What do you do when lightening strikes your house and you have no phone/internet/tv ...

YOU SWIM!!!

Well first you call your husband while he is away on 'business' (whatevah!!! An ATV rodeo is NOT considered business as far as I am concerned - esp when you call your poor wife at 11:00 to tell her you are sitting on John Rich's bus -- THAT will get you a dial tone MISTER!) -- and FREAK OUT!!! We had a terrible terrible storm on Friday night. Cameron and I were snuggled in the bed trying to go to sleep and one lightening bolt later and a big CRACK - I soon had 2 children clung to me for their dear life -- actually, I don't know if I was clinging to them or vice versa - but we were all scared. The back lit up like daylight - it was NUTS! It finally started raining and I remember my Mom telling me that once it starts raining, the thunder and lightening will stop. Well, this was NOT the case Friday night. The bottom fell out and I was thanking the Lord for sending us some good FREE water and then the loudest SNAP CRACKLE POP I have ever heard happens -- literally in our back yard. It might as well have been in our living room. We all screamed and then the power went out - THREE TIMES. I started lighting candles and had anyone come in my house - they would have surely thought we were having a seance.

The power flickered back on and we quickly realized we had no satellite. THEN the alarm started this beeping -- call Brinks (discover no dial tone - so had to call from cell that had dying battery and after reading a chain email I received earlier in the week - I refuse to call while my phone is charging b/c I am CONVINCED my head will blow up) and discover that our system is having problems connecting to the phone. DUH!!! SO - we decide to watch a movie. I decide that I want to watch a "mommy movie" and since Wedding Crashers is sitting on the bar b/c Shannon Gordon finally returned it after having it for a YEAR (granted, she didn't watch it until recently -- her rental dues are WAY high) - well, that is the movie I want to watch. NEVER EVER NEVER watch this movie with your children - esp. the beginning. Kennedy is still wondering why I jumped at warp speed to fast forward past the beginning -- so we end up watching "The Wizard of Oz" -- why not?? It's about bad storms any dang way!! But you know what? I loved it and loved sitting on the couch, snuggling with my babies and watching a movie that I probably would have never sat and watched with them because I was just 'too busy'. Plus, Chad had all of Cameron's Wiggles movies in his truck -- that is another story in it self but a trip to Best Buy on Saturday (twice - once in the morning to get a new router b/c the storm blew ours and once again to get a different router b/c the mean Verizon guy said I bought the wrong one - i was smart enough to pick up a couple movies for the kids) took care of all that.

ANYWAY - now that my novel is almost finished - we spent Saturday swimming -- all day. The kids were worn out by the time we went to church - NO - we are not Seventh Day - we just have a really cool church that has Sat service. Kennedy can now swim really well -- all because of peer pressure. Her friends come over and swim like fish - she gets aggravated and starts to swim b/c she doesn't want to feel left out. Our phone finally came back on Sat morning and I was able to sit outside and call everyone (except for Direct TV - Chad called them and they even came out on SUNDAY!!) to come fix our stuff. You never realize how much you miss internet, tv and the phone until you DON'T have it but honestly - you realize almost how much you DON'T need it. Kennedy said she was mad at God because he wrecked our house -- after a little chuckle, I explained to her that God does everything for a reason and look how much fun we had all weekend long because we didn't have all the other 'distractions'. I even got caught up on laundry and reading a book that I had started. We are now back up and running and yes, everything was fried in our house -- well, the satellite receiver and the security system panel was toast -- and they all said lightening probably struck the GROUND and that is what caused it ... lightening capital of the world they say!! At least now we have battery back up on EVERYTHING!!

PS - Yes, I know my pool area looks like it is in the running for an "EXTREME MAKEOVER patio edition" but that is my August project. Don't worry - I will attach pictures once we get it done. LOTS of good ideas .... if we didn't have that white lattice up -- none of you would EVER come visit if you saw what was back there ..... let me just tell you, it gives the Clampetts a run for their money -- gotta love Florida zoning laws!!

"FINE! I'll just have bad dreams ....."

That is what I heard from my 4 (almost 5) year old last night with her hand perched on her hip after telling her she had to sleep in her own bed. See, ever since Kennedy started this new school, she has busted out with some crazy stuff. Those of you that know us well know my kid is already a nutcase, but somehow she is fixated on bad dreams and she associates sleeping in her bed with giving her bad dreams. SO - guess who REFUSES to sleep in her bed??? She has slept with me and Chad, on the couch, in our new leather recliner, everywhere BUT in her bed. She told me the other day that she really wanted a dreamcatcher -- you know Mommy, the one that is a circle with feathers and stuff. Now, we are not of any kind of American Indian so I have no clue as to where she may have heard this (I'm betting on school - isn't that where they learn most stuff?). I absolutely REFUSE to get her one because, well frankly, it won't match her room and I've finally got her room ALMOST to the ultimate cuteness. While at my friend Kandi's house, we were chatting about a beautiful red cardinal windchime she had received. We were trying to think of where to put it and I said 'Hang it out on a shepherd's hook in your yard in the back' ~ we both went outside and we put the new cardinal windchime up and she said she would have to do something with the other butterfly yard ornament she had hanging on the hook. She then said "I ought to give it to Kennedy" --- see Kennedy and Mrs. Kandi have this 'connection' like no other I've seen with a non family member. I channeled my inner Kim Wheeler and said "I can hang it in her room and tell her it is a dream catcher!" -- so with a little elbow grease and some green and gold paint, we transformed it in to a BEAUTIFUL dream catcher. The best part ~ it goes with her room!

