tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239826122024-03-13T09:29:13.934-04:00A Common Life"Give them wisdom and devotion in the ordering of their common life, that each may be to the other a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion in joy." -- The Book of Common PrayerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1026125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-11445874741635355382018-08-16T09:49:00.000-04:002018-08-16T09:49:57.218-04:00Across the Pond, Part 3<u>June 9, 2018</u><br />
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This was one of those days that went nothing like we had planned! I haven't mentioned the various minor setbacks and events that led me to repeat several times, "We will not let this trip be defined by disappointment!", but they were there: Money (already exchanged!) left behind, a fender bender (while we were parked in a Waitrose parking lot!), the British Library was closed ... We chose to focus on the positive instead - we were in <i>England</i>, after all and this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience!<br />
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Day 3 dawned with us bidding farewell to our first Airbnb - a sweet little flat in Harrow. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaity and me inadvertantly twinning on this chilly morning!</td></tr>
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We had a long day of driving ahead as we headed west out of London and into the countryside of Somerset. <br />
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First stop: Stone Henge! It was different from what we'd expected, being surrounded by farmland and sheep grazing in pastures. You can't approach it too closely, though a family member told us that when she went 40 years ago people could actually walk among the stones and touch them!<br />
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The scenery along the way was simply stunning! We were constantly pulling over whenever we could find a spot on the winding, narrow roads just to enjoy the view a little longer. As tiny as our car was, the hedges still came nearly to the side mirrors at times. <br />
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After being thwarted by time and circumstances, we had to skip a couple of places we'd wanted to stop, but the drive was so gorgeous that it consoled us. We had lunch at a charming pub in downtown Salisbury, The Chapter House. Jeff had a fantastic burger, I enjoyed a spicy South African bobotie, and Kaity loved her fresh spaghetti primavera.<br />
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We arrived late that afternoon to our most anticipated Airbnb: Munty Cottage! It was absolutely everything we imagined in a delightful English farm cottage. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely little gatekeeper.</td></tr>
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This is the road we drove in on - you can see how narrow it is! The whole time we were in England, particularly the countryside, we kept remarking how inspiring it all must have been to writers like Tolkien and Lewis. So many times we would point to a certain aspect and say, "Oh, it's the Shire!" We keenly felt the magic of the landscape with its hollows and hedges, abundant flowers and quirky little structures in fields or tiny villages. Elves and fairies and hobbits seemed entirely possible!<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-68520043152214228612018-08-14T23:30:00.002-04:002018-08-14T23:31:21.447-04:00Across The Pond, Part 2Day 2 and we hit the ground running! First up on the agenda was a Royal Walking Tour with <a href="http://www.walks.com/">London Walks</a>. Our tour guide, Claire, was funny and engaging and an absolute drill sergeant about keeping us moving and getting us to where we needed to be! The pageantry and pomp were fun and fascinating to see.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckingham Palace</td></tr>
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I know, this Jag isn't especially interesting, but I put this picture in to illustrate something that happened that sent our tour guide into giddy paroxysms of joy ... As we stood outside Clarence House, a police escort and cars sped into the gates and out of the car stepped Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall! Just a few moments later, this Jaguar and more escorts whizzed through the gates, taking Prince Charles off to do something enormously important, I'm sure. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Prince Charles's standard, flown to show that he and his wife are in residence.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the oldest castle in the city, and it's from this balcony that all royal announcements are made.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse Guards Parade</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 Downing Street</td></tr>
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This is one classic London icon we were looking forward to seeing, but alas, it was not to be. Elizabeth Tower, the clock tower in which resides the bell known as Big Ben, is undergoing extensive renovations. It will take years to finish!<br />
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So, our royal walk ended ... or did it?? As we passed by Westminster Abbey on our way to lunch and our next tour, we noticed a small crowd had gathered. A fellow tourist told us that she had heard the queen was inside and would be leaving soon. Sure enough, she was and she did! Just as the bells tolled, Queen Elizabeth II rode by in her car, wearing her signature hat and waving. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the queen, but her police escort.</td></tr>
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Resting before heading off on our next walking tour!<br />
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Also, as you can see from the pictures, the weather the whole week we were there was absolutely divine! Lots of sunshine and blue skies: Perfection. No London fog for us!<br />
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Next tour: Harry Potter! This was a lot of fun, with a charming tour guide who really knew his stuff. <br />
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St. Paul's Cathedral! I got lots of pictures of this one, and couldn't wait to show the little girls. We were in the middle of the Bird Woman chapter in our read-aloud of Mary Poppins when we left for England. We brought them each back a tuppence, too, so they could "feed the birds"!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tower Bridge in the distance as we walked across the Thames on Millenium Bridge.</td></tr>
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We made an extra Tube stop to see Platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station, of course!<br />
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The entrance to Kaity's future workplace ... The British Library. We didn't make it here before it closed on this day, but were determined to find a way to get there later in the trip. <br />
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Can't go to London without a visit to a proper chippy to get some fish and chips with mushy peas! <br />
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On the Underground! Dumbledore's scar above his left knee would have come in handy here ... <br />
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Kaity, always with a book handy! Personally, I never go anywhere without my Kindle: At one point, Kaity finished her book and complained that she didn't have another one to start. I looked up from my Kindle and said, "Gee, that sounds terrible." Then laughed.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-54227392220223053782018-08-05T22:07:00.003-04:002018-08-05T22:07:47.691-04:00Across The Pond, Part IFor Kaity's high school graduation and our 20th wedding anniversary, Jeff and I took Kaity on what was likely a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to England! We loved plotting out every minute of our itinerary from flight plans to restaurants to tourist must-sees to ancestry connections to out-of-the-way quirky places we didn't want to miss. We left off far more that we wanted to, but felt that our schedule was as packed tight as possible. My mom asked me when we were planning to sleep and I told her we could sleep when we got back home!<br />
