Project 365

I know...I said that I would have pics of the house up by now, but I don't. But, I am starting a new project that I think will be really fun. It's called Project 365. I'm going to take a picture a day for a whole year and then do an album and look back over our year in a new place. Another friend of mine is doing this and I thought I'd give it a try. I love photography anyway, so it should be fun. I'll also try to post something everyday as well....maybe I should shoot for every week!

We just got kicked off with our soccer season. Garrett is playing in U-11 this year and his coach seems to really have it together. Trey is also going to be the assistant coach. It's really nice for Trey to have a normal job with normal hours. He's worked crazy hours and traveled so much that this will be the 1st time since Garrett's been playing that he can actually commit to helping. He's really excited and so is Garrett. Grace has moved up to U-8 and is still by far the shortest, smallest person on her team. Back home in La, she was on an all girls team and now she's 1 of the 2 girls that are on the team. I don't think it matters much to her. She's a tough one and I bet she'll give most of the boys a good run for their money. Her coach is British and hopefully this is a good thing since soccer is life across the pond. He's already noticed her speed and no fear attitude. So, hopefully, this will be a great soccer season and will give us another outlet to meet people in our area.

I'll leave you with a few pics that I do have of the house that I took about a month ago. Also, you'll see the "art" that I made for the girls room. I promise to get more pics of our new furniture and other projects on here soon. Must go for now...gotta get Anna Claire to story time at the library!



Riley the Pup.....One of our craziest adventures in the new house!



The girls room painted with my little paper project!

PIcs of the house

Hey. Since people have been asking me to post pics of the inside of our house, I guess I will....right after I clean! LOL! I don't have too much junk to pick up, it's just the motivation to get it done! I'll get back to you this afternoon with some pics. Until then, Happy Cleaning! UGH...Thanks Carol!

Back to the blog world

Hello all. Sorry I haven't blogged in forever. We've been super busy getting settled into our new digs! All boxes are gone, but we still have things to put on the walls. We're trying to hold out in the living room until we figure out what color we want to paint it. I was able to print some pics of our travels from the summer and frame. I must say so myself that they are awesome! I plan to do a collage in the living room soon. I've also made the girls some accessories for their room. We painted it a bubble gum pink with a chocolate stripe in the middle. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some coordinating scrapbook paper, a white frame, and some letters. I layered the paper and spelled out their names with the letters and framed it. It's looks really good and I have some orders to do some for some friends and neighbors. Who knows, it may turn into something! Other than house stuff, not too much has been happening around here. Garrett and Grace start soccer practice this week. We're really excited about it. Our kids love soccer, so I hope this new league will be good for them. Also, they will be able to make lots of new friends. Anna Claire opted not to play soccer this time around, so she'll be starting gymnastics soon. By the way, she just turned 5! I know, I can't believe that my baby girl is 5!!! We're having a small party for her this weekend. Some neighborhood friends and friends from church are gonna come. It should be fun and it'll be one of the "first" parties we'll have at our new house. That's about all going on in the Rookard Bunch for now. I need to run so I can finish supper and get my soccer star to practice!

Someone call the Doctor.....

I must be sick!! I woke up at 8 this morning and it's now 10:15. Here's a list of things I've already done today:

1. Took a bath and read a chapter in my new book, Twlight ( so far, so good!)
2. Washed and dried 2 loads of clothes
3. Did art projects with the kids
4. Made supper for tonight (Homemade Vegetable Soup from scratch)
5. Mixed together a cake mix and put it in the oven
6. Left a sweet message on my friend's blog
7. checked my e-mail
8. Took out the trash
9. Cleaned the kitchen
10. Loaded the dishwasher and started it
11. Oh, I had to unload the dishwasher first!!!

Whew, I'm tired just thinking about what all I have done! I'm a bit surprised since I usually like to waste my time doing absolutely nothing. We're about to start school for the day as well. I don't know what's gotten into me. Maybe I'm just excited to be going home to see my peeps. It's not until next weekend, but it's getting me through right now! Who knows, I may even start packing!!! Gotta go for now, the oven timer just went off...gotta cake to decorate!

Halloween 2008

I know, I'm behind! I've already changed my background to Thanksgiving and I haven't even blogged about Halloween! Oh well!!

