Nana's Moments

School Days

2012-02-16T23:27:00.000-05:00

This week was an interesting school week. We spent some time with papa in the ER on Tuesday. He will be having surgery soon and is having to take it easy until then. Papa and Tanek were having some special reading time together. Papa usually reads to him from his Kindle a book that Stephanie has chosen. It is usually a classic and this particular one Tanek is really enjoying.

Tanek and his papa have a very special relationship and you can see they are enjoying this time together. They make many memories every day.

We have been studying about the Pilgrims and how they came over on the Mayflower. Also, we are studying about God's creation. This week we were learning about nature and how things grow, seasons, and wild life. We are very interested in this and love studying about God's creation.

Tanek was very concerned about his papa having to go to the hospital. He was so good while we waited for them to take care of papa. He was right there to give moral support. He was also very happy that he got to go see his mommy at work. We were very happy when we got to go home though and papa got to come with us.

Crazy Hat Night!

2012-02-04T08:28:00.004-05:00

Wednesday night they had crazy hat night in Awana's. We started out with papa's old yard hat and went from there. We went out into my "room" that has who knows what out there and found all these things to decorate it with. It was a very special hat because most of the things we decorated it with came from Meme Anita and we like to think she was able to see his hat and know she had a part in it. She is such a special part of his life and he loves her so much. Tanek wanted a spring on his hat (not sure where that idea came from) so we started by putting his slinky around it and went from there. After we were all finished we were very proud of his hat and certainly thought it was a crazy one.

It actually turned out to be a patriotic one. It was a little top heavy and hard to keep on his head. He was happy that papa didn't want his hat back, because he didn't want to take the decorations off and likes it the way it is. Maybe we will just add more to it next year and make it even crazier.

He is all decked out in his hat and Awana's vest. He loves going to Awana's. They have so much fun while at the same time he is planting a lot of God's word in his heart with memorization. He has already finished his first book and is moving right along.

School Days

2012-01-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

Thursday was such a beautiful warm day we did school out on the porch.

We were doing math. It makes it a little more interesting when you can use objects to eat for adding and subtracting.

Tanek wears many hats

What I Like At 5 Years Old!

2012-01-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

On Pinterest I saw where they took a picture of a little girl and put everything she liked at age 5. They suggested keeping a scrapbook of it and giving it to them when they graduate or get married. I thought that would be a great idea. They used a really cool background and I thought maybe some of my photographer pro's could come up with something creative. I did what to record it before he turns 6 next month. Here he was reading the chart we made and making sure I got it right.

Look Who Lost a Tooth!

2012-01-08T16:20:00.002-05:00

Tanek had a loose tooth the other day. Today they found it in bed when they woke up. It sure fell out easily. Tonight the tooth fairy will make a visit to his house.

He came over to show his papa that he lost his tooth. That made papa's day.

What a cute little hole in his mouth.

Gary's Surgery

2012-01-06T09:38:00.002-05:00

Gary had foot surgery on Tuesday. After the surgery he came home and was relaxing on the couch with his two buddies. Daisey wants to be everywhere he is and Stanley loves to just lay on top of him or by his side all day. He is doing well and we have managed to keep the pain level down for the first couple days. Now after 3 days he is having almost no pain. Hopefully this surgery will be successful and he will be able to walk without so much pain. When this one is healed he will have the other one done, so it will be awhile before things around here are back to normal.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-29T11:23:00.000-05:00

It has taken me since Christmas to try to post this. Blogger has changed something and won't take my browser . I had to change it and I dislike the new change. ANYWAY. Here are some pictures posting last first. Go figure.

We had a birthday party for Jesus. Tanek and his mommy made this delicious cake. We were sure Jesus liked it too because it is chocolate.

We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Tanek blew out the candles for Him

Tanek loves lego's and can never have enough. SO he was quite happy to have more lego's under his tree. And under our tree too!

He is very good at putting Lego's together. He and his mommy spent lots of time building lego's and he has a whole lego city with all sorts of things in his city.

This was his city "before Christmas". It has grown larger now.

He was very happy to get a globe for Christmas. Not what your average 5 year old asks for on Christmas but he was very pleased. He loves to learn about other countries and states and loves talking about where he was born.

More lego's from his Uncle Richard, Aunt Heather and his "cousins".

And a pogo stick. He is having fun learning how to do this.

Tanek had a very Happy Christmas. I love that after each gift he would say thank you and let you know he wanted that gift. He was also very concious that everyone else got their gifts to open too. Another Christmas has come and gone, but I think we did really well celebrating the "reason for the season."

A Night Out in St. Augustine!

2011-12-23T21:08:00.004-05:00

Tonight we along with Charles and Charlene went to St. Augustine for dinner and to see Christmas lights. We ate at Schooner's with "a lot" of other people. This seemed to be the place to be tonight. The food was very good and the wait was worth it. We also went to a church (I can't rememer the name) on hwy 16 not far from the outlet mall. They had a wonderful display of Christmas lights. You drive through and see all the lights, and they have a big tent with all sorts of Christmas trees. There were Disney characters as well as things for kids to do and refreshments. It really was a neat place and a lot of work by this church. We started out at Schooners and ate way more than we needed too.

Waiting for dinner.

These are a few of the decorations they had in their display of lights.

Gary and Charles relaxing while Charlene and I looked around and had our picture taken in a sleigh.

Mickey and Minnie had made the trip from Disney to help out.

They had a lot of different displays. This was one of my favorite ones. Love the peanuts gang.

We had a very nice time and got to see a lot of pretty lights. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Program & Parties!

2011-12-23T12:41:00.005-05:00

The children's choir put on a great Christmas musical. "Back to the Manger". It went back into time all the way to the First Christmas. They did a great job and it is always so much fun to watch the kids sing and perform. They do it from their heart. Love watching all of them.Tanek was very much into it.

Love th 50's era.

The Library had a nice Christmas party for the children too. Even had a visit from Santa.

Mrs. Chris does a wonderul job getting the Library in festive decor.

Tanek always enjoys story time

Last year when he saw Santa he surprised him by telling Santa that "His" mommy and daddy were his Santa. I told him this year he might just want to go along with the program and tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He did. He told him he wanted Lego's and Santa told him He still played with Lego's.

Mason's Mimi, Mrs. Jan, had a "Happy Birthday Jesus Party" at her house. The kids had a lot of fun playing birthday games and celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Tanek and Mason have been buddies since they were 2 years old. They don't get to see each other very often now, but they sure did enjoy getting back together.

Christmas time at the Kingdom!

2011-12-18T12:13:00.007-05:00

Going to Disney during the Christmas season is probably my favorite time to go. The lights and decorations are awesome. No one does Christmas decorations quite like Disney. We had a great time, the weather was great, the crowds were light and we met up with Kim and Seth so Tanek had a friend to ride with.

The tea cups are always a favorite ride.

They were filming the Disney Christmas Parade that Saturday we were there. There were hundreds of people lined up on Main St. to watch it and hopefully be on TV. We took advantage of that time to go on over 21 rides and attractions without having to wait in long lines. It was great.

Seth was just a little dizzy on the tea cups

Stephanie and Kim

Love the beautiful flowers in the entrance of the Kingdom

And these 2 cute boys make it look even better

Hollywood Studio's is the place to see lots and lots of lights. I love this place!

The guns at the shooting gallery may be just a little too big for Tanek.

Watching the fireworks is always fun

Seth is teaching Tanek to play checkers.

The decorations and landscaping at Epcot are always beautiful

A beautiful December day in Florida!

Enjoying a good old fashioned Ice Cream Cone!

2011-12-16T14:56:00.002-05:00

While we were at Disney a couple weeks ago, we went to Chevy's for dinner. They have the best chips and salsa of anywhere. I could make a meal from that and a large coke. Tanek enjoyed the chips and he really enjoyed the ice cream cone at the end of his meal.

Gotta love those sweet big eyes

I am ready to go back for more chips, salsa and ice cream.

Time to Wrap up our Trip!

2011-12-12T21:26:00.006-05:00

The last day we were in Maryland we went to the school to take some pictures for our Christmas card. Heather is such a good photographer. It was a rainy day and in a matter of about a 10 minute window she was able to get enough good shots to make my Christmas card. These are some pictures that I took (and did not use on my card). The leaves were still pretty and made a very pretty background.

Bailey and Brody doing what they like to do.

Such beautiful dogs.

Tanek is ready for his picture to be taken

Miss Emily and her beautiful hair

Hannah and Emily

Nana and her girls

I love these girls

Mrs. Delynne, a good friend of our family

Family Hugs

It's time to start saying good-by before we start our 1000 hour drive home. Tanek said it took 1000 hours and their were times that it seemed so.

A football from Uncle Richard for Tanek. Emily showing him what to do with it.