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<u><b>June 6, 2018</b></u><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the plane, direct from Atlanta to London! Jeff's first airplane flight. </td></tr>
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We rented a car at Heathrow and drove straight out to Windsor Castle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. George and the dragon!</td></tr>
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After Windsor, we drove to our Airbnb to park the car. We spent the rest of the day using our Oyster cards to travel around London using the Tube. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mind the gap!"</td></tr>
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One of the places I was most looking forward to was the Churchill Rooms at the Imperial War Museum. I'm fascinated with WWI/II history and could have easily doubled our time here!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved this sign! Kaity is going to make a replica for me.</td></tr>
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The rooms were preserved as they were abandoned at the end of WWII, allowing for a truly unique insight into what the atmosphere was like.<br />
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The classic London phone boxes were everywhere, so naturally we did the tourist thing and took pictures!<br />
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We made a special stop at Earl's Court just so we could see a real live (not really) TARDIS (Doctor not included). <br />
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From a distance, we also spotted another iconic London landmark ...<br />
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... which is unfortunately undergoing restoration at this time, so the scaffolding obscures it. Elizabeth Tower is famous for being the clock tower which houses the bell we all know as Big Ben.<br />
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So that sums up Day One! Stay tuned for the next installment in which we see the Queen, discover the Leaky Cauldron, feed the birds, and eat proper fish and chips! <br />
<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-30044911346720449872018-04-30T20:35:00.000-04:002018-04-30T20:35:09.355-04:00Kaity's Graduation PartySaturday we celebrated Kaity's high school graduation! It was wonderful to see so many of our friends and family. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Becky and Paige and a crowd of teenagers who didn't want to stray too far from the table!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason, Jeff, Cheryl and Sarah.</td></tr>
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Opening presents! Kaity got some lovely, thoughtful gifts and she loved them all.<br />
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She was especially excited about the car stereo/CD player from Grammie and Baba. "Now I can listen to audio books while I'm driving!" (For now, she's been using her laptop on the passenger seat!)<br />
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<br />On this half-wall, I set out Kaity's scrapbooks for people to flip through. The tree branches held "leaves" on which guests wrote book suggestions, quotes, word of wisdom, or Bible verses.<br />
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Throughout the house, I scattered quotes from various authors and books.<br />
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This interactive poster was really enjoyed by the guests. They guessed at categories like Kaity's first word (Daisy, our cat's name), her favorite movie (The Princess Bride), and her favorite Marvel character (Spider-Man, of course). <br />
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This poster got a lot of laughs (you can click the picture to see it close up): <br />
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My mom made a beautiful PowerPoint slide show featuring pictures of Kaity from babyhood up to now.<br />
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It was so sweet to look back over the memories!<br />
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And I wouldn't be me if I didn't tell you about the menu! I incorporated some of Kaity's absolute favorite flavors into six dishes - three sweet and three savory:<br />
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Espresso Macarons with Chocolate-Hazelnut Ganache; Profiteroles with <a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-curd-recipe-1941910">Lemon Curd</a> and Whipped Cream; <a href="http://jeniskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/smooth-strawberry-soup.html">Strawberry Soup</a>.<br />
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Apple-Chicken Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing; <a href="https://www.browneyedbaker.com/spicy-southern-cheese-crackers/">Spicy Cheddar Crackers</a>; <a href="https://www.savingdessert.com/spanakopita-recipe/">Spanakopita</a><br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-67300414570216670522018-04-25T07:00:00.000-04:002018-04-25T07:00:52.148-04:00Joe!Our Joe has had a big year... Literally! He's just shy of a size 12 shoe and at 13 he's already 5'5". I fully expect him to be taller than me by the time he starts high school in the fall. He's thrilled to be taller than his big sister Kaity! <br />
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I don't have many pictures of him, because he hates having his picture taken. I occasionally catch him off-guard, though, or force him to give the camera a big, fake grin. I'll share what I have!<br />
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In August, Joe started playing alto saxophone with the Athens Area Homeschool Band. He did so well that after a try-out, he was asked to move up from beginning band to intermediate for the second semester. He played for solo ensemble and did very well, especially for having learned the instrument only 8 months before. <br />
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For Joe's birthday this year, he requested a Star Wars party. The kids had fun in the backyard shooting Nerf guns at the Empire's fleet (balloon targets).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't resist a good pun!</td></tr>
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The girls love their big brother! Joe plays Lego, chess, checkers, and Minecraft with them, and they love to ride bikes together.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New glasses! He wants contacts next time, so expect a new look come October. </td></tr>
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He has his mother's love of puns! We cracked up at his Halloween costume ... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Old Man and the Sea, of course!</td></tr>
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We all got new bikes for Christmas, and we've been on family rides several times. Joe loves to take his bike off-road, often branching off and then re-joining us, just to show that he can ride circles around us! <br />
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At our homeschool co-op this year, Joe took a woodworking class. He made a toolbox in the first semester and during the second semester, he made this cutting board and six coasters. He really enjoyed it - definitely inherited his Papa's talent!<br />
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Last week we found out that a local private school has invited homeschoolers to join their marching band. Joe is pretty stoked to go to band camp this summer and to get started marching in the fall! <br />