I wanted to include this picture of me and my Dad from this past January at the Dale Earnhardt movie premiere (thanks to Kandi for making this happen). With all that we have been through with his colon and liver cancer, I really cherish the moments I get to spend with my Dad like this. He is the ULTIMATE Dale fan and we really enjoyed spending the weekend with him and his best friend, Bill Jr.

Happy Father's Day Dad! We love you!

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy was OVERJOYED to get the Magic Bullet (it's a BLENDER -- as seen on TV) ~ he had wanted one at Christmas and since he had just gotten the 4-wheeler - he didn't get much else! SO Kennedy and I went shopping yesterday and after stopping at Build-A-Bear (I'm such a sucker - but she was SUCH a good girl), eating a pretzel at Pretzel Time in the food court and then being terrorized by the Chick-fil-A cow (those of you that attended Madelynn Gordon's birthday party know how traumatizing this is for my child) we headed to Kohl's to find Daddy's blender. This is where we found the 'cat' card. Kennedy insisted on getting this card. She did this hilarious laugh in the store because, as she said, it was just SO FUNNY! See, Chad hates my cats (but they LOVE him). Our cats have a tendency to have a hairball here and there and this card said "Let's have a ball on Father's Day" and then when you open the card, it says "Wait while I cough one up" -- so as funny as it was, it was quite appropriate. The last picture is of the kids doing the 'blah' -- so cute.

So here's wishing all you Dads out there a VERY Happy Father's Day!

KARAOKE MADNESS at the Brock house!

Yep ~ we got a karaoke machine. I was rehearing for an audition for our worship team at our church and I kept telling Chad that I needed a microphone. Of course, he has a million of them, and they are all in Nashville. Chad trekked off the Best Buy and came back with the karaoke machine! The kids LOVE it and I think we may have a little natural on our hands ~ he KILLED the ABC song!! They also love to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" ~ it's a 'compilation' CD that came with the machine! It is SO much fun! Every family must have one!

Operation Perfect Vision ~ Part ONE!

Today was probably the 4th greatest day of my life (first = wedding day to Chad, 2nd = Kennedy's birth and 3rd = Cameron's birth) -- why you ask? I took the first steps of having LASIK surgery. Now, for those of you that know me well, know that the vainess that seeps through my body will not allow me to wear glasses for an extended period of time. I hate them. I even bought really trendy cute glasses for the times when my eyes would start hurting from wearing my contacts. Well, those days are OVER!! As Chad likes to say "Membership has it's benefits" and because of him, I was able to finally be blessed to have my eyes corrected. I went to see Dr. Updegraff in St. Pete and besides the fact he is a world reknown surgeon, he is most down to earth, friendly, caring person I have ever met. His staff exemplifies professionalism and by the time we left, we felt like family.

Now -- what does the PART ONE mean?? Leave it to me to be an 'unusual' case. Because of an infection last summer, my cornea was so damaged that LASIK could not be performed in my left eye. I was crushed when Dr. Updegraff said there was no way they could perform the procedure on that eye. I honestly was ready to walk out of his office and just cry as I truly had my heart set on the procedure. He quickly said that he could do a different procedure that was just as easy but required a few more steps and still ended with the same results we were all looking for. It is called ICL (Implantable contact lens) -- sounds gross but it is so cool.

Don't you love my picture? No makeup, crazy hair ~ Kennedy thought the eye 'patch' was cool but thought we needed to decorate it because it was kind of plain. She loves rhinestones (so fancy). When they take the tape off tomorrow, I just may see if they can do my eyebrows while they are at it - ha ha!!

Until we meet again ~ have a great week!!

ARRRRRRRRRR!!!

Yo ho, yo ho ~ the pirate's life for ME!

Yes - this really is for Chad's job! Each year, WQYK submits a book to the CMA (Country Music Association) in hopes for a nomination of radio station of the year. The theme for this year's book was "PIRATES TAKE OVER THE WAVES" (radio waves - get it?). See, Tampa is known for it's pirate celebrations and I haven't quite lived here long enough to learn about it all but there was a pirate or something named Gaspar and he took over Tampa and now every year we have a big parade and celebration called "Gasparilla".

Here are some pictures from the shoot - you will never believe it's Chad! ENJOY!

Reason 479 why we LOVE living in Tampa!

So my sister and her family are down visiting and we decided to go to the beach today. It seems like we live 45 minutes from everything ~ Disney World, Sea World, the beach included (and I'm talking the NICE beaches - no traffic, not a lot of people, and CLEAN beautiful white sand). We drove down to hang out with our friends Chris and Shannon and their daughter. Last year we vacationed at Anna Maria Island for a week and it was difficult because Cameron just wanted to eat the sand and run like crazy. Although I was a little hesitant to go this time, at least I would not be outnumbered (children to parent b/c Chad is NOT a beach lover). Cameron had a blast! This time he had his bathing suit on and he stayed in the water the whole time. A wave would knock him out and he would get up, spit out sand and keep on going. He is like the Energizer bunny - he keeps going and going. He should crash and burn tonight for sure! Kennedy caught on to boogy-boarding rather quickly. She loves the sand and water too and will be a brown baby before the summer is over! Hopefully this will entice our out of town friends to come visit us! We have plenty of room!

Who would have ever thought?

Photos by:

Torrie Fagan Photography

torrie@tampabay.rr.com

I never thought in a million years I could ever be smart enough to do a BLOG! Well, my friend Kim, who happens to be an amazing and talented artist (www.shopsmallwords.com) started one and I figured I could do it too! I will try to post monthly or as exciting (or even not exciting) things happen in our family. The pictures above are from a beach trip in March ~ so much fun! Cameron loves the water and we couldn't keep him out of it -- even fully clothed!

Kennedy is out of school for the summer and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall! Time FLIES!