ADD & A Church Bus

Well this has to be one of the funniest memories I can recall . My sweet brother had a terrible problem growing up and stayed into horrible trouble , In the 80's people didn't know nothing about ADD and they were really just experimenting on kids and my poor brother was one of them . We now know he had a very bad case of ADDHD and was on tons of different medications which some had very horrible effects on him I remember him getting really bad ticks and shacks so bad it was like he was convulsing . But before all that my brother would wake up before anyone else and just leave , I mean leave the house whether it was 6am or 7am no matter in his underwear or what, most times he would come back , I never really remember my parents being worried about it ( that is weird now that I think about it , I would have been crazy ) But this one day it got to be late and NO CHRIS !!!! My parents started to get concerned and sent me to look for him , which I did I went to neighbor and up the street and all over , then when I was riding my bike up the driveway I saw the church bus coming and then it stopped in front of my house , Off steps my 4 year old brother in his ninja turtle pajamas , no shoes or anything , But as happy as he can be . WE could not believe that the church bus let him get on like that but come to find out he had been doing it ...... Scary !!!!!! But I have to say that church was a God sent for my brother and me ... I did not realize it until I became an adult but that was the start to my faith .After we found out he was doing that I started catching the bus with him and No matter what the event that bus came around , Revivals ,functions anything.I remember this one time it was a out door revival and after it was over we had deer stew that they had cooked in a HUGE cast iron skillet over a fire while revival was going on ! I just loved it ...... See that tiny little church holds a huge spot in my heart because at one of those revivals in a tiny room with dark brown paneling and white tables with little red bibles on it I got SAVED !!!!!!! As I think about that church what great people of GOD ! That even if you stood and the end of the driveway in ninja turtle PJ's they would except you and love you just like God would!!!!!

Up In Flames (5)

As a kid some of my greatest memories are of playing in the woods , we could just spend all day playing, some days we would see how deep we could go. I have to say sometimes we came upon some beautiful sights, seeing those things through a child's eyes are just magical . The way the big thick vines swung from tree to tree , mossy creeks flowing quietly down the hill, with just a touch of sun light coming through the trees it was truly what I feel a piece of heaven will be like . But the best part would have to be the day after a big ice or snow storm you see after that in the woods HUGE trees would fall and sometimes leave a a big hole in the ground.Well one year us kids got very lucky and after a Storm a big tree fell and left the Biggest hole I had ever seen . We had to slide down into the hole and when we stood up it was still way over our head and at least 3 people wide .It was amazing! It became our camp we collect tree limbs and covered the top fixed it up just for us and brought food and goods ! It was the best ! Only one problem ... it was the winter time and it got cold , we would end up playing all day so we had to come up with a plan to stay warm . As much as I hate to admit this it was my idea to start a FIRE! Which we did and it worked without a hitch we played there a lot through the rest of the winter Shane Stephanie and I . AS all things do it got old and soon we moved on to other adventures. Spring came and I decided to go back and check on our camp , it looked good so I decided to make a fire and clean out all the leaves at the bottom, NOT a good idea ...... soon the fire got way out of control and all could think to do was run !!!!!! Luckily a lady on the road saw smoke coming from the top of the tree and call 911 . I will never forget all the Fire truck on our road ! I think now how bad that could have been and it scares me, I know God was with me that day ! I thought no one would ever know seeing as I was the only one there , but funny how parents can since things . My father said "What did you do!!!!" I said.." nothing " As he took a step toward my shoes picked them up and there it was black suet all over the bottom were I had tried to stomp it out . Lets just say that summer was not a fun one!

Home (4)

It has took me a while to decide whether or not to blog about my home life as a child because it could offend or hurt some peoples feelings . Having said that I believe it is the only way you can understand my connection and bond with my best friend and her family which I will talk about alot....... So here we go .

