OUR TIPPER

For the last several years, KT has consistently been the jumper on each of her basketball teams.

I can't deny it: She LOVES it.

Yeah, it's only a few seconds.

Yeah, it takes a lot of practice.

Yeah, everyone is looking at YOU.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is doing your best in each situation given you.

The photo above is at NCHEAC State Basketball Tournament in Greensboro a few weeks ago. KT is the girl on the right in white and the other girl?

Well, that's Ashley: one of KT's BEST friends.

My girls had very mixed emotions about the tournament. They were thrilled to be going, but sad because two of the teams we were to play were very near and dear to our hearts from the mountains. When KT realized she'd have to jump against Ashley, she was aghast.

Basketball is about more than who is the best, though. And both of those girls showed that. They played hard. They played mean. They played fair.

And at the end, they hugged and were ready to go on with the next thing God had on their plate.

Good job KT, Ashley, Jackie, Emily, Cassidy, and all the others who are near and dear to me. You made me proud.

AT HOME IN NC

Two posts in two days! WOW! I'm on a roll!

I wanted to post something that my Daddy sent me, via e-mail. It is so true, rather you live in the beautiful Blue Ridge, or on the amazing East Coast. BTW, I think Michelle over at Doublewide Dreamer will love this.

ENJOY!

THINGS I LEARNED IN NORTH CAROLINA....

1) A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2) There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in NC.

3) There are 10,000 types of spiders, and all 10,000 of them live in NC.

4) If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5) "Onced" and "Twiced" are words.

6) It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.

7) "Jaw-P?" means, "Did y'all go to the bathroom?"

8) People actually grow and eat okra.

9) "Fixinto" is one word.

10) There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper.

11) Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar.

12) Backwards and forwards means, "I know everythin' about you."

13) The word "jeet" is actually a phrase meaning, "Did you eat ?"

14) You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15) You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16) You measure distance in minutes.

17) You switch from heat to A/C in the same day.

18) All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

19) You know what a "Dawg" is.

20) You carry jumper cables in your car - for your own car.

21) You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Texas Pete , Tabasco and ketchup.

22) The local papers cover national and international news on one page,but require 6 pages for local gossip and high school football.

23) You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

24) You find 100 degrees "a bit warm."

25) You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.

26) Going to Walmart is a favorite past time known as "goin' Walmartin" or "off to Wally World."

27) You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good hog killin' weather.

28) Fried catfish is the other white meat.

29) We don't need no dang Driver's Ed.. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive, dag-nabbit.

30) You understand these jokes.

A SPONTANEOUS PHOTO FEAST

Are you ready for a gazillion photos?

Barry surprised us all with a very spontaneous day off last week. We went to several places, all just for fun. The following are several photos from that day. I was feeling creative tonight, so I post processed these and then decided to share them. Tomorrow will be spent uploading more recent photos to the website for client viewing..... but for now, just a little photo fun.

One of our stops was at Moore's Creek Battlefield, not far from the house.

Moore's Creek claims to be one of the turning point victories for the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. We had a great time learning about so many historical things. And, being the homeschool family we are, we didn't waste an opportunity for "class". The kids all earned a patch for their Jr. Ranger profile. It wasn't all that easy in that they had to write a small essay and find a truckload of answers scattered over the WHOLE park.

Lizards are all over place down here.

And just about everywhere you look, you can see brackish water and Cypress knees.

This is the bridge (rebuilt, of course) where the Loyalists found their demise. The Patriots has set up a decoy camp on this side of the bridge and the Loyalists thought it just deserted. However, when they crossed the bridge (which had been covered with grease after having been half taken apart), they discovered something very different: The Patriots were hiding behind some mounds they had built themselves.

To their surprise, "Americans" had two very devastating weapons:

1) The Swivel Gun

and

2) a nasty cannon.


While the older three wore themselves out hunting answers, Ben seized every opportunity to hideout with his "gun" and shoot the Loyalists (which happened to be mommy with her camera).
We also enjoyed some time at Lake Waccamaw. There is "swamp" all around the lake, and that's where we found some very interesting critters that are simply not seen in the mountains. By the way, NO, I did NOT have a telephoto lens. We were that close to the things!!!!
This one was the biggest one we saw and he looked about 5 feet long. He seemed to be enjoying just chillin' with the cooters (yeah, that's what they call turtles down here, too).

But, yeah, the cooters are pretty cute ~ even if they are ALL OVER!

The following photo will probably only interest a select few. You know who you are.

; )

Next, we headed to Fort Caswell at Oak Island. The Baptists have a camp there. It was a neat place, too. This is the light house there. It is located right beside of the Coast Guard.

I couldn't decide which photo from our excursion would make the cut as my favorite. Turns out I have TWO.

See below.....

(1)

(2)

We ended our spontanaeity with a special dinner at THE GIANT CRAB in Myrtle Beach. Boy! Were the kids surprised. They'd never been to a gigantinormous seafood buffet before, let alone seen their Daddy eat mussels and oysters (well, I hadn't seen that part either). I think that was a once-in-a-lifetime event for all of us ~ even HIM!

Oh, and just about the best news I can think of to post:

SPRING IS HERE!!!!

A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU

I am seriously hoping to hear from of our "Flat Land Followers" as we have finally gotten time enough to introduce our business to Eastern North Carolina. Presenting:

OPEN HOUSE

On-location photo sessions for families, children, couples, and even pets

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY * APRIL 3-4
ON WHITE LAKE AT TURTLE COVE

WHAT DOES THE PACKAGE INCLUDE?
*Sitting Fee* *Post-processing *
*Protected Internet Viewing and Client Ordering*
*1-8x10, 2-5x7, 8-wallets (may be more than 1 pose)*
$30
Additional products available at additional cost

TO SCHEDULE or for MORE INFORMATION:

CALL : Michelle Galyean * 910.247.6113 * 336.363.4180

www.galyeansgallery.com www.galyeanbattalion.blogspot.com

JACKIE IS 12

Well, I've discovered that time doesn't wait on anyone....

especially my kids.

Jackie turned 12 on Monday, so we took advantage of the warm weather, the white sand, some clear water, and a new dress for her birthday shoot.

She likes to try to look SASSY!

And I just couldn't resist a little play with color.....

"Everybody clap your hands....."

(For those of you who despise most of today's music, that is some sort of silly song that Jackie is constantly singing and clapping to..... hence the following photo where she was actually doing the motions and I happened to still have the camera available).

And here she was trying to catwalk on the boardwalk.....

Are you getting a feel for her personality by now???

Believe it or not, she does have a soft side......

OUR LATEST...

Our girls' homeschool basketball team made it to the North Carolinians for Home Education Athletics Association STATE Tourney a couple of weeks ago.

We were so proud and our girls were very excited.

Obviously, we had to "go all out" and put our vehicular war paint on. See below for a few pregame pics. There will be more coming soon....

And the lastest excitement with the Galyean Battalion involved some very important birthday company.

Papaw and Miss Deane made it down for both mine and Jackie's birthday. We did lots of fun things ~mostly involving food~ to celebrate Jackie's 12th and my uhhhh.... well, er..... well, my birthday, too. There will be more pics of that up sometime soon, too.

Can you tell that Ben was more than overjoyed to see his Papaw???