This will do nicely

I'm going to miss you Uncle Richard. I love you!

And then the long drive started. With, "are we there yet?", "I just want to be home", and "how much longer?" It did seem like it took 1000 hours, but we finally made it safe and sound after a very fun visit. And even before we finished our looooong drive home, Tanek was wondering when he would get to go back for another visit.

My Beautiful First Grand-Child!!!

2011-12-11T12:22:00.004-05:00

It is hard to believe that my first grand-child Kirsten is almost all grown up. She is now 16, and a very smart and talented girl. When I visit them, it is hard to get much time with her as she is very busy. She is a straight A student, busy with working at the barn and riding horses (her first love), writing a novel and just in general being a very busy teen. She is the one that first made me a Nana, and I might add it is my favorite position I have ever held. Being a mom was great and I love being "mom", but being "Nana" is even better and she first bestowed that name on me. When my son and daughter in law moved to Maryland taking my first grand-child who was 4 years old at that time I thought the world would come to an end. It didn't, but it certainly changed.
Kirky as her friends and family like to call her is a very special girl. She is so smart that she is way over my head when she talks about certain things. I do love to sit in her room with her and talk to her though. She has so much wisdom for a 16 year old girl. She is "very", did I say "VERY" headstrong. She is very much like her Aunt Stephanie. Which is a good thing. People do not influence them easily. They know what they want and are willing to work to get it. I love that about both of them. They are not quitters. They are tough even though very sensitive.

I am very proud of both of them. When you are their friend you have a friend you can trust with anything. The fact that they are so strong willed is a good quality.....most of the time. It can make you crazy as Kirky's parents know, but we are very proud of this girl. These few pictures I got of her while I was up there were the only ones I got. She was gone a good deal of time that we were up there. She even went on a Mission trip to DC with her Junior class while we were there. She is very very busy.

Heather was fixing her hair one morning . This was a good time for me to capture some pictures of her because she couldn't get away.

All three of my grand-daughters have very long beautiful hair. They are all so pretty.

Its been a long time since they moved away and some how I survived the separation. But I do love when I can be around these girls. Each one is so unique and has so much to offer. What special grand-daughters I have.

Maryland Trip- Day 3 & 4

2011-12-08T00:18:00.005-05:00

It has taken me so long to finish this trip but I am now posting day 3 4. On Tuesday we went to the girls school for grand-parent day. Every year in November they have grand-parents day and you get to go to their school an observe what they are doing. They have chapel in the morning and each class shows some of the things they are learning. They do a lot of memorization. It is amazing to hear these kids reciting long verses or even books of scripture, poems or any number of things. They are taught such respect that when the headmaster walks up to the front they immediately get quiet without him saying a word. When an adult walks into the room they stand up. It is a classical education school and it is amazing. These kids learn so much and are so smart. I wish we had a school like that in this area. My grand-daughter Hannah does not like to have her picture taken and she is at the age I was trying very hard not to embarrass her, so I just had to capture a few shots when she wasn't looking.

Hannah is a very sweet and compassionate girl with very tender feelings. She is friendly to everyone at school and tries hard to make sure no one feels left out. She is a very special girl. She loves nature, birds and animals. She would much rather be outside in the woods than in class, but of course she must go to class too!. She has so many of the same interests that I do and we have a very special bond.

My youngest grand-daughter Emily is a trip. There is NO telling what she might come up with. If you are not careful she will try to teach the class. She comes up with some of the funniest things and you just have to smile at her. She is the performer in the family. She loves all the attention she can get and will perform for you. She will sing, dance or recite for you. She is very precious.

This is her teacher. I love this teacher. Hannah had her in pre-school and for kindergarten. She is great. She is fun and loves the kids. She makes her class very interesting and Emily is enjoying her class very much.

Tanek enjoyed visiting Emily's class because he is in kindergarten too! He is home schooled and it was fun for him to see how other schools work. He even answered a couple questions (that he wasn't asked) but just got into it. He and Emily are just 2 1/2 months apart in age. He is the youngest. He loved visiting "his cousins" as he loves to call them. He was happy sitting with his Aunt Heather.

He is enjoying being in school with Emily. Don't you love those beautiful braids Emily has?

Here is our sweet Emily

This is the kindergarten class in chapel.

Tanek is waiting for chapel to start with Aunt Heather and Uncle Richard and mommy.

Hannah was handing out programs when we walked in. She did NOT want me to take her picture but I did anyway. She did give me a big smile anyway. After chapel the school had a very nice reception for the parents and grand-parents. In the afternoon we went to the upper school to observe Kirsten's class. I did NOT take pictures of her. I knew better than to press my luck on that one. Kirsten is in the 11th grade and I cannot even relate to the classes she is in. She has classes that I never took and they are way over my head. She is way to smart for me. She is a very talented writer and is working on a novel. She is a good artist also. One day we will be reading books that she has published. I have no doubt about that. Her biggest love is horses and if she could she would live at the barn. Each one of my grand-daughters are so different, but so special. They all have very individual personalities and a couple of them are very headstrong. I guess they get that from their mom. :)

We also got to observe Hannah's ballet class. Hannah is a very graceful dancer. She is long and lean and very pretty to watch. However.....she did not like me taking pictures of her. But some times she just has to put up with her nana.

This is Hannah's domain. She loves the woods and so does Emily. They have a fort down here that they build individual rooms. They have trees to climb and there is a little stream. This is where I think Hannah likes to be the best. It really was pretty this time of year with all the leaves in color.

You can tell the difference in a Florida boy and a Maryland girl. We Floridians were cold and they were enjoying a "warm" day.

Hannah showing us around "her woods".

She even has a fish tank down there. All the comforts of home.

All the joys of nature.

Maryland Trip....Day 2

2011-11-25T18:40:00.007-05:00

I have got behind on my blogging trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and putting up Christmas decorations. On Sunday afternoon of our trip we went to this bouncy place for Emily's birthday.
It was so much fun. There were big bouncy slides and bouncers. Everyone had a great time.
Richard is pushing Heather against the bouncy slide and bouncing her back and forth.

It's amazing how fast these slides are.

Tanek had a ball

Emily had a good time too!

And I had a great time. I loved it. It is fun to act like a kid again. Playing with your grand-children is a perfect reason to be a kid again.

Climbing up some of the slides was a little challenging....for me. But the grands had no trouble getting up them.

Bouncing is so much fun

Emily was really getting into it

Hannah is a natural

Wish we had one of these in Keystone

Cousins having a great time together. Tanek loved being with his cousins.

Emily and Heather

Hannah

Tanek

Uncle Richard

Sunday evening some friends came over to celebrate Emily's birthday

Can't believe my sweet little Emily is 6 years old already. Time goes by way too fast.

Emily blowing out her candles on her yummy birthday cake.

Emily recited a couple poems for us. On of the poems she even used a Brittish accent which was really cute.

We had such a nice visit and so much fun. I hate that we live so far away and can't see them often enough. I really miss my grand-daughters and would love to see them way more often. Tanek loved being with his Uncle Richard, Aunt Heather and his cousins.

Maryland Visit Day 1

2011-11-20T14:54:00.005-05:00

Last week Stephanie, Tanek and I went to Maryland to visit Richard, Heather and girls. Since I took SO many pictures I will post them a day at a time. We left early in the morning. We are all packed up and ready to roll. Tanek is not really a morning person, but he was very excited about going to visit his "cousins" and his Uncle Richard and Aunt Heather.

Always on an early morning trip a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast is a must. It was pretty cold that day too. We stopped in Georgia for a yummy breakfast.

We left early Friday morning and drove to Raleigh and spent the night with our good friend Jean. Once we got into South Carolina the leaves were beautiful. It really made the trip pleasant as the leaves were beautiful all the way up. Tanek loved seeing all the different colors and it helped to pass the time....a little.

We left Jean's early on Saturday morning as we wanted to surprise everyone by getting there early as they didn't expect us until Saturday night. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard "are we there yet?" But that was NOTHING compared to the drive back home and I heard "how much farther"? and I want to see my DADDY and Papa. We got to Richard and Heathers a little before noon and they were surprised. As a matter of fact Richard and Kirsten were not even there. Richard had taken Kirsten to the barn where she teaches riding lessons to little ones.
For lunch on Saturday (since Kirsten wasn't there) we went to Baja Fresh. Kirky does NOT like Baja Fresh so it was the perfect time to go.

Tanek was SO excited to get there and see his cousins and Aunt and Uncle. We had a great visit.

They had gotten him some new Cars 2 Lego's so it wasn't very long after we got there that he and the girls put them together.

Emily's birthday was on Friday so we got to help her celebrate on Saturday and Sunday. Here she is opening her new American Girl doll clothes. She got a new American Girl doll so the new clothes was a hit.