My mother and father got married very young , and knowing my dad now I really think he had a dream of a fairy tale life with a women he would always have overwhelming passion for , but as we all know sometimes the passion fades quick and life takes hold . I remember my Dad coming home in the afternoons eating dinner and right away leaving to go " play Tennis" with a lady 3 house down from us everyday and on weekends to .This a lady named Clyde was married and was about 17 or 18 years older then him. One night my mother had all she could take and sent me in the middle of the night to check on my father . So here I go in my blue snoopy rain boots and pink barbie night gown .I did see my dad and he was laying in the bed with Clyde and they where watching a tennis match . My 4 year old self did go back and tell my mom " yes he is there and they are in the bed " ...... AS I stood there under the street light watching my mom and Clyde fight it out I realized what I had done and for a long time I believed it was my fault for their divorce. I didn't see my mother after that day for 2 years.She was so much in love with my father it just broke her and she had nervous break down and had to go to a hospital to get well ... as I was told . It was like see just one day died and I didn't see her anymore .
Very shorty after my mom left Clyde moved in ...... yes moved 2 doors down .I remember thinking as little as I was, don't her husband care that she will be living here now. I don't think he did because if things had been bad before with my mom and dad fighting alot , well it was about to get worse a lot worse . When my Dad told me Clyde would be moving in he told me how much she would love me and my brother and take such good care of us !!!! Well there was only one problem with that she was a full on total and complete drunk.One might say sloppy drunk . I have to say Clyde was a functioning drunk she went to work everyday and was a great cook but at night it got bad . There was to be no touching of my dad no hugging or loving we were to play outside til dark and come home eat dinner, one show on the floor and then to bed EVERYDAY no change .If we did not do those thing we would pay that night. She would wait til my dad went to sleep and fling our door open and chock us til we couldn't breath. Then after a few months of that it changed she started getting my dad involved . She would start on him as soon as we went to bed about how bad we were and that he need to punish us..... Finally when he had enough he would come in our room middle of the night ( which we know was coming ) Pull us out of the bed take us to the living room ,stand us up in front of her and beat us. The first few times I just remember staring at her smiling as he did it then after a while I just knew to go numb. and it would be over soon .I remember him picking us up under our arms and slamming us against the wall , And it was like I was not even there , I would just leave my body for a few minutes. When I think about my poor brother who we know now had ADDHD I can't tell you what things like that have done to him and still effects him today . I remember one night some how some way the police was called to our house and they talked to me and my brother but believe me we knew to keep our mouth SHUT ! After the police came things did let up some , and I started to notice the more time I spent away from the house the more Clyde liked it . It could just be her and my dad and that is the way they wanted it . I could stay at a friends house 2 weeks and they didn't care a bit . So it turns out the house across the street the one with the sweet little girl that house would become my refuge.

Down in the Howler (3)

After Dusty moved out and new family moved in and boy they were a lively bunch .I remember alot of yelling and always police being at there house , I even remember some of the neighbors sitting out at night to listen to the fight that went on , living at the bottom of the mountain everything ecohed and you could here for miles . They did not care at all, it was strange...I mean my family had it problems but they were bad . I did befriend the girl living there we caught the bus together in the morning and we became friends but soon after they moved in , she said they were moving again .( When I look back now I realized they moved alot I think when rent came up they would just move .) After loosing Dusty I was not going to let that happen again so I took down all the info I Could at 5 and I started go to spend the night at her house .Now her new house was surprisingly worse then the last , it was in the middle of a howler and and mountain on each side of it , I remember the door never being closed and the pouch having so many holes I was always scared to walk on it . Behind her house up in the mountain they had chicken coops and they were so nasty but it was such an adventure climbing that mountain to get there.We did play there alot. Beside the house off a ways was a beautiful small little valley the most greenest grass I have ever seen even to this day . It had a amazing little stream that ran through it that we had to cross to get to the old cabin we played in . That cabin when I think about it now was very old it must have been there for years , it was an one bedroom cabin that still had the bed and feather mattress still in it , animals had tore it to shreds but you could still see some of the feathers still inside . We had a blast it was so far off from her House It was like we were in our own little world .Running back home before it got dark was always a challenge jumping over cow pies and boulders make it hard but we made it , Honestly I don't think her parents would have cared if we came home or not but we did. I wish I could remember her name ,I hate that I can not , but she was always shy and backward and didn't talk much , but that night I found out why , Sleeping over was so scary each time but i did it alot , I think all the adventure around always drawled me in. I loved it being free like that. The house was a 2 room house A Kitchen and a living room and they had just added a nuke on for they kids to sleep ,the only way we stayed warm was a wood burning stove dead in the middle of the living room. I remember always being cold . We almost never seen her dad but when he did come home it was very late at night and he came home very loud and just crazy , her mom sleep on the couch (because that was the only place ) and when she heard him I remember her fighting him to calm him down .I know now that he must have been a bad drunk because almost every time I was there I remember that happening .I can remember sometime just waking up and he would be right over me just starring , I would just fake being a sleep and hope nothing happen .Nothing ever did happen and as funny as it is I do think of those times at her house amazing ones . I saw things and did things in those mountains that few will ever see or do ! To this day I have dreams of that grass in that valley and the adventures we had !

