For You, Grandpa and Grandma Hornsing

Okay, so my parents are expecting a blog about them when they return to the great state of Nebraska. And because my life goal is to be sure to reach my parents high expectations, I do not want to let them down. The first thing they are expecting me to tell you about is my mothers gift to us each and every 4th of July. Every year we get the Old Navy Tshirts. All matching! And because we love Grandma, we all wear them on the 4th and allow her to take photos of how cute we are. Here we are this year in our Old Navy wear:

Let me give you a little more insight into the Marge of Homer and Marge as we affectionately call my parents. My mom is all about being fair. Even as my brother and I have grown, married, and had families - we all get the same amount of gifts. Each year, we each get pajamas, socks, and a shirt. You can bet money on it. And quite often the girls will all match up, and the boys will match up. Once in a while she mixes it up and has the spouses match. If my mom finds some cute $5 object for one of her 6 grandkids, she can not send that grandkid that object until she has a $5 object for each child. And for this I really do love her. I do tend to tease her about how she visits my brother and his family more than us . . . but really let's look at it logistically. .. an 8 hour one day drive vs. a 13 hour 2 day drive . . . 2 kids vs. 4 kids . . . so we will go with that explanation, and not that she loves my brother more. My dad is a hoot also. My dad is the Homer of all Homers. I sometimes wonder if the creators of the Simpsons didn't base that character on my daddy. My dad loves us all without limits. He always finds the good in each of us in every situation . . . and strives for us to be either a "gentleman and a scholar" or a "lady". And somehow, even through all I put him through in my teen years, he still managed to tell my friends he was proud of me and I had never been any trouble. Now, that could be due to age helping him forget all that trouble. But I like to think he truly thinks I was worth it all. Please, do not get me wrong. I love my parents dearly. They have worked hard their whole life to be sure that my brother and I were always taken care of. I have always known they loved me even when I have tested them to the limits. So Homer and Marge, I hope you have made it home safely and know that I love you both.

While my parents were here, we did a lot of hanging out at home. Saturday we went on a little Williamson County adventure. We tried to go to Loveless Cafe, but hello? Saturday, noon, Loveless means a 2 hour wait. We ended up in Leipers Fork having lunch at Pucketts Grocery and walking around there for a bit. We then went and did a bit of a Historic Franklin drive around looking at the different areas from the Battle of Franklin. It was a fun day filled with learning and memories. Sophia, Dawson, Grandma, and Grandpa went on a trail walk at one place. Sophia spent this afternoon drawing maps out of the trails they could all walk next time Grandma and Grandpa visited. Here are a few more shots of our days with the "Hornsings":

Grandma Hornsing and Sophia making us some yummy brownies.

Dawson, Grandpa, and Sophia after a long day. How sweet is that?

And look who returned to us . . . Brandon. We missed him!

Dawson and Sophia were not all that excited to have their picture taken with the General Lee. In fact, they both kept asking what was so exciting about the car. I guess I have let my kids down in the American culture dept.

Oh, and for curious minds, the Spring Hill PD did not make any more visits to my house. The boys waited until noon on the 4th to start shooting the fireworks off again. And then we went to our friends house for the evening to let off the big stuff. Dawson managed to steer clear of juvi for this holiday.

Tomorrow is back to a more normal summer life. Our count down to vacation is at 16 days tomorrow. Florida and Mickey Mouse watch our because here come the crazies!

Until another day,

Terri