A velvet party coat

A cute little pink robe and the cutest little fuzzy slippers.

Our two youngest and middle grand-daughters. Emily who just turned 6 and Hannah who is 11.

I love these girls.
Emily and Tanek playing on their parents phones. Angry birds I am sure!
Finally asleep after a very busy day.

Decorating Tanek's Little Christmas Tree!

2011-11-08T22:34:00.004-05:00

Today we put up Tanek's little Christmas tree in the den. He was so excited. I think he is the one person in our family that loves Christmas as much as I do. He wanted multi color lights on his tree this year and so we have them. They also play Christmas music and that really made him happy.
I put the lights on for him and then he was able to decorate the tree all by himself.

He still has a lot of ornaments to go on the tree, but so far we haven't found the hooks. They are in one of the boxes somewhere. So....he was only able to put up what didn't need hooks.

He had so much fun decorating it and just thinks the tree is beautiful. Nothing makes Christmas as happy as having children around that are so excited about it. He was singing Christmas songs as he worked. It was just so much fun. He is such a happy little guy anyway and just brings us so much joy.

I will post a picture of the tree when it is finished. This was just the beginning of the decorating of his tree.

We went to Linda's yard arts today to pick up something. That will really put you in the mood seeing all those lighted items. I wish we could have one of everything. We had a good time walking around looking at everything she has in her store. I am very excited about the new piece I got for the yard. Can't wait to get all of that up and turned on. My goal is to have everything up and finished by Thanksgiving. I just love this time of year. And I love that I have someone to share it with that loves it as much as I do.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:03:00.005-04:00

Today Papa got the job of carving our two pumpkins. I was so glad he did, because it is a pretty yuky job. The pumpkins smell and are very messy. Tanek gave instructions on how he wanted the pumpkins to look. He watched and advised papa as he was doing the carving.
He thought they smelled pretty bad too!

Getting all the gunk out

Sticking close to papa to make sure he was doing it right.

This is what it looks like in the inside.

All cleaned out

This is Tanek's pumpkin and this is just what he wanted him to look like.

Both pumpkins all finished.

We went to Keystone for trick or treating and also to the Fall Festival at First Baptist in Keystone. Tanek got lots of candy and had a great time.

Tanek and Seth. "Batman & Obi-Wan"

Tanek had so much fun this Halloween and was very excited about it. I am really glad that the town of Keystone and First Baptist give the kids a safe place to celebrate and get candy. There were tons of kids out tonight. We only had 4 come to our house. It seems that most kids these days are going to festivals and trick or treating in town where it is safer.

Halloween at the Lirbary & a visit to the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-20T14:57:00.005-04:00

Yesterday at the Library for Story Time they had their Halloween party. Tanek was Obi Wan Kenobi. He is really into the Star Wars and knows everything you ever needed to know and more about them. It was a fun morning and fun to see the kids dressed in costumes.

Tanek with Buzz aka Mrs. Kris. She is great with the kids and Tanek loves going to story time.
She also bakes very yummy cookies for the kids (and parents...grand-parents).

Doing the "hookie spookie"

Enjoying the refreshments

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch at the Methodist Church in Keystone. We got a pumpkin and put a funny face with stickers on it until it is time to cut him open to make a Jack-o-lantern

Obi Wan Kenobi went with us to the Pumpkin Patch too.

Yesterday we had a little rain and today it is very nippy out. Only 64 degrees and windy equals C O L D!!! So Obi had to wear a jacket for the first time.

Every year the Methodist church puts on this pumpkin patch and we certainly do enjoy it. The two ladies that were working there today were so nice and helped Tanek pick out a pumpkin.

They have pumpkins of all sizes and shapes. Some very strange looking ones too. And some weird looking gourds. Tanek enjoyed getting into this little car for a picture.

I love this picture of him. I managed to get him to put down his light saber for a picture.

We are certainly enjoying fall. It seems like it came so fast and already we are almost to the end of October. Hard to believe time is going by so fast. It is already time for me to be working on my Christmas lights and I am just not really in the mood to do that, but I am trying too. It won't be long until it is time to turn them on and I have a few to put up so will have to get started. But for yesterday and today we enjoyed "fall" things. Actually the whole week-end and this week have been filled with fall activities and the weather certainly says fall too!

Beautiful North Carolina

2011-10-18T23:38:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning Gary and I drove up to Asheville, NC to visit my brother who is in a nursing home there. It was his birthday and we wanted to go up and surprise him and have a little celebration for his birthday. It just so happened that it was also the peak week-end for the leaves. We took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the sights were breath taking. It is just so colorful and beautiful that you just can hardly believe that the leaves are in the process of dying. How can anything dying be so beautiful? God in all His Majesty has a wonderful way of doing things.

When you are looking at all the beauty and you know that only God could do something this beautiful, yet that same Awesome God knows our name and how many hairs are on our head, and He wants a relationship with each of us. It is mind boggeling. It gives you a different perspective on life. It was hard to see my brother in the condition he is in. He has bone cancer and lots of other health issues and we don't know how much longer he will be with us. We do know he will live forever and one day we will be together again, but it is still very hard to see him in the condition he is in now. So we had sights of some of the most beautiful life has to offer and sights of some of the hardest parts of life. A nursing home regardless of how good it is (and this one is quite nice) and takes good care of their patients. However, you see some of the saddest situations in there. Very hard to see. We were hoping to be able to take my brother out for a drive so he could see the beautiful leaves, but he just was not able to go. I did bring him some leaves back so he could see them. Of course they have trees around the home that are beautiful too.

I felt like we brought a little joy to his life by coming up for a surprise visit and having a small birthday celebration for him. He still has his sense of humor. He told me I should have let him know we were coming because what if he wasn't there? I told him I wasn't too concerned that he wouldn't be there. I was able to re-arrange his room a little for him to make it work better for him. It was good to be able to visit him and I am hoping we will be able to go see him again soon.

After we left to come back home, as we were coming into Florida we were greeted by this sunset. It really was quite pretty and this picture taken through the front windshield as I was driving doesn't do it justice. We had been talking on the way home how we wish Florida had a little more color. We don't have it in our leaves, but the sky has some very pretty sunsets.

It was good to be back home again.

My favorite ball player

2011-10-12T08:14:00.004-04:00

Fall ball is in full swing. I love watching Tanek play ball or actually any sport he does. It is just fun to watch. I love watching the kids at this age. They are just too cute. They played a Starke team and I think the oldest child must have been only 5. They were all so small and just beginning. Some of them didn't even know which base to run too. One ran from home plate to 2nd, another from 1st to 3rd. But everyone cheered for the little guys anyway. It is nice when the coaches and parents watch for fun and not act like it is a world series game. I think most of you know what I mean. It can get that way at times even at this young level and that is pretty sad for the kids.
I like to watch Tanek play catcher. And if you are a coach or umpire you better watch him too. He is likely to throw the ball at you when you least expect it. His goal is to get that ball back to the pitcher as quick as possible.

At least this year the catcher's equipment doesn't come below his knees and he can actually bend over in it now.

And you can even see his eyes under the helmet this season.

He is doing so much better this year at the game and really enjoying it.

School Days!

2011-10-11T23:17:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago I got this little school desk out of the attic. This had been Stephanie's desk when she was in the first grade so it is a few years old. Since it had been in the attic for many years the desk top had pretty much been ruined and it needed a lot of cleaning up. The hubs had his friend Doug make a new top for it and then he cleaned it up and repainted it. Today was the first day Tanek used it for school and he loved it. It is just his size and he really enjoyed doing school in his bedroom using his new desk.

It really worked well for him to do his handwriting on and we decided the new desk helped him to do really good handwriting today.

It was a very nice morning with a cool breeze coming through the open window.

He has his easel to work on and usually writes words that have to do with Star Wars. He enjoys the easel quite a bit. Behind the easel is a world map. I love these big maps as it is so easy to find the places we are studying about.

This side of his room has the TV and map of the USA. After school (since swimming season is over) we sometimes watch a good movie. Today we got to watch the new movie "Spooky Buddies".
You can see he is very much into cars in his room. We are anxiously awaiting the release of Cars 2 on DVD.

These are the books we work out of everyday.

We never run out of good books to read.

Papa and Tanek's Fall Garden!

2011-10-07T18:30:00.003-04:00

The fall garden is coming along. In a short time we will have fresh veggies again. It has been beautiful weather to work in the garden and Tanek and Papa enjoy it.

The tomoato bushes are growing taller than Tanek and are full of blossoms and small tomoatoes. Hopefully it will not turn cold before they get ripe.

After working in the garden there is always time for a little fun.

It's That Time Of Year Again!