Our Halloween this year was so much fun. The kids had fun picking out their costumes and getting all dressed up. Garrett was a soldier this year, Grace was Sharpay from High School Musical, and Anna Claire was Supergirl. We were invited to a neighborhood block party with some friends from Trey's work. This was great being how we were new to the area and didn't know where to go. Thanks Jenn and Dave!!! Here's a few pics from the party and trick-or-treating.

Sharpay and Supergirl



Soldier(before face was painted)



At the party



The Parade




Trick-or-Treat





Random Pics








Okay, I've put off enough housework/homeschool to do 2 blogs in 1 day. So, with that being said, I gotta go! Hope you enjoy our stories as much as we like to share them. Until next time....

The Rookard Bunch

Chimney Rock, North Carolina

On Saturday, we decided to go on another adventure. This time we were gonna make the drive up to Chimney Rock State Park in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. So, we set off with our backpack with trail food and bottles of water to have a fun filled day as a family. Mapquest actually gave great directions this time!

When we got there, there were people everywhere! We were a bit overwhelmed with the beauty of these mountains at first. All the fall colors we so bright and covered the whole mountainside. Seeing God's creations is so amazing and I love having the opportunity to tell the kids all about it. Here's a picture looking down on the town of Chimney Rock from where we parked our car.

Chimney Rock and Lake Lure



Lake Lure is the water that you see in the picture. While there at Chimney Rock, we overheard some people talking and they said that's where Dirty Dancing was filmed. That's like one of my all time favorite movies! Here's a picture looking up at Chimney Rock...and yes, it gets it's name because it looks like a chimney.

Chimney Rock



So, it was time for us to go to the top of the Rock...that's what I'll call it from now on. We had 2 options. Take the elevator to the top or climb some 400 steps. Thank goodness we chose the elevator! We waited in line for a few minutes for an available ride up. When we got to the top of the Rock, this is what we saw!

Top of the Rock!






Next on the map was to go see the Opera Box. It's a part of the mountain that is cut out (naturally) that looks as if you are sitting in an Opera Box. But, there was no elevator to take us up to this, so we climbed about 100 or so steps! I didn't actually get a picture of the Opera Box itself, just pictures of the kids inside the box. I also got some pictures of the Rock from this view as well.

The kids relaxing inside the box


Chimney Rock from the Opera Box


The American Flag on top of Chimney Rock



Next on the trip was to climb more stairs to the Devil's Head. This part of the mountain was really freaky! I was surprised at how it really does look like the profile of the devil's face.

The Devil's Head



So, here we are, on top of this mountain and now it's time to go back down. We thought it would be easier to go down the steps instead of waiting on the elevator. WRONG!!! I was a nervous wreck! The steps were so steep and I was freaking out that one of the kids would surely fall off the side of the mountain. Trey was in front and the kids were in the middle and I was at the back. In this position, I got to see all their little stumbles! It got to a point to where my knees were so shaky, I thought I was going to fall. Trey and the kids thought this was so funny! I don't like heights at all and combined with being on steep, narrow steps on the side of the mountain didn't help much either! Here's some pics of the views on the way down!







After we climbed down like 500 stairs, we were at the start of the Hickory Nut Waterfall Trail that was about a mile long. That was a short trail from what we've done in the past. So, we decided it would be fun to see the waterfall. It would've been a fairly easy trail if my knees weren't knocking and I wasn't outta breath from the stairs! It was tougher than I thought it would've been, but it was still pretty fun. I always think hiking is so much fun until I'm in the moment! As I'm walking along in pain, I'm thinking to myself what have I done?! But anyway, the Hickory Nut Falls were pretty and we actually got to climb around under them and touch the water. So, it was worth my pain and suffering!






That was our trip for the day. We were all worn out and couldn't wait to get back to the car. We had a nice, relaxing ride back home where we settled down and watched the Tigers play. It was such a wonderful day with the family being able to enjoy God's creation. Until next time...

