All About Tanner

My son, Tanner, brought home a sheet that he had filled out at the beginning of school. I thought that I would post this on my blog so that I could look back and remember on day. Of course I will save the best for last.

Just the Facts:

• I am 10 years old and in the 4^th grade
  
• My teacher is Mrs. Turner
  
• The members of my family are Mom, Dad, and My sister
  
• Some of my friends are Jake Spivey, Jarrett Wilkinson, and Riley Dothard
  

A Few of My Favorite Things:

• Subject - Science
  
• Food – Bar-b-q Ribs (his spelling)
  
• Sport – baseball
  
• Song – Dynomite (by Tiao Cruz)
  
• Movie – Harry Potter
  

Awesome Activity:

• Play video games
  

Best Book:

• Beastquest Mountain Cyclops
  

Did you know?

• I play different sports (baseball and football)
  

And know for my absolute favorite part……

 

My Hero

• Billy the Exterminator
  

 

My Mini Autobiography

"Once I went to Washington D.C. I went to Abraham Lincoln memorial, Ford's theatre, Washington Monument, and some museums. I ate at McDonalds, bagel shoppe. That was the greatest vacation ever."

 

 

 

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Turning Over a New Wreath part 1

I decided last year, after 8 years with the same grapevine and red berry wreath, that I was going to try to create a unique wreath for my front door. I wanted it to be simple but make you think "Never seen that before". Of course, I didn't reinvent the wheel, I just took an idea and expanded on it, the plan for greatness.

I made a giant "K" for "Kughn" (pronounced "coon") out of foam board and garland. I attached different glass balls that matched my indoor decor, some bells, and some tiny battery operated lights. I couldn't have been happier with the way that it turned out.

The other great part about this particular wreath is that for some reason it scared my husband , Jonathan, every time he opened the front door. Added Bonus!

But then, after about a week the top two arms of the "K" began to fold inward. I tried to brace it with rulers hoping it would strengthen it, but it was no good. So, after Christmas, I tore it apart and am left again with the question "What beauty will adorn my front door this year?"

I have decided after much deliberation to try to create a square wreath using a picture frame. I am unsure of how I am going to accomplish this feat. I will meditate in my havens (Thrift Store and Hobby Lobby) and hope that I can reach the goal of the images in my head.

Part 2 of Turning over a New Wreath tomorrow...

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Lifesaver

Is anyone else a note maker? I am always making notes and lists for myself. I almost daily print out some recipe that just sounds so delicious or instructions for some craft that I can't wait to make. You are probably thinking, " She must have a lot of time on her hands".

The problem is that I do not have very much time at all, and I seldom get around to my grand aspirations. I also have a tendency to loose my lists, notes, recipes, and instructions before I ever get a chance to try it.

In September the clouds parted, the sun shone, the angles rejoiced and I found a website, www.evernote.com. This website has made my life so much easier.

It is basically an online notebook. It downloads the program onto your computer and syncs to the website. In it you can create notebooks and add notes and photos to your notebooks. You can check it from any computer or even your phone. They have different apps for the phones that offer more services.

The best part.... IT'S FREE!!!!!! Try it out and you will thank me for it!

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Dixie Bell

My beautiful Dixie Bell. She was given to us two years ago, on Mother's Day. She is as sweet as she is pretty.

Apparently the other male dogs that live within a two mile radius of our house have also noticed how beautiful she is. For the entire time that she is in heat we have a pack of dogs that live outside our home. There is a yellow lab, chocolate lab, black lab, and a golden retriever.

Her first litter of puppies was from Jackson, the golden retriever. We tried to keep her locked up the next time that she went into heat, but somehow she ended up pregnant again. She must also be a fertile as she is beautiful. This time they were from the black lab.

I was determined to keep her from getting pregnant the last time. I only let her out to use the restroom and I would stand at the door or watch through a window the whole time she was out there. Well, someone who will not be named, that lives in my house that I did not give birth to, let her out and forgot until 20 minutes later. When the unnamed remembered, it was too late. Love was already in progress with the black lab again. At least this time we were prepared for a litter of half breed puppies.

Well, last Monday I got a call from my kids when I was on my home from work that they couldn't find Dixie. I figured that she had gone off somewhere to have her puppies, which is odd because we have an invisible, underground electric fence. When I got home I walked around the house just to check and make sure that she was hiding somewhere. I walked past this hole that both of the dogs had been digging for a few months. It is right next to our septic tank and is more of a tunnel than a whole. Something caught my eye and I took a second look. All I could see was Dixie's back side.

She had gone down in the "tunnel" to have her puppies and got stuck. I ran to our neighbors house to borrow their shovel since ours disappeared and he came and helped me dig her out. It took us at least 20 minutes to get her out. She had one puppy in the "tunnel". We got her out, filled in the hole and I got her settled in the doghouse. She had her other puppy in there.

I still don't know how we only ended up with two puppies. She normally has between 9 and 11. But two is just fine with me. It will be easier to find homes for two.

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New Hair Do

This is my youngest child, my son, Tanner. This is my child that is vary particular about his appearance. Sometimes you might not know that by looking at what is wearing, but he has his own style. He is also very funny, sometimes unintentional. This child lives to look cool and make people laugh. Here he is all clean and ready for church.

And yes, that is my husband in the background. He likes to sneak into the background of pictures. It's an addiction. Anyway, here is what Tanner looks like when he gets back from riding the 4-wheeler with his dad.

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A Kughn Family Weekend

My brother-in-law and his wife have recently moved to Panama City, FL. Jeremy, my brother-in-law, just accepted the job of a minister at Palo Alto Church and they moved there from Orlando. A couple of weeks ago we decided to make a weekend trip to visit them and my precious nephew and niece.

