Boot Camp goes to Tokyo and my last days of freedom....

Tokyo restaurant that is.... Tuesday, we all got gussied up and went out for dinner for Kim and Joy's Birthdays!! What a fun time! We usually are together in 'work out hairdo's', no make-up, tennies, and work-out suits and drippin' sweat - but not tonight - we clean up alright, if I do say so myself!!!

Lana, Amber, and Lindsey smile for the camera! It proves that working out makes your skin glow :)

Diana and her daughter (don't they look like sisters!!!), Brittni. I believe she has decided to be Sandra's next victim (just kidding, Sandra) - I can't wait for our next Boot Camp to start!! Brittni had good news to share: she made a 100 on her Pharmacology Exam and is entering nursing school at West Georgia with a 4.0 - that is so Awesome!! My Becca wants to be a nurse so I can't wait to tell Becca when she returns tonight!!

Harriet poses with 'Amber's Adam', and her man, Monte... you go girl!!



Joy, the birthday girl with her hubby, Rick!!! I just have to say that they were my Sunday School teachers back in the day and now Joy and I look like we are the same age... I really did have the coolest teachers ever!! It is good to be back in touch with them after all these years - super couple!!

Sandra (far left)who is responsible for all of this in the first place....http://www.mainstreetnewnan.com/services/synergy-fitness.php She is an awesome trainer!! And her dinner seat is next to son-in-law, Chris, and Kim, our other Birthday girl, and Britt gets in the shot as she goes around to give out her greeting hugs ....

Lindsey, showing off her engagement ring - which was gorgeous!!! Congrats on your engagement, Lindsey...

Me and Elise (it took me almost 6 weeks to figure out that she was Sandra's daughter.) she is such a cutie!! And she told me that I look to be her age and she is about 10 years or more younger than me so now she is totally my BFF !!! She passed around her Skinny B book and decided that night to go Vegan - good luck, Elise - I know you can do it :)

Happy Birthday to you, Tokyo style....

Happy Birthday, Kim and Joy - you look fabulous!!

Kim gives us all a sunflower from her garden and Britt gives us all a bracelet with a breast cancer charm....aw, how sweet!! Party favors for big girl parties....

Lana finds a place to put her flower... what a sweetie!!

Just about the whole gang(we missed you Laurie, Pam, and Carla)..... as Kim put it when she handed out the sunflowers..."this is to say thank you...you make my day bright and sunny just like these sunflowers" well said, Kim.... girlfriends are just like Sunflowers.....

I leave Tokyo to pick up my sweet pea... she got a new purse today and new flip flops the zebra print and red are her cheer teams "colors" with GA Heat! Ain't she cute...

"Guess what, mom, I got my front walkover round off back hand spring tonight...!!"

"Your what?"

She had to repeat it quite a few times... to me,they are all just flips, but I just acted like I understood and told her how proud I was... all of that mommy stuff you say to kids.... I think she bought it and didn't realize I had no idea what she was talking about....

Wednesday night, we math teachers had to attend a textbook meeting with the sales reps for our new textbook.... (if you wanna know how that went, just ask me the next time you see me :))and then Rhonda, Ginger, and I went to La Parilla and then walked around Ashley Park .... this is Rhonda trying on "Big Girl shoes" - the size 9's where I have to look... she is like a 6 or something....

I turn around and she says...."mommy, can I wear your shoes....?" HAH!! I was on her aisle first and pretended to try on Cinderella's shoe and like I was an evil step sister trying to make it fit for the prince... you really can't take us anywhere...

That line is almost as good as when we were shoe shopping a few years ago with our children and Becca says, "mom, this is a cute shoe...put half your foot in it.." We were on what we call the "Rhonda shoe aisle" - we still laugh about that one (well, mainly Rhonda... ha!) If you didn't get any of that well, I am sorry, I guess you had to be there....

This is me at Ashley Park wishing I were at the beach and seeing the end of summer slipping right though my fingers like this sand..... goodbye summer, I will miss you....

My last meal... I mean my last luncheon date before tomorrow - the day I go back to you know where....

I take mom, Jessi, and Emily to Golden's for lunch.... mom brought us goody bags... I got snazzy pencils and stickers for my students and Jessi and Becca got gift bags filled to the top with nifty school supplies... she is so thoughtful...I love you MOM!!!!

Girls, have you had a good summer?..... "Yes, mam".....

Girls are you ready for school to start back?.....

This is the response I got.....

And my mom was saying as I snapped the shot, "Amy, don't let them stick out their tongues like that ...." gotta love moms.... and to think I am an educator (just one with a sense of humor so if you are offended, get over yourself... )

just another 3 days at home..school around the corner..