2011-10-06T21:51:00.002-04:00

Fall Ball. Gotta love it. Today was a practice game and Tanek is ready. He loves playing t-ball and I love watching him play it. Today he got 2 base hits from pitched balls. Way to go Tanek!
His bag is as big as him.

While waiting for the game to start it started raining. Gary and I were in the car and I looked out the window and saw this beautiful rainbow. I love rainbows. Such a work of beauty from God. Just beautiful!

Obi Wan Kenobi

2011-09-29T21:43:00.007-04:00

Tanek is in love with Star Wars. Stephanie ordered him a costume and needed a Jedi robe to go with it. They had a picture on the internet with directions. I found a few old patterns that I combined to make the robe. He was SO excited with his new costume and new light saber. He is going with his mommy and daddy to Disney to the Not So Scary Mickey Halloween Party and he is ready.
His daddy took him and bought him this new "cool" light saber.

Jedi's have to have a green light saber instead of red so of course he needed a new one.

He is making good use of his light saber and being a good Jedi. May the force be with you.

Children's Choir!

2011-09-26T13:50:00.005-04:00

Last night our Children's Choir sang in the evening service. We had a great service with just music and singing. It was our music ministers 21st anniversary and we always have a time of celebrating that. It was a great service and everyone loves to hear the children sing. The little people in the white are the 3 & 4 year old's and the little ones in the navy are the K-6th grade. They did a great time. Children just sing from their heart. It is amazing how they can learn all the words and just sing. I can't believe Tanek is already in the older group. He started in choir when he was 3 and this is his 3rd year. He loves it and of course we LOVE to hear him as well as the other children.

At the fellowship afterwards a lady at our table mentioned that she did not make it up in the choir in time to watch the children sing, but that watching the parents and grand-parents was even more fun than watching the children. It is a sure thing that when your child or grand-child is singing the adults will come to hear.

The workers do an incredible job working with these kids and it really shows. I just can't wait to see their Christmas program.

My friend Jean was visiting from N.C. and she got to hear them too. The last time she was down was when Tanek was singing as a 3 year old.

End of an Era!

2011-09-16T21:17:00.003-04:00

Today was Mrs. Dimples last day as a hairdresser. For the past 30+ years she has taken care of our families hair needs. She knew exactly how to cut my hair and I never had to worry about it not turning out. I have very thick wavy hair and she knew how to cut it so that it went with the waves. So many times hairdressers will wash it first and then cut it and then you can't see the way it grows and it equals disaster. My kids grew up with her cutting their hair. Tanek after a year or two finally got to where he would let her cut his hair because he said "Mrs. Dimple is so nice". I wish we had a video of the very first haircut he got. I think he was a first for Dimple. I know it was a first for me. I had never seen a little guy fight so hard while getting a haircut. We literally held him upside down and I was feeding him Cheerios while Stephanie held him and Dimple tried to cut his hair. Whew!!! We could have won for the funniest video's, but we were not able to take any because we were too busy trying to hold on to him. But as you can see now he is sitting very calmly and getting his hair cut like a big boy.
He has come a loooong way. I cut it for awhile but I am not a hairdresser and really couldn't do a good job on it. He has very thick coarse hair and she new exactly how to cut it. We are going to miss her SO much cutting our hair. However, we are happy that she is going to retire and have more free time to do as she wants. She runs a nice little gift shop and framing store next to the beauty shop and she will still keep that open. We will be visiting her often. She has been far more than just our hairdresser over the years she has become a very special friend. She attended our weddings and baby showers. Now we will have time to do some fun things together like going to lunch. We wish her a very happy retirement. We love you Mrs. Dimples.

The Cutest Little "Spark"!

2011-09-14T23:46:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post this picture yesterday. I just love the way Tanek is looking up at his papa. He (Tanek) loved his new walking stick that his papa made for him.

Such a cute little "Spark". Tanek is ready for Awana's. He is very proud of his new vest and the patch he earned last week.

He is enjoying Awana's a lot. He is learning new Bible verses each week and enjoying all the fun they have in Awana's.

A small science project!

2011-09-13T20:58:00.004-04:00

Today in school we were reading about Mt. Rushmore and the images of the four Presidents that are carved into the stone on the side of a mountain. We also studied about all the different kind of rock and other substances that God created when he created the world. So for our science project we carved a face from dough. Not quite as hard as carving a face from stone but it was a fun project. We also read about how only God can produce life. We can make images of man from stone or dough but only God can breathe life and create a person.

Tanek is kneading the dough to make a face.

Getting it all ready to carve the face.

Carving the face. Wonder how long it took to carve the presidents faces out of stone?

Very carefully working on the details.

It's a little hard to see the details, but here is a scuplture of a face from "dough" created by a 5 year old.

After school Tanek couldn't wait to go for a walk with the new walking stick his papa had made him. Whenever we go for a walk he always wanted to use papa's walking stick and it was too tall for him. Papa made one just his size and he had the best time walking with it. He likes that he has a walking stick just like his papa. Since the walk was pretty hot we kept it short and then they came home and went swimming which was pretty cold. We are between a little hot to walk in the afternoon and a the water a little cold to swim.

My Latest Project--DONE!

2011-09-10T13:35:00.003-04:00

A couple years ago my sweet hubby had these stairs built up to our storage attic. He was afraid I would kill myself going up and down the pull out stairs as the opening was kinda small for some of the boxes I was putting up there. AND....he was having to help me get all the big yard art for Christmas up and down every year and it was a BIG job. SO....he had these stairs built. It is much easier getting things up and down, however I don't really keep the big things up there anymore as we bought a new storage shed last year that is on the ground. However, these stairs needed to be stained so I decided this was a great weekend to do that. It started out as a great project. I worked on it for several hours on Thursday and the weather was nice, cool and breezy. The job required so much bending and going up and down that by the end of the day I was really hurting. My back was shouting NO NO NO!!! On Friday I worked a couple more hours on it and my back and whole body were yelling at me by this time to STOP! So I did. For some reason this 67 year old body doesn't like to do what this 67 year old mind tells it to. BUT today Saturday I Finished the job. YEA!!! It looks SO much better and other than all the climbing, bending and getting up and down on my hands and knees a million (so it seemed) times it wasn't all that hard. Messy, yes. I am glad it was washable because I had a lot of it on me.

This is the before picture. Just unfinished pressure treated wood. The hubs and I painted this whole building a few years ago. Another big job.

I am not sure who had the idea of all these spindles, surely not me. They were really a pain to paint each one. But I do think they look nice and it keeps anyone from falling off the stairs.

It was really a lot of fun trying to get the bottom of the stairway painted.

Notice I even repainted the roofs of the birdhouses. Everything needs to match. I guess I will also paint the wood that the birdhouses are sitting on. Another day for that. Now I think a flower bed under the stairs would look really good. Since it doesn't get a lot of sun under there maybe I will build a planter and put some Hosta's in there next Spring. Sounds like a good idea.

You can see the little door to the attic on top. Now it doesn't look like a stairway to nowhere since I painted the door too.

Now that this job is finished I am hoping to get the fences that go across the sides of the house stained too. THEN, I will be ready to start putting up my Christmas decorations by the first of October. So much fun. I had no idea this is what I would be dong at 67 years old. I am not sure what I should be doing at this age, but it must not be this. At least my body tells me maybe I should do something else. Any suggestions???

My sweet hubby did fix US lunch on Thursday and yesterday we did Chinese take out. So, that was fun.

Recess!

2011-09-01T23:56:00.003-04:00

We are near the end of summer so whenever we get a chance we swim for recess. Tanek loves the water and will stay in until he is really cold. He has so much fun playing in the water.
Papa goes in with him a lot more than I do. I take pictures and let them go in. I do go in several times a week, but it has to be pretty warm before I go oin.

He loves it because this year he gets to jump off and swim in the deep end. He can go all the way to the bottom and swim on the bottom and it is 9 1/2 feet deep.

This is what the sky looked like on this day and that makes it too cold for me. I like to swim when the sun is out very hot and then I don't get too cold. Tanek doesn't care what it is like out. As long as it isn't storming he wants to go in. Today it really felt cool out and you can definitely feel fall in the air.

Replanting Time!

2011-08-25T12:33:00.004-04:00

Yesterday papa came in and told Tanek they would need to replant what they had planted because it wasn't coming up. We just happened to be studying about George Washington Carver and how he loved to learn and teach about plants and also in "The World God Made" how on the 3rd day God created plants. It was really pretty neat that it would be on that day that they needed to go out and plant again. It really went along with the lesson and made it really applicable to our day.

I love how Tanek's row has a curve in it instead of being completely straight.

Birthday Celebration at Disney!