The Rookard Bunch

PS- You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Fun in the Mountains

On Sunday, Trey decided not to go into work and to spend the day with us, his lovely family! Around lunchtime, we were bored and wanted to do something together since it was so pretty outside, so we decided to drive up to the mountains and do some sightseeing. We printed off the directions from Map Quest(couldn't live without them) and headed out of G'ville. We were heading to Ceasar's Head State Park to find some waterfalls and to go exploring in the mountains. From the look of the map from Map Quest, we didn't have far to go. Wrong!!! I'm not sure when the last time they updated...they sent us on a wild goose chase! Anyway, after going up the mountain on a one-way gravel road with no guardrails (Thanks Map Quest), we finally made it. It was crowded!!! Everyone must have had the same idea as us. We went into the little Park Ranger store thingy to grab some maps and get information about the trails. We also asked the Rangers some quick questions about the waterfalls and if the trails were long, hard, etc. She told me the trail we would enjoy the most was the Raven Cliff Falls Trail. Sounded good to me, so I guess I missed the part about it being a moderate/difficult hike. The only part I heard was that it was 2.4 miles ONE WAY!!! Trey, being all bad and stuff, said, "Oh, that's nothing! We can do that no problem at all!" I guess I was blinded by the thought of my husband being Macho, and agreed. (Although, I don't really remember agreeing to the 5 mile hike!!) First, though, we wanted to see the lookout point from Ceasar's Head to Table Rock Mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. It is known that the Cherokee Indians named Table Rock because they believed the spirits to their tribe meet there for dinner. Plus, it really looked like a table. So, after lots of pictures, we were heading on our hike.

Table Rock Lookout from Ceasar's Head State Park

Family Photo Op!


Our hike began really good and I was thinking that it was really neat how we were spending time together as a family. We came upon all kinds of beautiful trees and leaves and the kids were in awe of all the fall colors. At one point on the trail, we came to an area where a tree had fallen over the pathway. So, the kids decided to play around on it for a minute, which was a good thing, because I rested! I snapped a few pics of them "monkeying around!"



I hate to admit that even I tried hanging onto the branch like a monkey. Although, I didn't hang very well. I think there may even be a picture somewhere, but I have no idea where it would be! (Hint:RECYCLE BIN!!) Anyways, after I almost broke my hip, we went back to the trail. The rest of the hike UP the mountain was pretty uneventful. After about an hour and a half, we made it to the waterfall! It was a beautiful lookout area, but I was somewhat disappointed...it was further away than I had imagined. After hiking that long, I wanted to be able to touch the darn thing if I wanted to! But, anyhow, it was AMAZING!

Raven Cliff Falls



Look at all the colors!



So, we rested for a few minutes before we started the hike back to the car. The trip back was a lot easier since we were going down hill most of the time. I think the idea of this even put a little pep in my step! All afternoon, all of us had been stumbling and tripping on roots and sticks on the trail. Every time one of the kids would fall, Trey would say, "You better get up, you don't want to be bear food!" This got them up in a hurry and with usually no tears. Garrett made the comment that him and Trey were the only ones who hadn't fallen. (Yes, he counted me falling off the log although I don't really consider that falling.) No sooner than he said it, he fell flat on his butt! Trey said, "HA HA, you're bear food!" Trey was trailing behind all of us, so I didn't really get a chance to see what happened next. All I heard was "HUMPUFF" Yep, Carol, he fell and actually made noise this time!!! I turned around just in time to see him rolling down the trail! I tried to help him up, but he didn't want any of it...maybe because I was laughing a little bit! I have that habit of laughing when he gets hurt...not really sure why! I was so scared that he had broken something and I had no way to get him off the mountain. We had just started our trip down, so we had a ways to go. Also, he was the only one with a cell phone and it broke when he fell down. Not that it would've helped anyway, we had no signal in the middle of the woods in the mountains. So, after we figured out he was OK, Garrett said, "HA HA Dad, you're gonna be Bear food!" It was priceless!!! I think he gets his humor from me! Anyway, Trey twisted his ankle, but started walking on it, so it ended up being OK. We finally made it back to the car in one piece and with all the kids, so it's safe to say it was a mission accomplished! We all had lots of fun and I really can't wait to go hiking sometime soon...but, maybe, just maybe, on a shorter, easier trail! Until next time....

The Rookard Bunch :0)

My girls hiking



Garrett posing AKA RESTING!