The Basement! (2)

In the last post I told you about meeting the little cute girl across the street , well that girls name was Stephanie and she has been my friend since that day ( more like a sister ).Alot of my memories will have her in them so remember her name . Standing there on her high wooden porch a friend ship started that would change my life. I was about 5 and She was about 4 we had not even started school yet . We played day and at night ! Stephanie's grandparents lived in the house in front of her so they would babysit while her mother and father worked . See Mamaws house had one great thing about it A Basement and boy did our imagination go wild , It always smelled like mothballs and Stephanie's mamaw keep everything and she used to be a school teacher so it was amazing .We played everything little girls played like dress up ,school there was kitchen so we even tried to cook ( mostly just with ice ), we would always try to make perfume .I know her grandmother wanted to kill us ... we would make it out of scoop or toothpaste and just any smelly thing we could find , it was great . I have to say when I think of mamaws basement I think of the piano that was in there , it always fascinated me , I always wondered what it would be like to play it and be good at it . There also was an old record player that was Stephanie's mothers when she was a teenager , we would get all dressed up ( in her moms old clothes ) AND TURN ON SOME GREAT 70' S classics .I think some of mine and Stephanie's most meaningful conversation was sitting there listening to those old songs . We would end the day when her mamaw would call us upstairs and have hot cake ready for us ,It was always funny because it was just vanilla cake no icing . But with every warm bit we got some of the love and comfort we needed .See I was the kid who roamed the streets and got into some trouble ,I was the kid the neighbors talked about and Stephanie grandparents where always so kind and loving toward me which truly started the love I had for her family .

Special Memories

I have decided that I want to start writing some my significant memories down. I think I will start with my earlier childhood and work my way up:



I grew up on a simple one lane road in the Smokey Mountains .I remember running the street and only going home when I heard my dads Chevy coming down the hill,I remember my very first friend Dusty and him not having in door plumbing ;which when I tell people they tend to not believe but it's true he took baths in a huge sink in the kitchen and there was an out house in the back yard .We would play out for hours and dig holes to the Devil and when it rained we loved it , all the mud pies we could make , but that friendship was short lived and Dusty moved one day and i only seen him 1 or 2 more times and then never again, I always wondered what became of him? Well what was I to do ..... Across the street was a house that set right at the bottom of a hill and in the yard was an amazing looking swing set which i so desperately wanted to swing on .So one day I decided to just go over and find out about who lived there I was a brave little girl and really had no fear , so here I go and to my delight it was a beautiful chunky sweet brown haired little girl who was so happy to play, and little did I know this meeting would change the course of my life forever!

2010 Summer Of Fun !!!

Gracie got to be in her first Horse show after a week at Horse camp that her Grandma does every year , she got 3rd place in pony horsemanship and 5th in youth barrels . She is a natural!

Big back yard at Botanical garden awesome !

We got to go to Hot springs 2 times this year once with the kids to the amusement and water park and then once just me and bird ! Can we say SPA!!!!!! It was great!

As always summer trips to Zoo , we love the Memphis Zoo!!!!!

Baseball , lil bird last year of t-ball ! boohoo :( I cant believe how big he is getting !! my sweet baby boy :)