<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-71578391293612684462018-04-24T08:06:00.000-04:002018-04-24T08:06:31.258-04:00Kaity!Our Kaity has had quite an amazing year! In May of 2017, I had my friend Kim Campbell take Kaity's senior pictures. We tried to find the best location for it, and decided on the library in Commerce, downtown, and a playground the kids loved. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reading The Hobbit, of course!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This time it's The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketching, always sketching!</td></tr>
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In October, Kaity went to a dance with a group of friends. Obviously, this is after she got her very long locks cut! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New glasses!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My chauffer! I took this when we went Black Friday shopping for the first time ever. We wisely waited until later in the day and all the crowds were gone. Still got a few great deals!</td></tr>
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In early December, Kaity and Joe went to a dance at our homeschool co-op, Compass. Playing to her audience, the DJ featured songs like The Imperial March and Bohemian Rhapsody. <br />
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A couple of Kaity's favorite Christmas presents included this t-shirt and mug, inspired by her plan to be a librarian when she grows up. <br />
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Sipping a maple breve at Jittery Joe's, despairing that spring will ever actually arrive.<br />
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In January, Kaity started her dream job - as a librarian! She absolutely loves it, and works 15-18 hours per week while juggling college, high school, acrylics/pastels class, babysitting, her Etsy shop, chores, friends, etc. She's especially looking forward to helping with the summer reading program.<br />
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And now this is happening ...<br />
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... and plans for after graduation are set! When she begins college in the Honors Program at the University of North Georgia Oconee County campus in the fall, she will have just five classes left before she starts classes for her major, Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design. For that, she'll transfer to the Dahlonega campus. Following graduation from college, it's on to her master's degree in Library Science!<br />
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We couldn't be more proud of our Kaity-Kaity (as Granny calls her, because she's double sweet!). Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-61482592452589950862018-04-18T08:47:00.000-04:002018-04-18T08:47:16.375-04:00The More Things Change ...When I began this blog <a href="http://thepittards.blogspot.com/2006/03/">a hundred years ago</a> my purpose was pretty simple: to keep family and friends updated on our family. Joe was one year, 7 months old. Kaity was 5 and a half. I was 26. (!)<br />
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Jeff teases me sometimes about how I never post anymore, and I really think the fault lies with social media. Back in 2006, we didn't have Facebook. Pretty sure we didn't even have a cell phone! We had a desktop on dial-up and having a blog was an easy way to communicate with our family and friends all over the world in one spot. (Blogspot! ha!) Now, I have so many other, mostly better ways to keep in touch and I use them - Instagram, Facebook, texting, video chats, etc.<br />
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Another factor is pictures - frankly, I never know where they are anymore! It's something I'm trying to change and organize, but between my phone and my laptop, it's kind of a bother to make sure everything has been uploaded to the cloud (of which I am distinctly suspicious) or whatever nebulous system is out there.<br />
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Anyway, all that to say this: I have a few upcoming posts planned and we'll just see how it goes! It has been an absolutely jam-packed life in the last year or so that I posted! And the kids have grown a little bit since 2006. In size and number! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 1, 2018</td></tr>
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Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-90157158241163587392017-05-22T16:39:00.000-04:002017-05-22T16:39:07.320-04:00School Year Wrap-UpThis has to have been the longest, busiest school year we've ever had! August feels so long ago, like when people talk about the 90s as if they were only 10 years ago, only in reverse. Maybe that made more sense in my head. At any rate ... Y'all. It's been a long year. We have spent the last few weeks wrapping it all up, and it's been fun!<br />
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On the last day of Classical Conversations, I promised my class they could have a Nerf war: <br />
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They had spent the preceding two weeks working on a protective container to use in the egg drop experiment. We suprised the kids by having a fire engine come! They used the ladder truck to drop the eggs. I think the fire fighters had as much fun as the kids! <br />
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The end-of-the-year party for CC included each class doing a presentation of their choice. My kids decided to recite five history sentences covering WWI and WWII. Joe wore his Grandpa Rick's uniform coat and cover. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauryn did not want to cooperate!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selah's class sang The Presidents Song.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World War history!</td></tr>
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Joe also participated in the Faces of History presentation. The kids wrote papers on a chosen historical character. They then edited their papers down to a two-minute, first-person presentation. As a bonus, they got to dress up as the characters! Joe was Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor of Europe.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlemagne always looked to the right in his portraits.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Lauryn drew this picture of me on the chalkboard, and it pretty much sums up how I feel at the end of the school year:<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-45168550514998573012017-03-27T11:19:00.003-04:002017-03-27T11:20:04.250-04:00Family Pictures December 2016Waaay back on a cold, rainy Saturday in December, my friend Kim Campbell of <a href="https://www.kd316.com/kd-photography/">Kcreatives Photography</a> met us in Jeff's hometown of Duluth to take some family pictures. Despite the weather, Kim was able to capture some really great shots! <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-19689630238317517232017-02-27T10:02:00.002-05:002017-02-27T10:02:32.238-05:00A Tale of Two JourneysThe weekend after my trip to Florida offered even more stunning weather. Mom called and asked if we wanted to meet them out at Clark's Hill Lake for the day. We eagerly agreed and planned out a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, Jeff ended up having to go into work for the morning, so the kids and I made the trip without him.<br />
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The inlet Mom and Berk ended up at in West Dam was right across from the Augusta Sailing Club, which made for some beautiful views as the boats took to the water. <br />
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Rali, McKinney, Joe, Selah, Kaity and Lauryn spent their time exploring the area.<br />
