Meet Huckleberry

This is our new Beagle Huckleberry. We adopted him from a rescue a little over a week ago. He is super sweet and adores the boys.

Holy Cow

Greg says 'holy cow' every now and then. One day Justin told him "I don't say that, because it's a California word, and I'm from Texas". So, I ask him, why is it a California word? His response, "Cow, Cowafornia". I tried to explain the it's Cal, not cow, I even showed him the word, but he doesn't want to hear it. LOL

November 6th, My 35th Birthday

Shiloh National Military Park

Fall Color in the National Cemetery

The boys at Bloody Pond

The Boys at the Peach Orchard

The Corinth Grand Illumination

For my birthday this year, I packed up the boys and we traveled to Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee. Greg was swamped with homework, so I knew that if I stayed home it would've been a very boring birthday. I haven't been to Shiloh in ten years, so it was great to get back. It's one of my favorite battlefields. We arrived late in the day on the 6th. We went into the visitors center and the book store, walked around the National cemetery, then just did a non-stop drive through of the park. It was getting dark, and we saw herds of deer everywhere. The fall colors were just about past their peak, but we did see a few nice splashes here and there. It was pitch black by the time we finished the drive through, so we headed to our hotel in Savannah. The next morning we were back to do the auto tour right. We stayed until late afternoon, then drove down to Corinth, Mississippi for the Historic Corinth Grand Illumination. They have a brand new Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth and they remember the battle of Corinth by lighting 12,000 candles across the grounds and into downtown. It was a sight to see. Justin wants to be a volunteer to help light candles next year. They also had a civil war camp display as well as two camels in representation of Old Douglas, a camel that was actually at the Battle of Corinth. Matthew loved seeing the camels, and they were so friendly. Justin and Jacob were a little shy, but they both did pet them. Once we took in the lights we headed back to Savannah. Sunday morning we started back for home. It was a short trip, but it was so nice. The boys did really well, and I was so happy to get back to Tennessee. It's such a beautiful state. I have more pictures on Facebook as well as my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27822997@N02/

Halloween

Jacob's 4

Saturday was Jacob's 4th Birthday. We went to Chuck E Cheeses and came home and had cupcakes. The celebration was a little subdued as Matthew was quite ill and couldn't be involved and we couldn't have outside family over.

Jacob has been such a blessing to us. He was our if it happens it happens baby. I was due on October 10th, my Grandma's and my sister in law Julie's birthdays, but the doctor induced me on October 3rd. Because Justin had been so big (10 lbs 4 oz), she didn't want to run the risk of Jacob getting that big. He was born at 1:48 pm and was 9 lbs 4 oz, one pound less than Justin was. We hadn't found out ahead of time if he was a boy or girl, so it was a surprise in the the delivery room. He had a full head of the darkest brown hair which was also a surprise. He was the first baby I had an epidural with, which made labor nice, but made me sick as a dog afterward.

I remember being in the hospital and just wanting to go home, I didn't want to be there at all. I missed the other boys and just was homesick. Well, I finally got home, and boy o boy, we found out that Jacob was one grouchy baby. Greg and I were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. He screamed in the car, he screamed in the store, he screamed if you sat down. Luckily that only lasted about a month.

Now he's a fun loving little boy who makes us laugh all the time. We are so thankful for him.

Antietam

Today is my favorite Civil War Date. September 17th, 1862 was the Battle of Antietam. Don't ask me why, but something about this battle and this date stick with me. Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle in American History. 23,000 men where killed, hurt, or wounded.

The Burnside Bridge

We have been to Antietam twice now. Once in 1998 and again in 2008. It was so cool to be able to take my kids there. The battlefield is beautiful, but it doesn't seem any more special to me while I'm there than other battlefields, so I wonder about my mental draw to it. Still I feel as though there must be some connection to it for me.

The Dunker Church

Yesterday, Justin asked me if I remembered going to the underground ice cream parlor in the "little town of Washington DC". I thought for a moment, then I figured out he must mean Harpers Ferry. I asked him a question about it, then he said yes, that was the place. We had gotten ice cream at a house built onto a hillside, and you had to go down steps to get into the shop, so it was kind of underground. Well, we had gone to Antietam the day after Harpers Ferry, so I told him the anniversary of Antietam was the next day. He immediately wanted to go. He said if we left right away we could get there. Well, I guess if we drove straight through, since it's a 20 hour drive from our house. What I wouldn't give to be there for the anniversary, so I was quite excited that Justin had the same thought. Then I told Justin how in December Antietam has a battlefield Illumination, they light a candle for every casualty, and place them all over the battlefield, so imagine 23,000 candles. He was all over that, he loves candles, so, now he wants to go to that. Definitely someday!

Walmart

I'm so disgusted with Walmart. Tell me, isn't there one on virtually every corner? I know here in Texas that is the case. So, why do they have to build a new one a quarter mile from the Wilderness Battlefield in Virginia? And why did Orange County, Virginia give them the go ahead? As a member of both the Civil War Preservation Trust and the National Trust for Historic Preservation I have written letters to Walmart in conjunction with both organizations. Well, it's not built yet, but this is a severe blow. This area of Virginia is always under severe threat, it is mid way between Washington D.C. and Richmond, so urban sprawl is a constant factor. I wish all historic land could just be put under National protection. I don't want to take my kids there and have to say, well, try to imagine there isn't a big Walmart right there....