I brought them home to you!" Gotta love having a thrifty, don't waste a penny husband.....and two weeks later he goes out and buys a gun for $350.00! My Goodness! Let me share a little background behind this story. When Bill and I were first married, he used to work for Pearlstein Distributors in grocery stores all the time. He worked in several of the Piggly Wiggly's that had florists and he was always bringing me home flowers that were being thrown out by the store. We always had fresh flowers at home. However, I can think of twice in ours lives where he has bought me flowers and I gave him such a hard time for wasting money on cut flowers, he now buys me flower bushes I can put in the yard.

I am a SURVIVOR!!!!

2009-02-27T09:56:00.010-05:00

YES! I survived my first--and I am sure there are many more to come--birthday party for Jordan in our home. In the past we have always been able to just have a small get together with a few friends and family at our all time favorite Chick-Fil-A but this year Jordan started planning this huge 18-person slumber party that she thought she was having for her birthday. NOT!! I am not ready for the major sleepover yet. I am sure I would be driving home half of the 6-year-olds home in the middle of the night and I do not like to be disturbed when I am sleeping! Over a matter of time, I was able to talk her into having a party on her brithday which was Friday, the 13th, with about 6 friends.

We had Savannah, Samantha, Jayden, Josie, Grace, Alex, and Kylie over. We actually had a great time. When all the girls came over, they played outside well past dark and then came in for pizza, cake, and ice cream. We then became artsy-crafty and made Valentines for their parents. Then came the presents.

Then I put Bill in charge and they played the Wii for the rest of the evening. There was a lot of girly giggling and shrieking going on, and for those of you that know me well, I am not girly. I looked at my mother at one point in the evening and said, "God gave me three daughters. How in the world am I going to survive three girly birthday parties a year for how many years??!! Because, you know, we had so much fun, Reagan is now already planning her birthday party in May. I guess I better get ready!!

We Are The Hardy's

2009-01-24T09:57:00.023-05:00

I am writing this post for those of you who do not know us or have not seen or heard from us in years. Or maybe you know who we are but you know very little about us. Bill and I met in May of 1995 at--of all places...the gym. He had come home from college and I was teaching at Fort Dorchester High School and teaching aerobic classes and personal training in the evenings. We ended up dating for close to 3.5 years and were civilly married on July 25, 1998 and we were married for eternity and sealed in the South Carolina Temple on July 26, 2005. We are married FOREVER--even after death. Like my dad told Bill on our wedding day, "This is not Walmart--no exchanges and no returns!" ( I thought about asking, "What about a gift card?", but I didn't.)

After about 3 years into our marriage, we gave birth to our first little blessing. We just knew for sure that we were going to have a little baby boy but instead we were given the most beautiful little girl in the whole world. Jordan was born in February of 2002 and she was (and still is!)a great baby. Thank goodness she was the first born child because she was an easy baby. To this day, she is still pretty laid back as long as we don't change her routine since she is our creature of habit. When we get ready for school in the morning we pee, get dressed, fix hair, brush teeth, and then put on our socks. Do not dare change the order of this routine or the whole world might explode or something! But I can not complain about this girl at all. I have heard other parents complain about issues of dressing their children but not me. Jordan will wear anything I lay out for her (as long as it is not a dress or skirt)--but of course there are certain shoes that you must only wear to certain places--don't change the routine!! She has been playing soccer since she was 4 years old and loves it. She started taking horseback riding lessons about a year ago and has just excelled with it. I do not know where her love for horses comes from because those big ol' animals kind of scare me.

About three years later in May of 2005, our second little blessing came along that we lovingly call Ray Ray. Her real name is Reagan and my mother calls her "Little Alice". Yes, she has a lot of my characteristics but she is a lot cuter than I ever was. I call her my "free spirit" and sometimes (actually a lot of times) I call her "wildfire" because she is nothing but wild fun. There is no routine with this child and she likes to try new foods--she even eats ceasar salad and crab legs! She is quite the jokester and I can usually get her to play a joke on just about anyone and she just loves to laugh. She is the kind of kid that you can watch play all day long and just laugh and laugh. She sings at the top of her lungs usually songs that she has made up. She has been playing soccer for a year now and she is into her gymnastics. She is the most loving child and we can spend a whole day curled up in the chair together. If there are little babies around, they better watch out because Reagan will be taking care of them.

Just when we just knew we were done having babies (even though we occasionally wondered if we should have a third one and try for a boy), we realized we were going to have another baby (yes--totally unplanned and we are still trying to figure out how this one happened!). This sweet blessing was born in July of 2008 and we named her Logan. I knew all along that it was a girl. How could I have a boy? All I know about are smocked dresses, pony tails, and bows. This little bundle of joy has developed into quite a "Momma's girl". She is with me 24/7 except when she goes into the gym's nursery. If someone else holds her she will start to whine. (What a great feeling to be so loved!) And this little booger has blue/green eyes whereas both her big sisters have brown eyes. (I think this one is going to look like me.) She is now six months old and is much more demanding than her sisters ever were. And boy does she have a temper. Watch out world!!

Now a little on Bill and me --he started his own business called PMS, LLC about 4 years ago. No, he is not an ob/gyn or anything like that. It stands for Preventive Maintenance Services, LLC and he works in a lot of restaurants on their equipment. He tells me all the time what he does in these restaurants but I don't understand a thing he is talking about. I just nod my head and say , "wow!". I keep the books for his business (ask me if I get a paycheck--not!) and take my kids to school and back, cook food, work out, keep the house clean, and try to keep us organized (I can be a little OCD on this one). I am not a soccer mom--I refuse to drive a van! I do take the kids to soccer practice, though, and I hit up on Target a lot too! We are big Carolina Gamecock fans and we even live in a black and garnet house! We have two small dogs named Conan and Junior who are 11 and 10 years old respectively.

It's a New Year!!

2009-01-22T13:57:00.004-05:00

It's a new year and now that it is almost the end of January, it is time to evaluate how far I have gotten with all of my New Year's Resolutions or should I call them goals? I have somewhat accomplished one of these goals today--to start blogging--thanks to my ol' pal Jessica who keeps me from looking like an old fart when it comes to computers. She has to show me how to do everything on the computer!! But once I get started, I usually do pretty good on my own. Such as now as I write my first post and I am all alone except for a sleeping Logan (that's my 6 month old daughter). Now for my other resolutions--let's look at the one about losing 80 lbs.--ok, ok--losing 50 lbs. Not much success here but I am working out a lot and eating a lot. I have decided to run a couple of 5Ks this spring--again thanks to my ol' pal Jessica--she wants me to run a triathlon with her!! Go ahead and laugh because I did. Actually, I am considering it--if I can only learn to swim well. I can ride the bike and I have been running--ran 1.5 miles last night and I have only been running for about two weeks!! But my swimming has a lot to desire. Doggy paddling won't work in a triathlon. So as I continue to train for these little 5Ks and a possible tri, I hope I will lose that weight. I am sure if I cut out pizza, cheeseburgers, and rollos that that would help to. I wanted to start scrapbooking again which I haven't touched in over a year but I think I am overtaken by the blogging right now. This is more fun! I got a brand new slow cooker for Christmas and my resolution was to cook one good meal in it every week-- I have cooked two so far this year and one was a pot roast that was pretty good. That was the first time I had ever cooked a pot roast and I threw in carrots and potatoes too--over rice! Tasted as good as my momma's!! I will further evaluate next month! Hope I make some progress on the weight loss goal and I know how to swim by then!!