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One of the stunning views from our picnic table:<br />
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Berk grilled up burgers for us. I brought potato salad and mint chocolate brownies. Mom took care of everything else!<br />
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"Please don't get your clothes wet, kids, I didn't bring extras!" Riiiight.<br />
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This brave little (huge) duck was pretty aggressive in his belief that we should be constantly feeding him tidbits. You can tell by how close he is to me that he had no fear!<br />
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Lauryn, on the other hand, had plenty of fear to go around! She buried her feet in the sand and then announced, "Now the duck can't get my feet!"<br />
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We ended our trip by meeting up with Jeff's parents at Dairy Queen before going back home.<br />
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Meanwhile, Jeff had gotten off of work, and knowing he couldn't make it out to us in time, headed north into the mountains instead! It was too gorgeous of a weekend to waste. <br />
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Here's Gandalf, basking in the perfect autumn scenery:<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-33943430109378906742017-02-24T12:04:00.000-05:002017-02-24T12:04:20.258-05:00Fall in FernandinaLast fall, I took a wonderful trip down to Florida to visit family and just to enjoy some peace and quiet! I've never done anything like it before, but I was inspired by a friend who makes it a priority to carve time out to recharge her batteries. It seems contrary at first glance, though in reality I found that it definitely refocused me and I was a better mama when I returned! My first stop was Blackshear to see my beloved Granny. She, my aunt Belinda and I went to lunch together, then Granny and I spent the afternoon rocking on the front porch and enjoying good conversation. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the Pierce County courthouse, where my grandparents were married back in 1955.</td></tr>
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I had to get on the road, though, and head down to Jacksonville for dinner with my Aunt Kim and Uncle Tim, their two adult children and respective fiances. The funny thing was, I thought I'd picked some obscure weekend in October to make my trip but I was completely oblivious to the football season. Turns out it was the Florida-Georgia game weekend. In Jacksonville. Grr. I guess living in Athens isn't enough to keep me informed! Anyway, traffic wasn't as terrible as I'd anticipated, and I had some great company in the form of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audiobook. Following a fun dinner with some of the Floyd crew, I headed back north to Fernandina to stay the night with Uncle Mike and Aunt Ede.<br />
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First thing in the morning, I drove downtown, straight for <a href="http://www.traysburgerstation.com/the-menu/">T-Ray's</a>. Y'all, I was not counting calories on this trip. (Not that I ever do anyway.) But that Scrambler was amazing! Bisuit, scrambled eggs, sausage, gravy, cheese ... My arteries are still sluggish from it. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view from T-Ray's porch.</td></tr>
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The first thing I did after breakfast was park Claire and start walking! I couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous weekend to be outside exploring. So naturally I went to the library. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We used to walk from Granny's house to the library all the time. I loved the black and white tiled sidewalks and the concrete goldfish containers along the way.</td></tr>
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I basically spent the entire morning walking wherever my feet took me, along the streets and over to the harbor, across the railroad tracks and back. Not having gotten enough of books at the library, I meandered my way through a downtown book store, too, picking up a couple of souvenirs while I was at it. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, the weather was fabulous!</td></tr>
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I ended up eating a late (much lighter!) lunch at <a href="http://patioplacebistro.com/">The Patio Place</a>.<br />
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I found the bench at the marina inscribed with Uncle Francis's name, and sat there for a while, writing and daydreaming and watching a lone sailboat out on the water. (At that time the docks were still closed from the hurricane so it was otherwise deserted.)<br />
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About that time, I got a call from my great aunt, Joni, letting me know she was home and I could come by whenever. I spent a couple of hours with her and Uncle Ken, listening to their stories and telling my own. When dinner rolled around, I met up with Mike and Ede along with Ken and Joni at <a href="http://www.moonriverpizza.net/Fern.htm">Moon River Pizza</a>. Joni couldn't resist teasing Mike with her Florida Gators jacket! <br />
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The drive home the next morning was livened considerably by Rosamund Pike's incredibly well-done audio version of P&P. <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-66101974002050365722017-02-16T13:08:00.001-05:002017-02-16T13:08:10.262-05:00Selah's Seventh Birthday - Frozen! Every year, our kids get a choice on whether they want presents from Mom and Dad or a birthday party. If they choose presents, I may do a special birthday dinner and a dessert, but no big party. If they choose party, we have a cake and friends and we give them just one little something to unwrap.<br />
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This year, Selah chose a Frozen party!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cake was a simple white cake with pale blue buttery cream cheese frosting, white fondant snowflakes and a white chocolate "Selah". </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used blue Jell-O on the inside to make it pretty.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaity sculpted Olaf from white fondant, and we made his arms, legs, and features out of chocolate. His nose is a sculpted candy corn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The party favors were baggies of marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips and a candy corn, so that guests could build their own snowmen at home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I kept the food pretty simple.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The punch was just blended blue Hawaiian Punch and Sprite with "snowballs" of vanilla ice cream. The ice cubes are just blue Jell-O, and that's a dish of Olaf's Warm (Hershey's) Hugs!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little nod to Hans and Anna's duet here!</td></tr>
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I certainly didn't plan it that way, but it worked out really well to be able to recycle a lot of the decorations and accessories from Kaity's party to use for Selah's.<br />
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The beautiful birthday girl! Our little Selah. It's hard to believe she's 7 already.<br />
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Of course, Lauryn had to wear her Anna dress!<br />
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As a very special treat, we hired a friend of Kaity's to be Queen Elsa! Alyssa does various characters for events in our area and she was amazing! Here, she is blindfolding Selah to play Pin the Nose on Olaf.<br />
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After the game, Elsa sang a song with everyone - "Let It Go!" and later, "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?"<br />