2011-08-22T18:45:00.008-04:00

Stephanie and I share birthdays that are only 5 days apart. About 3 years ago we started celebrating them at Disney. This year we left very early (6 am) on Sunday morning and got to Disney around 8:30 am. We checked into our room at Port Orleans-Riverside and then got to the Magic Kingdom shortly after it opened at 9 am. We love staying at Port Orleans. It is a very fun resort and I love the atmosphere of it. Besides Tanek and I think they have the best slide in their pool of anywhere and we enjoy it. Anyway we got to the park early and went straight to Thunder Mountain and it wasn't crowded yet. That is our favorite ride. We got a fast pass and rode it twice. By then it was getting pretty crowded so we used our fast pass to ride it a 3rd time. We then went on and rode many other rides. We left around 1:30, had some lunch, went to our room and got ready for some pool time. After we spent some time in the pool and going down the slide we got ready to go to dinner at Downtown Disney. That is one place we enjoy going to and of course Tanek's favorite part of it is the Lego store. He is happy enough to just go there get some Lego's and go play in the room. We decided to have dinner at Planet Hollywood for Stephanie's birthday dinner. I have never been there before and it was a very cool place and the food was very good. After dinner and a trip to the Lego store we went back to our room for a couple hours to rest so that we would be ready for a long late night. Tanek played with his Lego's while Steph and I chilled out for a couple hours. Then it was back to the Kingdom until 1:30 am.

We took the boat from our Hotel to DT Disney. It was so pretty and a very nice afternoon for a boat ride.

Later that night we went to the park. These pictures didn't exactly come out in the order I wanted, but this is later at the park.

This was earlier in the day at the park. On the Jungle cruise

Tanek and his mommy on the Flying Carpet

We also like the Tea Cups. Not sure why it is so much fun to spin around so fast until you are too dizzy to stand up but we like it. I posted a short video below of Tanek on the tea cups. The faster you go the better he likes it. He gets that from his mom.

This is in front of the Lego store. WHY anyone would want to build something this big from Lego's is beyond me. I do not share Tanek's love of Lego's. He absolutely loves them. He will work for hours creating and putting them together. As soon as I touch them they fall apart and I do not find that much fun. I do like to watch him work with them, I just don't particularly like to do it with him. I have a feeling when Lego Land opens this fall it will take the place of Disney for him. I hope not, but he sure does love Lego's.

Around DT Disney are many interesting things to look at. The decorations and plants are all very pretty and there are many interesting and good places to eat. It is always very busy there.

I always love a pretty fountain

This was very interesting. A live statue. I couldn't believe she was alive, but she was and ever so often she would get in another pose. Very fun to watch her.

This is on my to do someday list. I really would like to go up in this balloon. Most of the time it isn't going up. The conditions just have to be perfect before they take it up. We saw it up in the air today when we were leaving. It is one of the biggest helium balloons and I think it would be great fun.

This is where we ate dinner.

After being awake for 22 hours Tanek just crashed and was out. He rode Thunder Mt. and was bouncing around having a great time. By the time we got to the Disney bus to go to our hotel he was out. Stephanie carried him on the bus, after we got off the bus she put him in the stroller and then in bed. This is how he ended up in bed. He was one tired little boy. He had a great day and had so much fun.

Here he is waking up this morning after a good nights sleep.

Several times this weekend we remembered our forever friend and meme. We have shared SO many happy memories at Disney and she was the one that showed us how to love Disney. We missed her very much and always will. But as Tanek said "She will always live in our hearts" and we will always cherish the memories we have made with her and whenever we are at Disney she is right there with us.

How can you not enjoy watching and being with someone who has so much fun at Disney?

Karate!

2011-08-20T00:03:00.009-04:00

Friday Tanek had another test for a new belt in Karate. I love watching these cute kids doing Karate. They break boards with their feet and hands, and do all kinds of kicks.

He goes to Paks in Keystone. I like that not only is he learning Karate but they teach the kids discipline, respect for others and how to be safe. I think it is a great over all program for kids. And...... Tanek loves all the action.

Tanek is one of the happiest kids I have ever known. 99% of the time he just enjoys life. Hope that last forever. He is always ready with a smile or laugh.....well almost. He does completely enjoy life.

Congratulations Tanek. You did it again!

Fall Planting Time

2011-08-19T11:54:00.005-04:00

Papa has been getting his fall garden ready and planting a few things. Today Tanek came over and planted a row of greens. He loves helping his papa in the garden and he actually likes some of the things they grow. Not sure if he will like the greens, but he said he would try them. He just likes having a part in helping his papa.

Papa had to help him a little with the planter as it was hard to push.

Sitting on papa's bench resting after the planting time

Then it is time for a little fun

He also loves swinging

School Days

2011-08-16T20:36:00.002-04:00

Summer is over so to speak, the weather doesn't know it, but kids are heading back to school. We pretty much do year round school which works very well. Tanek does get time off and vacation but doing something all year round keeps him in the swing of it without forgetting anything. He is doing so well and is so easy to work with. He learns very quickly and most days gets it done without any problem. It helps that we can take breaks when needed. He is not a sit down for very long child. He is pretty much in perpetual motion most days. Handwriting is his least favorite subject so we usually do that right before he gets to take a break to do something he wants. That helps him do his best to get it over with and go on to something he likes better.
He is a pleasure to work with and I am very honored to be able to help out.

We are looking forward to this week being done so we can go to Disney to celebrate Mommy and Nana's birthday. This is one of our annual activities that we do for our birthday and we love it. We will be doing some studying of Mickey and friends.

Road Trip

2011-08-12T00:31:00.010-04:00

On Sunday afternoon we left Atlanta and headed to Swannanoa, NC to see my brother. It took us about 4 hours. We got there about 10 PM and went to see him for a while and then we went to our room at the Days Inn just a short distance from him. The next morning we got up and took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was so pretty and the weather was very nice. The humidity was so much lower than here and a nice breeze. I love NC and we had a very nice trip.

Tanek was so funny. On our way up when we got near Atlanta he wondered why the road went up and down. He is not used to hills. He did like seeing the hills and thought it was pretty cool.

Everything was so green, but we actually saw a few trees that are just starting to change colors a little. Wonder if that means another "cold" winter?

After some time of sightseeing and picture taking it was time to go to the nursing home for another visit. It was nice to find my brother feeling well and we all had a very nice visit with him. The place he is at is very nice and homey. They have it decorated like you might decorate your home. He is pretty happy there and gets good care. Too soon our day was over and time to head back.

Tanek got to meet his other Uncle Richard for the first time. We call him Uncle Richard 2, since he is his great uncle. It was nice to see that he still has his sense of humor and he kept us laughing. Tanek enjoyed meeting him and his Uncle Richard 2 was very happy to meet him.

Tanek was busy taking pictures while we were in his room. He took this picture of his Aunt Grandma. He got some very very close up pictures that I thought best not to put on here. My brother had a place on his elbow that got bumped while they were moving him and Tanek took a picture of it. It was a good picture of a not very desirable sight, so I passed that one up. He also got some very close ups of my sister, but for the sake of family harmony I am not posting those either. He did have fun with the camera though.

More camera fun

They have several nice patio areas that you can sit out on and my brother sits out in the sun for a while every day.

On our way home we stopped by the Asheville airport. My niece Jessica and her mom Judy were flying in from California for a visit. We have not seen them in at least17 years. It was good to see them if only for a short time. Jessica is now a beautiful young wife and mom with two beautiful children. The last time I saw her she was just a young teen ager.

Rena, Jess and I

This is Judy, Jessica's mom and one of my brother's ex-wives and my favorite one.

On our way back to Atlanta we stopped at Krispy Kreme and Tanek got this hat. He got to see how some of the donuts were made and now he says he wants to be an architect, a fireman, and now also a donut maker. The last night we were there my sister gave him one of Uncle Grandpa's harmonica's and he was busy playing it. We made sure we packed it before we started our trip back to Florida.

cli conference and road trip - pt 1

2011-08-11T12:33:00.002-04:00

Stephanie, Tanek and I left early Friday morning for Atlanta. We were going up to a cli conference for supporters and friends. My sister had come in from Vancouver, Wash. After the conference we were going to go up to NC to visit our brother. Our first stop was Cracker Barrel
for breakfast. Any early morning road trip needs to have a Cracker Barrel stop for breakfast.

And a little rest time after breakfast. Don't let that sweet face fool you. He was not sleeping. He does not sleep in the car or take naps. The only chance might be a nap after a day at Disney.

My sister Rena and Stephanie and I were volunteers for "Celebrate Life International" at the conference. Stephanie took care of the credit card machine (which was too complicated for me and Rena) and we put the books in a bag.

Team work. We did good working together. CLI is a great ministry that works with "at risk kids".

They work in the schools and with the judicial system and have had a great impact on turning lives around. Lori is also a very popular speaker. If you have ever been priviledged to hear her you know why. I do think if she could just show a little more enthusiasm in her speaking that would help. For those of you that have heard her you know what I mean. She is off the charts in enthusiasm and energy. NO ONE ever goes to sleep listening to her.