So, it's the day after our LA trip... I have serious jet lag and slept until 12:00 and found the biggest cup for coffee I own..gotta love goofy!! My girls went shopping for some back to school clothes, courtesy of Grandma. As they were pulling their new threads to try on from their bags, I snapped this shot - they both wore the same colored tank tops under their shirts and the same jeans - they hadn't even realized it until I pointed it out...they really are Twinkies whether they will admit it or not... Adam says they were dug straight out of my... well you can fill in the rest...

I don't know if this is just a Westbrook girl thing or not, but we always have a fashion show when we get new clothes.. it is normal to us.... here is outfit number one...

"Thank you, mommy, for letting us go shopping while you stayed home and cleaned house! - love you" ....

Outfit number two... Becca is actually saying, "peace, baby" but it coincidentally is outfit number two...





Okay this is how I spent the day..... my blue laundry container is empty.... I am unpacked and the laundry is done... Victory in Jesus!!! What an action filled, wild and crazy, interesting and captivating life I lead...... my laundry is done.... praise Jesus!!

Outfits number 3 - Jessi shows Becca that Becca's shirt also fits her.... oh the stories I can tell over fights about clothes... it can get ugly, but today they are friends... we take it day by day around the Westbrook Hut....

Okay, so this picture is quite blurry, but still added it to show Jessi's current growth spurt. I swear she has grown about 3 inches this summer. Her legs go on for days, I'll tell you...she is all legs!!! And in this picture, you can see that her waist matches up with Denise's...well let's just say..chest... too funny.....

Dad and Denise have us over for dinner. The ribs were so good and the rest was right out of the garden: corn, butter beans, squash, mashed potatoes, cucumbers, sliced onions.... it was so good that I told Denise she could cook even better than she cut hair (which if you have been to Denise for a haircut, you know that was a huge compliment) - You can always count on a delicious meal at Denise's house - that woman can cook!!

Here is Preston... funny story... Becca asked Preston to go and ask his mom if he could get in the pool. He had been carrying around Becca's phone and pretended to talk on it all evening and then would carefully put it back in his pocket with Velcro flap (the taking it out and putting it back in the pocket was just as cute as him walking around and pretending to talk on it - when you are small and your fingers are little, this tends to be quite an ordeal....) So he tells Becca to hold on... he finally gets the phone out of his pocket and then proceeds to "call his mommy" on the phone... After he has "his conversation" with his mom on the phone... he takes another few minutes to painstakingly get the phone back in his pocket. Then he looks up at Becca and says, " I called my mom and she said I can go swimmin'" - It was the cutest thing ever!! Gotta love toddlers!!!

Here is the gang in the pool - Becca, is it cold?

Drivers BEWARE!! This is Becca driving with me and Adam in the backseat and Jessi up in the front seat... she is scheduled to get her license in just a few weeks... we are placing bets now... Lord help us!!

The next day, we have Natalie and Bridgett and Madison over for Natalie's birthday. My little sis is 32 - wow!! Dad and Denise also make it - yeah!

Jessi made the cake ....make a wish, Tojo...

It's a Coleman stove, just what I have always wanted.... we make plans for another camping trip this fall..... yippee - and now Nat will be doing all the cooking (my plan worked..hah!)

Bridgett sews up my pillows and if you have been to my house and seen my holey pillows, you understand how exited I was... she made it look so dang easy... and she said she enjoyed it (doesn't compute) they have been holey for over a year... for those of you who were feeling sorry for me.... you can rest easy now... :)

They duke it out on the Guitar Hero.... Aerosmith...

Always clownin' around.... ha!!

Me and my sweetie!!!

For the record, I stink at Guitar Hero!!!!!!!! I just don't get it..... Jessi, are your braces brothering you? You can tell in Jessi's face that she also thinks I don't ever need to attempt to play guitar hero ever again....

For the record, I rock at Dance Revolution - in your face, Jessi!!!

Here are the Dancin' Divas!!!!

Okay so yesterday, we had our 3rd annual gift card, coupon, change bucket day... I highly recommend everyone having one... we have ours the week before school starts back.. I really missed Becca with us but she was forced into going with her friends to Myrtle Beach this week, poor thing...