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The girls made bracelets with the beads Elsa brought from Arendelle. The boys made snowmen with googly eyes and cotton balls.<br />
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Singing "Happy Birthday!"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Elsa and Princess Selah!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and little princess Anna, too!</td></tr>
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Kaity and her friend ...<br />
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And we made Joe do it, too. <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-6822578896489715192016-10-20T23:28:00.001-04:002016-10-20T23:28:13.623-04:00Bookworm Birthday Party, Take TwoWhen Kaity and I started talking about plans for her 16th birthday
party, there was only one theme that kept rising to the top - books! I did a book-themed party for her second birthday, and wrote about that on <a href="http://jeniskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-our-oldest-girl-turned-2-i-had.html">Barefoot in the Kitchen</a>. <br />
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Be prepared for lots of pictures! As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.<br />
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Kaitlyn sweet-talked the librarians into giving her some library checkout cards to use for party invitations:<br />
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Kaity and I were especially excited about the sign we made for the door!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Tolkien reference, for those who aren't familiar.)</td></tr>
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Kaity wrote out all the signs for the dishes we served. She looked up fonts specific to each story so that they would match. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">References, left to right, top to bottom: Lord of the Rings, Strawberry Girl, The Grapes of Wrath, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, James and the Giant Peach, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</td></tr>
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Kaity's favorite birthday cake, Aunt Jan's Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake! It is rich and decadent and worth every minute, every penny, every calorie. I topped it with whipped cream, fondant flowers, chocolate-covered espresso beans and Sixlets.<br />
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We decorated the hallway with floating candles, just like the Great Hall at Hogwarts! They're made with fishing line, toilet paper/paper towel rolls, tape, and battery-powered tea lights.<br />
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And speaking of Hogwarts... Kaity dressed up as Bellatrix Lestrange! She wore two of my dresses, and I braided her hair the night before so it would be kinky and wild. Add in some dark make-up and she was spot-on! <br />
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She was cracking herself up trying to channel her inner Bellatrix. I told her to pretend like she was annoyed with Joe. <br />
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<br />We played a few games, one of which was to guess which book matched the first lines Kaity had written out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here you can see a few girls dressed as characters from the Narnia series, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter.</td></tr>
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The food! (In the background, you can see two girls wearing "robes" - they're Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White.)<br />
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The butterbeer was delicious! By the time I took pictures, it was all gone. I mixed a jar of butterscotch ice cream topping with vanilla ice cream and cream soda. It was tooth-achingly sweet!<br />
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Another game the girls played was to write a story. Kaity wrote the first line, then passed it to the next girl and wrote the next line, and so on until it made its way around the circle. Another party guest started a story, too, so we had two going around. They were quite silly!<br />
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Party decorations ... It's hard to tell, but this is Kaity's initials - KGP.<br />
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(Man, my wall really looks yellow, here! But as you can see above, it's gray.) The banner is a cheap one I picked up at Target, and we embellished it with book page triangles, curly ribbon and twine. <br />
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Opening presents!<br />
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Our gift to Kaity was a scavenger hunt for little gifts, leading up to a card with cash inside. Her first clue led her to "the Dalek shelf" where she found a Whovian bookmark, a Doctor Who calendar, and these, which I couldn't resist buying! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Baker is my favorite "classic" Doctor - and the first one I remember watching. He was known for offering people Jelly Babies. </td></tr>
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In this picture, the girls are trying to solve a word search to find the clue to the next gift.<br />
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That led her to the cupboard under the stairs, where she found Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans (another Harry Potter reference), and a riddle ...<br />
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... which led her outside to Gandalf, where she found a puzzle book and another clue.<br />
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Back up the stairs! It felt a little like the movie Clue, with Tim Curry.<br />
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This clue led her to a Pride and Prejudice themed gift and some jumbled Scrabble tiles which (when arranged) spelled out ...<br />
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And Kaity recognized that immediately as a reference to the TV show, Psych, and found her card with cash in between the DVD sets.<br />
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Birthday Cake! <br />
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In the basket in the background of this picture are the party favors. Kaity made bookmarks for each girl and we filled the bags with aqua and gold candies and a traditional party noisemaker.<br />
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All told, it was a lovely, fun, tasty 16th birthday party for our little Kaity-Kaity. <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-74418736497905746012016-09-15T14:28:00.001-04:002016-09-15T14:28:19.010-04:00Graveyard WalkingSeveral weeks ago, Jeff was studying Google Maps, like he does, and he saw an interesting area in Athens that he'd never noticed before. It turned out to be Oconee Hill Cemetery and we decided to drive over to check it out.<br />
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I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I'll give you a hint: It was awesome.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-31268514089967468902016-09-14T12:08:00.000-04:002016-09-14T12:08:27.342-04:00Granny's HouseA couple of weeks ago, the kids and I loaded up Claire and drove south to see Granny. (Jeff had to stay home to get some work done and to take care of homework for his college classes.) It was an impromptu trip that was almost derailed by tropical storm/hurricane/whatever Hermine. I took a risk and drove down anyway, and I'm glad we did! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Granny's front porch swing!</td></tr>
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We had a few visitors the first day, including Aunt Belinda (Steve was in Jacksonville caring for his mother) and Uncle Donnie, cousin Jessica and her children. Selah was so excited to get to see Donnie so she could tell him not to call her Sailor.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauryn batted her big brown eyes at Uncle Donnie and got her to color with him. </td></tr>