Lori talking with one of her guest

Sunday morning before church. Aunt Grandma getting some sweet time with Tanek

Tanek loves his Aunt Grandma

Rena and Lori at lunch on Sunday

Tanek and his mommy at lunch

The next post will be some pictures of our road trip to Swannaoa, NC. We had a great trip.

Back in School!

2011-08-02T21:55:00.002-04:00

We took the month of July off from school and we started back this week. Today we studied about the Star- Spangled Banner and about how it was written. We then painted some fireworks and the flag. Earlier we studied about George Washington our first President and Betsy Ross who made the first American flag. So today Tanek made a American flag with paints.

This is his fireworks display

And the flag. It is not easy for a 5 year old to paint stripes with paint but I think he did pretty good. He was pleased with it and we enjoyed learning how the Star-Spangled Banner came to be written. Hopefully one day we will get to visit some of the sights that go along with our early history.

What DId You Used To Look Like?

2011-07-27T22:27:00.003-04:00

Last night when Tanek spent the night with me we were talking and he wanted to know what I looked like when his mommy was little. So I told him to remind me and we would look at some pictures the next day. Today I got out a box of Stephanie's baby pictures. He thought his mommy was very cute and in one picture he said "look at how little her hands are". He notices little things like that. He also thought she was pretty awesome in some of her gymnastic moves.

When we got to the few pictures of me when I was younger and had dark not grey hair he looked at them pretty closely. I asked him what he thought. He said, your old and have grey hair now.

I said yes I am. In one picture there was a picture of me and aunt grandma (my sister) he said we both grew old. He thought papa was pretty funny with all that hair he had.

They recently lost their little dog Amos and before him Abigail. He knew they were old and we told him they went to doggie heaven. One day after Abigail had passed he said Nana, you are not going to heaven. At first I thought, well yes I am, but I realized he was telling me not to die.

A short while ago he said Nana,I hope you live to be 80 because I want you to be great-nana to my kids and papa will be great-papa and my mommy and daddy will be nana and papa to my kids. He is always talking about when he is married and has 2 kids. I love the way little kids think.
Today he asked me why everyone didn't know about God? I told him that some people don't know about God and they need to be told so we need to try to tell them. He said everyone needed to know that Jesus died for their sins. Every day he says things that make us smile. One day when his mommy left as she was driving away he said "I love her so much", and yesterday when his daddy left he said "he is just such a good daddy". I love the way he expresses his feelings so openly. Kids are so open and honest and I just love to hear them talk.
Grand kids are such a blessing and I am so blessed to have 4 that I love to spend time with. It is amazing what they can teach us. I look forward to what I will learn tomorrow.

Some Casual Moments at St, George Island

2011-07-21T20:32:00.010-04:00

Hannah and I spent the night out on the screened in porch. It was cool since it had rained all day and it was like camping out minus all the bugs....with the exception of one little roach. We had fun.

Sunday when we got to St. George's Island it was and had been raining....hard. So after breakfast the girls decided to do their nails. We had a good time coming up with some pretty unusual nails.

Kirsten and Megan doing their toes

Austin and Hannah playing with their i-touch games

Richard eating boiled peanuts

Heather cooked Pizza's for lunch. She found an apron in the drawer and is now the "happy homemaker".

Two sisters= double trouble with matching aprons.

Any time is a good time for a nap, but especially on a rainy afternoon.

Gary and I on the dock after the rain stopped. Still going strong after 47 years of togetherness.

Richard and his bride Heather of 19 years

Emily and I got up on Monday morning and walked on the dock on the bay side to get some pictures. It was such a pretty morning.

She loves to climb

The Ryan's. Cary & Karen. Heathers sister.

Emily with her new St. George Island t-shirt

Hannah looking over the bay

Enjoying the beach

Richard & Emily in the water

Cary & Emily building in the sand

Kirsten & Megan trying their hand at building sand castles

Heather relaxing in the sun

As you can see Cary is quite the builder of sand castles. Gary is relaxing in the background reading a book. There was something for everyone to do.

Pretty cool sand castle

St. George's Island

2011-07-20T20:44:00.006-04:00

Gary and I left early Sunday morning to go up to St. George's Island to meet up with Richard, Heather and girls and Cary & Karen and their family. Most of the day it rained but it didn't stop us from having a good time. The beach in the rain is very interesting. Very different from when it is just hot and sunny. We took umbrella's and headed out. Here is my daughter in law, Heather looking like one of the teen -agers.

Kari, Casey, Hannah & Heather. Kari is Casey's friend who came with her for her first visit to the ocean. She is loving it.

The water and sky were very grey, but still very beautiful.

The trail from the beach house to the bay.

Sister's

Since it was raining, Emily wore her jacket to go in the water. :)

Hannah & Austin....cousins

Austin & Emily

Emily loving the ocean

We saw A LOT of these guys walking around on the sand. Yikes

LOVE the sunsets on the ocean

The rain didn't last forever. The next day it was bright, sunny and H O T ! Just want you want for a day at the beach. Although we also loved the rainy day at the beach.

It's amazing how the water changes colors. It was also quite rough with a strong under tow.

We had a great time and it was fun spending it with family and friends. A day at the beach is almost always a good day. I have more pictures that I will post later. They are all still at the beach until Saturday and having a great time.

Family Visit

2011-07-16T17:43:00.010-04:00

It was so nice to have the family down for a short visit on their way to St. George's Island. Pictures are in no particular order. Here is our sweet Hannah ready for bed.

And our sweet Emily. How I love these grand-daughters

We got to help Kirsten celebrate her Sweet 16 birthday which was the day before. It is SO hard to believe that my first grand-child is already 16 and a beautiful young lady that we are SO proud of. We celebrated at Sonny's for dinner and then had brownies afterwards. Whenever they come down one of the first things they want to do is have Bar b Que. Heather's mom. grand-mother and brother were also a part of the celebration as well as Ricky, Stephanie, Tanek and papa and me.

The cousins had a great time together plus Kirstens friend Megan who is also here.

Our four precious grand-children

Another thing they want as soon as possible is boiled peanuts

And swimming is on top of the list too (in the summer)

Tanek floating on his back

Richard having some fun time with his girls

And showing them how to make a BIG splash

Papa has the patience to brush this long wet hair

A little time needed for some work

Before heading to the Island it was necessary to make a stop at the fav place. LaFiesta in Gainesville. Heather's dad and Step mom met us all there. Had a great meal and lots of fun and good conversation. Here are two young men who are no longer hungry. Richard, and Heather's not so little brother

And the girls. Everyone is quite full

And nana with one of her sweet grands. Am I blessed or what. 4 wonderful grand-children. What more can you ask for? I love family time.

Some fun pool time.

4th of July

2011-07-05T14:04:00.004-04:00

We went to the big 4th or July parade in Keystone Heights. Yes, it is a small town parade but a lot of fun. Most of the town turns out for this event. Gary and I went early so that we could get a good spot, a good parking place and go to the craft show. We did all that in a matter of minutes and still had over an hour before the parade started. It was worth it though as we got a nice shady spot under a big tree.

Ricky, Stephanie and Tanek waiting for the parade to start

Papa waiting

After the parade we went to Ricky, Stephanie and Tanek's house for lunch and swimming.

We had a great time playing in the pool and got "a lot" of sun.

Tanek and his daddy have a lot of fun together as you can see in the video's below.

Sitting uner the umbrella after an afternoon of swimming

Waving his flag at the parade. Tanek had so much fun gathering up all the candy that was thrown. It was almost like Halloween for him. He collected so much candy.

Summertime Fun!

2011-07-01T07:39:00.004-04:00

One of the things Tanek loves to do most is swim. He is really enjoying being able to swim in the deep end of the pool this summer. Yesterday we had quite a bit of rain in the morning and that always cools the water temp down but he still wanted to go in. As you can see in the background the sky was pretty dark in the distance. But right over us it was bright and sunny.....for awhile.

After a short time we could hear thunder in the background and then we had this over us.

Tanek and Papa got out to see if it would pass over. .... It didn't.... For several hours we got some very much needed rain.

Oreo Cookies

2011-06-28T23:23:00.003-04:00

We have recently become interested in Oreo Cookies. They have come out with many different flavors. They have mini bites, chocolate frosted with all sorts of fillings. Today we are into the chocolate peanut butter ones. Last week we had the chocolate frosted with cream fillings. Next we are going to try the chocolate frosted ones with peanut butter fillings. These were on sale so I got the plain chocolate peanut butter filled and they are very yummy.

Kids just automatically dunk their cookies in their milk. The reason is "I like it like that".

Chocolate and peanut butter have got to be one of the best combination of flavors ever put together. You just can't go wrong with that.