So what we do is take our change bucket and cash it in (we had $66.83 in change...woo hoo), and took any more money we had on gift cards we have accumulated in the last year and haven't used yet (target $15,Ulta $15, Red Lobster $18.52, Barne's and Noble $15, Hastings $25, Longhorn $9.87, Lowe's $33.98, $20 of movie tickets to the Georgian) and any coupons(two Chic-fil-A sandwich coupons, 4 dairy queen vanilla cones, and a free ice cream from brusters...) and went scooter pootin' all over town. We also try to only shop on the sale racks to even further stretch out our money.. Jessi and I had an awesome day... Thank you to anyone who contributed in the form of gift cards - it was a real BLAST!! We went the whole day with our meals completely free, bags and bags of new stuff, and used our "change money" and shopped the sales and made out like bandits at Shoe Carnival and Rugged Warehouse!! I got 3 shirts that were originally $50 bucks each from the limited for $7.99 each, for example.... (sorry if you are not "a shopper" and you just didn't feel your heart leap when I told that story... but it is my blog and I do love a deal - thank you for those who can appreciate it!!)

"Yes, I would like two kid's cones and two waters...yes, that will be all"

"I love eat free day!!"

Okay, so I need to figure out this camera so I can take action shots... but I tried... I tried to be inconspicuous and take some shots of Jessi learning her new routine with her GA Heat team, but Jessi nixed that idea.... she looked at me and mouthed, "mother, stop!! you are embarrassing me!!" so this is the best I could do.... what? moms can't take a few pictures during practice.....jeez Louise.....

Last Day in LA: the redneck girls head home except for Molly....

So we got up early and have our last workout at the gym...http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/index.php?gymID=563 Then we headed up to our room for a late checkout. Here is Jessi packing up Molly with her new dress from the Vintage Clothing Store... We pose for a few pictures while we wait for Kimmie and Rhonda to get back with the car. We just thought it was a squeeze when we arrived with our luggage, leaving was absolutely insane. We had to fit 5 of us and all of our luggage in Kimmie's 2 door mustang(after shopping and such). We had all the bellhops out there enjoying watching us... We looked like the clowns at the circus fitting into the clown car!! Only one big suitcase and one very small suitcase fit in the trunk. The rest had to be piled on top of us. I can't believe it, but we made it work and saved the 45 dollar cab ride. Don't question the redneck girls!

We discover at the airport that Jessi's pillow was missing and then we realize that is where Molly is, stuffed in her pillow. We were running late for our flight and boarded as soon as we went through security - a very stressful few moments..... Luckily, I was able to call Grandma right before liftoff and she saved the day!! She called the hotel and Molly should be home via the UPS truck within a few days....guess Molly wasn't ready to come home yet :)

Hanging out in the lobby and the girls say goodbye to LA....

Adrian picked us up at the airport and he had a rose in his hand for Rhonda Kay. How sweet!! I was so glad to be home... grass, trees, fresh air!! LA was a blast, but there really is no place like HOME!!!

Melrose and LA: Shopping and Eating - LA day 5

We begin our day and eat lunch in a trendy place in LA called "Toast" - many of the reality shows film there and we were on the lookout for celebs but no luck. The food was very good....http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://concierge.typepad.com/cntraveler__perrinpost/images/toast.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost/2007/01/the_typical_sce.html&h=266&w=400&sz=125&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=fcyp7tnlPBsw3M:&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsite:concierge.typepad.com%2BLA%2Btoast%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive

Next, we went shopping. Jessi and I went into a Vintage shop ( http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2075/2481101451_c9469ae83e.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/dogtownink/2481101451/&h=375&w=500&sz=236&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=Setr0FC7MTdCtM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAardvark%2527s%2Bodd%2Bark%2Bin%2BLA%2Bwebsite%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rlz%3D1T4DKUS_enUS244US244%26sa%3DN)and found lots of cool stuff and also into an Urban Outfitters store and a Vintage Tee store. Jessi and I really lucked out when we discovered a store going out of bussiness and we racked up like no other!! Rachel also found some great finds at a store- not sure of the name but very now....

Here we are doing our fashion show and picking out which outfit we should wear to dinner...

We first walked over to the Westin Hotel and rode the scenic outside elevator to the top floor....

The views of LA were very pretty at sunset....

We had some cocktails (virgin ones for the mini me's - should go without saying but just wanted to be clear on that...) and appetizers and enjoyed the view.....

"Hey Daddy, I love you.... and I miss you..."

Then we went to the swankiest Mexican Restaurant I have ever been to....(over 100 bucks for only 2 entrees and a few drinks...) this is Jessi after eating some of the vegetables they brought for the chips...very very hot - made the poor girl cry...!!!! Bless her heart....

"Take a picture with me, mommy...."

Rachel is getting close to "pumkin time" so mom and Kimmie head off to Kimmie's gym downstairs for a pick me up drink for Rachel, a red bull...

But, unfortunately, a Red Bull has no power over "pumkin time"


Oh, and we also bought a vintage dress for Molly, but Jessi is sleeping with her right now so I will have to wait until tomorrow's blog to show it to you - it is very cute....