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Playing at Granny's house is exhausting! After her bath, Lauryn climbed up into the rocking chair and passed out. <br />
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My kids always look forward to Jessica's kids coming over to spend some time with us. They all love to read and because of the storm they couldn't play outside anyway. This was in the afternoon, when the rain had mostly passed. We lost power for a few hours, but by this time it was back on. They played outside the next day - tag, hide and seek and exploring Granny's yard.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kiley, Kaity, Abby, Joe - and Granny's foot.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selah, Jarrett, and Lauryn coloring.</td></tr>
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It's always fun "adventure sleeping" as Opie Taylor says! The girls fell asleep during the traditional viewing of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. Although how they could sleep through Alex, I don't know. <br />
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When the storm was gone, every Gill on the Hill was calling around checking on everyone, making sure all was well. We had several visitors including (great) Uncle Theron (Pig), Uncle David, and my cousin Eric.<br />
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On the way home ... driving past my great-uncles' sugar cane field. <br />
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Leaving Gill Hill. <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-11403644631543553942016-09-13T21:45:00.000-04:002016-09-13T21:45:12.447-04:00Sister BallerinasThough I love my own children and, frankly speaking, think they hit the genetic jackpot, I have to say that the combination of these two little ballerinas is just too much! I'm going to have to break out the thesaurus to find the words to do justice to how adorable these two little crumbsnatchers are. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those buns! Squee!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selah is taking ballet/tap combo this year and she loves her new tap shoes!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">En pointe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Retiré.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whoops!</td></tr>
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I think this picture sums up how gleeful Lauryn feels about her new ballet class:<br />
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Our beautiful little "Sailor" ...<br />
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Sisters!<br />
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And another silly picture of our Lolly to illustrate the following story:<br />
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At the end of each class, moms are always invited in to see the girls "jump the puddle" - a felt oval on the floor that they have to leap over. All the little girls line up and one by one leap gracefully (in theory) over the puddle to hug Mrs. Tammy and get a piece of candy. Lauryn's turn came and she stood poised, arms in a lovely second position, perfect tendu, waiting for the word from Mrs. Tammy to go. When she got the signal, Lauryn dropped her arms, tucked them against her sides and ran like a linebacker for the puddle.<br />
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Her enthusiasm was both sweet and hilarious at the same time. Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-24879781791373412422016-09-09T14:03:00.000-04:002016-09-09T14:03:04.527-04:00On A Walk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First day of college!</td></tr>
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Kaity attends a college class three days a week. Since it's only for about fifty minutes, the other kids and I just wait for her to finish. Most of the time we follow the same routine. For the first little while, we listen to the kids' memory work for the week - Latin, geography, history, math, English, timeline.<br />
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Then we escape the car and head out for a walk in downtown Athens. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If there's a wall, they're drawn like magnets to walk on it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A doorway to a fairy house!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June bug - they're so pretty!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shasta Daisy</td></tr>
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<i>Kathleen: I love daisies.</i><br />
<i>Joe: You told me.</i><br />
<i>Kathleen: They're so friendly. Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?</i> <br />
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We do our best to notice what's all around us, and I identify all the plants I recognize, teaching the kids their names and a little about them. More often than not, I have no idea what they are, but I take pictures and hope to figure them out later. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous Hydrangea.</td></tr>
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I usually try to vary our path a little every time, but lately the
kids' obsession has been with "The Garden". They love the pathways! They
play tag, hide and seek, and they look for all kinds of cool little
treasures. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some treasures Lauryn brought me, one by one, the other day.</td></tr>
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Sometimes we make new friends. This little orange kitty ran right up today and just begged us to love on him.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-86418859766521819252016-09-08T12:21:00.000-04:002016-09-08T12:21:59.348-04:00InstagramNow that we have new phones, one of the first things Kaity talked me into doing was getting an Instagram account. My take on the whole social media thing is that Twitter is for news, words, and links; Instagram is for pictures and pithy remarks #hashtagnofilter; and Facebook is for family and scrolling as quickly as possible past politics and drama.<br />
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And I know it's pretty much a pop culture joke that people "Instagram" every meal they eat, but honestly, I follow lots of chefs just so I <i>can</i> look at pictures of good food! You can find me at jenius1701.<br />
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Instagram ...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making laundry detergent and watching Andy Griffith. Lovely Saturday afternoon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Italian Pasta Salad. #barefootkitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c9e4PijsuTA/V9GJYOvRi9I/AAAAAAAABLw/M2-1cIi37qYlW0Qwsu3_JgHkDmvoiqtOwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160706_140021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c9e4PijsuTA/V9GJYOvRi9I/AAAAAAAABLw/M2-1cIi37qYlW0Qwsu3_JgHkDmvoiqtOwCLcB/s320/IMG_20160706_140021.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beauty in unexpected places. #barefootkitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vX4Yvd-wpiw/V9GJeKW0iNI/AAAAAAAABL4/anHxX8PLbk8uY05cInpy-PjsCQalUK8OwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160708_181217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vX4Yvd-wpiw/V9GJeKW0iNI/AAAAAAAABL4/anHxX8PLbk8uY05cInpy-PjsCQalUK8OwCLcB/s320/IMG_20160708_181217.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butterscotch Vanilla Bean Pudding with homemade whipped cream.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGT7Ntq706Y/V9GJfLPUkQI/AAAAAAAABL8/yVPJAC9gUfYxc8JqGAqhUyzyxLHGNqX_gCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160709_193353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sGT7Ntq706Y/V9GJfLPUkQI/AAAAAAAABL8/yVPJAC9gUfYxc8JqGAqhUyzyxLHGNqX_gCLcB/s320/IMG_20160709_193353.