Today was a movie-set perfect type of Summer Day.

(the same lake my twin and I grew up swimming in every single, daggone weekend of our entire teen years..whether we wanted to be there or not. It was our Dad’s version of a chastity belt I think. He was a smart dude. 🙂

(they have a few years to make up for!)

(7 kids? And a little dog? There will be laughter 🙂

(oh well…it was worth it, right Zane? Tomorrow…new cast for you) 

(a fellow momma friend who battles energy issues like I do..when I texted her this morning and said, “Ugh Amber. I just can’t do this today…” She responded, “Andrea Cockrum get out of your bed NOW and throw a rock at your Goliath. You need to do this. Get.Up.Now.”  

I responded and said I couldn’t find ‘a rock but could I throw a dog?’ smile [joking PETA people!]. She said, ‘Throw a lipstick! Whatever! It’s symbolic!’  Needless to say, her encouragement this morning gave me a great day of sweet memories. thank you Amber….

(for my sister who has been utterly deprived of it for three years while living in India. I haven’t seen her without one in her hand since she’s been home this last week 🙂 

[Note to my Twin: this is where you comment and say, “oh but bless’ed sister of mine…I was not completely and utterly deprived for three years. You, my treasured twin, FED-EX’d me MOUNTAIN DEW more than once and it is the only reason I was able to stay in India an do ‘that work’ to those is such desperate need”. And then you proceed with several more adjectives about my niceties and such. super snort. no really.]

(whom I met EXACTLY 19 years ago TODAY… it was from across a crowded room on July 28th, 1992 around 7:12pm …. that I saw James Russell Cockrum for the first time. I went home and announced that I’d met my husband. I was 18.  

I have loved ya from that very instant my luv -which I have told you countless times and, yet,  it always makes me feel important that you love hearing me say it. I love the way your mouth turns into this geeky grin cuz you are still goofy about how strongly I felt about you from the moment I saw ya.

… and, just ‘by the way’ and ‘so ya know’ James Russell… you are officially VERY stuck with me now … for we have history, we have ‘people’ that are OURS – ours from God [dang, we had NO clue did we? Glad God is so much smarter than us],  we have been through amazingly goods and terrible bads but we never lost each other or let the other fall behind during these times,  we have inside jokes that are only for us, we can read each other’s entire insides by looking at the other’s face, and… so far, we have crazy life story together that is not even half-full…awesome.)

(not me. no. nope. nuh-uh. that’s there is boy stuff.)

(That Tye thought really needed to come home with us. It did not..be proud of me people. Though it was put into a small plastic cup -with water!- and petted for quite awhile by our Tye:)


Sunscreen. 
(‘almost’ enough on most of us…whoops and sorry to Chase’s face…)

(but the kind that tip all the way back really easily…so my ab muscles got a workout trying not to let the dang chair go to far back even though they were ‘comfortable’? huh?)

A beautiful campfire. 
(started by my survivalist nephew…Bruce. If I am ever lost in the woods. I’m calling him. bbwwhahahaha..get it?!)

(found by my Aven Catherine Mundell every 5 minutes….and EACH one was found with a shriek of “LOOK MOMMA IT IS BEAUTIFUL!”)

(uh-hem. I won. AND I had Aven and a DOG on my raft! Take that Trey 😉

(though even IN the shade it was the symbolic “Indiana Summer” day where the air drips with moisture and the heat sits upon your shoulders)

 “Camp DingRum”
(Trey donned our little area “Camp DingRum” which is a combination of our family’s two last names. He decided the alternative, “Camp CockMan” was just not “appropriate”. I will laugh about that …oh…for about forever.)

(happily I had my floppy twenty’s-throwback hat to shade me eyes…luv that hat.)


In all…it was a sweet daze within a beautiful summer day.

Sigh. So good. So needed. 


Well…..Sleep Tight Friends….

For tomorrow I will be showing you my devastated Art Studio (think MOUNDS of stuff piled EVERYWHERE from the downstairs remodel) in hopes that you will feel sorry for me (you can roll your eyes…) 

…AND/OR I will be “interviewing” Tye on video regarding how he feels about ‘adoption’ these days …..

And with that….

ZZZzzzzz…….(sunshine wears a girl O-U-T!)
Andrea