Just a few cookies and a glass of cold milk make a very nice morning snack

Flat Tanek

2011-06-22T21:26:00.002-04:00

Last week during the Library story time for the craft they were going to make a flat replica of theirself. This is copied from the books and projects "Flat Stanley". I had never heard of it, but there is a lot out there on google about flat Stanleys. So we made our "flat Tanek". It was so much fun making him and the idea is to send him places in the world where you might want to go. We looked on Google and found out a lot about flat Stanley. We colored him and I took a picture of his face to and put it on the flat Tanek. It just looks more life like with his real face. We are going to start taking flat Tanek on trips or send him places with other people like they do in the Flat Stanley projects. We may send him home with Aunt Grandma to Washington state so he can experience the same trip the real Tanek went on a few years ago. We may need to make a smaller Flat Tanek as this one is life size. They usually send a smaller one on long trips.

This was such a fun project to do together. We both did a lot of coloring and trying to get the right picture for the face took a few tries. Tanek is very happy with his flat Tanek and he is resting on the dinning room table.

This is really a fun project to do with a child. I am looking forward to seeing where all this flat Tanek ends up going and with who. We had a great time today. Just one of the fun things I get to do while home schooling him. Of course this doesn't have to be a school project. We are doing a lot of fun things this summer and making a lot of fun memories. Flat Stanley has been around for 40 years and there are all kinds of things about him on google. So we will be learning more things to do with our flat Tanek in the future. Besides when Tanek isn't here I can keep flat Tanek and hang him up and it will be almost like having a real little boy here.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T15:58:00.002-04:00

Today we celebrate Father's day. We went to church and then Tanek along with his mom and dad had lunch with us. Tanek and his papa are great buddies. We brought him home from church and he and papa played cars until lunch time.

These 2 boys enjoy each other's company.

Lunch time with the family. We missed our Maryland family and wish they could have been here. It isn't fun to have them live so far away, but that is just the way it is. I wish my son,

my son-in-law and my hubby a very Happy Father's Day. It is great to have the love of your family whether they live near or far. 3 daddy's dearly loved by their children and grand-children. Well one daddy has grand-children. The other two are still daddy's of younger children, but all 3 are good loving daddy's and very loved by their families.

Fun in the yard!

2011-06-11T14:08:00.004-04:00

Kirsten & Hannah practicing sword fighting

Emily loves a good tree

And so does Hannah

Kirsten looking through her wish book

Family fun

Ninja

Hannah's Field Day!

2011-06-07T22:32:00.006-04:00

The day I got to Maryland we went to Hannah's field day at her school. It was held at someones home and their land was like a park. Lots of acreage and very beautiful. The weather was very nice. After they had just had a couple 100 degree weather days this one was very cool. I was actually cold early in the day. All their games involved water and I thought it was kinda cold for that but.......these kids are from Maryland. It didn't feel cold to them. When we first got to the field day Emily wanted to climb a tree first thing.

Hannah and one of her best friends Madison.

The kids had all kinds of relays and races etc.

I think the dad's were having more fun than the kids squirting the kids with water.

Hannah was proud to have her dad with her.

Our sweet Hannah

There was face painting

Everyone brought their lunch and had a picnic on the grounds. Then there was more playing. They had a splash bouncer that the kids really loved. The field day was for all the kids K-6 and of course little sisters and brothers too. Emily had as much fun as Hannah did. I was glad I got there in time to enjoy the day watching them have so much fun.

Pea Shelling Time!

2011-06-01T22:14:00.002-04:00

Today Papa was shelling peas and Tanek wanted to help him. He helps his Papa plant the peas and he even likes to eat them. Shelling the peas was fun for about two peas and then he decided he would do something else. So we went and finished reading our story, played with lego's and his cars..

We then decided it would be fun to go swimming and that is what we did.

Papa has put up a lot of peas in the freezer. They are good and I am glad he doesn't mind sitting and shelling them because.....I am NOT going to!

Upward Soccer Awards Night!

2011-05-30T14:29:00.002-04:00

Saturday was the last soccer game of the season for Upward Soccer. Even though Tanek didn't get to play in the game since we were at the Homeschool convention we did get back in time for the Awards night. They had a ventriloquist that was very good and the kids as well as the adults enjoyed him. He was very funny and did a great program and brought the gospel in at the end. Each child got a backpack at the end of the evening. This was the first time Tanek had played soccer and he really enjoyed it. He ran his little legs back and forth on the field every week playing as hard as he could. He even scored a couple goals. Watching children play any kind of sport is so much fun. I especially enjoyed soccer as it was all fun and the coaches were all good and everyone got to play and have fun. I am really glad our church offers this program. I think it is very good for the kids.

Tanek was very proud of his new backpack. We are very proud of him.

Homeschool Convention

2011-05-29T12:48:00.005-04:00

Thursday morning we left early for Orlando. We spent a good part of the day at Disney. After we had done what we wanted at Disney we left for the Gaylord Palms Resort. We got checked into our room and then we went to look around the grounds and headed to the pool.

The Gaylord is a beautiful resort and we enjoyed our stay there very much. Everything about this place is first class.

The decor is beautiful. It is a great place for a convention. We attended several conferences, spent lots of time looking at all the "home school" supplies and literature and speaking to some about their programs. The home school conventions are always interesting to go to. They have SO much to look at and it is amazing how much help is out there for those who wish to home school and I am amazed at how many are choosing to do it.. This is one of the larger conventions and they had something for everyone. Most parents had their kids with them and even small babies. We took Tanek to several of the conferences and found that he would sit quiet through the conference as long as he got to play games on my phone. Very thankful for technology. The conferences are all very encouraging and full of good ideas. I always feel encouraged that we "Can" do this and it is a good thing.

We also had some good free time to walk around, eat ice cream, swim, etc. We loved watching the alligators and turtles. We watched them being fed by someone from Gator Land that works with them. He told us that alligators are not aggressive, are very lazy and normally eat very little. The problem is people feeding them that makes them think we are food. I guess he knows all about them, but I don't plan to get close enough to see if they are lazy or aggressive.

They certainly were lazy in this place. These fish were in another part and are very pretty.

The gators being fed. They did seem pretty compliant with him.

Both nights that we were there we had dinner that we had pre-ordered. The first night it was baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, veggies, and bread. The second night it was lasagna, salad, and bread sticks. The meals were pretty good and reasonable. Tanek is a pretty picky eater. He loves mac and cheese so we saved the left overs in our fridge for him the next night.

We had a fridge, but no microwave. So we warmed up his mac and cheese with the hair dryer. It worked good and he ate all of it and said it was delicious.

He loved sitting out on the balcony. We had a nice view of one of the atriums from our balcony.

The pool and slide of course was his favorite part. We love the slides in the pool, and sorta judge our hotels by how good the slide in the pool is. This one was fun and fast and there is nothing we can say negative about the Gaylord Palms, but we decided we like the slide at Disney's Port Orleans-Riverside the best. It is bigger and has more curves in it. It did not stop us from having lots of fun on this slide. Their pool water was definitely warmer than in either of our pools so that was a plus.

This little guy loves to swim just about more than he likes to do anything. He is always happy in the pool.

Doesn't always like to get out though, but sometimes you just have to.

And that warm sun feels good after being in the water.

I tried to catch him on the slide to get a good video, but couldn't get a good spot so here are a couple short shots of him on the slide.

Our Karate Kid!

2011-05-20T22:55:00.005-04:00

Today Tanek took his second test for his 2nd belt. He broke a board with his foot into 3 boards.
Yes he is just in the little tykes 4-6 year old, but it is neat how that little foot can break a board.

Doing some of their drills

He is such a cute little Karate kid. He just has that look.

Here he is breaking the board

And here is the board in 3 pieces

Receiving his new belt from the instructor

I love watching him do his Karate. I also love that they are teaching them discipline, respect, and saftey. Little kids are just fun to watch regardless of what they are doing. (especially when they are your grand-children)

Getting his belt

A day in Tanek's life

2011-05-18T15:27:00.005-04:00

Today Stephanie took Tanek to the eye doctor for a check up. He did so well during the exam. He had all kinds of test run and did a great job. He also got a good report. He did a test with sunglasses on.

And one with colored glasses

He read the eye charts

With a patch over his eye

They dialated his eyes and we went to lunch and came back for some more tests. He was so funny because everything up close was blurry to him. But after all the tests he was happy to show the doctor his little lego man.

On the way to Gainesville he was singing his favorite song. He loves the song "I Will Follow You". It was so cute we had to get a recording of it. A little shopping before the appointment at my favorite store Kohls. We saved $194.06. Love shopping at Kohls. Love when you save more than you spend. It was a very pleasant day.