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blueberry. Mango. Kale. Spinach. Strawberry. Banana. OJ. Breakfast smoothie.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YzZccPT_blg/V9GJjgxCc5I/AAAAAAAABME/l3Ooa9GSma8pDQM9PUrpzDRyxyFQippwACLcB/s1600/IMG_20160710_141910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YzZccPT_blg/V9GJjgxCc5I/AAAAAAAABME/l3Ooa9GSma8pDQM9PUrpzDRyxyFQippwACLcB/s320/IMG_20160710_141910.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunday Style - Grey seersucker and red heels. Chunky bracelet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs_G6_06i2g/V9GJl0e15mI/AAAAAAAABMI/qbp_v0bZbSkVw9pyn__ZOzmCbvukWmLrQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160716_131859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs_G6_06i2g/V9GJl0e15mI/AAAAAAAABMI/qbp_v0bZbSkVw9pyn__ZOzmCbvukWmLrQCLcB/s320/IMG_20160716_131859.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely dress, lovelier girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJNFcQ4Oyl4/V9GJip-yibI/AAAAAAAABMA/MPXxnDc-b_4dZ7KhzkYB4qDPrSTGnHaPACLcB/s1600/IMG_20160722_184741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJNFcQ4Oyl4/V9GJip-yibI/AAAAAAAABMA/MPXxnDc-b_4dZ7KhzkYB4qDPrSTGnHaPACLcB/s320/IMG_20160722_184741.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girls' Night Out! Still not as cute as (Kim) in her ripped jeans.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nMlFuHKxQms/V9GJq19Si1I/AAAAAAAABMM/cC_hreb6gRwnnKwhUIob7ou6BO-LNHSDwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160723_145746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nMlFuHKxQms/V9GJq19Si1I/AAAAAAAABMM/cC_hreb6gRwnnKwhUIob7ou6BO-LNHSDwCLcB/s320/IMG_20160723_145746.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My blanket is in the wash and life no longer has any meaning." #toddlerlife</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_v3qnBtcE_U/V9GJs133tXI/AAAAAAAABMQ/2qRpdl5ZWeor4O64UxuR8aXfommHTHM5gCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160726_092240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_v3qnBtcE_U/V9GJs133tXI/AAAAAAAABMQ/2qRpdl5ZWeor4O64UxuR8aXfommHTHM5gCLcB/s320/IMG_20160726_092240.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watermelon</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time for a new globe, y'all. #backintheussr #homeschoolfail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mD2NIVT2_1c/V9GOdqFUFYI/AAAAAAAABMo/hro1wgujtq8zjkS0YtRoM4e7H7j-kYZ6gCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160729_172439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mD2NIVT2_1c/V9GOdqFUFYI/AAAAAAAABMo/hro1wgujtq8zjkS0YtRoM4e7H7j-kYZ6gCLcB/s320/IMG_20160729_172439.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gave The Boy a haircut today. No more California surfer dude. #teamcap</td></tr>
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-8024228567489546942016-09-06T17:30:00.001-04:002016-09-06T17:30:21.870-04:00Over The SummerWhen we went to the beach this year, one of our children decided that
the camera should take a little dip in the Atlantic, too. We haven't
replaced it yet, because shortly after that the three of us (Kaity, Jeff
and me) got some them thar new-fangled smart phones - which take much
better pictures than our actual camera did, frankly. Anyway, for some
reason (laziness? forgetfulness?) I find myself not uploading pictures
to the laptop as often as I used to, and therefore not posting things on
the blog. I can't promise that will get any better, since we have embarked on some serious school schedule craziness! But I will post
today, and that's a start.<br />
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Over the summer ...<br />
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Kaity got a lovely new dress. <br />
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Lauryn turned three and got more adorable. <br />
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Selah became feral. <br />
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Joe watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">UHF</a> for the first time and loved it. Seriously loved it. "A Twinkie-weiner sandwich!" It's Weird Al's best movie.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-52008211810229651302016-07-01T09:50:00.002-04:002016-07-01T09:50:54.995-04:00I Like The BrownHere is our house ...looking pretty much the same as when we moved in. We knew the house needed paint and we discussed for a long time what colors we'd use. Jeff, of course, wanted brown. We actually began the project last fall, but monsoon season hit, then the cold weather, then pollen season ... yadayadayada. But we finally started back up and now we're done enough that I'm ready to post about it! <br />
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The dogs that the previous homeowners had really did a number on the front door (not to mention the inside damage!).<br />
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That combined with the moisture rotting out the wood made for an ugly entryway. <br />
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After Jeff pressure-washed the siding and shutters, I clambered up the ladder and got to work!<br />
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Prepping the stairs required lots of sanding - but we had lots of help, too! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peekaboo!</td></tr>
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You know my favorite adage: "There is no job so difficult that it can't be made <i>more</i> difficult with the help of a toddler." This job was no exception. Once I'd gotten two beautiful coats of paint on the front door, Little Miss here decided to sand it again when our backs were turned. Grr. I told myself it needed three coats anyway. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaity helped, too.</td></tr>
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Anyway, here it is! I'll remind you of the BEFORE ...<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJLiMLB1-5I/V3VaB9ajujI/AAAAAAAABII/sdIaPUQBsIsIq7X41obvEfzNJ_M7DSGNgCKgB/s1600/IMG_2720.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJLiMLB1-5I/V3VaB9ajujI/AAAAAAAABII/sdIaPUQBsIsIq7X41obvEfzNJ_M7DSGNgCKgB/s320/IMG_2720.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And AFTER:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-itc8muirkSs/V3VbD40iTBI/AAAAAAAABJA/VslzK2EAOjoFRIQKY7Amkw0XGQnYXL4EACKgB/s1600/IMG_20160630_132951928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-itc8muirkSs/V3VbD40iTBI/AAAAAAAABJA/VslzK2EAOjoFRIQKY7Amkw0XGQnYXL4EACKgB/s320/IMG_20160630_132951928.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete with our little brown kitty, Hershey, to match the house.</td></tr>
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Naturally there are things we'd still like to do, such as refinishing the outside lighting and replacing the garage doors (the left side is broken).<br />
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I fought against the red front door for a while, having had one at our old house, and it just seems cliche. Ultimately, though, we decided that red just suits me and brown suits Jeff and we may as well go with it! <br />
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And here's a bonus picture of Hershey, showing you how much she likes the transformation!<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-74311884407282571582016-06-29T15:07:00.002-04:002016-06-29T15:07:53.449-04:00Teacher, Leave Them Kids AloneFor years now, Jeff and I have been discussing the idea that he'd return to college and get his bachelor's degree. His company offers tuition reimbursement and it just seemed crazy not to take advantage of it. But the timing hasn't been right - until now. In researching places for Kaity to take her dual enrollment classes, I decided to see if we could get a two-for-one deal.<br />