They have been blessed to be able to stay in the lakehouse of one of the members of his church. It is such a lovely place. It is on a spring fed lake, which means that it is fresh water, clear water and cold water! It has it's own natural beach so we didn't have to go get in the crazyness of Panama City Beach.

Saturday morning started with Jonathan, Tanner, and Jeremy going fishing. They didn't have much luck but and a great time, and Tanner held a fish! This a situation that led us to many tears last summer as seen in the picture below.

My family always give me heck because I am not swimming, but if I was swimming look at the pictures that I wouldn't have...

I did decide to go on a canoe ride with the rest of the family. All girls in one canoe and boys in another. We got probably about 300 yards out and the boys canoe flipped. My sister-in-law, Taylor and I laughed until we were about the wet our pants. They worked and got Jeremy and Tanner back in the canoe. We picked up Conner, my nephew, and lost Taylor. She wanted to swim back with her Dad. Oh, but Jonathan could swim back. That wouldn't be stylish enough for him. Instead this is how he arrived back at the dock....

That is my husband, the man that I love. He makes me laugh more than anyone I have ever met and that is one of the reasons that I love him.

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Doing the World a Dis-service

I was thinking to myself the other day, "I live in the middle of so much culture that the rest of the world doesn't get to experience". I made a promise to myself that I would share some of these treasures with you.


I immediately knew what I was going to share first. This is a small beauty/barber shop in Anniston, AL. It is off the beaten path and some of you may have never seen it. Today I got the pictures for you. This was no easy feat. One side of the sign was fairly easy to get a photo of, but the other side, that was a different story. I had to pull into the cemetery across the street and walk as far as I could so that you could see the sign past the trees and the car parked in front of it. It was worth every minute of it.


My question is this. What about this sign would make anyone have faith that the people inside were capable of making me look beautiful? My husband refers to this as the "Alien Beauty Shop". Let me show you what I am talking about.

I know that you are thinking to yourselves, "Amanda, really, I think that you are over-reacting just a little bit". Looking past all the hair terms that I do not understand such as "Kinky Twist" and "Tree Braid" (who would want their hair to look like a tree?), these women are not bad. If I was driving up on this side of the sign I might (MIGHT) pull in if I needed one of these "services".

Please if you will follow me as we take a look at the other side of this very artistic business sign.

People, I am not over reacting. What is that on the right side of the sign. It appears to be an non gender specific alien with worms for hair and a poorly shaped beard!!! I had no idea that there was a market for alien barbers.

And lets don't for get the woman on the left side of the sign. Funny, it kind of looks like Joan Rivers. I guess if they make it look like they style the celebrities it might increase their business.

Now I feel better that I have shared that with the rest of the world. Share this with the ones you love.

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The Gift of a Grandparent

I have been so blessed to have a lot of Grandparents in my life. Between my parents and step-parents I had a total of 4 Grandmothers and 3 Grandfathers. This also brought on a wide variety of grandparent names. I had MaMaw and Papaw, Mama Lou and Daddy Bill, Na-Na, and Mop and Granddaddy. I am also an only child, with a step brother, which meant that I didn't have to share my time with my Grandparents. I enjoyed every moment with them, from the surprise trips to Chuck-E-Cheeze (which was known as ShowBiz Pizza back then) to just sitting with them and watching to news even though I had no idea what they were talking about. It was just special to be in there presence.

At Thirty years old, I still have two grandparents living. I have been thinking lately about the structure of the family and how God set up the gift of Grandparents. For the grandchild there is so much wisdom that can be gained. What better way to learn about life than from people that lived it. I would sit and listen for hours about farming, cooking, driving a milk truck, and life in general. I learned about overcoming struggles. Not the trivial struggles that we experience today such as only being able to afford a 1400 sq. ft. house, or buy a new car, or have an iPhone. My grandparents had real struggles.

From my Mama Lou and Daddy Bill I learned determination. My Daddy Bill fell out of barn silo and was told that he would never walk again. While my Mama Lou was out working the fields, since he couldn't walk, he would use the rocking chair to steady himself and taught himself to walk again. My Mama Lou was raised by a few different step mothers that made her do EVERYTHING while that sat around and went to town. She had to do all the housework, cooking, and was responsible for raising the children. She never complained about it, or used her horrible childhood as an excuse to act however she wanted. She just dealt with it moved on to have a meaningful life. She was such a blessing to so many people. I was robbed of years of learning from her. She died of breast cancer when I was 8 yrs. old. Even through the struggle of that horrible disease, she kept her bravery and grace. My grandfather lived to be 85. When my Mama Lou passed away, he learn to do all of house hold chores and became one of the best cooks I have ever known.

My MaMaw and PaPaw have taught be about true love. That kind that never fades away. My MaMaw and PaPaw were high school sweethearts. They married and had three children, my mother being the middle child. I have heard the stories about the small house they lived in that my grandfather had to make a shower in the corner of the kitchen. The stories about when he was drafted and was sent to Japan, luckily the war ended before his plane landed. The stories of the love that poured into pretty little dresses for my mother and my aunt to wear. In 1998 my PaPaw had a major heart attack and had to have eight stints put into his heart. He also got gangrene in his gallbladder and had to have it removed. He was sick for months and my MaMaw sat by him through it all, caring for him even when he didn't want to be cared for. During this time we began to notice some changes in my MaMaw. She was forgetting things, things that she would do everyday. This progressively got worse over the next 9 years. Through her battle with Alzheimer's my PaPaw cared for her in a way that only a loving husband can. They sat side by side. She wanted him with her all the time. She passed away one year ago last Sunday. This is what I will remember about them.

Lessons like these are priceless to me. I hope that I can pass these on to my children and to my own grandchildren one day. God knew what he has doing when he designed Grandparents.

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