Swimming time

2011-05-15T13:44:00.004-04:00

The time has come again when most of our outside time with Tanek is with him in the pool. He gets papa to go in with him for a few minutes. The water is still too cold for me, but Tanek goes in until his teeth are chattering. After he has taken as much cold as he can he gets in a nice warm bathtub until he is nice and warm.

That nice warm sun shinning down gets you warmed up pretty good once you get out of the water, but it doesn't take long to get cold again when you get back in.

The easiest way to get in is just jump in .

Papa helps get him warm again.

I am looking forward to the water getting warmer, but by then the weather will be unbearably hot so I am not sure I am ready for it. Kids can swim regardless of the water temp. They just love swimming. I just like to sit out and take the pictures. It was starting to warm up pretty well until we got the much needed 3+ inches of rain and a cool front came in.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T22:38:00.004-04:00

Today was a good Mother's day. We went to church, then to Mama Mia's for lunch and then I came home and took a nice leisurely nap. Then I went over to Stephanie and Ricky's to watch Tanek in their new pool. They are just filling it up with water, but that didn't stop him from having a great time in the water. He was so excited and having so much fun. He is really going to enjoy it when it is all filled up.

After a while Stpeh and I went on a nice long 3 mile walk around the lake. It was a rather warm walk, but nice just to walk and spend some time together. I also had a nice long phone conversation with my son, and messages from Heather and others. It was a nice relaxing peaceful day.

When they get the pool filled and running it is really going to be nice. It has a fountain and water jets plus colored lights. It is really going to be nice and Tanek is SO excited about it.

He was in the water so long. When we left on our walk he was playing in the water and when we got back he was still in there. He is definitely a water lover.

Library TIme

2011-05-06T09:14:00.002-04:00

Tanek enjoys going to the Library. We usually go on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday for story time. For the month of May they are not having it, but will start their summer program in June. So we go every two weeks and check out books. He likes to pick out and read books and has become a very good reader. I am so glad he enjoys reading and can read well because I think that it the most important step to learning. If you read well the rest seems to come easier.

We started on the series of "The Boxcar Children" thanks to a tip from Jan. I had not heard of these books before but they are very good and he loves for me to read them to him. We are just on the second book but there are many more to read. The story is about 4 children and they are very responsible kids and get along amazingly well. Very good stories for kids to hear. Our Library days are a special time. We usually go to the Library and then out to lunch or play at the park. It is a nice break in the day between school.

And of course there is swimming time. This is what he does when he gets so cold his teeth are chattering. We wrap him up in a big towel and he sits in the sun until he is warm enough to go back in. We are looking forward to the water getting much warmer.

Half the Fun!

2011-05-05T14:19:00.002-04:00

There is a nice walking and bike trail in Keystone now and Tanek likes to go ride his bike out there.

Half the fun is stopping for a nice refreshing drink.

Often

And then continue on the ride.

Disney Trip 5/1&2/11

2011-05-02T22:01:00.006-04:00

Stephanie, Tanek and I had a short overnight trip to Disney this weekend. It has been awhile since we were there and we were missing it. We had a great time. The weather Sunday was next to perfect. Warm, breezing, sunny and clear. The breeze really felt good. We got there early on Sunday morning, checked into our hotel room and then went to the Magic Kingdom. We beat the crowds and got to do something we have never done before. We rode Thunder Mountain 4 times in a row without having to wait in line. Thunder Mountain is Tanek's and our favorite ride. It is so much fun. I am not much on extreme roller coasters, but this one is just right. We then rode Splash Mountain. If you ride Splash Mountain be prepared to get wet, you will. The last time we rode it we were in the back seat and got drenched. This time we were in the very first seat and got drenched. This time the water fell on our heads. Tanek loved that too and would have rode it more, but we didn't want to.

We had Magic hours on Sunday night or actually Monday morning. From 12-3 am if you were staying in a resort you got to stay and ride. The crowds were down big time by that time and we got to ride everything we wanted and still left by 1:30 am. As you can see we are wearing jackets. It was cool enough at that time of morning to wear them. Very enjoyable.

Tanek liked climbing the rocks while we waited for the water taxi at the hotel to take us to Downtown Disney for dinner. And of course we went to the newly redone "Lego store".

This is a view from our Hotel. We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside. We have stayed in many different resorts and I think this is our favorite. Their rooms are nice, the grounds are beautiful, the water slide is FUN and their food is good. At certain times you can get a really good rate like we did this weekend. I love just walking around the grounds along the river.

This is the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. It is pretty cool.

This little guy is ALWAYS happy to be at Disney. He loves it and is so much fun. Now that he is older and can ride some of the really fun rides (like Thunder Mt. and Splash Mt.) we really have fun. We got to go on so many rides this time. We rode everything we wanted at least once.

Mommy and Tanek on the flying carpet

Today we went to Epcot for the flower show. They had a couple nice play area's set up for children and Tanek enjoyed it.

He loves riding the Disney bus and he loves to sit in the back. On this ride back to the Hotel at first we were the only 3 on the bus.

More of the playyard at Epcot

Our favorite part of the flower show today was the set up of Lightning McQueen and Mator in Radiator Springs. They really did a nice job with all their plants. They also had a butterfly area, and a fairy display. I sure wish I could have someone like their gardeners and landscapers to take care of my yard. They do a great job.

We got back to our room around 2:15 am and were getting ready for bed. Tanek didn't think he was sleepy yet but he was the first one asleep. This afternoon we came back to our room, went swimming and then came back for a little time of rest since we got up so early and we knew we would be out so late. Tanek didn't think he was sleepy but soon fell asleep and slept for 2 hours. When he woke up he thought it was the next day and was upset that he had missed mommy reading him his good night story. He said he couldn't remember what she read. She finally convinced him it was still the same day and it wasn't time for his good night story yet. He was quite happy when he realized he hadn't missed all the fun we planned for that night especially going to the Lego store.

Good night. Time for a few hours of sleep before we start a new day. We had a great trip and are looking forward to our next one. I love living this close to Disney World and having season passes so we can go whenever we want. It is always fun and we never feel like we have to do "it all" in one visit.

School

2011-04-30T22:35:00.004-04:00

This week one of our lessons was about a Gov. Spotswood who was Governor of Virginia about 400 years ago. At that time they did not know what was on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some of the people feared there would be big wild animals and some thought just water. So he set out with several people to find out what was on the other side. What they found was a beautiful valley with a river going through it. Our project was to make this on paper. So...we made soil from grits (very sandy) and we used mini marshmallows for the mountains and painted them blue of course. It was a very rough draft of what it is like but it makes it a lot easier to remember the story and Tanek loves painting, and gluing. I love having this table out on the porch for our messy projects.

Of course some of the most fun in school is PE. Tanek has been swimming ever since his cousins visited a couple weeks ago and even though the water is still to cold for me, he has a ball in it. He stays in until he is turning blue and his teeth are chattering. Then he gets out and sits in the warm sunshine or takes a warm shower to warm up.

Papa got in for about 2 minutes. Just long enough to get wet and said it was too cold.

I don't know how many times he jumped off the side of the pool, but he certainly got plenty of exercise.

Upward Soccer

2011-04-26T21:37:00.005-04:00

I absolutely love watching kids play. They give it all they have even they may not know what the game is all about. They just have fun. In Upward Soccer the kids just have a ball. They get plenty of exercise running up and down that field. It is so much fun to watch. These were taken a couple weeks ago but I couldn't post them because my computor was in the shop and then it was time to post the Easter pictures. I look forward to watching the rest of the games.

Happy Easter- 2011

2011-04-25T09:45:00.005-04:00

We had a very nice Easter. We went to church in the morning and then had dinner with the family and an Easter egg hunt and bubbles with Tanek. While I wish my grand-daughters could have been here I did get to have a wonderful week with them before Easter. Tanek had a great time finding all the eggs his daddy hid for him.

He soon had found them all.

Then it was time for the bubbles. He loves to blow the bubbles and catch the bubbles.

He loved blowing bubbles to his daddy.

Easter at the Library

2011-04-25T00:52:00.003-04:00

This past Wednesday at "Story time" at the Library they had an Easter egg hunt. Tanek was proud to be able to take his cousin Emily to it and they had a good time. They had the Library all decorated for Easter and then had the Easter egg hunt outside after story time and doing the hokey pokey.

Mrs. Chris does a great job keeping the children's attention and they all love her story reading.

The kids get to get involved in the story and that makes it a lot of fun for them.

Hokey Pokey time

Getting ready for the egg hunt

Refreshment time

They were each given some sidewalk chalk and were able to have some fun with it.

That afternoon the kids along with Dellynne made cookies for them to take to the people at the assisted living home where they had to stop and take cover from the tornadoe on their way down. They stopped back by on their way home and delivered cookies and notes to the people living there.