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Not really, of course.<br />
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Basically, I was so impressed with the friendly, super-helpful staff at <a href="http://www.piedmont.edu/">Piedmont College</a> that I started looking into it for Jeff, too. One thing led to another and now I'm married to a college student! And I'm the mother of a college student. And I'm totally jealous because *I* want to go back to college, too! Ah, well. I'll be 62 all too soon and I can take all the <a href="http://www.usg.edu/users/adult_learners_age_62_and_older">free classes</a> I want then.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when we went to the college to get Jeff registered for classes.</td></tr>
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This is what it looks like when your child is starting college:<br />
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But this is what it feels like: <br />
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We celebrated Kaity's class registration today with lunch at <a href="http://www.tedsmostbest.com/">Ted's Most Best</a>. Good pizza, y'all! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*Disclaimer: Please ignore the "weird look" on Kaity's face. I did not warn her that I was taking a picture. She was (justifiably) irritated with her little brother at the time.</td></tr>
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Later in the afternoon, Jeff met us on campus to get their books and to bring Selah to me, who had been at soccer camp during the morning. The building on the left there is the campus bookstore. <br />
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Father and daughter, starting college together! <br />
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I'm extremely proud of them both!<br />
<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-56335581066332036702016-06-10T08:51:00.000-04:002016-06-10T08:52:34.526-04:00Birthdays and BallerinasIn my excitement concerning beach pictures, I never did post about the rest of May's events. Selah's ballet recital was held the day before my birthday. My parents came up to see it and I made a big dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, etc. My mom requested that the kids play piano for them since they weren't having a formal recital this year. It was a fun family day making memories.<br />
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Selah, after the recital with my gorgeous friend and her teacher, Mrs. Lynne! She danced beautifully and did so well up on the stage.<br />
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I hate that the only pictures I grabbed were blurry! <br />
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Thankfully, I have her official dance portraits, taken at the studio by Amy Puckett:<br />
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Following the ballet recital, we headed home and ate an early dinner, then went downstairs to the schoolroom for a piano recital. Kaity designed a beautiful program for the event. Each pianist played 2 selections, and they performed a duet. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe, playing "Festive March" and "Light and Blue".</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A duet they developed themselves of "The Imperial March" from Star Wars.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaity playing "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera and "Gypsy Dance".</td></tr>
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Then Jeff and Kaity played an impromptu duet of Chopsticks, just for fun.<br />
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German Chocolate Cake for dessert - my favorite birthday cake!<br />
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On the Friday after my birthday, I was unshowered, wearing no makeup and old clothes, packing stuff for our vacation, when I saw a car drive into our cul-de-sac. I thought, "That looks like Amber's car ... it IS Amber's car!"<br />
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My sweet friends Amber and Kim had conspired with my husband to take me out on a girls' night! I took fifteen minutes to throw myself together and we headed out the door to Athens. It was a really fun evening in which we spent my birthday money, ate dinner at my favorite restaurant and of course went to a bookstore for coffee. It was a delightful surprise!<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-43009056512398268442016-06-07T09:02:00.001-04:002016-06-09T21:26:32.128-04:00Of Castles and KitesYou can't be at the beach and not build sandcastles! One good thing about the rain we had is that the sand was perfect for construction material. Another benefit was all the good shells.<br />
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Joe and Kaity built this masterpiece ... <br />
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Selah and I made this lovely lady ...<br />
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Then the next day we had to make a boy to even things out.<br />
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Posing with our creation!<br />
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We saw this fishing trawler quite a bit during our stay:<br />
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At one point when he was pretty close to the shore, Lauryn snuggled up to me and said, "I'm scared - it's pirates!"<br />
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My response was, "It's probably just some local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise ... at night. Through eel-infested waters." Proving once again that there's a movie quote for every occasion.<br />
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"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height ..." <br />
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I came out to watch the kite flying and Kaity said, "Selah was flying her Elsa kite but she let it go." A totally unintentional pun that made us laugh way too much. <br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-88370095169116679242016-06-06T11:34:00.000-04:002016-06-06T11:35:58.278-04:00Family PicturesYou haven't lived until you've tried to take a decent picture of four children. It's crazy. But we decided to give it a shot anyway! As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them and scroll through.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23982612.post-87625364339099742022016-06-03T08:13:00.000-04:002016-06-03T08:13:22.869-04:00A Rainy Day at the Beach ...... is better than a sunny day at the office!<br />
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Despite threats of tropical storm Bonnie, Jeff and I loaded up the kids (and Pippin) and made the journey to Edisto Island last week. The beach trip is something the whole family looks forward to every year! Mom and Berk rent a house for a week and we join the party for a few days. This was our third annual trip and we weren't about to let a little rain dampen it!<br />
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We put together puzzles ... <br />
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We colored pictures ... <br />
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Some of us took naps ...<br />
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We read magazines and books... <br />
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We played with our electronics ... <br />
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We enjoyed each others company ...<br />
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And of course, we played lots of games, drank coffee and snacked constantly. But the kids were not to be deterred by (relatively) chilly weather and a little rain! They were on the beach as soon as they could be.<br />
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<br />Jenihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316284846862616924noreply@blogger.com0